Issues we work on...
At the top of this page, just below the masthead, you will find NETWORK’s issue agenda for the 111th Congress. Early in 2008 as part of the Platform for the Common Good dialogue process, we invited groups around the country to identify issues that were important to them. Over 2000 people in 40 states sent in their issues, which became the planks used to build the Platform for the Common Good. The platform was discussed and ratified at a Convention for the Common Good in July 2008 that was attended by 800 delegates; these delegates included representatives from more than 20 different religious and Catholic social justice organizations. This means our issues are not just issues that OUGHT to matter to people; this process shows these issues DO matter to people.
In line with our mission as a Catholic leader in the global movement for justice and peace, NETWORK’s position on each of these issues is informed by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching:
Economic Justice
“Each person also has a right to the conditions for living a decent life—faith and family life, food and shelter, education and employment, health care and housing. We also have a duty to secure and respect these rights not only for ourselves, but for others, and to fulfill our responsibilities to our families, to each other, and to the larger society.” U.S. Catholic Bishops, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.
Click here for more information about NETWORK’s economic justice agenda.
Peacemaking
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9
Click here for more information about NETWORK’s peacemaking agenda.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
“You must not oppress the stranger; you know how a stranger feels, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 23: 9
Click here for more information about NETWORK’s immigration reform agenda.
Healthcare Access
“Affordable and accessible health care is an essential safeguard of human life and a fundamental human right. Any plan to reform the nation’s health care system must be rooted in values that respect human dignity, protect human life, and meet the unique needs of [people who are] poor. We support health care that is affordable and accessible to all.” U.S. Catholic Bishops, Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium
Click here for more information about NETWORK’s healthcare agenda.
Ecological Justice
“The tradition of Catholic social teaching offers a developing and distinctive perspective on environmental issues. We believe that the following themes drawn from this tradition are integral dimensions of ecological responsibility:
- a God-centered and sacramental view of the universe, which grounds human accountability for the fate of the earth;
- a consistent respect for human life, which extends to respect for all creation;
- a worldview affirming the ethical significance of global interdependence and the common good;
- an ethics of solidarity promoting cooperation and a just structure of sharing in the world community;
- an understanding of the universal purpose of created things, which requires equitable use of the earth's resources;
- an option for [those living in poverty], which gives passion to the quest for an equitable and sustainable world;
- a conception of authentic development, which offers a direction for progress that respects human dignity and the limits of material growth.”
U.S. Catholic Bishops, An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment in Light of Catholic Social Teaching
Click here for more information about NETWORK’s ecological justice agenda.
Click here if you would like a one-page synopsis of NETWORK's overall issue agenda for the 111th Congress.
Our vision and values guide our work on these issues...
NETWORK envisions and works for a more humane world, one of justice and care for the common good. We act in solidarity with justice activists throughout the global community.
Our work is firmly rooted in our Catholic social justice tradition, which encompasses Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching and the lives of Jesus and people of faith who have followed the Gospel call to act for justice. We believe that faith has a public dimension. As the Church teaches us, “Every citizen… has the responsibility to work to secure justice and human rights through an organized social response.” Economic Justice for All , #120
In a democracy, the first step down the road of forming a just society is voting with a well-formed conscience. But that’s not the only step; this journey does not end at the ballot box.
The next—just as critical—part of the journey is to stay involved in the process, to work with our elected officials in order to hold them accountable. Policies and laws that support the common good should be maintained and strengthened. Policies and laws that tear at the fabric of our common good should be remediated or eliminated altogether. These actions are going to be hard for elected officials to accomplish in the face of pressure from special interest groups. That’s why elected officials need the continued support and involvement of Catholic voters throughout their terms in order to give them the political strength required to get the job done.
The 111th Congress
Because of the 2008-2009 financial meltdown, we believe that the economy will be at the center of most of the movement in the first session of the 111th Congress. At NETWORK, our work will focus on the top five issue priorities that emerged during the creation of the Platform for the Common Good (listed at the top of this page). Based on anticipated congressional action, much of our work will initially focus on economic issues, especially as they impact people living at the economic margins.
May 22, 2009 The 111th Congress is off to a good start -- but much remains to be done!
Learn more...and act.
You can learn more about how NETWORK analyzes issues and the results of congressional votes here.
Want to contact someone at NETWORK about our issues? Click here.
We invite people of faith and justice activists everywhere:
...and then to live your faith by acting for justice.
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