catholic church mission statement

IRAQ: Diplomacy Not Troops
Many of you probably heard the President outline his plan for a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq - specifically his proposal for an increase in U.S. troops in Iraq. Radio reports this morning noted that the majority of Americans polled disagree with the President's strategy. The Center of Concern shares many of these concerns and maintains that a military solution to the crisis in Iraq is not feasible, nor desireable.

Below is a statement issued by concerned Catholic organizations in the U.S., including the Center of Concern, condemning the President's strategy in Iraq and calling for an alternative policy of diplomacy and development. We invite you to read the statement and your thoughts on U.S. engagement in Iraq.


RESPONSE TO THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSAL FOR A CHANGE OF COURSE IN IRAQ
January, 2007


On January 10, 2007, President Bush announced a change in Iraq policy. We, as organizations of Catholics and as individuals, come together to respond to these new Iraq initiatives.

We respond in the context of Jesus' call to us in the beatitudes to be people of peace (Matt 5:9), and to love our enemies (Luke 6:27) as well as the November 2006 statement by the President of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop William S. Skylstad. In that statement, Bishop Skylstad notes that the pain and destruction of the war in Iraq is "measured in lives lost and many more injured, in widespread sectarian strife, civil insurgency and terrorist attacks, and in the daily struggles of Iraqis to build a decent future for their devastated nation." He noted further that the way forward is bleak and stated that "The Holy See and our Conference now support broad and necessary international engagement to promote stability and reconstruction in Iraq."

We are keenly aware that the members of the U.S. military and their families are shouldering the heavy burdens of extended service in Iraq. They risk death and injury of both body and spirit. However, it is crucial to recognize that political and economic concerns, not military issues, are fueling the continuing strife. Therefore, only solutions that combine the political, diplomatic, economic and religious issues Iraqis face will effectively resolve the underlying conflict and bring peace to Iraq. As the last three years have demonstrated, increasing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq will neither address the root causes of civil strife nor quell the violence. Increased U.S. military action will needlessly endanger our troops and detract from effective action to achieve a cease-fire and create peace. Therefore, the escalation of military presence in Iraq is detrimental to our men and women in the armed forces.

The escalation of military action is far more harmful to Iraqi citizens who are paying the ultimate price in ever-increasing numbers through violence, hunger and lack of ordinary services. Every day, more and more ordinary Iraqis are fleeing their homes and becoming refugees - either within Iraq or in neighboring countries. This dislocation spreads religious, economic and political instability around the region, making it increasingly difficult to handle the influx of those traumatized by this war. The escalation of military action is detrimental to the Iraqi people and the surrounding region.

United States citizens are keenly aware that the military is not an effective tool for bringing peace to Iraq. U.S. citizens understand that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war that requires the engagement of all parties in a peace process in order to resolve the issues. Military action in this context only brings more violence and bloodshed and no end to this conflict. The escalation of military action is detrimental the desires of people of the United States.

Finally, only those in the military and their families are sacrificing for the sake of this war. There has been no effort to finance this war with taxes or other military offsets and the war has been funded without consideration of its impact on the overall federal budget. This fiscal irresponsibility will hamper future generations as they are forced to pay the bills for this generation's war. The escalation of military action is detrimental to the economic future of the United States.

THEREFORE:

We oppose the proposed escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq noting that prior escalations have not resulted in increased peace and stability. Troop escalations in Baghdad in the late summer and early fall of 2006 resulted in increased violence and death for both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians.
We support the President's call for economic development in Iraq, noting that the current unemployment rate is running at 40 to 50%. Additionally, 60% of the population is under the age of 25 and is in dire need of alternatives to imagine a better future. Any economic development should directly benefit the Iraqi people and their communities, not contractors from other corners of the world.
We urge the President to engage in diplomatic and political negotiations seeking a comprehensive cease fire by all factions in Iraq and the region. The rejection of a comprehensive diplomatic effort is a short-sighted view of American interests. A surge of diplomacy, not an escalation of troops is what is required.
SIMONE CAMPBELL, SSS, Executive Director
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

CAROLE SHINNICK, SSND, Executive Director
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

T. MICHAEL McNULTY, SJ, Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

ALEXIA KELLEY, Executive Director
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good

DAVID A. ROBINSON, Executive Director
Pax Christi USA.

JIM HUG, SJ, President
Center of Concern

MARIE DENNIS, Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

JOE MOLONEY, OSF, President
Franciscan Federation of the United States

AMY WOOLAM ECHEVERRIA
Columban JPIC Office

JANET GOTTSCHALK, MMS, Director
Medical Mission Sisters' Alliance for Justice

FRANK McNEIRNEY, National Coordinator
Catholics Against Capital Punishment (CACP)

SEAMUS FINN, OMI, Director,
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office

lot for me to read. so I am answering the meat of the question, and that would be, no, the Catholic Church did not have an official position but the members each had their own, I am all for more troops in Iraq, I don't know about others. You cannot negotiate with terrorists, they have already said, "convert or die!"........that says it all for me.
"Whoever wishes for peace, let him prepare for war.", Vegetius.
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.", Karl Von Clausewitz.

2007-01-22 21:53:53 by ION-CONSTITUTION

When Visiting or living in the Monterey Area and are looking for refreshing spiritual experience at a family church try St. Angela Merici ...

IRAQ: Diplomacy Not Troops
Many of you probably heard the President outline his plan for a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq - specifically his proposal for an increase in U.S. troops in Iraq. Radio reports this morning noted that the majority of Americans polled disagree with the President's strategy. The Center of Concern shares many of these concerns and maintains that a military solution to the crisis in Iraq is not feasible, nor desireable.

Below is a statement issued by concerned Catholic organizations in the U.S., including the Center of Concern, condemning the President's strategy in Iraq and calling for an alternative policy of diplomacy and development. We invite you to read the statement and your thoughts on U.S. engagement in Iraq.


RESPONSE TO THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSAL FOR A CHANGE OF COURSE IN IRAQ
January, 2007


On January 10, 2007, President Bush announced a change in Iraq policy. We, as organizations of Catholics and as individuals, come together to respond to these new Iraq initiatives.

We respond in the context of Jesus' call to us in the beatitudes to be people of peace (Matt 5:9), and to love our enemies (Luke 6:27) as well as the November 2006 statement by the President of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop William S. Skylstad. In that statement, Bishop Skylstad notes that the pain and destruction of the war in Iraq is "measured in lives lost and many more injured, in widespread sectarian strife, civil insurgency and terrorist attacks, and in the daily struggles of Iraqis to build a decent future for their devastated nation." He noted further that the way forward is bleak and stated that "The Holy See and our Conference now support broad and necessary international engagement to promote stability and reconstruction in Iraq."

We are keenly aware that the members of the U.S. military and their families are shouldering the heavy burdens of extended service in Iraq. They risk death and injury of both body and spirit. However, it is crucial to recognize that political and economic concerns, not military issues, are fueling the continuing strife. Therefore, only solutions that combine the political, diplomatic, economic and religious issues Iraqis face will effectively resolve the underlying conflict and bring peace to Iraq. As the last three years have demonstrated, increasing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq will neither address the root causes of civil strife nor quell the violence. Increased U.S. military action will needlessly endanger our troops and detract from effective action to achieve a cease-fire and create peace. Therefore, the escalation of military presence in Iraq is detrimental to our men and women in the armed forces.

The escalation of military action is far more harmful to Iraqi citizens who are paying the ultimate price in ever-increasing numbers through violence, hunger and lack of ordinary services. Every day, more and more ordinary Iraqis are fleeing their homes and becoming refugees - either within Iraq or in neighboring countries. This dislocation spreads religious, economic and political instability around the region, making it increasingly difficult to handle the influx of those traumatized by this war. The escalation of military action is detrimental to the Iraqi people and the surrounding region.

United States citizens are keenly aware that the military is not an effective tool for bringing peace to Iraq. U.S. citizens understand that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war that requires the engagement of all parties in a peace process in order to resolve the issues. Military action in this context only brings more violence and bloodshed and no end to this conflict. The escalation of military action is detrimental the desires of people of the United States.

Finally, only those in the military and their families are sacrificing for the sake of this war. There has been no effort to finance this war with taxes or other military offsets and the war has been funded without consideration of its impact on the overall federal budget. This fiscal irresponsibility will hamper future generations as they are forced to pay the bills for this generation's war. The escalation of military action is detrimental to the economic future of the United States.

THEREFORE:

We oppose the proposed escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq noting that prior escalations have not resulted in increased peace and stability. Troop escalations in Baghdad in the late summer and early fall of 2006 resulted in increased violence and death for both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians.
We support the President's call for economic development in Iraq, noting that the current unemployment rate is running at 40 to 50%. Additionally, 60% of the population is under the age of 25 and is in dire need of alternatives to imagine a better future. Any economic development should directly benefit the Iraqi people and their communities, not contractors from other corners of the world.
We urge the President to engage in diplomatic and political negotiations seeking a comprehensive cease fire by all factions in Iraq and the region. The rejection of a comprehensive diplomatic effort is a short-sighted view of American interests. A surge of diplomacy, not an escalation of troops is what is required.
SIMONE CAMPBELL, SSS, Executive Director
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

CAROLE SHINNICK, SSND, Executive Director
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

T. MICHAEL McNULTY, SJ, Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

ALEXIA KELLEY, Executive Director
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good

DAVID A. ROBINSON, Executive Director
Pax Christi USA.

JIM HUG, SJ, President
Center of Concern

MARIE DENNIS, Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

JOE MOLONEY, OSF, President
Franciscan Federation of the United States

AMY WOOLAM ECHEVERRIA
Columban JPIC Office

JANET GOTTSCHALK, MMS, Director
Medical Mission Sisters' Alliance for Justice

FRANK McNEIRNEY, National Coordinator
Catholics Against Capital Punishment (CACP)

SEAMUS FINN, OMI, Director,
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office

So just what's your question? It appears that you had the answer before you asked?

2007-01-22 21:56:04 by ION-CONSTITUTION

SAN LUIS, Colo. - A Mormon church official says he is "mortified" by allegations that three young missionaries vandalized a Catholic shrine in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado.

The Sangre de Cristo Parish Council has asked authorities to file charges. The names of the three missionaries, ages 19 and 20, have not been released.

Photos posted on the Internet showed a man holding a head broken off a statue in the shrine. Others show a man appearing to preach from the Book of Mormon in the shrine and one man pretending to sacrifice another at an altar.

Robert Fotheringham, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints official, confirms the men in the pictures are missionaries.

He says the church is "mortified" by the allegation and calls the incident "inexcusable."
6 hours ago - 3 days left to answer.
Additional Details
6 hours ago

The Mormons are always saying others pick on them. I am interested in seeing what they say when three of their own Missionaries are caught vandalizing a church.
5 hours ago

Church to vote on vandalism charges
Web photos show LDS missionaries damaging a Catholic shrine in the San Luis Valley.
By MATT HILDNER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
SAN LUIS - Officials of the Sangre de Cristo Catholic Church here may decide today whether to file charges against three Mormon missionaries in the 2006 vandalism of a local shrine.

Church members earlier this week found Internet photos that showed them vandalizing the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs in 2006 and mocking the Roman Catholic faith.

A regional missionary official for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has acknowledged the men depicted in the photos were missionaries working in the San Luis Valley that year, and said the church would discipline the men. He would not, however, identify them.

Sangre de Cristo Catholic Church members discovered a Web photo Thursday that showed an LDS missionary holding the severed head of a statue at the shrine, which sits next to the Stations of the Cross on a mesa
5 hours ago

above town. Townspeople since found the head had been placed back on the statue.

Other photos, also posted on the Photobucket Web site, but removed after Thursday, depicted another missionary who appeared to preach from the Book of Mormon inside the Chapel of All Saints. A third photo showed one missionary pretending to sacrifice another on the altar at the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs.

Members of the Sangre de Cristo parish built the Stations of the Cross in 1987. Parishioners in the 2000s built the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs, both which Valdez said have become major tourist attractions. No dollar amount has been determined for damage resulting from the vandalism.

Cpl. Scott Powell, of the Costilla County Sheriff's office, said the men could face up to six charges, including felonies for criminal mischief and conspiracy.

"What they did was extremely imprudent, extremely uncharitable and inflammatory," the Rev. Pat Valdez told parishioners at a meeting Friday night. "Yo
5 hours ago

"What they did was extremely imprudent, extremely uncharitable and inflammatory," the Rev. Pat Valdez told parishioners at a meeting Friday night. "You have worked hard and this whole community has worked hard to build that shrine as an expression of our faith and an expression of our love of God."

The Sangre de Cristo parish council is expected to vote today on whether to request that charges be filed against the three men.

Robert Fotheringham, who is in charge of the LDS church's missionary program in parts of four states, and whose region includes the San Luis Valley, declined to release names of the missionaries. He did confirm, however, that the three in the pictures were church missionaries, who at the time were serving in the towns of Manassa and Sanford.

"We're just mortified this has happened. This is not what we're about," he said.

He said the three, who come from California, Idaho and Nevada, would face restrictions on their church memberships, although he decl
5 hours ago

declined to discuss the nature of the restrictions.

Fotheringham met with Valdez and other community members Friday morning and presented them with a written apology from one of the missionaries, signed by an R. Thompson.

"I realize that my companions and I have made a mockery of that which is most sacred to many of the residents of San Luis and the rest of the world. I should have known better because I have seen many of the same types of blasphemies made against my own church and I have been appalled," the statement said.

Frotheringham said Mormon missionaries are trained in church doctrine before they depart on their missions, but they don't receive special instructions about the areas where they will be stationed.


COURTESY PHOTOS/PHOTOBUCKET
An unidentified man characterized as 'having broken off the head of a saint' is seen in a photo from the Photobucket Web site. The statue depicts one of the martyr saints who died in protests during the late 1920s when Mexico at
5 hours ago

Photobucket Web site. The statue depicts one of the martyr saints who died in protests during the late 1920s when Mexico attempted to neutralize the Roman Catholic church.

However, he said the missionaries' handbook instructs them to respect the culture, customs, religious beliefs and sacred sites of communities that missionaries visit.

Many in attendance at Friday night's meeting expressed belief the missionaries should be held accountable for their actions.

One man said "turning the other cheek" means community members should not try to take revenge. They should, however, uphold personal accountability by filing charges.

Valdez echoed some of the man's sentiments moments later.

"That's understood in this room. There's no hate, there's no revenge," he said.

those three young men will do time in prison for vandalism. they should. they are accountable for their act of hate.

2008-03-10 15:43:02 by A Little Person

SAN LUIS, Colo. - A Mormon church official says he is "mortified" by allegations that three young missionaries vandalized a Catholic shrine in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado.

The Sangre de Cristo Parish Council has asked authorities to file charges. The names of the three missionaries, ages 19 and 20, have not been released.

Photos posted on the Internet showed a man holding a head broken off a statue in the shrine. Others show a man appearing to preach from the Book of Mormon in the shrine and one man pretending to sacrifice another at an altar.

Robert Fotheringham, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints official, confirms the men in the pictures are missionaries.

He says the church is "mortified" by the allegation and calls the incident "inexcusable."
6 hours ago - 3 days left to answer.
Additional Details
6 hours ago

The Mormons are always saying others pick on them. I am interested in seeing what they say when three of their own Missionaries are caught vandalizing a church.
5 hours ago

Church to vote on vandalism charges
Web photos show LDS missionaries damaging a Catholic shrine in the San Luis Valley.
By MATT HILDNER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
SAN LUIS - Officials of the Sangre de Cristo Catholic Church here may decide today whether to file charges against three Mormon missionaries in the 2006 vandalism of a local shrine.

Church members earlier this week found Internet photos that showed them vandalizing the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs in 2006 and mocking the Roman Catholic faith.

A regional missionary official for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has acknowledged the men depicted in the photos were missionaries working in the San Luis Valley that year, and said the church would discipline the men. He would not, however, identify them.

Sangre de Cristo Catholic Church members discovered a Web photo Thursday that showed an LDS missionary holding the severed head of a statue at the shrine, which sits next to the Stations of the Cross on a mesa
5 hours ago

above town. Townspeople since found the head had been placed back on the statue.

Other photos, also posted on the Photobucket Web site, but removed after Thursday, depicted another missionary who appeared to preach from the Book of Mormon inside the Chapel of All Saints. A third photo showed one missionary pretending to sacrifice another on the altar at the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs.

Members of the Sangre de Cristo parish built the Stations of the Cross in 1987. Parishioners in the 2000s built the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs, both which Valdez said have become major tourist attractions. No dollar amount has been determined for damage resulting from the vandalism.

Cpl. Scott Powell, of the Costilla County Sheriff's office, said the men could face up to six charges, including felonies for criminal mischief and conspiracy.

"What they did was extremely imprudent, extremely uncharitable and inflammatory," the Rev. Pat Valdez told parishioners at a meeting Friday night. "Yo
5 hours ago

"What they did was extremely imprudent, extremely uncharitable and inflammatory," the Rev. Pat Valdez told parishioners at a meeting Friday night. "You have worked hard and this whole community has worked hard to build that shrine as an expression of our faith and an expression of our love of God."

The Sangre de Cristo parish council is expected to vote today on whether to request that charges be filed against the three men.

Robert Fotheringham, who is in charge of the LDS church's missionary program in parts of four states, and whose region includes the San Luis Valley, declined to release names of the missionaries. He did confirm, however, that the three in the pictures were church missionaries, who at the time were serving in the towns of Manassa and Sanford.

"We're just mortified this has happened. This is not what we're about," he said.

He said the three, who come from California, Idaho and Nevada, would face restrictions on their church memberships, although he decl
5 hours ago

declined to discuss the nature of the restrictions.

Fotheringham met with Valdez and other community members Friday morning and presented them with a written apology from one of the missionaries, signed by an R. Thompson.

"I realize that my companions and I have made a mockery of that which is most sacred to many of the residents of San Luis and the rest of the world. I should have known better because I have seen many of the same types of blasphemies made against my own church and I have been appalled," the statement said.

Frotheringham said Mormon missionaries are trained in church doctrine before they depart on their missions, but they don't receive special instructions about the areas where they will be stationed.


COURTESY PHOTOS/PHOTOBUCKET
An unidentified man characterized as 'having broken off the head of a saint' is seen in a photo from the Photobucket Web site. The statue depicts one of the martyr saints who died in protests during the late 1920s when Mexico at
5 hours ago

Photobucket Web site. The statue depicts one of the martyr saints who died in protests during the late 1920s when Mexico attempted to neutralize the Roman Catholic church.

However, he said the missionaries' handbook instructs them to respect the culture, customs, religious beliefs and sacred sites of communities that missionaries visit.

Many in attendance at Friday night's meeting expressed belief the missionaries should be held accountable for their actions.

One man said "turning the other cheek" means community members should not try to take revenge. They should, however, uphold personal accountability by filing charges.

Valdez echoed some of the man's sentiments moments later.

"That's understood in this room. There's no hate, there's no revenge," he said.

Yes, missionaries have been arrested before. Even more than the arrests are those who are sent home early for misrepresenting the Church by their behavior. Being a missionary is not a joke. Those who make a mockery of it are removed from the service and can be excommunicated from the faith.

Desecrating a shrine is just a horrible thing. Those boys will get what's coming to them.

2008-03-11 09:08:51 by A Little Person

In the beginning, when St. Paul's Collegiate Church was still just a concept, we (those of us who were there from conception...often dreaming and talking over latte at Starbucks or a beer at Bidwells) were pretty committed to the idea that we would affiliate with a denomination.

But somehow we became a "post-denominational" church... what happened?

I will say that we made an honest effort. We researched 100's of denominations (no exagerations) and only discovered a few that made the first cut. For us, any group that we were going to associate with missionally had to share our convictions and mission.

That meant, strongly evangelical (in both theology and practice) but decidedly not fundamentalist; strongly egalitarian when it comes to women in ministry (and again, in both theology and practice... we didn't want a group that merely tolerated ordained women in ministry but celebrated it); affirmed believer baptism; honored and the autonomy and authority of the local church; and a strong committment to church planting.
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What we found after much searching was that most denominations seemed more interested in organizational and institutional survival than in authentic Kingdom-building.

Now, this is certainly at some level a generalization--and there are some wonderful people working for denominations today--but this experience did raise the question for me as to whether denominations have really outlived their usefulness.

My conclusion is that yes, they have.

Maybe there was a time--either when serious instutional reformation was needed, when the amount of interference from government was so much, the need to reclaim orthodoxy so critical, etc--when denominations were needed. But it seems to me that almsot every denomination--for good or for bad--was born polemically.

And this is the problem. Their very nature is to be defined by what or who they are not (negative), as opposed to what or who they are (positive). Lutherans aren't Catholics and Baptists aren't Lutherans and Penetecostals aren't Baptists, and on down the line---but always defined in the negative.

In today's increasingly post-Christian world, I am not sure that we can afford to be so polemical.

Yes, we cannot compromise when it comes to our core theological convictions, but the battle can no longer be understood as about the "minors" which define much denominational difference--the battle is really for an authentic Christianity that speaks with authority and relevance to today's world--and that form of Christianity I believe will be found not in one denomination or group, but in the collective Body of Christ as experienced across the street, across the globe, and across time.

Mission is really the key. Jesus established us (all believers) as a missional church ("Therefore go..." he says). So our link as a church is with those who share our mission--and as the internal denominational battles of the last few years (see most recently the American Episcpoal Church or the United Church of Christ, though these are only the most obvious examples) demonstrate, all too often, common name on the letterhead does not equal common mission. But our allegiance can never be to letterhead --- but always to Christ and His universal church.

Even non-denominational and inter-denominational and independent churches (a lot whom we work closely with and find great kinship) have become almost denominational.

That is why we have chosen as a church to be "post-denominational"--to make a statement of sorts. A statement that we think such things as letterhead are a lot less important tha conviction and mission, a statement that denominations no longer are accurate pictures of what any individual local body of believers believe and practice, and a statement that in today's post-modern world, in order to remain missional, the Church (big "C") must get past the denominational barriers that have divided us over relatively minor issues for so long.

That is why we are proud to be a post-denominational church, drawing from the best practices and traditions of all our brothers and sisters in Christ whether they be from the East or the West, the North or the South, from the Roman Catholic Church or the local independent Baptists church... if we share mission, we are together!

Sounds like syncretism to me.

2006-11-18 16:53:07 by