"...by sharing in their struggle for justice."

The third ministry guideline of the St. Francis Inn says "we wish to make a special effort to serve our sisters and borthers by sharing in their struggle for justice." Feeding and clothing the poor is essential, but in an ideal world there would be no need for the St. Francis Inn. Mark and I want to spend some of our time here learning how to have real change in our society, not just short-term solutions.
We have not been very successful tapping into the groups in the Philadelphia area that promote justice and systemic change. However, there is a Catholic Worker House in our neighborhood, and in addition to running the free medical clinic on our street, the Catholic Workers at this house work with immigration, peace issues and have an outreach clinic in Haiti. Last week we attended a talk by two of the Workers, Katie and Johanna, as well as Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. Bishop Gumbleton is familiar to many because of his work with Pax Christi USA and Bread for the World, as well as being a frequent columnist for NCR. It was a thrill to meet him, as well as hear about the clinic. Haiti is the poorest country in this hemisphere, with 80% of the people making less than $2.00 per day. The clinic began at the request of a Catholic priest in Cite Soleil, the huge slum in the capital. The group decided the way to make systemic change was to train "health agents" who would do low-tech education and wellness strategies. They talk to their neighbors about handwashing and boiling water. They distribute mosquito nets and ibuprofen. Pretty simple compared to western medicine, but even these simple techniques yield big results.
Monday we skipped our own community meal and went to the Catholic Worker House for a roundtable discussion with Bishop Gumbleton. In September he was part of a group that visited northern Iraq. He was hosted by Chaldean Catholics, and spoke to both Christians and Muslims about life in the Kurdish north. Most of what he said was familiar to us, such as the desire of the Kurds for an autonomous state, but it was interesting to hear him talk about some of the internal peace initiatives that were not being brokered by the U.S. or United Nations. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of time for questions and answers, and both Mark and I had many questions we wanted to ask. We will continue to look for opportunities such as these during our stay in Philadelphia.