St. Thomas Aquinas Human Concerns Committee Meeting Minutes, April 20, 2010

Attendance: Paul Chestnut, Walt Lundin, Laura Chiu, Patricia Markee

1. Faith-Sharing/Question of the Week
Walt distributed a prayer that he had written, We recited it together.

2. Approval of March minutes
The minutes were approved by acclamation.

OLD BUSINESS

3. The Green Committee
There was a "Town Hall meeting" at Mitty High School on April 10. Gerard McGuire, Walt, and Laisz Lam attended. Bishop McGrath was present and he spoke to the group. Fr. John Pedigo was present and spoke about how to increase the participation in this event. The population was divided into groups for specific workshops. Our group participated in the education and advocacy workshops.

4. Death penalty
Walt discussed the 1000 Congregations Campaign, which is a coalition project of California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty, Progressive Jewish Alliance, and Death Penalty Focus. The purpose is to engage in dialogue, discernment, education and prayer on the death penalty. The main goal of the campaign is to get 1000 congregations to address the death penalty, raise consciousness, and commit to thinking about the issue.

5. Oscar Romero memorial event report
The HCC sponsored a program on March 21 to remember Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador on the thirtieth anniversary of his assassination.  The speaker, Fr. Andres Tamayo, an activist who is originally from El Salvador, presented a wonderful discussion about Romero. Fr. Tamayo and others are very active in environmental issues in Honduras, where forest degradation is a major issue.  He spoke in Spanish, and Fr. Jose Rubio provided a translation into English. Prior to the speaker, George Chippendale led a prayer service in which events from the Archbishops life were narrated and interspersed with quotations and appeals for justice.

NEW BUSINESS

6. Spirituality Tuesday planning
We discussed possible topics for the Tuesday evening series for next fall. Three suggested topics:
▪ Building blocks of social justice  
▪ Restorative justice (for which the diocese has a resource person)
▪ A forum on the topic:  What is "political" versus what is "moral"? This would address the tension between the Catholic responsibility to engage in the political process when moral issues are involved, while being careful not to show support for any candidate or party.

7. Bread for the World Planning
In May we usually participate in the "Offering of Letters" campaign sponsored by Bread for the World. This year, the purpose of the campaign is to urge Congress to protect and strengthen key tax credits that help low-income working families in the United States, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit. We discussed our participation this year. It was deemed that the tax credits are popular with legislators and that it seems unlikely that these credits will not be renewed. The campaign requires considerable energy and this year, it does not seem to be worth the energy expense. It was decided unanimously to place appropriate notices in the bulletin about the campaign, but not to actually conduct the letter signing exercise.

8. Catholic Lobby Day
This year we will not be participating in the Catholic Lobby Day in Sacramento on April 27. Catholic Lobby Day is an annual statewide event hosted by the California Catholic Conference, the official voice of the Catholic Church in California’s public policy arena, representing the state’s Bishops on legislation and social issues. Walt discussed three major bills that are at the top of the priority list for California Catholics:
• AB 1642 (Beall, D-San Jose) CalWORKs and Food Stamp Program which would simplify the food stamp process by moving the frequency of reports to every six months instead of once a quarter.
• SB 399 (Yee, D-San Francisco) Sentencing which would, after between 10 and 25 years of incarceration, allow for the review and resentencing of some youth who were sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed before the age of 18.
• SB 1460 (Cedillo, D-Los Angeles) Student Financial aid: eligibility: California Dream Act of 2010 which would allow California high school graduates who have been accepted into a California college —both U.S. citizens and undocumented “AB 540” students—to apply for state financial aid.

9. Pastoral Stewardship Council Retreat May 22
The retreat will be held on Saturday, May 22, at the Lucie Stern Center, from 8:30 to 1:00 pm. Two HCC members are invited to attend as well. Walt invited Paul and Patricia.

10. Budget for fiscal year 2010-11
Our budget will be the same as last year.

11. Semiannual report
The report covering the first six months of 2010 is due the second week of June.

12. What's On Your Mind?

Patricia: The JustFaith course on Climate Change is going well.

Walt: The sixth annual Mass for Peace will be offered at St. William's on April 28. Walt has sent emails urging HCC members to attend.

Walt: Jean Ramacciotti, the moderator of her Speaker Series "Spirit Talk with Jean" and our parish Director of RCIA, interviews Roberta Uebbing, President of the St. Thomas Aquinas St. Vincent de Paul Society on the community channel, Channel 30. Walt complimented Roberta on her presentation. The program can be viewed on Channel 30 Sunday at 10 pm, Monday at 2 pm, Tuesday at 6 pm, Wednesday at 10 am, Thursday at 8 pm, and Friday at 2 am and noon.

13. Volunteer for Faith-sharing/Question of the Week

Next meeting - May 18, 2010