Advocates hit the Hill with a list of social justice issues

Published: 2004-02-26

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A force of 700 people swarmed over Capitol Hill Feb. 24, bearing packets of material to leave with members of Congress on social justice issues ranging from global debt relief to subsidized housing for the poor. As they do every year, participants in the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering took a unified message about the church's positions on a handful of topics to elected representatives and their staffs. This year, the delegates from organizations including the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Charities, the Roundtable and the Catholic Health Association talked about agriculture and immigration policy as they relate to farm workers, about proposed cuts in housing subsidies, about reauthorization of welfare legislation and about international trade and development. The sessions on the Hill followed several days of meetings with their own organizations and background briefings organized by the Department of Social Development and World Peace of the U.S. bishops' conference, which coordinates the annual gathering.

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