We held the Catholic Charities symposium celebrating the 125th Anniversary alongside the Vincentian Poverty Conference. This happened at St. John’s University in Queens during the World Day of the Poor Weekend. We were blessed to have with us our Bishop, Robert Brennan, and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Papal Nuncio, who offered a keynote speech reminding us of Pope Francis’s social teaching. He reviewed the teaching during our Pope's pontificate starting from 2013 right up to his most recent message and reflected on the nature of how we are called to relate with the poor. He also had us recognize that there was a convergence between his teaching on the poor and the synodal process that just recently ended. The synodal process was an opportunity for the church to engage in a new way of being church, to dialogue and respectfully listen to others who experience a different reality from us. One of his points was to take in the lesson of the synodal way. In other words, to recognize that we are not merely serving the poor, but allowing ourselves to be evangelized by them. You can read the entire keynote here on our CCBQ website. In the end the Cardinal set the stage between the morning analysis and the sharing that would happen in the afternoon.

In the morning, we heard from Dr. Sabine Alkire who offered us her research on MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index) and how economist and social scientist can better evaluate the dynamic of poverty and wealth with social indicators beyond GDP. Her analysis was very eye-opening as it clarified the global economic reality through numbers and narratives. The data shows the complexity of the global economy when you consider the social indicators of health, education and living standards. The first slide shows these indicators and how the global community fares when examined from this perspective. 

Afterwards, Cardinal Pierre and Bishop Brennan shared their insight on how the social teaching of the Church invites us to consider the method for how we address the issue of poverty and those who fall under the MPI.

The teaching had us rethink our approach to the poor. As I mentioned above, the Cardinal emphasized the process of synodality for how we relate with those who suffer from the social challenges we face. Three departments of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens (CCBQ) reflected on their response based on the Cardinal’s insights. This began with our housing program, followed by food insecurity and then our behavioral health program.

The panal considered how the ever-changing reality forces us to examine the situation and adapt to the changing needs. The pandemic, economic recession, climate change, job loss, the mental health crisis and the migrant crisis were raised as recent situations that dramatically shifted the way we respond to the community. Stories were shared that testified to the way we interact and engage with those we serve. There is certainly always room to grow in this endeavor but it was recognized that having the pulse of the community is essential. Two lessons that came from these conversations were the need to be relational with those we serve, to know their story and appreciate their circumstances, and to apply creative adaptability in how we need to respond to the ever-changing needs in our own community.