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May
21, 2007 
VOL.
45, NO. 10Oakland,
CA
Catholics for
the Common Good
seek to address major social issues
Catholics
for the Common Good is responding to Pope John Paul II’s call for
the “evangelization of culture.”
Chairman and founder Bill May said the San Francisco-based CCG is a non-partisan
group that took seriously the late pope’s call to Catholic action
and involvement by the laity.
To that end, CCG seeks to educate Catholics about the Church’s social
teachings and to shape public opinion in accordance with those teachings.
May said CCG becomes involved in issues where “social teachings
are so clear that informed Catholics are unlikely to disagree,”
such as physician-assisted suicide.
Because many Catholics are not familiar with the Church’s social
doctrine, May said, CCG is partnering with Berkeley’s Dominican
School of Philosophy and Theology and other groups to develop an educational
component for future seminars.
Dominican Father Michael Sweeney, president of the Dominican School and
an advisor to CCG, said Catholics can read the Church’s social doctrine
— a body of papal writings on the nature of God and the human person
— on the Vatican’s Web site, but they need help digesting,
applying and teaching it.
And teaching is important, Sweeney said. “We have our marching orders
to speak to the rest of the world.”
May said the 3-year-old organization is made up of a network of Catholics
in various parishes, mainly in California, but growing across the country.
The group keeps parishes up to date on relevant issues and operates by
contacting the media and legislators, he said.
Although CCG works with bishops, clergy and scholars, May said, it is
truly a lay initiative.
CCG hosted Ray Flynn, the ex-Boston mayor and former U.S. ambassador to
the Vatican, at St. Margaret Mary Church in Oakland on April 19.
May echoed Flynn’s message from the event: Catholics need better
organization. “People think they’re powerless,” May
said. “We need to convince people that they do make a difference
when they contact their legislators, write letters to the editor and call
in to radio talk shows.”
For information on Catholics for the Common Good, call (510) 868-4828
or (415) 651-4171, or visit www.ccgaction.org.
