Cardinal pledges ‘partnering’

By Dolores Madlener
STAFF WRITER

Cardinal George greeted the members of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs June 8 with a warm “Shalom” in celebrating the JCUA’s 36th anniversary.

He also called all religious leaders of Chicago to “let our voices resound like the shofar” in the face of injustice.

During his remarks in the Spertus Museum Auditorium, 618 S. Michigan Ave., he praised the organization for its years of leadership “in supporting grass roots organizing from Cabrini-Green to Pilsen to West Rogers Park.”
The cardinal recalled the historic collaboration between the JCUA and Martin Luther King Jr., its “coalition building” to deal with affordable housing, and its record in “encouraging religious, political and civic leaders to bring values into their policies and practices.” He pledged to partner across faiths in promoting social justice, the “core to our belief.”

Outlining the 30-year commitment of the archdiocese’s own Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the cardinal described such current efforts as: providing a $3 million loan to build homes for the working poor; “Welcoming Our Neighbor,” a parish program to “adopt” CHA families; creating affordable housing for the poor who will never own homes and help in rehabbing abandoned homes.

He described the archdiocese’s ongoing legislative initiatives in the State of Illinois ranging from racial justice to banking practices.

The cardinal also referred to the recent Illinois Bishops’ pastoral on racism and the actions that need to be taken “for a commitment to change,” including opposition to a death penalty “that allows minority defendants to be more likely sentenced to death than white defendants, for the same crimes.”

He closed his remarks, before taking questions, by citing future obstacles in seeking justice. “Like the prophets,” he said, “we cannot be discouraged.”

See JCUA response on page 21.

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