World Day of Social Justice

A presentation to Conference of Catholic Women, Ascension Church, Boca Raton, FL on February 20, 2023

Today is World Day of Social Justice. It’s possible you didn’t know that: it’s marked on the yearly calendar put out by the Diocese and our local parishes, but it’s not on any other calendar I have. Yet it’s not a diocesan designation, nor even one from the USCCB, but a worldwide day of recognition that’s been observed since 2009. It was in November 2007, that the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 20 February as World Day of Social Justice. Member states of the U.N. were invited to devote this special day to the promotion of concrete national activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development and the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly, entitled “World Summit for Social Development and beyond: achieving social development for all in a globalizing world”.

As Christians, as Catholics, social justice ought to be one of our major goals. Yet it is an area where we often fall short, both globally and locally. Just drive inland from Singer Island into the outskirts of downtown Palm Beach and see the disparity. I believe that part of the reason we fail in this area is that, so often, social justice is presented to us in ways that divide us politically. The problems and their solutions are put in terms that divide us along lines of Republican and Democrat; programs are described in terms that make us think “socialism” or “communism” instead of “social justice.”

But if we look at the examples of the Saints, of contemporary saints, we find men and women who exemplify what it means to stand for social justice. Can anyone question Mother Theresa’s commitment to help the downtrodden? John Paul II reminded us of the need to be e unconditionally pro-life” – not simply anti-abortion but pro-life from conception to natural death.

Perhaps the best example of dedication to social justice issues in the recent past is the Salvadoran archbishop, St. Oscar Romero, whose commitment to social justice and combating poverty made him beloved by many in Latin America. He was outspoken in his criticism of the violent activities of government armed forces, right-wing groups and leftist guerrillas during El Salvador’s civil conflict of the 1970s. St. Oscar Romero actively advocated for human rights and called for an end to the oppression of the poor. He was nominated for the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace, which was awarded to St. Theresa of Calcutta.

In a sermon on March 23rd, 1980, he called on El Salvador’s soldiers, as Christians, to stop carrying out government orders in violation of basic human rights. On the evening of March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass, he was murdered by a single bullet to the heart. Patsy McGarry, writing for the Irish Times, said that his murder during Mass “is so shocking that believers deem it not just a sacrilege but an act of such blasphemy and utter barbarity it could even be seen as an assault on God himself.” Officers of the Salvadoran military and leaders of right-wing paramilitaries conceived and coordinated Archbishop Romero’s assassination, but it would take two decades before anyone faced any charges in connection with the crime. In 2004, in a civil suit, a U.S. federal court found Captain Alvaro Saravia, one of the architects of the assassination, liable for extrajudicial killing and crimes against humanity and was ordered to pay $10 million in damages. Captain Álvaro Rafael Saravia went into hiding and remains at large today.

Few of us will ever be called to live our faith to martyrdom, as St. Oscar Romero was, but we are called to work for Social Justice. This year, the World Day of Social Justice is on Monday, February 20 – just two days before Ash Wednesday. One way we can participate in this cause this Lenten season is through our support of the Diocesan Services Appeal, which supports many social justice causes. For more information, visit https://www.usccb.org/offices/justice-peace-human-development and also https://www.ccdpb.org/programs/parish-social-ministry/catholic-social-teaching.html