“We cannot be called truly ‘Catholic’ unless we hear and heed the Church’s call to serve those in need and work for justice and peace. We cannot call ourselves followers of Jesus unless we take up his mission of bringing ‘good news to the poor, liberty to captives, and new sight to the blind’” (cf. Lk 4:18)- (Communities of Salt and Light, 4-5)
the Office of Peace and Justice:
- Coordinates and supports diocesan-wide justice ministries and initiatives
- Promotes the understanding and practice of Catholic Social Teaching (CST)
- Equips parishes to become Communities of Salt and Light, integrating CST into faith formation, liturgical worship, and action; supports parishes in forming peace and justice ministries.
The Laudato Si Commission leads diocesan efforts of Care for Creation, equipping parishes to teach, implement, and model the Christian call to ‘ecological conversion’ as in Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si.
MISSION STATEMENT
We, as the Catholic Diocese of Lexington Laudato Si Commission, will promote the spirituality of creation by expressing our love for God and one another by exercising good stewardship and care for God’s creation as an essential practice of our faith. There are “three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor and with the earth itself.” (LS66)
VISION
The Laudato Si Commission will model this development through activities and prayer services (both personal and communal) for people of all ages.
Peggy Gabriel (mgabriel5354@gmail.com)
Sister Kathleen Weigand, OSB (kweigand@cdlex.org)
Commission Chairs
The Commission for African American Catholic Concerns (CAACC) serves the Diocese of Lexington by celebrating/promoting the African American Catholic experience and engaging the faithful on issues related to equality, diversity, and culture.
Commission on African American Catholic Concerns’ Mission:
- To recognize and acknowledge the affirmation of the identity, relationship and mission of the African American Catholic community within the Church by encouraging the active participation of the African American Community in parish life. To strive to be catalysts for heightening the level of awareness of the gifts of the African American Community and the resources of the Church for the common promotion of all ministries that affect Church life.
- To promote, facilitate and/or communicate the deep and meaningful contribution the African American Community has to offer the Church, by becoming active in the ministries and ministerial formation/development process that flow from Diocesan structures and parish communities.
- To recognize the needs of the Church and the beautiful gifts that African American people have to offer, as the resources the Church can draw on to continue in Christ’s prolific example.
Theresa Jones-Hawkins
Commission Chair
The Peace and Justice Commission fosters a commitment to peace and justice in the Diocese of Lexington. It does this by promoting Catholic Social Teaching and mobilizing the faithful of the diocese in three primary activities: prayer, faith formation, and public witness.
MISSION AND GOALS OF THE RESPECT LIFE MINISTRY
The Respect Life Ministry of the Diocese of Lexington, guided by our Bishop promotes the Catholic Church’s teaching on respect for and the legal protection of every human life from conception to natural death. It follows the USCCB’s Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities. The plan focuses on four major areas.
- Public Information and Education to deepen understanding of the sanctity of human life and the humanity of unborn children, the moral evil of intentionally killing innocent human beings—whether at the beginning of life or at its end—and the mission of the Church to witness to and serve all human life.
- Pastoral Care for women with problems related to pregnancy; for all who have been involved in abortion; for those who are disabled, sick, and dying, and their families and caregivers; for those who have lost loved ones to violent crime; and for those in prison sentenced to death.
- Public Policy efforts directed to restoring legal protection to the lives of unborn children and those vulnerable to pressures to end their lives by assisted suicide, and to providing morally acceptable alternatives to abortion and assisted suicide.
- Prayer and Worship directed to participation in the sacramental life of the Church and in programs of communal and individual prayer, that the culture of death that surrounds us today will be replaced by a culture of life and love.
The LGBTQ Outreach Commission leads the diocesan-wide effort of seeking, welcoming, accompanying, and ministering to the LGBT community in the Diocese of Lexington.
JR Zerkowski
Commission Chair
Links
Joshua van Cleef
Director of Peace and Justice
Phone: (859) 253-1993 ext. 1040
jvancleef@cdlex.org