Just Politics

The Just Politics podcast, a collaboration between NETWORK and U.S. Catholic magazine, will return for a third season on September 11, 2023. This new season will focus on democracy—the threats it faces, specifically, white supremacy and Christian nationalism; its promise; and how people can work to preserve, protect, and expand it.

Launched in 2022, Just Politics is hosted by Colin Martinez Longmore, NETWORK communication and social media coordinator; Joan F. Neal, NETWORK deputy executive director and chief equity officer; and Sister of the Humility of Mary Eilis McCulloh, NETWORK grassroots education and organizing specialist.

"Democracy is one of the most important topics we can be talking about right now. I live in Ohio, and we just went through Issue 1, which was a ballot initiative that threatened to take away the idea of one person, one vote. It terrified me to know that some people really do not understand that democracy, the rule of our country, is hanging by a thread," McColluh says.

"This is not just a hypothetical or theoretical conversation. The threat is real. Our democracy is at a crossroads. People have been and will be hurt because this is about power, who has it and who hasn't, who wields it and who doesn't, and whose will, rights, lives, and values rule the day and whose don't," Neal says. "We are talking about democracy with Catholics right now because Catholics have been the swing vote in the last few national elections. To preserve, protect and expand our democracy, we can vote with an informed conscience—concerned not just with one issue but with a holistic understanding of the common good."

Season 3 of Just Politics will also highlight the good work of pro-democracy advocates, the spiritual nourishment necessary to sustain this work, and the hope for democracy that our faith cultivates.

"How can our faith speak into this moment? I often hear messages coming from parishes and certain church leaders about a society that I don't see myself in, or that doesn't take my family and community into account," Martinez Longmore says. "I want to find a space and other people talking about how our faith can speak into a multicultural and inclusive society. We have the opportunity to talk to people who see that vision and work for it, and to uplift that picture, so people know it does exist."

Just Politics can be found on the U.S. Catholic website as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and several other platforms. Listeners can subscribe, sign up for email updates, and find additional reading at www.uscatholic.org/justpolitics and join the conversation about #JustPoliticsPod on social media.

###

NETWORK—advocates for justice inspired by Catholic Sisters—educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. With a 50-year record of accomplishment and more than 100,000 supporters across the country, NETWORK lobbies for federal programs and policies that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org

U.S. Catholic magazine puts faith in the context of everyday life, with a strong focus on social justice. Since 1935, U.S. Catholic has been a courageous, forward-thinking forum for discussion among a broad range of voices. U.S. Catholic is published by the Claretian Missionaries, a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to seeing the world through the eyes of the poor and to improving the world from these same communities. www.uscatholic.org

Are we on the path to a more just politics and equitable world? If we are, women are going to lead us there. It's the finale of Just Politics' second season, and we celebrate with our first crossover episode as the hosts of the Beyond the Habit podcast—Sisters of St. Joseph Erin McDonald and Colleen Gibson—join us for a wide-ranging discussion of the place of justice in the evolving role of women in the Catholic Church. We conclude our episode with a conversation with an exciting and emerging voice for justice who embodies women leading in politics: Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas.

You can learn more about this episode's guests in the links below.

Check out the Beyond the Habit podcast. https://beyondthehabitpod.com/

Learn more about Rep. Veronica Escobar. https://escobar.house.gov/

Read Rep. Escobar's essay on the need for Catholics to participate in protecting democracy. https://networklobby.org/01062022democracy/

Read more about the ongoing synod process in the Catholic Church. https://uscatholic.org/articles/202209/can-you-hear-us-a-look-at-the-ongoing-synod/

Just Politics is sponsored by St. Jude League Community Development. https://stjudeleague.org/

As Tax Day approaches, we look at the hazards of extreme wealth disparity. In his State of the Union address this year, President Biden called for the passage of the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act, saying that billionaires shouldn't pay less in taxes than teachers and firefighters. But that injustice is only one datapoint in a decades-long trend of ever-widening inequality between the wealthiest people and everyone else. In this episode, Sarah Christopherson, legislative and policy director for Americans for Tax Fairness, discusses the ill effects and ongoing risks to society posed by a small group of individuals having the raw purchasing power to buy elections, social media platforms, and even the Supreme Court. And Kate Ward, an assistant professor of Christian ethics at Marquette University, lays out why Catholic social teaching opposes stratospheric wealth inequality, citing a moral tradition that stretches all the way from the Hebrew Scriptures to Pope Francis. She also offers her view on the kind of just tax code the church's social teaching would support.

You can learn more about tax justice, wealth disparity, and our guests in the links below.

NETWORK's Tax Justice for All resource https://networklobby.org/taxjusticeforall/

Pew Research data on the growth of wealth disparity in the United States https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/psdt_01-10-20_economic-inequality_1-4/

More on the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8558

More on Sarah Christopherson and Americans for Tax Fairness https://americansfortaxfairness.org/about/

More on Kate Ward https://www.marquette.edu/theology/directory/kate-ward.php

Just Politics is sponsored by St. Jude League Community Development. https://stjudeleague.org/

Holy Week is a time for pondering the deepest mysteries of the Christian faith, especially how in the betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the mission of the Son of God on earth was fulfilled. Confronting the ugly political realities in the United States today can spark the question for people of faith: Where is God in all of this? In this episode, Laura Peralta-Schulte, NETWORK's senior director of public policy and government relations, lays out the current threats posed by proposed cuts to Medicaid, housing, and nutrition programs. She explains how balancing the federal budget should not involve cutting vital human needs programs that serve millions of people in the United States, especially in Black communities. And NETWORK executive director Mary J. Novak returns to the podcast for a Holy Week dialogue with Bishop John Stowe, O.F.M. Conv. of Lexington, Kentucky. The two delve into the depths of Holy Week and Catholic spirituality to unearth lessons—and even the hope—that this season can offer a divided political landscape today.

You can learn more about this episode's guests in the links below.

Learn about NETWORK's Thriving Communities campaign https://networklobby.org/thrivingcommunities

More on Mary J. Novak, NETWORK executive director https://networklobby.org/marynovakbio/

More on Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv. https://cdlex.org/bishop-john-stowe-ofm-conv/

More on Laura Peralta-Schulte https://networklobby.org/staff/LauraPeraltaSchulte/

Just Politics is sponsored by St. Jude League Community Development. https://stjudeleague.org/

The 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act—March 23—is a time to reflect on the significant legacy of Catholic sisters in helping people in the United States get access to quality, affordable health care. The Rev. Jen Butler, founder of Faith in Public Life, reflects on the legacy of Sister Catherine Pinkerton, C.S.J., who worked as a lobbyist at NETWORK for 24 years. Going back into the 1990s, Sister Catherine worked diligently to lay the groundwork for health care reform, which was finally realized when President Barack Obama signed this landmark law in 2010. But the work is far from done in the United States to ensure what Catholic social teaching calls for: a just, equitable, affordable health care system for everyone. NETWORK board chair Rachelle Reyes Wenger shares her perspective working as a health care system administrator on the issues that remain, especially disparities along racial and economic lines.

You can learn more about our guests and health care in the United States in these links.

A profile of Sister Catherine Pinkerton: https://networklobby.org/catherine-pinkertons-sister-spirt-legacy/

More on the Rev. Jen Butler, founder of Faith in Public Life: https://www.faithinpubliclife.org/profiles/rev-jennifer-butler/

NETWORK's statement from the first anniversary of the Affordable Care Act: https://networklobby.org/news/20110322healthcare/

More on Rachelle Reyes Wenger, NETWORK board chair: https://networklobby.org/board_members/rachellereyeswenger/

Background on the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act: https://networklobby.org/04142021momnibus/

Just Politics is sponsored by St. Jude League Community Development. https://stjudeleague.org/

March 13 is the 10th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. In this episode we explore the threads of the pope's identity—the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope, the first pope named Francis—and unpack what they mean for his leadership of the Catholic Church.

In Just Politics' first interview with a Vatican official, Emilce Cuda, a lay woman theologian from the pope's home country of Argentina and co-secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, shares her perspective on the richness of integral ecology, the pope's teaching on the interconnectedness of all creation. This is most famously realized in Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si' (On Care for Our Common Home), but he has also applied it to other areas such as politics and all human relationships.

In this episode, we also hear from School Sister of St. Francis Maureen Jerkowski, Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Mary Catherine Rice, and Brenna Davis, director of integral ecology at the Ignatian Solidarity Network, to unpack how this teaching challenges people in the United States today. The conversation draws on their respective work in justice for immigrants, climate justice, racial justice, economic justice, and the links between them.

You can learn more about our guests, integral ecology, and Pope Francis in the links below.

More background on Emilce Cuda https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/meet-emilce-cuda-pope-francis-catholic-social-teaching-expert-vatican

Read how to get involved in the Laudato Si' Action Platform https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/

Learn more about the Ignatian Solidarity Network https://ignatiansolidarity.net/

Catholic Sisters Week is March 8-14 https://catholicsistersweek.org/

Pope Francis' encyclical on integral ecology, Laudato Si' (On Care for Our Common Home) https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

Just Politics is sponsored by St. Jude League Community Development. https://stjudeleague.org/

Do Presidents' Day and Ash Wednesday have any connection beyond their close proximity on the calendar this year?

It turns out that reflecting on the history of the United States through the lens of the legacies of 46 presidents can be a helpful tool in preparing for the penitential journey of Lent. Taking into account slavery, Jim Crow, Native American genocide, and other issues, this history raises the question of what individual people in the United States can do to reconcile these harms with a country they love and call home.

It's helpful to remember that Lent is a communal exercise, not merely an act of individual self-improvement. God calls on everyone to name the sins of the whole community, confront them, and ultimately make acts of reparation.

In this episode, Sister EIlis speaks with Saint Joseph of Peace Sister Susan Francois about the importance of engaging in communal journeys of repentance. Sister Susan caused a stir back in 2018 when she began tweeting daily prayers at then-President Donald Trump. Joan and Colin dig deeper into Presidents' Day by asking Meghan Clark, associate professor of moral theology at St. John's University in New York City, about the troubled legacies of U.S. presidents. When the lens is Catholic social justice, even the most accomplished leaders cast dark shadows in places.

You can learn more about our guests in the links below.

Additional background on Sister Susan Francois tweeting at President Trump https://www.npr.org/2018/12/16/677252495/the-catholic-nun-who-tweets-a-daily-prayer-to-president-trump

Information on the 1919 Bishops' Program for Social Reconstruction, the documents that would serve as a blueprint for the New Deal https://cuomeka.wrlc.org/exhibits/show/bishops/background/1919-bishops-reconstruction

Other writings by Meghan Clark https://uscatholic.org/authors/meghan-j-clark/

Just Politics is sponsored by St. Jude League Community Development. https://stjudeleague.org

What does it mean to respond seriously to great harm? What if that harm stretches over centuries, from slavery and the Jim Crow era down to the persistent racist injustices and iniquities of the present day?

Catholics and many other justice-seekers believe in reparatory justice as a way to move toward reconciliation and healing. Reparatory justice demands honest reckoning with past and ongoing harms and requires action to repair them. But this process involves painful exploration of the past as well as a lot of waiting. For instance, H.R.40, the bill that would create a commission to study the question of reparations for Black Americans, was introduced in 1989 and has not received a floor vote in Congress. Many people don't grasp the need for reparatory justice, often noting that slavery was abolished over 150 years ago and that the progress of the civil rights era righted the scales of justice.

This episode explores how the evil of racism compounds from generation to generation and how its impacts are fully on display in both public policy and the lives of Black and brown communities in the United States. Sister of Mercy Cora Marie Billings, a founder of the National Black Sisters' Conference, reflects on her own family's history with slavery and the Catholic Church. Deacon Sia Kamara Barbara of the United Church of Christ shares her experiences and how they led to her foundational role in the National Head Start program. And Jarrett Smith of NETWORK Government Relations describes the current prospects for getting federal action on reparations.

You can learn more about reparatory justice, H.R. 40, and this episodes guests in the links below.

Video reflection from Sister of Mercy Cora Marie Billings: https://networklobby.org/black-sisters-testify-the-real-work-of-belonging/

H.R. 40, which would establish a commission to study reparations for Black Americans, is introduced in the new Congress: https://networklobby.org/hr40-re-introduced-in-the-118th-congress/

Join NETWORK's Community Conversation for President Biden's State of the Union address on February 7: https://www.mobilize.us/network/event/548802/

A wider look at the great need for reparatory justice as a response to racism:https://networklobby.org/racism-reconciliation-and-repair/

More information on the racial wealth and income gap:https://networkadvocates.org/recommittoracialjustice/perpetuating/

Listen to the full-length interview with Deacon Sia Kamara: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/ESXhZyrHIxC03U_wL0clqLxGqwS5fKrCNiV911pcc-hW1tqXfgAHiuub_ruRrqDT2c0Iw4bY4xqGRurz.QCkN-Ug9dmjog95q

People of faith believe God is at work in the world around us. But this can be hard to see, given the state of politics in the United States, especially when religious leaders often seem fixated on all the wrong issues, and many faith communities appear reluctant to address political issues at all.

The Just Politics podcast is dedicated to asking the hard questions and taking on the most pressing issues, in light of the conviction that a more just society is a real possibility, not simply an idealistic dream. In the first season of the podcast, our hosts tackled such questions as: What does it mean to be truly pro-family? How do we effectively confront racism and white supremacy? How should Catholics respond to the rise of white Christian nationalism? And how can fidelity to gospel values and Catholic social teaching guide us as we strive to engage with these issues as good citizens?

Now Just Politics is back for a second season, with the first episode dropping on February 6 and new episodes every two weeks until May 1. Engaged citizens seeking concrete solutions to our nation's problems, and Catholics wondering how best to put our faith into practice in civil society, can tune in to hear our hosts and guests discuss issues such as health care access, reparatory justice, economic equity, and the need for women's leadership.

A better kind of politics is possible. We just need to find the tools to make it a reality.

Just Politics is a collaboration between U.S. Catholic and NETWORK Lobby. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Advent challenges us to better prepare ourselves for the arrival of Jesus in our world. And this call to transformation resonates especially with the issue of immigration in the United States. Immigration reform has long eluded advocates seeking better policies for how the United States responds to the needs of more than 10 million people in the country without legal status, as well as the many people seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. Rep. Norma Torres of California discusses H.R. 8433, a bill that would use a small update in current immigration law to create transformative change in the lives of many people. And Sister Tracey Horan, S.P. shares her experiences ministering to people through the Kino Border Initiative.

You can learn more about immigration policy, the Kino Border Initiative, and this episode's guests in these links.

Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8433

NETWORK's support for updating the immigration registry date https://networklobby.org/news/catholic-lobby-backs-updating-immigration-provisions-of-the-immigration-act/

Biography of Rep. Norma Torres https://torres.house.gov/about/full-biography

Kino Border Initiative https://www.kinoborderinitiative.org/

Biography of Sister Tracey Horan, S.P. https://spsmw.org/sister-profile/tracey-horan/

NETWORK's advocacy against Title 42 https://networklobby.org/news/80-catholic-sisters-and-activists-hold-prayer-vigil-outside-white-house-calling-on-president-biden-to-rescind-title-42-and-end-mpp/

Just Politics is sponsored by Loyola Press. https://www.loyolapress.com/