Special appeal
On a recent visit to CTA’s Portland Chapter, I had the opportunity to visit with two long time CTA members, Otto and Marietta Schlumpf.
Otto celebrated his first mass as an ordained Franciscan Priest on the first Sunday of Advent, 1967—the day the Vatican II liturgical changes offically took effect in the Catholic world. Vatican II was a turning point in Otto and Marietta’s life, as it was for most Catholics who were alive to remember it.
I am a young Catholic, and so can only read about John XXIII’s dramatic call for a council to reform the church.
But I know the feeling of longing for change—indeed I was drawn to CTA because of its legacy of working for justice despite historic, heavy, and hostile barriers. For me, the movement for black lives, climate change, LGBTQ rights, and economic justice all give me the same sense of hope and excitement that I hear older generations describe feeling for Vatican II.
I don’t mean that our hopes feel similar—I mean they feel the same. The settings of our lives are obviously different, but our aim and search for movements pregnant with potential for realizing justice is the same.
But Call To Action sits between the past 40 years of our work and the present struggles for change. This is an uncertain, but exciting position with enormous possibilities for our future.
Which is why we need your support right now.
It will fund new programs that frame the movements happening today as part of the unfinished work of Vatican II by activating, educating, and inspiring our members and their allies—but we need commitments to chart a path through this crossroad.
At one point during my visit, Otto asked if I thought his generation’s memories, hope, and commitment to work for the Vatican II changes would become irrelevant for my generation.
I said that I think not, because bridging this generational divide by interpreting our Vatican II Catholicism for the movements of justice happening today is the work of Call To Action.
Please make a gift today.
Prayers,
Zach Johnson
