Social Justice Ministry promotes the dignity of all human life, as we are all created in the image and likeness of God. Each person must be treated as such, both as individual persons and as members of a broader society.
As the Second Vatican Council proclaimed in the document Gaudium et Spes, paragraph 27:
In our times a special obligation binds us to make ourselves the neighbor of every person without exception and of actively helping him when he comes across our path, whether he be an old person abandoned by all, a foreign laborer unjustly looked down upon, a refugee, a child born of an unlawful union and wrongly suffering for a sin he did not commit, or a hungry person who disturbs our conscience by recalling the voice of the Lord, “As long as you did it for one of these the least of my brethren, you did it for me” (Matt. 25:40).
Social Justice ministry, therefore, seeks to protect and promote the intrinsic dignity of every human person through prayer, formation, and advocacy.
The Iowa Catholic Conference 2024 Legislative Priorities
The Iowa Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the bishops of Iowa. This organization advocates for policies that respect the life and dignity of the human person, as identified by our Catholic Social Teaching. To see a list of their 2024 Legislative priorities, please visit ICC 2024 Legislative Principles.