Speak out on gun violence

By Nancy Grogan

Since the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012, reports of daily gun violence continue.

The Philadelphia Police Department reported 530 shootings for the first six months of 2013, 92 of which were fatal. According to the Gun Crisis Reporting Project, by Jan. 19 there had already been 49 shootings this year in Philadelphia, 17 of which were fatal. Three men were killed and six other people wounded in one day, Jan. 17, including two teens who were shot inside their school.

The shooting deaths of 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook touched off a groundswell of calls for stricter gun laws, and a vigorous debate at the local, state, and federal levels. Leaders from diverse religious organizations, including the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths, have joined together to pray for an end to gun violence and to petition elected leaders to act. This collaboration is heartening, and yet, inexplicably, the Catholic hierarchy is conspicuously silent.

One of the more visible interfaith organizations in Philadelphia is Heeding God's Call, which regularly hosts vigils to pressure gun dealers to follow a code of conduct to deter illegal gun trafficking. Representatives of the Jewish and Islamic communities, the Society of Friends, and Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Mennonites take part. Individual Roman Catholic parishes have joined. Yet, curiously, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been absent.

The archdiocese operates schools, health-care facilities, and community outreach programs throughout the city. It has earned the right to speak out as a leading voice on moral issues in society. Regardless of whether one agrees with its positions, we must acknowledge the commitment of the Catholic hierarchy to speaking out on the moral issues it holds most dear. Against this backdrop, the silence of the archdiocese on gun violence is striking.

One of the principles of Catholic social teaching is the "preferential option for the poor." Yet, while the poorest members of Philadelphia suffer the daily wages of gun violence, the archdiocese remains silent. Moral leadership demands more.

As an active participant in the life of Philadelphia, the archdiocese cannot turn a blind eye to the violence that occurs almost literally at its doorstep. Last year, shootings occurred within a two-mile radius of the home of Archbishop Charles Chaput, at the 6000 block of Jefferson Street and at 58th and Master, and, most tragically, only one mile away, with the shooting of Overbrook High School student Bernard Scott. A recent shooting on City Line Avenue in Wynnefield took place less than two miles from St. Charles Seminary. Still, the archdiocese is silent.

The Newtown, Conn., families are making their voices heard, and we can hope that their efforts will eventually bring changes regarding the rights and obligations of gun ownership. The local Catholic leadership, however, cannot be content with simply hoping that some good will trickle down to the daily victims of gun violence in Philadelphia. Rather, it has an affirmative duty to these victims because they are our poor and gun violence is their daily reality.

Indeed, Pope Francis has recognized that poverty and violence are inextricably linked, and that our "trickle down" infrastructure is insufficient to satisfy our moral obligation to the poor. The poor of Philadelphia must be the priority of any institution that holds itself out as a voice of moral leadership, and what the poor of Philadelphia need right now are safer streets.

The archdiocese has an obligation to do everything in its power to cultivate a culture of responsibility toward guns. It must advocate for universal background checks, strict penalties for gun trafficking, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. By refusing to take a specific, strong, and direct position, the archdiocese has essentially aligned with the gun lobby and all of the policies and tactics it supports. Its silence demonstrates a political position, one that could appear to reflect a callous indifference to the suffering of so many who have lost a loved one to guns.

One might argue that politics are complex, that an organization as large and as multifaceted as the archdiocese must exercise caution regarding its image. The truth, however, is remarkably simple:

People are being killed every day - elderly people, innocent people, children - all because of the stranglehold the gun lobby has over our elected officials. The Catholic Church in Philadelphia needs to speak out, now, and add its influence to the pressure coming to bear on our representatives.