Besides advocating for your position with elected officials, become an advocate with others, including family members, friends, and associates; corporations; and the Church.
Family members, friends, and associates
Talk with family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, members of other groups you’re involved in, etc. about issues of concern to you. Help educate them and encourage them to get involved in addressing the issues. Use in-person conversations, phone calls, emails, and social media messaging to provide relevant information, point them to reliable sources, invite them to meetings or educational events, and ask them to join you in advocacy efforts.
Corporations
Many of the advocacy tools used to communicate with elected officials can work with corporations as well, particularly as part of a coordinated campaign involving many other advocates. These tools include well-focused petitions, social media messaging (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), letters, emails, and letters to the editor. Phone calls and visits to the corporation’s offices are less likely to be effective; and of course, corporations don’t hold town hall meetings. Corporations are sensitive to how they’re viewed by their customers and shareholders, so direct lobbying of a corporation may need to be backed up by advocacy directed at its public image.
Other tools available for influencing corporations include public awareness campaigns to change customers’ purchasing decisions; boycotts and divestment campaigns in appropriate cases; and bringing corporate behavior to the attention of regulatory agencies and lawmakers.
The Church
Sometimes our Church is at the vanguard of education and advocacy campaigns, and other times it needs to be encouraged to do more. Often we have great resources to draw on from Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching (CST), and statements from the Pope and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); but the information and urgency for action may not have filtered down to the diocesan and parish levels.
According to the Code of Canon Law, Can. 212,
§2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their
desires.
§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to
manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known
to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and
attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.
Hence, appropriate forms of advocacy within the Church could include letters or emails to the USCCB or one’s own bishop or pastor, meetings with them or their staffs, social media messaging (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), and letters to the editors of Catholic publications. We can also join with others who are working both within the Church and in the public sphere to advance policies consistent with CST, such as the Catholic Climate Covenant and Franciscan Action Network.
The Bishops of Arlington and Richmond have formed the Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) to represent them and their dioceses in advocacy before the Virginia General Assembly, the U.S. Congress, and state and federal agencies. We can join in their public advocacy efforts, and we can also be advocates to the VCC for issues we’d like them to include in their agenda. Similarly, the Diocese of Arlington has a Peace and Justice Commission, which mainly presents educational programs within the Diocese relating to CST. We can encourage the Commission to focus on issues of concern to us, and suggest speakers and resources for its programs.
Return to the Advocacy 101 page to explore other tools for advocacy.
Family members, friends, and associates
Talk with family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, members of other groups you’re involved in, etc. about issues of concern to you. Help educate them and encourage them to get involved in addressing the issues. Use in-person conversations, phone calls, emails, and social media messaging to provide relevant information, point them to reliable sources, invite them to meetings or educational events, and ask them to join you in advocacy efforts.
Corporations
Many of the advocacy tools used to communicate with elected officials can work with corporations as well, particularly as part of a coordinated campaign involving many other advocates. These tools include well-focused petitions, social media messaging (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), letters, emails, and letters to the editor. Phone calls and visits to the corporation’s offices are less likely to be effective; and of course, corporations don’t hold town hall meetings. Corporations are sensitive to how they’re viewed by their customers and shareholders, so direct lobbying of a corporation may need to be backed up by advocacy directed at its public image.
Other tools available for influencing corporations include public awareness campaigns to change customers’ purchasing decisions; boycotts and divestment campaigns in appropriate cases; and bringing corporate behavior to the attention of regulatory agencies and lawmakers.
The Church
Sometimes our Church is at the vanguard of education and advocacy campaigns, and other times it needs to be encouraged to do more. Often we have great resources to draw on from Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching (CST), and statements from the Pope and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); but the information and urgency for action may not have filtered down to the diocesan and parish levels.
According to the Code of Canon Law, Can. 212,
§2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their
desires.
§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to
manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known
to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and
attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.
Hence, appropriate forms of advocacy within the Church could include letters or emails to the USCCB or one’s own bishop or pastor, meetings with them or their staffs, social media messaging (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), and letters to the editors of Catholic publications. We can also join with others who are working both within the Church and in the public sphere to advance policies consistent with CST, such as the Catholic Climate Covenant and Franciscan Action Network.
The Bishops of Arlington and Richmond have formed the Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) to represent them and their dioceses in advocacy before the Virginia General Assembly, the U.S. Congress, and state and federal agencies. We can join in their public advocacy efforts, and we can also be advocates to the VCC for issues we’d like them to include in their agenda. Similarly, the Diocese of Arlington has a Peace and Justice Commission, which mainly presents educational programs within the Diocese relating to CST. We can encourage the Commission to focus on issues of concern to us, and suggest speakers and resources for its programs.
Return to the Advocacy 101 page to explore other tools for advocacy.