Action on Social Issues Urged by Mahony : Catholicism: Cardinal says church teachings should be used to help improve the quality of life in Los Angeles.

By RUSSELL CHANDLER

Nov. 30, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES RELIGION WRITER

On the day people paused to give thanks for their blessings, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony asked the 4 million Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to improve the quality of life by applying church teachings to social issues.

“Our faith calls us to serve those in need, to seek justice and to pursue peace in our families and communities, our nation and world,” Mahony said in his 5,300-word pastoral reflection, “Sharing Our Heritage in the Marketplace.”

The cardinal’s third pastoral letter since his elevation to cardinal in June announces the formation of a “legislative network” linking archdiocesan departments with the 283 parishes in the four-county archdiocese. The network’s purpose is to help church members become informed about and take action on “issues of human dignity,” particularly those “touching the poor and vulnerable,” Mahony said.

The network’s priority goal for 1992 will be voter registration. Each year a different area of specialization, coordinated by the Office of Peace and Justice, will be highlighted, according to William Rivera, the archdiocese’s communications director.

Mahony’s letter also said the archdiocese is “seeking ways to enable economic empowerment among the low-income community.” An economic development project will operate in concert with community agencies such as the United Neighborhoods Organization, the East Valleys Organization and the North County Community Project, Mahony said.

The pastoral was issued on Thanksgiving in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum” (Of New Things), published by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. It set forth Catholic social teaching by responding to injustices of the industrial revolution and strongly defending human worth and the rights of workers.

Mahony’s letter quoted Isaiah and said the biblical prophet’s familiar words about bringing “good news to the poor” raise central questions for the church in Los Angeles:

* “What does it mean to bring ‘good news to the poor’ in a community where gaps between rich and poor are growing?

* “What does it mean to bring ‘liberty to captives’ . . . where so many are imprisoned by drug and alcohol addiction, racial discrimination or gang violence?

* “How do we bring ‘new sight to the blind’ where too often prejudice and materialism, the thirst for power and pleasure, blind us to the dignity and rights of our sisters and brothers?

* “How are we called ‘to set the downtrodden free’ in a community still divided by racial and ethnic conflict, still haunted by hunger, homelessness and joblessness?”

Among issues of “urgent local concern,” Mahony cited “the sad reality of growing poverty among our children.”

A study by the nonprofit Children Now organization reported in June that children in Los Angeles County fared much worse than many of their peers in other parts of the state and nation on issues of health and welfare.

To respond to these critical needs, the cardinal said Catholics “need to build a community of faith where our social teaching is central, not fringe; where social ministry is integral, not optional; where social justice is the work of every believer and parish, not just the mission of a few committed people and committees.”