Convention for Common Good held in Philadelphia
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
PHILADELPHIA — It was billed as the Convention for the Common Good, and it brought 800 women and men July 11-13 to Philadelphia to discuss and ratify a political platform this election year based on Catholic social teaching.
The convention, held at the Sheraton Philadelphia Center City Hotel, was convened by Washington-based Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice organization.
The platform, which was hammered out through input from local meetings around the country, was built on the words of the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
Another resource was the U.S. Bishops’ election year document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” which was distributed to the delegates in condensed form.
The message the convention was trying to project was an understanding of the common good as love of neighbor and caring for each other as ourselves, explained Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.
“Our society suffers when the most vulnerable suffer; from the unborn to the elderly, to those without health care, to those on death row, to those with disabilities,” she said. “We have to create a culture where everybody is treated with a dignity that all human life requires and demands.”
The platform presented to the delegates reflected many, but not all, of the same concerns as did the bishops’ document — life issues, immigration reform, more inclusive health care, limits on military intervention, poverty eradication.
There were nuances in the convention’s platform. For example, the Bishops in their Faithful Citizenship document say, “Abortion, the deliberate killing of a human being before birth, is never morally acceptable and must always be opposed.” It also states “…our nation’s continued reliance on the death penalty cannot be justified.”
The Common Good platform seemingly downplayed the abortion issue but not the death penalty in its short “To Protect Life” plank:
•“Promote policies that prevent and reduce abortions by supporting women and families. Ensure robust alternatives to abortion, including adoption.
•Abolish the death penalty.”
Later during the platform approval session, a proposed amendment to the Protect Life plank was read to the delegates but not included in the document voted upon. This called for “a support of a ban of late-term abortions with a well-defined exception of the physical health of the mother.”
When asked to comment on the relatively mild abortion stance of the platform in contrast to the death penalty stance, Kelley said, “We are all pro-life. We are all committed to building a culture of life and challenging our officials to lift the culture of life and the common good.”
She noted the Pro-Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania was one of the exhibitors at the convention. “We are delighted to have them,” she said.
Indeed, the Pro-Life Union did have a booth, and distributed literature including pamphlets concerning presidential candidate Barack Obama’s pro-abortion voting record, just as another booth was offering pro-Obama literature.
Most of those who visited the pro-life booth were noncommittal. Some objected to the anti-Obama literature and one man vehemently argued with Pro-Life Union executive director Edel Finnegan that a fetus was not a baby. Other people spoke up in support of life.
An Obama campaign worker at the convention appealed to the organizers to have the anti-Obama pamphlet removed, but they declined to do so.
The convention itself was carefully non-partisan. All of the official literature gave both Obama and John McCain equal coverage. Both candidates were invited; neither came but Obama sent a congratulatory video that mentioned he was partly funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development when he was a Chicago community organizer.
Democratic Senator Bob Casey made a first-day appearance; Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who is ill, sent a video.
Former Philadelphia Congressman Charles Dougherty was the sole Republican to come before the mostly Democratic gathering. He was given a courteous reception and was applauded when he emphatically declared that as a Catholic he was absolutely opposed to abortion.
“The pro-life issue did not seem to be a priority with the people at the convention but I thought I got a very nice reception,” Dougherty said afterwards.
Another highlight of the gathering was a Sunday talk by St. Joseph Sister Helen Prejean, the country’s foremost death penalty opponent. She credited changing American attitudes on capital punishment to exonerations through DNA evidence and changing Catholic attitudes to statements by Pope John Paul II that condemned use of the death penalty.
The collection from the convention’s Saturday night liturgy was donated to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.