Background

Before we get started, we should all discuss what this project is (and is not).

Parish Action is a non-partisan project that empowers parishioners to work with civic leaders to make their communities a better place.

There's a need for Catholics to defend their rights and advocate for their interests in an increasingly secular society — sharing our voice from a faith perspective should be a part of the respectful discussion taking place in the public square.

This ministry could take many forms:

working with a municipality to install a crosswalk near a parish;
defending Catholic education at the provincial level;
advocating for conscience rights at the federal level;
or any number of other projects.

But Parish Action is not a partisan project. Members of Parish Action are welcome to be active participants in the partisan process. But, as a group, we will not campaign for a particular party or candidate. Nor will we buy party memberships en masse in an attempt to determine the outcome of a partisan convention or nomination. This is critical both for maintaining the archdiocese's charitable tax status and for respecting the democratic right of parishioners to support different parties as faithful Catholics.

Before you start working on a project (or if you would like to be part of Parish Action), please contact our office. We can help you plan, get in touch with the right people and offer any additional information that we may have. You can contact:

Mark Brosens
markb@archtoronto.org
416-934-3400 ext. 558

For more information, you can read this backgrounder on Parish Action.

And you can watch these two videos (which are also found in video learning playlist found under the "resources" tab):

Archdiocese of Toronto

Background