The Twin Parish Project

     Titles can be deceiving. This scholarly history of charitable activity in the United States might seem boring and obscure. I assure you this book is a fascinating anecdotal presentation of an aspect of the Church about which each of us has some familiarity, yet very little is written. This is much more than a collection of stories of charitable efforts. Sr. Mary makes insightful observations about the direction of projects in the Church that may have arisen as an authentic response to God’s call to care for the less fortunate, but in time have become lost in bureaucracy. She makes a daring and prophetic statement about today’s Church and presents a practical and easy to understand ecclesiology that would bring us back on course. This is no small task! 
     With little else to lend me on his shelves in rural Bolivia, Fr. Tom encouraged me to give a glance at his own sister’s book. I began to read it just to be kind to my host. Once I got into it, I could see how it has shaped his ministry and could feel it changing mine as well! I’m thankful to have read it, and I think it deserves a place among works that give direction to the Church of our present day.
     The origins of philanthropic activity in the Catholic community in the United States are to be found in small parish organisations and communities of religious sisters. The act of giving has always been a vital part of God’s call to the Christian community. The first efforts to answer that call were a close approximation of the works of the Early Church. Local people sought to match the present needs with their talents and resources. There was a direct and personal connection between the giver and the recipient.
     As would be wise in the administration of a business, centralisation came next. Eager to support and expand successful programmes, bishops often called for a central office to administer charitable works. Programmes were copied and sent to new areas. Parishes began to be taxed and diocesan fundraising schemes were set up to improve their sources of funding. In doing so, the Church began to act like more an institution and less like a family. The Sister’s book demonstrates that where the Church has centralised and expanded charitable operations, there has actually been a reduction in the amount of money dedicated to helping the needy, when the figures are adjusted to account for inflation!

     Administrative overhead is partly to blame, but levels of giving are demonstrated to depend upon a personal link between the givers and the recipients. Where that connection is weakened, so is the amount of support.
     The solution is a rediscovery of the Gospel mission to care for one another as brothers and sisters. Some relief efforts, such as the tsunami recovery, may prove to be an exception to the rule for requiring a large and well-organised administrative infrastructure. The charity that is a vital part of our daily Christian duty is purer when there is a personal connection between the giver and the recipient, and not an instutional connection. “Small is beautiful,” writes E.F. Schumacher. Sr. Mary Oates takes Schumacher’s economic wisdom a step further in calling our Church to resurrect a vital element of our vocation from which our modern approach to philanthropy has left us feeling sadly detached. To appreciate the spiritual significance of a personal connection in philanthropy opens our eyes to the joy of giving and helps our hearts to meet all needs.