Mission

The Mission Team is entrusted with the promotion and advocacy of Catholic Charities of Louisville’s program outreach and programming as well as internal responsiveness to identity, spiritual welfare and support the agency who are dedicated to empowering a more caring society and a more peaceful world through justice education, advocacy, community development, and organizing. Our work is based on the call of the Gospel to work for the respect and dignity of all human life, the elimination of poverty, to speak out against injustice, and to promote the common good.

Catholic Social Teaching

The work of Catholic Charities Mission Team is deeply rooted in Catholic Social Teaching (CST). Often referred to as one of the best kept secrets of Catholicism, CST refers to a body of official writings issued by popes, bishops, and other prominent faith leaders throughout history.  We refer to the pillars of CST constantly in our work with CCLOU program staff, diocesan agencies, parishes, ministry partners and clients.

 
Our work both supports those program staff who provide client services and moves beyond direct services to include support of internal Catholic Identity and external coalition building and networking.  Our advocacy-based agenda focuses on improving outcomes for the people we serve by building, strengthening and broadening external partnerships. 
 
*Call to family, community participation—we act in this by constantly encouraging the formation of volunteer opportunities and the fostering of relationships with individual and group volunteers. 
 
*Solidarity is highlighted in the way we connect through teaching, preaching and engagement, the threads of humanity and human dignity that bind us all together, in spite of the numerous places we come from.  

Impact

“One of my favorite parts of my job is speaking to school kids about the work we do and why we do it. Normally my age range for presentations are 6th grade to seniors in high school. Younger kids can be a challenge because our work and why we do it can be a heavy topic for them to understand. But when I was asked to speak to the 2nd graders at Our Lady of Lourdes school, I decided to take the challenge head on and take a new direction with a new presentation.

I began my presentation by asking the kids fun questions to loosen them up, “What is your favorite sport?” “What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?” and then I asked a tougher question, “What is Catholic Social Teaching?” Their eyes got big and unsure. I quickly assured them that, “they won’t know the right answer quite yet, but to try their best.” One brave kid raised their hand and simply said, “God.” I enthusiastically responded, “Yes! And what does God tell us to do?” It was amazing to watch the kids build on that response to form the understanding that CST is ultimately living out the call of God to be kind and take care of each other. I took away such joy knowing that even though these kids were young, they understood why we should help people and that they can help us, Catholic Charities of Louisville, do just that in their community.”

-Peyton Rhea, Parish and Schools Engagement Coordinator

Facts and Figures

We are a very small team with limited resources, but we accomplish a great deal.  Amazingly, during the last fiscal year, we assisted in coordinating 16,680 volunteer hours, with 384 active volunteers this year.  There have been 13 Refugee Simulations presented this year.  Over 60 parishes and schools were visited, with over 120 additional meetings, 8 Regional Pastor/Administrator gatherings, 15 presentations, and over 30 Masses/preaching weekends throughout the Archdiocese.

Patron Saint

St. Gabriel is an angel who serves as a messenger for God to certain people. He is one of the three archangels. Gabriel is mentioned in both the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible. Gabriel is recognized as the patron saint of messengers, telecommunication workers, and postal workers.