Catholic
students meet to discuss Cleveland poverty
by M.R. Kropko, Associated Press
CLEVELAND - With a determination to do something to help alleviate poverty in the city rated as the nation's most impoverished, more than 900 high school students from throughout the Cleveland Roman Catholic Diocese met Friday to pray and talk about strategy.
The first-time poverty summit was organized by Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice, a social action group formed in 2002 by educators at high schools and colleges within the diocese of about 800,000 Catholics.
"We're just hoping that maybe today we can start something good," said 18-year-old St. Ignatius student Joe Tomin.
"My hope is to raise awareness," said Bridget Kent, 16, a Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin student. "I think kids can do a lot of things. We have clubs in our schools. We get involved in soup kitchens and food drives."
Two years ago, Bishop Anthony Pilla suggested that the new schools' social action group consider involving diocese high school students in a poverty summit. Pilla retired last year and was replaced by Richard Lennon, who had been auxiliary bishop of the Boston Archdiocese. Pilla, who now teaches at a seminary, and Lennon attended the summit. Of the 22 high schools in the diocese, 21 sent students.
Sister Kathleen Ryan, one of the event's organizers, said speakers in classroom sessions were asked to include people who could give firsthand experiences. Students met, among others, residents of a homeless shelter.
She said the school's summit in Cleveland will be discussed at the April convention of the National Catholic Educational Association in Baltimore.
On Aug. 29, Cleveland was ranked as the nation's poorest big city by the U.S. Census Bureau for the second time in three years. Detroit held the dubious distinction until the government's American Community Survey research put Cleveland back in the top rank with 32.4 percent of its approximately 450,000 people living below the poverty level.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's response then was that Cleveland's rate of poverty has been among the highest in the United States for many years and that the city needs to put together an appropriate anti-poverty plan.
Pilla said each school in the diocese tries to teach about social issues, such as poverty, within a religious context.
"But we have never really brought them all together like this," Pilla said. "Young people tend to be very idealistic and very dynamic, but they need to know it's going to take a lot of hard work. Having a lot of good will is only a part of it. They need to understand the complexities."