[Important Update 5/22/12: I was grateful to be informed by Roger Playwin, Executive Director of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in the United States, that the Society has not used the LCWR’s “Systems Thinking Handbook.” He says that the Society’s sources regarding “systemic change” include the Gospels, teachings of the Church “starting with Rerum Novarum” through more recent writings of the Popes, writings of the Founders, the Society’s International Rule especially “Part !:Section 7”, Call to Systemic Change by Fr. Gregory Gay, CM, Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission founded by St Vincent de Paul, and the Vincentian Family international Commission, chaired by Fr Robert Maloney, CM, the Order’s former Superior General and author of the book Seeds of Hope. Thank you Mr Playwin.
I am sorry if I misled anyone or caused anyone to think less of the Society of St Vincent de Paul through my public questioning regarding whether SVDP has been influenced by the LCWR “Handbook” which the CDF required to be withdrawn.
Both the Handbook and the “systemic change” materials actually used by the Society originate within the extended Vincentian family of consecrated religious. Mr Playwin did not comment on the LCWR Handbook being promoted on the FamVin Vincentian family website May 3rd (though he would not have had control over this). He did not comment either on my central concerns that the Society needs to integrate Catholic doctrine on the right to life, marriage and sexual morality, adequately in their understanding of systemic change, because these things are utterly integral to the “system”. Poverty reduction via immoral means of population control, for instance, is not at all social justice, and must not be ignored by any Catholics, but vigorously opposed.]
I am concerned that the national leadership of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in the United States may be strongly influenced today by a publication of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which was specially highlighted as seriously problematic by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in its recent doctrinal review of the LCWR. This “Systems Thinking Handbook” was mandated to be taken out of circulation and revised in keeping with Catholic doctrine. This revision is undoubtedly going to include integrating rightly with other social justice concerns, sanctity of life, marriage and sexual morality–which the LCWR had excluded from their concerns.
The national leaders of the Society, particularly President Sheila Gilbert, talk continually and insistently today about “systemic change,” a buzzword that meant nothing to me till I read the LCWR doctrinal review report, and I am going to show the evidence that leads me to believe the source of this SVDP thinking is probably actually the LCWR.
The LCWR “Systems Thinking Handbook” was written by a member of the “Vincentian family” (ie, the lay Society of SVDP and also Vincentian religious sisters and priests), Sister of Charity, Sr. Gertrude Foley, S.C. And a post promoting Sr. Gertrude and the “Handbook” was just posted on the “FamVin” Vincentian family website on May 3rd, after they were probably or certainly aware this book had been mandated by the April 18th CDF report to be “withdrawn from circulation pending revision” due to doctrinal inadequacies.
So here is what I have found.
I’m a member of the Society, and on March 7th my SVDP National email newsletter landed in my inbox with a link to a Youtube video by the incoming president, Sheila Gilbert, about her vision for the direction the Society would be taking. It was titled, “End Poverty Through Systemic Change.” I watched it and although some aspects sounded good, I have to say it also struck me strangely. Here it is from YouTube, and for ease of discussion I’ve transcribed it below in its entirety so you can see what she said, and I won’t be distorting her message by quoting just bits of it.
I’m Sheila Gilbert, National President of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. I want to spend a few minutes to share with you my vision for the Society. That vision is: end poverty through systemic change. Why this vision? Because I don’t believe that God looks at any child and says: “you will have no future. You will live and struggle all your life, and never achieve your dreams. You will die feeling that you failed.”
But if that is not God’s will, why is that the reality we see so often around us? Poverty is created and maintained by choices. Choices made by individuals, by institutions, by communities, and by our nation. The good news is that by making different choices, we can create a decent and happy life for all people, for which we constantly pray.
How will we go about helping those we serve, our communities, and our country to make new choices, to think and act in ways that create prosperity for all? I believe the answer lies in systemic change.
By first changing our own attitudes, then changing the way we relate to those whom we serve, and finally working in our local communities and at the national level to change the systems and the policies which keep so many in poverty. Change is never easy. Each of us as Vincentians works long and hard to bring relief to those who suffer, to meet their most pressing needs, to help them survive another day. The help we give is valuable. In fact, sometimes it is all that stands between an individual and complete despair.
And we know that the need is growing, growing to the point where we and our resources are strained to the limit.We also realize that as important as that help is, it is only a band-aid, a temporary fix and not a solution. We, and the people we serve, must move beyond survive to thrive, to see every person we serve as a mountain of potential, and a store of assets that can be tapped for themselves and their communities. It is time to commit ourselves to walk the journey out of poverty for those we serve, it is time to move beyond just our own work and our own way, to involvement in our community with others who share our concern for the dignity of all life and want to see meaningful opportunity for all. It is time for new approaches, new attitudes, and new actions.
I believe that divine providence is guiding this vision. With faith in God we can walk into a future that is brighter. As Vincentians we serve in hope, a hope that is based on faith in God to do what we cannot do alone. I invite each of you to commit your council, your conference and yourselves to walk the journey out of poverty with and for those we serve.
Our next step in this journey is to update the Society’s strategic plan for the next 5 years. That plan will focus on ending poverty through systemic change. It will outline new and different objectives for the Society and for each Vincentian. Together, united in prayer and action, we can make this vision a reality. May God continue to bless your work and your lives.
To me it seemed vague. The Society’s focus is on corporal works of mercy and direct service to the poor; what did this “systemic change” buzzword signify, that everyone at every level of the Society was supposed to commit to? And I was startled by Gilbert’s idea that poverty simply means hopelessness and indignity and not even having a future. Yes let’s help people out of poverty! But, “The poor are the treasure of the Church,” and “the poor you have with you always”. We are not literally going to end all poverty through making different choices, not in this present world.
About 3 weeks later, I read something that put a much sharper point on my unease about what was going on with the Society. On April 18th the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was released. I wouldn’t have guessed that this had any connection with that video or SVDP, but that document began to make that buzzword mean something for me:
The program for new Superiors and Formators of member Communities and other resources provided to these Communities is an area in which the LCWR exercises an influence. The Doctrinal Assessment found that many of the materials prepared by the LCWR for these purposes (Occasional Papers, Systems Thinking Handbook) do not have a sufficient doctrinal foundation. …
And this book was a key item in the mandate of actions that had to be taken as a result of the Doctrinal Assessment findings:
The mandate of the Delegate [Archbishop Sartain, of Seattle, was appointed to this role of assisting the LCWR’s reform] is to include the following:
[…]
2) To review LCWR plans and programs, including General Assemblies and publications, to ensure that the scope of the LCWR’s mission is fulfilled in accord with Church teachings and discipline. In particular:
– Systems Thinking Handbook will be withdrawn from circulation pending revision
This passage is also important to understanding one of the aspects of why the “Systems Thinking Handbook” is problematic:
The documentation reveals that, while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States. Further, issues of crucial importance to the life of Church and society, such as the Church’s Biblical view of family life and human sexuality, are not part of the LCWR agenda in a way that promotes Church teaching.
A little googling showed that the Systems Thinking Handbook was downloadable from the LCWR website and is also called “An Invitation to Systems Thinking: An Opportunity to Act for Systemic Change.” Aha, systemic change.
I did some more searching and much of what there was written about “systemic change” pointed back to the LCWR and the “Systems Thinking Handbook.” It also seemed to be the same sort of thinking as what Sheila Gilbert described.
It seemed apparent that “Systemic Change” was to be the new guiding principle for the Society of St Vincent de Paul. For instance, in the March, 2012 email newsletter, Chief Executive Officer Roger Playwin had written:
President, Sheila Gilbert has developed a new theme, which will become our call to action: “End Poverty Through Systemic Change.” In turn, she has appointed Goal Leaders for each of the six goals of our Strategic Plan. They have been working diligently with Vincentians across the country to enhance the Strategic Plan, and they will preview their new action steps at the Midyear Meeting. [this was held April 18-21]
And today, May 15, another email, by Bob Ehly, National Assembly Chair, described the focus of the SVDP National Meeting, to be held in Seattle, August 29-September 1:
Our thought-provoking agenda has “servant leadership” and “systemic change” as the two key centerpieces of our discussions. These sessions are very important because they are the critical drivers of the Society’s long-range strategic plan. And there are several plenary sessions with Sheila Gilbert, the National President of SVdP.
I again ran a search… aha. The English language section of the FamVin.org International Vincentian Family website for both the Vincentian family of consecrated religious and lay SVDP members, has a sort of blog, and on May 3rd, there was this post:
The LCWR Global Concerns Committee offers a resource by Sr. Gertrude Foley SC, “An Invitation to Systems Thinking: An Opportunity to Act for Systemic Change. PDF
Gertrude Foley SC reminds us: “A ‘system’ is an entity that maintains its existence and functions as a whole through the interaction of its parts. The behavior of a system depends on the total structure.
The interrelationship among the parts of a system, therefore, must be continually sustained for the system to exist. Systems are purposeful, open, counterintuitive, multidimensional, and have emergent properties not found in any of the parts by themselves. . . . systems thinking will prevent us from unconsciously employing the same mental models that are causing the problems we want to solve. As Albert Einstein once said, ‘No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We must learn to see the world anew.’”This tool reflects the developments in our understanding of critical thinking and the complex nature of our reality. The material is divided into two main parts: first, a general overview of the nature of systems thinking; second, a practical application of systems thinking to two sample cases. The resource also includes a worksheet to facilitate practice with this approach, as well as bibliographic material.
Now, this is the book that was ordered on April 18th to be withdrawn from circulation pending revision. It is really reasonable that the people running this website, which clearly had a lot of Sisters active on it, would be aware of that. I realized that the author of the book in question, Gertrude Foley, is herself a prominent member of the Vincentian family, a Sister of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. Aha.
It really seems to me that, particularly through contact with the Sisters of Charity, Vincentian laity and particularly the national leadership of the Society, have been introduced to the LCWR’s particular “systemic change” mentality which is affected by the problem the CDF pointed out, of completely and falsely divorcing sanctity of human life, marriage and sexual morality from the sphere of social justice. Likely the doctrinally deficient “Systems Thinking Handbook” (which refers to exactly the same book that is titled “An Invitation to Systems Thinking: An Opportunity to Act for Systemic Change”) that was referred to the doctrinal assessment and required to be withdrawn from circulation pending revision, was one of the documents SVDP leaders learned from, either directly or through Sisters and others who had imbibed its teaching. It seems to me that even more recently than the CDF’s mandate was issued, the book is still actively promoted by some, such as FamVin.org.
And although I am nobody and I just get the emails they send out, I have not noticed the US leaders of the Society of St Vincent de Paul showing any sign of understanding the necessity to step back from all this unbridled, doctrinally inadequate push for “systemic change” and make sure they’re actually making their strategic plans in keeping with the mind of the Church. The CDF is going to help them out immensely, if they will be patient a little while, till that book gets revised.
I really believe this is difficult for some people, including the Sisters, and I am praying for all concerned. I believe in their sincerity and their heart. I hope no reader thinks I am accusing them of bad motives. It is asking a lot for them to take a step back, especially because the reason for their being so committed to “systemic change” is care for the poor! But if their notion of that is similar to that of the LWCR, I think they need to step back from that, and to trust God.
One thing that is a sure bet is that the revised “Systems Thinking Handbook” will be a good guide to integrating Catholic sexual morality and the sanctity of human life with other social justice concerns. If they do a good job with that, it is likely to be of broad value and usefulness within the Church, because there are a lot of us who want guidance on how to navigate that. I think this is going to be very good. And you can bet that there will still be just as sincere a concern for standing up to usurious payday lenders and the like.
[A note, 5/21/12: I have no desire to misrepresent anyone or anything, so I beg that if I am wrong about something, please correct me either by commenting on the page or use the contact link at the upper left. As I’ve continued learning about “systemic change” it seems possible that this concept, as applied to concern for the poor, may have a Vincentian Family (but not specifically Society of St Vincentt de Paul) origin and passed from there to the LCWR. I continue to think the CDF report is relevant to the Society and I wonder if Archbishop Sartain of Seattle, named by the CDF as delegate to the LCWR, could be helpful to the Society which will have its National Meeting in his diocese this year. Obviously the CDF had various concerns but called for revision rather than rejecting out of hand the idea of “systemic change” (apparently originally drawn from materially-oriented secular “systems thinking“, and still novel within Catholic thought). I really understand that to be a help to us and not an affront. I love the Society of St Vincent de Paul, I love religious life and sisters and wish I could be a religious myself, and my intentions are friendly. I am a 33 year old woman in Madison, WI.]