by Tom Dobbins,
Justice and Peace Coordinator/ Producer: JustLove Radio – Sirius/XM Catholic Channel,
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York
As a lifelong New Yorker – growing up in the Bronx, with a sojourn in lower Westchester and now happily a resident of Manhattan – I have over my lifetime been exposed to many misconceptions regarding the character of the city and its residents: New York is considered loud, and dirty and dangerous; New Yorkers are rude, and pretentious and difficult to impress. …the litany can go on and on. As anyone who knows a true New Yorker – or who has spent any significant time in the City – can tell you, these stereotypes are for the most part inaccurate. Take for example the notion that New Yorkers are difficult to impress: while it is true that in our current celebrity-obsessed culture, where instant fame is only a viral YouTube post or reality show appearance away, living in a place which so many “famous” people call home can inure you from walking around on the street star-struck by whom you may run into. This does not mean, however, that New Yorkers do not find themselves awe struck when they run into the genuine article!
Such was the case late last month when I had the opportunity to encounter “the genuine article” in my own travels: the location in this circumstance was not in my own beloved New York, but instead was across the ocean in the Eternal City of Rome, and the “famous” person that I met was not your run of the mill celebrity, but none other than probably the biggest “star” of them all: Pope Francis himself!
Tom Dobbins Jr. and His Holiness Pope Francis (Photo by L’Osservatore Romano)
My meeting with the Holy Father took place back on June 24th within the walls of Vatican City in a small room off of the Paul VI Meeting Hall , where I was blessed to be one of 45 participants – both Catholic and Buddhist – from the United States who were in Rome to participate in a “Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue on Suffering, Liberation and Fraternity” which was convened by both the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The bulk of this dialogue – which was intended to strengthen mutual understanding between faith communities concerning human suffering and the means of liberation, as well as to deepen relationships as a basis for interreligious cooperation and collaboration– took place at the Mariapolis Center at Castel Gandolfo – the Papal summer residence and the Pope’s own garden – while the actual meeting with Pope Francis took place on the traditional Papal audience Wednesday in Vatican City itself.
When the Holy Father entered the room to greet our group, he addressed us briefly in Italian and spoke about our meeting as a “visit of fraternity, of dialogue, and of friendship. And this is good. This is healthy. And in these moments, which are wounded by war and hatred, these small gestures are seeds of peace and fraternity…”
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The Pope and members of the Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue on
Suffering, Liberation and Fraternity (Photo by L’Osservatore Romano)
Pope Francis’ words to us were brief, but powerful: all the more so because they were true. I knew the truth of the Pope’s statement – that dialogue across faith communities was both good and healthy – from my own work here in New York when – in partnership with the Interfaith Center of New York –Catholic Charities undertook a multi-year project working cooperatively with congregations and local social service providers affiliated with the Islamic community in boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. The initiatives we worked on were varied, including hunger relief, youth volunteerism and immigrant services, and the lessons we learned many, but probably none as important as the notion that using social services as a mechanism for enabling interfaith collaboration was valuable in and of itself. Both as a means of familiarizing participants with one another’s faith and traditions -as well as improving the lives of the disadvantaged – using shared social concerns as a springboard to interfaith action helped us to break down barriers and build trust through shared initiatives – some of which continue to this very day.
So key was this insight to my own experience of interfaith work that when it came time for me to address my fellow participants in the “Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue on Suffering, Liberation and Fraternity” after our meeting with Pope Francis, I used the opportunity to share our experiences in New York with my fellow participants, who – upon the conclusion of our meeting at Castel Gandolfo – drew up a list of joint interreligious social actions which the Buddhist and Catholic communities would explore cooperating on upon our return to the United States, including: restorative justice and affordable housing, programs for immigrants and youth and climate initiatives on the local level – a particularly worthwhile joint goal in light of Pope Francis’s most recent Encyclical letter: “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home”.
Indeed, that week I spent with my fellow participants in the Pope’s own garden helped fortify my understanding that joint action between communities of diverse believers can not only help us to sustain our common home’s biological integrity, but will also likewise contribute to the building of a global community of friendship, of fraternity and of peace, which we know – from the words that Pope Francis used in his address to us – is both healthy and good.
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Tom Dobbins is the Justice and Peace Coordinator in the Department of Social and Community Development of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York; this Department is responsible for working with the 300 + parishes in the10 counties of the Archdiocese – encompassing New York City and its northern suburbs – to promote the social mission of the Roman Catholic Church. Dobbins is also the producer of a national radio program on Sirius/XM’s Catholic Channel entitled “JustLove”: a show that highlights the social mission of the Church featuring programs about such issues as: domestic anti-poverty initiatives and international aid, refugee work, racial and ethnic equality, and interfaith dialogue. Dobbins is a lawyer by training, but originally began his career in healthcare administration prior to his working with the Archdiocese in the areas of public policy, and criminal justice. Dobbins’s current position in the Office of Justice and Peace allows him to wear many different hats in his work, overseeing diverse projects that include: partnering with the Interfaith Center of New York on the Catholic-Muslim Social Services Partnership Program; teaching a full semester course on The Social Mission of the Church to candidates to the Permanent Diaconate at the St. Joseph’s Seminary – Dunwoodie; and coordinating the annual Public Policy Forum Day with the New York State Catholic Conference in Albany. He currently also serves on two national boards: The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors and Good Shepherd Volunteers.