Labor Day: Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento

Bishop Jaime Soto cites challenges of global economy at Sacramento religious, labor event

Bishop Jaime Soto

By Julie Sly

Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical, “Charity in Truth,” calls on people of all nations and faiths to recognize the great need for solidarity amid the challenges of globalization, Bishop Jaime Soto told a diverse group of religious and labor leaders Aug. 25 in Sacramento.

“Many of the issues that have been spoken about by the church with regard to labor, inequality and the ability of the market to be able to respond to the needs of people have been changed by the increasing global reality that we live in today,” he said. “The global economy is here – whether or not one is in favor of or against globalization – and we’re dealing with that in a significant way in the economic crisis we face in our country.”

The bishop urge religious and labor leaders to be at the forefront of current legislative efforts on the federal level to reform health care and to revise current immigration policies to improve human rights for immigrants.

“Organized labor has an important role to play in these two issues and to look for how it is that the worker can gain just compensation for their labor,” he said.

Bishop Soto contended that the United States has always thrived on welcoming immigrants, who have provided a consistent workforce for the United States and brought tremendous innovation and new initiative to the nation’s economy and society.

“Immigration reform is needed desperately in a system that is broken,” he said. “In many ways the current system has failed to serve immigrants, but  it also failed to serve the best interests of the U.S. economy and insuring safety in our neighborhoods and communities.”

The bishop spoke prior to the Labor Day holiday to about 100 religious and labor leaders from across Northern California during the second annual interfaith-labor coalition breakfast gathering. The event was co sponsored by the Sacramento Central Labor Council.

It  was an opportunity for participants to discuss their shared belief in the dignity of work and a commitment to social and economic justice.

Bishop Soto said he was struck by Pope Benedict’s emphasis on charity and truth as “two values that are so important as we move forward as a global society and move forward in solidarity.”

“Even more than the theme of justice and doing what is right and fair, for charity and truth to happen it is important to exist in relationship with one another,” he said. “And a relationship that is based on charity, on love for one another, and the theme of justice will only come from a language of solidarity, that we care for one another.

“The language of charity has to be based on how we define justice and fairness in the world,” the bishop added. “It also means that we go beyond that to say what am I willing to sacrifice, what am I willing to give up so that someone else can live? What am I willing to put aside for myself so that others can have a better quality of life?”

The bishop joined a panel of religious and community leaders from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities, who talked about how labor concerns are viewed from their various faith traditions.

Julie Sly is Editor of the Catholic Herald. Diocese of SacramentoYou may read the full story at http://www.catholicheraldsacramento.org/.