About

About

World Meeting of Popular Movements

An initiative of Pope Francis, the World Meeting of Popular Movements’ (WMPM) purpose is to create an “encounter” between Church leadership and grassroots organizations working to address the “economy of exclusion and inequality” (Joy of the Gospel, nos. 53-54) by working for structural changes that promote social, economic and racial justice.

Popular movements are grassroots organizations and social movements established around the world by people whose  inalienable rights to decent work, decent housing, and fertile land and food are undermined, threatened or denied outright. These movements primarily represent three increasingly excluded social sectors:

  • workers who are at risk or lack job security;
  • landless farmers, family farmers, indigenous people and those at risk of being driven off the land by large agribusiness corporations and violence; and
  • the marginalized and forgotten, including persons who are homeless and persons living in communities without adequate infrastructure.

The World Meeting of Popular Movements (WMPM) is designed to bring these communities together with faith leaders from across the world.

U.S. Regional Meeting

Attendance for the U.S. Regional WMPM is by invitation only.

The U.S. Regional WMPM, to be held February 16-19, 2017 in Modesto, California, will bring together hundreds of grassroots leaders from various cultures and communities across the United States with representatives from the Vatican, international grassroots groups, and U.S. Bishops. The convening of faith and social justice movement leaders is co-sponsored by the Vatican’s department for Integral Human Development (IHD), the Catholic Campaign for Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and PICO National Network.

The Organizing Committee for the Modesto meeting has included representatives from the following groups:

  • Direct Action & Research Training Center
  • Gamaliel Foundation
  • Homeboy Industries
  • Interfaith Worker Justice
  • Jesuit Ministries of the Jesuit Conference of Canada & the United States
  • National Domestic Workers Alliance
  • PICO National Network
  • Service Employees International Union
  • U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives
Statement of Priorities
Purpose of the Meeting
Who's in the Room
Logistics

 

The Organizing Committee of the World Meeting of Popular Movements, the Vatican’s department for Integral Human Development (IHD) and Pope Francis have identified land, work and housing as three basic human rights which must be protected and advanced in the face of the “idolatry of money” (Joy of the Gospel, nos. 55-58) which fosters the pursuit of profit at any cost to people or to the environment.  These themes have been the focus of dialogue, analysis and planning during the three international meetings which have been held to date.

The U.S. Regional Meeting will incorporate the foundational themes of land, work and housing which have anchored the broader WMPM movement and will also integrate migration and racism as two themes of resonance in the current U.S. context. In our discussions, we will explore:

  • Land including care of the environment, water, natural resources
  • Work including the dignity of work, living wage, growing income inequality, the future of work, and alternative models of work
  • Housing including housing affordability and homelessness
  • Migration including root causes of migration, the impact of family separation, and sanctuary
  • Racism including interpersonal racism, implicit bias, structural racism, criminal justice reform, and mass incarceration

In each case, we will examine the structural dimensions of how people are excluded from full participation in the economic, social and political life of our nations, what impact that has on families and communities, and how grassroots and movement leaders are organizing to transform systems to create an “economy of inclusion.” 

 

The Modesto meeting is the first U.S. regional convening.  Three international meetings have already taken place in Rome (in Oct. 2014 and Nov. 2016) and Bolivia (in July 2015). The purpose of each meeting is for grassroots groups to push for workers’ rights, housing and environmental justice, as well as deepen relationships among these organizations and the faith community.

 

The U.S. Regional meeting of the WMPM will gather 600 participants, primarily grassroots community leaders organizing at the local level for immigration reform, a living wage and worker protections, criminal justice reform, environmental justice and racial healing.  They will be joined for the four-day conference by approximately 35 U.S. bishops and an international delegation of Vatican officials and activists who have worked with Pope Francis to organize the previous World Meetings of Popular Movements. We have invited the Holy Father to participate in a portion of the proceedings by way of satellite or through a video address (not confirmed).

Local grassroots groups across the U.S. are being invited to organize a delegation from their community and to ask their Bishop or a high-ranking diocesan official to accompany them. 

 

The meeting will be held February 16-19, 2017 at Central Catholic High School, 200 S Carpenter Rd., Modesto, CA. The three dioceses of Stockton, Sacramento and Fresno are serving as co-hosts for this national meeting.

Click here to view the agenda for the meeting

The Central Valley of California is a region which starkly reflects the ‘economy of exclusion’: deep poverty and economic inequality, large numbers of undocumented immigrants, high rates of incarceration, and climate change creating economic and health impacts among the most vulnerable. 

For more information, contact:

Mary Obaka at mobaka@piconetwork.org
Ralph McCloud, director, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, rmccloud@usccb.org
Joseph Fleming, national Catholic engagement coordinator, PICO National Network, jfleming@piconetwork.org

Statement of Priorities

The Organizing Committee of the World Meeting of Popular Movements, the Vatican’s department for Integral Human Development (IHD) and Pope Francis have identified land, work and housing as three basic human rights which must be protected and advanced in the face the “idolatry of money” (Joy of the Gospel, nos. 55-58) which fosters the pursuit of profit at any cost to people or to the environment.  These themes have been the focus of dialogue, analysis and planning during the three international meetings which have been held to date.

The U.S. Regional Meeting will incorporate the foundational themes of land, work and housing which have anchored the broader WMPM movement and will also integrate migration and racism as two themes of resonance in the current U.S. context. In our discussions, we will explore:

  • Land including care of the environment, water, natural resources
  • Work including the dignity of work, living wage, growing income inequality, the future of work, and alternative models of work
  • Housing including housing affordability and homelessness
  • Migration including root causes of migration, the impact of family separation, and sanctuary
  • Racism including interpersonal racism, implicit bias, structural racism, criminal justice reform, and mass incarceration

In each case, we will examine the structural dimensions of how people are excluded from full participation in the economic, social and political life of our nations, what impact that has on families and communities, and how grassroots and movement leaders are organizing to transform systems to create an “economy of inclusion.” 

Purpose of the Meeting

The Modesto meeting is the first North American convening.  Three other meetings have already taken place in Rome (in Oct. 2014 and Nov. 2016) and Bolivia (in July 2015). The purpose of each meeting is for grassroots groups to push for workers’ rights, housing and environmental justice, as well as deepen relationships among these organizations and the faith community.

Who's in the Room

The U.S. Regional meeting of the WMPM will gather 600 participants, primarily grassroots community leaders organizing at the local level for immigration reform, a living wage and worker protections, criminal justice reform, environmental justice and racial healing.  They will be joined for the four-day conference by approximately 35 U.S. bishops and an international delegation of Vatican officials and activists who have worked with Pope Francis to organize the previous World Meetings of Popular Movements.  We anticipate that the Holy Father will participate in a portion of the proceedings via videoconference.

Local grassroots groups across the U.S. are being invited to organize a delegation from their community and to ask their Bishop or a high-ranking diocesan official to accompany them. 

Logistics

The meeting will be held February 16-19, 2017 at Central Catholic High School, 200 S Carpenter Rd., Modesto, CA. The three dioceses of Stockton, Sacramento and Fresno are serving as co-hosts for this national meeting.

The Central Valley of California is a region which starkly reflects the ‘economy of exclusion’: deep poverty and economic inequality, large numbers of undocumented immigrants, high rates of incarceration, and climate change creating economic and health impacts among the most vulnerable. 

For more information, contact:

Mary Obaka at mobaka@piconetwork.org
Ralph McCloud, director, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, rmccloud@usccb.org
Joseph Fleming, national Catholic engagement coordinator, PICO National Network, jfleming@piconetwork.org

Partners

pico-national-network
Diocese of Fresno Shield Vector (1)