On February 13 at the Annual Membership Meeting, the Roundtable welcomed four new board members. Adrienne Curry (Chicago) and Sr. Gail Young (Los Angeles) were elected for a second term. Barbara Budde (Austin) and Rob Gorman (Houma-Thibodaux) completed their second (and final) term on the board and we thank them very much for their faithful service to the Roundtable.

You can get to know our new board members a little bit better via their biographies here!

Anne Avellone
Archdiocese of Santa Fe

For the last 8 years Anne Avellone, M. Div, LMSW has been the Director of the Office of Social Justice and Respect Life for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico. She coordinates CCHD, CRS, Respect Life, CST education and supports Parish Social Ministry efforts in her Archdiocese, and collaborates on legislative advocacy with the State Catholic Conference Director. She recently introduced JustFaith in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, and is working on spreading the word about CRS and solidarity work.  Working as a Catholic lay minister for over 20 years, Anne’s work history includes campus ministry, youth ministry, retreat ministry, social work, and directing a inner city lay volunteer program in Chicago. She has an M.Div from Loyola University in Chicago, and recently returned to school to earn her Masters in Social Work, to deepen her skills in social justice.  Previously, she served on the board of the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service and of a non-profit ecology education organization. In addition, she is a Stewards of Creation Adult Leadership graduate and a Companion of Green Mountain Monastery in Greensboro, Vermont, a Catholic religious community dedicated to the work of ecologist and theologian Fr. Thomas Berry, CP.

Anne enjoys accompanying others on their spiritual journey as they cross the borders of their hearts by bringing together service work, spiritual reflection and the challenging work of building a more just world.

Larry DiPaul
Diocese of Camden

Larry was born, baptized, educated, and raised in West Philadelphia, and attended a Jesuit High School in North Philadelphia. He received a Masters of Divinity degree in 1973 and was involved in parish ministry from 1973 to 1996, serving in mostly inner-city Philadelphia churches.

Larry presently serves as Director of Life and Justice for the Diocese of Camden, and Co-Director of Romero Center Ministries in Camden, NJ. From 2004 to 2007, he served as Director of The Romero Center, a Peace and Justice Retreat Center in East Camden. He taught and directed the Christian Service Programs at Malvern Preparatory School and Bishop Eustace High School from 1997 to 2004. He also served as a Pastoral Counselor for Compassionate Care Hospice in 1997.

Larry’s interests include jazz and Motown, peppers and eggs, everything about Philadelphia, city sidewalks, autumn, the ocean, Sinatra, Christmas in New York, magic acts, all sports (except water polo), diners, and both listening to and telling stories, while drinking Fair Trade coffee.

Jude Huntz
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph

Jude Huntz was born and raised in Buffalo, NY where he graduated from Canisius College with a B.A. in Philosophy and Classics. He later earned an M.A. in Humanities from the University of Dallas. Jude taught middle and high school students for 14 years, earning the Teacher of the Year award for the State of Missouri in 2005. Mr. Huntz became the director of the Human Rights Office for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Missouri in 2008 and currently sits on the Public Policy Committee for the Missouri Catholic Conference, the board of Directors for the Missouri Association of Social Welfare, Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and the Western Chapter of the Society of Saint Andrew. He will complete a M.A. in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University of Chicago in December 2010. Jude has been married for 12 years to Cristen. They have two boys, Paden (7) and Simon (1).

Jim Thomas
Archdiocese of Seattle

Since 2007, Jim has directed adult faith formation for the Archdiocese of Seattle with a special emphasis on Catholic social teaching and family life ministry. He provides leadership for parishes and schools on a wide range of issues concerning life, justice, and peace ministry. He serves as a resource for marriage and family life. In addition, Jim represents the Archdiocese with the Catholic Advocacy Network, a project of the Washington State Catholic Conference.

For over 20 years before joining the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Faith Formation, Jim advocated for justice for people harmed by the radiation releases from the Hanford plutonium plant in eastern Washington. As a citizen activist, he organized a national coalition to bring environmental accountability to Hanford operations. He also served on a number of federal advisory committees concerning public health issues related to the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.

Prior to his involvement with Hanford, Jim was the peace and justice coordinator for the Diocese of Spokane (1984-1987). He was a member of the Bethlehem Peace Pilgrimage (1982-1983) – a 7,000-mile walk and prayer for peace and nuclear disarmament that crossed the United States and 9 other countries and the Holy Land. He has also been involved with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Christian Life Community and the JustFaith program.

Jim has a M.A. in Religious Studies from Gonzaga University (1988) and a B.A. in Broadcasting and Theater, also from Gonzaga (1977). His Master’s thesis considered the morality of nuclear deterrence. In 2010, he was commissioned as a Lay Ecclesial Minister for the Archdiocese of Seattle by Archbishop Alexander J. Brunett.

By Taylor Kingston, Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Archdiocese of Santa Fe

I recently attended the 24^th annual Social Action Summer Institute (SASI) at Santa Clara University in San Jose, CA for parish and diocesan social ministry.  The theme for this year’s SASI was Peacebuilding for the 21^st Century. Seven representatives from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe attended including Anne Avellone, Director of Social Justice and Respect Life, Bunny Miller, theology teacher at St. Pius, Susan Tomita from St. Bernadette, Emmet Garrity from Newman Center, Christina Benitez from Holy Rosary and UNM student, Joseph Montiel from Holy Rosary and UNM student, and myself, Taylor Kingston from St. Charles, UNM student and office aide for the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry.

The 4-day conference focused on how Catholic leaders could be peacemakers in these times of conflict in our world and was packed with prayer, workshops, and speakers from around the world.  SASI was a great opportunity to learn about social issues across the globe and how Catholics are called to respond.  I learned about how social justice is rooted in Scripture and about the basics of Catholic social teaching.  I heard about great work being done in parishes, in dioceses and organizations such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Catholic Charities USA, and JustFaith Ministries.

Like many young people, I knew that social justice is about respect for human life, service to the poor, and aiding those who have been through natural disasters.  While these are all important parts of our faith, I learned that social justice is all those things and more!  For instance, one presenter told a story of how young people wanted a skate park in their community so they could have a safe place to skate.  Community organizing members from parishes in this community trained these young people in leadership and gave them the tools to advocate for themselves.  They approached city officials, presented their reasoning for a skate park and in the end received it.  Giving those who do not have a voice the tools to speak for themselves is a part of social justice that I am excited to put into action throughout our diocese.

I also learned new ideas for other ministries in which I am involved.  For example, there was a wonderful workshop Hispanics and Social Ministry: Time for a New Conversation? with Fr. Eduardo Fernandez and Ms. Anne Grycz, Diocese of San Jose.  These speakers talked about how they have been successful with Hispanic Ministry in their diocese, what challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

Another workshop was a panel on the state of social action and included Greg Kepferle, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, Ralph McCloud, USCCB/CCHD, Joan Rosenhauer, CRS, Kath Saile, USCCB/JPHD and others. Panel members were asked various questions about their organizations and about social justice issues.  One question raised was about how young people fit into social justice ministry and what is being done to help these young people stay involved.  Panelists mentioned that young people need to have opportunities to do service for others, that we need to encourage them to ask questions, to reflect on their service and to give them tools to speak for themselves.  In the end the best advocates for young people are in fact young people.

As a first-time attendee, I found SASI very helpful, educational, spiritual and fun.  The Archdiocese of Santa Fe Young Adult Advisory Team is looking to grow in numbers, spiritually, educationally and now in social justice ministry.  Through this conference I learned there are many resources and organizations that will be able to help the young adults implement plans in the area of charity and justice.  I am looking forward to working with others on social justice issues and helping build from the strong social justice communities the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has in place.