The History of CAN

CAN was formed in 1999 to address the pressing need for a Catholic voice for social justice in the St. Louis community.

Increasing censorship and suppression by Archdiocesan administrators on the St. Louis Archdiocesan Human Rights Office (HRO) left this committee of both ordained and laypeople with little empowerment to work on issues of justice.

In 1999, the committee was essentially dismantled, and its former members created The Catholic Action Network for Social Justice as an inclusive and empowered Catholic voice for social justice in the St. Louis community.

CAN’s guiding statement calls members to mobilize St. Louis Catholics, as well as other people of faith, to enact their religious convictions by working for a more just world, and to promote a Catholic voice for justice in the St. Louis community.

Since it's founding, CAN has worked on a variety of social justice issues: 

• Justice for Women in the Catholic Church (JWCC): This committee advocates for full participation of women in all Catholic Church ministries, including the priesthood, while working with a guiding statement of being prayerful, respectful, and bold.

• CAN’s Fair Trade & Labor committee supports the Association of Catholic Elementary Educators (ACEE) in their struggle to gain union recognition from the St. Louis Archdiocese, and promotes Fair Trade products in St. Louis.

• CAN’s commitment to education as part of social transformation has led us to promote JustFaith, a national justice-education model for faith communities.

• CAN has provided support to The St. Louis Instead of War Coalition since its inception in 2001. CAN hosts a candlelight peace vigil every Sunday evening at College Church (Grand/Lindell) 7:00-7:30pm.

• CAN's Holy Families Committee works to recognize the richness of the diverse families that God has provided to humanity, to continue Jesus’ command to love one another as He loves us, and to extend the Catholic tradition of opposing discrimination and oppression to include the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender community.