Internet Board
Internet Board
| Author | Mary Kambic |
| Date | 99/10/03/21:00 |
| (Continued) Rev.Bryan Hehir, Office of the Dean, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA.
Dear Father Hehir, Because you are listed as the keynote speaker at the conference "The Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education" to be held October 29-31, 1999 at Boston College, i would like to inform you of a social justice situation related to a Jesuit institution in Baltimore. I am a member of a committee of concerned Catholic women religious, priests, and laypersons who have been involved with the lockout at Crown Central Petroleum in Pasadena, Texas. A Baltimore based petroleum company, Crown Central Petroleum. locked out 252 members of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union at its Pasadena, Texas refinery in February of 1996. To date, the situation remains unresolved. Our labor group, which has worked on Cathholic-labor issues since 1991 in the Archdiocese of Baltimore,has become involved in this particular situation because of the presence of Reverend Harold Ridley, SJ, prresident of Loyola College, on the Board of Directors of Crown Central Petroleum. In addition, the CEO of Crown, Henry Rosenberg Jr., sits on the Board of Trustees of Loyola College. For the past year, we have been exchanging letters with Father Ridley in an effort to initiate a dialogue with him related tot he Crown situation and its relation to Catholic Social Teaching. In addition to our effortss, a naitonal petition signed by 200 Catholic religious leaders, among them Bishop Joseph Fiorenza and several other bishops, was sent to Father Ridley. The petition asked that Father Ridley meet with concerned Catholics to discuss the lockout. To date, this effort to meet has been unsuccessful. We think that community groups like ourselves should be given a forum at the Boston conferenc, and indeed, at all of the conferences that discuss Jesuit colleges and justice. Thank you for your consideration of our concerns. Sincerely, Catholics for Justice at Crown Central Petroleum |