Center Of Concern

Since its founding in 1971 at the office of UN Sec. Gen. U Thant by Nat'l Conference of Catholic Bishops Gen. Sec. Joseph Bernardin and Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe, S.J., and with continuing financial support from women religious, the Center has operated in Washington, D.C., with a mission to research, educate, and advocate from Catholic social tradition to create a world where economic, political, and cultural systems promote sustainable flourishing of the global community. The Center envisions a global community that upholds basic human rights and human dignity, fosters just relationships, promotes sustainable livelihoods, and renews the earth. The Center engages with centers of influence through a model of social enterprise that seeks global transformation for social justice in core competencies of social justice education; global financial systems and human rights; global women’s issues; sustainable development; and strategic governance, principled leadership, and philanthropy. It shares stakeholders’ voices for social justice through core services of research, education, and advocacy from Catholic social tradition effectively, scalably, and sustainably: (1) effectiveness in the relevance, authoritativeness, and influence of its work through impact regarding issues that matter most to its constituencies, especially the least well off; (2) scalability by applying resources to multiply its impact, such as through collaborating with the global cadre of pastoral, thought, and executive leaders in its Community of Creative Voices;™ and (3) sustainability by enhancing the scale and scope of its relationships with stakeholders and its revenue portfolio so that it generates an increasing percentage of unrestricted long-term and working capital. The Center represents the USA in the lay Catholic development and advocacy alliance, Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité (CIDSE) and is a member of Catholic Charities USA.