Religious institutes today stand at a pivotal moment in their collective story. Institutes everywhere face the reality of a world in significant distress. Intertwined social, economic, and ecological crises are reshaping needs throughout the world and revealing the limits of former ways of responding. The call to mission endures; however, responding to global challenges now requires more than adaptation. It demands a fundamental shift in understanding, expressing, and living mission locally and beyond.
Many religious communities are reexamining and clarifying their priorities for the future. They are coming to a deeper understanding of their mission and their reason for being. Some hold excess financial resources and wonder how they might use them to make a meaningful, systemic impact in a complex and rapidly changing world.
This moment invites considering a new model of philanthropy — one that draws on rich traditions of Catholic Social Teaching, including spirituality, justice, and community, while reimagining how resources, social capital, and partnerships can foster systemic change.
Beyond charity: The need for systemic transformation
Traditional philanthropy often focuses on crisis response: emergency rooms, hotlines, shelters, and food banks. While these services are vital, they address symptoms rather than the structural forces that repeatedly push people back into crisis. Classic charitable giving may ease immediate burdens, but it does not dismantle the systems that perpetuate inequities.
In A Spirituality of Justice and Peacemaking, Richard Rohr describes social justice as the work of naming and transforming the political, economic, social, cultural, religious, and mythical systems “so as to name and change those structural things that account for the fact that some of us are unduly penalized even as others of us are unduly privileged.” Charity may respond to immediate need, but justice seeks to uncover and alter the underlying patterns.
These patterns and systems are often hidden, layered, and historically entrenched. They shape who succeeds and who struggles — not only people, but also regions, cultures, and creation itself. Practicing social justice means examining these forces, challenging them, refusing to participate where possible, and actively working to change them.
Religious institutes, grounded in long histories of service and spiritual reflection, are uniquely positioned to ask themselves deeper questions:
- How might we continue to respond to crises, while seeking opportunities to build and foster resilience?
- Have we relied too heavily on a model that makes donors, including ourselves, feel good instead of fostering true transformation?
- What does it mean to understand and change the systems that create the need for charity in the first place?
As Milton Friedman’s individualistic ethos of “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” still shapes economic and social thinking, Sr. Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, says that the Christian experience and spirituality of today “prizes not isolation but essential connectedness; not body-mind dualism but the holistic, embodied person; not patriarchy but inclusive feminism; not militarism but expenditure for the enhancement of life; not tribal nationalism but global justice.”
This vision of global justice calls for a more honest appraisal of privilege, environment, and the conditions that shape people’s lives — holistically and communally. This vision expands beyond charitable acts to a worldview rooted in interconnectedness and mutual flourishing.
The power of social capital and community building
Many religious institutes have meaningful social capital. Their longstanding presence in the civic community and strong relationships position them to bring people together, build trust, and create networks of support. This type of capital can be as or more influential than financial resources. Religious members often hold deep relational influence in their communities; they can convene conversations others cannot and draw in people who would otherwise remain outside of the conversation. This positions them as community organizers who listen deeply, walk with people, build relationships across differences, and work with others for the common good.
Community organizing in this way can be the catalyst for systemic change. Such transformation happens in communities, through partnerships that honor the agency of those most affected, encouraging people to speak and advocate for themselves in spaces where people are actively and compassionately listening.
Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of Homeboy Industries and author of Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, writes, “Compassion isn’t just about feeling the pain of others; it’s about bringing them in toward yourself. If we love what God loves, then, in compassion, margins get erased. ‘Be compassionate as God is compassionate,’ means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.” The compassion Fr. Boyle describes is counter cultural; it is not passive, nor does it allow for self-importance.
To pursue systemic change requires a shift toward intentionally engaging those whom society often pushes to the margins. Systemic change asks us to listen to people’s lived experiences and accompany them to address structural challenges that are barriers to resilience. It requires mutuality, collaboration, and meaningful partnerships.
Partnership as a pathway to impact
Collaboration acknowledges that “we are better together,” not diminished by sharing mission with others. By joining with organizations working to advance justice, we expand and strengthen the ability to have greater impact and influence on the system.
Once a religious institute has identified its priorities for the future, it might ask its members such questions as: What does a holistic view of global justice look like today? Who is already working for such a transformation? How might we join them?
As members seek to answer these questions, they might consider the following:
- What authentic partnership means and what would be sought by engaging in a collaborative relationship (consider values, charism, mission, and priorities)
- Evaluating institute resources (unused property, investments, networks, and the social capital of the institute) and what you can offer in a potential partnership
- Understanding the different models of philanthropy and discerning where the institute can make the most meaningful impact
Philanthropy that creates systemic change
Concerns about our world today are many and deep; the common good is not well served. Issues regarding the sustainability of the environment, peace, social justice, the needs of the vulnerable, and more will not be solved through a philanthropic approach that is focused on responding to near-term crises. Addressing inequities and realigning values toward the common good requires system change. Catholic Social Teaching calls us to develop a new model of philanthropy, one that invests in systemic change to bring about a more just and resilient world.
The traditions of Catholic Social Teaching promote justice and produce equity. Catholic Social Teaching seeks to uncover and alter underlying systemic patterns that create inequities in order to promote communal well-being. From Mensuram Bonum (32): “According to Pope Francis, the immediate task before us is twofold: to address with concrete measures ‘the hidden pandemics of this world, the pandemics of hunger and violence and climate change;’ and to heed God’s call in our time ‘to dare to create something new.’” This is our time.
Want to continue this conversation? Contact our religious institutes team, visit our service page, or sign up for our email newsletter for more articles like this.
The views and reflections expressed in this blog are solely those of the authors, shared in their capacity as consultants who primarily support Catholic religious institutes as part of the Plante Moran Realpoint religious institutes team. They do not necessarily represent the views, beliefs, or positions of Plante Moran or Plante Moran Realpoint. We provide this content for informational purposes to serve our religious institutes audience and do not endorse any particular religious tradition or affiliation.
