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When Pope Francis told a group of U.S. community organizers that their work was "atomic," Jorge Montiel said, "I thought, 'Oh, you mean we blow things up?'"

But instead, the pope spoke about how the groups associated with the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation in the United States take issues patiently, "atom by atom," and end up building something that "penetrates" and changes entire communities, said Montiel, an IAF organizer in Colorado and New Mexico.

Pope Francis' hourlong meeting Sept. 14 with 15 delegates from the group was a follow-up to a similar meeting a year ago. Neither meeting was listed on the pope's official schedule and, the delegates said, both were conversations, not "audiences."

"It was relaxed, it was engaging," said Joe Rubio, national co-director of IAF. "Often you don't see that even with parish priests," he told Catholic News Service Sept. 15, garnering the laughter of other delegates.

Pope Meets US Leaders Patiently Building Culture of Solidarity, US Conference of Catholic Bishops / Catholic News Service [pdf]

In August, COPS/Metro leaders Lorraine Gonzales, Mark Wittig, and Sr. Pearl Ceasar, as well as lead organizer Josephine Lopez Paul, were invited by Father Jim Schellenberg to a two part discussion on his talk show "Food for Thought". The conversation centered around COPS/Metro's efforts in the diocese, as well as the recent papal visit from last November.

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COPS/Metro Alliance, the longtime coalition that advocates for working families and is in many ways responsible for the program’s existence, continues to raise concerns.

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"Our state legislators cannot muster the courage to act on the will of the people. Why? They fear the vocal minorities who have made gun possession an idol worthy of greater reverence than the lives of our fellow citizens. This is an abomination before God.

Frustrated by the cowardice and inaction of the state legislators, San Antonio congregations are now working to reduce gun violence. Under the banner of COPS/Metro Alliance, 175 church leaders united to ask city of San Antonio and Bexar County leadership to create a public education campaign emphasizing gun owners’ responsibility to store their firearms safely and to provide safe handgun storage boxes for vehicles.

It’s past time for lawmakers to come to their senses and listen to the residents they represent."

[Photo Credit: Pictures Left: Rev. Rob Mueller. Sam Owens, San Antonio Express News]

Texas Lawmakers Fail the Courage Test on Guns, San Antonio Express News

Less than a day after a bill that would raise the age to legally purchase semi-automatic rifles unexpectedly passed through Committee, Texas IAF leaders learned that Representative Guillen (from Rio Grande City) appeared to be actively suppressing House Bill 2744 from being heard on the floor.  Delayed submission of the Committee report resulted in the bill missing a crucial deadline for it to put on the Calendars schedule for Thursday -- the last day to hear new bills. 

Leaders from across the state held an emergency press conference calling on Guillen and the Texas House Speaker to allow the bill to be heard, and for Calendars.    

“Guillen and Burrows should...let the representatives vote their conscience on the House floor. Overwhelmingly, Texans support increasing the age limit of when people can buy assault weapons,” Rev. Minerva Camarena-Skeith from Central Texas Interfaith asserted. 

“We’re very, very angry at what’s going on, with them holding this bill hostage,” Valley Interfaith leader Rosalie Tristan of Raymondville told the Rio Grande Guardian. 

“We know that there’s five hours left to go before this bill — which is a small step but it is a beginning of a good step — will die,” said Sonia Rodriguez of COPS/Metro Alliance. “Something has to be done and it has to be done now.”

After the deadline was missed, COPS/Metro leaders announced "it's not too late for Speaker Phelan to bring it to the floor for debate and vote." 

"How many more children have to die before we act?" demanded TMO leader Bishop John Ogletree. 

[Photo Credit: Blaine Young, Texas Tribune]

'Raise-the-Age' Gun Bill Misses Crucial Deadline, Texas Tribune [pdf]

Valley Interfaith: Guillen is 'Actively Suppressing' Assault Rifle Age Bill from Reaching House Floor, Rio Grande Guardian [pdf]

Raise the Age Gun Bill in Peril as Texas House Deadline Looms, KXAN [pdf]

Lubbock and Valley Legislators Block Assault Rifle Age Limit Bill, HB 2744, from Reaching the Floor of Texas House, Texas IAF [pdf]

On May 2nd, COPS/Metro held an accountability session with candidates form district 3 and 5 along with 120 attendees. During the session, COPS/Metro sought commitments from the candidates to meet with leaders two weeks following the election to address issues surrounding quality of life for the residents of District 3. Specifically, leaders are seeking resolutions to drug houses, speed bumps to deter street racing, abandoned houses, and the failure of contractors to notify residents in advance of work.

For District 5, COPS/Metro sought commitment to include the Cassiano apartments in the first phase of the housing bond passed last year.

All candidates were asked to support a gun box initiative that would educate the public about locking up guns and not leaving them in unattended vehicles.

On April 30th, COPS/Metro convened 200 leaders to press Mayor Ron Nirenberg and City Manager Erik Walsh on improving accountability for San Antonio's Ready to Work program by putting jobs on the table, improving the recruitment of quality participants, and holding contractors accountable who receive money for training. (i.e. trained workers are placed in high paying jobs.)

Additionally, leaders pressed Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar and San Antonio Police Chief William McManus on funding for a gun box lock initiative in both the city and county that educate the public about locking up guns and not leaving them in unattended vehicles.

‘Jobs Committed Up Front’: COPS/Metro Presses Mayor for Greater Ready to Work Accountability, San Antonio Express News [pdf]
COPS/Metro Alliance Meeting

On Saturday April 15th, over 200 people from 41 institutions and 6 deaneries participated in 'Recognizing the Stranger' parish leadership training in collaboration with the Archdiocese of San Antonio.  The session was conducted in English and in Spanish, and included 15 clergy and two bishops.  Spanish=speaking leaders expressed a strong desire to organize their parishes.

A major theme developed over the course of the sessions was that the Church is not a parking lot and that Mission is key element of the one's faith.  Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller told participants that the Church needs their leadership because clergy cannot do what lay leaders can.

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A surprising legislative success in 2021 is on track to be undone in 2023, unless a grass roots left-right coalition can block legislation and the forces behind it that are trying to go backward....

In the name of jobs and economic development, a 2012 tax code trick called Chapter 313 essentially funneled state money, via school district property tax breaks, to private companies doing new industrial construction. The school districts that granted tax breaks under Chapter 313 were reimbursed — and many still are being reimbursed — by the state, meaning we as taxpayers reimbursed them. It was the ultimate insider game of channeling public benefit to private companies.

In San Antonio, Mike Phillips is a COPS/Metro leader, a member of the Texas IAF. His organization and others rallied in Austin on March 21 to call attention to the inequities that school district tax breaks cause statewide.

“This is money that could instead be going to public schools. We are working this session with legislators from both parties and a range of allies to oppose taxpayer-funded corporate giveaway programs that involve school finance and school district decision-making,” Phillips said.