1999-2000 Annual Report

Introduction

The concept of the Jubilee Year, which the Catholic Church is celebrating in this year 2000, goes back to the time of the Old Testament. The Jubilee Year was celebrated every 50 years and was meant to restore social justice and equality among all the Israelites. During the Jubilee Year, slaves were to be set free, debts were to be forgiven, property was to be given back to its original owners, and those in need were to be assisted, in accord with the Israelites' tradition that the rich were really only stewards of their possessions, and were responsible to share their goods with those in need. Jesus Christ repeated and fulfilled the words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, while acknowledging the Jubilee Year tradition: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19) Jesus is the one who proclaims the good news and the Jubilee to the poor. It is in His name that Catholic Charities carries out its mission to the disadvantaged. The Catholic bishops of the United States, in their most recent pastoral letter, In All Things, Charity, encourage a renewed commitment to charity, justice and peace in this Jubilee Year. They warn that " in the midst of an unprecedented `economic boom,' far too many...live in poverty...In the face of such human suffering, the Church has continued the tradition of its earliest years: to offer physical comfort, healing, emotional support, and spiritual guidance to those who are most beloved by God - the poor and the vulnerable." Catholic Charities is entrusted with providing physical comfort and emotional support to the needy on behalf of the Church. Since 1919, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc. has served as the human services arm of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and has been one of the largest social service providers in the three-county area of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara. In more than 50 offices and community centers, the agency gives care to over 200,000 needy people each year who require affordable psychological services, afterschool care, community food pantries, immigration services, homeless shelters, teen crisis centers and services for the frail and elderly, regardless of the clients' race, ethnicity, income, gender or religious belief. This Annual Report highlights Catholic Charities' ministry in fiscal year 1999-2000. With God's help and grace, Jubilee 2000 was "a year acceptable to the Lord."

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