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Opportunities in Ministry

This section puts forth several ways that your group, parish, or organization might incorporate a restorative justice approach.

As you consider these opportunities, remember that restorative justice is not limited to programs, but rather can be seen as a way of life and a growing social movement in which our initiatives can play a part.
 

As Catholics seeking to engage with restorative justice, we are part of a web of individuals, organizations, and coalitions throughout the country and the world seeking to transform the current punitive practices of criminal justice, to heal harm, trauma, and the violence of oppression.

When you have discerned the opportunity that your group is most inclined toward, the "Questions and Tools for Engagement" section will inform a way forward.

Opportunities in Ministry

  • Public Education and Community Resilience: Learning, embracing, and raising awareness of restorative justice and its broad applications, and- helping to shift cultural assumptions and expectations.

  • Creating a Restorative Ministry: Integrating restorative justice principles and practices within your existing ministry to meet needs, repair relationships, and create spaces for communal healing. 

  • Becoming a Restorative Institution: Developing restorative justice as your organization’s primary response to internal harms and injustices, thus creating a new default protocol that better aligns with your shared values.

  • Supporting a Restorative Initiative: Partnering with external organizations dedicated to restorative justice, providing support that might help it thrive and grow, thus committing to the larger development of restorative justice beyond your institution.