Parishes in Action (PIA) offers opportunities of encounter, formation, direct service, and advocacy to assist the church of the Diocese of Oakland in its response to Christ’s call to be the Church on the Streets.
We aim to serve the marginalized and build relationships with the whole church community.
Receive special formation rooted in Catholic Social Teaching.
Provide an experience of encountering God as a foundation for caring for those in need.
Parish in Action Teams will receive hands-on training in skills for effective parish engagement. These skills include:
- Building teams
- Identifying and engaging leaders and participants
- Facilitating meetings
- Becoming mentors
- Using faith-sharing resources
Find the Helpers Local resources
From emergency shelters to Catholic counselors to lay apostolic movements, there are people of good will ready to engage in our diocese.
Our Community of Helpers
All of these service locations are either funded by the Catholic Church, work in cooperation with the diocese or a nearby parish, or otherwise perform works of mercy in ways that promote human dignity in ways that are in keeping with Catholic teaching. Make sure to see if your own parish has a St. Vincent de Paul Society or another opportunity for service!
Catholic Charities of the East Bay
Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services
Contra Costa Interfaith Housing
A Friendly Place - 510-451-8923 - provides day shelter and other services to women in need.
Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP)
Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa County
St. Vincent de Paul Alameda County
Directories of local resources
Lay Movements
The root word of charity is love, and love can only be realized through a life grounded in prayer.
Catholic Charismatic Renewal Oakland
Global solidarity
The teachings of the Catholic Church and its universal ministries help us to keep connected with our brothers and sisters around the world.
Ethnic and cultural communities
Connect with the World
Catholic Relief Services: is a manifestation of love for our brothers and sisters around the globe by the Catholic community of the United States. We protect, defend and advance human life around the world by directly meeting basic needs and advocating solutions to injustice.
The Community of Sant'Egidio: is a movement of lay people dedicated to evangelisation and charity, in Rome, Italy and in more than 73 countries throughout the world. The different communities, spread throughout the world, share the same spirituality and principles which characterise the way of Sant'Egidio: prayer, spread of the Gospel, solidarity with the poor, ecumenism, & dialogue.
Laudato Si' The Laudato Si' Action Platform equips Catholic institutions and individuals to journey towards total sustainability in the spirit of Laudato Si'.
Sponsored by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform provides concrete resources to protect our common home.
Pax Christi USA (PCUSA): Grounded in the Gospel and Catholic social teaching, this is a membership organization that rejects war, preparation for war, every form of violence and domination, and personal and systemic racism. As PCUSA, a section of Pax Christi International, we are a Catholic peace and justice movement that seeks to model the Peace of Christ in our witness to the mandate of the nonviolence of the Cross.
Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Social Teaching and Movements, Marvin L. Krier Mich (Twenty-third Publications, Mystic, CT; 1998)
Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret, Peter Henroit, Edward DeBerri, Michael Schultheis, (Orbis Books; Maryknoll, NY; 1992.)
Living Justice : Catholic Social Teaching in Action, Thomas Massaro, S. J. (Sheed and Ward, 2000.)
Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching, Kenneth R. Himes O.F.M. (Paulist Press, 2001)
Reference Books
Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, David J. Obrien and Thomas A. Shannon, ed. (Orbis Books; Maryknoll, NY; 1995.)
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2004
Proclaiming Justice and Peace: Papal Documents from Rerum Novarum through Centesimus Annus, Michael Walsh and Brian Davies, ed., (Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, Conn., 1991.)
The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought, Judith Dwyer, ed., (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn., 1994.)