The Catholic Action Map

What is this?

The purpose of this project is to examine the efforts of advocacy efforts on behalf of Catholic Social Teaching and the corporal works of mercy in the United States through a network-based approach, using a crowd-sourced map and database (powered by our friends at Kumu.io). Your participation will contribute to an enhanced understanding of the impact of the Catholic Church in the United States, the political and social landscape of the US more broadly, and the use of crowd-sourcing and systems mapping as research tools.

Tips for Navigating the Map

Use the plus and minus buttons in the upper right to zoom in and out. You'll also find a "zoom fit" button to automatically fit the map to the current screen size. Hover over any element to highlight that element and its direct connections.

Click and hold on any element, connection or loop label to focus in on just that portion of the map. To return to the whole map view, click and hold on the background.

Terminology

People: An individual social or political leader

Organization: A group or entity relevant to the US political and social landscape

Issue: A particular area of concern to the Catholic Church. We took the various topic tags discussed on the USCCB Website as our starting point, and added from there.

Strategy: This is the most abstract category on the legend. In short, we're trying to answer the question "What do they do, actually?" This could range from "Publish white papers" to "run educational programs" to "chain themselves to oil pipelines" [here's looking at you, Catholic Worker!] or "Pass legislation requiring an ultrasound before an abortion".

If you'd like to volunteer to work on the map as a contributor, please email admin@catholicsocialaction.com