Voting is power.

Which is why, on Aug. 28, the Office of Justice and Peace along with the Pacific Institute for Community Organization (PICO) will co-sponsor a statewide meeting and training session in Sacramento focused on increasing voter participation in Catholic parishes.

The California Faithful Citizenship Campaign will bring together 100 Catholic parishes from low-income communities across California, including 10 from Los Angeles. Participants will learn non-partisan voter registration and tracking methods intended to give these communities a louder voice in the social and political issues that directly affect their communities.

"With this voting data in hand, parishioners can go to elected officials and say, 'Eighty percent of our parishioners vote and here's what we care about,'" said Joan Harper, Office of Justice and Peace program consultant. "It will enable elected officials to be held accountable."

The campaign is based on a model developed by the Portuguese American Citizenship Project, a non-profit organization working with Portuguese Catholic Churches on the East coast and in several parts of California. Over the last five years, a number of Portuguese parishes have dramatically increased their voter participation and, through doing so, have achieved greater influence in their local communities.

"The assumption is that Catholics vote like everyone else," said Harper. "But the typical middle-class Catholic voter has different needs and priorities than low-income voters so it is important to get them registered so they have a voice in the process."

The Aug. 28 meeting will be opened by Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, executive president of the California Catholic Conference, and will include training by Tom Chabolla, associate director of programs for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).

"This marks the first time a national network and a large group of dioceses have tried to work together on such a large scale," noted Lisa Milton, PICO director. "We are expecting over 200 Catholic parish leaders from across the state to come to strategize about this get out the vote effort."

On Aug. 29, Chabolla --- former director of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Office of Justice and Peace --- will be the featured presenter at an all-day workshop, "Getting Ready to Vote: Faith, Justice and Elections 2004," 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary Provincial Center in Montebello.

In two sessions, Chabolla will explore Catholic social teaching, faithful citizenship and the current debate around the Catholic Church and politics as well as examine the challenges and opportunities facing the electorate in Los Angeles and statewide. For information on that workshop, call (323) 887-8821.