Catholic Parliamentary Liason Office
The Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office acts as a link between Parliament and the Church. It seeks primarily to keep the Bishops and others in Church leadership informed about public policy and legislation – and to influence Parliament and government through insights and inspirations drawn from Church teaching, especially Catholic Social Teaching. Apart from its full-time staff of six, the CPLO also employs a range of contract researchers and hosts interns from around the world, including seminarians and religious at various stages of formation. A full-time researcher of the Catholic Institute of Education is based at the CPLO and forms part of the team.
The CPLO shares the Church’s views with Parliament, mainly through submissions to portfolio committees and engagement with processes that monitor and evaluate implementation. Meetings between Church leaders and politicians are promoted to deepen their dialogue.
The CPLO engages with other civil society organisations in analysing policy issues and especially in assessing policies and their impact on the poor and marginalised; it also brings together policy-makers and key practitioners and experts in public policy in a reflective and off-the-record environment. The CPLO’s regular briefing papers and other publications maintain the flow of information and analysis between Church, policy-makers and civil society. In all of this the CPLO seeks to contribute to a more participatory democracy and to ensure that the democratic space in the legislative process is utilised in a responsible and critical way, at the same time bringing church teachings into public conversation with other voices.
Through co-operation with other Church organisations and institutions, the CPLO seeks to bring this discussion to the ‘people in the pew’ in order to further enhance public participation in public policy formulation.
PUBLICATIONS
The CPLO provides a documentary information service, consisting of:
• Newsletters (very brief synopses of items of interest and of the activities of the office)
• Briefing Papers (short analyses of topical issues, be they legislative, policy or otherwise)
• Occasional Papers (more in-depth analyses, not restricted to topical issues)
• Research Papers (substantive documents aimed at informing the Church’s agenda on a particular topic).
CONTACT
Fr Peter John Pearson
Director
Tel: + 27 21 461 1417
Fax: +27 21 461 6961
Website: http://www.cplo.org.za
Research Coordinator Mike Pothier
Programme Coordinator Karen Morris
Financial Administrator Sonya Ehrenreich
Office Administrator Janine Canfield
Researcher Lois Law
Researcher Janine Ogle
Researcher Regis Chawatama
