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Back when his main occupation was political science, John DiIulio once wrote that "the evidence is growing that the only people who are now doing something to make inner-city blacks part of 'one nation, indivisible,' are those who seek "one nation, under God, indivisible.'" Now, as the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, DiIulio is working to aid those who help "the least of these." Ronald J. Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, spoke with DiIulio about the recent debate surrounding his new office.

On several occasions you have described yourself as a "born again" or "evangelical" Catholic. What do you mean by that?

I was raised as a Roman Catholic. I attended a Catholic school. I always believed that Jesus Christ was who he said he was. But, from college through graduate school at Harvard and into my 30s, I had little regular prayer life. I attended church only episodically. I was a lapsed Catholic and an indifferent Christian. I didn't hide my faith, but I didn't nurture or share it much, either. Then, in the mid-1990s, I began to grow in spiritual awareness through a theologically untidy mix of Pentecostal preaching and Catholic social teaching. The African-American pastors whose social-service work I was studying had inspired me. I began drawing closer to committed prolife Catholic friends. On Palm Sunday in 1996, while sitting in church with my family, I felt that the moment had come for me to strive to live in self-emptying obedience to Christ, and to serve God with gladness. That's pretty much what I mean by "born-again Catholic."

The debate about the new White House office has brought the discussion about the role of religion in society into prominence in a new way. How has the debate already changed public views?

I think the change began during the 2000 presidential campaign. Both presidential candidates, plus my good friend Senator Joe Lieberman, engaged in unprecedented amounts of what some in the media derided as "God talk." President Bush's inaugural address explicitly welcomed godly people and religious volunteers back into the public square and pledged that churches, synagogues, and mosques would have an honored place in his administration. So they have, and so they shall.

For the first time, I think, most people are hearing that local congregations, community-serving ministries, and other religious groups supply simply enormous amounts of social services to the least, the last, and the lost of our society. They are learning that these groups provide everything from preschools to prison ministries, job training to drug counseling, health clinics to homeless shelters, daycare centers to literacy centers, and much more. They also hear President Bush say that Methodists, Muslims, Mormons, and others should not be discriminated against. And they are hearing that the Constitution does not erect a wall of separation between common sense and social compassion.

What do you hope to accomplish with your office?

We hope to help—I dare say we're fixin' to help!—the President realize his vision for faith-based and community initiatives. We want to use tax incentives and other policies to increase giving—both human and financial, both volunteer hours and charitable dollars. We plan to rally the country's social entrepreneurs, and tug at the conscience of corporate and foundation grant-makers, in support of true community helpers and healers, both sacred and secular. We want to make it possible for the leaders of faith-based and community initiatives to seek government grants or vouchers to administer social services on the same basis as any other nongovernmental or nonprofit provider. Faith-based leaders and volunteers should not have to undergo the organizational equivalent of a strip search (remove all religious iconography) or a bureaucratic reeducation camp (stop all God talk) just to be considered for public support. Likewise, the beneficiaries of federal social-service programs should have a choice of providers, and that choice should include qualified faith-based organizations.

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June 11 2001, Vol. 45, No. 8