CATHOLICS FOR OBAMA - BIDEN

CONSERVATIVE OK WITH ABORTION WHEN CAUSED BY PRIVATE INDUSTRY

2012-01-27T10:14:00.004-05:00

CATHOLICS UNITED PRESS RELEASE:

Rep. Bill Johnson Attends Pro-life Rally Then Attacks Protections for Unborn Children
Posted January 24, 2012

Catholics United calls on Ohio Congressman to recognize the need to protect all unborn human life from Mercury poison

Washington DC – Yesterday Rep. Bill Johnson attended the annual March for Life and gave a speech in support of the need to protect prenatal human life. Only a few hours later, he then took the floor of the United States House of Representatives and railed against new public health standards that will specifically protect unborn babies and infants from Mercury poisoning. Mercury is a heavy metal that severely harms the brain development of children. Coal burning power plants are responsible for the majority of all Mercury pollution in the United States. In response to Rep. Bill Johnson's actions, Catholics United executive director, James Salt, issued the following statement:

“The dictionary states that a hypocrite is a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs. Yesterday Bill Johnson demonstrated just what this looks like. If Bill Johnson were serious about defending the lives of the unborn, he shouldn't attack the public health standards specifically designed to protect unborn babies from Mercury and heavy metal poisoning.”

For more information about Rep. Johnson's actions yesterday, visit: http://politicalcorrection.org/blog/201201230004

For more information about the new public health standards that will protect unborn babies from Mercury poisoning, visit:http://www.epa.gov/hg

PRESIDENT OBAMA HONORS CATHOLIC STUDENT

2012-01-25T09:34:00.008-05:00

Archbishop Carroll High School Student Thrilled To Be Honored at the White House

On January 25, Bertha Castaneda was honored at a White House reception by President Barack Obama and received a private tour of the White House before the ceremony.

The White House Champions of Change program honors citizens across the country who are using projects and initiatives to move their communities forward. The honorees have each taken great strides to improve the lives of others through charitable work, faith and advocacy.

The child of hard-working Salvadoran immigrants, Bertha Castaneda attended Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary School prior to attending Archbishop Carroll High School in northeast Washington, a Catholic high school of the Archdiocese of Washington. Asked what she was most looking forward to about the White House, she said she was most excited about meeting President Obama. She mentioned that all of her classmates at her Catholic school really appreciate President Obama and that they wanted her to convey their best wishes to hi.

President Obama recognized Bertha as an example of the hardworking students of Archbishop Carroll. She tutors as part of the National Honor Society and serves as a peer minister, seeking out students who are struggling with the social and spiritual crises of adolescence and counseling them. In addition, she, coaches younger students as part of the Augustine Scholars and started her own day camp when she was in 10th grade, recruiting neighborhood children to participate. On top of all of her extracurricular activities, Bertha has maintained a 4.07 GPA and like many immigrant students, Bertha serves as her family’s primary translator, handling bureaucratic responsibilities for her family that other teens don’t have to contend with.

Archbishop Carroll High School serves minority students with limited financial means and provides them an excellent Catholic education.

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2012-01-23T12:02:00.000-05:00

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IS ROMNEY CATHOLIC-BASHING?

2012-01-11T15:36:00.003-05:00

Mitt Romney said that President Obama "wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society." There is not much evidence of that. The President's economic policies seem to be 100% American. They act to advance the common good in ways designed to work in our society and often come from ideas developed right here in the good old USA, sometimes (like with health care) coming from Mitt Romney himself.

But why the attack on European social welfare policies? These policies mostly are not from the Moscow but Rome. In Germany, France, Italy, Austria, the Low Countries and elsewhere (but not the Nordic lands or the UK), the socialist parties were not in power when their domestic social security policies were designed, implemented and enacted. In all of these countries it was CATHOLICS not Socialists who designed and put in place the social programs that now exist.

So if Romney does not like European social security, let him blame who is responsible, the Catholic Church and her social teachings.

Church Proclaims National Migration Week

2012-01-10T15:44:00.001-05:00

SANTORUM MAKING MONEY OFF ABORTIONS?

2012-01-06T11:09:00.004-05:00

Anti-abortion conservatives have long turned a blind eye to the corporate involvement in abortion, following the strange theory that "a baby is 'less dead' when aborted by the private sector."

Rick Santorum has gone beyond even that politically hacked standard. He is a profiteer from the abortion industry. Santorum has earned over $400,000 as a Director of Universal Health Services, a for-profit hospital and surgical centers chain that offers abortion services as part of their money making operations.

How can a man who says he is anti-abortion be an officer of an abortion provider? The conservative line here seems to be "it's not personal, just business."

SUDDENLY, THE UNBORN ARE NOT IMPORTANT TO THE REPUBLICANS

2012-01-04T10:06:00.000-05:00

Rick Santorum has joined Mitt Romney in opposing an EPA rule to cut abortifacient toxins like mercury in the environment. The Obama Administration has proposed a new standard to reduce these toxins which cause spontaneous abortions. For unborn babies who survive these environmental abortions, one in six will still have harmful levels of mercury and other toxins in them.

It seems some on the political Left can't bear to restrict women in crisis pregnancies from aborting while Santorum, Romney and most of the Republican Party cannot bear to restrict Big Business from aborting babies.

http://www.creationcare.org/mercury/

Bachmann, Cantor and their Love for Abortion Advocates

2012-01-03T15:52:00.006-05:00

GOP MANTRA: 'IT'S DIFFERENT WHEN WE DO IT'

Many Catholics who support the President disagree with his position on the legal status of abortion. Nevertheless, there is dismay by the strident and partisan rhetoric used selectively to attack Catholic supporters of the President. We are told that we cannot support "the most pro-abortion president ever" and that those who are pro-choice are not just wrong on policy but evil people, knowingly participating in murder.

Yet, the other day, Rep. Michelle Bachmann compared herself to Margaret Thatcher saying she would be a leader like her. Margaret Thatcher clearly was "the most pro-abortion Prime Minister ever." We Catholics are damned for our support for the President, but a pass is given to those who would support Thatcher.

And Sunday, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor once again trotted out his wife as an example that he is understanding, non-judgmental, loving and respectful of people who are pro-choice such as she is (the same could be said of Newt Gingrich's daughter, a GOP abortion rights activist).

Those who try to protect the unborn, be it civil protections or reduction of toxins like mercury which cause spontaneous abortions, do good work. But using a double standard where slurs are thrown against the President, while a different standard is used for Bachmann, Cantor and Gingrich, just give witness to the fact they are really not so much about pro-life, but just have a sinful and unChristian hatred of Barack Obama.

CATHOLIC BISHOPS SAY OBAMA EPA ACTION WILL SAVE UNBORN LIVES

2012-01-01T17:07:00.001-05:00

ROMNEY AND CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS TO OPPOSE PRO-LIFE MEASURE

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., speaking on behalf of his brother bishops, demanded Congressional Republicans not proceed with their plans to block the Obama Administration's proposal to
cut the amount of poisonous mercury, arsenic and other toxins put in the air by big business. These toxins cause the death of large numbers of unborn lives. The EPA plans would reduce the amount by 90%.

"Children, inside and outside the womb, are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards and exposure to toxic pollutants in the environment," he said. "Their bodies, behaviors and size leave them more exposed than adults to such health hazards."

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, said that $9 will be saved in health and other costs for every dollar spent in compliance with the regulations. Jackson's two sons have suffered from asthma.

Mitt Romney and most of the other GOP presidential candidates are opposing the pro-life position taken by the Catholic Church on this issue. By some estimates, mercury and other environmental toxins cause more unborn lives to abort than the total number of surgical abortions in the United States.

What to Expect in the Coming Election

2011-12-17T11:07:00.004-05:00

Within our Catholic community, which should be a reflection of Gospel values, we have sadly found some of the most uncharitable and nasty attacks on the President. Decent people -- Democrats, Independents and Republicans -- are turned off by these attacks, but still it is unsettling. During the coming election campaign, this Blog will be documenting some of the inappropriate attacks on the President from persons claiming to speak from a Catholic perspective. We recently provided to Catholic activists in the President’s re-election efforts some blog postings by Kevin Rice and some from the ‘Catholic Vote’ blog. We want to make sure these examples don’t disappear from the Internet as the election approaches.

But it should be remembered that if conservative Catholics choose to continue down this path, it only helps in our efforts for the President. I would encourage readers to look at my blog post from three years ago, here: http://catholicsforobama.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-sunday.html

Also, Yahoo News recently reported as follows:

On private call, Republicans say attacking Obama personally is too dangerous:

Republicans on a private Republican National Committee conference call with allies warned Tuesday that party surrogates should refrain from personal attacks against President Barack Obama, because such a strategy is too hazardous for the GOP.

"We're hesitant to jump on board with heavy attacks" personally against President Obama, Nicholas Thompson, the vice president of polling firm the Tarrance Group, said on the call. "There's a lot of people who feel sorry for him."

Recent polling data indicates that while the president suffers from significantly low job approval ratings, voters still give "high approval" to Obama personally, Thompson said.

Voters "don't think he's an evil man who's out to change the United States" for the worse--even though many of the same survey respondents agree that his policies have harmed the country, Thompson said. The upshot, Thompson stressed, is that Republicans should "exercise some caution" when talking about the president personally.

And the respected Republican political writer Michael Gerson penned in an article entitled “Obama's strange buoyancy poses challenge for GOP” the following:

…while voters may be disappointed with Obama's job performance, they have not turned on Obama himself. His personal approval is strong. Here, there is a significant gap between the American public and, well, me. I have often found Obama's public manner to be professorial and off-putting. Americans seem to think it calm, self-possessed and reassuring. Even in his failures, Obama does not seem hapless. He fully inhabits the public role of commander in chief. And Obama's commitment to his family — his protection of their privacy and normality — is widely admired.

The power of such favorable impressions should not be underestimated. Americans do not believe that Obama has succeeded, but they still want him to succeed….a campaign of personal attacks against the president would likely backfire.

Our hope is going to be that conservative Catholics clean up their act, but if not, then we need to document their attacks on the President and share it with the electorate. This Blog will be ready for that mission.

Christian Love in Action

2011-12-03T15:22:00.001-05:00

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

March 28, 2008 Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

The rest of the story here:

http://www.npr.org/2008/03/28/89164759/a-victim-treats-his-mugger-right

Gingrich Denies Mary?

2011-12-02T16:26:00.001-05:00

Is Catholic convert Newt Gingrich a dissenter on Catholic doctrinal questions? We are thinking of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception which says that Mary, the Mother of God was without sin. Gingrich seems to have denied this teaching.

Details at this link: http://kneelingcatholic.blogspot.com/2011/11/catholic-convert-gingrich-displays.html

POPE SAYS: NO DEATH PENALTY; PRAY LIKE MARY DID

2011-12-01T12:03:00.003-05:00

Vatican Radio Reports:

Pope Benedict XVI: support for efforts to eliminate death penalty

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday offered his support to a major international meeting underway this week through the sponsorship of the Sant’Egidio Community aimed at eliminating capital punishment.

I greet the distinguished delegations from various countries taking part in the meeting promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio on the theme: No Justice without Life. I express my hope that your deliberations will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective maintenance of public order.

The Holy Father’s appeal came at the end of his weekly General Audience, during which he continued his series of catecheses on Christian prayer.

The Pope on Wednesday focused on how Christ, Himself, prays, saying that Christ’s example most fully reveals the mystery of Christian prayer.

A significant moment in this regard is Jesus’ prayer following his Baptism, which expresses his both his deepest identity as the Son of God and his solidarity with the sinful humanity whom he came to save. Jesus’ prayer reflects his complete, filial obedience to the Father’s will, an obedience which would lead him to death on the Cross for the redemption of our sins.

“With his human heart,” said Pope Benedict, “Jesus learned to pray from his Mother and from the Jewish tradition, yet the source of his prayer is his eternal communion with the Father.”

As the incarnate Son, he shows us perfectly how to pray as children of the heavenly Father. Jesus’ example of fidelity to prayer challenges us to examine the time and effort we devote to our own prayer. While prayer is a gift of God, it is also an art learned through constant practice.

Pope Benedict concluded, saying, “Jesus teaches us to pray constantly, but also to bear witness before others of the beauty of prayer, self-surrender and complete openness to God.”

To hear the Pope's words go to the bottom of the link here: http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-benedict-xvi-support-for-efforts-to-eliminate

NEWT

2011-11-28T15:51:00.001-05:00

If Mary and Joseph had FB

2011-11-27T15:36:00.001-05:00

Something creative and wonderful as we begin the Advent season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMS9zTTH6fI

A Letter to Newt Gingrich

2011-11-22T13:44:00.001-05:00

Dear Newt,

Our country outlawed child labor. Almost a hundred years later, in the middle of the worst unemployment crisis in decades, you want to bring it back. Seriously?

Doing janitorial work in a school entails sanitizing toilets, handling hazardous cleaning chemicals, and scrubbing floors hunched over a mop for hours. It's hard to imagine a nine-year old doing any of those tasks. Come on.

The US outlawed child labor because it denied children the chance at a real education and allowed employers to exploit children — and because children were often injured or killed on the job. That's why labor unions fought to pass laws outlawing child labor and protecting all workers.

And the people you want to fire and replace with kids? A lot of them are parents. That job puts a roof over kids' heads, food on the table, and provides them with health care and the chance to get an education. That job is the only thing between a kid and poverty. Firing someone's mom and hiring the kid for less money isn't exactly the "process of rising." It is, in fact, the process of falling. It is the process of exploiting and destroying working families. The fact that you don't get that makes you not only out of touch, but utterly unqualified to serve in any elected position, let alone President of the United States.

Count me in as one more person who thinks you and your ideas are vicious and wrong.

Katherine

http://action.afscme.org/c/51/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3179

The Pope Speaks

2011-11-20T19:36:00.001-05:00

Words to Live By

"Through the combination of social and economic change, trade union organizations experience greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers... The repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum, for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honoured today even more than in the past..."

Benedict XV, Caritas in Veritate

Vatican officials see agreement in church teaching, Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-25T16:49:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 24, 2011

By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholic social teaching and the Occupy Wall Street movement agree that the economy should be at the service of the human person and that strong action must be taken to reduce the growing gap between rich and poor, Vatican officials said.

"The basic sentiment" behind the protests is in line with Catholic social teaching and the new document on global finance issued Oct. 24 by Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, council president.

The U.S. protesters have focused on Wall Street because "Wall Street is considered to be a big engine house -- a big financial structure whose power extends all over the world," the cardinal told Catholic News Service.

People who suffer from the way the financial markets currently operate have a right to say, "Do business differently. Look at the way you're doing business because this is not leading to our welfare and our good," he said.

"If people can hold their government to account, why can we not hold other institutions in society to accountability if they are not achieving or not helping us live peacefully or well," Cardinal Turkson said.
"The Vatican is not behind any of these movements, but the basic inspirations can be the same," he said.

Bishop Mario Toso, secretary of the justice and peace council, told reporters the Vatican's new document "appears to be in line with the slogans" of Occupy Wall Street and other protest movements around the globe, but "even more it is in line with the previous teaching of the church," including Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 encyclical, "Charity in Truth" ("Caritas in Veritate").

for the full story, go here:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8009484025319372088#editor/target=post;postID=7092675309423520016

ANOTHER "GOVERNMENT REGULATOR" MESSING WITH A "JOB CREATOR"

2011-10-20T13:13:00.001-04:00

October 19, 2011

Citigroup to Pay Millions to Close Fraud Complaint

By EDWARD WYATT

WASHINGTON — As the housing market began its collapse, Wall Street firms and sophisticated investors searched for ways to profit. Some of them found an easy method: Stuff a portfolio with risky mortgage-related investments, sell it to unsuspecting customers and bet against it.

Citigroup on Wednesday agreed to pay $285 million to settle a civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had defrauded investors who bought just such a deal. The transaction involved a $1 billion portfolio of mortgage-related investments, many of which were handpicked for the portfolio by Citigroup without telling investors of its role or that it had made bets that the investments would fall in value.

...

“The securities laws demand that investors receive more care and candor than Citigroup provided” to investors in the security, said Robert Khuzami, director of the S.E.C.’s enforcement division, referring to Wednesday’s action. “Investors were not informed that Citigroup had decided to bet against them and had helped to choose the assets that would determine who won or lost.”

for the full story, go here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/business/citigroup-to-pay-285-million-to-settle-sec-charges.html

The Way

2011-10-11T13:25:00.000-04:00

Martin Sheen is the lead actor in a new film called "The Way." I would highly recommend it to all.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/06/the-way-martin-sheen-emilio-estevez-on-charlie-sheen-occupy-wall-street.html

CLASS WARFARE

2011-09-22T16:47:00.001-04:00

The latest from the Right:

Radical Jewish Feminist found to be promoting class warfare against 'job creators'. More later today on the Rush Limbaugh show:

"He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty." -- Mary

Keeping America White Anglo-Saxon and Protestant

2011-09-16T12:27:00.000-04:00

Argument for the Immigration Act of 1924 (repealed in 1965) from the 1920s:

A torrent of pauperism and illiteracy pours into this country from Catholic Southern Europe, cheapening the price of American labor, lengthening the bread lines of the large cities, crowding the loathsome tenements, overflowing the mines and mills, and adding enormously to the vice, disease, pauperism, illiteracy and the crime that are driving this Republic hellward. Those human hordes do not become assimilated with our population. They do not. imbibe Americanism. They do not learn our language, and they do not give a thought to our institutions. Their children are separated by the priests into the pope's own parochial schools, where they learn hatred of "heretics," and servility to the foreign potentate whom they are being trained to serve.

--Thomas Watson, author, The Italian Pope's Campaign Against the Constitutional Rights of American Citizens

Argument for the Immigration of 1924 (repealed in 1965) from 2011:

The immigration system in the United States worked very, very well up until the mid-1960s when liberal members of Congress changed the immigration laws. What works is to have people come into the United States with a little bit of money in their pocket, legally, with sponsors so that if anything happens to them they don’t fall back on the taxpayers to take care of them.

--Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN)

POPE SAYS: SPREAD THE WEALTH

2011-09-13T15:01:00.001-04:00

When policies do not presume or promote objective values, the resulting moral relativism, instead of leading to a society that is free, fair, just and compassionate, tends instead to produce frustration, despair, selfishness and a disregard for the life and liberty of others. Policy makers are therefore right to look urgently for ways to uphold excellence in education, to promote social opportunity and economic mobility, to examine ways to favour long-term employment and to spread wealth much more fairly and broadly throughout society.

-- Pope Benedict XVI
2011

President Obama Reads the 46th Psalm

2011-09-11T16:44:00.003-04:00

CATHOLICS STAND WITH OBAMA

2011-09-09T11:44:00.004-04:00

According to new pollling data from Gallup, Catholics continue to give strong support to President Obama, in numbers far more favorable than Protestants or the general public.

In the current political climate, the favorable/unfavorable ratings of public figures are in the dumps. Congress has a record low favorable rating of 12%. President Obama, while enjoying higher favorability ratings than any GOP leader including Speaker Boehner, Senate Republican Leader McConnell and media darling Sarah Palin, also has his challenges.

But Catholics are giving the President strong support with a favorability rating of 50%, 13 points ahead of Protestants. Jewish voters are also supportive, with a 60% favorability. Mormons only give the President 25%.

Also of interest is that while Obama maintains much better support among Catholics than the general public, much of the decline from his previous even higher approval ratings comes from the Hispanic community, which has been disappointed that progress has not been made on immigration reform. In other words, the best way the President could do better among Catholics is by "moving to the Left" and advancing the immigration policies that he and the Catholic Church have long stood for.

BACHMANN BASHED STAY AT HOME MOMS

2011-09-08T09:46:00.004-04:00

In last night's Republican candidate debate, working mother Michelle Bachmann bashed mothers who want to stay at home to care for their children.

Bachmann cited a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study that concluded that thanks to the new health care law, about one half of one percent of current workers will choose to leave the labor force because they are only working to get health insurance. These are almost all working mothers whose husbands currently don't have family coverage.

Under the new health care law, families will be able to make a freer choice if it is best for for Mom to work or stay at home with the kids.

Bachmann bashed the health care law, suggesting that the mothers making this choice are "killing jobs."

Memo to Michelle -- Mothers are not slaves for Big Business . If mothers choosing to stay at home with the kids means Big Business will have slightly less people in the workforce pool, so be it. It is a family choice if Moms work or not and it is a good thing when a Mom does not have to work just to get health insurance when her husband's job does not offer it.

BISHOPS' LABOR DAY STATEMENT

2011-08-25T14:14:00.003-04:00

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/labor/labor-day-statement.cfm

Workers and Their Unions: Affirmation and Challenge

Beginning in Rerum Novarum, the Church has consistently supported efforts of workers to join together to defend their rights and protect their dignity. Pope Leo XIII taught that the right of workers to choose to join a union was based on a natural right and that it was the government’s obligation to protect that right rather than undermine it (Rerum Novarum, no. 51). This teaching has been affirmed consistently by his successors. Pope John Paul II, in his powerful encyclical Laborem Exercens, noted unions "defend the existential interests of workers in all sectors in which their rights are concerned. . . . [They] are an indispensable element of social life, especially in modern industrialized societies" (no. 20). Most recently, in Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI said, "the repeated calls issued within the Church’s social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum, for the promotion of workers’ associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honored today even more than in the past . . ." (no. 25).

There have been some efforts, as part of broader disputes over state budgets, to remove or restrict the rights of workers to collective bargaining as well as limit the role of unions in the workplace. Bishops in Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere have faithfully and carefully outlined Catholic teaching on worker rights, suggesting that difficult times should not lead us to ignore the legitimate rights of workers. Without endorsing every tactic of unions or every outcome of collective bargaining, the Church affirms the rights of workers in public and private employment to choose to come together to form and join unions, to bargain collectively, and to have an effective voice in the workplace.

The Church’s relationship with the labor movement is both supportive and challenging. Our Church continues to teach that unions remain an effective instrument to protect the dignity of work and the rights of workers. At their best, unions are important not just for the economic protections and benefits they can provide for their members, but especially for the voice and participation they can offer to workers. They are important not only for what they achieve for their members, but also for the contributions they make to the whole society.

Pope Welcomes Machinists Union

2011-08-09T10:20:00.002-04:00

Machinists Union Leaders Received by the Holy Father, Discuss Church/Labor Strategies to Advance Social Justice

International Association of Machinists (AFL-CIO) President Tom Buffenbarger discusses the bond between the labor movement and the Catholic Church with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome.

The labor movement and the Catholic Church have long held shared goals of equality and opportunity. Each Labor Day, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and the AFL-CIO sponsor the Labor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar program, which highlights these shared goals.

With the long-standing ties between labor and the Catholic Church, a delegation of IAM leaders from the United States and Canada met recently with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome.

In addition to the audience granted to the IAM delegation, the pope met privately with IAM President Tom Buffenbarger, where they discussed the concern that some Catholic bishops are not as supportive of the labor movement as the bishops once were.

The Catholic Church has a long history of inspiring and supporting labor, civil and human rights campaigns, from the pro-labor encyclical “Rerum Novarum” issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, to the activities of Dorothy Day, John Cort, George G. Higgins and hundreds of priests and bishops who marched with U.S. civil rights activists. The Church teaches that labor unions are an indispensable part of a just society.

Says President Buffenbarger:

For many years, the Catholic Church and the North American Labor Movement worked closely to promote a better life for their respective congregations. That alliance was an essential ingredient to the success of many social justice initiatives in the past and can provide the foundation for similar achievements in the future.

The recent meeting between Benedict XVI and Buffenbarger follows in the footsteps of a 1985 meeting between Pope John Paul II and former IAM President William Winpisinger. Both men supported Poland’s Solidarity trade union movement, which was a major factor in that country’s peaceful transition to democracy and the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union.

STATEMENT OF VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN ON THE PASSING OF ABP. SAMBI

2011-07-29T11:10:00.002-04:00

It is with great sorrow and sense of loss that I learned of the passing of the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, the Most Reverend Archbishop Pietro Sambi. I greatly appreciated Archbishop Sambi’s friendship and counsel; he brought a deep sense of empathy and comfort to the many lives that he influenced. I also long admired his distinguished diplomatic service for the Roman Catholic Church in this country, as well as in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Europe. Archbishop Sambi was held in great esteem by all Americans who met him as he traveled the length and breadth of this country. Our condolences and prayers are with Archbishop Sambi’s family and friends.

BISHOPS BACK OBAMA ON BUDGET TALKS

2011-06-28T10:15:00.002-04:00

In a stunning rebuke to the Republican leadership, the nation's Catholic bishops have picked sides in the on-going budget debates backing President Obama's call for a balanced plan that includes eliminating tax loopholes for special interests and the rich. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell thumbed is nose at the Bishops by rejecting any revenue increases to address the federal budget deficit.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging Catholics to contact Congress and demand they give priority to poor and vulnerable persons in the negotiations to reduce the deficit.

The Bishops joined President Obama in declaring that a just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons. A balanced approach requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues.

Republican leaders are rejecting this approach and the Bishop's call that Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic time.

Cardinal Wuerl Praises Catholic Health Care

2011-06-19T20:55:00.002-04:00

As our nation moves to our long sought goal of health care for all, Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, praised Providence Hospital for its 150 years of sharing Christ's healing. The Cardinal was joined at a special Mass for the Catholic Health care community with Sister Carol Keehan, President of Catholic Health Association and Democratic National Committeewoman Deborah Royster, who serves as chair of the Providence Health Foundation Board.

PAUL RYAN RUNS AWAY FROM BIBLE

2011-06-08T21:28:00.004-04:00

Representative Paul Ryan (R), ran away from a Christian attempting to give him a Bible at the "Faith & Freedom" conference this week like a vampire from a cross. Ryan is a fan of militant atheist Ayn Rand who taught that selfishness was the highest virtue, not the teachings and passion of Christ.

Father Cletus Kiley, a Catholic priest, said that Rep. Ryan and the supporters if his budget should “drop Ayn Rand’s books and pick up" the Bible.

More on who Ayn Rand is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TxCWbTqz9s

CATHOLIC CHURCH CONDEMNS ANTI-UNION BILL IN MAINE

2011-06-06T19:36:00.006-04:00

Diocese Calls on Maine Legislature to Vote Against "Right-to-Work (for Less)" Bill

Catholic Teaching Says Labor Rights Must be Protected

At a rally in Portland, ME of union members and other people supporting the dignity of labor, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland announced its official opposition to a Right-to-Work" bill that would eliminate the Union Shop in Maine.

The Rev. Mike Seavey said the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is officially opposing the bill, saying "at its core, all legislation should be about human dignity." He also referred to the attorney who has been retained by LePage to help conduct negotiations with state labor unions, who is being paid $295 an hour.

"If the administration is going to hire a negotiator from New York City at exorbitant Manhattan attorney rates, then our public employees have the ability and the right to organize themselves and present their contract expectations with mutual support," he said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbmdultcPqA

HOLY FATHER CONFERS WITH VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN

2011-06-03T10:54:00.006-04:00

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI received Vice-President Biden today at the Vatican. Joe Biden is the first American Vice-President of the Catholic faith. The Vice-President was in Rome to meet with the Italian government and also visited our troops at the NATO base in Naples.

The visit with the Holy Father was not an official visit but an honor given to Mr. Biden as a Catholic layman. The Holy Father presented gifts to the Vice-President and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and imparted the Apostolic Blessing on them.

Some Catholic political conservatives are criticizing the Holy Father for receiving Biden.

Archbishop Dolan Yucks It Up With Democratic Leaders

2011-05-23T11:08:00.006-04:00

Archbishop Timothy Dolan shares a humorous story with two fellow Catholics, Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and former HHS Secretary Joe Califano. Republican operatives recently tried to use a letter from Dolan to suggest the Church approved of the Medicare-killing House Republican Budget plan. Dolan has rejected that "spin" on his letter, which was pastoral in nature.

It seems all three agree that the GOP spin is a big joke!

President Speaks, Prays at White House Holy Week Event

2011-04-19T15:06:00.004-04:00

From the President's Remarks at today's White House Prayer Breakfast:

We all live in the hustle and bustle of our work. And everybody in this room has weighty responsibilities, from leading churches and denominations, to helping to administer important government programs, to shaping our culture in various ways. And I admit that my plate has been full as well. (Laughter.) The inbox keeps on accumulating. (Laughter.)

But then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross.

And we’re reminded that in that moment, He took on the sins of the world -- past, present and future -- and He extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through His death and resurrection.

In the words of the book Isaiah: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this “Amazing Grace” calls me to reflect. And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I’ve not shown grace to others, those times that I’ve fallen short. It calls me to praise God for the gift of His Son and our Savior.

And that’s why we have this breakfast. Because in the middle of critical national debates, in the middle of our busy lives, we must always make sure that we are keeping things in perspective. Children help do that. (Laughter.) A strong spouse helps do that. But nothing beats scripture and the reminder of the eternal.

So I’m honored that all of you have come here this Holy Week to join me in a spirit of prayer, and I pray that our time here this morning will strengthen us, both individually as believers and as Americans.

Union Membership Grows at Jesuit University

2011-04-11T09:50:00.003-04:00

GEORGETOWN UNIV. & JESUIT DINING WORKERS ORGANIZE

Workers at Georgetown University’s Leo J. O'Donovan dining hall, Jesuit Residence Wolfington Hall, Cosi, Starbucks, and Dr. Mug – all run by Aramark -- have joined UNITE HERE. “We have a voice and we want to be heard,” said Cathy Anderson. “Now, we must stick together to push ahead and achieve everything we are fighting for,” added Rafael Benitez. “Things like better treatment, affordable medical insurance, and fair raises for the hard work that we do.”

After Aramark recognized the union on April 6, students and workers met to discuss the victory and first contract negotiations. The workers’ organizing effort was supported by Georgetown students and student organizations, including the College Democrats, NAACP, Solidarity Committee and MEChA. School faculty members and the administration also backed the workers, including a letter from members of the Georgetown administration to Aramark’s CEO in February, reminding the company of Georgetown's Catholic and Jesuit mission to support both human dignity in work and respect for workers' rights as well as the school’s Just Employment Policy.

More information here at America, a Jesuit publication:

http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=4105

CATHOLICS SLAM GOP PLAN TO CUT MEDICARE

2011-04-07T15:45:00.002-04:00

Catholic Health Association Speaks Out Against Republican Plan.

"The draconian cuts proposed in the [Republican] budget resolution would simply shift the cost burden onto individual beneficiaries, health care providers and state governments," said Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, president of CHA. "While this may temporarily reduce the federal deficit, the long-term effects of this strategy will be to erode the safety net and jeopardize the health and economic security of millions of Americans."

http://www.chausa.org/newsdetail.aspx?id=4294967509

CATHOLIC CHURCH TELLS CONGRESS: Protect our Poor and Vulnerable Brothers and Sisters

2011-04-05T10:49:00.002-04:00

This week Congress must act on the current FY 2011 spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Some current proposals include deep cuts to programs that serve the poorest, most vulnerable people at home and abroad. Likewise a shutdown of government services will fall most heavily on those who have the fewest resources. Fiscal responsibility is important, but it demands shared sacrifice and a special concern for poor persons at home and abroad.

Unfortunately, the voices of poor and vulnerable people have not been heard in the debate, and as a result they are being forced to bear the brunt of the proposed cuts. The vast majority of the cuts come from the non-defense, discretionary portion of the budget (only about 12% of the total budget)--which includes the majority of social welfare, education, and other anti-poverty funding. Some of the largest proposed funding cuts include:

 $2.3 billion from job training programs
 $1.08 billion from Head Start
 $100 million from Emergency Food and Shelter
 $875 million from International Disaster Assistance
 $800 million from International Food Aid
 $2.5 billion from affordable housing
 $1 billion from Community Health Centers
 $904 million from migrants and refugees

Unfortunately, very few advocate the priority claim of poor and vulnerable people, which makes our voices so much more important and prophetic.

Recently Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, as well as Bishop Howard J. Hubbard and Ken Hackett, President of CRS, sent letters to the U.S. Senate expressing their concern with some of the cuts and calling for more attention to the needs of poor and vulnerable people.

What You Can Do

1. Call your Senators and Representative and tell them:
• Many proposals under discussion fail the moral criteria of Catholic social teaching to advance the common good and the Constitutional requirement to promote the general welfare.
• Poor and vulnerable people didn’t cause our budget deficit. Don’t make them pay for it.
• As the final bill is negotiated, shared sacrifice should guide spending cuts, not disproportionate cuts in programs that serve poor persons at home or abroad.
• Responsible leadership for the common good is needed to avert a government shutdown that would most negatively impact those with the least resources.
2. Email your Senators and Representative with the above message, possibly adding specifically how these cuts will prohibit your diocese/parish/community from adequately serving the poor and vulnerable. You can use the bishops’ letters as a template.
3. Help your diocese, parish, community organizations, and families understand the consequences of these deficit-reduction proposals on poor and vulnerable people. See these documents for details.

Take Action NOW.

For more information visit the United States Conference of Catholics Bishops webpage at: http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/

In the Catholic tradition, government has a positive role because of its responsibility to serve the common good, provide a safety net for the vulnerable, and help overcome discrimination and ensure equal opportunity for all. Government has inescapable responsibilities toward those who are poor and vulnerable, to ensure their rights and defend their dignity. Government action is necessary to help overcome structures of injustice and misuse of power and to address problems beyond the reach of individual and community efforts. Government must act when these other institutions fall short in defending the weak and protecting human life and human rights. -U.S. Catholic Bishops, A Place at the Table

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY TEACH-IN ON UNION RIGHTS FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

2011-04-04T09:29:00.003-04:00

As part of the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Catholic University of America will hold a Teach-In on Collective Bargaining today (April 4). The Teach-In will be held at the Catholic University Columbus School of Law (Rm. 305); 620 Michigan Ave NE from 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm The event will include a discussion on the current events in Wisconsin and collective bargaining rights of public employees.

Church Rites for Geraldine Ferraro

2011-03-31T16:36:00.002-04:00

Geraldine Ferraro made history as the first woman on a major party ticket for national office. At Ferraro's funeral service on Thursday at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, political luminaries recalled fondly her 1984 vice presidential bid and the speech she delivered at the Democratic convention that year. "The one thing that Geraldine said during her speech that sticks with me the most, is 'It's not what American can do for women, it's what women can do for America,'" said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Among those who spoke at the funeral were presidential candidate Walter Mondale:lo former President Bill Clinton; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

POPE SPEAKS TO UNION WORKERS

2011-03-29T16:14:00.004-04:00

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI received a pilgrimage delegation of workers and trade unionists in an audience at the Vatican on March 27, 2011. The Holy Father greeted the workers with the words:

Dear brothers and sisters, I am very happy to receive you this morning and to offer my cordial greeting to the officials who are present, the workers and to all of you who have come as pilgrims to the See of Peter. A special greeting to Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, whom I thank for the words that he addressed to me also on your behalf. You have come in great numbers to this meeting -- I am sorry that not everyone was able to come inside -- on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of John Paul II's visit to Terni. Today we would like to recall him in a special way for the love that he showed for the working world; we can almost hear him repeat the first words that he spoke shortly after he arrived at Terni: "The main reason for this visit, which takes place on St. Joseph's day … is to bring a word of encouragement to all the workers and express my solidarity with them, my friendship and my affection" (Speech to Officials in Terni, March 19, 1981). I make these sentiments my own and from my heart I embrace all of you and your families.

The Pope went on to connect the Holy Eucharist and the Mass with the social solidarity workers express when they struggle for economic justice. The Pope called for "more solidarity." He spoke of the right for workers to have rest on the weekends and about how worker solidarity can address the important issue of workplace safety.

President Obama at Tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero

2011-03-25T12:19:00.002-04:00

Presidente Obama hace historia con visita a tumba de Monseñor Romero

El Presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, cierra sus ojos ante el sepulcro de Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, en señal de reverencia, acompañado por el Arzobispo de San Salvador, José Luis Escobar Alas.

Gabriela Castellón Fajardo
Redacción Diario Co Latino

A las 2:30 de la tarde de este martes 22 de marzo, las calles aledañas a la Catedral Metropolitana están cerradas. El Presidente de los Estados Unidos de América, Barack Obama, llegaría a las 5 p.m., para realizar el recorrido ya previsto en la agenda. Pero, aunque nadie lo sabe aún, la llegada del mandatario será a las 6:25 p.m. Esta tarde, Obama hará historia.

Luego de la reunión sostenida entre el mandatario estadounidense y el Presidente de la República, Mauricio Funes, se confirmó la visita que realizaría Obama, para conocer la cripta donde yacen los restos del arzobispo mártir, Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero. Funes le agradece de antemano, por haber aceptado la invitación.

Son las 3 p.m. y frente a Catedral sólo está el grupo de periodistas que ingresarán a distintos puntos incluidos en el recorrido. En el centro de San Salvador hace calor, hay brisa y no hay vendedores.

Yo quería ver, dice Julia, en tono de queja. Ella, hasta hace unos minutos, estaba ofreciendo atol a todo el que pasaba cerca de su puesto. Sin embargo, se tiene que largar. Porque, sin autorización, nadie puede estar aquí, anuncia un agente de seguridad.

El presidente Obama incluyó en su agenda la visita a la efigie de Monseñor Romero en Catedral, como muestra de reconocimiento a la labor humana que impulsó, y por la que murió, el arzobispo.

A las cinco de la tarde, los periodistas esperaban en los puntos asignados. Antes, los encargados de la seguridad del mandatario estadounidense habían hecho su trabajo. Una revisión exhaustiva y al detalle. Con lista en mano, para evitar a algún colado.

Cuatro encargados de seguridad reciben al grupo que ingresa al lugar donde reposa Monseñor Romero. Vigilan, esperan a que Obama haga su llegada.

Hay helicópteros sobrevolando el centro. El presidente estadounidense está por llegar. Han pasado 30 minutos. Son las 6:25 p.m. y Obama ingresa por el portón poniente. Minutos antes, Funes había ingresado por la entrada principal.
Monseñor José Luis Escobar Alas y el presidente Funes le reciben. Escobar Alas inicia la explicación que expone la historia de Catedral. A los tres les acompañan el Secretario Privado de la Presidencia, Francisco Cáceres, y el Subsecretario de Asuntos Hemisféricos, Arturo Valenzuela.

Luego de la exposición sobre las pinturas y la arquitectura del lugar, Funes, Obama y el Arzobispo bajan. Se dirigen a la cripta.

Son las 6:37 p.m. y un grupo de al menos 18 periodistas extranjeros bajan corriendo las gradas. Obama está por entrar. Tres minutos después, hace su entrada.

El arzobispo de San Salvador explica la historia de Monseñor Romero. Mientras, una de las dos traductoras que están con Obama se pasea de un lado a otro, traduciendo frase por frase. Funes observa. Los periodistas callan. Los vigilantes siguen pendientes del movimiento. El sonido de los flashes se repite y parece que no fuera a terminar nunca.
Entonces, llega el momento. Escobar Alas termina su exposición. Obama guarda silencio y cierra sus ojos, frente a la efigie de Monseñor Romero. Mantiene el gesto treinta segundos. El sonido de los flashes aumenta.

Funes le explica a Obama lo que significa Romero para el pueblo salvadoreño. Además, le cuenta que, por primera vez, el Gobierno ha pedido perdón por todas las atrocidades ocurridas en la guerra.

Minutos después, el presidente salvadoreño le anuncia a su homólogo que le hará la entrega de una de las 25 réplicas del mural que se encuentra en el Aeropuerto Internacional, que fue pintado por el artista Rafael Varela, en honor al 30 aniversario del martirio del arzobispo mártir. Este miércoles se cumplen 31 años del asesinato de San Romero de América.

El presidente estadounidense agradece, y Escobar Alas explica la pieza. Obama se lleva la número 17. Pero el funcionario no se lleva sólo la pintura. Mientras estaban en la parte superior de Catedral, Escobar Alas le entregó el libro Romero, hombre, sacerdote y pastor, escrito por monseñor Jesús Delgado, ex párroco de Catedral y persona a cargo de la postulación de la beatificación de Romero en el Vaticano. Regresan la pintura al tubo donde estaba enrollada. Los tres se aprestan a encender una vela, para honrar los restos del Obispo Romero. Primero lo hace Obama, luego Funes. Escobar Alas enciende la última. Se retiran luego de 15 minutos, en el mismo orden. Un minuto después, los periodistas extranjeros salen corriendo del lugar. Obama ha hecho historia. No dijo nada. Su pensamiento no será expuesto en los medios de comunicación.

Sin embargo, el miércoles 23 de marzo, periódicos de diversos países del mundo tendrán la noticia: Obama visitó tumba de Monseñor Romero. México, Nicaragua, Argentina, Estados Unidos, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela y El Salvador fueron de los primeros medios en publicarlo. El nombre de Barack Obama y el de Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, juntos, ahora son parte de la historia.

Wisconsin Catholic Theologian On Worker Rights

2011-03-07T11:15:00.002-05:00

Being fiscally responsible and fair

By Father Bryan N. Massingale

Gov. Scott Walker is a preacher's son. I'm hoping that he appreciates a good sermon.

As a Catholic priest and theologian, I believe it's time for a moral lesson about why Walker's efforts to eviscerate workers' rights clashes with centuries of teaching from diverse faith traditions and why religious leaders are standing in solidarity with the teachers, nurses and first responders rallying in Madison.

Catholic social teaching and Judeo-Christian values insist that workers must have an effective voice in ensuring safe working conditions, just wages and reasonable benefits. These basic principles honor the dignity of work and promote economic fairness. These gains were not easily won and must be protected today.

History is stained with the sweat and blood of those who struggled to win labor rights many of us now take for granted. Dorothy Day of the Catholic Worker movement, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel - to name just a few - all were inspired by their faith to stand with workers demanding living wages and working conditions consistent with human dignity.

Today, Pope Benedict XVI, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Protestant clergy and prominent Jewish leaders consistently remind us that unions and collective bargaining are vital to ensuring that our economy serves the common good, not simply a privileged few.

We need to move beyond false choices. Fiscal responsibility and basic fairness are not competing values. Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki said it well in a recent statement: "Hard times do not nullify the moral obligation each of us has to respect the legitimate rights of workers." Yes, these are difficult times that call for shared sacrifice. It's unacceptable to ignore deficits, and prudent stewardship of public resources is simple common sense. But when the governor offers huge corporate tax breaks to some, yet refuses to even negotiate with tax-paying workers, this violates the principles of shared sacrifice and fiscal common sense. It's both immoral and fiscally irresponsible to ask those who teach our children, protect our communities and care for our sick loved ones to bear the greatest burden and give up basic rights that have provided economic opportunity for generations.

read the rest here: http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/117107323.html

The Rev. Bryan N. Massingale is associate professor of theological ethics at Marquette University. He is past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America.

BISHOP CALLS FOR UNION RIGHTS IN WISCONSIN

2011-02-28T11:02:00.004-05:00

Bishop Gabino Zavala, Auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles spoke to over 400 Catholic and other faith leaders in support of the rights of workers in Wisconsin last Friday.

Bishop Zavala reminded them that the Catholic Church has long recognized the rights of workers but stressed that now is the time for us to stand with them in solidarity.

The audience included many Catholic elected leaders of labor, clergy, religious and rank and file Catholic union members preparing to find news ways to support workers in Wisconsin.

Also commenting on the situation in Wisconsin was Fr. Sinclair Oubre, JCL, who proclaimed:

I find the scapegoating of public employees a scandal. So many of these people are the very persons who make our civic and community life possible. I wonder what all these folks who are so enthusiastic about "cutting out waste," will do when the local water department has been slashed in half, and their sewer line is clogged on the city side. How pleasant will their life be when no city employee will be able to deal with the consequences of a stopped up sewer line for a week. Or what are we going to do when our garbage pick up will be once every two weeks because half our garbage collectors have been declared "unnecessary government waste?"

Father Sinclair ministers to Catholic workers.

Poland to Wisconsin: Stand for Workers

2011-02-25T17:59:00.002-05:00

Poland’s Solidarność Union Tells Wisconsin Workers: “Your Victory is Our Victory as Well”

Washington, DC — In a remarkable expression of international solidarity among working men and women, the president of “Solidarność” (“Solidarity”) – the Polish trade union whose determination and courage led to the fall of the Iron Curtain – has written an open letter in support of the public employees of Wisconsin.

Piotr Duda, president of Solidarność, said the 700,000 members of the Polish union wished “to express our solidarity and support for your struggle against the recent assault on trade unions and trade union rights unleashed by Governor Scott Walker.”

The letter is printed as a full-page advertisement in today’s issue of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Dear Friends,” Duda’s letter continues, “please rest assured that our thoughts are with you during your protest, as we truly do hope that your just fight for decent working and living conditions, for the workers’ rights will be successful.”

“Your victory is our victory as well,” he said.

In the early 1980s, Solidarność persisted against great odds to win collective bargaining rights from the communist government of Poland. The union’s leader, Lech Walesa, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1981. He was elected President of Poland after the country secured its freedom.

The letter was sent to AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee with a request that it be conveyed to “Public Service Workers in the State of Wisconsin.” Download the open letter as a PDF.

THE POPE AND THE WORKERS

2011-02-24T14:13:00.003-05:00

"The repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum, for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honored today even more than in the past."

-- POPE BENEDICT XVI, Caritas in Veritate

CATHOLICS AND WORKER RIGHTS

2011-02-22T10:45:00.003-05:00

Archbishop's Statement Regarding the Rights of Workers and the Value of Unions

Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki, archbishop of Milwaukee and president of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, has issued the following statement regarding the rights of workers and the value of unions.

February 16, 2011

The Church is well aware that difficult economic times call for hard choices and financial responsibility to further the common good. Our own dioceses and parishes have not been immune to the effects of the current economic difficulties. But hard times do not nullify the moral obligation each of us has to respect the legitimate rights of workers. As Pope Benedict wrote in his 2009 encyclical, Caritas in veritate:

Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labor unions. Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome. The repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum [60], for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honored today even more than in the past, as a prompt and far-sighted response to the urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international level, as well as the local level. [#25]

It does not follow from this that every claim made by workers or their representatives is valid. Every union, like every other economic actor, is called to work for the common good, to make sacrifices when required, and to adjust to new economic realities.

However, it is equally a mistake to marginalize or dismiss unions as impediments to economic growth. As Pope John Paul II wrote in 1981, “[a] union remains a constructive factor of social order and solidarity, and it is impossible to ignore it.” (Laborem exercens #20, emphasis in original)

It is especially in times of crisis that “new forms of cooperation” and open communication become essential. We request that lawmakers carefully consider the implications of this proposal and evaluate it in terms of its impact on the common good. We also appeal to everyone –lawmakers, citizens, workers, and labor unions – to move beyond divisive words and actions and work together, so that Wisconsin can recover in a humane way from the current fiscal crisis.

R. SARGENT SHRIVER, JR, requiescat in pace

2011-01-18T18:20:00.003-05:00

Shriver family statement on passing of Sargent Shriver
Bethesda, MD
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
5:30 PM ET

Our dad, Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., lovingly known as “Sarge,” today went to heaven to join the love of his life, our mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. He was surrounded by his five children, five children in-law, and his 19 grandchildren.

He was a man of giant love, energy, enthusiasm, and commitment. He lived to make the world a more joyful, faithful, and compassionate place. He centered everything on his faith and his family. He worked on stages both large and small but in the end, he will be best known for his love of others. No one ever came into his presence without feeling his passion and his enthusiasm for them. He loved God, he loved Eunice, he loved us, he loved anyone who was a servant of peace, justice or joy. He loved life.

We pray that his spirit and example will guide us as we accept the challenge of living as he did. We will miss him forever. May the angels and saints and all his family receive him with a party beyond all imagining.

-The family of Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.
For more information on his life visit www.sargentshriver.org

RIP Judge Roll. Pray for Congresswoman Gifford

2011-01-09T19:24:00.002-05:00

Bishops' Labor Statements Says Workers Need Unions

2010-08-24T13:58:00.002-04:00

BISHOP MURPHY CALLS FOR NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR ‘NEW THINGS’ IN TODAY’S ECONOMY IN LABOR DAY STATEMENT

WASHINGTON—With millions unemployed and U.S. workers experiencing tragedies such as mining deaths in West Virginia and the oil rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Americans “must seek to protect the life and dignity of each worker in a renewed and robust economy,” said Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York. Bishop Murphy addressed these issues in the 2010 Labor Day Statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), entitled “A New „Social Contract‟ for Today‟s „New Things,‟” which can be found online in English (www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2010.pdf) and Spanish (www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2010_spanish.pdf).

Bishop Murphy, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, compared the challenges faced by today‟s workers to the changing society of the Industrial Revolution addressed by Pope Leo XIII in the 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (Of New Things).

“America is undergoing a rare economic transformation, shedding jobs and testing safety nets as the nation searches for new ways to govern and grow our economy,” said Bishop Murphy. “Workers need a new „social contract.‟” Bishop Murphy said that creating new jobs would require new investments, initiative and creativity in the economy. He also drew on the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, which call for placing the human person at the center of economic life and emphasize the role of civil society and mediating institutions such as unions in pursing the common good.
“Workers need to have a real voice and effective protections in economic life,” said Bishop Murphy. “The market, the state, and civil society, unions and employers all have roles to play and they must be exercised in creative and fruitful interrelationships. Private action and public policies that strengthen families and reduce poverty are needed. New jobs with just wages
and benefits must be created so that all workers can express their dignity through the dignity of work and are able to fulfill God‟s call to us all to be co-creators. A new social contract, which begins by honoring work and workers, must be forged that ultimately focuses on the common good of the entire human family.”
---

# # # # #

Dr. Paul Cooke (June 29, 1917 - July 4, 2010)

2010-07-06T14:23:00.002-04:00

History Makers

Paul Cooke Biography

Dr. Paul Phillips Cooke was born on June 29, 1917 in New York City. His parents were the late Mamie Phillips Cooke and Louis Phillips Cooke. Cooke attended Garrison Elementary School and Garnet-Patterson Junior High School, both in Washington, D.C. He earned a diploma from Dunbar High School where he played on the baseball team and was a member of the Cadet Corps, serving as Captain of Company F. During his senior year in 1933, his company was asked to perform at a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

From 1933 to 1937, Cooke attended Miner Teachers College (M.T.C.) in Washington, D.C. [which later became the District of Columbia's Teachers College after combining with Wilson Teacher's College. It subsequently became the University of the District of Columbia (U.D.C.).] where he earned his B.S. degree. He continued his studies at New York University where he earned his M.A. degree in education. In 1943, Cooke earned another M.A. degree in English language and literature from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and completed his studies with an Ed.D. degree from Columbia University in 1947.

While attending graduate school, Cooke worked as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service. Before receiving his graduate degrees, Cooke served in the U.S. Army between 1945 and 1946. He was honorably discharged with the rank of corporal. In 1948, Cooke, along with several colleagues from M.T.C., protested against Washington D.C.'s National Theatre for its discriminatory treatment against blacks. In 1951, Cooke worked to assist Washington D.C.-area African American deaf children who were being sent out of the city for their education while white deaf students from the city were being taught at what is now Galludet University. From 1954 to 1966, Cooke worked as a professor at District of Columbia Teacher's College. In 1966, he was appointed president of District of Columbia Teacher's College and served in that post until 1974. In 1978, Cooke worked as a consultant for the World Peace Through Law Center. From 1984 to 1986, he worked as a professor at Beacon College in Washington, D.C.

Cooke is a member of the World Veterans Federation and the American's Veterans Committee and serves as an officer for the Catholic Interracial Council of Washington, D.C. In 1983, Paul Phillips Cooke Day was declared in Washington, D.C. by former Mayor Marion Barry. One year later, Cooke was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from Pope John Paul II. In 1986, the University of the District of Columbia awarded him with an honorary doctor of laws degree and also gave him the U.D.C. Legacy Award in 2004. The university also established the Paul Phillips Cooke Lecture Series and the Paul Phillips Cooke Scholarship Program. Two scholarships were awarded in 2006. Cooke is also active in his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc., which awarded him the Laurel Wreath in 1995. He is also a lifelong member of the NAACP.

After sixty-three years of marriage and four children, his wife, Rose Clifford Cooke, died.

Cooke was interviewed by The History Makers on March 1, 2004.

http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=709&category=Educationmakers&occupation=University%20President&name=Paul%20Cooke

Mass in Honor of Cardinal McCarrick

2010-06-22T13:30:00.003-04:00

Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl
Archbishop of Washington

invites you to a

Mass of Thanksgiving

in honor of

Theodore Cardinal McCarrick

on the occasion of his 8oth birthday

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
5:30 p.m.

Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle
1725 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

2010-06-03T12:36:00.000-04:00

Health Care Law Leads to New Pro-Life Opportunities in the States

The new health care law, while blasted by many opponents of abortion (though supported by some pro-lifers) is proving to provide new opportunites to protect the unborn at the state level and in private, commerical health insurance.

At least 11 states have passed laws this year regulating or restricting abortion, giving the pro-life cause what partisans on both sides of the issue say is an unusually high number of victories.

In the past, conservative Pro-Life groups have said and done little about abortion in private health insurance plans. To do so would have upset alliances with Big Business and other conservative activists opposed to government regulation of private companies. Instead, the focus was on government policies that often concerned a much smaller number of abortions or even matters only indirectly touching on abortion.

In the health care debate, progressive pro-lifers took their conservative brethren to task for their historic silence on this issue and the sometimes twisted arguements they had to make on the heath care bill while avoiding the admission of their past silence. Groups now seem ready to make up for their past inaction.

The new law enhances the ability of states to restrict abortion in private plans. The Democratic controlled state Legislature in Mississippi became the latest to prohibit insurance comapnies from offering plans that include abortion to be sold on the exchange. Federal law prohibits subsidies for abortions, but states also have the right to even prohibit the unsubsidized sale of abortion riders.

The non-partisan Nebraska Legislature has also acted.

Even conservative anti-abortion leaders are now admitting the federal govenrment does not have all that much to say about abortion.

“Ninety percent of pro-life legislation happens at the states,” said Daniel S. McConchie, vice president for government affairs at Americans United for Life, a pro-life group. “While Congress is the main focus of attention for so many people in the country, state legislatures have greatest impact on daily lives, and life-related legislation is no exception.”

Abortions in the United States have been increasingly concentrated among poor women and those without health insurance, whose rates have gone up even as the overall national rate has declined. This is why many pro-lifers including Catholic bishops and Cardinals and others not wedded to secular conservative politics have noted that by providing national health care, the unborn are protected.

Sisters Say: Support Health Care Reform

2010-03-17T20:01:00.000-04:00

60 Leaders of Religious Orders Representing 59,000 Sisters Support Health Care

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Members of Congress:

We write to urge you to cast a life-affirming “yes” vote when the Senate health care bill (H.R. 3590) comes to the floor of the House for a vote as early as this week. We join the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), which represents 1,200 Catholic sponsors, systems, facilities and related organizations, in saying: the time is now for health reform AND the Senate bill is a good way forward.

As the heads of major Catholic women’s religious order in the United States, we represent 59,000 Catholic Sisters in the United States who respond to needs of people in many ways. Among our other ministries we are responsible for running many of our nation’s hospital systems as well as free clinics throughout the country.

We have witnessed firsthand the impact of our national health care crisis, particularly its impact on women, children and people who are poor. We see the toll on families who have delayed seeking care due to a lack of health insurance coverage or lack of funds with which to pay high deductibles and co-pays. We have counseled and prayed with men, women and children who have been denied health care coverage by insurance companies. We have witnessed early and avoidable deaths because of delayed medical treatment.

The health care bill that has been passed by the Senate and that will be voted on by the House will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured Americans. While it is an imperfect measure, it is a crucial next step in realizing health care for all. It will invest in preventative care. It will bar insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. It will make crucial investments in community health centers that largely serve poor women and children. And despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions. It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments – $250 million – in support of pregnant women. This is the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it.

Congress must act. We are asking every member of our community to contact their congressional representatives this week. In this Lenten time, we have launched nationwide prayer vigils for health care reform. We are praying for those who currently lack health care. We are praying for the nearly 45,000 who will lose their lives this year if Congress fails to act. We are also praying for you and your fellow Members of Congress as you complete your work in the coming days. For us, this health care reform is a faith mandate for life and dignity of all of our people.

We urge you to vote “yes” for life by voting yes for health care reform in H.R. 3590.

Sincerely,

Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA
LCWR President
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Joan Chittister, OSB
Co-Chair Global Peace Initiative of Women
Erie, PA

Sr. Mary Persico, IHM
President
Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Scranton, PA

Sr. Susan Hadzima, IHM
Councilor for Missioning and Community Life
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Scranton, PA

Mary Genino (RSHM)
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
Western American Province.

Nancy Conway CSJ
Congregation Leadership Team
The Congregation of St. Joseph

Debra M. Sciano, SSND
Provincial Leader
Milwaukee Province, School Sisters of Notre Dame

Josephine Gaugier, OP
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Holy Rosary Mission Chapter Prioress
Adrian, MI

Kathleen Nolan, OP
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Office of the General Council

Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA
President
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
La Crosse, WI

Corinne Weiss
Servants of Jesus Leadership Team
Saginaw MI

Adrian Dover OP
Prioress
Dominican Sisters of Houston, Texas

Rose Mary Dowling, FSM
President

Franciscan Sisters of Mary
Leadership Team
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Beatrice Haines, OLVM
President, Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters
Huntington IN

Joan Saalfeld, SNJM, Provincial
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
U.S.-Ontario Province

Jo'Ann De Quattro, SNJM
Sisters of the Holy Names
U.S.-Ontario Province Leadership Team

Sharon Simon, OP
President
Racine Dominicans

Maryann A. McMahon, O.P.
Vice President
Dominican Sisters of Racine, WI

Agnes Johnson, OP
Vice President
Racine Dominicans

Pat Mulcahey, OP
Prioress of Sinsinawa Dominicans

Pam Chiesa, PBVM
President
Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Patricia Anne Cloherty, PBVM
Leadership Team, Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Gloria Inés Loya
Leadership Team
Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco

Gloria Marie Jones, OP
Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose
Congregational Prioress and Council

Mary Litell
Provincial Councilor
Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity St. Francis Province

Theresa Sandok, OSM
Servants of Mary (Servite Sisters)
Ladysmith, Wisconsin

Sr Claire Graham SSS
General Director
Sisters of Social Service
Encino CA

Margaret Byrne CSJP - Congregation Leader
Teresa Donohue CSJP - Assistant Congregation Leader
Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

Sr. Carmelita Latiolais, S.E.C.
Sisters of the Eucharistic Covenant

Joan Mumaw, IHM – Vice President
On behalf of the Leadership Council
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Monroe, Michigan

Sister Clare of Assisi Pierre, SSF
Sisters of the Holy Family
New Orleans, LA

Sister Marla Monahan, SND
Provincial
Sisters of Notre Dame
(St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, KY
and St. Charles Care Center in Covington, KY)

Vivien Linkhauer, SC
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, United States Province
Greensburg, PA

Dolores Maguire
Sisters of the Holy Faith
Northern California LCWR Region XIV

Sr. Mary Elizabeth Schweiger, OSB
Subprioress
Mount St. Scholastica
Atchison, KS

Marianites of Holy Cross

Sr. Suellen Tennyson, MSC
Congregational Leader

Barbara Hagedorn, SC
Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati
Mt. St. Joseph, Ohio

Francine Schwarzenberger OP
Dominican Sisters of Peace
Denver, Colorado

Sister Maureen McCarthy
School Sisters of St. Francis
U.S. Provincial Team
Milwaukee, WI

Eileen C. Reid, RJM
Provincial Superior
Religious of Jesus and Mary
Washington DC

Sister Cecilia Dwyer, O.S.B.
Prioress
Benedictine Sisters of Virginia

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Sister Joann Sambs, CSA
General Superior

Sisters of St. Francis
Tiffin, Ohio
(from Sr. Mary Kuhlman)

Sr. Helen McDonald, SHCJ
Province Leader
Society of the Holy Child Jesus
Leadership Team

Sisters of the Precious Blood
Dayton, OH

The Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis
Sister Jane Blabolil, SSJ-TOSF
Sister Michelle Wronkowski, SSJ-TOSF
Sister Dorothy Pagosa, SSJ-TOSF
Sister Linda Szocik, SSJ-TOSF

Sr. Gladys Guenther SHF
Sisters of the Holy Family
Congregational President
Fremont, CA

Sr. Dorothy Maxwell, Councilor
Sisters of St. Dominic
Blauvelt New York

Sheral Marshall, OSF
Provincial Councilor
Sisters of St Francis

Marilyn Kerber, SNDdeN
Canonical Representative, Ohio Province
Sisters of St. Louis, California Region
(from Sr. Michele Harnett, SSL)

Ruth Goodwin, OSF
Sisters of ST. Francis of Philadelphia
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Leadership Team

Sr. Joanne Buckman, OSU
Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland

2010-03-02T13:20:00.000-05:00

SUPPORT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S CALL TO HELP HAITI

2010-01-13T18:09:00.008-05:00

We will keep the victims and their families in our prayers. We will be resolute in our response, and I pledge to the people of Haiti that you will have a friend and partner in the United States of America today and going forward.

May God bless the people of Haiti and those working on their behalf.

--President Barack Obama

Please help the people of Haiti in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that struck near the capital of Port-au-Prince. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and was still recovering from deadly 2008 hurricanes when the quake struck.

You can help in the following ways:

Pray for the suffering people of Haiti and for the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, who is missing and feared to be dead.

Contribute to Catholic Relief Services by calling 1-800-736-3467 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or visiting their website at www.crs.org/haiti/

Contribute to the Red Cross. For more information go here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/13/help-haiti

Contribute to the Solidarity Center's Haitian Relief Fund and read their blog to inform yourself: http://www.solidaritycenter.org/content.asp?contentid=1004

Contribute to Jesuit Refugee Service: http://www.jrsusa.org/news/news_100114.php

Read CRS's blog about the sad situation in Haiti and place yourself in spiritual solidarity with the people of Haiti. http://crs-blog.org/

Passing of Mrs. Jean Biden

2010-01-08T16:20:00.003-05:00

We were sad to learn of the passing of Mrs. Jean Biden. May saints & angels lead her on to to the Lord, and may He grant her rest eternal and let perpetual light shine on her.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 8, 2010
Statement from Vice President Joe Biden

“My mother, Catherine Eugenia “Jean” Finnegan Biden, passed away peacefully today at our home in Wilmington, Delaware, surrounded by her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren and many loved ones. At 92, she was the center of our family and taught all of her children that family is to be treasured, loyalty is paramount and faith will guide you through the tough times. She believed in us, and because of that, we believed in ourselves. Together with my father, her husband of 61 years who passed away in 2002, we learned the dignity of hard work and that you are defined by your sense of honor. Her strength, which was immeasurable, will live on in all of us.”

###

Catherine Eugenia “Jean” Finnegan Biden was born on July 17, 1917, the daughter of the late Ambrose J. Finnegan and the former Geraldine C. Blewitt of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1941, she married Joseph Robinette Biden. They were married for 61 years before Mr. Biden passed away in 2002.

Mrs. Biden is survived by her eldest son, Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., his wife Jill Jacobs Biden and their three children, Joseph R. Biden, III, of Wilmington, Delaware, his wife Hallie Olivere Biden and their children, Natalie Paige Biden and Robert Hunter Biden, II; R. Hunter Biden of Washington, D.C., his wife Kathleen Buhle Biden and their children, Naomi King Biden, Finnegan James Biden and Roberta Mabel Biden; and Ashley Blazer Biden of Wilmington, Delaware; and by her daughter, Valerie Biden Owens of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, her husband John T. Owens and their children Valerie James Owens, Cuffe Biden Owens and Catherine Eugenia Owens; and by her two younger sons, James Brian Biden of Merion Station, Pennsylvania, his wife Sara Jones Biden and their children, James Brian Biden, Jr., Caroline Nicole Biden and Nicholas Coleman Biden; and Francis W. Biden of Florida and his daughter, Alana Jaquet Biden.

Details on services for Mrs. Biden, 92, will be available in the coming days. On behalf of the Biden family, Valerie Biden Owens has requested that, in lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a contribution in memory of Mrs. Biden do so to a hospice, the Ministry of Caring in Wilmington, Delaware, or the Naomi Christina Biden Minority Scholarship Fund at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware.

###

Rush Limbaugh Loves Union Hospitals and Socialized Medicine

2010-01-05T10:55:00.002-05:00

Hell Freezes Over:
Rush Limbaugh Loves Union Hospitals and Socialized Medicine

By Jessica Kutch

Over the past year of Obama's presidency, conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh has routinely mocked, distorted and even invented various health insurance reform proposals before Congress. Given Limbaugh's blanket opposition to the new administration (recall Limbaugh's public confession, "I want [Obama] to fail"), it's hard to take Limbaugh's incessant fear-mongering seriously - or even tune in it at all. That was the case, however, until Limbaugh used his recent emergency hospital visit to show that the U.S. health care system is "working just fine."

On December 30th, Rush Limbaugh underwent an angiogram at Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu after complaining of sharp chest pains. When Limbaugh exited the hospital on New Year's Day, he told reporters, "They found absolutely nothing wrong. It was a blessing. No arterial disease, no coronary disease whatsoever."

Limbaugh then turned to health care reform, citing his Honolulu experience as evidence that the health care system doesn't need fixing:

"Based on what happened to me here, I don't think there is one thing wrong with the American health care system. It is working just fine, just dandy."
We're thrilled to hear that Limbaugh appreciates Hawaii's exemplary health care system.

Here's why:

1. Hawaii is a shining example of progressive health care reform. In fact, Hawaii is so forward-thinking that the Senate bill excludes Hawaii from some of its provisions, because Hawaii's requirements on employers go farther than the federal legislation.

•Since 1974, Hawaii has required all employers to provide quality health care benefits to any employee who works 20 hours a week or more. Because of Hawaii's increased coverage, reports the New York Times, "hospital and insurance executives in Hawaii say they have been able to innovate efficiencies. For instance, the state's top three medical providers are adopting electronic medical records -- years ahead of most mainland counterparts."

•One reporter noted "the medical system in Hawaii is as close to socialized medicine as there is in the United States, and, much of the Democrats reform bill is based in the Hawaii system."

2. Limbaugh stayed at Queen's Medical Center, where nursing staff are represented by the Hawaii Nurses' Association (read: a labor union). The nurses at Queen's are protected by their contract, which adheres to the ANA's safe-staffing principles guaranteeing appropriate staffing levels for any patient care unit.

In fact, Hawaii has one of the greatest percentages of organized workers of any state and also had the highest percentage of organized RNs. All private-sector acute care hospital RNs are organized, with just two known exceptions. We're guessing this might have something to do with why Limbaugh found the Hawaii hospital staff's work so "confidence-inspiring."

When Limbaugh was released from Queen's Medical Center, he cheerily noted, "The treatment I received here was the best that the world has to offer."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaIq5QeI0EY

Senator Kennedy's Widow Says Pass Health Care

2009-12-20T14:55:00.002-05:00

Vickie Kennedy Asks that we Finish her late Husband's Work

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/18/AR2009121803506.html

By Victoria Reggie Kennedy

Sunday, December 20, 2009

My late husband, Ted Kennedy, was passionate about health-care reform. It was the cause of his life. He believed that health care for all our citizens was a fundamental right, not a privilege, and that this year the stars -- and competing interests -- were finally aligned to allow our nation to move forward with fundamental reform. He believed that health-care reform was essential to the financial stability of our nation's working families and of our economy as a whole.

Still, Ted knew that accomplishing reform would be difficult. If it were easy, he told me, it would have been done a long time ago. He predicted that as the Senate got closer to a vote, compromises would be necessary, coalitions would falter and many ardent supporters of reform would want to walk away. He hoped that they wouldn't do so. He knew from experience, he told me, that this kind of opportunity to enact health-care reform wouldn't arise again for a generation. (click link for more)

May God Bless America and Protect Our Commander-in-Chief

2009-11-11T12:23:00.005-05:00

The President Honors Those Who Served and Serve

Our servicemen and -women have been doing right by America for generations. And as long as I am commander in chief, America is going to do right by them.

And that is my message to all veterans today. That is my message to all who serve in harm's way. To the husbands and wives back home, doing the parenting of two; to the parents who watch their sons and daughters go off to war and the children who wonder when mom and dad is coming home; to all our wounded warriors, and to the families who laid a loved one to rest. America will not let you down. We will take care of our own.

And to those who are serving in far-flung places today, when your tour ends, when you see our flag, when you touch our soil, you will be home in an America that is forever here for you, just as you have been there for us.

That is my promise, our nation's promise, to you.

President Barack Obama
November 11, 2009

CATHOLIC BISHOPS ENDORSE HOUSE HEALTH CARE BILL

2009-11-07T11:20:00.002-05:00

BREAKING NEWS: USCCB BACKS PELOSI HEALTH CARE BILL.

full story in the link:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops delivered a critical endorsement to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday by signing off on late-night agreement to grant a vote on an amendment barring insurance companies that participate in the exchange from covering abortions.

"Passing this amendment allows the House to meet our criteria of preserving the existing protections against abortion funding in the new legislation," the Bishops wrote in a letter to individual members. "Most importantly, it will ensure that no government funds will be used for abortion or health plans which include abortion."

The Bishops' conclude: "For the Catholic Church, health care is a basic human right."

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1109/Bishops_endorse_the_bill.html#comments

A MESSAGE FROM OUR U.S. CATHOLIC BISHOPS:

2009-10-31T17:26:00.003-04:00

PLEASE SUPPORT THE CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

The economic crisis in the United States has left many Americans without security: the security of having a job, the security of having health care, or the security of having a sufficient retirement fund. For the nearly 40 million Americans who have been living in poverty, these kinds of security have always been out of reach, and the current crisis has amplified their struggles. For nearly 40 years, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has helped the poor fight for fair wages, affordable housing, and access to health care. Now more than ever, CCHD needs our support to help lift people up and out of poverty. Families are struggling. Our faith is calling. Join the numbers who care. Please be generous in this year’s Collection.

Is GOP Leader McConnell in Bed with the Communists?

2009-10-26T22:43:00.005-04:00

Agent of Communist Government and Wife of Senate Republican Leader

We have heard a lot of baseless accusations against the President's patriotism and tea partiers calling him a Communist.

It turns out the agent of Communism in Washington, DC might be Elaine Chao, former Republican cabinet Secretary and current wife of Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Ms. Chao has recently taken a job with the Communist government of the city of Wuhan, People's Republic of China.

Like Lenin said, the capitalists will sell us the rope we will hang them with.

Or, like the GOP says, its just business.

Pray for the oppressed Catholics of Red China.

Obama Sends Delegation to Rome to Honor Fr. Damien

2009-10-15T18:24:00.002-04:00

President Obama says St. Damien gave voice to voiceless, dignity to the sick

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
By Megan Sweas
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Barack Obama expressed his "deep admiration" for St. Damien de Veuster and offered his prayers for all those celebrating the priest's "extraordinary life and witness."

He issued the statement Oct. 9, two days before the pope canonized the Belgian priest and four others at the Vatican.

St. Damien dedicated his life to those afflicted with leprosy, now called Hansen's disease, in Molokai, Hawaii.

Obama, who was largely raised in Hawaii, noted that St. Damien "has earned a special place in the hearts of Hawaiians. I recall many stories from my youth about his tireless work there to care for those suffering from leprosy who had been cast out."

The missionary priest, who was from Tremelo, Belgium, ministered to patients with Hansen's disease on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, where they were banished to the settlement of Kalaupapa. He was renowned for treating them with love and compassion. He ultimately contracted Hansen's disease and died in 1889.

"Following in the steps of Jesus' ministry to the lepers, Father Damien challenged the stigmatizing effects of the disease, giving voice to the voiceless and ultimately sacrificing his own life to bring dignity to so many," Obama said in his statement.

The president drew parallels between leprosy and diseases such as HIV/AIDS that afflict millions around the world today, saying "we should draw on the example of Father Damien's resolve in answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick."

Appointed by Obama to the delegation representing the United States at the canonization were: Bishop Larry Silva, who heads the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu; Sister Carol Ann Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association; U.S. Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka, D-Hawaii; U.S. Rep. Donald M. Payne, D-N.J.; and Stephen Prokop, superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historic Park.

Leading the delegation was the new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Miguel Diaz.

http://uscatholic.org/news/2009/10/obama-says-st-damien-gave-voice-voiceless-dignity-sick

STATEMENT OF THE HOLY SEE ON AWARD OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

2009-10-09T11:29:00.003-04:00

"The awarding of the Nobel Prize for Peace to President Obama is greeted with appreciation in the Vatican, in light of the commitment demonstrated by the President for the promotion of peace in the international arena, and in particular also recently in favor of nuclear disarmament. It's hoped that this very important recognition will further encourage that commitment, which is difficult but fundamental for the future of humanity, so that the desired results will be obtained."

Lecture at Fordham University on the Oblate Sisters of Providence

2009-10-08T11:26:00.003-04:00

I am sure this will be a worthwhile event for any who are in the area.

Conservatives to Re-Write Bible

2009-10-06T20:09:00.003-04:00

IS THIS LIBERAL PROPAGANDA?

It seems our friend Andy Schlafly, Esq., son of conservative standard-bearer Phyllis Schlafly (not the gay one) feels a need to re-write the Bible to correct all of the liberalism in it.

This is so crazy, I can't go on. Read about it yourself in the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/05/conservative-bible-projec_n_310037.html

Biden Joins With Prelates in Prayer for Our Nation and for Principles of Justice

2009-10-05T13:17:00.003-04:00

BIDEN, SOTOMAYOR, JOIN WITH BISHOPS

CELEBRATING RED MASS

He is our country's first Catholic Vice President, but Joe Biden joined thousands of others as a humble communicant at Sunday's Red Mass, the annual votive Mass said for the opening of the Supreme Court session. Presiding at the Mass was Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston served as the homilist. Also attending the Mass was the newest Catholic Justice, Sonia Sotomayor as well as Obama cabinet secretaries Ken Salazar and Ray LaHood.

Concelebrating at St. Matthew's Cathedral alongside Archbishop Wuerl were the Archbishop of the Military Services Tim Broglio, Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington and Washington's three auxiliaries. The Red Mass is held annually on the first Sunday of October, the eve of a new Supreme Court term. It was begun in 1954 and is sponsored by the John Carroll Society. However, its roots date from the 14th century when a Mass was held in Paris and other European capitals for the judiciary. The name comes from the red vestments worn for the votive Mass of the Holy Spirit as well as the red robes of judges at the time (with the Protestant Reformation, black replaced red for judges).

Right wing extremists called the Mass "a mockery" and led a protest against the Cathedral. The same group recently picketed the Bishops' Conference, objecting to their support for national health care.

Pro-Life Evangelical Protestant Church Endorses Obama's Health Care

2009-09-24T11:48:00.006-04:00

Pro-Life Clergy to endorse Obama's Healthcare plan

A group of clergy known for their strong opposition to abortion, led by the head of the evangelical, pro-life Church of God in Christ, will endorse the President's health care plan, reinforcing his assertion that taxpayer dollars won't pay for abortions.

Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr., a Los Angeles minister who heads the massive Church of God in Christ -- are scheduled to announce their support for the legislation at a news conference this morning. And they will offer a full embrace of the government-run insurance option that some Republicans have claimed opens the door to taxpayer-funded abortions.

"In accord with our commitment to Christian teaching, we wholeheartedly affirm the president's position that medical costs related to the abortion of fetuses shall not be covered by healthcare plans funded by this initiative," Blake will say today, according to an advance copy of his remarks.

The abortion issue is, admittedly, complicated. Under the plan, millions of Americans currently uninsured will purchase insurance from the private market. An estimated 2 million could receive insurance from their employer without any government subsidy. As is the case now, private employers and not the government will decide if abortion is covered. Pro-life leaders are divided if it is really appropriate to oppose employers providing insurance just because some of them may adopt plans that cover abortion. About 2/3rds of private plans cover abortion but this has never been a major issue for most right-to-life organizations.

In other cases, workers will be able to buy private insurance on exchanges. This gets more complicated. The government will help set up the exchange. Some private insurance companies may choose to cover abortion but consumers would be guaranteed a pro-life option. Consumers may receive tax credits depending on their income, to help purchase insurance. If there is a public option, it would function like Medicaid does now. The underlying law allows abortion coverage in Medicaid, but an appropriations rider passed every year known as the Hyde Amendment prohibits abortion funding. Democratic leaders have promoted a compromise that leaves the status quo in place. Abortion would be prohibited based on the annually renewed Hyde Amendment.

The Church of God in Christ is one of the world's largest Pentecostal denominations, with an estimated 6 million members. Its leadership, including Blake, has been heavily courted over the years by Republicans including former President George W. Bush, who viewed them as potential conservative allies because of their views on abortion, same-sex marriage and embryonic stem cell research.

Another Reason the Right Wing Hates Notre Dame

2009-09-23T09:57:00.003-04:00

NOTRE DAME BASKETBALL COACH URGES PASSAGE OF HEALTH CARE BILL

NCAA basketball coaches who are sometimes rivals on the court came united to Congress on Tuesday to push for quick approval of health care reform.

"Now is the time to press full court," Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey said on Capitol Hill.

Coach John Thompson III of Georgetown University, the country's first Catholic college, joined with Coach Brey along with fellow coaches Ed DeChellis of Penn State, Oliver Purnell of Clemson and Tubby Smith of Minnesota.

The event, hosted by Minnesota Senators Al Franken (DFL) and Amy Klobuchar (DFL), was a push to guarantee health coverage for all, regardless of preexisting conditions, and require minimal or no deductibles for cancer-screening procedures.

Civil War Within the Right Wing

2009-09-22T21:52:00.005-04:00

It is a common phenomenon. When things start going bad in a group, they sometimes turn on each other. For the hard Right Catholics, is has been a bad time. A strong majority of Catholics rejected their demands and voted for Barack Obama. The President received an honorary degree at Notre Dame. Senator Kennedy was given has Catholic funeral with two Cardinals participating. Two conservative bishops who were becoming pastoral disasters were moved out as the episcopal leaders of the local church -- Bishop Martino of Scranton fired and Archbishop Burke, formerly of St. Louis, moved to a bureaucratic desk job in Rome. The American bishops continue their witness to unborn life, as they should, but also uphold their historic call for national health insurance. They have refused to play along with the right-wing attempt to kill health care reform.

Now, feuding factions in the opposition to Notre Dame have turned on each other. One group -- NDResponse -- seeing that the critics of the President's address at Notre Dame were becoming their own worst enemy -- stepped in to take control of the messaging shortly before the President's visit. Probably a smart move giving how off the wall the protesters were becoming.

NDRespone cut a deal with the University that they would be the sole and exclusive campus protest group. They and anyone they declared part of their group had permission to be on campus the day of the President's address. They were clear what conditions had to be met to be part of their group. They sent this message out:

Concerning Signs and Graphic Images:

Any person willing to respectfully and constructively demonstrate their disapproval of the University’s decision to honor President Obama at commencement is welcomed to stand alongside students at this rally. Graphic images and signs not in keeping with the tone of this rally will not be permitted on Notre Dame’s campus. ND Response reserves the right to have individuals who do not follow student requests escorted from campus by security personnel.

In other words, you play by their rules or not at all.

Well, about 88 protesters were too extreme for NDResponse. They were arrested and now they want amnesty. This has now become a cause celebre for them. One faction of the Right Wing arrested and expelled from campus by another faction of the Right wing. The Right is turning in on itself.

It gets worse. Tomorrow, Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry and his supporters are staging a protest outside the offices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to dissuade them from their support of health care reform. They will be rallying against the “temptations of Socialism” and threatening that bishops who support reform may “lose their souls.”

USCCB Press Statement on Health Care Reform

2009-09-14T08:49:00.001-04:00

USCCB Officials Welcome President Obama's Statements On Abortion, Care For The Poor In Response To Health Care Address

WASHINGTON—Calling it an important contribution to a crucial national debate, officials speaking on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed President Obama's September 9 address on health care reform, particularly his statements regarding abortion and the uninsured.

"We agree that 'no one should go broke because they get sick,'" said Kathy Saile, Director of Domestic Social Development at the USCCB. "That's why the U.S. Bishops have worked for decades for decent health care for all. The Catholic Church provides health care for millions, purchases health care, picks up the pieces of a failing health system, and has a long tradition of teaching on ethics in health care. Health care reform that respects the life and dignity of all is a moral imperative and urgent national priority. We welcome the President's speech as an important contribution to this essential national debate and task."

"We especially welcome the President's commitment to exclude federal funding of abortion, and to maintain existing federal laws protecting conscience rights in health care," said Richard Doerflinger, Associate Director of Pro-Life Activities at the USCCB. "We believe that incorporating essential and longstanding federal laws on these issues into any new proposal will strengthen support for health care reform. We will work with Congress and the Administration to ensure that these protections are clearly reflected in new legislation, so no one is required to pay for or take part in abortion as a result of health care reform."

"We agree with the President that there are details that need to be ironed out," said Saile. "And with his address last night, we see the opportunity to work towards a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity, access for all with a special concern for the poor, and inclusion of legal immigrants. We also see the possibility of meeting the bishops' goal to pursue the common good and preserve pluralism, including freedom of conscience and a variety of options, and restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers."

Joe Wilson in the Cathedral?

2009-09-13T12:41:00.005-04:00

Joe Wilson in the Cathedral?

Saturday evening, September 12th and the faithful gathered at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC for the annual Mass for the Blessing of Human Labor, which has been held on or around Labor Day for better than fifty years. The Archbishop was presiding and in attendance were leaders and rank and file members of the labor movement. Entering the Cathedral , I joked with my companion that some of the people participating in the anti-tax/anti-Obama rally earlier that day might inadvertently be attending.

Maybe not as much as the more high class Red Mass that will be celebrated next month for the legal profession and the judiciary, but it was a solemn affair – the Archbishop incensing the altar, the deacon singing his parts, the choir at its best. Yes, some of the union members in attendance came in their work clothes as is custom, but it was no clown Mass with liturgical dance during the canon.

All was good until around the middle of the Mass, when one person decided some “audience participation” was needed. On my part, first shock, and then hearing whispered to me “Is Joe Wilson in the Cathedral?”

Is this where we have come? First during a presidential address to a formal joint session of Congress and now at Mass in the Cathedral?

After the first outburst (there would be more), my stomach knotted and I became more sensitive to my surroundings. Yes, it did seem some of the congregation were from the tax protest but I could not tell if the “Wilsonista” I noticed was. When the Archbishop called forward the union stewards present for a special blessing, I heard murmurs from a pew back about the “SEIU” t-shirts some wore.

After Mass, the Archbishop hosted a pleasant reception for the union officials and others present and over some food, drink and fellowship, the tension passed away. I started to take even some amusement about some well-intentioned conservative protesters fulfilling Sunday obligation and by chance exposed to the Labor Mass. But I am seriously disturbed that Congressman Wilson’s action on the floor of the House has now emboldened others to misbehave at serious events, even Holy Mass.

Senator Kennedy's Letter to the President

2009-09-10T09:31:00.002-04:00

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me - and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.

There will be struggles - there always have been - and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family's health will never again depend on the amount of a family's wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will - yes, we will - fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America's behalf inspires the entire world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.

At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.

And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.

With deep respect and abiding affection,

[Ted]

Solidarity Forever!

2009-09-07T15:59:00.000-04:00

AFL-CIO President Sweeney Honored As Catholic Model

2009-09-04T16:24:00.004-04:00

Georgetown University Grants Highest Honor to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
by Tula Connell, Sep 4, 2009

It’s rare for a major university like Georgetown to grant honorary degrees. But rare are individuals like AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Last night in a formal robe and gown ceremony followed by a celebration with Archbishop Donald Wuerl in Georgetown’s elegant Riggs Library, Georgetown University President John DeGioia conferred upon Sweeney the degree, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

Sweeney has dedicated his life to improving the lives of America’s working families, motivated in large part by his religious faith, one infused with the social justice teachings of the Catholic Church. Recognizing how Catholic doctrine influenced Sweeney’s life-long quest for justice and fairness for working people, DeGioia explained the importance of honoring Sweeney:

For many years, John Sweeney has worked to champion the dignity of workers—and work. And we at Georgetown take seriously the Catholic commitment to social justice for working people that has inspired John Sweeney’s remarkable career. That commitment has recently led us, with the help of the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation, to inaugurate a new effort here, the “Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor,” which we will formally inaugurate later this fall—and in whose work we hope to engage many of you in the years to come. Through its work, we hope to contribute, in our own way, to the tradition that John Sweeney has so well exemplified.

Throughout Sweeney’s more than 50 years of serving those who toil to earn their pay, he has joined his work in the labor movement with dedication to the faith community. He was an original member of the Catholic Common Ground Project, formed by the late Cardinal Bernardin. He participated in an a Vatican Social Justice conference and has been honored by Catholic Charities of Washington, and by Catholic universities such as his alma mater, Iona College in New York, and Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Noted labor historian and Georgetown professor Joseph McCartin, who was instrumental in the process which led Georgetown to recognize Sweeney, read the degree citation, which states in part:

Driven by family, faith, and a profound sense of justice, John J. Sweeney has had an indelible impact on the struggle for workers’ rights in this country and around the world. His efforts, as president of the AFL-CIO and with the many other organizations he has served, have always championed the right of all people to be able to live and work with dignity.

From an early age, John Sweeney understood the importance of worker solidarity and its role in Catholic social teaching. He credits his beliefs to the values and ethics instilled in him by his parents, to his father’s participation in the local transit worker’s union in New York City, and to his Catholic education at Cardinal Hayes High School, Iona College, and Xavier Labor School. Taken together, this formative upbringing instilled in Mr. Sweeney a sense of purpose that he has carried with him throughout his whole life.

Saying faith “has been the bedrock of my life,” Sweeney said at the ceremony the “Holy Father [Pope Benedict XVI] reaffirms our belief in government as a legitimate tool for correcting injustice and inequality, and for regulating business. He writes: ‘The market is not, and must not become, the place where the strong subdue the weak.’

He also reinforces the spiritual teaching that society should honor work—work is a way of worshipping God and participating in God’s ongoing act of creation. Honoring the dignity of work is the core of our shared support for free labor unions, for the absolute right of workers to join together and bargain collectively, and the absolute obligation of corporations to honor those rights and hold themselves to higher standards of social responsibility.

As someone who has had the honor of working with President Sweeney for nearly 20 years, it is my turn to recognize AFL-CIO President John Sweeney for holding me, and many of us in the labor movement, to these higher standards of social responsibility.

LABOR DAY STATEMENT OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS

2009-09-02T14:43:00.004-04:00

THE VALUE OF WORK; THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Most Reverend William F. Murphy

Bishop of Rockville Centre

Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

September 7, 2009

Over the years we Americans have redefined the summer by making Labor Day the“extra day of vacation” that recognizes the work we do throughout the year. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact looking at the history of the struggle for wages and benefits, I think that an extra “day off” for all Americans fits in with the spirit of the whole American experience of the meaning of work. It is a moment to recognize the value and dignity of work and the contribution and rights of the American worker. It is time well spent.

Labor Day this year comes at a time when we face a number of challenging problems, many of which cause us to reflect and ponder on what the future will bring. As complex andchallenging as the current economic situation is and the new elements that challenge us all,Americans are still fundamentally an optimistic people. We have an abiding faith in the values that have shaped our nation and an ongoing commitment to work together to address the problems and build on the strengths of who we are. This attitude mirrors the deep and powerful virtue of hope that our Church and, in a special way, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, have emphasized as a mark of all the faithful disciples of Jesus.

We are called always “to give an accounting of the hope that is in us.”(cf. 1Pt 3:15) This is especially true in difficult times that can try our spirits and test our wills.

A New Encyclical

Earlier this summer, Pope Benedict XVI published his long awaited encyclical, Caritas inVeritate. This teaching of Benedict brings together a whole range of theological and social issuesin a perspective that is in some ways very new and challenging. The Holy Father covers a wide gamut of subjects that reflect many of the Church’s traditional concerns in the social field while placing them in broader anthropological and cultural context. In this way the encyclical reflects questions that have long been central to the theological reflections of this Pontiff who constantly plumbs the implications of understanding of the human person before God.

The Pope reminds us,“the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is…the human person in his or her integrity: Man is the source, the form and the aim of all economic and social life.” (#25)

The Pope revisits the traditional teachings of his predecessors on the value of the human person, the dignity of every human being, and the integral development of human society to promote human flourishing. His reflections reaffirm the teachings of Leo XIII on labor and PiusXI on subsidiarity. With John XXIII and John Paul II, he insists on the value of solidarity and focuses with a special emphasis on Paul VI’s passionate commitment to the Third World and the development of peoples.

In the new encyclical, the Holy Father affirms and extends traditional Catholic teaching on the centrality of work to the whole human experience. Decent work, according to the encyclical, “means work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particular society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for children, without the children themselves beingforced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for re-discovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level; work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.”(#63)

Pope Benedict renews and reminds us of the Church’s classic support for the right of workers to choose freely to form or join a union or other types of workers’ associations. Pope Benedict endorses this and adds to it the responsibility of workers and unions “to be open to the new perspectives that are emerging in the world of work.” (#64)

This Labor Day statement is not the place to give a complete overview of the newencyclical. It remains, however, a major point of reference for us all as we give thanks to God forthe meaning with which God has endowed work as a reflection of the dignity of every worker, a“co-creator” with God in this world of human endeavor. That vision of cooperation with God inbuilding up this world through our work underscores the need for us all to cooperate andcollaborate with one another in making work and the workplace a project of human solidarityand mutual respect.

An Example of Respecting the Rights of Workers

In this Labor Day reflection, permit me to call your attention to a positive step forward inrespect for workers in one crucial area of our life: health care.

This year, after years of discussions, leaders in Catholic health ministry, the labor movement, and the Catholic bishops sought to apply our traditional teaching on work and workers and to offer some practical alternatives on how leaders of hospitals, unions, and others might apply our principles as an aid to reaching agreements in their own situations.

The principal participants— the Catholic Health Association (CHA), the AFL/CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)—reached agreement that offers guidance and options on how workers can make a free decision about whether or not they want to be represented by a union. They agreed on basic principles including mutual respect and open and honest communication as ‘guides’ to appropriate conduct for both employers and union representatives. This paves the way forworkers to make informed decisions without undue influence or pressure from either side.

Thebasic elements of such an approach include mutual respect, truth, and a commitment to let the workers decide whether or not they want to be represented by a union. This was not easy or simple. There were many different points of view and perspectives that at times seemed irreconcilable. The dialogue was long, candid and constructive. It led to a significant consensus statement entitled, Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for CatholicHealth Care and Unions.

This project achieved a significant accomplishment: a consensus among all the parties on a set of principles, processes, and guidelines for a respectful and harmonious approach to let workers in Catholic health care facilities make free choices about unionization. This is offered for voluntary use to help facilitate worker’s choices in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation for the good of the workers themselves.

Special thanks are due to the leadership of the CHA, AFL/CIO, and SEIU. All involved join me in special appreciation for the patient and wise leadership of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Thanks in no small measure go as well to the guidance of the Feerick Center at Fordham law School under the direction of Dean John Feerick. The dialogue tried to look at real situations and genuine differences in light of some basic themes in Catholic social teaching. The document offers some practical guidance and alternatives on how leaders of hospitals, unions, and others might apply these principles by adapting them to their own situations.

Because Catholic health care is a ministry, leadership must reflect in its own operations the words and example of Jesus. For the Church, health care is a continuation of the healing mission of Jesus. This is a gift to both the Church and to society at large. In our nation, one person out of six receives care at one of more than 600 Catholic hospitals or 1,200 other Catholic health care ministries. In the past, tension and misunderstandings too often marred relations between Catholic health care and labor. In an effort to look at that and move beyond it, the participants in the dialogue sought to find alternatives that would structure and guide a positive process with the good of the worker as the centerpiece.

This group of leaders, representing all the principal entities involved, affirmed two key values: (1) the central role of workers themselves in making choices about representation and (2)the principle of mutual agreement between employers and unions on the means and methods to assure that workers could make their choices freely and fairly. The document calls for civil dialogue between unions and employers focusing on how the workers’ right to decide will be respected. The heart of this consensus is that it is up to workers—not bishops, hospital managers,or union leaders—to decide “through a fair process” whether or not to be represented by a union and if so, which union.

It is our hope that this voluntary guidance and process agreement willprove to be a significant help for greater respect for workers on behalf of all interested parties now and in the future.

Other Issues in Health Care Reform

This Labor Day comes as our nation is engaged in a wider debate on reform of the healthcare system. As Congress discusses various proposals, the USCCB is committed to bring to this challenging issue the principles of Catholic social teaching as important truths that have the capacity to analyze and measure each serious proposal brought forward. The Catholic bishops continue to work for health care that is accessible, affordable, and respects the life and dignity ofevery human being from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. To cite Pope Benedict, “A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as thedignity of the human person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to thecontrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued andviolated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.” (#15)

Health care is an essential good for every human person. In a society like ours, no one should lack access to decent health care. Perhaps no other topic has engaged such a large number of citizens or produced such a wide range of opinions and points of view. This can help us avoid the pitfalls that occur when legislation passes without enough dialogue and reflection. I urge you to join the bishops in advocating for health care reform that is truly universal and protects human life at every stage of development. We must remain resolute in urging the federal government to continue its essential and longstanding prohibitions on abortion funding and abortion mandates.

Our government and laws must also retain explicit protection for the freedom of conscience ofhealth care workers and health care institutions. For more on USCCB advocacy on health care reform see our website, http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/.

Somewhat different but still a matter of basic human dignity is the challenge ofimmigration reform. This too has a part in the current health care debates. As a nation we have to be concerned about the integrity and safety of our borders. But that cannot overwhelm issues of respect for the dignity of immigrants who come to our country for so many varying political and economic reasons. We are a nation of laws. We as a people respect the laws of our country and state and local municipality. New peoples also are expected to do the same as good citizens or as good people desirous of becoming citizens. Most immigrants work hard, pay taxes, contribute tosocial security, and are valuable members of our society.

Yet too often these same immigrants, including legal immigrants, are denied access to health care services. This should not happen in asociety that respects the rights and dignity of every person. For all these reasons our immigration law and related laws must guarantee fair treatment to the millions of immigrants in our countrywho contribute to our economy and the common good. This is not an issue of “us” and “them.”

They, the new peoples among us, are an integral part of the “us” that constitutes the greatdiversity that is our nation. In that context, we bishops are convinced that it is imperative that legal immigrants be included in any fair and just health care legislation that seeks to offer adequate care that is universal and advances the common good of all in our country. An adequate safety net should remain in place for those who still remain without health care coverage. (Formore information on the bishops’ efforts on immigration see:http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/)

Conclusion

As we seek to rebuild our economy, produce a better health care system, and improve theimmigration system, we are presented with unique opportunities to advance the common good.

Pope Benedict’s new encyclical insists that the ethical dimensions of economic life begin withprotecting the life and dignity of all, respect for work and the rights of workers, and a genuinecommitment to the common good. As the Holy Father points out: “it is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only reallyand effectively pursue their good within it. To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity.” (emphasis in the original, #7)

On this Labor Day, let us remember those without work and without hope. Too often in our public discourse anger trumps wisdom, myth outweighs fact, and slogans replace solutions.We can work together and rebuild our economy on the moral principles and ethical valuesoutlined by Pope Benedict in his new encyclical. This Labor Day, we should take a moment topray for all workers and all those without work. We should also ask God’s help in living out theChurch’s call to defend human life and dignity, to protect workers and their rights, and to standwith the poor and vulnerable in difficult economic times. In his new encyclical, Pope Benedict challenges and reassures us: “As we contemplate the vast amount of work to be done, we aresustained by our faith that God is present alongside those who come together in his name to work for justice.” (#78)

May God bless you this Labor Day and may God watch over and bless those who are committed to the care and protection of all the members of our nation who share the Americandream of “liberty and justice for all.”

Pope Sends Apostolic Blessing to Senator Kennedy

2009-08-30T08:57:00.003-04:00

Senator Kennedy's letter to the Holy Father:

Most Holy Father, I asked President Obama to personally hand-deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him.

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God's blessings as you lead our church and inspire our world during these challenging times. I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines. I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, and although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life.

I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family. And both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.

I want you to know, Your Holiness, that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and have been the focus of my work as a United States senator.

I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I'm committed to doing everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I'll continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone.

I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me.
--

Response from the Holy See:

The Holy Father has read the letter which you entrusted to President Obama, who kindly presented it to him during their recent meeting. He was saddened to know of your illness, and asked me to assure you of his concern and his spirtual closeness. He is particularly grateful for your promise of prayers for him and for the needs of our universal church.

His Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God, our merciful Father. He invokes upon you the consolation and peace promised by the risen Savior to all who share in His sufferings and trust in His promise of eternal life.

Commending you and the members of your family to the loving intervention of the blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father cordially imparts his Apostolic blessing as a pledge of wisdom, comfort and strength in the Lord.

Thank You, Senator Kennedy

2009-08-30T07:38:00.003-04:00

"They called him the Lion of the Senate, and indeed that is what he was. His roar and his zeal for what he believed made a difference in our nation's life. Sometimes, of course, we who were his friends and had great affection for him would get mad at him when he would roar at what we believed was the wrong side of the issue. But we always knew and we were always touched by his passion for the underdog, the rights of working people, for better education, for adequate health care for every American,"

---- Theodore Cardinal McCarrick

'Christians' Could Care Less About 45 Million Without Health Care

2009-08-27T12:02:00.002-04:00

Conservative Protestants say U.S. health care system 'is working'

WASHINGTON — Conservative Christian groups on Wednesday (Aug. 26) ramped up opposition to health care reform, saying the current system "has problems" but "it is working."

Members of the newly formed Freedom Federation, includes, among others, the American Family Association, the Church of God in Christ, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council Action, Liberty University and the Traditional Values Coalition.

On abortion, Federation members said they are concerned that although the word "abortion" does not appear in the draft bills, it will be paid for by the government under the proposed reform.

Although an estimated 45 million Americans lack health insurance, federation backers said they support the current system. "There may be problems," one leader said, "but it is working."

Another leader agreed, saying, "America does offer the best health care in the world.

SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY (1932-2009)

2009-08-26T08:21:00.002-04:00

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Republicans Still Hate FDR

2009-08-23T20:59:00.005-04:00

News Item: ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said Obama has "the most left-wing agenda since Roosevelt "

******************************************************

Really, Rudy? You think FDR is the type of President to be opposed at all costs? Are you still stuck on Republican Isolationism, opposition to Social Security, and Fair Employment Practices?

I say, Happy Days are Here Again! Vote for Roosevelt and Repeal!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Xc4NhRoMg&feature=PlayList&p=CD416BB231DE08EB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8

Eunice -- Santo subito!

2009-08-12T20:16:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roJqpx_80Kg&NR=1

EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER

2009-08-07T16:32:00.003-04:00

Eunice Kennedy Shriver is ailing. Please remember her in your prayers.

http://www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/

CATHOLICS, OBAMA SAY HEALTH CARE NOW!

2009-07-29T19:48:00.003-04:00

Catholics Demand Health Care Reform NOW!

Catholics are joining with President Obama to demand health care reform now. Catholic Charities, the Catholic Health Association and the St. Vincent de Paul Society – the three leading Catholic organizations involved in caring for the sick – have produce a compelling video on the need for action along the lines of the President’s plan. See the video here:

http://www.svdpusa.org/VoiceofthePoor/tabid/167/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Catholics including these groups and social action organizations like Catholics United are asking the faithful to call and e-mail members of Congress to express support for Congress to enact health care reform now.

Thanks to these organizations and other Catholic leaders, we are maintaining the momentum for health care reform efforts despite vicious attacks by Right Wing groups opposing every plan before Congress than would insure the uninsured while controlling costs.

Right Wing groups also have tried to pressure the Catholic bishops to stop Catholics from supporting health care reform. Roger Playwin, the National Executive Director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society rejected false claims by Right Wing partisans, telling a conservative activist criticizing the plan, "The bishops' office has advised us that that's not accurate.”
Catholic Charities has been in the lead of efforts as well. Catholic Charities president Fr. Larry Snyder has sent a letter urging Congress to enact health care reform.

Catholic Health Association President Sister Carol Keehan has visited the White House to represent CHA and to help the President with his health care plan. Sister declared “We know how urgently change is needed for both moral and economic reasons.” President Obama appears in a video CHA has developed in support of health care reform.

Bishops Issue Guidelines Respecting Union Rights at Catholic Hospitals

2009-07-28T20:51:00.003-04:00

From the Catholic Labor Network:

As many of you have heard, a major break through was recently announced between the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Health Association, and trade unions who have been active in organizing Catholic hospitals.

As was noted in the USCCB Press Release, "The result of more than ten years of work, this document offers guidance for Catholic health care employers and unions on how to create a fair process for health care workers to decide whether or not to form a union. The three-way dialogue between the Catholic bishops, Catholic health care leaders, and leaders of organized labor used Catholic social teachings to establish common ground on alternative approaches to protect the rights of workers."

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said:

This is a landmark moment for health care workers. The foundation for reaching this agreement was mutual respect for the histories of both Catholic health care and workers' rights. Because of their willingness to engage in dialogue, the bishops and the leaders of Catholic health care displayed real courage and leadership and have set an example for all to follow.

Pope Benedict XVI recently noted that Catholic social teachings are strongly supportive of workers' freedom to form unions and recognized the importance of workers' rights in a modern economy. Unfortunately, recent studies show the freedom to form a union is at risk from a legal climate that allows management harassment and intimidation. The principles put forward by the Catholic bishops are an important response to these trends in the workplace.

The document can be seen here: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102630718344&s=2386&e=001CCArAx4FIx4Lu1scxyt_aODC0c1742LvXztlwuG-R1hkQNYyQaKfvyo47IGegt5ik7G-NB5cDjt4qjJaaA-uFJCNVL9Er3rW_LBF3Zbh9oNaOs_5icwVq9Q34LN2087-EfGgm-dubdXV4689LKrkHTMUuBTIustt0sUKN-SPZLq4oyM03Er9-2a5OdVIpmmn

Obama Picks Catholic Leader as Surgeon General

2009-07-13T15:51:00.002-04:00

Dr. Regina Benjamin

President Obama has nominated a Catholic health care leader to serve as Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. She is a graduate of Xavier University in Louisiana, founded by St. Katharine Drexel.

Whispers in the Loggia writes about her:

Founder of a rural Alabama health clinic for the poor that was devastated three times (twice by hurricanes, once by fire) since its founding in 1990, Dr Regina Benjamin was reelected to a second term on the board of the US' Catholic Health Association at its yearly assembly last month in New Orleans. Even more notably, though, Benjamin's work both at home and nationally were recognized in 2006 when Pope Benedict awarded her the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice ("For the Church and the Pontiff") -- the Roman accolade reserved for laity, religious and permanent deacons who've given distinguished service to the church.

The first African-American woman to lead a state medical association, the 53 year-old nominee -- whose grandmother helped found a Black Catholic parish, its first Masses offered in her living room -- must be confirmed by the Senate before she can become the nation's "top doc."

In the meantime, CHA President Sr Carol Keehan "rejoice[d] for the nation" in a statement released just after this morning's announcement:

In Dr. Benjamin, we have a brilliant physician who understands health care, nationally and internationally; but even more important, she knows the health care needs of the people of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, who she meets on a daily basis.Dr. Benjamin will enrich the nation because she brings competence and integrity to this very important role. This is coupled with the daily experience of trying to meet the health care needs of a very vulnerable community. Our nation will greatly benefit from her leadership and her background in national and international efforts to deliver quality health care.CHA congratulates Dr. Benjamin and looks forward to working with her to improve the health of our great country.

BENEDICT WELCOMES OBAMA

2009-07-10T13:51:00.004-04:00

PAPAL GREETINGS FOR THE PRESIDENT

The Pope very much wanted to meet with the President and scheduled an unusual afternoon meeting to accommodate him at the end of his Italian stay for a G-8 summit meeting. In the tradition-conscious Vatican, most such meetings are held earlier in the day. The Vatican also arranged live television coverage of the open session of the meeting after their private talks.

Benedict also broke Vatican protocol the day after Obama was elected by sending a personal note of congratulations rather than waiting and sending the usual brief telegram on Inauguration Day.

The First Lady and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, joined him at the end of the meeting, and gifts were exchanged. The President gave the Pope a stole that is a relic of St. John Neumann, CSSR, an American saint and immigrant. Several senior White House staff members also met the pope, with some either shaking his hand or kissing his ring.

According to the Pope's official spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, the pope was "very impressed" by Obama and that the pontiff was "extremely satisfied" with the talks. Father also said that "Obama told the pope of his commitment to reduce the number of abortions and of his attention and respect for the positions of the Catholic Church."

The pope also gave the president a copy of his latest encyclical, "Charity in Truth," which called for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.

2009-07-09T08:56:00.001-04:00

Papal Encyclical: Workers’ Rights to Form Unions Must Be Honored

by Seth Michaels, Jul 8, 2009

In a new encyclical released yesterday by Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of the Catholic Church discusses the challenges of a global economy. He notes that workers’ ability to form a union and bargain is at risk and makes it clear it’s a matter of moral imperative to preserve that freedom.
Here’s what the pope has to say on the need for workers to have the freedom to form unions:

Through the combination of social and economic change, trade union organizations experience greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers, partly because Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labor unions. Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome. The repeated calls issued within the Church’s social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum, for the promotion of workers’ associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honored today even more than in the past, as a prompt and far-sighted response to the urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international level, as well as the local level.

The Vatican and a wide variety of Catholic leaders have continued to express support throughout the year for workers’ freedom to form unions, and many Catholic scholars and organizations like the Catholic Labor Network and Catholics for Working Families have come out in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/07/08/papal-encyclical-workers-rights-to-form-unions-must-be-honored/

Independence Day

2009-07-04T21:37:00.002-04:00

GOD BLESS AMERICA

GOD BLESS OUR PRESIDENT

GOD PROTECT HIM AND HIS FAMILY
FROM THOSE WHO WOULD DO THEM HARM

Cardinal Praises President Obama

2009-07-04T13:56:00.002-04:00

Cardinal George Cottier, former theologian of the papal household under Pope John Paul II, praised the President's "humble realism." Styled as an analysis of two Obama speeches – his May 17 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame and his June 4 speech to the Islamic world in Cairo – His Eminence was overwhelmingly positive, repeatedly arguing that Obama’s “realism”, as well as his commitment to finding “common ground”, resonate with Christian tradition and the social teaching of the Catholic church.

The Cardinal compared Obama’s Notre Dame address to Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, in its accent on dialogue and common ground, and to the document Dignitatis Humanae of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) on conducting the search for truth in a pluralistic society. Christians, Cottier wrote, “can be in agreement” with Obama’s “way of framing the search for solutions.”

full story here:

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/former-papal-theologian-praises-obamas-realism-even-abortion

President Obama Accepts Holy Father's Invitation

2009-06-24T17:58:00.002-04:00

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has extended an invitation to the President to meet with him on July 10th and President Obama has very graciously accepted the invitation. The Pope and President have had telephone conversations previously but this will be the first face to face meeting. The White House confirmed that Mrs. Obama will join the President when he meets with the Holy Father.

Pope Benedict XVI broke protocol by sending a congratulatory message to Barack Obama after he won the election in November (54% of Catholics supported him). The normal practice is to wait for the swearing-in (at which the Pope also sent greetings). Anxious to meet with Obama, the Pope agreed to an afternoon meeting to accommodate the President's schedule. Typically, popes have such meetings in the morning.

http://www.popeandpresident.org/

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows: Gay Congressman and Archbishop Chaput Show Political Unity at Catholic Parish

2009-06-09T14:20:00.005-04:00

I must admit, when openly gay Congressman Jared Polis sent me the following flyer for a rally he was having at a Catholic Church AND with Archbishop Charles Chaput in attendance, my reaction was "now there is an odd couple."

But, it is a good witness that people of good will can come together on an issue, even when they have profound differences on other issues.

A national movement including businesses, unions, faith-based organizations, civil rights groups, conservatives, liberals, and community activists is forming to advocate comprehensive immigration reform, and I would like to invite you to take part in that overwhelming support for comprehensive immigration reform by attending our HUGE event:

When: Saturday, June 13th, 2009 12:30 PM-2:00 PM (doors open at 11:30 AM)

Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Parish Center 11385 Grant St., Northglenn, CO

Our June 13th event is part of the United Families tour. United Families is a nationwide tour led by Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez to encourage Congress to pass just and humane immigration reform in 2009! In over 20 cities, families that suffer under our broken immigration policies have told their stories to thousands of onlookers, the media, and elected officials. I am honored to bring Congressman Gutierrez to Colorado.

You have the opportunity to be a part of this historic tour and a part of the solution! Colorado families will tell their stories of how our broken immigration system has impacted them. Archbishop Chaput, Father Ames, Rabbi Firestone, Reverend Simpson, and Imam Ali will help us to understand how our faith calls us to action.

Finally, Representatives Gutierrez and I will explain what action Congress can take and how YOU can help. Please join us Saturday for this momentous event as faith leaders, community members and congressional champions for immigration reform join to demonstrate the urgency of fixing our broken immigration system.

A Wonderful Day for Notre Dame

2009-05-18T09:42:00.003-04:00

Full text and video of the President's outstanding speech at Notre Dame:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/17/obama-notre-dame-speech-f_n_204387.html

Time magazine on the Pope's cold shoulder to the Obama-haters:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1898756,00.html

I watched the address on CSPAN. It was tremendously moving, causing me to get teary-eyed. The faculty, students and assembly could not have been more enthusiastic about the President and Father Jenkins remarks didn't shy from taking on his critics. It was great to see Father Ted as well.

The handful of hecklers did nothing but show themselves to be the cranks that they are.

A Great Day for Female Triumph!

2009-05-16T22:06:00.002-04:00

Rachel Alexandra wins the Preakness, the first female to win in 85 years!

A magnificent animal. You go girl!!!!!

And for this reason, the degree of doctor of law is conferred!

2009-05-15T09:09:00.003-04:00

"A community organizer who honed his advocacy for the poor, the marginalized and the worker in the streets of Chicago, he now organizes a larger community, bringing to the world a renewed American dedication to diplomacy and dialogue with all nations and religions committed to human rights and the global common good.

Through his willingness to engage with those who disagree with him and encourage people of faith to bring their beliefs to the public debate, he is inspiring this nation to heal its divisions of religion, culture, race and politics in the audacious hope for a brighter tomorrow."

Conservatives Find an Ounce of Common Sense

2009-05-12T08:45:00.004-04:00

The coming public relations disaster for the Right wing at Notre Dame has finally started to put a little bit of common sense in the conservative movement.

After calling Notre Dame "immoral," "Satan's tool," "no longer Catholic," "supporting murder," and "having betrayed the Church" one right wing group, NDResponse, has decided to deal with the Devil to save its own skin.

While NDResponse hardly stood apart from the rhetorical extremism of Notre Dame critics, they are now working hand-in-glove with the University to keep off campus those pro-life voices deemed "off-message."

NDResponse has negotiated with the University the exclusive right to be the opposition voice to the President. With the cooperation of Notre Dame campus security, they are banning any person they consider "disrespectful" or "not constructive" to their message. They will have veto power over any sign or image not in keeping with the tone and message they have set and Notre Dame security will enforce their decisions.

This is not expected to eliminate "off-message" protesters, but will keep them off campus to the degree University security is able to enforce this agreement with NDResponse.

This writer has to say she is pleased with this development. While not opposing Notre Dame's invitation to the President, I have always felt a respectful and constructive witness to life while he visits the campus is appropriate. I congratulate those who are willing to take the time to make that witness in the fashion described.

It also has been clear that the Right-wing has so whipped up its camp followers that the unleashed extremism was creating a very ugly face of conservative Catholics. A small circus was in the making and it was not going to benefit their cause. They were looking crazy, rabid and hateful.

On the other hand, this may be a day late and a dollar short. The more extreme element will not go away. One can imagine what they will say to the moderates for using University security to enforce the exclusion of those these wish to "censor." Randall Terry and Alan Keyes already have indicated they expect to be arrested. A civil war among the Right-Wing could emerge as the bigger story (expect the far right to compare the moderates to Jews cooperating with the Nazis). We will see. But for now, it appears that at least an element of the Catholic Right has acknowledged their problem, which is the first step on the road to recovery.

Right Wing Goes Insane over Opposition to Notre Dame

2009-05-09T10:33:00.003-04:00

Peter Steinfels, one of the Church's most respected journalists on Catholic concerns, has an excellent column in today's New York Times. Steinfels shows just how extreme and counter-productive the anti-Obama/anti-Notre Dame protesters are.

Bishop Robert Finn (R-MO) has even gone so far to equate the President and the Notre Dame community with Satan.

The extremists are attacking the University administration, faculty, graduation class and student body as enemies of the pro-life movement.

Selections from the article follow.

May 9, 2009
Beliefs
Roman Catholics’ War Over Abortion
By PETER STEINFELS

Discord is nothing new for Roman Catholicism. But the controversy surrounding the appearance of President Obama at the University of Notre Dame’s commencement on May 17 suggests that run-of-the mill discord among American Catholics is escalating into something closer to civil war.

Just watch that airplane circling over the famous Golden Dome of Notre Dame’s Main Building and the spire of the university’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The plane pulls a banner with a picture of an aborted fetus.

The group flying the banner is unhappy not just with the university but also, according to a spokesman quoted in The South Bend Tribune, with “the pro-life community at Notre Dame.”
“If they were doing a good job of reaching the campus,” he said, “it’s unlikely Obama would have been invited.”

Now listen to Bishop Robert W. Finn, bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese in Missouri. “We are at war!” he told an anti-abortion convention on April 18. “We are engaged in a constant warfare with Satan.”

Although this war must never involve violence, he said, and Christians must love the human enemies who come under Satan’s power, “even without their fully realizing it,” he went on to say that the most dangerous enemies were not those openly attacking the church but “more subtle enemies.” These included Catholics who “attack the most fundamental tenets of the church’s teachings.”

Mark Noll is a leading historian of American Christianity, an evangelical and a strong opponent of abortion who joined Notre Dame’s faculty last year. In an interview this week, he said “temperate objections” to Mr. Obama’s appearance could stimulate useful thinking about the role of the church in politics and the nature of a Catholic university. Still, he said, “I am surprised at the visceral level of the opposition.”

An editorial in America, the weekly magazine published by the Jesuit order of Catholic priests, characterized much of the opposition in even stronger terms: “They thrive on slash-and-burn tactics,” the editors wrote, adding that “their tactics, and their attitudes, threaten the unity of the Catholic Church in the United States, the effectiveness of its mission and the credibility of its pro-life activities.”

Of course, the editors are now being accused of “slash-and-burn tactics” themselves, if not of falling under the power of Satan.

The student body and especially the graduating seniors appear overwhelmingly in favor of hearing him. Afterward, people may wonder what all the fuss was about.

In 2004, a few bishops seconded that demand during Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign. The resulting furor and division among the bishops led them, at their June 2004 meeting, to hammer out a statement on “Catholics in Political Life.” It is this hastily composed statement, now being treated as highly authoritative, that is being waved at Notre Dame.
It includes the injunction that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.” (It also includes a plea for “more effective dialogue and engagement with all public officials.”) Exactly what the bishops meant by “in defiance” is unclear, especially as it might apply to non-Catholics whose adherence to Catholic teaching can hardly be presumed.

But the wording of the statement was less important than the feeling behind it — a feeling that the anti-abortion cause was not being loyally supported by Catholics themselves.
In 2008, that sense of betrayal turned white hot, what with a majority of Catholic voters and even some Catholics well-known for anti-abortion views supporting Mr. Obama,

Increasingly, conservative Catholics appear to be making a specific form of anti-abortion politics, condemning the administration root and branch, a test of Catholic identity.

The problem, at least to the editors of America magazine, is that “it is not adherence to the church’s doctrine on the evil of abortion that counts for orthodoxy, but adherence to a particular political program and fierce opposition to any proposal short of that program.”

for the full article, go here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/us/09beliefs.html?_r=1

Republican Leader Condemns Democrats for Encouraging Too Much Adoption

2009-05-08T14:30:00.005-04:00

from the Washington Post:

Parental Leave Passes Committee as Foe Foresees Families Stocking Up on Kids

By Joe Davidson

When it comes to paid parental leave for federal employees, everything isn't simple motherhood and apple pie.

To Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, legislation that would allow Frankie and Flo Fed four paid weeks of leave following the birth, adoption or fostering of a child is a dollar sign -- $850 million over five years.

To Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), who has waged a decade-long fight for the bill, it's an investment in the nation's future, an effort that would improve children's health and boost employee productivity.

Maloney's side won the debate yesterday as the committee approved her bill on a voice vote and sent it to the full House.

"No federal employee who's a new parent should be forced to choose between their paycheck and their newborn -- or newly adopted -- child in those vital first few weeks home," Maloney said. "As the nation's largest employer, the federal government can -- and should -- lead the way on this issue."

Currently, federal employees who have been on the job at least a year can take up to 12 weeks of leave, but without pay.

...

Save for Issa, the Republicans had nothing at all to say about the measure, leaving it to their leader to play the Scrooge who uses money as a hammer against the family value of mothers and fathers staying home with their newborns or newly adopted children.

Issa is concerned that federal employees could adopt children year after year after year, all the while collecting those four weeks of paid annual leave.
Workers "could have one adoption or one foster child per year, resulting in every year you get a new foster child, every year the husband and wife if they are both federal workers would take four weeks off with pay, because they have simply taken in a new foster child," he said before the vote.

Can't you see Frankie and Flo stocking up on kiddies like the old woman who lived in a shoe, who had so many children she didn't know what to do? Frankie and Flo would get that paid month each year for each new one, doing damage to Uncle Sam's wallet in the process.

Issa's vision of federal workers adopting one child after another provided an opening for Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) to plug National Foster Care Month, which is now.

"I happen to represent a district that has the largest number of children in foster care in the United States of America," he said. More than a third of kids in his Chicago don't live with their parents, he added.

"I would be delighted if federal workers or any other workers . . . adopted one of these children every year," Davis continued. "As a matter of fact, I'd give them a Medal of Honor if every year they found that they could adopt another child, because there is a tremendous need for children to be adopted."

...
With yesterday's vote, the committee moved the United States one step closer to joining the global community of nations, the "163 countries [that] recognize the importance of providing paid leave to families," Maloney said.

"The United States, along with Lesotho, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea, does not."

May 7, 2009