Tag: Catholic bishops

On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Take a good look at proposed tax bill

Although the president and some members of Congress would like to get a new tax bill passed soon, I think it would be wise for citizens to take a good look at this bill before it is fast-tracked.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, as it is called, is touted as saving taxpayers money and helping the country produce more jobs. However, there are concerns about whether both of those goals will be met in this bill.

Bishops comment on bill

In a November 9 letter to U.S. House of Representatives members, three bishops who are chairmen of three committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called the House version of the bill “unacceptable” as written because it “contains many fundamental structural flaws that must be corrected,” reported a Catholic News Service article.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Health bill must be amended to protect poor

Here we go again. The U.S. Senate may be voting on another health care bill this week designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

The Senate hasn’t given much opportunity for the public to weigh in on the Graham-Cassidy proposal. There was only one public hearing scheduled on the measure, to my knowledge.

The U.S. Catholic bishops have apparently studied the proposed legislation, co-sponsored by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Why the Church loves immigrants

Some people seem to feel the Catholic Church’s love of immigrants comes from a selfish point of view.

This opinion came to light in an interview airing on September 10 on the CBS-TV program 60 Minutes. Steve Bannon, former White  House chief strategist for President Donald Trump and now executive chairman of Breitbart News, said on the program that the Catholic bishops of the United States have “an economic interest in illegal immigration” as “they need illegal aliens to fill the pews.”

I beg to disagree. The Catholic Church’s love of immigrants is certainly not based on an economic interest. It is true that many immigrants do contribute of their time, talent, and treasure to Catholic parishes. But many of them start out living in poverty, and it may take years for them to be able to give anything back to the Church as they get settled in their communities here.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Support hurricane relief

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So I am letting this picture inspire us to pray and support relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

In the Diocese of Madison, Bishop Robert C. Morlino has asked parishes to take up a now mandatory collection. Proceeds will be sent via the diocese to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has announced an emergency collection to assist victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Take action to protect dreamers

The  official name for individuals who meet the general requirements of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is DREAMers.

However, I think we could call them dreamers in the regular sense, because they are young people who dream of staying in the United States and becoming citizens of this country.

In 2012, a policy called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — popularly known as DACA — was implemented under the Obama administration. It gave young people — mostly 15 to 30 years of age — a temporary reprieve from deportation and the authorization to be employed in our country.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Protect freedom to worship and serve

At their spring assembly held June 14-15 in Indianapolis, the U.S. Catholic bishops voted to made their ad hoc religious liberty committee a permanent committee.

In some ways, it is unfortunate that we need this committee at all. However, freedom of religion has eroded in our country as it has in many other parts of the world.

Freedom curtailed

Although Catholics in the United States can worship freely in our churches and homes, the freedom to practice our religion in the public arena has been questioned and even curtailed.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Please don’t weaken the safety net

Health care safety net providers are institutions that are critical in providing care and services in low-income, medically underserved, immigrant, and communities of color.

These institutions already serve a large percentage of patients who are underinsured or on Medicare. They have relied on help from the government. Yet, now Congress is considering changes to health care which could weaken that safety net.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Sign letter on religious freedom

In recent years, I have written about the struggles of the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide the kind of health coverage that respects their faith and moral values.

I’ve also written about a car dealership in Minnesota that did not want to provide abortion-inducing drugs to its employees. “It has long been my conviction to run my business according to the teachings of my faith,” said Doug Erickson of Hastings Chevrolet.

Need for an executive order

These are just two instances where religious freedom has been imperiled.

One way to protect religious freedom is for President Donald Trump to sign an executive order promoting religious freedom.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Continue to welcome immigrants

In the 1970s, I remember going to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin to do a story on refugees from Vietnam who were settling in the Diocese of Madison.

One of our parishes — St. Joseph Parish in Dodgeville — helped sponsor a number of these Vietnamese refugees.

Over the years, refugees from other countries received assistance settling in our diocese through the Catholic Charities resettlement program.

Programs such as this continue throughout the United States through Catholic Charities and other religious-based agencies.

Read More