Tag: Madison Common Council

On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Allow free speech in Madison: Common Council should vote against buffer zone

Editor's View by Mary C. Uhler

Last fall, a couple leaving the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Madison stopped at the driveway to tell the sidewalk counselor with Vigil for Life that they were going to keep their baby.

Vigil for Life volunteers didn’t know if this couple had come to the clinic for a pregnancy test or for an appointment for an abortion. In any case, these parents chose life for their baby.

Praying and working for a change of heart

In an email named “Baby Saved,” sent to volunteers after that incident, Bette Weisshaar, then director of Vigil for Life-Madison, said, “That’s why we’re out there — to pray for a change of heart, for God’s graces to show them a way other than abortion. Our prayers on the sidewalk are offered for parents, that they will choose life for their babies . . . and that’s exactly what happened today!  Praise God!”

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler

Victory for freedom of speech, religion: Supreme Court lets ruling stand on funding of Catholic student group

editor's view by Mary C. Uhler

As a graduate student in the 1970s, I attended Mass and was involved in activities at St. Paul University Catholic Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For many Catholic students like me, St. Paul’s was a “home away from home” in the spiritual sense. It kept students tethered to their faith amid the challenges of life on campus.

St. Paul’s is the oldest Newman Center established on a secular university in the United States. The first chapel was completed in 1909 on State St. in the heart of the UW campus. Over the years, St. Paul’s has continued to provide Catholic students — who number over 25 percent of the student body by some estimates — with the opportunity for growth in their faith in an increasingly secular culture.

Read More