Tag: Wisconsin Catholic Conference

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John Huebscher

Social ministry gathering offers look at vibrant Church

Eye on the Capitol by John Huebscher

It has been a few years since I last attended the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, D.C. What I saw when I joined nearly 500 others at the 2014 meeting was another inspiring example of how a diverse and vibrant group of Catholics can inspire each other and bear witness to our faith.

Initiated some years ago by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Social Ministry Gathering is now also co-sponsored by a number of Catholic organizations, including Catholic Charities USA, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Rural Life, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Relief Services, the National Council of Catholic Women, and a number of other groups.

Over a three-day period, attendees renewed relationships, celebrated policy victories, educated ourselves on important policy issues, and visited our respective congressional delegations in support of the USCCB’s policy priorities.

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Tom and Theresa Sobieski

Thanks for publishing conference testimony on mascot legislation

To the editor:

We want to thank you and the staff at the Catholic Herald for devoting considerable space in the paper to print the Wisconsin Catholic Conference testimony concerning the pending legislation on the mascot law.

At present the bill has passed both the Assembly and Senate, but it still needs the governor’s signature to make it law.

The new law would definitely reduce the opportunity for dialogue in those communities with race-based mascots, so it could damage the progress in Wisconsin for their removal.

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Tom and Theresa Sobieski

Thanks for publishing conference testimony on mascot legislation

To the editor:

We want to thank you and the staff at the Catholic Herald for devoting considerable space in the paper to print the Wisconsin Catholic Conference testimony concerning the pending legislation on the mascot law.

At present the bill has passed both the Assembly and Senate, but it still needs the governor’s signature to make it law.

The new law would definitely reduce the opportunity for dialogue in those communities with race-based mascots, so it could damage the progress in Wisconsin for their removal.

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Chris Lee

Bishops oppose rent-to-own changes

MILWAUKEE — At a press conference April 26, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki expressed his opposition to a provision in the state budget that would exempt rent-to-own (RTO) businesses from key provisions of the Wisconsin Consumer Act (WCA).

Speaking at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Archbishop Listecki joined the Chamber’s president and CEO, Maria Monreal-Cameron; Lutheran Bishop Jeff Barrow of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA; Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee); Bruce Speight, director of the consumer advocacy group WISPERG; and others.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Catholics at the Capitol

In his encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love), Pope Benedict XVI said, “The Church . . . cannot and should not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper.”

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Let your voice be heard: Contact your elected officials on important issues

Being an active citizen doesn’t end with voting. If we are truly concerned about the direction our country is taking at the state and federal levels, we should keep in touch with our elected officials between elections.

John Huebscher of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference wrote a recent “Eye on the Capitol” column encouraging state citizens to give attend and/or give testimony at budget hearings held at our state Capitol.

On the national level, there are important issues being addressed, too. Sometimes it may seem that the opinion of one person doesn’t matter. However, I think it is important to make sure our elected officials know where we stand. Perhaps one person can make a difference. Or one person combined with many others with the same opinion can change a senator’s or congressional representative’s mind.

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Chris Lee

Bishops urge support for choice in education

MADISON — The Roman Catholic bishops of Wisconsin wrote to members of the Wisconsin Legislature, urging them to support Governor Scott Walker’s budget proposal, which would expand parental choice programs in the state and create the Special Needs Scholarship Program.

Noting the Church’s long-standing commitment to quality education, especially for needy or vulnerable children, the bishops explained why educational choice is so vital. “We back this effort out of a conviction that parents, as the primary educators of their children, must have the community’s support in selecting a form of education that best meets their child’s needs — academic, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and physical.”

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