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Dear Friends,
Believe it or not, I frequently try to avoid weighing in-on certain situations. However, the recent happenings in our state capital with regard to legislation about labor union practices beg for a comment. In this column, I simply want to point out how a well-informed conscience might work through the dilemma which the situation poses.
MILWAUKEE — In a statement sent February 16 to the members of the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki, president of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, addressed the rights of workers and the value of unions.
For those who engage the policies by which we govern ourselves, the beginning of an odd-numbered year is a time for defining a vision.
Governors set their vision with their state of the state message and their budget address. Legislators do it by their “priority bills.” The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) does so by sharing its Policy Positions for the new session.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), the public policy voice of Wisconsin’s bishops, is distributing several resources to help Catholics reflect on their duties as faithful citizens. The state primary election will be held on September 14.
In August of 2009, the Catholic bishops of all five dioceses in Wisconsin wrote a letter sharing their “deep concern” about a provision in the new state budget that would require providers of health insurance to include contraceptive services as a “mandated benefit.”
The bishops were concerned because this mandate would “compel Catholic dioceses, parishes, and other agencies that buy health insurance to pay for a medical service that Catholic teaching holds to be gravely immoral.”
With efforts to banish religion from the public square in this country, I’ve begun to wonder what is happening to freedom of religion in the United States.
The beginning of the first amendment to the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This means that while there should be no specific state religion, those with religious beliefs should be able to practice their faith freely.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) has urged state legislators to allow Wisconsin law governing education for human growth and development to continue to respect the judgment of parents, local school leaders, and advisory committees.
MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), the bishops’ voice for public policy, has opposed bills in the state legislature that would, if passed, repeal the statute of limitations for all civil suits filed by childhood sexual abuse victims.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) is asking legislators to delete two budget provisions that will impede the religious liberty of Catholic organizations and their employees.
Nearly 400 people attended this year’s Catholics at the Capitol, a biennial legislative conference organized by the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the state’s bishops.
