MADISON — Madison-based Vigil for Life has reported a dramatic increase in the number of babies saved from abortion at the local Planned Parenthood over the last few months.
The organization has held a public vigil to end abortion in front of Planned Parenthood every business day since January of 2011.
MADISON — For years, people have come to the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry on Fish Hatchery Rd. in Madison to get a helping hand to feed themselves and their families.
Now, just one floor below the pantry, people with nowhere else to turn can get assistance with their medications.
Since early April, a stand-alone, charitable pharmacy has been serving local low-income clients, who don’t have insurance or any other coverage option.
Clients can use valid prescriptions at the new pharmacy from physicians and other licensed prescribers.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) joined other pro-life groups in voicing support for a bill before the Wisconsin Legislature to impose a civil penalty on doctors who knowingly perform sex-selective abortions.
Assembly Bill 217 (authored by Rep. Steve Kestell, R-Elkhart Lake) received a public hearing on May 29 before the state Assembly Committee on Health.
A sex-selective abortion is an abortion that is performed when the parent or parents of the unborn child abort because the baby is not of the desired sex. Most of the time, unborn girls are aborted because the parents wanted to have a son.
MADISON — Wisconsin’s Catholic bishops have released the third edition of their pastoral letter on end-of-life health care decision-making and advance care planning, Now and at the Hour of Our Death.
The letter voices the bishops’ concern and compassion for those facing critical health care decisions, and shares a moral and ethical framework for making such decisions.
“The conference issued the first edition of this pastoral statement in 2002. That edition and the second one issued in 2006 have proven to be our most frequently requested document,” explained Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) Executive Director John Huebscher.
“In the seven years since the second edition, we have seen even greater interest in the moral questions surrounding death and dying. The bishops are resolved to keep responding to that interest. Reissuing the document is an effective way to do that.”
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.
Carlo Gaetano Samuele Mazzuchelli was born on November 4, 1806 in Milan, Italy. He died in 1864 as pastor of St. Patrick’s, Benton. Years later, as pastor of St. Patrick’s, I walked the parish grounds, presided at Mass, and visited his rectory and grave. My knowledge and admiration of him deepened. He certainly is an inspiration in this Year of Faith.
Although there are still many strong Catholic schools across the United States, trends show a continuing decline in the number of Catholic schools and students attending those schools.
According to data from the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), in the past 10 years, the number of Catholic schools across the country has decreased by 23.8 percent from 8,114 to 6,841. The enrollment in Catholic schools has dropped by 23.4 percent from 2,320,651 to 2,031, 455.
Most of the enrollment decline has been experienced at the elementary school level. It is estimated that there are almost 700,000 empty seats existing in Catholic schools.
The number of Hispanic Catholics in the United States is growing by leaps and bounds. Hispanics now comprise 35 percent of all Catholics and 67 percent of practicing Catholics aged 18 to 34, according to a Notre Dame report, To Nurture the Soul of a Nation: Latino Families, Catholic Schools, and Educational Opportunities (December 2009).
According to the report, only about three percent of Hispanic students currently attend Catholic schools. Many families would like to send their children to Catholic schools, but they think they can’t afford to do so.
Living in a swing state isn’t much fun. We’ve been inundated with television advertising and campaign phone calls for many months.
It wasn’t a surprise to hear that Madison was among the top five cities in the country in the amount of spending for political advertising. Just imagine all the good we could do to help the poor and reduce the deficit with all that money!
Of course, the reason we’re a swing state is that the presidential race and the U.S. Senate race are too close to call. The voters in Wisconsin are almost evenly divided between political parties at this point.
MADISON — Wisconsin’s bishops reaffirmed their opposition to a federal mandate that all health insurance plans provide coverage at no cost for contraceptive and sterilization services.
Now that the Wisconsin recall election is over, some people are rejoicing and others are disappointed in the outcomes. However, I think almost every citizen in our state is happy to be moving on, away from the incessant political ads, phone calls, and media hype.
Now that the recall is in the history books, the question is: Where do we go from here? I think most Wisconsinites want to live and work together peacefully, yet the climate in our state — and in our nation, for that matter — has been so contentious.
Governor Scott Walker took one step by inviting legislators and staff members of both political parties to what was called the “Brat Summit” at the governor’s mansion. The governor himself grilled the brats, and it seemed that those attending enjoyed themselves.
Spending time talking with each other might be a first step in the process of healing in our state. If we listen to what people say, we might start understanding their point of view. It doesn’t mean we have to agree with everything they say, but we might be able to find some common ground and ways to work together.
