Caring for People with Disabilities: Dignity, Advocacy, and Hope

October 25, 2010

Bismarck, North Dakota

Conference Registration

The Secretary of State has approved for circulation a petition to put a religious liberty restoration amendment on the state ballot.

This amendment would re-establish the high level of protection for religious liberty that existed everywhere before a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision.  Congress restored the original standard and for all federal laws with the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993.  It then restored the protection for most cases involving land use and institutionalized persons in 2000.  About half of the states, through legislation or state court action have restored the protection for cases involving their state laws.  The North Dakota Religious Liberty Restoration Amendment would extend this same level of protection to North Dakota.

We are confident that Catholics across the state are eager to defend religious liberty by supporting this amendment.

We must collect 25,688 signatures in order to place the amendment on the November ballot.  To accomplish this task, we need every parish to collect signatures during the next few weeks.

Materials for gathering signatures are online at: http://ndcatholic.org/rlra/

These items should answer most questions that may arise.  If not, please contact the North Dakota Catholic Conference office.  You can also contact our coalition partner, the North Dakota Family Alliance  (www.ndfa.org/ndreligiousliberty.php,  701-346-0676)

More information about the amendment will be distributed as the campaign moves forward.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development has collaborated with eleven Catholic organizations to create a new Web site to help college students and campus ministers promote Catholic social teaching on campus.
The Web site, “Transforming Our World: Our Catholic Faith in Action,” can be found at www.usccb.org/campus.
Site elements include principles of Catholic social teaching, prayer materials, small group resources, tools for action, and multimedia such as videos and podcasts. The home page features quotes from Church leaders, ideas of the week and an invitation to site visitors to submit resources and ideas for possible features on the Web site. Collaborators hope the Web site will become an online clearinghouse featuring “best practices” to promote Catholic social teaching on campus.
Development of the site was initiated to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the U.S. bishops’ statement Sharing Catholic Social Teaching. The spring 2010 launch of the site responds to Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for World Youth Day 2010, in which he mentioned challenges such as respect for the environment, just division of goods, solidarity with poor countries, promotion of dignity in labor, building a culture of life, and promoting peace.“They are challenges to which you are called to respond to build a more just and fraternal world,” Pope Benedict said.

Collaborators involved in the Web site include Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Catholic Campus Ministry Association, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Catholic Relief Services, Fellowship of Catholic University Students, The National Association of Diocesan Directors of Campus Ministry, National Council of Catholic Women, National Catholic Student Coalition, National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association, and Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Sometimes God places seemingly unrelated observations in your head that beg for reflection on whether they are related. That happened to me with bridges.

A reference to a letter by Saint Basil the Great first caught my attention. Basil was bishop of Ceasarea, in modern day Turkey, from 370 to 379. Basil is known as great defender against heresy, but he was also prolific letter writer very involved in the life of his community. In one of these letters Basil urges the provincial governor to build a much needed bridge.

Read the column . . .

Cardinal Francis George, OMI

Archbishop of Chicago

President

Bishop Gerald Kicanas

Bishop of Tucson

Vice-President

Bishop George Murry, SJ

Bishop of Youngstown

Secretary

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz

Archbishop of Louisville

Treasurer

Bishop Arthur Serratelli

Bishop of Paterson

Elected Member

Pope Benedict XVI recently issued a message for Lent 2010. This year’s message focuses on the theme “The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ.” In the message, Pope Benedict reflects on the “profound link between faith in God who ‘lifts the needy from the ash heap’ (Ps 113,7) and justice towards one’s neighbor.” During Lent, he calls for our “conversion to Christ” which requires us to “exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one’s own need – the need of others and God.” Strengthened by this experience, he writes, “the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love.” The full text of the message can be found at Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2010.

To aid your reflection on the theme of love of God and neighbor during Lent, we are pleased to share the following resources:

·         USCCB Lent calendar and reflections: www.usccb.org/lent/ The USCCB Lent page will feature justice-related items for most days during Lent.

·         Questions to examine conscience in light of Catholic social teaching: Meant to be used as a supplement to your traditional examination of conscience, this resource can be distributed for use during Penance services and private confession. This resource is at www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/examine.shtml.

·         Podcasts: Way of the Cross toward Justice and Peace: This new resource, available on the CCHD homepage (www.usccb.org/cchd) in the near future, includes scripture, prayers, and reflection on issues facing communities across the United States.

WASHINGTON—In a letter to three Cabinet secretaries February 4, the heads of five major Catholic agencies serving Haitian earthquake victims outlined steps that should be taken to ensure the protection of unaccompanied Haitian children in the aftermath of the January 12th earthquake.

The leaders of Migration and Refugee Services of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and the International Catholic Migration Commission wrote on the topic of Haitian children, February 4, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

“The compassion of the American people has been evident in their response to Haitian children who have been left alone after the earthquake,” the executives wrote. “As social service providers with experience in handling unaccompanied children, we believe that certain processes should be established before such children are brought to the United States and placed in adoption proceedings.”

The letter outlined the following procedures to protect Haitian children: • The establishment of safe havens in Haiti so children would have security and proper care; • The assignment of child welfare experts to make best interest determinations for each child, including the best placements for children;

• Family tracing efforts so that children could be reunited with their parents and families; • Placement in foster care with refugee benefits for those children whose best interest is served by relocation to the United States; and

• Expedited consular processing for U.S. citizens or permanent residents with minor children in Haiti, as well as for those with approved petitions for family reunification.

The agency heads stressed that Haitian children who are not already matched with adoptive parents in the United States should only be brought to the United States after it is determined that it is in the interest of the child.

“Family reunification is an important goal and must be protected to the greatest extent possible, while placement with a guardian within Haiti will sometimes prove to be the appropriate course,” they wrote. “If no family or appropriate guardian is found, and if it is further determined that it is in the child’s best interest not to remain in Haiti, the child should be considered for international placement.”

The executives concluded that, in the long-term, reconstruction funds should include resources to the Government of Haiti to provide protection to unaccompanied children who remain in Haiti.

Health Care Reform and the Pro-Life Agenda
By Richard M. Doerflinger

Due in part to a Senate seat switching parties in a recent special election, health care reform legislation may be stalled in Congress for now.  Many had hoped that long-overdue reform, extending affordable health coverage to tens of millions of people who lack it now, was on the horizon.  And some, disappointed at the current impasse, are looking for scapegoats.

One charge is that the Catholic Church doomed health care reform by its opposition to federally funded abortion coverage.  One New York Times reporter, commenting on the bishops’ new letter urging Congress not to give up on authentic reform, described the bishops as switching to the “other side” of the issue after helping to bring the legislation near death.

The charge runs counter to a number of well-established facts.

First, the Catholic bishops have supported national health care reform for decades.  Catholic teaching sees health care not as a commodity, but as a support for life and health that every human being deserves as a matter of right.  The bishops wrote to Congress numerous times in the past year, urging progress toward authentic reform – reform that would make health care more affordable, ensure access to health care for immigrants, and respect life from conception to natural death while upholding rights of conscience.  They urged that the legislation comply with policies on abortion and conscience rights that have long governed other major federal health programs.  Making this bill into a vehicle for weakening or changing federal policy on abortion, they warned, would threaten the real goal of expanding access to basic health care.

Second, opinion surveys showed that others agreed.  Most American women and men don’t want abortion in their health coverage, and don’t want the government funding or promoting abortion. Legislation ignoring this strong sentiment would garner public distrust.

Third, the inclusion of clear language against federally funded abortion coverage is what saved health care reform legislation in the House of Representatives.  The bill did not have the votes to pass, until the last-minute approval of the Stupak amendment allowed pro-life Democrats to support the bill in good conscience.  The Senate refused this language, instead crafting a “compromise” that has failed to win support from groups on either side of the issue.

Fourth, it is the pro-abortion movement that has announced opposition to all current health care reform bills.  The National Organization for Women, for example, opposes even the weak and loophole-filled Senate language on abortion, accusing Congress of “throwing women under the bus” to pass health care reform legislation.  It is not difficult to see which groups want to hold reform hostage to impossible demands.

What does the future hold?  To Catholics, abandoning helpless unborn children is not an option.  Nor is abandoning millions of people who lack access to health care.  Members of Congress made some progress last year toward reform that respects the life, health and conscience of everyone.  They should not abandon the task, but try to work together on authentic reforms that can earn the support and trust of Americans who appreciate the dignity of each and every human life.  The bishops would be the first to applaud that effort.

Mr. Doerflinger is Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. needs “a long-term coherent strategy for recovery, development and poverty reduction in Haiti,” helping Haiti rebuild and get back to the path of long-term sustainable development, said the chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace in a January 26 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk.

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, New York, said such a strategy for rebuilding Haiti in the wake of this month’s devastating earthquake needs to coordinate “different U.S. government agencies in a comprehensive approach, engaging other groups with expertise and experience with Haiti.” Bishop Hubbard recommended that the strategy include: debt relief, trade preferences, extension of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the United States as needed, and sustained reconstruction and development assistance to Haiti.

Bishop Hubbard expressed gratitude for President Obama’s response to the earthquake in Haiti and added, “When the international community and Haitians move beyond the most urgent aspects of the emergency, we urge a substantial and sustained commitment by the U.S. Government to provide long-term funding for reconstruction and poverty reduction.” Highlighting the importance of working with Haitians, Bishop Hubbard wrote, “At the same time, our nation should work to support and strengthen the role of the Haitian Government and institutions in the reconstruction and long-term development of their nation.”

The letter from Bishop Hubbard can be found online at: www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/2010-01-26-let-clinton-napolitano-geithner-kirk-haiti.pdf