Category: State News

On
Chris Lee

Wisconsin bishops respond to termination of DACA

MADISON — The Catholic bishops of Wisconsin have issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s announced termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program six months from now:

“The bishops of Wisconsin affirm their support for the continued protection of youth under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Most of the nearly 8,000 DACA Wisconsinites, who are among almost 800,000 DACA young adults nationwide, know no other home than the U.S., having been brought here in their youth through no choice of their own.

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Relics of Christ’s Passion to be presented at Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

LA CROSSE — The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe will host the Relics of the Passion program throughout Divine Mercy weekend, Friday through Sunday, April 1 to 3, starting at 10 a.m. each day. The program will be at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The event, designed to connect participants to the roots of their faith, is sponsored by the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in collaboration with the Apostolate for Holy Relics (AHR), an organization founded 10 years ago in Los Angeles.

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

New laws cut state Planned Parenthood funding

WAUKESHA — Governor Scott Walker signed two bills into law February 18 that, together, are expected to eliminate approximately $8 million in public funding from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI), the state’s largest abortion provider.

Assembly Bill 310 redirects federal Title X family planning funds away from organizations that perform abortions to public entities including state, county, and local health departments and clinics. This will eliminate $3.5 million from PPWI.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Wisconsin bishops issue statement on terrorists, refugees

The Catholic bishops of Wisconsin through the Wisconsin Catholic Conference have issued the following statement on the terrorist attacks and the refugee situation in Syria.

The Catholic bishops of Wisconsin join bishops across the United States in expressing our deepest condolences to the French people for the horrific loss of life at the hands of ISIS terrorists. There is no justification for such barbarism, especially when done in the name of God.

Read More
On
Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Married life is better with NFP, says couple at synod

Jeff and Alice Heinzen, Synod on Family 2014
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, talks with Jeff and Alice Heinzen of Menomonie, Wis., as they leave the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican October 13. The couple are auditors at the synod. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholic couples who ignore Church teaching on contraception “don’t know what they are missing,” said a U.S. couple invited to address the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.

Alice and Jeff Heinzen, family life leaders in the Diocese of La Crosse, spoke at the synod October 7, urging efforts to find new ways to share its teaching about the beauty of family life.

Natural Family Planning

Although the couple has practiced Natural Family Planning (NFP) for 27 years and taught NFP — Alice is a member of the NFP advisory board for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — they did not speak specifically about family planning in their presentation to the synod.

 

Read More
On
Denis Downey, La Crosse Catholic Times Staff

La Crosse couple presenters at synod

MENOMONIE — Alice and Jeff Heinzen will not only be serving as auditors for the upcoming Extraordinary Synod on the Family that Pope Francis has called for October 5 to 19 at the Vatican but also they will make a presentation before the general assembly at the historic event.

In their main role as one of 14 married couples from around the world selected to serve as auditors for the synod, the Heinzens will observe all of the general assembly sessions and participate in group discussions with the English-speaking delegates.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Resources for voters prepared

MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), the public policy voice of Wisconsin’s bishops, is distributing a series of resources to help Catholics reflect on their duties as faithful citizens.

The series is designed for parish bulletins, but it can also be reproduced on a parish website or as a series of posters.

John Huebscher, executive director of the WCC, explained that the bishops are “modeling the Catholic duty to engage in public life in an informed, consistent, and respectful manner.”

 

Read More