Wisconsin is one of the worst states in our country in terms of human trafficking involving both sex and labor trafficking, speakers told over 220 persons attending the biennial Catholics at the Capitol held March 28 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in downtown Madison.
Tag: Wisconsin Catholic Conference
No objection to putting hold on immigration until we regain control
To the editor:
I am practicing Catholic member of a parish in the Diocese of Madison.
I am taken aback at the position taken by the Wisconsin Catholic Conference regarding the president’s hold on immigration.
I cannot understand why there is a problem with knowing who is entering the country. Period.
Catholics at the Capitol on Tuesday, March 28
On Tuesday, March 28, Catholics from around the state will meet at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison for Catholics at the Capitol 2017.
State Catholic Conference urges action on refugees
MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, issued an action alert on February 3 calling on concerned citizens to take action in solidarity with refugees.
The WCC said that President Donald Trump has issued an Executive Order with “devastating impacts on refugee resettlement in the United States.”
Voters urged not to sit on sidelines
MADISON — This election year, Catholics may find it difficult to choose candidates and be tempted not to vote.
However, failure to vote would not be in keeping with Catholic teaching, which emphasizes that faithful citizens should be involved in the political process.
That’s what Barbara Sella told those gathered recently at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Madison for her presentation, “Be Catholic First: Tools for Discerning as We Approach Election 2016.”
Sella is associate director for respect life and social concerns for the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops.
Role to play
Faithful citizens “cannot and must not remain on the sidelines,” she said in quoting Pope Francis. “We have an actual role to play in the politics of our nation.”
Sella said, “The Church emphasizes that our choices have to be grounded in moral principles, and we have to use our prudential judgment based on the values of our faith.
“Forming our conscience is the first step. But we have to form it in line with the teachings of the Church.”
The role of the Church itself is as a “teaching institution.” The bishops and priests teach the laity. “We are the doers,” Sella emphasized.
“The bishops and priests rely on the expertise of lay people.”
Key principles
This year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is emphasizing four key principles in its materials on Faithful Citizenship (see www.faithfulcitizenship.org):
John Huebscher to retire after 29 years with WCC
MADISON — John Huebscher says that the Catholic Church has “always been tugging at my sleeve.”
“I’ve always been interested in the Church,” he said in an interview prior to his retirement this month as executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), the public policy voice of the state’s Catholic bishops.
“I even thought about entering the seminary,” he said. In fact, his pastor encouraged him to visit the seminary in Milwaukee in 1967 and he met the rector in his office.
John Huebscher to retire as WCC executive director
MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) announced that Executive Director John Huebscher will retire in January and Associate Director Kim Wadas will succeed him.
The WCC was organized by the state’s Catholic bishops in 1969 for the purpose of coordinating various interdiocesan activities and public affairs interests of the five Roman Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin on a statewide level.
Urge funding be diverted from Planned Parenthood
On September 2 at a public hearing of the state Assembly Committee on Health, the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) testified in favor of reforming how Title X of the federal Public Health Service Act funds are disbursed in Wisconsin.
Pope Francis inspires us to care for prisoners
Since he has been our Holy Father, Pope Francis has been spending time in prisons.
Not only does he visit prisoners in Rome, but he also puts visits to prisons on his itinerary for trips outside of Rome. When he comes to the United States in September, he will stop at a prison in Philadelphia.
When he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, he made a point of spending time with prisoners. Even as pope, he continues to make a phone call every other Saturday to inmates he used to visit in Buenos Aires.