Last week the Arizona state house and senate passed the most restrictive state measure against undocumented immigrants. Already the state has among the most restrictive laws against hiring them. Now police can stop anyone in the state to ask for documented proof they are here legally.
Guest blog post by John Zokovitch
This past summer, Pax Christi USA honored one of its own, Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen, as the 2009 recipient of the Teacher of Peace Award. Despite having just turned 88, Bishop Matt, as he encouraged us to call him, was full of wit and energy as he shared stories, reconnected with old friends, and most of all solidly challenged the church to declare nuclear deterrence as morally unjustified once and for all. The moment seemed to energize him.
I laughed when I heard that Glenn Beck said that Christians should leave their churches if they talk of "social justice." I knew that Beck was simply ridiculous, but this just put the nail in the coffin in confirming how irrelevant he is to any real, productive conversation.
Be glad you don't work for Catholic Charities in Washington. DC, because the battle over same-sex marriage just hit you in the pocketbook.
The DC law recognizing same-sex marriages requires anyone who has contracts with the district to provide equal spousal benefits to employees, regardless of the gender of the spouse. Catholic Charities says it cannot do so because following the law would violate church teaching, so it eliminated spousal benefits for new employees and current employees who have not elected to cover their spouses, effective yesterday.
As Bryan points out in a blog post that has gotten a ton of comments already, my post about seeking cooperation and support between pro-life and pro-human dignity camps only has gotten a couple of comments. This seems to say to me that this is really just about politics and not the issues.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Just one day after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, the Claretian Missionaries religious order in Santo Domingo assembled a convoy to head into the destruction and assist their fellow Claretians and the community they serve in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The group was led by Claretian Father Hector Cuadrado, the major superior of the order's Antilles Province, which includes Haiti.
The biggest issue at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering has been promoting the right to and dignity of life (and it always has been, as far as I can tell). Life is central to all the issues discussed this week from the environment to international assistance to, of course, health care reform.
This morning many gathered for a strategy session that yielded a great deal of good about seeking the common good in the promotion the life and dignity of the human persons.
Despite the federal government shutting down for business under the threat of another snowstorm, the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering was busy with heavy day of policy.
Some attendees were able to keep their Capitol Hill appointments as many senators and their staffs continued to work. One group reported that they not only visited their senators and had an unexpected hour-long conversation with their representative, but also handed out materials to a number of other offices.
Inspired by the people featured in our Catholic workers story, but still can't think of where you might want to get involved? The U.S. Catholic editors are here to help. We've compiled a list of different ways any old average Catholic can put their faith to work.
Already a regular volunteer? We'd love to hear about what you're doing in our comment section!
It's too bad every bit of religious idiocy that comes out of Pat Robertson's mouth gets a headline, his Haiti remarks being an egregious case in point. And it's worse that every Christian with access to a media outlet doesn't immediately grab the mike and denounce what he says and at least offer another Christian response to it, however unsatisfactory, and there are no easy answers to the suffering of the innocent.
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