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ICC raises awareness on topics

By Tom Chapman
Iowa Catholic Conference

The Iowa Catholic Conference wishes to raise awareness about several topics/resources:
• Health care reform efforts continue
• October event highlights agriculture and justice
• Resources for pope's encyclical
• 'Path to zero' for nuclear weapons
• The defense of marriage

HEALTH CARE REFORM

There are several health care reform bills that have been introduced in Congress. The church has long supported universal health care reform that respects human life and dignity, and provides access for all with a special concern for immigrants and the poor. The Catholic Church views health care as a basic right belonging to all human beings, from conception to natural death. In addition, we are one of the few organized groups that is advocating for health care reform that does not include funding or mandates for abortion.

I strongly encourage you to involve yourself in the process by contacting your U.S. senators and representative in the month of August. The message is "Support health care reform with no mandates or funding for abortion." You can call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121; contact information for local offices can be found on our website at www.iowacatholicconference.org and clicking on "Action Center."

A bill that passed out of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee late last week has some negative provisions. It would be used to mandate abortion coverage in some private health plans and expand abortion funding. The legislation delegates to the Secretary of Health and Human Services the power to make abortion a basic or essential benefit in all health plans, or in the "public plan" created by the legislation.

In a letter to the House Energy and Commerce committee, Bishops' Pro-Life Chairman Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia said this would be a radical change. Federal law has had widely-supported provisions which excludes most abortions from federal employees' health benefits plans and places no requirement on private plans, most of which also decline to cover elective abortions.

If they were a member of the public plan, people would be required by law to pay for abortion coverage with their own premiums. Federal subsidies would help pay the premiums for health benefits that include unlimited abortions.

At the same time, there was good progress in the bill in terms of preserving conscience rights for providers on abortion and leaving in place state laws regarding abortion.

These bills will be moving targets as we go through the fall. We are especially interested to see how the Senate Finance bill, expected to come out in September, addresses some of these issues. You can go to www.usccb.org/healthcare for updated information from the U.S. bishops' conference on the issue.

Health care reform efforts will continue with or without you, and we may be asking for your help more than once. Don't hesitate to contact me any time for more information.

EVENTS ON AGRICULTURE, HUNGER MARK FALL AGENDA

There are two events coming up this fall that you may wish to mark on your calendar. First, a symposium is being organized to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit to Iowa. "What God has Given, and Human Hands Have Made" is scheduled for Oct. 2-3 and will be held in West Des Moines. I will send along sign-up information when it is available.

The symposium will draw internationally-known speakers Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the pope's representative to the United Nations, and former ambassador Dr. Ken Quinn, president of the World Food Prize.

Three organizations - the Diocese of Des Moines, Living History Farms and the National Catholic Rural Life Conference -- are working together to offer this event. It will highlight the theme of the Holy Father's visit: agriculture and its future implications.

Events scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2 include a forum for private college student environment clubs, a program for Catholic junior high school students at Living History Farms and an interfaith prayer service at Living History Farms that will be open to the public.

The symposium begins on Friday evening, Oct. 2 with Archbishop Migliore's keynote address at Dowling Catholic High School. The symposium will continue on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Dowling Catholic and features four interconnected themes/sessions: social justice, agriculture, environmental ethics and "green" spirituality. The day will be capped with a public Mass celebrated by Archbishop Migliore, Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, visiting bishops and priests of the diocese.

In addition, I encourage you to get involved with the Iowa Hunger Summit, a unique state-wide event that will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown. It is free and open to the public. Each year the Summit gathers several hundred Iowans who are united in fighting hunger - both at home and abroad. Go to www.worldfoodprize.org for more information. Bishop Pates of Des Moines will offer a brief reflection at the event.

RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON POPE'S ENCYCLICAL

Pope Benedict's newest encyclical on the social doctrine of the Church, "Caritas in Veritate," (Charity in Truth) has been challenging to many. Speaking for myself, it is always difficult to read documents such as this through the eyes of my faith, rather than comparing it to my own political positions. I believe this document is a prophetic challenge regarding how to create a more human and just economy and society.

An individual reflection guide on the new papal encyclical is now available, including sixteen topics for prayerful reflection. This latest guide joins other resources, including four small group study sessions and an action guide on the encyclical's message. These resources, along with a link to the text of the encyclical, are available at www.usccb.org/jphd/caritasinveritate.

ARCHBISHOP O'BRIEN CALLS FOR 'PATH TO ZERO' NUCLEAR WEAPONS

WASHINGTON- "Our world and its leaders must stay focused on the destination of a nuclear-weapons-free world and on the concrete steps that lead there," said Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore in a July 29 keynote talk at the first Deterrence Symposium, hosted by U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

The symposium brought together academic, government, military and international experts to explore the full range of deterrence thinking. Archbishop O'Brien sits on the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and served as the Archbishop for the Military Services prior to his appointment to Baltimore.

In his talk, Archbishop O'Brien drew on longstanding Catholic teaching that nuclear deterrence is only acceptable to prevent others from using nuclear weapons and as a step along a path to a world without nuclear weapons. He cited the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and the U.S. bishops.

MARRIAGE

The national Respect Life packet for 2010 is now available. It features an excellent article by Father Brian Bransfield called "The Difference is the Difference: Sexual Difference and the Defense of Marriage." You can find it at http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/2009/bransfieldpamphlet.pdf.