The future of Pennsylvania’s children is at stake – take action today by calling, faxing, e-mailing or visiting the local office of your state Representative and Senator. This is the most critical school choice vote to date!

If you have voiced your support for school choice before, do it each day for the next three days, and share this alert with family, friends and neighbors.  The next three days are critical!

If you are new to the school choice issue, get a crash course on what is being considered and why Catholics support it at www.pacatholic.org/schoolchoice. Be sure to read “A Catholic’s Guide to School Choice” and our “Top 5 Questions on School Choice.”

Use our website to send an easy e-mail message or to locate the phone number for your legislators.

Thank you for your support of school choice. Send a message or visit your state legislators today.

In a brief statement issued from the USCCB Office of General Counsel, the bishops added, “It is also a grave affront to the millions of Americans who both reject unjust discrimination and affirm the unique and inestimable value of marriage as between one man and one woman.”

The Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman. Morever, no state must recognize a same-sex marriage from another state. As the bishops note in their statement, the law was passed 15 years ago by a Republican Congress and signed by a Democratic president.

In his initial statement, Attorney General Eric Holder said that “the President has concluded that given a number of factors . . . classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny.   The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional.”

Catholic News Service reported the response of the National Organization for Marriage, which has called on Congress to “get lawyers in the courtroom who actually want to defend the law, and not please their powerful political special interests.”

The Attorney General does note that President Obama has said the Executive Branch will continue to enforce the law until it is struck down.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone…For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us…His dominion is vast, and forever peaceful…

When the angels announced His birth, they proclaimed:

Peace on earth among men of good will…

And as a man, He taught His followers:

Blessed are the peacemakers…

In this day when there is such fear and uncertainty in the world, at all levels of our society, our wish for you in this holiday season is that His message of peace will take root in the hearts of everyone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference!

The PCC Administrative Board, which is composed of both clergy and laity, meets three times a year to conduct the affairs of the Conference by ratifying public policy positions within the guidelines set by the Board of Governors and offering guidance to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference staff.

The Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, which meets annually, comprises the local ordinary bishops of Pennsylvania, that is, the ecclesiastical superiors of each Pennsylvania diocese. The function of the board, which is governed by its chairman, Cardinal Justin Rigali, is to establish the principles of the conference and determine its policies. Each ordinary bishop appoints two members to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference Administrative Board, one of whom is a priest and serves as a personal representative of the bishop to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference is the public affairs arm of Pennsylvania’s Catholic bishops and the Catholic dioceses of Pennsylvania. There are 10 Catholic dioceses in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Eight are Latin Rite dioceses, fully contained within the Commonwealth. Two are Byzantine Rite dioceses with Apostolic Sees in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has set broad objectives and highlighted some particular issues of concern.

Photo credit: The Catholic Witness, Diocese of Harrisburg

In an introductory letter to their 2000 statement, Questions and Answers on the Eucharist, the Bishops of Pennsylvania say, “It is important that each of us understand the extraordinary and unique gift that is the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, given to us for our redemption and as a pledge of our eternal life.”

In answering the question, “Why is the Eucharist so important to the Church?”, the bishops say, “In short, when the Church gathers in worship of God and offers the Eucharistic sacrifice, not only is Christ really and truly present under the appearance of bread and wine, but he also continues his saving work of our salvation.”

The question-and-answer document covers the origins of the Eucharist, Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist, preparation for receiving communion, and Guidelines for the Reception of Communion approved by the United States Bishops.

The full text of the statement is available online or in booklet form, in English or Spanish, through the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.

Substantial increases were seen in Asia (15.61%), Africa (33%), Oceania (11.39%)and the Americas (10.93%) while Europe’s modest increase (1.17%)  kept the Catholic population there stable.

The number of priests saw a modest increase from 405,178 to 409,166 between 2000 and 2008. The largest gains in terms of priests were in Africa and Asia where their numbers increased by 33.1% and 23.8%, respectively.

The number of female religious worldwide, while almost double the number of priests, fell from 800,000 in 2000 to 740,000 in 2008.

Number of Catholics on the Rise

According to the NIH, 49,000 comments were filed on the draft guidelines. In its action alert urging Catholics to file their own objections to the proposed guidelines, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said, “This marks a new chapter in divorcing biomedical research from its necessary ethical foundation, respect for human life at all stages. Embryonic stem cell research treats innocent human beings as mere sources of body parts, as commodities for our use. ”

In an April statement regarding the draft guidelines, Cardinal Rigali noted that, “For the first time, federal tax dollars will be used to encourage destruction of living embryonic human beings for stem cell research – including human beings who otherwise would have survived and been born.” In his comments last week, Cardinal Rigali noted that the final guidelines are broader (and therefore more destructive) than even the draft guidelines. In concluding, he urged Americans to contact their representatives in Congress to urge them “not to codify or further expand this unethical policiy.”

For more information on stem cell research, please see Stem Cells Q&A and the Pennsylvania Bishops’ 2005 statement, Questions and Answers on Stem Cell Research.