💚 Catholic Social Action - June Newsletter 💚

Green is back

Greetings folks.

Well, Easter season has ended, we celebrated the Church's birthday at Pentecost, and now we're into ordinary time. Our priests are back to their green vestments, and the the beauty of all of God's creation is blooming all around us.

We want to send a special prayer up for all of the fathers, grandfathers, and those who father us. Happy Father's Day!

This summer things will slow down a bit for us, and we'll use this time to plan for the coming year. If there's anything you'd like to see different in our office, please reach out to us. We're always looking for ways to better serve our families of parishes, schools, and community and be better advocates for gospel justice.

This summer is also a time of change for us. First off, we're very happy to welcome Glen Glenn as our new Program Coordinator. He is a member of Mother of Christ Catholic Church in Cincinnati and will be working with our CRS and CCHD programs. Second, after over five years of faithful service, we're saying farewell to Sara Seligmann, our Regional Director in Dayton. She and her family are moving east for the next phase of their journey. Sara has been an amazing asset to our office, bringing passion, intelligence, experience, humor, positivity, and commitment to our work. Thank you Sara for all that you've done, and we wish you and your family all the best. (tear)

One event we are hosting is our annual Farm Mass in the northern part of our archdiocese. It'll be on Thursday, July 20, at 7:00pm in New Weston (more details below). Archbishop Schnurr will preside. Come join us!

We continue to pray for all of you and your families of parishes, hopeful that the Beacons of Light process is going as well as possible. We've heard from many of you that there have been significant challenges, and for that we are deeply sorry. Please know that we stand ready to support you, walking in solidarity on this journey as your families discern how you will commit to Love in Action. Let us know how we can help!

On that note, we've begun sending out a Love in Action newsletter. If you're helping (or will be helping) with Love in Action in your family of parishes and didn't receive the newsletter, please let Tammie know so she can add you to the mailing list.

We humbly ask that you continue to pray for us. There's a lot going on this year, and while we're excited to get (or keep) things moving, your prayers -and engagement! - will make our success all the more likely. God help us!

As we mentioned before, if there's anything that we can do to support the work happening in your community, please let us know. We're trying to be more present to families of parishes, especially during the Beacons of Light process, and we'd love to (re)connect with you and work to build up God's kingdom of peace, justice, and kinship in your corner of the kingdom.

We will continue to send out Regional Updates with time-sensitive reminders and Action Alerts encouraging everyone to bring their voice and power to bear on important issues.

We wish you a wonderful start of summer, and - as always - we look forward to seeing you soon as we continue to stand up for justice, solidarity, and equity.

Peace and all good,

Sara, Tammie, Sr. Christine, Glen, & Andrew

***CHANGE IN NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION***

If everything goes to plan, we'll be moving our newsletter distribution platform from Constant Contact to Active Campaign. Our email lists will transfer over so you won't need to do anything, but it will mean that the emails will look different starting in July. We just wanted to let you know so you weren't surprised or suspicious of spam.

A Commitment to the Sanctity of All Life

SB 101 to Abolish the Death Penalty

Senate Bill 101 to abolish the death penalty has been introduced with the most bi-partisan support of any previously proposed legislation to end capital punishment in Ohio.

For 46 years, the Catholic Conference and Catholics throughout Ohio have sought to end the death penalty in Ohio. Our desire to foster a culture of life throughout Ohio requires a commitment to recognizing the sanctity of human life in all stages and circumstances, including those who, at one time, blatantly disregarded the humanity of others and need to face justice. Additionally, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person." It is time for Ohio to end this practice and ensure our laws respect life without exception.

Please click the button below and ask your Ohio Senator to abolish the death penalty.

Proposed Abortion Amendment to Ohio's Constitution

The dignity of life in its earliest stages is threatened by a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution to expand and enshrine abortion at the expense of existing protections for preborn children and women. As Catholics, we cannot remain on the sidelines when confronted with such a clear threat to human life.

The Catholic Conference of Ohio has created a page on our website dedicated to resources to help Catholics unite in prayer and learn more about the proposed amendment and help defeat it. Visit www.ohiocathconf.org/protect to download a flyer and prayer card and learn more about how to take action.

2023 Rural-Urban Farm Mass (Northwest)

The St. Augustine deaneries Catholic Rural Life Committee would like invite all to celebrate and give thanksgiving for faith, farm, and family. During the mass Catholic families who have farmed and nurtured the same land for 100 years or more will be recognized through the Catholic Century Farm Awards. The Farm Mass will be held at the Buck & Fran Siefring Farm at 3598 State Route 705, New Weston, Ohio on Thursday, July 20^th at 7:00 PM. with Archbishop Schnurr presiding. Stay after Mass for refreshments, music, and square dancing! All are welcome.

Catholic Century Awards application - Northwest

Apply to have your family farm recognized. This award is to recognize Catholic families who have farmed the same land for 100 years or more and has not already been recognized. Please call Roger Hoying 419-733-4543 for an application. Must respond by June 1. Award to be given on July 20^th at the Rural-Urban Farm Mass.

Our LSAP conference on March 4 at UD was an amazing success. Almost 200 people joined us for a day of prayer, reflection, learning, connecting, and mobilizing. Everyone left with a renewed spirit and commitment to caring for all of God's creation.

We're looking now for folks to join this invigorated effort. If you, your family, your family of parishes, or your community are interested in partnering with us, please let us know. There are so many great resources available and great people eager to welcome you.

You can learn more about our work here or contact Andrew Musgrave with any questions.

CRS Rice Bowl

Through CRS Rice Bowl, we journeyed with members of our human family around the world, and committed our Lenten prayers, fasting, and almsgiving to deepening our faith and serving those in need.

CRS RICE BOWLS - TURN IN

Designate a date, time and location for your community to turn in their CRS Rice Bowl donations. Send all collected funds to Catholic Relief Services, Attn: CRS Rice Bowl, PO Box 5200, Harlan, IA 51593-0700. Email Sara Seligmann sseligmann@catholicaoc.org with any questions or concerns.

Love in Action

If you're wondering how your family of parishes might go about engaging in the Love in Action principle, we encourage you to check out the Love in Action page on the Pathways platform - https://pathway.catholicaoc.org/love-in-action. There you'll find a great introductory video, as well as further explanation of the breadth of the principle. Over time, you'll find more resources and support, and of course you know you can always reach out to our office for support. If you're looking for the first tool we created - the parish inventory - you can find it here (along with the inventories from the other principles) - https://pathway.catholicaoc.org/pathway-tools. If you work for a parish or are involved in parish leadership, we'd love to talk with you through the Forums. Don't hesitate to reach out!

Breaking Open the Sin of Racism

Engage your community in dialogue

This video series and discussion guide was prepared for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for use by organizations in a 4-part workshop. Check out the Breaking Open the Sin of Racism site to see how your parish, school, or organization can host workshops or use the resources in other ways.

Questions? Contact Sara Seligmann | 513-546-3143

Save the Date!!

Greater Cincinnati's 6th Annual

Festival of Faiths

celebrating our community's religious diversity

August 27, 2023

12:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Xavier University's Cintas Center

The festival will continue throughout the week, culminating in the FESTIVAL OF FAITHS PEACE WALK at Ault Park on Aug. 31, from 7-9 PM

Presented by EquaSion.

Join Us! Visit EquaSion.org

Click here for flyer.

From the Respect Life Office

Get Out the Vote in August!

On May 10, Ohio lawmakers passed a resolution to put before voters in a special August election the question of whether to make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution. The resolution would do three things:

Raise the passage threshold of a ballot initiative from a simple majority (50% plus one) to 60%
Raise the requirement to have signature representation from only half of the Ohio counties to all 88.
Eliminate the 10 day grace period that allows more time to collect signatures if too many collected signatures were thrown out

That first point would apply to the abortion amendment likely coming up in November, making it much more difficult for it to pass.

Late last month, the Bishops of Ohio met to discuss whether to support the August resolution and, because it is not a moral issue, chose to remain neutral. This means that parish workers are not permitted, while in an official Church capacity, to directly encourage people to “Vote Yes on Issue 1”. So, what can you say?

You can say things that are factual and unbiased statements related to the issue. You can tell people that this will increase the threshold of what it takes to add an amendment to Ohio’s Constitution from a simple majority to 60%, making it more difficult to do. You can also say that the outcome of this election will go into effect immediately, having a direct impact on the November ballot (as well as all future initiatives). Finally, you can add that a “yes” vote on Issue 1 will make it easier to defeat the November ballot, whereas a “no” vote on Issue 1 will make it easier for the abortion amendment to pass. All of that is unbiased and factual information that educates the voter, and they can decide what to do from there.

With those tips in mind, the Ohio Catholic Conference is encouraging everyone not only to get out the vote in August, but to hold voter registration events at your parish. You can even find an official guide for how to hold a voter registration drive at your parish at the bottom of the Parish & School Resources page here. The only thing that might be difficult is getting permission from your pastor. If that is a barrier, hopefully showing him that the Ohio Bishops are encouraging it will help. Once you get your pastor’s approval to go ahead, from there all you need is a few volunteers, tables to catch people on their way out of Mass, and some laptops or tablets with internet access. People can check if they are already registered in seconds at voteohio.gov. If they are not, they can register to vote right there if they have their driver’s license or other official identification. For more, check out the latest interview with Brian Hickey of the Ohio Catholic Conference coming soon to the Being Pro Life page!

Note from Andrew: there has been a significant amount of debate as to whether the August special election is good for democracy in Ohio (apart from it's impact on the November election). As mentioned above, neither the Catholic Conference of Ohio, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, nor any of the archdiocesan offices are advocating for Catholics to vote one way or the other in the August special election. We all are, however, encouraging everyone to make sure they are registered to vote and vote in the August election (if it happens), November election, and all subsequent elections.

From the Office for Persons with Disabilities

Coming up: Mental Health First Aid for Youth Training on June 5^th at St. John the Evangelist, West Chester in the Pavilion. For more information contact Lisa L. Averion, Associate Director Office for Persons with Disabilities.