Register for the “Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church” Conference!

All Catholics in the U.S. who care about faithfully protecting creation are invited to attend the virtual LSUS conference: “Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church: A Conference Series on Our Common Home.” Registration is now open for the July 13-15, 2021 virtual gathering. Join us!

The LSUS conference opens July 13^th with keynote addresses by His Eminence Blase Cardinal Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, and Maureen Day, PhD, Assistant Professor of Religion and Society at the Franciscan School of Theology. Together, they will assess why the U.S. Catholic response to Laudato Si’ has not been commensurate with the urgency and gravity of the climate crisis. See the full conference schedule.

On July 14-15, the conference continues, featuring interactive breakout sessions in eight areas of the U.S. Catholic Church working to more faithfully incorporate Laudato Si’:

The conference is free, but registration is required, and a donation is encouraged to offset costs that include Spanish language interpretation. 

In partnership with Creighton, the 2021 conference expresses Catholic Climate Covenant’s leading role coordinating U.S. Catholic enactment of the Vatican “Laudato Si’ Action Platform.”

EquaSion, the parent organization of the Festival of Faiths, has launched a new interfaith educational and action initiative to address racism. It is called 'A Might Stream' and the Social Action has signed on as one of the initial partners. You can click here to learn more, and if your parish is interested in joining this wonderful effort, please let Andrew know.

We are going to resume holding our listening sessions where small groups can come together to hear testimonials from fellow Catholics about their experiences of racism and then have facilitated conversations to process both what was heard and how we ourselves have experienced and reacted to racism. If you're interested in holding one of these events with your parish, small group, or community, please let us know.

We'll be holding some general public iterations of these events in the coming month. Look for dates in our upcoming newsletters.

In partnership with the Community of the Good Shepherd, the Anti-Racism Task Force is offering a video on 'Open Wide Our Hearts' and our Church's history of addressing racism and then a follow up discussion to process and ask questions.

The first step is to watch the video at your leisure. To view it, click here. It's just over a half hour.

Then join the discussion on Tues. 6/8 at 7:00pm by following this Zoom link . Come with your questions and reflections.

After several years of good and faithful service, Becky has moved on to a new ministry. We celebrate and are thankful for her great work and wish her the best in her new endeavor. We're therefore also looking for someone to take over for her in the northern area. To learn more about the position, check out the posting (applications accepted through 6/4) or reach out to Sara. It's 21 hours/week, and we're looking for someone with a heart for justice and a love for our rural sisters and brothers.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the principle way the U.S. bishops and U.S. Catholic Church fight domestic poverty and see to create equity and justice in our communities.

Look out for some great promotional materials sharing the great work local CCHD-funded groups are doing or visit our CCHD website.

If you're in a position to financially support the work of CCHD, you can donate safely and securing through our online giving portal. Thanks in advance for your generosity!

This year’s Rural Urban Farm Mass is on Thursday, July 15^th at 7:00 p.m. Rev. Richard Walling will say Mass at Keith and Odessa Boeckman’s Farm, 4924 Burrville Rd. Coldwater, Ohio. Some seating will be available around the pond, but individuals attending Mass should consider bringing lawn chairs. At Mass, Fr. Walling and the Catholic Rural Life team will present the 2020 and the 2021 Catholic Century Farm Awards for Sidney and St. Mary's Deaneries. The award recognizes Catholic families who have continuously farmed the same land for 100 years or more. Blessed water and soil will be distributed at the Mass. Following the Mass there will be a “Barn Dance” to celebrate farms, friendships and families! Mark your calendars and plan to attend!

Join us on Thursday, June 3, 6:30-7:30 PM via Zoom as we learn about how bail reform can improve the lives of impacted individuals and their families and save Ohio millions of dollars. Did you know that in Ohio as many as 12,000 people are held in jail pretrial? This unfair system keeps those without resources in jail while those with resources go free. People of color and the poor are disproportionately affected. Spend an hour with leaders of the Bail Project and your fellow parishioners who want you to know more about this important issue and what you can do to support the movement. RSVP for the Zoom link here.

This event is being presented in partnership with AMOS Project. If you're interested getting involved in their broader organizing and advocacy projects, please contact Mike Tussey.

Our office is continuing to build on our relationship with the dialogue and healing group, Braver Angels. We'll be holding a few events in partnership with them in the coming months, but we encourage you to check out their website for upcoming events and training sessions. All are online, some of them are geographically restricted, and many of them are one-time commitments. We continue to be a society and Church divided so we all need to do our part to heal the division by learning skills and developing capacity to be agents of peace and compassion.

As you probably know, Ohio still uses the death penalty. As you also probably know, this is a violation of the sanctity of life and an assault on human dignity.

Thankfully, the time is upon us when we can abolish it. Over the coming months, we will be working with a number of groups to convince those in Columbus to pass legislation that will do just that, and we need your help! Keep an eye out for action alerts from our office (and others), and please make your voice heard! FYI - Gov. DeWine has indicated that he will sign an abolishment bill that comes to his desk so we need to get it to his desk.

For now, you can check out the IJPC webpage and Catholic Conference of Ohio's webpage with information and you can click here to follow the Ohio Catholic Conference's call to advocate NOW for the abolishment of the death penalty in Ohio.

Returning Citizens (i.e. ex-felons) face many challenges as they seek to integrate back into their communities and be productive members of society.

The Help Program (www.helpprogramcincinnati.net) was started several years ago by Marianist Brother Mike Murphy with a focus on providing assistance to Returning Citizens. Initial emphasis is placed on helping Returning Citizens find jobs as well as providing a range of other essential services, including transportation to and from their worksite. The HELP Program is based at St Francis De Sales parish in Walnut Hills and is a partner with the Archdiocese’s DISMAS Task Force.

Should you know of ex-felons in need of assistance or perhaps your parish may be interested in a presentation to learn more about the HELP Program, please contact Wilson Willard, Executive Director at 513-432-0907 or email HELPProgramCincinnati@outlook.com.

Our office is now on multiple social media platforms. Please add us to your contacts, friends, or following list so we keep you up to date on what's going on.

COVID-19 Vaccine Information 

USCCB Document 1 | USSCB Document 2

Vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer to combat COVID-19 may be taken without moral reservations, and some pro-life Catholic scholars have stated that all vaccines are morally acceptable.