BRING LENT TO LIFE WITH CRS RICE BOWL

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was founded during WWII, answering the call to serve migrants and refugees. For almost 80 years since, they have carried out the commitment of the U.S. bishops to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas, seeking always to protect human dignity and the sacredness of life and foster charity and justice. Through all of their many programs and ministries, they act to promote human development abroad and serve Catholics in the U.S. as they live their faith in solidarity with their sisters and brothers around the world.

Perhaps the best known collection of resources shared by CRS is the Lenten Rice Bowl. Through the tenants of Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – we are strengthen for the challenges ahead and brought closer to God. With the wonderful resources offered by CRS’s Rice Bowl, we are able to deepen our faith and our connection to whole of the human family. CRS Rice Bowl offers online prayers and reflections which families, schools, and parishes can use to support Lenten spirituality and reflection in your school, parish, or home. And of course engaging in CRS Rice Bowl this Lenten season provides for those in great need. You can find ideas for online giving and activities here, and you can contact Sara Seligmann with any questions. Thank you for your compassionate participation, and have a most blessed Lent.

On a related note, the Catholic Relief Services Collection (which also supports the USCCB Department of Migration and Refugee Services, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., the USCCB Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church, the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, and the Holy Father's Relief fund) will be taken up in our Archdiocese the weekend of April 30/May 1. We encourage you to use the resources below to promote this important collection in your parish.

• The Archbishop's letter
• Bulletin Insert
• Parish Resource Guide
• Posters and social media toolkit

Catholic Charities Addresses Immigration

Join Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio on Thursday, March 10 at 7:00pm for a livestreamed update on refugee resettlement, family reunification and migrants’ contributions to a stronger community - which will include:

● A keynote by Sr. Donna Markham, President & CEO of Catholic Charities USA, on our moral calling to welcome the stranger and the national, humanitarian response to Afghan resettlement and other migration challenges;

● Updates on Catholic Charities’ local response from our Refugee Resettlement Services and Su Casa Hispanic Center;

● Question & Answer

Mark your calendars for this enlightening info session and register today here. A link to the event will be sent following registration.



CCHD Internship

As we do each year, our office is hosting a 15-16 hour/week, paid internship to support our activities for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the U.S. Catholic Church’s social justice, anti-poverty campaign in America. The intern helps to administer grants to projects developed by grassroots groups of empowered poor persons who are working to address the root causes of poverty in their communities. S/he also works to increase Catholics’ awareness of poverty in the U.S., educate about the Catholic social tradition, and build bridges between poor and non-poor communities. Young Catholics, ages 18 to 30, are especially encouraged to apply, as are others with a heart for the poor and justice. The internship will run from Sept. 2022 to May 2023. To receive an application or learn more, please contact us at (513) 263-6690 or csa@catholiccincinnati.org. Applications are due March 25^th.



Abolishing the Death Penalty

For many decades, the Catholic Church has strongly discouraged the use of the death penalty as a means to protect citizens. Sadly, despite multiple attempts to end its use in OH, it is still legal.

Thankfully, there is a real possibility that we can abolish the death penalty in OH this year. Two key pieces of legislation – SB 108 and HB 183 – have been introduced that would abolish the death penalty. The Ohio bishops collectively and Archbishop Schnurr individually have issued statements supporting this legislation, and their voices joining a growing state-wide coalition working to end the death penalty. We encourage all Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to join in the effort to end this state-sanctioned violence and respect all life, from womb to tomb.

Laudato Si’ Action Platform

In May of this year the Vatican launched the 7-year Laudato Si’ Action Platform (laudatosiactionplatform.org). Archbishop Schnurr has announced that the Archdiocese of Cincinnati will be joining the platform as an official partner.

As a reminder, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform focuses on seven sectors: families, parishes, schools, hospitals, businesses, organizations, and religious orders. It has seven goals: the response to the cry of the earth, the response to the cry of the poor, ecological economics, adoption of simple lifestyles, ecological education, ecological spirituality, and community involvement.

Our Care for Creation Task Force is looking for people to join the ad hoc committees we're forming (one for each of the seven constituencies: families, parishes, schools, hospitals, businesses, organizations, and religious orders) to promulgate these ideas. If you're interested in joining this effort (or know someone who might be), please contact Andrew.



A Mighty Stream

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 Mighty 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.



From the Respect Life Office

Ending Abortion Through Prayer and Fasting

Beginning on March 2, people across the world will gather outside of abortion facilities to lift their voices in prayer for the women and men who enter, the workers who provide abortion services, and the innocent lives lost. Those who commit to these 40 days of prayer and fasting, do so peacefully in the spirit of hope that someday we will see a world where the killing of unborn children is unthinkable. Forty Days for Life has celebrated saving over 20,000 lives, and closing over 100 abortion facilities (including the Sharonville location in this very Archdiocese). These campaigns aren’t violent or confrontational. This is prayer and fasting, paving the way to hope on a day that is, for most women there, a very dark and difficult day where they are making a choice they don’t really want to make, but believe they don’t really have a choice.

If you want to join in this life-saving ministry, it is easy to do. Just go to the website at www.40daysforlife.com, search locations for Cincinnati or Dayton (or wherever you are) and you will find the contact information for our local leaders on how to sign up for the upcoming 40 Days prayer vigil, starting on Ash Wednesday March 2, and ending on Palm Sunday. And while you are praying and fasting, continue to pray for a positive outcome for the Dobbs case currently before the Supreme Court, which could overturn Roe V. Wade this year! If this article isn’t enough to motivate you, please watch the powerful video interviews from Shawn Carney, Abby Johnson and others on our website here. It’s a powerful way to put our faith into action and start off Lent, letting the beauty of prayer and fasting change hearts and minds and put an end to the scourge of abortion in our communities.

For more stories from the Office for Respect Life Ministries,

check out their newsletter here. 



From the Office for Persons with Disabilities

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month which is a wonderful opportunity for parishes to recognize the importance of persons with developmental disabilities in parish life. In his message at the 2019 International Day for Persons with Disabilities, Pope Francis stated: “We are called to recognize in every person with disabilities, even complex and serious disabilities, a unique contribution to the common good through their original life stories. …and to recognize them as persons of equal dignity, as brothers and sisters in humanity.” Parishes can help to spread this message by promoting awareness this month in a variety of ways. The National Council on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of the NCPD has created a RESOURCE PAGE that includes some sample bulletin announcements and prayers of the faithful that could easily be incorporated into your parish bulletin and at Mass. There is also a printable BULLETIN INSERT with wonderful facts and information about developmental disabilities. Finally, if you have active parish Social Media pages, follow the Office for Persons with Disabilities and share some of our upcoming posts to highlight persons with developmental disabilities in our very own Archdiocese of Cincinnati! The first step towards creating a culture of inclusion and meaningful participation in our Church is to provide opportunities for awareness and understanding. Let us all work together to establish a sense of belonging in our parishes, Archdiocese, and universal Church.

In honor of St. Patty's Day, we offer you this traditional Irish blessing:

May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Follow us on social media!

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.

Twitter: @AoCincinnatiCsa

Instagram: @aocincinnati_csa

YouTube: @CatholicSocialActionAOC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/csacinci



COVID-19 Vaccine Information 

There have been questions about the current Covid-19 vaccines and any moral issues that Catholics might have with taking them. The Ohio Bishops and the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have both issued statements that address and support the moral use of these vaccines to save lives by fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Addresses the Use of Anti-COVID-19 Vaccines

USCCB Document 1 | USSCB Document 2

Ohio Bishops Issue Letter on Vaccines

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.



Andrew Musgrave - Cincinnati, Director

Sara Seligmann - Dayton

Sr. Christine Pratt - Eastern Area

Regional Coordinator - (open)

Tammie Mers - Administrative Assistant

Mickey Townsend - CCHD intern

Catholic Social Action Office

Archdiocese of Cincinnati

csa@catholicaoc.org