Catholic Faith in Action

"Catholic Faith in Action" is about promoting life, justice and peace during the course of the 82nd Legislative session. The Catholic Bishops of Texas developed their Texas Legislative priorities that address the institutional concerns of the Catholic Church in Texas and issues related to Catholic moral and social teaching, as well as a call to action to faithful Texas Catholics to be a part of Catholic Faith in Action.

Bishop Kevin Vann is leading the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth’s Catholic Faith in Action advocacy effort with state leaders and members of the Legislature.

Catholic Faith in Action was developed by Texas Catholic Bishops, in conjunction with the Texas Catholic Conference (TCC), a conference of all Texas Catholic Bishops which is the public policy arm of Texas Catholic Bishops and provides leadership by monitoring and responding to relevant issues before the Texas Legislature as set out in the Bishops’ priorities.

The overriding priority is the Texas budget shortfall. The Catholic Bishops’ position on the budget is:

• The Texas Catholic Conference supports a balanced approach to solving the budget shortfalls, including seeking revenue to adequately fund needed public services and prepare Texas for the future.

The five major Catholic priorities and the position of Texas Catholic Church are:

• Life and Family Issues:  Our foundational principles to protect the life and dignity of all human persons calls us to work to end abortion, euthanasia, destruction of human embryos, cloning and assisted suicide. Marriage and the family are central to social institutions that must be supported and strengthened.
• Immigration:  We recognize the historic and present-day contributions of immigrants in Texas by supporting their ability to work in a healthily environment in order to provide for their families and continue their valuable participation in the community.
• Education:  We recognize parents as the primary educators of their children through supporting parental choice in education.
• Health and Human Services:  We show God’s special concern for the poor and vulnerable by supporting programs that make health care more affordable and accessible, environmental protections and support for morally appropriate health research.
• Criminal Justice Reform:  We support fiscal and moral reform in our state’s criminal justice system with an emphasis on ending the death penalty and supporting successful rehabilitation and reintegration of those re-entering society.

In the Diocese of Fort Worth Catholic Faith in Action involves advocacy on behalf of the Bishops’ legislative priorities in a variety of ways:

• The prayers of the faithful
• Phone calls and email to members of the Legislature in support of the Bishops’ legislative priorities
• Advocacy before members of the Legislature

All faithful members of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth can help by becoming familiar with the Texas Bishops legislative priorities and by registering with the TCC (Texas Catholic Conference) to receive information about bills of interest that are before the Legislature and by responding to action alerts.

The best advocacy comes from the faithful contacting their representatives in the State Legislature. A link to find your state representatives is below.

The TCC has created valuable, web-based public policy information that assists the faithful to effectively advocate for the Texas Catholic Bishops’ legislative priorities.

Texas Catholic Conference 82nd Legislative Session Priorities
www.txcatholic.org/index.php/public-policy/legislative-agenda

Texas Catholic Voice Sign-in
www.txcatholic.org/index.php/get-involved/register

Catholic Faith in Action Alert Page
www.txcatholic.org/index.php/public-policy/action-alert-archive

Who Represents Me?
www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

A delegation of faithful from the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, led by Bishop Vann, will join other Texas Catholic Bishops and faithful for Catholic Faith in Action Advocacy Day in Austin on April 6, 2011. Advocacy day will include visits to members of the Legislature who represent areas within the Fort Worth Diocese.

The Catholic Bishops of the United States have issued a call to all faithful to be politically responsible. The call is outlined in "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship."  (View More Information)

Contact

Pat Svacina
Director of Communications
(817) 560-2452, Ext. 318
psvacina@fwdioc.org