News - July 2017 RSS Feed

We regularly feature a question of the week in the bulletin. The question for this week is this: In a world divided by economics and education, social status and political opinions, race and religion, what can I do this week to bring people together? An answer that I want to propose today for all of us is to be attentive to practicing the works of mercy.

The recent death of my mother has led to conversations in which a number of people asked me about the church’s position on the burial of deceased. Some of these people asked questions because they heard about a recent document from the Holy See.

In my column today I want to draw attention to another issue of great concern to the Catholic Bishops of Maryland. This is the issue of human trafficking. On April 3, 2017, our Bishops issued a statement in which they remind us that human trafficking is an international, national, and local scourge and a grave violation of the dignity and freedom of all its victims. Human trafficking includes both labor and sex trafficking, and rivals the global drug industry in its scope and profits. Human trafficking affects the lives of countless victims from all over the world.

Recently I read an interview on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop (USCCB) with the Most Reverend Frank J. Dewane, Bishop of Venice, Florida who is also chair of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. He was asked to comment on “A New Foundation for American Greatness,” the recently released presidential budget proposal that would increase defense spending by $54 billion and then offset that by stripping money from many agencies that serve millions of people, including the poor.

On May 30, 2017, the Catholic Bishops of Maryland released a statement addressing immigration in Maryland. Our Bishops have called for compassion, prudence, and cooperation. They note that the complexity of federal immigration enforcement policies at the local level are of particular concern.