The USCCB has announced the Fortnight for Freedom: Freedom for Mission, which will be celebrated from June 21-July 4. The bishops ask Catholics to pray for the prudential judgment of our nation’s leaders as they consider the important issues before them. Religious freedom is “our first, most cherished liberty” and the one on which [...]
Iowa Catholic Conference staff was pleased to be present when Gov. Terry Branstad signed Senate File 471 on May 5. The bill prohibits abortion after 20 weeks post-fertilization with exceptions to save the life of the mother or for a serious physical health emergency. The bill also contains a three-day waiting period before an abortion. [...]
The current legislative session presents an opportunity to take action on pro-life issues and ICC and our allies are lobbying to advance three bills that have survived the first funnel date. Each bill addresses an important element of ending the assault on life and dignity that abortion represents, and together would represent the most substantial [...]
As Pope Francis has said, “Health, indeed, is not a consumer good, but a universal right which means that access to healthcare services cannot be a privilege." One of the ways the issue of healthcare is showing up in the Iowa Legislature this year is through a discussion about government-funded mental health services. In 1996, [...]
In light of the Iowa Legislature’s debate on changes to the collective bargaining law for public employees, the Iowa Catholic Conference (ICC) has again released its statement on “Labor and the Common Good” issued in 2011. Created in response to previous efforts to limit the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions, the statement recalls [...]
We are also pleased to share with you an e-book on the topic of dying and hospice care. Contemporary society attempts to ignore the reality of death. Unfortunately, this leaves many people unprepared and/or unwilling to handle the challenges faced when they, or their loved ones, receive a terminal diagnosis. Written by Mark Schmidt, the [...]
By Archbishop Michael Jackels of the Archdiocese of Dubuque Advocates for physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in Iowa have recently begun efforts to get it legalized here, promoting legislation under the name of “Death with Dignity.” This article is the first in a series by the Catholic bishops of Iowa, intended to encourage a thoughtful reflection on [...]
By Bishop R. Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City Supporters of “doctor-prescribed suicide” often say it is needed to alleviate pain and suffering. In fact, intractable pain is way down the list of reasons why patients ask for suicide. But an important point is being raised. What should we make of suffering? [...]
By Bishop Martin Amos of the Diocese of Davenport In the Book of Genesis, we read that the first couple was commissioned to care for the Garden that God had planted. They were to serve as caretakers, not rulers; tenant farmers instead of owners. Their vocation as stewards was to till the earth on God’s [...]
By Bishop Richard Pates of the Diocese of Des Moines Pope Francis often refers to travelling the journey with the vulnerable, especially in this Jubilee Year of Mercy. But what does it concretely look like to accompany those who suffer, or, as Pope Francis phrased it, engage in the “mission of affectionately and tenderly caring [...]