Inside the Capitol

What a difference a session makes. The 2013 legislative session was very favorable for Minnesota public schools. Infusion of new revenue streams for preschool, all-day kindergarten and special education programs were met with much enthusiasm by public school boards, administrators and teachers. Overall, E-12 funding was increased by $485 million.

In fact, Gov. Mark Dayton described the K-12 omnibus budget bill as the capstone of a historic session for education in Minnesota.

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The last edition of this column highlighted the main themes of the U.S. bishops’ 2013 Labor Day statement. The bishops are particularly concerned about rising economic inequality and persistent unemployment.

The bishops urge job creation as a remedy to combat pov­erty and economic inequality.

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Every year, the U.S. bishops, through their Office of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, release a Labor Day statement that comments upon the state of the economy, and reminds Catholics and the public of the relevant principles to consider when responding to the challenges of the day.

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On Aug. 1, the state of Minnesota will begin to legally recognize same-sex unions as “marriages.” The social, legal and cultural consequences of the redefinition of marriage have been discussed numerous times in this forum and in others.

Confusion remains, however, as to the effect of this law on churches, ministries, charities, educational institutions and persons who continue to assert that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

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Minnesota Catholic Conference staff often receives emails of “concern” regarding policy issues for which MCC is advocating on behalf of the Minnesota bishops. Most recently, these e-mails have centered on the bishops’ support of federal immigration reform legislation.

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The need for conscience protection in health care is rapidly increasing as the Obama administration mandates that most insurance plans cover so-called “preventive care” services, which include abortifacient drugs, contraception and sterilizations.

Additionally, cutting-edge biotechnology has developed all sorts of methods, drugs and procedures that, for example, allegedly permit people to change sexes, conceive children outside of sexual intercourse, and manipulate their genetics to produce more desirable traits.

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Pope Francis recently said that religious liberty is talked about more than it is proactively protected. And he is right. Religious liberty is increasingly given lip service, but in practice it keeps shrinking.

In some countries, such as Sudan and North Korea, Christians are actively persecuted and unable to worship publicly. In others, Christians are excluded from public life, and may not openly evangelize.

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Minnesota and France redefined marriage in the same week, yet the differences in public reaction to this decision in both places could hardly be starker.

In France, multiple protests were held in Paris and other major cities both before and after the decision, some of which had hundreds of thousands of participants. The “Manif Pour Tous” (“Protest for All”) movement, made up primarily of young people across the social and ideological spectrum, shows no sign of abating. In Minnesota, it was a small feat to get even 1,000 to the Capitol to oppose this legislation.

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