Inside the Capitol

The Sandy Hook school massacre of 20 innocent children and seven adults by a troubled gunman — who used a semi-automatic “assault” rifle to kill his victims — has ignited a national debate about gun control.

America has a problem with gun violence. A culture that celebrates violence, coupled with a society in which guns are too easily accessible, has contributed to one gun tragedy after another — whether in the form of workplace shootings, street violence, domestic strife,  school massacres, or innocent kids just playing around like their “heroes” and getting killed.

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It seems odd that any nation would reject an international treaty titled, “United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” But, that’s what happened when the ratification of the UNCRPD failed to receive the required two-thirds approval in the U.S. Senate in early December.

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Earlier this month a coalition called “A Minnesota Without Poverty” convened an  anti-poverty conference involving some 40 non-profit advocacy groups to collaborate, reinvigorate and bring fruition to the recommendations of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020, issued in 2009.

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Statewide Immigration Sunday Minnesota is being held again on the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord, which is Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. This year’s observance is significant considering that 2013 may be one of the best opportunities for comprehensive immigration reform in more than a decade.

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During the 2012 election season, the Church actively supported a number of issue-oriented ballot referenda initiatives around the country. Most of them failed to pass.

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Since the Minnesota marriage amendment was placed on the ballot last year, and even before that, the Catholic Church in Minnesota has been educating Catholics about what marriage is, why it is important and the challenges all of society will likely face if it is redefined.

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Many Catholics have trouble on occasion aligning themselves with the church when it takes a position on matters of public policy.

What is often under-reported, though, is that there are truly large percentages of Catholics who disagree with the bishops on the question of immigration. This is troubling not only because the bishops’ position is both principled and humane, but because it also effectively balances a number of concerns, such as border security and the importance of keeping families together.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Labor Day statement, “Placing Work and Workers at the Center of Economic Life” declares that the cure to our current crisis is a “national economic renewal that places working people and their families at the center of economic life.”

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