Virtual Catholic Day of Action is just around the corner and the Maryland Catholic Conference has put together a step-by-step toolkit to help you get involved on Feb. 19.

Complete with information about key issues, a guide for talking with legislators, direct links to actions, sample posts and emails to spread the word about Virtual Catholic Day of Action, and more, the toolkit is available now for those who plan to join in the action Feb. 19 or want more information on what the day is about.

You can access and start using the toolkit to prepare for Virtual Catholic Day of Action HERE.  

"We are excited to offer Virtual Catholic Day of Action as a way for even more Catholics from across Maryland to get involved and raise their voices on issues of life, education and human rights this legislative session, and we created this toolkit to ensure that everyone has the resources they need to be a voice for the common good," said Jenny Kraska, executive director of the Conference. "Not everyone was able to make the trek to Annapolis each year to speak up on these issues. This is why we've set aside Feb. 19 as a day when everyone in Maryland can join together to call and write their legislators."

The Conference will be highlighting three main issues for Catholic Day of Action: physician-assisted suicide, the BOOST Scholarship Program and paid family leave (Time to Care Act). Visit the toolkit to more information about each of these important issues. 

To stay up-to-date on many issues the Conference has already taken a position on this session, visit our testimony page HERE. 

The Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will hear testimony on the 2020 bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide (SB 701) on Friday, Feb. 28, at 12 noon. A hearing has not yet been scheduled on the House version of the bill, HB 643. 

The Senate hearing will be held in the Judicial Proceedings hearing room on the second floor of the Miller Senate Office Building at 11 Bladen Street, Annapolis. 

For the fifth time in six years, proponents are pushing to legalize the dangerous practice of physician-assisted suicide in Maryland and have returned with the same deeply flawed policy that the General Assembly has rejected year after year. 

The Maryland Catholic Conference welcomes anyone who wants to attend the hearing in opposition to this dangerous bill to join us on Feb. 28. We will be gathering at our office around 11 a.m. and walking to the hearing. Parking is available in downtown Annapolis. For more information on where to park downtown, please visit: www.annapolisparking.com/parking-locations/ 

If you plan to attend, please email Kate Alexander, Director of Communications and Engagement, by Thursday, Feb. 27.  Those who attend are encouraged to wear green to show opposition to the bill. 

The Maryland Catholic Conference has joined with other faith leaders, disability rights advocates and the medical community in the Maryland Against Physician Assisted Suicide Coalition to oppose the bill. To learn more and join the Coalition, visit www.stopassistedsuicidemd.org. 

The Maryland Catholic Conference will again support legislation that seeks to protect immigrants and their families by building trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.

Several bills that address the interactions between immigrants and law enforcement have been introduced during the 2020 session, and the Conference will support the bills that uphold the inherent dignity of every person and oppose those that seek to tear families apart. 

"Immigration is largely a federal issue, and a very difficult one, but there are areas where our state can take action," said Anne Wallerstedt, associate director of social and economic justice for he Maryland Catholic Conference. "We as a Conference, support legislation that upholds the inherent human dignity of each person and are guided by the words of Pope Francis who said that: '[I]f we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us give opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.'" 

The Catholic Church has historically held a strong interest in immigration and how public policy affects immigrants seeking a new life in the United States. A person and their family shouldn’t have to live in fear from the very entities who are tasked with keeping every person safe and healthy and helping our communities thrive. Unfortunately, when local and state law enforcement are requested to take part in immigration enforcement, it causes an erosion of their critical relationship with immigrant communities. When immigrant communities do not feel comfortable interacting with police — even to report crimes — then whole communities are less safe as crimes go unreported and/or unsolved. The Conference supports bills that balance the needs for both public safety and immigration enforcement in order to make families and communities safer.  

To read MCC's testimony during the 2020 session CLICK HERE.