Be a voice for hope and justice at Catholic Advocacy Day 2021!
NEW: Learn more about the issues we will advocate on here!
Use these links to email, call or tweet your state legislators: click, sign and send.
Join Catholics across Maryland on Feb. 16 to advocate on behalf of our Church with our state legislators.
We create three action alerts (education, life and human rights). All you have to do to bring your voice before the Maryland legislature is sign, click and send the alerts to your legislators (or make a personal call to their offices, if you prefer).
Join the Catholic Advocacy Network to get advance notice and alerts sent right to you (text and/or email). You also will find them here on Feb. 16, and on Facebook and Twitter.
How it Works
1. Learn about the issues in our Advocacy Day Briefing Room
We will advocate on three issues: Increased funding for BOOST scholarships, perinatal hospice information for parents facing a life-limiting diagnosis of their baby in utero, and the Time to Care Act. Hear from our advocacy team and get the details in our briefing room. Links to the action alerts on each issue will be up on Tuesday, Feb. 16!
You also can follow our testimony here during session and see the kinds of issues we follow here.
2. Invite your friends
Use our Catholic Advocacy Day toolkit for graphics, social media and bulletin/Flocknote announcements.
3. Take action - email or call your legislators
Get advance notice on the issues and three action alerts on Feb. 16 by joining the Catholic Advocacy Network, or visit this page.
Tips if you want to call instead of email:
- Introduce yourself, noting you are a constituent from [your neighborhood or town name]. You can mention other connections, such as a shared alma mater or parish.
- Briefly say why you are calling, drawing from the text of the alert.
- Ask for the legislator's support of your position.
- Be polite, even if the person doesn't agree with you. Your elected officials represent you and it's their job to care about what their constituents feel about issues.
- Don't argue. Acknowledge you disagree, reiterate your position, and ask that your point of view be considered when voting.
- Thank the person for his/her time.
4. Share
Post on social media (use the hashtag #MDCatholic) and share the action alerts with your friends and other parishioners.
Amid the daily concerns of political life, “the smallest, the weakest, the poorest should touch our hearts: indeed, they have a ‘right’ to appeal to our heart and soul. They are our brothers and sisters, and as such we must love and care for them.”
- Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, 194
FAQ
1. My legislator doesn't agree with the church on these issues. Why should I bother sending a message or calling?
As a Catholic, you are one of more than 1 million Marylanders who share our faith. Standing together, we are a strong voice worth listening to and legislators listen to their voters. Even if your senator or delegate doesn't personally agree with you, he or she still represents you and needs to know where you and other constituents stand on important issues like these. We have seen the power of speaking up for change.
If your elected Senator or Delegate doesn't agree with you, it might be helpful to remind them just how much of an impact Catholics like you are having their district. Learn more about the Catholic presence in your district here.
2. I don't know who my state legislators are. How can I find out?
When you sign the alert, it will automatically go to your legislators. You also can look them up here.
3. How do I know my messages will go to the right person?
When you fill out the form with your home address on the action page, the system the Maryland Catholic Conference identifies your state senator and delegate based on where you live and sends your message directly to them. Be sure to use your home address.
4. I used to come to Lobby Night in Annapolis. Will we be doing that, too?
Thank you for participating in Lobby Night in the past! We moved to a virtual Catholic Advocacy Day last year for two reasons - so more people could be involved (and they were!) and in light of the pandemic, which has restricted access to the House and Senate buildings.
5. Why these issues?
As many as 3,000 bills can be introduced each session in Maryland. The Maryland Catholic Conference works to identify, follow and advocate on many issues. Timing, need for direct action and other considerations guide what we need at different times during the session. The issues we highlight are pending before the General Assembly and would have a significant impact on our faith and those we serve. We do send issue-specific action alerts at other times during the session. Sign up for the Catholic Advocacy Network to get those.
6. I took the action and I shared about it with my network. Now what?
Stay involved! Join us on Mondays as we pray for our legislators, follow us on social media (@mdcatholic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), and join the Catholic Advocacy Network to stay up-to-date on these and other issues.