Press Releases
October, 2002

Statement from Bishop Lori on his appointment to the Mixed Commission

President Bush taps Bishop for committee

Bishop challenges legal profession to uphold morality

Diocesan Mass launches Respect Life Month

Diocese of Bridgeport working to achieve fair resolution of claims of sexual abuse

Statement from Bishop Lori on his appointment to the Mixed Commission

Bishop addresses Vatican response to the Dallas Charter

Bishop to dedicate new mausoleum in Norwalk

Cast your vote for religious freedom

Catholics rally to support school choice

BRIDGEPORT, Wednesday, October 23, 2002, 6:01 a.m.. - This morning, the Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, issued the following statement in response to the news from the Vatican:

"I am honored to be one of four U.S. Bishops who will serve on the Mixed Commission which will refine the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, and the accompanying Norms in the coming weeks.

"Please pray for God's blessings on these deliberations. In solidarity with the Holy See, the Church in the United States is committed to protecting children and young people in a manner that is both compassionate and just."

Bishop Lori has said that these ongoing discussions do not affect decisions on sexual misconduct reached in the Diocese of Bridgeport, since these have been made in accordance with the provisions of Church and civil law. Since his installation as Bishop of Bridgeport in March 2001, Bishop Lori has pledged to deal with every allegation of sexual misconduct swiftly, decisively, fairly, and openly.

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Attention media: There is no press availability or interviews with Bishop Lori.
For updated biographical information, click here.
For a downloadable hi-res photograph, click here.
To read Bishop Lori's June 19, 2002, address to the faithful of the Diocese of Bridgeport on the Charter and Norms, click here.
To read the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' official announcement, click here.

By VENESSA ANDERSON
vanderson@diobpt.org

President George W. Bush announced last month the appointment of Bishop William E. Lori to the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation (PCMR). The PCMR advises the President and the Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on ways to provide services for citizens with mental retardation and support for their families.

Removing Barriers
“Bishop Lori was selected because of President Bush’s interest in Bishop Lori’s concern for persons with mental retardation and related disabilities, and for his prospective contribution to the implementation of the President’s ‘New Freedom Initiative,’” says Cynthia Northington, PCMR assistant. “This initiative is intended to remove barriers to full community integration for persons with disabilities.”

It is estimated that between 7-8 million Americans of all ages suffer from mental retardation.

The PCMR was created in 1966 by Executive Order to focus attention and resources on this critical subject.

“I am grateful to President Bush for this appointment,” Bishop Lori says. “I hope it will give me an opportunity to be of service to the mentally retarded.”

Bishop Lori adds that the committee’s work sends a powerful pro-life message to the government. “I see that my service on this commission is one more way that I, as a private individual, as a citizen, and as a representative of the Church, can express the inherent value and worth of each human life,” he says.

Bishop Lori will collaborate with other PCMR committee members in studying data, preparing an annual report, and making recommendations to the President. His term will expire in May 2004.

“As a committee, we need to remember that some of the profoundly retarded do not easily find the care they need in typical group homes,” Bishop Lori says. “The government, in partnership with private enterprise and faith communities, needs to find creative way to ensure that these citizens don’t fall through the cracks. We need to make sure these citizens don’t find themselves homeless or shuffled from home-to-home without adequate regulations and safeguards.”

Personal Experience
Bishop Lori’s interest and concern have a personal foundation: his older brother, Frankie, 54, is mentally handicapped.

“Frankie is physically quite strong, but he probably has the mental ability of someone who is 3-4 years old,” explains Bishop Lori. “He lived at home until he was 16, and has been living in a state institution since then.” Bishop Lori’s parents are devoted to their son’s well-being, visiting him every 10 days. “My parents have worked with other parents of retarded children for a long time. In many ways they are wonderful advocates for the retarded,” he says.

The bishop has learned from his own experience that his family’s commitment is not unique. “I know of many parents who are in the same situation as my own,” he says. “As long as they have life and strength and many years left, they feel they can do anything for their children. I think that many parents feel that way.”

Parental Concerns
But, the bishop adds, once parents grow older, they begin to wonder what will happen to their children after their own decline in health. “There are many parents all around the United States in that exact situation,” Bishop Lori says. “If I can be a voice for them in some way, then I would be very happy to do so.”

(For more information on PCMR, visit their website at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/pcmr/.)

Back to Breaking News

BRIDGEPORT - In an address to judges, lawyers, and other members of the legal profession, Bishop William E. Lori condemned "same-sex unions" and other proposed legislation in the State of Connecticut, urging those who serve the public interest "to continue the work of creating a society truly worthy of the human person created in God's image and likeness."

Bishop Lori delivered the homily at the Diocese of Norwich's annual Red Mass at Saint Patrick Cathedral in Norwich on Sunday, October 6, Respect Life Sunday. The Red Mass invokes God's blessing upon members of the legal profession as well as other protectors and administrators of the law, including legislatures, law enforcement, and governmental agencies.

"Today, many of those who help shape our culture, including legislators and jurists, are at best skeptical of what is called 'traditional morality' and are prone to question the very notion of right and wrong," Bishop Lori said. "Many reject the very notion or that something could be intrinsically wrong, at all times and under all circumstances. This tendency is most evident in questions related to abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research, and the very definition of marriage and family."

Our culture, he added, "is best served first, when the full intent of our founders regarding the church-state relationship is respected; and second, when truths and values common to church and state are identified and promoted both by faith communities and by our system of laws."

Bishop Lori praised Connecticut's Religious Freedom Restoration Act as "instructive and enlightened," as it calls for "the least restrictive means of burdening the free exercise of religion - and then only when there is a compelling governmental interest." But he warned that the State hampers or even violates free exercise, imposing secularism upon its citizens as a sort of "pseudo-religion."

"This happens when government limits or bans public religious expression or forces religious health care institutions to violate their system of belief by providing proscribed services; or passes hostile and potentially crippling legislation mostly aimed at a particular religious body; or proposes to interfere directly and illegally in the manner in which a Sacrament is conducted," Bishop Lori explained. "It happens when school parents and children of varying religious beliefs who want choice in education are denied assistance for textbooks and transportation widely accorded in other states."

Bishop Lori acknowledged that there are common truths and values which need to be embraced by communities of faith and by the law itself. As an example, he cited the need to uphold traditional marriage and fight proposed legislation on same-sex unions.

"One of the duties of the State is to foster those conditions wherein children are brought into the world and brought to maturity," Bishop Lori explained. "Nothing is more important to that process than the family - the complementary relationship of husband and wife whose enduring relationship of love is the context for the procreation of new human life. But in the name of freedom and equality, the special status and protections accorded the family are in danger of being stricken from the law. Within the State of Connecticut, as elsewhere, so-called 'same-sex marriage legislation' signals a potential willingness on the part of the State to dis-establish the traditional family's role and perhaps, wittingly or unwittingly, to create an even more hostile atmosphere for the permanence, fidelity, and fruitfulness that have always been a part of the marriage covenant and that have served the interests of society so well."

Bishop Lori concluded by urging citizens to oppose such legislation: "I trust that the citizens of Connecticut will have the wisdom and courage to reject legislation that fails to support family life and the values of family life, values so important for the law and for religious belief."

To read Bishop Lori's homily, click here.

By MARIE O’BRIEN

Respect Life Sunday falls on October 6 this year. The diocesan Mass in Honor of Life will be held at 5 p.m. at Saint Aloysius Church in New Canaan. Bishop William E. Lori will be the principal celebrant. Begun in 1972, the Respect Life observance tries to bring Church teaching on the value and dignity of all human life to the greater attention of the Catholic community and the wider public. All are welcome to attend this celebration.

Respect Life Month comes at a time when talk of war is sweeping our country, when headlines speak of cloning “excess” human embryos for research purposes, and when a stagnant economy threatens the jobs of those struggling to earn a modest living in the midst of our affluence.

Respect Life Month is observed in virtually all 195 Catholic dioceses in the United States. Parishes around this diocese will organize programs combining prayer, pastoral services, advocacy, and education.

Dignity and Life
The dignity of human life is assaulted every day in our culture. Supporters of “therapeutic” cloning pretend that it is something apart from “human” cloning. Entertainment media applaud sexual license and deride chastity. Abortion activists have sought, and in some states have achieved, laws to end the public financing of Catholic hospitals.

In the “Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life,” the Catholic bishops of the United States invite everyone to help restore respect and legal protection for every human life. Bishop Lori is a member of the U.S. bishop’s Pro-Life Committee.

“It is our hope,” the bishops explain, “that in focusing on the need to respect and protect the lives of innocent unborn and those who are disabled, ill, or dying, we will help to deepen respect for the life of every human being.”

When human life under any circumstance is not held as sacred in a society, all human life is diminished and threatened. The bishops encourage Respect Life committees in all parishes to keep parishioners up-to-date on local issues, develop pastoral care ministries for their parishes, and encourage prayer and petition for the most fragile members of our society.

Increasing Awareness
“Our Respect Life celebration is multi-faceted in purpose,” says Father Ernest T. Esposito, director of the Family Life/ Respect Life Ministry of the Diocese of Bridgeport. “We intend to increase consciousness and involvement for the sanctity and dignity of every human life. We give witness to the fact that every human life originates from God and is to develop in accord with God’s will. We pray for the promotion of respect for every human life from conception to natural death, and we offer our thanks to God for our own lives and the lives of every human person.”

The Respect Life Ministry in the diocese sponsors several support groups to help people on the sometimes difficult road of life. These include Renew, an ongoing support group for separated and divorced men and women; Project Rachel, for women who have suffered the trauma of an abortion; and Compassionate Friends, for parents who are grieving from the death of a child.

(For information on support groups organized by the Family Life/Respect Life Ministry of the Diocese of Bridgeport, call (203) 372- 4301, ext. 314.)

Back to Breaking News

BRIDGEPORT, CT, Thursday, October 17, 2002, 4:00 p.m. (Updated Friday, October 18, 2002, 5:15 p.m.) - In keeping with its policy to deal with all allegations of sexual abuse and facilitate the healing process for victims and their families, the Diocese of Bridgeport announced today that it is working with the law firm of Tremont & Sheldon, P.C., to begin a mediation process towards a fair, just, and reasonable resolution of more than 30 claims of sexual abuse by 10 inactive priests.

All of the claims were brought to the attention of the Diocese of Bridgeport within the past five months. U.S. Magistrate William I. Garfinkel of the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport has agreed to act as a mediator to attempt to resolve these sexual abuse claims against the Diocese.

The details of the accused priests are as follows:

• Three of the 10 accused priests are deceased: Father Joseph H. Gorecki (who died in 1988), Father Richard J. Grady (1993), and Father Alfred J. Bietighofer (2002). Father Grady was pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Bridgeport, and Saint Leo Parish in Stamford.
  
  
• One was a member of a religious order: Father Stanley Bonaszek, M.M., a Maryknoll priest. The Diocese has informed the Provincial of the Maryknoll Order of the claim of sexual abuse. According to the Maryknoll Order, Father Bonaszek has no authorization to function as a priest. Father Bonaszek worked at the former Saint Anthony Parish in Bridgeport, and left the Diocese in 1987.
  
  
• One is a priest of the Diocese of Bridgeport who is living in another diocese but is not functioning as a priest. The Diocese has not yet interviewed the priest to investigate the claim of sexual abuse, but the Bishop of the other diocese has been informed.
  
  
• The remaining accused priests, all of whom are inactive and have no authorization to function as a priest, are: Father William D. Donovan, Father Martin J. Federici, Father Raymond S. Pcolka, Monsignor Charles W. Stubbs, and Joseph DeShan (who has been laicized).

In three of five lawsuits that have been filed, the former Bishop of Bridgeport, His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, is named as a defendant, despite the fact that the alleged abuse occurred 15-20 years prior to his arrival in the Diocese of Bridgeport. Cardinal Egan has been advised of the lawsuits and says that he supports the efforts of the Diocese of Bridgeport to achieve a just resolution.

"The Diocese of Bridgeport has been cooperating fully with the attorneys of Tremont & Sheldon," says Michael T. Dolan, General Counsel for the Diocese of Bridgeport. "We have interviewed the plaintiffs and offered a sincere apology and counseling services. They have also been invited to meet personally with Bishop William E. Lori."

"While we understand that the lawsuits had to be filed to protect the plaintiffs' rights under the statute of limitations, we hope and expect that litigation will not be necessary," Attorney Dolan continues. "With the support of Bishop Lori and full cooperation of Tremont & Sheldon, we have begun a mediation process which we hope will result in a fair, just, and reasonable resolution."

In order to preserve the integrity of the mediation process and the rights of the victims, both the Diocese of Bridgeport and Tremont & Sheldon have decided not to comment further until a resolution has been achieved.

"I have always pledged to deal with any allegation of sexual abuse swiftly, decisively, and fairly," says Bishop Lori. "In the spirit of healing for all victims of abuse, I am confident that, in these cases, we can achieve a just resolution, which we will then communicate openly."

In recent months, the Diocese of Bridgeport has resolved three claims of sexual abuse by victims who were represented by Tremont & Sheldon. The claims involved three inactive priests: Monsignor Charles W. Stubbs, Father Joseph P. Moore, and Father Charles T. Carr. All three claims resulted in a financial settlement subject to a confidentiality agreement. The settlements were funded by the Diocese through insurance reserves.

In addition to the claims involved in this process, the Diocese of Bridgeport is also investigating a number of other claims of sexual abuse. The Diocese is encouraging the inclusion of all claims of sexual abuse in the current mediation process in an attempt to achieve a global settlement.

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BRIDGEPORT, Wednesday, October 23, 2002, 6:01 a.m.. - This morning, the Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, issued the following statement in response to the news from the Vatican:

"I am honored to be one of four U.S. Bishops who will serve on the Mixed Commission which will refine the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, and the accompanying Norms in the coming weeks.

"Please pray for God's blessings on these deliberations. In solidarity with the Holy See, the Church in the United States is committed to protecting children and young people in a manner that is both compassionate and just."

Bishop Lori has said that these ongoing discussions do not affect decisions on sexual misconduct reached in the Diocese of Bridgeport, since these have been made in accordance with the provisions of Church and civil law. Since his installation as Bishop of Bridgeport in March 2001, Bishop Lori has pledged to deal with every allegation of sexual misconduct swiftly, decisively, fairly, and openly.

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Attention media: There is no press availability or interviews with Bishop Lori.
For updated biographical information, click here.
For a downloadable hi-res photograph, click here.
To read Bishop Lori's June 19, 2002, address to the faithful of the Diocese of Bridgeport on the Charter and Norms, click here.
To read the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' official announcement, click here.

BRIDGEPORT, Friday, October 18, 2002, 12:30 p.m. - The Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, has issued the following statement in response to the news from Rome today:

"The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and its accompanying Norms should be seen as a work in progress. The solidarity of the Holy See with the Church in the United States in this difficult time is an enormous source of encouragement.

"I am prayerfully confident that the discussions between the Vatican and the U.S. Bishops will refine the Charter and the Norms so that they will continue to protect children and young people, support victims, and more clearly uphold the legitimate legal rights of the clergy and others who represent the Church.

"These ongoing discussions do not affect decisions reached in the Diocese of Bridgeport, since these have been made in accordance with the provisions of Church and civil law. I remain committed to addressing all allegations of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Bridgeport swiftly, decisively, fairly, and openly."

By VENESSA ANDERSON
vanderson@diobpt.org

Bishop William E. Lori will bless and dedicate the new Community Mausoleum at Saint John Catholic Cemetery in Norwalk on Thursday, October 24, at 3:00 p.m. Local priests and dignitaries are expected to attend.

CAPTION: THE NEW COMMUNITY MAUSOLEUM at Saint John Cemetery in Norwalk has space for 1,110 burials and 120 cremation urns. (PHOTO BY JOHN GLOVER)

The Community Mausoleum, opened last month, contains 1,110 burial spaces and 120 cremation niches. The focal point of the facility is a granite statue of Saint John, which allows visitors a quiet place to pray and reflect before visiting their loved ones.

Design Blends In
The design of the building was deliberately chosen to blend into the cemetery property. “When looking at the plans, we decided to choose a structure that wasn’t too tall,” explains Ray Capo, director of Catholic Cemeteries for the Diocese of Bridgeport. “It was important to us that all families who have a space at Saint John Cemetery were comfortable with the new structure.”

According to Capo, aboveground burial is becoming more and more popular. “This mausoleum reflects a growing desire among familes for above-ground burial,” he says. “This is the first mausoleum built in the diocese in over 10 years, and already nearly 40 percent of the space has been reserved.”

The response is so strong, in fact, that the Cemeteries Office is considering building more mausoleums. There are 11 Catholic cemeteries administered by the diocese in Fairfield County.

(For more information about the Saint John Cemetery Community Mausoleum, call (203) 838-4271.)

Back to Breaking News

BRIDGEPORT - On Sunday, October 20, at 1 p.m., Bishop William E. Lori will join parents, students, and state legislators who support school choice at the 12th annual Connecticut Walkathon for Catholic Schools.

Sponsored by the Connecticut Federation of Catholic School Parents and the Knights of Columbus, the event raises money to support local Catholic schools and to assist the Federation with its mission to preserve and promote Catholic education and protect the rights of Catholic school students and their parents. Since 1990, the event has raised more than $1.4 million.

CAPTION: Bishop Lori joined boys and girls in the annual Connecticut Walkathon for Catholic Schools last year at Sacred Heart University. (Photo by John Glover)

More than 5,000 people will participate in the Walkathon at 10 locations throughout the state, including three in Fairfield County:

• Bishop Lori will address participants at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
  
  
• Monsignor J. Peter Cullen, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Bridgeport, will address walkers at Cove Island Park in Stamford.
  
  
• Monsignor William J. Scheyd, Vicar General and Pastor of Saint Aloysius Parish in New Canaan, will address participants at Immaculate High School in Danbury.

"Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court validated the Constitutional right of parents to allow their tax dollars to follow their children to a school of their choice, including 'religious' schools," says Bishop Lori. "Catholic school parents in Connecticut must rally together and overwhelm our State Legislature with communications in favor of education voucher and tax credit programs. If parents don't demand school choice, it won't happen."

By DR. MARIE HILLIARD
Lobby134@aol.com

(Editor's note: Dr. Marie Hilliard is executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference, the public policy advocacy agent for the four Catholic dioceses in Connecticut. She is a nurse ethicist with extensive professional experience, and has been involved in health care regulation and public policy advocacy at both the state and national level. In this article for the Fairfield County Catholic, Dr. Hilliard offers an overview of the issues as Catholics head to the polls to elect a new State Legislature.)

Rights of Catholics Denied
Our religious and other civil liberties are most precious. They allow us, among other things, to select our jobs, where we live, with whom we will associate, what values we will teach our children, what causes we will support, who will represent us in government, and even how we will worship our God. Yet, increasingly, if your Catholic faith is the reason for exercising any of these liberties, you risk the danger of being denied that right.

Here in the State of Connecticut, the examples of such violations of religious liberties are numerous.

• In the Connecticut Legislature during the confirmation hearings of 2001, judicial nominees were challenged to declare if they had attended a Catholic college or university.

• Public school resource materials on sex education, paid for by tax dollars, state that the Gospel does not prohibit homosexuality. God’s word can be distorted in public schools, but religious references to God must be excluded from the classroom.

• Significant efforts to violate the seal of confidentiality (Confession) of priests were advanced in our Connecticut Legislature, even though the same breach of confidentiality was not advanced for attorneys.

• In Vermont, where same-sex unions are legal, justices of the peace who refuse to participate in such ceremonies based on conscience, are penalized by law. Some Connecticut candidates for office have expressed the desire for Connecticut to be the next Vermont.

• Employers in Connecticut who offer prescriptive coverage must contribute to the payment for abortifacients for their employees, despite the conscience objections of the employers.

• Connecticut’s Religious Freedom Restoration Law allows public funds and benefits to be provided to activities sponsored by religious denominations, as long as no denomination receives preferential treatment. So, why are Catholic school parents unable to secure textbook assistance, full busing services, and even tuition assistance, which our United States Supreme Court has determined to be constitutional? Magnet and charter schools, after all, receive full public funding.

• State laws prohibit parents from being informed of their minor daughter’s abortion, and there is evidence that pro-abortion advocates are not reporting statutory rape. Should for-profit institutions be held to the same standard as religiously-sponsored institutions for the protection of children?

• The United States House of Representatives voted to support the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, which, if passed by the Senate, would provide conscience protections for medical personnel and hospitals that choose not to destroy innocent life. Every one of Connecticut’s delegation to the United States House of Representatives voted against this provision for religious liberty.

Free Exercise of Faith
Those who represent us in government are there to protect our precious civil liberties. However, examples of government and elected officials violating our guaranteed religious liberties are growing dangerously. The very Constitutional provisions enacted to protect religious liberty are used to discriminate against Catholics.

The “establishment clause” of our Constitution prohibits the establishment of a state religion, but it also requires our government to allow the “free exercise” of all religions. Religion is not to be relegated just to private devotional practices. Unfortunately, the “establishment clause” has been used to discriminate against the “free exercise” provisions of our people of faith.

We, who are Roman Catholics in Connecticut, who represent 43 percent of the population, are at great risk of having our constitutionally protected rights violated. We have been made to believe that our religious views have no place in public policy debates.

All laws are the codification of morality, from laws against murder to marriage laws. They evolve from a spiritual perception of the reason for our existence, the value of human life, and the nature of human relationships. Religion is the exercising of beliefs in such perceptions.

What would society be like if government were morality neutral? Who would dictate how public policy decisions are made? Would it be the advocates who have the most money, or the advocates with the most influence, or would public policy be determined by what is in the best interest of the common good? And if the driving force is the common good, without a concept of morality, how would government define what is the “good?” Yet, there are those who want to make all public policy debates devoid of the most fundamental moral principles.

Protect the Vulnerable
If societal good is to be fostered, there no longer can be the dichotomy, ascribed to by many public officials, of publicly-held virtue and privately-held virtue. Our Gospel imperatives demand that we advocate for public policies that embrace a consistent life ethic.

What is a consistent life ethic? It is an approach that claims that all life has dignity and demands our protection, especially those who are vulnerable to abusers of power. And who are these vulnerable? They are the homeless, the immigrant, the unborn, the embryo created to be destroyed by embryonic stem cell or cloning research, those at the end of life, the prisoner, families trapped in unhealthy environments that threaten growing children, those with mental and developmental needs, and the post-abortion woman who has been made to feel that her only option is to terminate a pregnancy.

As Catholics, we do have a legitimate say in how society protects the vulnerable. It is time for the Catholics of this state to step forward and exercise their constitutionally- protected right to shape public policy. Society not only must allow our voices to be heard, but needs the richness of our tradition. No one organization does more to foster the consistent life ethic than the Catholic Church. We are the largest non-governmental human service agency in this state. Yet, we hesitate to exercise our religious free speech, and thus fail to shape the very policies that we implement in the services we deliver.

Please do not miss this election year opportunity to bring your values to the public policy arena. Ask your candidates for elected office the questions listed below. Ask them if they support the right of the voice of faith to be heard in the public policy arena. Ask them if they support the consistent life ethic. Insist that they represent you in their elected positions. The voting booth is your vehicle for religious freedom. Use it wisely.

(For more information on the Connecticut Catholic Conference, call 860-524-7882 or e-mail lobby134@aol.com)

Back to Breaking News

As Catholics head to the polls
Questions for candidates

All societies are judged by how they treat the most vulnerable. All public policy should reflect support of the consistent life ethic. Our Gospel demands that we speak and our Constitution requires that our voice of faith be heard. Every election year provides an extraordinary opportunity to say “yes” to religious liberty and to the Gospel imperatives.

Please challenge our candidates for elected office to accurately represent you in government, by asking them if they support:

• Parents’ rights to determine how their children are educated, and the right to have government assistance to provide for the best educational options for their children?

• Non-public school parents’ rights to funded resources available to all other children, especially in the areas of textbooks, transportation, and special education?

• Parents’ rights to determine what values concerning marriage, the family, and human sexuality are taught to their children in the classroom?

• The right of faith-based advocacy groups to question legislation that benefits corporate pollution?

• Programs that reduce environmental risk to our state residents, even when there are significant corporate and governmental costs involved?

• The right of elected officials who are Catholic, and all persons of faith, to adhere to their beliefs and value systems?

• The right of religions to enjoy their free exercise, without government interference, as protected by both the U.S. and Connecticut Constitutions?

• The equal application of the law to all persons and institutions of faith?

• The right of parents to have full authority over the education of their children in faith, morals, and values?

• The rights of faith-based providers and all individuals to conscience protections in the delivery of services?

• The right of an unborn baby to full protections of the law, including the right to be protected from assaults in the womb by abortion or violent attacks on the mother, and the right to health care if born alive?

• The protection of human embryos from being created for, and killed by, embryonic stem-cell and cloning research?

• The abolition of government’s assault on life through the death penalty?

• Parents’ rights to be informed and give consent for all health-care decisions for minor children?

• The protection of marriage from being re-defined for all of society as being equivalent to same-sex unions?

• Funding of “sexual abstinence” youth development programs in our schools?

• The protection of religiously-sponsored health care from attacks on their constitutionally- protected rights to the free exercise of religion?

• The rights of the elderly to funding for the services they need to maintain a quality of life, including prescription coverage, and adequate reimbursements for residential and home care?

• The allocation of adequate funding for hospitals providing uncompensated care to the underserved?

• The creation of a government-supported continuum of care, from residential to community- based, for those with mental and developmental health care needs, including adequate funding of the Community Mental Health Trust Fund?

• Funding through the State-administered General Assistance Program for home health services, eye care and glasses, podiatry, chiropractic, and naturopathy services?

• Protecting the rights of Catholic Charities, the largest human services agency in Connecticut, to non-biased consideration when applying to deliver government-funded services?

• Policies that address in all towns and municipalities our mutual responsibilities for urban sprawl?

• Continuing support of health-care insurance coverage, general assistance, and food stamps for immigrants?

• Increased funding for affordable housing, rental assistance, shelter assistance, and the Beyond Shelter Program?

• Adequate funding of the anti-hunger program to relieve the catastrophic needs that we in the voluntary sector are attempting to meet?

• Increased funding of programs that move families from temporary assistance to work, including job training, expanded income eligibility for health insurance, and support services including day care?