Welcome to the Official Website of the Georgia Catholic Conference

The Georgia Catholic Conference witnesses to spiritual values in public affairs, and provides an agency for corporate Catholic service to the statewide community. Under the direction of the Catholic bishops of Georgia, the Conference promotes public policy positions related to Georgia governmental programs, legislation and policies which affect the common good and interest of the Catholic Church.

Current Alerts

LEGAL PROTECTION FOR UNBORN CHILDREN AFTER 20 WEEKS OF PREGNANCY

GEORGIA HOUSE BILL 954

ACTION REQUESTED:

Please contact your State Representative right away and ask for a YES vote on HB 954, providing legal protection for unborn children after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

If your state representative is a member of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee (see below), please ask him or her to  to vote YES to pass the bill out of committee for a vote on the House floor. If your representative is not on the committee, ask him or her to speak to members of the committee, to allow passage of the bill in committee, followed by a vote by the full House.

To find your State Representative, go to:  www.congress.org and follow the Link under “Get Involved” and look for your State Legislators.

For a list of the members of the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, go to:http://www.house.ga.gov/Committees/en-US/committee.aspx?Committee=146&Session=21

For a copy of the bill, go to: http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20112012/HB/954

 

Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience Threatened By HHS Mandate

Atlanta– A matter of “grave moral concern – freedom of religion and freedom of conscience” was addressed by Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer of the Diocese of Savannah in a letter that was read at all Masses.

Please thank and encourage the following Georgia members of Congress for their continued support of HR 1179 and S. 1467:  Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson; Representatives Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, Tom Graves, Jack Kingston, Tom Price, Austin Scott and Lynn Westmoreland.

Please ask the following House Representatives to co-sponsor HR 1179:  Sanford Bishop, Jr., Hank Johnson, John Lewis, Rob Woodall, John Barrow and David Scott.

Take Action:

Send a e-mail to Congress through NCHLA

www.usccb.org/conscience

 

Latest News

The Parable of the Kosher Deli and the Pork Mandate

Read the Parable of the Kosher Deli and the Pork Mandate February 16, 2012

WASHINGTON—The mandate for virtually all private insurers, including most religiously-affiliated organizations such as Catholic hospitals, universities and charities, to include contraceptives, sterilizations and drugs that can cause early abortions in their employee health plans is akin to mandating that a kosher deli to serve pork, the chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told Congress.

In his February 16 testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, outlined the bishops’ opposition to the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate through an extended parable of a country where a new law requires all businesses to serve pork, including kosher delicatessens.

When the Orthodox Jewish community expresses its outrage, Bishop Lori said, it’s met with arguments of “But pork is good for you,” “So many Jews eat pork, and those who don’t should just get with the times,” and “Those Orthodox are just trying to impose their beliefs on everyone else.”

Bishop Lori’s parable had a happy ending, that people recognized “it is absurd for someone to come into a kosher deli and demand a ham sandwich,” “it is beyond absurd for that private demand to be backed with the coercive power of the state,” and “it is downright surreal to apply this coercive power when the customer can get the same sandwich cheaply, or even free, just a few doors down.”

“The question before the United States government—right now—is whether the story of our own Church institutions that serve the public, and that are threatened by the HHS mandate, will end happily too. Will our nation continue to be one committed to religious liberty and diversity? We urge, in the strongest possible terms, that the answer must be yes.”

The full text of Bishop Lori’s testimony may be found online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/upload/lori-testimony-for-oversight-on-religious-freedom-2012-02-16.pdf