Integrating Cuba more deeply into the family of nations has been a major priority of the last three popes. Each of these popes has visited Cuba, and Pope Francis’ personal appeal to President Obama and Raul Castro has led to breakthroughs in diplomatic and cultural relations, the release of political prisoners and the removal of many travel restrictions between the two nations.
When the bishops of Minnesota had breakfast with Gov. Mark Dayton and met with legislators at the State Capitol in mid-March, they weren’t just “keeping up appearances.” Beyond the pleasantries and the occasional photo-op, the day was a powerful encapsulation of the mission of the Minnesota Catholic Conference: to protect human dignity and advance the common good by living out the Church’s right and responsibility to participate in public conversation about laws and policies.
One of the main debates at the State Capitol this year centers on what to do with a projected $900 million budget surplus, the result of anticipated revenues for this current budget biennium exceeding planned government expenditures.
Even someone as accustomed to political victory as Otto von Bismarck said that “[p]olitics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.”
Venturing into the political realm today can be an unappealing prospect. Sometimes it seems that American politics appeals to our base fears and prejudices, while advancing only the special interests of a powerful few.
As Catholics, caucusing provides us an opportunity not only to live out the call to faithful citizenship, but also to have a meaningful impact on the political process.
Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has waged a war on the “throwaway culture,” in which anything can be commodified and given a dollar value, and where life itself can be, in his words, “considered a consumer good to be used and then discarded.”
When we hear the word “idolatry,” we probably think first of a golden calf and pagan worship. But idolatry, giving the reverence and devotion owed to God to something created instead, is actually a much more commonplace sin. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church warns us that idolatry “remains a constant temptation of faith.”