On the Feb. 12 episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley asked Archbishop Bernard Hebda if he remembered the first time he met with his elected officials. Yes, he did, the archbishop said: He was a high school student.
“We had gone to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life,” he said, and had the opportunity after the march to speak with their congressman. The experience was positive, he said.
The meeting was valuable “just to have that opportunity to share with our elected officials why these things are so important to us,” he said.
“And we have wonderful examples of people who are really committed to changing our world and recognizing that the political sphere is one of the ways of doing that,” he noted of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
He gave the example of a speaker from Nigeria, Obianuju Ekeocha, founder of Culture of Life Africa and an internationally renowned “champion for life,” who plans to speak at the April 15 Catholics at the Capitol event in St. Paul. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also plans to speak at the event, which is organized by Minnesota Catholic Conference.
“The idea is to give us tools, not just for doing one day of lobbying — which we’ll do that afternoon — but really engaging in the political process throughout the year in a way that’s meaningful,” he said.
The archbishop spent much of the interview discussing faithful citizenship from a Catholic perspective. He referred to Pope Francis stressing how important it is that Christians “’go forth to shape the world’ — speaking of that as an obligation,” Archbishop Hebda said. “And so that question about whether we need to enter into civil discourse, I think is clearly a yes; how we go about doing that is certainly challenging.”
One advantage people have as Christians, the archbishop said, “and with that sense of love of neighbor, is that when we … are debating a point, when we’re talking about a policy, we never lose sight of the fact that we’re brothers and sisters, and that there’s an inherent dignity in the other person, even if we don’t agree with their position.”
To learn more about the archbishop’s thoughts on faithful citizenship and the upcoming Catholics at the Capitol event, tune in at 9 p.m. Feb. 12, 1 p.m. Feb. 13 or 2 p.m. Feb. 14 for the “Practicing Catholic” radio show at Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Learn more about Catholics at the Capitol and register at CatholicsAtTheCapitol.org.
“Practicing Catholic” is produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired:
