2013

Michigan Catholic Conference offers print copies of Focus free-of-charge in any amount. To order, please email Karah May or call (517) 372-9310.

Catholic schools throughout the country and the State of Michigan are invaluable institutions dedicated to spreading the teachings and mission of the Church. Through Catholic schools, students learn values and are taught virtues that remain with them for the rest of their lives. In 2012–2013, 6,685 Catholic schools across the country educated 2,001,740 children; 19.6% of whom were racial minorities and 15.9% were non-Catholic. Roughly 54,832 students were educated in Michigan Catholic schools. Today, the Church is successfully continuing her historical traditional of cultivating faithful and service-oriented men and women in the classroom.

This latest publication of FOCUS identifies individual and institutional conscience protections that are in place at the federal level. The document provides a timeline of when the policies were enacted and what rights they seek to protect. Despite a thirty year history of bipartisan agreement on conscience rights, recent actions from the administration have presented significant concern for religious liberty moving forward. Along with a timeline, the document includes Archbishop Carroll's "prayer for government" and an excerpt from the USCCB document "Our First, Most Cherished Liberty."

Catholic Education: Developing Hearts and Minds of Faith

Conscience Rights, A Foundation for Democracy

2013-2014 Advocacy Priorities