Art Miller served the citizens of Macomb County in the Michigan Senate for over 25 years. Senator Miller, who was also a three-term Warren city councilman, was elected by his colleagues to be the Senate Democratic Leader on five occasions, beginning in 1985. A practicing Catholic, Senator Miller was a widely effective bipartisan legislator whose personality and kindness won over friends and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. “He was a wonderful and faithful man,” reflected MCC President and CEO Paul A. Long.
Upon hearing of the death of Bishop James A. Murray, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) wishes to extend to Most Reverend Paul Bradley, Bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo and the faithful of the Kalamazoo Diocese heartfelt condolences and prayers for the soul of Bishop Murray.
Throughout the month of May, Catholics across the world have recognized the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’s second encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, issued from Rome in May of 2015. Michigan Catholic Conference has joined these efforts by developing and distributing materials for Catholic institutions and various secular bodies, including its venerable FOCUS publication along with numerous web-based resources. MCC’s efforts accompany recent public initiatives from the Catholic Church to widen the impact of the pope’s teaching, including Laudato Si’ Week and the Day of Common Prayer for Creation, which took place May 24.
On April 16th Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was asked by a podcast host about her to decision to allow abortion facilities to remain open during the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order. In response, Whitmer stated that abortion is “life sustaining.” MCC responded to the governor’s comments by stating that her understanding of life issues has become “bifurcated and confusing,” and is asking for the governor to pause and reflect on “the wounds her comments have created for countless people in this state and elsewhere.”
In a joint presentation to lawmakers, Governor Gretchen Whitmer presented her executive recommendations for the upcoming 2020–21 state budget. While MCC appreciates the governor’s inclusion of funding that fights opioid abuse and addiction, supports elder care and foster care, and maintains the state’s shared time program, concerns remain about the governor’s disregard of nonpublic schools. Additionally, MCC applauded the proposal’s efforts to support vulnerable women during and after pregnancy but also called for further clarification about the plan’s intent regarding “reproductive health care.”
Michigan Catholic Conference is applauding the Catholic community in this state for gathering tens of thousands of signatures that are among 379,418 total signatures submitted to the Board of State Canvassers to end the second trimester dismemberment abortion procedure. “It cannot be overstated how grateful Michigan Catholic Conference is for the participation of the seven dioceses in the state and the hundreds of Catholic entities that worked to support this initiative,” MCC said in a news release. “The Catholic community has been engaged since day one, and the level of participation only escalated the more informed citizens became of the barbaric nature of this particular abortion procedure.”
Despite federal statistics indicating that the practice of payday lending places low-income residents in the way of financial harm, the Michigan House Committee on Regulatory Reform passed legislation this morning that expands payday lending in the state by allowing consumers to borrow additional money at unreasonable rates. Opposing the legislation, MCC said the following: “It is our hope that if this legislation moves further through the process it can be amended to include a more reasonable interest rate and an honest evaluation of someone’s ability to repay the loan.”
Governor Whitmer and Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Michael Rice are mischaracterizing provisions of the Michigan Constitution to prevent the state from reimbursing nonpublic schools for complying with mandated health and safety requirements, Michigan Catholic Conference stated in response to a legal brief from the governor’s office. “The days are becoming numbered for public officials to rely on a discriminatory provision of the constitution that treats nonpublic schools as second-class institutions,” MCC said.
On Friday, November 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule change that will ensure faith-based adoption and foster care agencies are neither discriminated against nor excluded from federal funding due to their religious mission. The proposed rule change reconsiders a 2016 rule that penalized faith-based entities for adhering to their religious teaching and placing children with a married mother and father.
Currently, Michigan law requires all 17-year-olds to be charged automatically as an adult, regardless of the crime that has been committed. With the governor’s signature of the ‘Raise the Age’ bill package, Michigan joins 46 other states in the country that gives a judge the discretion to charge a 17-year-old as an adult based on the severity of the crime. “Michigan has just enacted good policy that will allow youths who commit lesser crimes to receive necessary resources at the juvenile court level,” MCC said in a statement.
