November Newsletter 

The latest from CCO - action alerts, legislative news, updates, and more.

Learn more about CCO: View our brochure or visit our website.

Bishops' Statements

Catholic Bishops of Ohio Statement on Passing of Issue 1

The Catholic Bishops of Ohio issued the following statement regarding the passing of Issue 1:

Today is a tragic day for women, children, and families in Ohio. We mourn that the dignity of human life remains concealed by the duplicity of a culture of death. Though this is a day of sorrow, we are never without hope. St. Paul tells us that it is in hope that we were saved and, “if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.”

Asking for God’s protection and mercy, we must look ahead. Despite the obstacles this amendment presents, the Catholic Church in Ohio will continue to work for policies that defend the most vulnerable, strengthen the child-parent relationship, and support women in need. As we pray for the conversion of minds and hearts to the gospel of life, we recommit ourselves to defending children in the womb and supporting women in need. The Catholic Church and faithful will never grow weary in our mission to help women and families flourish through ministries such as Walking with Moms in Need and other local organizations that provide material and spiritual support and through advocacy with policymakers.

We, the Catholic Bishops of Ohio, are grateful to the Catholic faithful, clergy, and all people of goodwill whose actions in this campaign demonstrated our commitment to honoring and upholding the dignity of life. Your sacrifices prove that the Church will never abandon her mission to support human life. We will persevere in this mission until every preborn child is protected, every pregnant woman is supported, and every human life receives respect, dignity, and justice.

View the full statement with the bishops' signatures in English > 
View the full the statement in Spanish >

Legislative Updates & CCO Testimonies

SB 101 - Abolish the Death Penalty
CCO testified in support of Senate Bill 101 to abolish the death penalty. The Ohio House and Senate bills to end the death penalty have now received proponent testimony and await opposition testimony. The Catholic Church, in Ohio and around the world, vehemently rejects the use of capital punishment, which disregards mercy, rejects redemption, and ignores the dignity of human life. Rather, the Catholic Church calls for a social order where the work of justice embraces tender acts of mercy, where our response to crime leads to renewal and redemption, and where every human life – no matter its circumstance, race, class, or stage of development – is cherished as an icon of our Creator.  
 

HB 68 - SAFE Act
The Catholic Conference of Ohio submitted testimony to the Senate Government Oversight Committee in support of House Bill 68, the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, which would ban gender transition drugs and surgeries for minors and prohibit biological males from competing in female sports. The SAFE Act passed the House Chamber in June and is now in the Ohio Senate.

Executive Order 2023-11D - Awarding Funds to Help Families in Need and Encourage Workforce Development
Governor DeWine signed Executive Order 2023-11D, authorizing the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives to distribute $13.5 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding for FY24, as allowed under HB 33, the biennial budget bill. Among the agencies receiving funding to help families in need are Catholic organizations, such as Catholic Social Services of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul Social Services. To see the full list of agencies and purposes for funding click here. 

Action Alerts

Help Families in Need without Harming Pregnancy Help Centers!
USCCB Alert
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has proposed a new regulation about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. While the proposal would strengthen TANF in multiple ways, it could also unfairly cut off TANF funds from pregnancy help centers. This could affect funds currently designated in Governor DeWine's Executive Order 2023-11D, referenced above, that go to organizations like Mommies Matter to help provide transportation services to pregnant mothers and their children to get to doctor appointments, school, and more. Some of the other agencies that could be impacted include Pregnancy Solutions and Services Inc. in providing mobile medical clinics and free early perinatal care to reduce infant mortality in Summit County and Elizabeth's New Life Center in providing pregnancy care to eligible mothers in Hamilton, Montgomery, Shelby, and Warren counties.

Click Here to join the USCCB in telling HHS to strengthen TANF without taking away support from the good work of pregnancy help centers - the deadline is tomorrow!

Abolish the Death Penalty
Make your voice heard and urge your state legislators to support Senate Bill 101 and House Bill 259 to abolish the death penalty in Ohio. 

Use the following action alerts to easily send a message:

• Action Alert for SB 101 - Contact Your Senator
• Action Alert for HB 259 - Contact Your Representative

Special Feature

Scholarship Granting Organizations
Receive a Tax Credit for Supporting Catholic Education

Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Schools in the Third Millennium (2005) identified the importance of school choice for all parents, saying, "[It is the] responsibility of the whole Catholic community to strive towards the goal of making Catholic elementary schools available, accessible, and affordable to all Catholic parents and children."

Did you know individual taxpayers can claim a credit for monetary donations to an eligible scholarship granting organization (SGO) – up to $750 per person, or $1,500 if married and filing jointly? This allows YOU to decide how YOUR Ohio tax dollars are utilized.

A donation to a diocesan Catholic school SGO creates much-needed academic scholarships to attend K-12 schools, primarily for low-income students.

DONATE before December 31, 2023, to receive a dollar-for-dollar credit on your 2023 income tax liability.

Ohio Catholic School SGO's:

• Archdiocese of Cincinnati 
• Diocese of Cleveland
• Diocese of Columbus
• Diocese of Steubenville
• Diocese of Toledo
• Diocese of Youngstown

Let Us Pray

Blessing of the Advent Wreath
Source: USCCB

The use of the Advent Wreath is a traditional practice which has found its place in the Church as well as in the home. The blessing of an Advent Wreath takes place on the First Sunday of Advent or on the evening before the First Sunday of Advent.

When the blessing of the Advent Wreath is celebrated in the home, it is appropriate that it be blessed by a parent or another member of the family.
 

All make the Sign of the Cross as the leader says:

Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Response (R/.) Who made heaven and earth.

Then the Scripture, Isaiah 9: (lines 1-2 and 5-6) or Isaiah 63 (lines 16-17 & 19) or Isaiah 64  (lines 2-7) is read:

Reader: The word of the Lord.
R/. Thanks be to God.

With hands joined, the leader says:

Lord our God,
we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ:
he is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples,
he is the wisdom that teaches and guides us,
he is the Savior of every nation.

Lord God,
let your blessing come upon us
as we light the candles of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light
be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring us salvation.
May he come quickly and not delay.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R/. Amen.

The blessing may conclude with a verse from
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”:

O come, desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of humankind;
bid ev’ry sad division cease
and be thyself our Prince of peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.