Inside this issue

• Laudato Si' Week Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of Environmental Encyclical
• California Legislature Back in Session
• On the Web

  Laudato Si' Week Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of Environmental Encyclical  
 
In honor of the fifth anniversary of Laudato Si', the Holy Father's ground-breaking ecological encyclical, Pope Francis has invited all Catholics to participate in a period of prayer and action focused on caring for God's creation.
 
Laudato Si', published in 2015, offers a moral and spiritual challenge for all people - to summon our hearts to profound conversion to care for our ecological interests, and in the process renew relationships with God, one another, and the created world. Caring for our home includes caring for all creation therein.
 
You can sign up to participate in Laudato Si' Week, which includes virtual retreats and workshops May 18-23 , culminating in a global day of prayer on May 24. The USCCB has also published prayer cards and other resources for small groups.

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  California Legislature Back in Session  
 
Amid a myriad of new, strict protocols, members of the California State Assembly returned to the Capitol this week, after a six-week hiatus forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The State Senate will return next week.
 
While some legislative work has resumed, all lawmakers have been directed to reduce the number of bills they will introduce (commonly 20) down to five or less. Visitors are not allowed and members are only permitted limited staff in the capital building. Elevators are restricted to one rider and neither house will convene to vote on bills until social distancing measures are determined in the chambers.
 
Governor Newsom also announced this week that California is cautiously entering Phase 2 of his statewide reopening plan today, which will allow certain retail locations to offer curbside service if proper protocols are followed. Some non-contact recreational activities are allowed provided they follow sanitization guidelines.  Preventative medical appointments and elective surgeries are have also resumed. The State will look to continue easing restrictions if the number of infections and deaths allow.

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  On the Web  
  Little Sisters of the Poor
During a week in which the Supreme Court heard arguments via telephone for the first time, the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor came back before the justices on Wednesday.
 
Justices heard from attorneys representing the Trump administration, the Little Sisters, and the state of Pennsylvania, as the nuns were back at the Supreme Court four years after their case against the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate was first considered.
 
Read more at CatholicNewsAgency.com.
 
ACT NOW! Demand an Ethically Made COVID-19 Vaccine 
Last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and leaders of many healthcare, bioethics, and pro-life organizations sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Their letter urged the administration to make sure potential vaccines for Coronavirus (COVID-19) are developed ethically and free from any connection to abortion. 
 
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CCC Seeks Director of Education
The California Catholic Conference is seeking a Director of Education to manage the public policy outreach for the educational ministry of the Roman Catholic Bishops and Archbishops of California. The Director engages in lobbying, government relations, and public affairs in advocating CCC state and federal public policy priorities pertaining to the educational ministry of the Church. Click here for more information.

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May 8, 2020
Vol. 13 No. 17

California Catholic Conference

 En Español

The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.
Pope Francis, Laudato Si', 13.

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