Inside this issue

	Hispanic Heritage Month
	The national observance of Hispanic Heritage Month will be celebrated September 15 through October 15 this year, recognizing the historic and current contributions of members of the Hispanic and Latino communities. "Hispanics, and in particular Hispanic Catholics, are determined to be part of the solution to the current reality: the COVID-19 pandemic, the call for racial justice, and the continuing impact of global climate change," said Bishop Arturo Cepeda, auxiliary bishop of Detroit and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs in a statement. Governor Gavin Newsom also praised California's 15 million Latinos "who help California thrive." Continue Reading
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	Take Action Now
	Now that the legislative session is over, it is the Governor's busy bill signing time. Please take time to send messages to Gov. Newsom on these bills that could have dire impacts on life and faith in California. Support Privacy of Volunteers' Information - A bill which helps protect the privacy of those who volunteer in Catholic and other organizations has made it through both houses of the legislature and is now on the Governor's desk his signature. Tell the Governor AB 2218 exemplifies misplaced compassion - AB 2218 ( Santiago, D - Los Angeles) uses taxpayer dollars to provide transgender-identifying minors and adults with sterilizing transitioning drugs and surgeries. Oppose the Expansion of Abortion Access - While we support the expansion of midwives' scope of practice, as Catholics, we are concerned with the expansion of abortion access this bill secretly brings. CalEITC Tax Credit for ALL Californians - Too often the weak and vulnerable are not heard in the tax debate. AB 1976 would create a more inclusive and equitable system. Death Penalty and Persons with Intellectual Disability - AB 2512 will ensure that individuals with intellectual disabilities are quickly and accurately identified in order to prevent California from sentencing people with intellectual disabilities to death row.
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	Court Rules to Rescind Protected Status for Legal Immigrants
	This week, in Ramos v. Wolf, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rescinded an existing preliminary injunction or pause of the Trump Administration's attempt to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 200,000 individuals living legally in the United States. "The Ninth Circuit's decision continues a heartbreaking path of uncertainty and fear for hundreds of thousands of TPS recipients needlessly put into motion by the Trump Administration," said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington, chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Migration, and Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, in a statement. "As detailed in our extensive work in Central America and the Caribbean, TPS countries such as El Salvador and Haiti cannot adequately handle the return of TPS recipients and their families. The spread of COVID-19 has only made conditions worse. Today's decision will fragment American families, leaving, for example, over 192,000 U.S. citizen children of Salvadoran TPS recipients without their parents and with uncertain futures," the Bishops said. Continue Reading at USCCB.org.
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	San Francisco Catholics Plan Eucharistic Processions to 'Free the Mass'
	San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone has called Catholics to participate in eucharistic processions across the city Sept. 20, which will join together and walk past City Hall before public Masses are said outside St. Mary's Cathedral in part to protest the city's revised limits on public worship. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a memo to priests Sept. 13 that separate processions would begin at St. Anthony, St. Patrick, and Star of the Sea parishes, all in San Francisco, and would converge at United Nations Plaza near San Francisco City Hall. The combined processions will then proceed past City Hall to the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, where San Francisco priests, led by the archbishop, will celebrate multiple outdoor, socially-distanced Masses in both English and Spanish. Continue Reading at Catholic-SF.org.
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	Conference's Guidelines for Political Activity and Policy on Political Materials
	The California Catholic Conference has published its long-standing guidelines on political activity and political materials. The policies conform with those of the USCCB and dioceses throughout the state. The political process in California is highly regulated and subject to a complex and comprehensive set of rules and requirements applicable to just about anyone-candidates, donors, and activists alike-engaging in political activities. Click here for the comprehensive guidelines.
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September 18, 2020
Vol. 13 No. 33

California Catholic Conference

En Español

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