Senators say social action views influenced by Catholics they admire

Published: 2006-02-14

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two U.S. senators told an audience of several hundred Catholic social ministry workers Feb. 13 how observing Catholics they admire has influenced their views of living out one's beliefs. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, described their view of social service being affected by seeing the work of priests, nuns and lay Catholics. The two senators spoke separately during an annual gathering of Catholic social ministry workers. It is co-sponsored by five agencies of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and 12 national Catholic social service agencies. DeWine told of meeting Oblate Father Tom Hagan, who runs an organization called Hands Together, which operates a variety of assistance programs in Haiti. Reid told brief stories about getting to know four Catholic activists: a nun who has been arrested numerous times for protesting at the Nevada nuclear test site; a civil rights activist who has worked for desegregation and to protect the rights of immigrants; a priest who is currently in a Georgia prison serving a term for protesting U.S. involvement in training military forces for Latin America; and former Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, who was Reid's high school football coach.

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