Church voice in state public policy necessary, Bishop Blaire says

Published: 2007-04-02

FAIRFAX, Calif. (CNS) -- While the Catholic Church in California "does not seek to impose our values on anyone," it is nonetheless called "to be a strong moral voice on what we believe is necessary for the well-being of society and the good of the human family," the president of the California Conference of Catholic Bishops told an audience at St. Rita Parish in Fairfax March 27. The vast impact that the church and Catholics have on the state makes it all the more critical they have a voice in California public policies, Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton said, pointing out that the Catholic Church is the largest provider of health care, social services and private education in California, operating 41 hospitals, 31 health care centers, 13 colleges and universities, 115 high schools, 586 elementary schools and 181 social service units, and that Catholics make up 30 percent of the state population, approximately 11 million -- of whom nearly half are Latino. The last of six speakers in a Lenten lecture series at St. Rita based on the 1967 encyclical "Populorum Progressio," Bishop Blaire focused his address on the work of the California Catholic Conference which, he said, "resonates with the teachings" of Pope Paul VI's well-known document.

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