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DC Think-tank Finds
Mixed Trends Regarding
American Culture, Family Life
WASHINGTON, DC, July 23, 2014-- (CWN) A new study by the Heritage Foundation finds hopeful trends in some American cultural indicators, but discouraging news on other fronts.

Franciscan University Professor
Uses CCG Book for Class
College Students Literally
Getting the Marriage Conversation Right
STEUBENVILLE, OH, July 22, 2014 -- Dr. Gregory Popcak, Franciscan University Sociology Professor, recently mentioned in a radio interview that he uses Getting the Marriage Conversation Right in his "Christianity and Society" class. He says the effect of the book on his students is profound. “I could see light bulbs go [on] over the kid’s heads and suddenly they understood that [protection of marriage] wasn’t about being mean. This is really about making sure children have a mother and a father and why that’s really important.”

Croatian Parliament
Gives Same-Sex Unions
Benefits of Marriage
ZABREB, CROATIA, July 16, 2014  -- Croatia’s parliament has approved legislation that would extend to same-sex unions the same legal rights as those of marriage, except the right to adopt children.

Pope Says
Economy Must Fight
'Throwaway Culture'
ROME, July 15, 2014 -- Pope Francis had lunch with participants in an international economics seminar on Saturday, saying their efforts to bring the human being to the very center of the economy avoids a “throwaway culture.”

Need to Fight Secularism
“Justice is the fruit of faith
... an evangelized culture
will be a just culture.”
                Pope Francis
LINCOLN, NE., July 15, 2014 -- Despite the recent Hobby Lobby court victory, Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Neb. stressed the need for Catholics to continue to evangelize and fight against the prevailing culture of secularism.

Archbishop Cordileone’s Talk
At the March for Marriage
WASHINGTON, DC, June 19, 2014 "The question is then: does society need an institution that unites children to the mothers and fathers who bring them into the world, or doesn’t it?"

Pro-marriage Culture
Reduces Inequality,
Professor Says
NEW ORLEANS, June 18, 2014 -- Church support for marriage among poor and middle class Americans can play a key role in combating income inequality and providing a good environment for children, a sociologist told the U.S. bishops.

Teaching on Marriage
Matter of Gospel Witness,
Archbishop Says
NEW ORLEANS, June 14, 2014 -- Thanking his brother bishops for their work in supporting marriage around the United States, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone stressed the key role of marriage in spreading the Gospel.

Marriage and Social Justice
SAN FRANCISCO, June 12, 2014  If you knew that Catholics for the Common Good was based in California and you noticed on its website a box with the words “Same-Sex Marriage” crossed out in a red circle—and the words “The wrong issue” above that, you might think this was some kind of “Left Coast” initiative, heavy on Catholic “social justice” and light on life, marriage, and family issues.

Leader's Action Inspires
Parish-Wide Marriage Study
CHULA VISTA CA, June 6, 2014 - When Catholics for the Common Good County Co-Chair Michael Brault approached Father Luke Jauregui, pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Chula Vista, CA about organizing a study program on the defense and promotion of the true meaning of marriage during Lent, he jumped at the opportunity.   At weekend Masses before Ash Wednesday he made an appeal to his parishioners, asking them to join a study group centered on Catholics for the Common Good's book "Getting the Marriage Conversation Right."   A total of 80 parishioners signed up to participate in one of 6 English or Spanish groups that met weekly.  Two of the groups were led by Father Jauregui himself.

Family Cannot Be Done Away With,
Archbishop Tells UN
NEW YORK, May 19, 2014 -- The family has a “unique character” that makes it a , the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, told the United Nations.

The Evolution of a Legal Eagle
The Lawyer who Defended Prop 8
Has Changed His Mind. Why?
SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2014 -- In 2009, California’s Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to one man and woman, was challenged in the US District Court for the Northern District of California before Judge Vaughn Walker. Since the State Attorney-General and the Governor had refused to defend their State’s own constitution, other groups stepped in. They hired attorney Charles Cooper to plead their case.

Bill May Presents Vision for
New Marriage Movement to
National Catholic Leaders
BIRMINGHAM, AL, May 13, 2014 – Catholics for the Common Good (CCGI) President, William B. May, presented a vision for a new, positive marriage movement during an address at the national Catholic Leadership Conference in Birmingham, Alabama on May 2. Remembering the recent canonization of St John Paul II, May said, “We need to follow the advice that he gave to Solidarity in Poland and the approach he used that led to the downfall of communism. ‘Let your work serve human dignity, let it elevate man, let it elevate families, let it elevate whole peoples!’”

Marriage Keynote:
Catholic Witness in a
Nation Divided 2013