Denver Catholic

5 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 9-15, 2015 Cover Story Available at time of estimate only! *Maximum available discount 50% Off 3/1/15 rate card. Call for details. Offer expires 5/20/15. *Based on a 2014 study. OF GREATER DENVER AND NORTHERN COLORADO *Owner operator and proud REGIS UNIVERSITY GRADUATE Karl Scheib says "We hope we can help protect your home and family too!" Over 2 MILLION FEET INSTALLED IN COLORADO! SERVING COLORADO FOR 13 YEARS! FREE In-Home Estimate! METRO 303-816-3555 NORTHERN 970-300-5103 With 35 years experience and over 1 Million satisfied customers nationally, Gutter Helmet ® remains the #1 gutter protection system. M E N T I O N D E N V E R C AT H O L I C F O R B E S T P R I C E S ! Avoid the nasty & dangerous gutter cleaning chore Keeps leaves, needles & debris out year round Installs over new or existing gutters Backed by a triple lifetime 'no clog' warranty Made In America M E N T I O N D E N V E R C AT H O L I C F O R B E S T P R I C E S ! 50 % Labor & Materials! Offer expires 5/20/15 Up To OFF* BUSINESS MANAGER Seeking individuals to serve at Catholic parishes in the Denver - Boulder Metro area and other areas in northern Colorado and the mountain parishes. We have both full and part-time positions available depending upon the need of the hiring parish. Human resource administration, facilities management and risk management experience helpful. Require accounting skills including demonstrated experience in budgeting, payroll, reconciliations, and accounts payable/receivable. Must be highly motivated with an outstanding work ethic and be proficient with Word and Excel, outstanding organizational and communication skills, a flexible work style and a strong service focus. Must be able to work individually, in a team and with committees in support of and at the direction of the Pastor. Must be a fully initiated Catholic in communion of the Catholic Church and intentionally living out the five precepts of the Church (CCC 2041-2043). If interested in exploring these employment opportunities, please send a cover letter which notes if you are English/Spanish bilingual, your resume and desired annual salary range to: barbara.buchanan@archden.org as soon as possible! Colorado Catholic Conference Scoreboard HOUSE BILL 1194 Request fund- ing for a program designed to expand access to long-acting reversible contraception, such as IUDs, for low-income women and teenagers. CCC's position: Opposed History: Killed in Senate committee HOUSE BILL 1135 Make physi- cian-assisted suicide legal. CCC's position: Opposed History: Killed in House committee SENATE BILL 45 Create income tax credits for private and home- school education. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee SENATE BILL 77 Create a par- ents' bill of rights related to the education, health care and mental health care of minors. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee SENATE BILL 268 Enable homi- cide or assault charges on perpetrators of crimes against unborn children from conception until live birth. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee HOUSE BILL 1037 Ensure reli- gious freedom for student groups at colleges. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee HOUSE BILL 1112 Require a phy- sician to protect the life of an infant born alive after a failed abortion. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee HOUSE BILL 1128 Require that abortion clinics are licensed by the state government. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee HOUSE BILL 1162 Ban abortions based on the gender of the baby. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee HOUSE BILL 1171 Restrict a governmental entity from sub- stantially burdening a person's exercise of religion. CCC's position: Supported History: Killed in House committee director for the Colorado Cath- olic Conference. "It was unexpected," Kraska said of the bill's failure. "It gave me faith in the process that people's voices do make a di¤ erence. It wasn't necessarily any one particular thing that got it killed. It was really a combina- tion of things, and a big part of that was people's participation." Votes count and participation makes a di¤ erence, she said, like when parishioners helped to defeat an abortion-rights bill in May 2014. "Ever since Senate Bill 175 (failed to pass), there seems to be more of a com- mitment from people to be involved in the process, even if it's just making a phone call or sending an email," Kraska said. By email, phone or in person, parish- ioners who voiced their opinions made a di¤ erence in the legislative session that ended May 6, she said. However, many Catholic-supported bills failed to pass a divided legislature at the Capitol, where partisanship determined the fate of many pro-life initiatives. Parishioners can also infl uence the leg- islature by taking their faith to the voting booth. "Ultimately, we have no one to blame but ourselves if things happen that we don't like," Kraska said. "We hold the power to a certain extent to vote people in and out of oŸ ce and hold them accountable for how they do vote." Bills defeated by the Democrat-controlled House included tax credits for private school education, free exercise of religion on col- lege campuses, licensing requirements for abortion clinics, and protection for unborn life after a failed abortion. Particularly disappointing was the defeat of Senate Bill 268, the fetal homicide bill that would have recognized unborn babies as victims of certain crimes, Kraska said. The bill was drafted in response to the attack on Michelle Wilkins and the death of her 7-month-old unborn baby in Longmont. It's an issue that should have drawn bipartisan support, but was voted down—a "deeply disappointing " decision, she commented. "The failure to enact a fetal homicide law in Colorado is a grave miscarriage of justice that leaves future unborn victims of crime unrecognized in Colorado law," the Colorado bishops said in a statement after it was defeated 5-6 along party lines May 4. "It is our hope that legislators in Colorado will recognize their error in judgment and seek to rectify this inadequacy in Colorado law as soon as possible. In the meantime, let us continue to pray for all unborn vic- tims of crime and their families." Kraska said she believes many of these bills will return for debate in the next session, but nothing will change at the Capitol unless parishioners make their voices heard. "That's what it's going to take to change some of these things we don't like to see as a Catholic community." « 1 |

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