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Nearly 1,200 Catholics from New York state, including a large contingent of the Knights of Columbus, joined their bishops in Albany for the Catholics at the Capitol public policy day March 19.
At the state Capitol, they lobbied individual legislators and staff on behalf of initiatives of importance to Catholics, heard presentations on faithful citizenship, and prayed together at a Rosary rally led by the bishops and the Knights and at a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Dolan at nearby Immaculate Conception Cathedral, the seat of the Albany Diocese.
“How grateful we are for the inspiration you have given us,” the cardinal said in his homily. “How much we thank God for the witness and testimony you gave in our state’s capital.”
Concelebrants at the Mass, which came at day’s end, included bishops from New York’s eight dioceses. The “home” bishop, Bishop Howard Hubbard, was presiding at his final such Mass as his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis in February. His successor, Bishop-designate Edward Scharfenberger, who will be installed as Bishop of Albany in the same cathedral April 10, also concelebrated.
Catholics met with legislators throughout the day on issues identified as priorities by the bishops: support for pregnant women and oppose abortion expansion; preserve Catholic schools; ensure sufficient funding for programs for vulnerable populations; promote humane treatment for incarcerated individuals; and support equitable labor standards for farmworkers.
This week, an issue that the bishops had enthusiastically endorsed in Albany and in their home dioceses, the passage of an Education Investment Tax Credit, did not receive funding in the state budget passed March 31. (See story on this page.) The bishops had made their position clear to Gov. Cuomo and various legislative leaders in meetings the day before Catholics at the Capitol.
Two Catholic New Yorkers were honored for their efforts on behalf of the Church’s public policy concerns.
James F. Gill, a prominent Manhattan attorney who has served as an informal public policy adviser to the bishops for many years, received the John Cardinal O’Connor Award for Extraordinary Service. An alumnus of Fordham Law School, he has served since 1992 as general counsel to the board of trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and as a board member of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation.
After Cardinal Dolan presented him with the award, Gill shared some humorous asides before turning serious when he spoke about “practicing and espousing our religious beliefs openly and freely, as is the constitutional right of all religions in our country.”
“We have been attacked by individuals, organizations—and recently a number of politicians who have concluded it is politically advantageous to do so,” he said.
Confronting anti-Catholicism in government and in society at large is not a matter for clergy alone. “It is the duty and obligation of all Catholic laypersons to rally to the side of our Church and do everything they can to support, defend and protect her, including bonding with our co-religionists, voting and participating in rallies, marches and ‘write-in’ campaigns,” Gill said. (The full text of Gill’s remarks can be found at cny.org.)
Honored with the J. Alan Davitt Award for Exemplary Service was Barbara Samuells, who founded an organization of grassroots Catholic laity called Catholics for Freedom of Religion in the Rockville Centre Diocese. “Let’s send a clear message to those who think they can take away our rights and tell us how much of our faith we can practice: ‘No, you can’t,’” Ms. Samuells said.
In the early afternoon, the Knights of Columbus conducted a Rosary rally, with decades led by bishops in the convention hall of the Empire State Plaza Convention Center, before a procession to the cathedral.
Carmine Musumeci, state deputy of the Knights of Columbus and a parishioner of the Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Manhattan, told those reciting the Rosary that “the sponsor of today’s event is Jesus, without whom we wouldn’t be here.”
Other participants who attended from the archdiocese included Royal Sams, a longtime parishioner of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan who traveled by bus from the New York Catholic Center that morning.
He told CNY that although the event was well organized he felt the day’s schedule should be extended. He was not able to meet with his local legislators because his appointment conflicted with the Mass.
“It’s a perfect excuse to go to their offices and talk to them about my concerns,” which Sams said included funding for the most vulnerable.
