As a robust chorus of more than 700 voices chanted “Si se puede,” a Spanish call to action meaning “Yes we can,” a brilliant banner proclaiming support for family life rose over the crowd gathered on the east lawn of Capitol Park in Sacramento.

The noontime rally of Catholics from a variety of cultures who had traveled from across the state to speak with one passionate voice for justice was just one unifying moment during the Apr. 24 Catholic Lobby Day.

Delegations from San Diego to Redding came together for the event sponsored by the California Catholic Conference, public policy office of the state’s Catholic bishops. The event attracted the largest number of participants in its three-year history.

Keynote speaker Tom Chabolla, secretariat director for pastoral and community services and director of the office of justice and peace for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, started off the day at the Crest Theater with a call to action. He reminded participants of the power of organized people with a vision for social justice.

“As we stand in our legislators’ offices today, remember Jesus has no hands but yours,” he said. “We need to be God’s voice; we need to be Jesus’ presence in the Capitol today.”

Chabolla challenged those gathered for advocacy to share with legislators the traditions of their Catholic faith.

“We’re here as part of the Catholic Church in the state of California, which cares about people being affected by policies debated in the Legislature today,” he said. “Most important, we bring our experiences of working in our neighborhoods, of hearing the struggles of working families who are trying to make living wages.”

Following an issues orientation, participants marched to the Capitol for the noontime rally and presentations by legislators who are sponsoring bills selected by the Conference for priority attention.

About 150 people who made up the delegation from the Diocese of Sacramento voiced strong support for one of the Conference’s six priority bills, an Assembly Constitutional Amendment by Assemblymen Phil Wyman (R-Tehachiapi) and Bill Campbell (R-Orange).

ACA 5 would place into law the mandate that parents or legal guardians receive notice at least 48 hours before their minor daughter undergoes an abortion. The measure was expected to be heard in the Assembly Health Committee May 1.

Christine Cipperly, diocesan respect life coordinator, and other advocates visited the office of Senator Maurice Johannassen (R-Redding) to say that passage of the bill is of critical importance for the safely of young women and for the preservation of communication within families.

“In order to be good parents, we need to know what’s going on with our children. To have the state give our children the message that we don’t need to know is just not right,” Cipperly said.

Gloria Soto, diocesan family life coordinator, during a session at the Crest with staff of Assemblymembers Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), Richard Dickerson (R-Redding) and Helen Thomson (D-Davis), spoke about the need for the parental consent measure.

“I have heard the cry from many people (suffering from abortion),” she said. “I have seen families that have lost a baby. It’s not only the mother who suffers the loss but grandparents, brothers, sisters—the whole community suffers.”

Evelyn Coloma, a member of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Sacramento, also voiced her support for the measure during a Capitol visit.

“If you give a child an aspirin, the school needs a letter from parents, but if that child is taken to have an abortion, you’re not even notified,” Coloma said in comments to Dennis Hall, legislative director for Assemblywoman Wilma Chan (D-Oakland).

Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the Conference, told Catholic advocates that another priority measure, Assembly Bill 1512 by Assemblywoman Dion Aroner (D-Berkeley), would prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on any person who is mentally retarded.

He told participants their job was “to create a stir” to move AB 1512 from the Assembly Appropriations Committee to a vote by the entire Assembly.

“Of California’s 600 people on death row, 35 are mentally retarded,” Dolejsi noted. “The time is now for us to have a sign that compassion and mercy temper justice and that there is a limit to our need to use the death penalty.”

Members of a delegation from St. James Parish in Davis, including Cipperly, told legislators in Capitol visits and during testimony at the Crest about growing grassroots support for legislation to abolish the death penalty. Parishioners have developed a statement calling for an end to capital punishment which they are circulating to the broader Davis community.

“We feel very strongly that in the U.S. there is no reason to impose the death penalty on anyone...and certainly to impose it on people who are mentally retarded seems a very cruel kind of punishment,” Cipperly said.

Another priority bill endorsed by the Conference, AB 106 by Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), would give a tax reduction and wage supplement for low and moderate income working families. During the issues orientation, Rick Mockler, executive director of Catholic Charities of California, said that 28 percent of the state’s working families live in poverty at a time when economic growth is generating tax cuts to everyone except those in most need.

“The earned income tax credit supports human dignity. California is one of the most wealthy states in the nation. If we could ever afford this bill, it is now,” he said.

Another bill by Cedillo, AB 60, that would eliminate the requirement to provide a social security number prior to receiving a driver’s license or identification card in California, was a pressing topic for hundreds of Latino Catholics at Lobby Day.

Supporters such as Raul Soto, a community activist and member of St. Anne Parish in Sacramento, said the undocumented, who are expected to go to work and not rely on public assistance, need to be able to buy and drive a car.

“The state of California is allowing us to pay taxes but denying us a privilege we have earned,” he said.

Soto, a former driver’s license examiner, said that while passage of the measure is in the best interest of public safety it goes beyond that. “For human dignity and human respect, people should have a right to their own identification,” he added.

Another bill receiving attention from the Sacramento and other diocesan delegations was SB 700 by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach). It would provide that female prisoners who have not had a release date set are no longer prohibited from receiving visits by their children under age 21 or restricted from visitation rights with the female relative who accompanies the children.

SB 700 was a priority for several delegates from the Sacramento Diocesan Women’s Commission. Commission member Jessie Shields said that maintaining family relationships helps female prisoners successfully adapt to society after they are released.

“This is a family issue,” she said. “Many women are in jail because of domestic violence or retaliating against it, and at the same time (current policy) is not letting a relationship with their children continue.”

Sacramento Bishop William K. Weigand, one of six California bishops who attended Lobby Day, praised the event, noting it was an opportunity to make “our presence and convictions better known in the state Capitol.”

“To have nearly a thousand Catholics marching from the Crest Theater to the Capitol— singing ‘Somos el cuerpo de Cristo,’ a Spanish phrase meaning ‘We are the Body of Christ’—including farm workers, lawyers, priests, religious and seminarians, people from all walks of life, was wonderful,” he said.

Other bishops attending the event were Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Garcia of Sacramento, Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles, Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of Orange and Bishop Sylvester Ryan of Monterey. Bishop Ryan is president of the state’s bishops’ conference.

The bishops were invited to attend meetings with the state Assembly Democratic and Republican Latino Caucuses. Assemblymembers who attended the meetings, sponsored by the Conference, were Marco Firebaugh (D-East Los Angeles), Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach) and Robert Pacheco (R-Walnut), who is chairman of the Republican Latino Caucus. The meetings allowed the bishops and legislators to come together in discussion of priority legislative issues.

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