News - March 2023 RSS Feed

By Barb Arland-Fye The Catholic Messenger Jeni Van Buer is a longtime early childhood educator, wife and mother, and a member of St. Thomas More Parish in Coralville who knows what moms and their young children need. A proposed bill to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months would fulfill an important need, she believes.

By Lindsay Steele The Catholic Messenger IOWA CITY — A few years ago, a group of St. Patrick Parish members studied Laudato Si’ during Lent. Pope Francis’ encyclical gave the group “a newfound respect for the interconnectedness of everything,” said Diane Platte, the parish’s social action committee chairperson. This Lent, the whole parish is celebrating that interconnectedness through ecological, stewardship, prayer and wellness challenges.

By Lindsay Steele The Catholic Messenger IOWA CITY — A few years ago, a group of St. Patrick Parish members studied Laudato Si’ during Lent. Pope Francis’ encyclical gave the group “a newfound respect for the interconnectedness of everything,” said Diane Platte, the parish’s social action committee chairperson. This Lent, the whole parish is celebrating that interconnectedness through ecological, stewardship, prayer and wellness challenges.

By Barb Arland-Fye The Catholic Messenger COLUMBUS JUNCTION — Bishop Thomas Zinkula met with 15-20 meatpacking plant workers Feb. 27 in a barebones office building to listen to their objections to proposed changes in Iowa’s

By Lindsay Steele The Catholic Messenger Mayra Hernandez is passionate about empowering immigrants and other vulnerable populations as a community organizer for Quad Cities Interfaith, a nonprofit organization funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Hernandez, an immigrant and DACA recipient, said the Catholic Church’s work toward justice “really speaks to me.” Her advocacy work began five years ago as a CCHD intern in the Diocese of Davenport. She applied for the internship hoping to learn more about community organizing and working with immigration issues. While finishing her undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa in Iowa City she served the Center For Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa assisting clients with labor, immigration, housing and other social justice issues.