January 2008

Dear Friend,

Peace to you and your family this New Year! This past year brought our world many new joys as well as a few sorrows. Yet, the blessing of our shared faith makes us able to multiply our joys and divide our sorrows. Through the infinite mercy and love of God, may our experiences of the past year and the promise of the New Year bring each of us renewed faith and the hope of peace throughout the world.

The Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC) is the public policy voice for the Catholic Church in Missouri and strives to apply the principles of our faith to government decision-making. With your help, the MCC has always been and will continue to be a leader in insuring that the General Assembly remains focused on their pledge to work for the common good for all Missouri citizens. By educating government policymakers on Catholic social teachings, the MCC believes its efforts this year can be extremely successful. We are optimistic that the MCC will be able to make progress during this next year on several key issues including:

V Limiting the scourge of abortions.

V Denying state funding for human cloning and embryonic stem cell research.

V Improving access to health care and social service programs.

V Alternatives to incarceration that address the harm done to crime victims and society.

V Abolition of the death penalty.

V Continued funding for the Alternatives to Abortion Program.

V Ensuring protection of basic human rights for non-citizens.

Reliable, accurate communication is the key to creating positive change in government. Our mailings—Good News, ACTion-grams, Quick Facts, Viewpoints and How-To’s—are designed to be informative and inspirational, providing you with the information you need to take an active role in YOUR government.

We hope you will financially support our mailings. It costs about $10 per year, per household, to provide Good News alone. If you can afford to give $20, $30, $50, or more, your donation will help to defer this expense so that we can provide this much needed information to those willing to help but not able to contribute financially. It is important that everyone have an opportunity to take an active part in their government. To do so effectively we must remain informed. Your gift will allow the MCC to accomplish this by helping to provide the information needed to make informed decisions so that you and all Missouri’s Catholic citizens can communicate with their elected officials effectively.

Please make your tax-deductible contribution payable to: The Missouri Catholic Conference.

Thank you for your ongoing involvement and your generosity. May all God’s blessings enrich your life throughout the New Year.

Sincerely,
MISSOURI CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

Rev. Mr. Lawrence Weber
Executive Director and General Counsel