News - July 2020 RSS Feed

TALLAHASSEE, FL (July 29, 2020) – Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB) is pleased to announce that Michael T. (“Mike”) Barrett, Esq. has joined the staff as an associate for education. Barrett serves as a professional resource person for the FCCB in education matters; coordinates, monitors and advocates issues relating to government programs affecting Florida Catholic schools, their administrators, faculty, and pupils; and represents Catholic education at the state level in Florida and in coordination with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at the federal level. He represents the FCCB with the Florida Association of Academic Nonpublic Schools (FAANS) and maintains relationships with various school-choice organizations and special needs groups.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops thanks Governor Ron DeSantis for signing into law SB 404, a bill that requires parental consent before a minor has an abortion. This common-sense measure simply holds abortion to the same consent requirements as most every other medical decision involving a child, including simple interventions such as taking an aspirin or getting ears pierced.

On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, upholding a tax-credit scholarship program in Montana. The Montana Supreme Court invalidated the program as a violation of the "Blaine Amendment" against aid to religious schools in its state constitution, because families benefiting include those who choose to send their children to religiously-affiliated schools.

The U.S. Department of Justice has scheduled three executions to take place over a five-day span beginning on July 13. A fourth has been scheduled for the end of August. The four men scheduled to be executed are: Daniel Lee on July 13; Wesley Purkey on July 15; Dustin Honken on July 17; and Keith Nelson on Aug. 28.

Within the span of a month, the Holy Father named two Florida priests to serve as bishops. Bishop-Elect David L.Toups & Bishop-Elect Stephen Parkes

A new episode of Catholics Across the Aisle: Commentary on Public Policy and Civic Life is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher. In this episode, Executive Director Michael Sheedy discusses the 2020 legislative session with Ken Kniepmann, associate for health, and James Herzog, former associate director for education. They cover a variety of topics ranging from health care to Catholic education and schools.