Feb. 26: Call-in Day for Dreamers

Diocese of Rockford joins USCCB in National Effort

ROCKFORD--The Diocese of Rockford joins with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ president, vice president, and migration chair in encouraging Catholics to join in a National Call-in Day for Dreamers on Feb. 26. Below is the press release issued by the USCCB regarding this event. View a related video at https://youtu.be/z77N6mEWN4o.

USCCB President, Vice President, and Migration Chair Announce National Call-in Day for Dreamers for Feb. 26

WASHINGTON—Late last week, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes needed to move forward with debate on legislation to provide relief to Dreamers. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president; Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB vice president; and Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, together issued the following statement:
"We are deeply disappointed that the Senate was not able to come together in a bipartisan manner to secure legislative protection for the Dreamers. With the March 5 deadline looming, we ask once again that Members of Congress show the leadership necessary to find a just and humane solution for these young people, who daily face mounting anxiety and uncertainty.
"We are also announcing a National Catholic Call-In Day to Protect Dreamers. This coming weekend, we will be asking the faithful across the nation to call their Members of Congress next Monday, Feb. 26, to protect Dreamers from deportation, to provide them a path to citizenship, and to avoid any damage to existing protections for families and unaccompanied minors in the process.
"Our faith compels us to stand with the vulnerable, including our immigrant brothers and sisters. We have done so continually, but we must show our support and solidarity now in a special way. Now is the time for action."

Galena sees first Catholics in northwest Illinois

As Illinois celebrates its bicentennial this year, The Observer will present occasional features from Rockford Diocese history books.

In 1820, just two years after Illinois was made a state, rich lead mines in northern Illinois gave rise to the town of Galena, “the cradle of organized Catholicity in the Diocese of Rockford.” Pioneers in the area were Irish Catholic immigrants. Bishop Joseph Rosati, D.D., had barely settled in St. Louis when the Catholics of Galena, also called Fever River, sent a letter dated April 29, 1827.  In the phrasing and spelling of an older English, it read in part, “The solicitude of the numerous body of Catholics assembled in this section of country inspires them with a confident hope that their numbers and their zeal for our holy Religion will entitle them to your favorable notice.
“Their means, to support a Priest, are ample, their dispositions are, certainly, corresponding with their means, and they rely with confidence, that, considering these two essential requisites, they are entitled to that favourable notice.”
It was signed by a committee of Patrick Walsh, Patrick Hogan, James Foley, John Foley and Michael Byrne, several names still common in the diocese.
After the exchange of several letters, in September, 1830, Father Joseph Lutz was sent to Galena and Prairie du Chien, Wis. When Father Lutz came to the territory that is now the Rockford Diocese, he was sent as a missionary.
The bishop of St. Louis sent the first regular pastor, Father John McMahon, to Galena on Aug. 22, 1832.
Source: 1924 Complete History Book of the Diocese of Rockford

Drawing of Galena in the19th Century.

Feb. 1-23: Check out FORMED

(Observer photo)

DIOCESE--FORMED is an online platform that provides access to Catholic audio talks, movies, ebooks, and video-based studies from trusted providers like the Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, Catholic Answers, the Knights of Columbus, St. Paul Center, Sophia Press and more.
All parishes in the Diocese of Rockford have free access to formed.org through Feb. 23.
For this free trial, simply go to www.formed.org and click LOGIN. Then enter email rockford@formed.org and password formed#18 in the spaces shown above. Click submit and look around.
Look for Catholic faith features in English and Spanish.

Feb. 15: Creighton fertility discussion in Rockford

(Photo courtesy https://www.creightonmodel.com)

ROCKFORD--OSF Institute for Women’s Health and Fertility will offer an introductory session to the Creighton Model Charting System The system is a means to help married couples avoid or achieve pregnancy, or help married or single women monitor their gynecological health naturally and effectively.
Creighton Model is a charting system with a user effectiveness rate of 96.8 percent. As a women learns to chart her cycle, NaPro Technology provides medical and surgical treatments to address reproductive and gynecologic abnormalities. These treatments don’t just mask abnormalities, the goal is to eliminate them completely.
As a Catholic health care system, OSF believes in offering alternatives to contraception and artificial reproductive technologies that are safe, effective and consistent with their commitment to the sanctity of life.
There is no cost to attend the session on Feb. 15 in the OSF St. Anthony Medical Center Foundation Room at 5666 E. State St., but registration is requested. (The session will be repeated March 15.)
Info: Mary O’Grady, RN, CFCP, 815/332-3015, mary.e.o’grady@osfhealthcare.org;  osfhealthcare.org/fertility