Reflecting on his 10 years and counting as executive director and general counsel of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, Jason Adkins recalled his initial vision: education, communication and mobilization.
It was not sufficient to have “Church diplomats” go to the Capitol on behalf of bishops and tell legislators, “you need to do these things,” he said. The laity needed to be encouraged as faithful citizens and given concrete opportunities to join their voices to the voices of the bishops, he said. The laity also needed some training in the best ways to engage in the public policy process, he said.
Jason Adkins
In an interview debuting at 9 p.m. July 30 on the “Practicing Catholic” radio program on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, Adkins recalls some of the MCC’s strategies and successes, and provides a look ahead. Asked by host Patrick Conley what key things he accomplished in the past 10 years, Adkins listed two initiatives that he said have been very successful:
- The voice of Catholics at the Legislature has become louder and clearer in a principled and nonpartisan way, Adkins said. “And that’s happened because of things such as the growth of the Catholic Advocacy Network,” he said. “Tens of thousands of Catholics are receiving our messages and communications and then, with the click of the mouse, communicating with their legislators on key issues.”
- Concrete opportunities to influence others have been created in the public square, particularly in three Catholics at the Capitol events that have been “phenomenal,” Adkins said. The events provide an opportunity for Catholic constituents to talk with lawmakers about issues of concern, and they help break down barriers between legislators and their constituents, Adkins said.
“We show them how to do it and let them know it can be done,” he said. “And people walk away from that thinking, ‘Oh, wow, I never knew it was this easy.’”
Adkins said “we have to be grounded in the Lord because the work is ultimately about him.”
“We are missionary disciples,” he said. “We’re not primarily lobbyists. We’re primarily missionaries, and that’s how you have to think of the work — the legislative work and the political work is the framework or the medium by which we advance the Gospel.”
Considering the work “kind of a pre-evangelization,” Atkins said, “the seed has to fall on fertile soil. It can’t fall on rocky ground. And so, the legislative work that we do helps till the soil.”
Going forward, Adkins named two important areas of focus.
First will be doing a better job as a Church of cultivating laypeople for service in public office. “I can go down to the Capitol to speak ‘til I’m blue in the face about key issues,” he said. “But I need legislators and public officials who are sympathetic to hearing the message.”
People need to understand that politics is a noble vocation, Adkins said. “It is one of the highest forms of charity because it serves the common good. And we need to encourage and train to the extent we can, Catholics at all levels to serve in public life. We need priests asking laypeople and tapping people and saying, ‘you would make a good public official.’”
Second is supporting families. “We need to help people, incentivize them to get married, have children and stay together,” he said. It’s an economic necessity, but it’s also an important necessity from the standpoint of the social fabric of our society, he said.
To learn more about the MCC and ways to get involved, visit mncatholic.org.
To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show, which also will air at 1 p.m. July 31 and 2 p.m. Aug. 1.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with dentist James Koller, a Catholic Spirit, Leading with Faith honoree who describes integrating faith life into work life, and Deacon Joe Michalak, who previews his upcoming Cuppa Joe presentation, “St. Joseph: Savior of the Savior.”
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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