Busy Month for Marquette Bishop

After a recent trip to Rome, the Catholic Diocese of Marquette is one step closer to seeing the U.P.’s legendary “snowshoe priest” enter sainthood.

Marquette Bishop Alexander Sample has just returned from a visit to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

He spoke to the group about the importance of Bishop Frederic Baraga’s sainthood cause.

And the congregation must have liked what it heard — it voted unanimously in favor of Bishop Baraga’s heroic virtue.

Bishop Sample says their recommendation will be forwarded to Pope Benedict XVI, who will decide whether or not Bishop Baraga should have the title ‘Venerable’ as a representation of heroic virtue.

The diocese is still calling on U.P. residents to take action against a recent ruling made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

That ruling requires all employers to offer their employees health coverage that must include sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception.

Bishop Sample says it’s a bad use of the federal government’s power, and he says it needs to be rescinded.

Posted by: Mike Hoey