| Connecticut Catholic Conference Director is Named |
| Tuesday, 04 December 2007 06:31 | |||||
He intends to change that, especially because the office, the Connecticut Catholic Conference, is the official public policy and advocacy voice of the Catholic Church in the state. I believe that if you asked a very staunch Catholic, coming out of Mass on Sunday, Tell me about the Catholic Conference, they wouldnt know about it; or if they did know, they really couldnt tell you its role or function, said Mr. Culhane, of Middlebury, one week into his new job after a 30-plus- year career in labor relations. So I think thats a tremendous issue [for] the Conference, to get the word out in terms of what the Conference does and, in the process, hopefully, elicit the help and support of the Catholic population of Connecticut in the positions that it takes, he added. Catholics, making up more than one-third of the population of the state, could make for a lot of support for the interests of the Church. There are four Catholic dioceses in Connecticut: the Archdiocese of Hartford and dioceses of Norwich and Bridgeport, all Latin Rite; and the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford. The Connecticut Catholic Conference speaks for the Catholic bishops in Connecticut. In that regard, the Conference works as an intermediary between the states Catholics and their lawmakers. Mr. Culhane is responsible for public policy advocacy as it pertains to Catholic social teaching. Michael Culhane will no doubt lead the way in effectively interfacing between Connecticuts hundreds of thousands of Catholics and their political representatives in state government, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell said in announcing Mr. Culhanes appointment as executive director. His extensive experience as a mediator will serve us well in conveying and fostering an understanding of all those truths fundamental to our following of the Gospel in contemporary society, the Archbishop added. Mr. Culhane, 59, has a relaxed style of conversation that likely is the same at a coffee counter as in a boardroom. He had a 30-year career as an arbitrator in labor relations, and he hopes that that experience will serve him well in his new position. I have been told I was very successful at what I do as an arbitrator because of my demeanor and my noncombative approach to issues, he said. My wife tells me all the time that I have a very good disposition. And, hopefully, my general approach to issues will serve the Conference well. Mr. Culhane added that he now is working in a far more public arena. I think the big difference, going forward, is that arbitration is a private process, and tough issues are dealt with in a small realm, if you will, where the issues before the General Assembly, obviously, are very public, he said. Currently, the Connecticut Catholic Conference is identifying issues that it likely will face in the next legislative session, which begins in February. Mr. Culhane said the art of compromise will come into play with some of them. I think with issues before the General Assembly, compromise is an important element of the process. But I believe that there are some issues dealing with the social teachings of the Church that cant be compromised, he explained. The Conference enunciates policy positions on Connecticut governmental programs, legislation and policies that affect the interests of the Church and the common good. It particularly works to identify the needs of the states citizens in such areas as civil rights, health, education, welfare, morality and human rights. Last year, for example, the Connecticut Catholic Conference opposed proposed legislation related to same-sex marriage, an emergency contraception law and a proposed extension of the statute of limitations concerning sexual abuse of children; and it supported legislation that made it easier for towns to establish and administer textbook loan programs, and efforts to abolish the death penalty, to name a few. The Connecticut Catholic Conference also operates a grassroots action center, the Connecticut Catholic Advocacy Network, that people can join. Primarily an online tool, the network sends alerts to its members about state and federal programs, policies and legislation related to their topics of interest, and makes it easy for them to e-mail their elected federal and state officials. Mr. Culhane has long been involved with the Church in Connecticut. He currently is chairman of the board of trustees of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Hartford, a position he also held in the mid-1990s, and is on the boards of the archdiocesan Office of Urban Affairs and St. Marys Hospital Foundation. He has been, since 1976, an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Haven, where he has taught labor relations courses at the Graduate School of Business. He received a bachelors degree from Loyola College in Montreal and a masters degree in American studies from Fairfield University. Mr. Culhane received the 2007 Family Champion of the Year Award from the Connecticut Association of Family Service Agencies. He has been married for 29 years to his wife, Mary, and they have a son who is a junior at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.
|
