{"id":3091,"date":"2013-04-30T22:22:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-30T22:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/us-bishops-name-religious-freedom-advocate-as-presidents-spokeswoman\/"},"modified":"2013-04-30T22:22:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T22:22:00","slug":"us-bishops-name-religious-freedom-advocate-as-presidents-spokeswoman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/04\/us-bishops-name-religious-freedom-advocate-as-presidents-spokeswoman\/","title":{"rendered":"US bishops name religious freedom advocate as president’s spokeswoman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Apr 30, 2013 \/ 04:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has hired religious liberty attorney and mother of six Kim Daniels as spokesperson for conference president Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.<\/p>\n

\tThe bishops\u2019 conference said April 29 that it \u201cwelcomes\u201d Daniels, who brings with her experience as director of Catholic Voices USA, a lay Catholic organization that \u201cworks to bring the positive message of the Church across a broad range of issues to the public square.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn recent years, Daniels has emerged as a leader in efforts to engage the culture and spread Catholic teaching in new ways, particularly on crucial topics for the Church in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\tThe announcement of the new position drew praise from her colleagues.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cKim is a gifted and natural communicator whose life is testimony to her love of Christ. Her vocational life as a wife, mother, and religious liberties attorney are joyfully ordered to her love of God,\u201d said Kathryn Jean-Lopez, a columnist, editor and Catholic Voices USA coordinator in an April 29 blog post.<\/p>\n

\tCatholic Voices USA, which was inspired by its U.K. counterpart, seeks to respond to Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s call \u201cfor an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity.\u201d It helps train lay Catholics to speak about their faith in debates, interviews and other public settings.<\/p>\n

\tDaniels also co-founded the Women Speak for Themselves movement with Helen Alvar\u00e9, a George Mason University law professor who has previously represented the U.S. bishops\u2019 Secretariat for Pro-life Activities.<\/p>\n

\tWomen Speak for Themselves helped give a voice to more than 38,000 women who objected to politicians assuming that they supported the controversial HHS mandate that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception \u2013 including some drugs that can cause early abortions \u2013 and sterilization, all of which are recognized as immoral by Catholic teaching.<\/p>\n

\tThe mandate, which has drawn lawsuits from nearly 200 plaintiffs across the country, has been a prominent religious liberty concern for the Church in recent months, along with conscience protection issues involving abortion, attempts to redefine marriage and immigration.<\/p>\n

\tDaniels will now address religious freedom matters and other pressing issues as the first ever spokesperson for the U.S. bishops\u2019 conference president.<\/p>\n

\tThe move follows debate at the U.S. bishops\u2019 spring assembly in June 2012 about how to improve the Church\u2019s communications model in light of rapid changes in media and reporting.<\/p>\n

\tBishops who supported hiring a rapid-response spokesperson said the position is necessary to provide immediate comment on important issues. The current process for issuing an official statement can take one or two days. Other bishops voiced concerns that the position would undermine statements from the hierarchy.<\/p>\n

\tHowever, Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chair of the U.S. bishops\u2019 communications committee, stressed at the meeting that the U.S. bishops cannot meet present and future challenges \u201cwithout embracing a culture of innovation and experimentation in communications.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe U.S. bishops\u2019 conference has its own communications office, headed by Sister Mary Ann Walsh. Daniels\u2019 position as spokeswoman for the conference president is distinct from this office.<\/p>\n

\tA graduate of Princeton University and the University of Chicago Law School, Daniels has six children with her husband, David. They are parishioners at a Bethesda, Md., Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\tAmong her other initiatives, Daniels has served as counsel for the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, a non-profit Christian legal group. She has also worked as an adviser for Alaska governor Sarah Palin.<\/p>\n

\tHer columns have appeared in numerous secular and religious publications, including the Washington Post, Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Agency.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Apr 30, 2013 \/ 04:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has hired religious liberty attorney and mother of six Kim Daniels as spokesperson for conference president Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.<\/p>\n

\tThe bishops&rsqu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nUS bishops name religious freedom advocate as president's spokeswoman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Apr 30, 2013 \/ 04:22 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has hired religious liberty attorney and mother of six Kim Daniels as spokesperson for conference president Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan. 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