By Corbin Hubbell
Social Media Coordinator
The Nebraska Catholic Conference’s 12th annual “Catholics at the Capitol” drew Catholic faithful from across Nebraska to Lincoln March 4, gathering at St. Mary Church downtown for a day of prayer, education and direct legislative engagement.
The event covered a broad range of policy topics — ethics in technology and social media, education and school choice, and the dignity of every human person.
Megan Kruse, communications and outreach specialist at the Nebraska Catholic Conference (NCC), described the event as an entry point for Catholics who have never engaged in the political process.
“It’s for people who maybe don’t know how to engage or have never engaged, or maybe they’ve wanted to get involved, but they just never have,” Kruse said. “It’s a duty, it’s a privilege that we have as Catholics, to be able to engage in public policy and especially promote Catholic morals for the good of all the common people.”
Attorney General Mike Hilgers joined the panel related to ethics and social media, speaking strongly about the dangers of a popular online video game. The attorney general recently filed a major consumer protection and child safety lawsuit against Roblox Corporation, alleging the company has knowingly marketed itself as a safe, child-friendly platform while exposing millions of children to sexual predators, violent content and illegal activity. The suit alleges Roblox allows direct contact between minors and adult predators through private messaging and voice chat, permits sexually explicit and age-inappropriate content accessible to children as young as 6, and offers parental controls that are difficult to use and easy to bypass. The action follows similar lawsuits Hilgers has brought against Meta and TikTok.
Hilgers, before leaving the panel to work on this same lawsuit said, “Every single person in this room, I believe, has a moral obligation to help protect your kids, your grandkids, your nieces, your nephews, people in your school and community environment and the state,” he said.
Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt of Grand Island finished the panel while speaking with Sen. Carolyn Bosn and Sen. Tanya Storer.
“We have so many things you have to pay attention to in the legislature, from transportation and taxes and everything else,” the bishop said. “But who’s concerned about what deeply affects the human person? These two senators are, and I want to thank them so much.”
The second panel focused on school choice, and featured Governor Jim Pillen, Archbishop Michael McGovern of Omaha, and Tom Venzor, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference. Venzor connected the policy debate to the personal stories in the room.
“When it comes to school choice, we each have a story,” he said. “Every one of us has a story about how we did or did not get to the school that was best for us, or maybe how our children got to the school that was best for them, or did not get to the school that was best for them.”
Archbishop Michael McGovern shared his personal education story, speaking on the sacrifices his own family had to make to ensure a quality education for him, and his nine siblings.
“Your education is often your future,” he said. “A good education — lots of doors open.”
Governor Pillen echoed that sentiment with a call to parental action: “We, the parents — it’s really important we stand up and do what’s best for our children.”
Lauren Gage, director of marketing and outreach for Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, informed attendees about LB1071, which would move scholarship funding for K–12 students into Nebraska’s mainline budget, as well as a newly enacted federal school choice tax credit set to take effect in January 2027.
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Nebraska Catholic Conference photos by Natalie Bender
“Congressman Adrian Smith and most of our federal delegation worked really hard to get a new federal school choice tax credit in federal law,” Gage said. “It can’t be repealed by referendum, it is in the tax code permanently, and there is no cap, so we can raise as much money for scholarships as we are able to.”
Gage noted that starting Jan. 1, 2027, Nebraskans will be able to direct $1,700 of their federal income tax liability toward scholarships for Nebraska children.
The morning’s final panel addressed a broad range of life and dignity legislation. The panel consisted of Marion Miner, associate director of pro-life and family policy at NCC; Katie Patrick, executive director at Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska, and State Senator Christy Armendariz. The three discussed bills on abortion safety protocols, informed consent requirements for screening domestic violence and trafficking victims, expanded postpartum care for high-risk mothers on Medicaid, and new funding streams for non-profits that serve survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.
After lunch, attendees made the short walk from St. Mary Church to the Nebraska State Capitol, where they met with state senators in their offices and observed live legislative debate from the balcony. The group then returned to St. Mary, where the day closed with Mass celebrated by Father Nicholas Kipper, pastor of St. Teresa Parish in Lincoln.
For many attendees, Catholics at the Capitol has become an annual pilgrimage. Bernadette Esposito, a member of the Nebraska Catholic Conference Board, said she has attended four or five times and looks forward to it each year.
“It’s wonderful and very affirming to have so many people like-minded but who want to make a difference,” she said. “And sometimes there are major roadblocks — different ideologies, different senators that do not agree with positions — and it’s also very affirming to have tools, to be given facts and information and approaches that might be helpful in dealing with your own senator.”
