OHIO CATHOLIC RURAL LIFE CONFERENCE

Welcome to the home page of the Ohio Catholic Rural Life Conference, a committee of the Catholic Conference of Ohio. It consists of the diocesan rural life directors and up to three appointed/elected members from each diocese.

MISSION STATEMENT

The Ohio Catholic Rural Life Conference exists to preserve, protect and articulate the unique values and contributions of rural Catholics, their parishes, communities, families, farms, businesses, institutions and organizations. We wish to support rural people and their rural culture, namely:

• their sense of stability to a specific geographical place and people;
• their continuity of life-style and relationships;
• the historical memory that connects and nurtures these relationships.

We seek to provide a forum to address and resolve problems affecting the rural Catholic community, i.e., those things which interfere with living the faith and proclaiming the Kingdom of Jesus Christ to the surrounding secular society. These problems include social, political, ecclesiastical, economic, agricultural and environmental issues.

We seek to provide an organizing tool that gathers and unifies our rural Catholic communities in this common mission.

Meditation
Ohio: America's Heartland
Ohio Catholic Rural Life Images (music starts prior to images) (quicktime) (14 minutes)

To download a larger copy of this video CLICK HERE
Ohio Rural Life 2010 Retreat Meditation.m4v

RURAL LIFE RESOURCES

From the following links, you may access the online resources developed by the Ohio Catholic Rural Life Conference and other sources. We hope these will be useful in your ministry "on the land."

• Sustaining Life on the Land is a complete web resource for Catholics wishing to explore the issues facing farm families. Included are the Bishops' Statements, Educational Resources, Prayer Resources, and Supplemental Information. You may download resources individually, or choose the entire packet as one file, suitable for printing.

BISHOPS' STATEMENTS

• Ohio Bishops' Statement of Concerns regarding HB 654: State Immigration Enforcement, September 20, 2006.
  
• Life on the Land: A Call to Reflection and Action on Agriculture in Ohio (PDF)
• Parched Land, Perilous Times: A Call for Prayer and Legislative Actions for Farming Families (PDF)
• Letter of Concern for Farm Families (PDF)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Environmental Justice Program: Caring for God's Creation (Website)
• Year 2000 Immigrant Workers in Ohio Survey Results We Gather and Stand Together Project (PDF)
• Ohio Rural Life Conference Outline: Priorities, Strengths & Successes, Areas for Improvement, Emerging Rural Life Issues, Mission Statement, Goals and Objectives (PDF)
• National Catholic Rural Life Conference (Website)

• "Our Ohio" a consumer-targeted website providing information on various aspects of rural life including where to buy Ohio farm products locally, gardening, Ohio farm history, cooking and farm-related education.