School students, children in the womb, the poor and immigrants were among the things on the minds and hearts of Catholics who participated in the second Catholics at the Capitol day in Springfield, March 3. More than 1,000 Catholics from around the state filled Immaculate Conception Basilica in Springfield for Mass with Cardinal George before heading over to the capitol building to meet their legislators and make their voices heard on legislation important to Catholics. Archdiocesan Chancellor Jimmy Lago, who is a former director for the Illinois Catholic Conference — the group that organized the day — said it is important for Catholics to be present in Springfield because it is the place where policy is made. “It’s a polyphony down here. There are many voices and ours [Catholics] should be one of them,” Lago said after the Mass. Catholics should be concerned about many issues before the legislature right now, he said. We want to protect our Catholic schools, respect life at all stages and since “the overall state budget is dismal, it’s important to keep caring for the poor,” Lago said. Overall he said the biggest challenge is finding candidates who can “reflect some of the fundamental values that we care about.” Holy Cross Father Steve Newton, president of St. Emily School in Mount Prospect, attended Catholics at the Capitol because he is concerned the state does not know how much financial burden Catholic schools relieve it of. “If they knew about the $2 billion that we [Catholic schools] will cost them if we are not sustained, I wonder what they would do,” Father Newton said. The state pays $10,000 per student and they save that money when a child attends Catholic school, he said. St. Emily’s saves the state $3.5 million on its own. Mary Adduce is part of the prolife committee at St. Linus Parish in Oak Lawn, and attended the March 3 event to speak for the unborn. “If the fundamental right to life is not protected, no other right is,” said Adduce.