Tuesday will be a big day for politically attuned Catholics at the Colorado Capitol. Denver Bishop Jorge Rodriguez will be making the rounds. He will lead the morning prayer in the state Senate at 9 a.m. and accept a proclamation from Gov. John Hickenlooper declaring it Catholic Schools Week across Colorado.

Kevin Kijewski, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Denver, will lead a delegation that includes Catholic school students, the Office of Catholic Schools and the National Catholic Educational Association.

The Office of Catholic Schools is set to release its “Worthy of the Investment” report on the need to support Catholic education financially. The report is a companion to an archdiocese report called “Worthy of the Name.” School choice is a hot issue at the Capitol, especially for House Republicans.  The Cardinal Newman Society, which promotes Catholic education, said on its website last September:

Catholic families are in the breach. Despite impassioned efforts for more than half a century to secure Catholics’ fair share of education spending, and despite strong public support, school choice programs are scattered across several states and provide insufficient help to middle-class families.

Moreover, in an age when Catholic trust of government officials has been bruised and beaten by increasing violations of religious freedom, many Catholics are rightfully nervous about school choice. Can Catholic schools ever take public aid without risking attacks on their Catholic identity?

The Archdiocese of Denver said Rodriguez is “a Mexican-born priest who expresses a deep appreciation and love for the growing Hispanic Catholic community in this archdiocese.”

He has been the pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton since 2014.