The history of the North Dakota Catholic Conference

In the summer of 1969, Bishop Hilary Hacker of Bismarck and Bishop Leo Dworschak of Fargo began discussions with several priests and laymen about the possibility of forming a state Catholic conference in North Dakota. After some preliminary discussions, a committee was formed to explore this further, and at their first meeting the committee members unanimously agreed there was a real need to create a North Dakota Catholic Conference. 
 
The committee invited John Merkert, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, to attend their next meeting later that summer to share his knowledge and expertise. A few months later, on Sept. 25, 1969, the North Dakota Catholic Conference incorporated as a non-profit organization in North Dakota and became the 22nd state Catholic conference in the United States. 
 
After its legal formation, the North Dakota Catholic Conference’s board of directors, composed of the two bishops and three laymen, moved to appoint Edwin Becker as the conference’s first executive director. The North Dakota Catholic Conference officially opened its doors on Jan. 5, 1970. The North Dakota Catholic Conference set as its two highest priorities opposing the liberalization of the state’s abortion law and advocating for public funds to support non-public schools. Alas, some things never change.
 
Although they are found in most states, state Catholic conferences are often referred to as one the best-kept secrets of the Church in the United States. A state Catholic conference is an organization established by the bishops of a state to communicate public policy positions important to the Church in that state and to educate Catholics and the broader public on Catholic moral and social teaching and its bearing on these policy issues. State Catholic conferences provide a mechanism for the bishops in a state to act together in a unified and coordinated manner to advocate before government officials for the Church’s position on issues like abortion, school choice, homelessness, human trafficking, social welfare programs, immigration and other important issues. 
 
State Catholic conferences emerged in the United States shortly after the Second Vatican Council as a new form of collaboration among bishops within the same state. While a handful of state Catholic conferences existed before the Council, they began proliferating after its conclusion, so that today 44 states have state Catholic conferences. The inspiration for this new phenomenon is the theology of Vatican II which emphasizes inter-ecclesial collaboration among bishops, lay participation in the Church’s mission and the Church’s engagement with the modern world. 
 
Since the North Dakota Catholic Conference began operating in 1970, it has had only five executive directors. The first executive director, Edwin Becker (1970-1975), was a farmer, businessman and state senator from Willow City. Becker worked to establish the structure and operations of the conference and to educate the Catholic faithful and legislators about this new work of the Catholic Church in North Dakota. Most notably, in 1972, Becker as head of the Conference, led the campaign to defeat a ballot measure that would have legalized abortion up to 20 weeks gestation in a landslide victory garnering 77% of the vote. Sadly, two months later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued Roe v Wade, wiping out the hard-fought victory. 
 
The second executive director, Kitty Englestad (1970-1987), was the first woman state Catholic conference director in the nation. Englestad played an important role helping state legislators and the general public respond to the Roe decision and established standing committees to assist her political advocacy work. Englestad also initiated the Legislative Action Network, an organized network of North Dakotans whom the conference calls upon to lobby state and federal legislators when important bills are under consideration. 
 
The third executive director was Sr. Paula Ringuette (1987-1995). Sister Paula was a member of the Presentation Sisters in Fargo. She expanded the work of the North Dakota Catholic Conference to include more advocacy for policies to help the poor and once said, “If it was not for the Church, sometimes there would be no one to speak for the poor.” Sister Paula also increased the number of committees assisting her advocacy work and put into practice the Church’s love for the unborn child and the poor and marginalized. 
 
The fourth executive director was Christopher Dodson (1995-2023). Dodson moved to Jamestown from his native California with his wife, Rosi, a North Dakotan, and began as the healthcare liaison at the conference in 1994 under Sr. Paula when healthcare reform was being debated across the country. After Sr. Paula retired, Dodson became executive director and the first attorney to lead the North Dakota Catholic Conference. During Dodson’s long tenure, the North Dakota Catholic Conference helped enact conscience protections for adoption agencies, one of the nation’s first Alternatives to Abortion programs, an advance directives law that respects the dignity of human life and individual decision-making, criminalization of assisted suicide and human cloning and protections for religious freedom. Dodson also became a respected leader and strategist on the issue of abortion and worked with others to craft a law criminalizing most abortions in the event Roe was overturned and, after it was, advocated for laws to help pregnant women in need. Dodson’s time also coincided with the creation of the internet, and, under his leadership, the North Dakota Catholic Conference became the first state Catholic conference with a website, a news feed and an e-newsletter. In recognition of his work, in 2023 Pope Francis awarded Dodson with the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (“Cross for the Church and the Pope”), the highest honor a pope can give to a layperson, for his distinguished service to the Church. Under Dodson’s direction, in 2011, the conference hired Stacey Pfliiger as an associate for the conference. Pfliiger, who had previously served as director of North Dakota Right to Life, continues to serve an invaluable administrative role for the conference throughout the year and, during the legislative session, assists with pro-life advocacy work.
 
I currently serve as executive director of the North Dakota Catholic Conference. I am also an attorney, have a doctorate in theology and previously served as a professor and dean at the University of Mary. Christopher Dodson assisted me in my first year as co-director and continues to serve as general counsel and a part-time policy consultant. 
 
Please pray for the North Dakota Catholic Conference to continue to serve faithfully in advocating for policy positions important to the Church in North Dakota now and for many years to come.