Catholic News
- Pope Francis calls for renewed international attention to workers' rights (CWN)
As the world emerges from the pandemic, Pope Francis called on the international community to turn its attention to the common good, workers’ rights, and the inclusion of marginalized peoples in international decision-making processes. - US bishops hold tense 2-hour discussion on whether to draft document on the Holy Eucharist (CWN)
Following routine presentations and discussions, the bishops of the United States held a tense virtual public discussion on June 17 on the question of whether to “approve the request of the Committee on Doctrine to proceed with the drafting of a formal statement on the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.” - Supreme Court backs Philadelphia archdiocese in foster-care case (CBS)
In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the city of Philadelphia should not require Catholic Social Services to provide foster-care referrals for same-sex couples. The city had cut off funding for the archdiocesan agency, citing an anti-discrimination rule. The archdiocese contested the decision, arguing successfully that the policy would force the agency to violate its own religious principles. The Supreme Court decision creates a precedent for other Church-related agencies have been pressed to accommodate homosexual demands. Some Catholic agencies have chosen to discontinue foster-care or adoption services rather than challenge those demands. - Myanmar soldiers seize 7 priests, torch a village (AsiaNews)
The actions took place in Chin State (map), where the military “has no mercy,” according to a local catechist. - US Department of Education says Title IX bans LGBT discrimination (Religion Clause)
The 1972 federal law forbids federally-funded educational institutions from discriminating on the basis of sex. “Educational institutions that are controlled by a religious organization are exempt from Title IX to the extent that compliance would not be consistent with the organization’s religious tenets,” the department said in a footnote to its new interpretation of the law. - Boris Johnson and Britain are having their own 'Catholic crisis' (RNS)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was baptized as a Catholic, but in his youth became an Anglican. Following two civil (and thus sacramentally invalid) marriages, he wed Carrie Symonds in Westminster Cathedral on May 29. “It was only after Johnson and Symonds were married that the Diocese of Westminster declared that both were baptized Catholics and parishioners of the cathedral,” according to the report. “For the very first time, it seemed, the UK has a Catholic prime minister.” - Hundreds at Catholic health network demand Church apologize for residential schools (CBC News)
The demand follows the recent discovery of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. (An anthropology professor who has conducted research on the schools has offered historical context on the deaths.) - 'Eucharistic coherence' document will not include national norms on reception of Communion, bishops' doctrine chairman says (CWN)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops began its annual spring meeting on June 16 with a tense discussion of whether every bishop who wishes to do so should be given time to speak the following day on a proposed document on Eucharistic coherence. - Vatican Secretary of State denounces indifference to refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea (CWN)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin warned that indifference to refugees making the journey across the Mediterranean Sea presages the “shipwreck of civilization.” - Italian court backs Vatican on case against financial-scandal figure (AP)
An Italian court has rejected a bid to quash an arrest warrant for Gianluigi Torzi, the shadowy financier who has been accused by the Vatican of embezzling funds in a controversial London real-estate deal. The court found that Vatican prosecutors have solid evidence to back the charges against Torzi, showing his dealings took “the form of a true and proper fraud.” Torzi was arrested in London on the basis of the arrest warrant, and is now free on bail as he awaits extradition hearings. The Italian court’s ruling contrasts dramatically with a March decision by an English judge, who said that the evidence submitted by Vatican prosecutors, who had obtained a freeze on Torzi’s financial assets, was marred by “non-disclosures and misrepresentations so appalling” that he lifted the freeze. - Cardinal Marx: 'I am moved by the Pope's words, I accept his decision' (Vatican News)
“I was not counting on such a quick reaction, nor was I expecting the decision that I should continue in my service,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich said after Pope Francis rejected his offer of resignation. The Pope’s decision, he added, “represents a great challenge for me,” and a return “to the agenda of ‘yesterday’ cannot be the way forward, neither for me nor for the archdiocese.” - Colorado baker violated state law by declining to bake gender transition cake, court rules (Religion Clause)
In a 7-2 decision in 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who declined to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Weeks later, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission determined that Philips likely discriminated against a transgender person when he declined to bake a cake celebrating “gender transition surgery.” Homosexual activists have made Philips a special target, bringing numerous complaints against him. - French archdiocese expels Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (National Catholic Register)
Founded in 1988, the priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter are devoted to the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass. - Pontifical academy issues document on pandemic and persons with disabilities (Pontifical Academy for Life)
“Friendship with persons with disabilities: the beginning of a new world—Learning from Experiences of Persons with Disabilities and Their Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic” is the fourth note issued by the Pontifical Academy for Life during the pandemic. The document concludes, “Let us resolve and take steps during and after this pandemic to ensure that, after the mud of the devastation of this pandemic has been strained away, we will build a better world—a world in which persons with disabilities are always valued, befriended, and loved.” - 4-year 'Share the Journey' campaign concludes with Vatican press conference (Vatican News)
The campaign, organized by Caritas Internationalis (the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies) and launched by Pope Francis, sought to raise awareness of the plight of migrants and refugees. - Intruder breaks into Pittsburgh-area parish, steals money (WPXI-TV)
St. Joseph Church is part of St. Francis of Assisi Parish and is located in Cabot, PA. Since May 2020, there have been over six dozen acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction at parishes in the United States. - 4th Indian bishop dies of Covid (AsiaNews)
In addition to the four bishops, 283 priests and 252 nuns in India have succumbed to the virus. - Did Vatican decline Pope-Biden meeting? (CWN)
US President Joe Biden sought to meet with Pope Francis on June 15, but the Vatican turned down the request, according to a report from Catholic News Agency (CNA). - Vatican sets term limits for leaders of lay associations (CWN)
The dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life has released a canonical decree that limits the terms of leaders of lay associations. - More...