Vatican ponders priesthood amid abuse research, revelations
The Vatican this week is hosting a three-day symposium on the Catholic priesthood amid renewed public attention on clergy sex abuse scandals and fresh research into the abuses of priestly power that harm both children and adults. Pope Francis opens the symposium Thursday, and no fewer than a half-dozen Vatican cardinals are scheduled to either address the conference or preside over its sessions. The high-level lineup suggests the topic has particular relevance as the Catholic hierarchy grapples with dwindling numbers of priests in Europe and the Americas and calls for a reform of everything from celibacy requirements to the role of women in the church.
news.yahoo.comKnights of Malta warn Vatican reforms risk their sovereignty
A top leader of the Knights of Malta, an ancient aristocratic Catholic order that provides humanitarian aid around the world, warned the group’s members on Wednesday that the Holy See’s latest proposals to reform the order threaten its internationally recognized status as a sovereign state. The Knights’ grand chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, wrote a letter to the Knights’ members saying the Vatican proposals contradict assurances he had been given that Pope Francis doesn’t want to put the order’s sovereignty at risk.
news.yahoo.comParishioners attend mass at Saint Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Buena Park
Parishioners attend Mass on Dec. 29, 2021, at Saint Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Buena Park. Nearly two years after the arrival of the COVID-19 virus, Chicago area Catholic parishes are facing declining attendance, despite the city's churches being fully reopened this holiday season. But for church leaders like the Rev. Manuel Dorantes, pastor of Saint Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, pandemic era hardships provide an opportunity to re-engage with the community, including everything from expanding charitable programs for those in need, to providing COVID vaccines to local residents.
chicagotribune.comCatholic women urge Vatican to sign Europe rights convention
A consortium of Catholic women’s groups is calling on the Holy See to join the Council of Europe and to sign the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that the Vatican should show consistency by expressing its firm commitment to protecting human rights. In a petition marking the Human Rights Day declared by the United Nations, the groups said the Holy See is recognized internationally as a sovereign state and presents itself as a firm promotor of human rights and dignity.
news.yahoo.comRepublican National Committee dismisses call for Ronna McDaniel to resign as chairwoman over outreach to LGBTQ voters
The episode underscores the tension between the national Republican Party and some influential parts of the GOP base — particularly Christian conservatives — on the issue of LGBTQ rights.
washingtonpost.comSupreme Court won't hear case involving transgender rights
The Supreme Court is declining to wade into a case involving transgender rights and leaving in place a lower court decision against a Catholic hospital that wouldn't allow a transgender man to have a hysterectomy there. Three conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch — said they would have heard the case. An appeals court reversed that decision.
news.yahoo.comG-20 Rome live updates Day 2 to focus on climate
The Vatican did not provide its own version of events about that aspect of the meeting between Francis and Biden. But Biden’s comments were enough to cause outcry among U.S. Catholic conservatives, some of whom have argued that the president should be barred from the holy sacrament because of his support of abortion rights.
washingtonpost.comParis's largest maternity hospital struggles to retain staff
At Port-Royal maternity hospital, the largest in Paris, fledgling midwives do not stay long, leaving the hospital with a staffing problem which trickles down to what they say are insufficient numbers. They plan to take their demands to the street with a protest on 7 October.
news.yahoo.comFight at Texas school erupts in gunfire, injuring 4 people
On Wednesday, an 18-year-old student opened fire during a fight at his Dallas-area high school, injuring four people and then fleeing. The suspect was later taken into police custody, where he is expected to be charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
news.yahoo.comKellogg's workers at all US plants go on strike
Workers at all U.S. Kellogg's plants — located in Nebraska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee — went on strike Tuesday over an assortment of disputes regarding pay and benefits. Kellogg's is responsible for some of the most popular cereals in the country, including Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Special K, Rice Krispies, and Corn Flakes.
news.yahoo.comPolice provide update on shooting investigation at Texas high school
Four people are injured after a shooting at Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, police said Wednesday. The school has been cleared, but a person of interest who is considered "armed and dangerous" is still on the loose, police said. Watch part of the press conference here.
news.yahoo.comPepsiCo investing $50 million in Hispanic-owned restaurants and bodegas
Hispanic-owned businesses across the country are getting a much-needed boost after some were shut out from government programs aimed at helping them recover from the pandemic. CBS News correspondent Elise Preston reports from New York.
news.yahoo.comFree Speech Threatened: FBI targets school board meetings
A recent DOJ memorandum from Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for the FBI to monitor threats, intimidation and violence at local school board meetings is, in one respect, drawing praise from opponents. It reveals, they say, that Garland is not the moderate jurist President Obama once nominated to the Supreme Court, but rather an extremist whose agenda threatens bedrock principles of free expression. Doug McKelway explains what’s in Garland’s memo, and why so many are concerned about it.
news.yahoo.comDiving into history: Gallipoli shipwrecks open to public
Turkey’s Gallipoli peninsula, which has long been the graveyard of navies, is now a place where diving enthusiasts can witness history up close in an underwater museum that hosts the remains of 14 British, French and Australian warships that sank during World War I. The wrecks can be seen off the coast of Seddulbahir, the scene of one of the fiercest fighting between Ottoman and Allied forces during the 1915 Gallipoli campaign.
news.yahoo.comRift on Communion policy as US Catholic bishops open meeting
Divisions have flared up among U.S. Catholic bishops as they opened a national meeting highlighted by a sensitive agenda item: a possible rebuke of Catholic politicians, including President Joe Biden, who receive Communion while supporting abortion rights.
The Latest: Metro Manila, outlying provinces go on lockdown
___ROME — Police in Italy have been cracking down on violators of ordinances aimed at reining in what has been weeks of stubbornly high incidences of COVID-19 cases. North Macedonia has recorded more than 126,000 coronavirus cases and more than 3,600 deaths. ___TIRANA — Albania started a mass inoculation campaign Sunday ahead of the summer tourism season after acquiring 192,000 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinovac earlier this week. The church drew media attention after reports it had opened the service to its entire congregation despite a tough coronavirus lockdown and sharply rising infection rate in the Netherlands. ___MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s government is acknowledging that the country’s true death toll from the coronavirus pandemic now stands above 321,000.
Poles hold more protests over abortion; activist released
The poster, she said, celebrated the recent liberalization of the abortion law in Argentina and expressed hope Poland would be next. Mass nationwide protests have recurred repeatedly since then, growing into the largest protest movement in post-communist Poland. The court's judges argued that allowing abortion when there are congenital defects is unconstitutional because the Polish Constitution protects human life. Suchanow and Marta Lempart, the leaders of the Women’s Strike group that has spearheaded street protests against the law, are now looking for inspiration to Argentina. AdIrene Donadio, a leading strategist with International Planned Parenthood Federation, a group promoting reproductive health and choice, said her organization is appalled that such a restrictive law could be imposed in a European Union member state.
Poland: Near-total abortion ban takes effect amid protests
(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW – A near-total ban on abortion has taken effect in Poland and triggered a new round of nationwide protests three months after the constitutional court ruled that the abortion of congenitally damaged fetuses is unconstitutional. Members of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party, which is aligned with the Roman Catholic Church, had sought the new restriction. The protesters are demanding a full liberalization of the abortion law and the resignation of the government, neither of which seem likely in the short term. Some protesters Wednesday covered their faces with green bandanas, which are the symbol of the abortion rights movement in Argentina. The constitutional court is made up mostly of Law and Justice appointees who ruled on a motion brought by lawmakers from the party.
New protests as Polish court seals divisive abortion ruling
People gather in Warsaw, Poland Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021 to protest after the country's top court on Wednesday confirmed its highly divisive ruling that will further tighten the predominantly Catholic nation's strict anti-abortion law. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW – New anti-government protests broke out in Polish cities Wednesday, shortly after the country's top court confirmed its highly divisive ruling that will further tighten the predominantly Catholic nation’s strict anti-abortion law. The ruling right-wing Law and Justice party is widely seen as having undue influence on the judiciary following reforms it passed affecting the way judges are appointed. It was made in response to a motion from over 100 ruling party lawmakers, whose names have not been made public. A prominent lawmaker for Law and Justice, Marek Suski, said work will begin on an entirely new abortion law that will take into account lethal defects.
Bosnian city of Mostar holds 1st local election in 12 years
(AP Photo/Kemal Softic)MOSTAR – MOSTAR, Bosnia-Long-entrenched ethno-nationalists were projected to win the first local election in Bosnia’s southern city of Mostar in 12 years, but early results of Sunday's vote also indicated multiethnic parties and alliances would be a strong part of the future city council. Mostar is split between Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats, who fought fiercely for control over the city during the country’s 1992-95 war. It hasn’t held a local election since 2008, when Bosnia’s constitutional court declared its election rules discriminatory and ordered them changed. Thus, the lawmakers from multiethnic parties appear set to become tiebreakers in all but certain disputes between the dominant Bosniak and Croat nationalists. Prior to the war, ethnically mixed couples made up 10% of all marriages in Mostar, and the city was markedly cosmopolitan.
A more conservative court hears same-sex foster parent case
The case is a big test of religious rights on a more conservative court. Catholic Social Services, which is affiliated with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, says its religious views keep it from certifying same-sex couples as foster parents. Kavanaugh, for his part, suggested Wednesday there should be a way for Catholic Social Services to continue to work with foster families. Even liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed to recognize the court was sympathetic to Catholic Social Services. Catholic Social Services did not, and the city stopped placing children with the agency, which sued.
Younger Catholic school students return to campuses in South Florida
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The Archdiocese of Miami reopened Catholic schools Wednesday for in-person learning for some students. It’s kind of bittersweet,” said Eduardo Flor, who is the principal of St. Mary’s Cathedral School. On Wednesday, Catholic school students in Kindergarten through Second grade returned to the classroom for the first time in months. The Broward County School Board, meanwhile, laid out plans on Tuesday for a staggered return for public school students. “The first full day for all classes for all students at all schools will be Oct. 20,” Runcie said.
Pelosi to church: 'Follow science' on COVID-19 restrictions
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Friday against the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco's criticism of COVID-related restrictions, saying he should “follow science” rather than advocate for fuller in-person gatherings for Mass and worship. “With all due respect to my archbishop, I think we should follow science on this,” Pelosi said. Pelosi noted that faith and science are sometimes seen at odds. “Around here, people say to me, You're a person of faith, why do you believe in science?" “I say, I believe science is an answer to our prayers.
Private school forms caravans to surprise Class of 2020 students at home
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, an all-girls Catholic school near Coral Gables, showed the power of teamwork on Wednesday during the coronavirus pandemic. To honor the school’s Class of 2020, they set up seven caravans to visit the students’ 188 homes. About 70 drivers participated in the surprise fond farewell parades. Olga Martinez, the school’s director of admissions, said the campus at 5525 SW 84th St. has been closed since March 16th. She said the school’s faculty and staff, students and parents participated.
Vatican task force offers help to church on abuse prevention
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican is launching a task force of experts to help Catholic dioceses and religious orders develop guidelines to handle cases of sexual abuse by clergy and tend to survivors. Task force participants said Friday that the aim is to provide legal expertise and help to dioceses and religious orders that simply don’t have the professional resources or have otherwise neglected to comply with the 2011 directive. The Vatican says church leaders must report to police only where civil laws require it. The task force is the latest initiative by the Vatican to underline the global nature of clergy sexual abuse, after the Catholic hierarchy for decades insisted it was exclusively a problem in the English-speaking world. 2 in the Vatican's secretariat of state, an indication of the central importance the Vatican is placing on the initiative.
Barry University announces closures ahead of Hurricane Dorian
Google EarthMIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - Barry University will be closing Florida campuses on Friday ahead of Hurricane Dorian. According to Jeremy Jones, a spokesman for Barry University, one of the largest Catholic universities in the southeast territory, the campuses in Miami-Dade and Orange counties will close at 5 p.m. The closure affects the campus at 11300 NE 2nd Ave., in Miami Shores and the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at 6441 E. Colonial Drive, in Orlando. The campuses in Nassau and Freeport, Bahamas, remained closed on Thursday. Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
Barry University announces closures during Hurricane Dorian
Google EarthMIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - Barry University will be closing Florida campuses on Friday ahead of Hurricane Dorian. According to Jeremy Jones, a spokesman for Barry University, one of the largest Catholic universities in the southeast territory, the campuses in Miami-Dade and Orange counties will close at 5 p.m. The closure affects the campus at 11300 NE 2nd Ave., in Miami Shores and the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at 6441 E. Colonial Drive, in Orlando. The campuses in Nassau and Freeport, Bahamas, remained closed on Thursday. Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.