1. The blue wall of opposition to K-12 parental choice, Mothers and fathers should have education freedom for their children, By Peter Murphy, The Washington Times, June 1, 2023, Pg. B4, Opinion
Education freedom for parents of school-aged children is on the march. Yet millions of elementary and secondary school students remain without adequate schools or any parental choice opportunities. Congress can and should remedy this injustice.
In the last year, eight states have adopted laws to provide parental choice to nearly all families with school-age children to enroll in almost any school, including independent and religious schools. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia provide tax credit scholarship, voucher or education savings account programs, which serve some 700,000 students.
Despite this positive trend in K-12 education freedom, which accelerated during the pandemic when teachers unions forced prolonged closing of district-operated schools, millions of children across the nation remain shut out of any opportunity to attend a safer and better school more conducive to and respectful of their parents’ values and beliefs.
There are 19 states with more than 21 million K-12 district public school students — nearly 46% of national enrollment — that continue to deny education freedom much beyond the government-assigned school based on where students live.
Congress has an opportunity to transcend opposition in these 19 states and directly empower parents to make the best education decisions for their own children, thereby overcoming the iron grip of the teachers unions on education policymaking.
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Passing the Educational Choice for Children Act would dismantle the proverbial blue wall against school choice, akin to the Berlin Wall of yesteryear, and thereby expand education freedom to parents and students nationwide.
Peter Murphy is senior adviser to the Invest in Education Coalition.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/may/31/blue-wall-of-opposition-to-k-12-parental-choice/
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2. Newark cardinal asks Americans to voluntarily forgo right to guns, By John Lavenburg, Crux, June 1, 2023
Amid a mounting debate in America over the constitutionality of gun control, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark has entered the fray with a different argument: That people should voluntarily forgo their Second Amendment rights for the betterment of society.
“I honestly believe it is the best thing we can do to change the culture of violence that threatens us today,” Tobin said.
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https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2023/06/newark-cardinal-asks-americans-to-voluntarily-forgo-right-to-guns
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3. Pope’s pick in Argentina delights slum priests, alarms conservatives, By Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux, June 1, 2023
Appointed as the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires by Pope Francis on May 26, Jorge García Cuerva has a vast experience with the poor in Argentina.
For years, García Cuerva worked with inmates, drug addicts, and slum residents. That background has some Catholics excited, especially the so-called curas villeros (“slum priests”), while conservatives fear the politicization of the Church.
After García Cuerva’s appointment, a video of him celebrating Mass in 2016 went viral in the South American country. The clip shows him defending Peronism during a homily and combining political and Biblical remarks.
Since the video of the 2016 celebration went viral, García Cuerva has drawn criticism from many in the Church. In a story published by the leading Argentine newspaper La Nación, an unidentified bishop said his remarks were “unfortunate and imprudent” and that they intensify the political divide in Argentina.
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Inspired by the late President Juan Domingo Perón (1895-1974), “Peronism” is the most popular political movement among the poor in Argentina. Though elastic and difficult to define, its core principles include political sovereignty, economic independence, and social justice.
The state, according to Peronists, must mediate conflicts between workers and companies and provide social aid to the poor.
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https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2023/06/popes-pick-in-argentina-delights-slum-priests-alarms-conservatives
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4. Inartful Dodgers, LA fans should boycott team for indulging LGBTQ group’s anti-Catholic bigotry, By Peter Parisi, The Washington Times, June 1, 2023, Pg. B1, Opinion
It’s been said that the most insidious power the liberal media have is to ignore news stories that don’t fit the left-wing narrative. A corollary to that is when those outlets do report on news stories that reflect badly on the liberal narrative, important negative details are typically minimized or omitted.
Consider the reporting on the squabble surrounding one of the LGBTQ groups the Los Angeles Dodgers have — inexplicably and indefensibly — invited to join the team’s annual “Pride Night” on June 16: the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
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Bill Donohue, the longtime president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, has compiled a lengthy list, dating back to 1979, of some of the Sisters’ most outrageous acts of anti-Christian bigotry, including:
• A “Condom Savior Mass” in San Francisco’s Union Square in 1987 that featured “the Latex Host” and referred to Jesus as “the Condom Savior.” They also burned the pope in effigy.
• Marking the group’s 10th anniversary in 1989, events included “Sister Psychedelia’s” rise from the dead and “Pope Dementia’s Altered Boys.”
• In 1990, the Miami Herald reported the group was noted for “carrying a 20-foot replica of a penis” at its street events.
• In 1993, protesters carried a sign, “Queer Alert: Fighting for Freedom From Religion.” In 1994, they served “Holy Communion wafers and tequila” at a mock Mass.
• On Good Friday 2000 in San Francisco, they sponsored a “Good Vibrations Dildo Fashion Show.”
• And just this year, Mr. Donohue wrote: “A Sister won the ‘Free Choice Mary’ pro-abortion award. The man, dressed with a nun’s veil, wearing a bra and panties, was featured holding a baby doll with a sign, ‘I Had A Choice.’”
You’d never know any of this, however, if you relied for your news solely on CBS Bay Area, which omitted any mention of the Sisters’ despicable anti-Catholic — and more generally, anti-Christian — mockery in its May 22 report “LA Dodgers apologize to Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, reinvites group to Pride Night event after backlash.”
CBS San Francisco described the “Sisters” with euphemistic dishonesty as “the charity nonprofit famous for its satirical representation of Catholicism,” adding: “The Sisters say the group is not anti-Catholic and had accused the Dodgers of capitulating to what it called ‘hateful and misleading information from people outside their community.’”
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Unsold Dodgers tickets and empty grandstands would send an unmistakable message to the tone-deaf executives who run Chavez Ravine. A wallop to the wallet is apparently the only thing “woke” corporations — be they in brewing, retail or sports — understand.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/may/31/la-fans-should-boycott-dodgers-for-indulging-lgbtq/
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5. Oklahoma high court strikes down 2 abortion bans; procedure remains illegal in most cases, By Sean Murphy, Associated Press, May 31, 2023
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that two state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional, but the procedure remains illegal in the state in nearly all cases except life-threatening situations.
In a 6-3 ruling, the high court said the two bans are unconstitutional because they require a “medical emergency” before a doctor can perform an abortion. The court said this language conflicts with a previous ruling it issued in March that determined the Oklahoma Constitution provides an “inherent right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy when necessary to preserve her life.”
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https://apnews.com/article/abortion-oklahoma-supreme-court-medical-emergency-74841ced6cc1f247dc9bcf00d5d2403a
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6. Vatican supports Catholic research to improve families and marriages, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, May 31, 2023, 10:45 AM
Pope Francis has backed a project aimed at enhancing interdisciplinary research at Catholic universities in the sphere of family, marriage, and childbearing.
“We cannot be indifferent to the future of the family as a community of life and love, a unique and indissoluble covenant between a man and a woman, a place where generations meet, a source of hope for society,” the pope said in a message of support released Tuesday.
The project, called the Family Global Compact, was presented May 30 by members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) and the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.
In a written message read at the presentation, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the family dicastery, said: “The Family Global Compact entrusts Catholic universities with the task of developing more in-depth theological, philosophical, legal, sociological, and economic analyses of marriage and the family to sustain it and place it at the heart of systems of thought and contemporary action.”
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254458/vatican-supports-catholic-research-to-improve-families-and-marriages
__________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association. |
