| TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences” Episode 53 – Homeschooling And End-Of-Life Care Amid The Coronavirus Pandemic On this week’s Conversations with Consequences, Dr. Grazie Christie and Andrea Picciotti-Bayer speak with Philosophy professor Melissa Moschella of The Catholic University of America about her book: To Whom Do Children Belong? Parental Rights, Civic Education and Children’s Autonomy–in light of a recent article in Harvard Magazine that attacks homeschooling, going so far as to call it ‘dangerous’. Father Jeffrey Kirby also joins to discuss issues revolving around end-of-life care given the pandemic we are all facing–and the importance of not losing our civility in the midst of this crisis. Father Roger Landry of the National Catholic Register also joins at the end with an inspiring homily for this Sunday’s Gospel. https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-53-homeschooling-and-end-of-life-care-amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
___________________________________________________________ 1. Church donations have plunged because of the coronavirus. Some churches won’t survive. By Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post, April 24, 2020, 6:00 AM The novel coronavirus is pressing painfully on the soft underbelly of U.S. houses of worship: their finances. … Some experts think the coronavirus could reshape the country’s religious landscape and wipe out many small houses of worship. … It’s too early to know how hard houses of worship ultimately will be hit, and clergy say a lot depends on how long giving is disrupted. Patrick Markey, executive director of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, said most Catholic dioceses were able to apply for aid made available this spring by the Small Business Administration to help with paying salaries. That includes about 8,000 parishes, he said. About 20 percent of those who applied got federal aid. However, Markey said, the bigger concern is the longer-term financial crisis that is coming. Most parishes didn’t have online giving, though Markey says the virus crisis has radically improved that situation. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/04/24/church-budgets-coronavirus-debt/
___________________________________________________________ 2. Thank God, Governor Cuomo. By Fr. John A. Perricone, Crisis, April 24, 2020 Upon hearing the puerile remarks of Governor Andrew Cuomo last week, Chesterton came to mind. The lapsed Catholic governor is usually prone to inanity and offense, but this reached new heights: “We have turned the corner on the Coronavirus plague. It was not faith or prayers that did it. Only hard work and science.” To such blather, Chesterton says: “The madman is the one who has one idea completely right, but one does not know where it fits into the whole of things.” Indeed, as with so many men of modernity, the governor is a madman. Yet he does have one idea right: essential to man’s flourishing is hard work and the pursuit of knowledge. But he does not know “where it fits into the whole of things.” The whole is God, which Mr. Cuomo fails to see, and that blindness is as large as a galaxy. Faith and prayer precede, accompany, and complete every act of man. Denying this is a reprise of the ruinous sin committed in Eden. This original sin was the emancipation of man from the clutches of God. Pride is the only sin that an angel could commit—and Lucifer did, with his non serviam. His was the first act of madness. Mr. Cuomo marches in that line. https://www.crisismagazine.com/2020/thank-god-governor-cuomo
___________________________________________________________ 3. California Bishops: COVID Aid for Undocumented Workers Protects All: Bishops in California called for an expansion of state disability insurance eligibility to workers who are ineligible for unemployment insurance but who have become unemployed as a result of the pandemic. By Kevin J. Jones, Catholic News Agency, April 24, 2020 California’s aid packages to undocumented and low-wage residents has not gone far enough, the state’s Catholic bishops have said, emphasizing the necessity of more aid for these Californians to ensure a successful recovery from the novel coronavirus epidemic. “This is an emergency situation that demands an effective and Christ-like response,” Steve Pehanich, director of communications and advocacy at the California Catholic Conference, told CNA April 23. The Catholic bishops recognize “that it’s important from a public health perspective to treat and support everyone so that the entire community can stay healthy and we minimize the risk of infection for all.” “No one in a lifeboat asks to see documentation before rescuing people,” he said. While Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended aid to undocumented California residents, the California Catholic Conference said in an April 20 letter to Newsom that aid needs to be increased “because the virus doesn’t know the difference between someone who has the right legal documents and those who do not.” https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/catholic-bishops-covid-aid-for-undocumented-workers-protects-all-california
___________________________________________________________ 4. UK court order requiring contraceptive device for disabled woman is ‘deeply problematic’, says bioethicist. By Catholic News Agency, April 23, 2020, 2:35 PM A British judge’s order requiring a contraceptive device be implanted in a woman with learning disabilities against her will is “deeply problematic,” a bioethicist has said. … The BBC reported that the judge decided that an implanted contraceptive device would be in the best interests of the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons. She said the woman, who is in her 20s and pregnant, lacked the mental capacity to make decisions about contraception. The court heard that the woman had given birth to a number of children, who have been taken into foster care. Specialists noted that she had suffered from a number of health problems and argued that further pregnancies could present significant risks. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/uk-court-order-requiring-contraceptive-device-for-disabled-woman-is-deeply-problematic-says-bioethicist-25094
___________________________________________________________ 5. US and Canada to be Consecrated to ‘Mary, Mother of the Church’: The announcement follows similar plans made by the bishops of Canada, who will consecrate the Crown Dominion to Mary under the same title on the same day. By Catholic News Agency, April 23, 2020 Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, is inviting all U.S. bishops to join him on May 1 in reconsecrating the U.S. to the Blessed Virgin Mary in response to the pandemic. The reconsecration is timed to coincide with the bishops of Canada consecrating their own country to Mary at the same time. Archbishop Gomez, who is the Archbishop of Los Angeles, said in a letter sent to all American bishops April 22, that the Marian reconsecration would be done under the title of “Mary, Mother of the Church.” He invited all the bishops of the country to join him in prayer on May 1 at 12 p.m. PDT, or 3 p.m. EDT. https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/us-and-canada-to-be-consecrated-to-mary-mother-of-the-church
___________________________________________________________ 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. | 
