TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences,” Episode 106 – Senator Marsha Blackburn On Woman’s Right To Know Act & Suann Maier Talks Special Olympics!
With the introduction of A Woman’s Right to Know Act this week, Dr. Grazie Christie and Maureen Ferguson speak with Senator Marsha Blackburn about why this bill is so important plus the Senator talks about her recent book, ‘The Mind of a Conservative Woman: Seeking the Best for Family and Country.’ Plus, with the Special Olympics being drastically impacted by the COVID lockdown, Suann Maier joins with a very personal story and what she’s doing to revive this very important outlet for those with special needs. Father Roger Landry also offers an inspiring homily. Make sure to catch the show every Saturday at 7am ET/5pm ET on EWTN radio!
https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-106-senator-marsha-blackburn-on-womans-right-to-know-act-suann-maier-talks-special-olympics/
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1. Pope names new bishop for Biden’s Wilmington diocese, By Associated Press, April 30, 2021, 8:07 AM
U.S. President Joseph Biden has a new bishop.
Pope Francis on Friday accepted the resignation of Wilmington, Delaware Bishop Francis Malooly, who at 77 is two years beyond the normal retirement age for bishops.
Francis appointed the current vicar for clergy in the Rockville Center, New York diocese, Monsignor William Koening, to replace Malooly.
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Both Malooly and the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, have made clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches they oversee despite his support for abortion rights.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-names-new-bishop-for-bidens-wilmington-diocese/2021/04/30/b0399f56-a9ac-11eb-a8a7-5f45ddcdf364_story.html
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2. Pope facilitates Vatican prosecutions for cardinals, bishops, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, April 30, 2021, 7:49 AM
Pope Francis has sent another message to Vatican-based cardinals and bishops about his intent to hold them accountable for criminal misconduct: He removed the procedural obstacles that had spared them from being prosecuted by the Vatican’s criminal tribunal.
A new law published Friday makes clear that Vatican city-state prosecutors have jurisdiction over Holy See cardinals and bishops and need only the pope’s consent to proceed with investigations against them.
The law abrogated a regulation, upheld as recently as last year, that said only the tribunal’s highest appeals court, which is composed of three cardinal judges, could assess the actions of cardinals and bishops accused of criminal offenses.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-facilitates-vatican-prosecutions-for-cardinals-bishops/2021/04/30/2fdf0356-a9a1-11eb-a8a7-5f45ddcdf364_story.html
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3. Samuel Alito’s Culture-War Warning, By The Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2021, Pg. A16, Editorial
[T]his week the Justices sided with California against Texas and 19 other mostly red states in declining to hear a challenge to progressive cultural imperialism.
In 2017 a California law went into effect instructing the Attorney General to blacklist states with less progressive policies on gay rights, transgender policy or religious liberty. Texas was identified because it does not compel religious child-welfare organizations to place children with same-sex parents if that violates their conscience.
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The Justices on Monday turned Texas down, but Justice Samuel Alito, in a dissent joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, argued that the Court should settle more such disputes.
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We doubt all Justices who punted on this case are confident in the constitutionality of California’s economic bullying. Yet a sufficient number may believe that this is not yet a moment of “absolute necessity” that compels jurisdiction. The danger is that by failing to take a stand early, the Justices will make such a moment more politically fraught and more likely.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/samuel-alitos-culture-war-warning-11619735443?
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4. Beyond ‘a Shul With a Pool’, By Ari Lamm, The Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2021, Pg. A15, Opinion
A recent Gallup poll included some grim news: Less than 50% of Americans belong to a religious community such as a church or a synagogue, the lowest since the organization began asking the question in 1937. As an Orthodox rabbi, I might feel gloomy about the future of my profession. But the prospects of American religion have never been brighter.
This isn’t solely a testament of faith. When the Pew Research Center asked Americans in 2012 to describe their feelings about spirituality, only 19% said they felt any spiritual stirrings. Five years later, that number rose to 27%—even as the number of Americans who defined themselves as neither spiritual nor religious remained largely unchanged. While more Americans yearn for more spiritual connections, fewer feel comfortable finding them in traditional settings.
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Seen this way, the new Gallup survey should be read not as an obituary but an opportunity. Religion is ripe for disruption, to borrow a term from Silicon Valley: Plenty of Americans still love the product—just not its current platform. Nimble individuals and organizations have a chance to create communities of faith every bit as vibrant and meaningful as those that once huddled in brick-and-mortar buildings. How this is to be done is perhaps the most important question for American civic life in the coming decades.
Rabbi Lamm is the founder of the Joshua Project and chief executive of Bnai Zion.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-prospects-of-american-religion-have-never-been-higher-11619735652?
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5. Catholics respond to Washington Post article and tweet calling Biden a ‘very Catholic president’, By Catholic News Agency, April 29, 2021, 11:29 PM
Prominent Catholics are passionately responding to a recent Washington Post tweet which said “A rising group of right-wing U.S. Catholic bishops is colliding with a very Catholic president who supports abortion rights.”
Brian Burch, President of Catholic Vote criticized the media’s exaltation of Biden’s supposed Catholicity. “Joe Biden’s press secretary routinely refers to him as ‘devout.’ And without skipping a beat, the Washington Post calls him ‘very Catholic.’”
“For decades public officials have flouted the Church’s call to protect innocent human life,” Burch said. “Now we face the scandal of a president who professes to be Catholic but calls for the destruction of innocent unborn children, and he forces those who object to pay for it anyway.”
The April 29 Washington Post article noted that there is a deep political divide within the Catholic Church. Specifically, the Post brought to light the heated debate within the Church over President Biden’s permissibility to receive Holy Communion while he publicly supports abortion and many other laws which defy Church teaching.
“The Washington Post realizes perhaps better than some Catholics that if the bishops spoke with courage and unity, that hearts and minds would change on abortion,” Burch said. “And it’s clear that the Washington Post isn’t just covering this story, they’re deeply invested in influencing this debate.”
Burch’s Catholic Vote created a timeline for Catholics, showing all the instances in which President Biden has publicly opposed Catholic teachings.
Grazie Pozo Christie, a Policy Advisor with The Catholic Association, also denounced Biden’s defiance of Catholic teaching.
“The President’s decision to present himself as a devout Catholic, while simultaneously advancing an agenda openly hostile to foundational church teachings from his unique position of power, creates confusion and division” Christie said.
Christie affirmed the bishops’ concern that the message Biden’s contradictory lifestyle is sending, causes pain and unclarity to their flocks.
“It is up to each individual bishop to discern the best course of action for this unfortunate situation which the president himself has created,” Christie told CNA.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/index.php/news/247467/catholics-respond-to-washington-post-article-and-tweet-calling-biden-a-very-catholic-president
___________________________________________________________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. |
