TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences,” Episode 103 – Joan Frawley Desmond On Critical Race Theory & Focus Missionary Anthony Cirillo!
Dr. Grazie Christie chats with Joan Frawley Desmond of the National Catholic Register about some alarming news out of California with more radical ideology infiltrating public schools and why Catholics should be concerned. We also chat with FOCUS missionary Anthony Cirillo about fellowship on campus in the era of COVID–and his mission to help them not only survive–but THRIVE! Father Roger Landry also offers an inspiring homily for Divine Mercy Sunday. Catch the show Saturdays at 7am ET/5pmET on EWTN radio!
https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-103-joan-frawley-desmond-on-critical-race-theory-focus-missionary-anthony-cirillo/
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1. Berlin’s New Church of Nothing, Maybe the communist goal of secularizing East Germany was successful after all., By Joseph D’Hippolito, The Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2021, Pg. A15, Opinion
A new worship center in the former East Berlin represents the ultimate secular view of religion. It also reflects the kind of cultural future the American left envisions for the U.S.
The House of One, to be built on the foundation of a demolished church, will enable Christians, Jews and Muslims to worship under one roof. Each faith will have its own sanctuary surrounding a central hall that will serve “as a place of public encounter, much like an urban square surrounded by different buildings,” according to the architectural firm Kuehn Malvezzi. Contractors will lay the foundation stone in May, and construction is expected to take four years.
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The House of One embodies the secular view of religion as secondary, if not destructive, to human identity and progress. The divinities being worshiped are not Yahweh, Jesus or Allah but diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion. The project’s organizers even sought input from those who identified with no religion.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/berlins-new-church-of-nothing-11617920412?
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2. Canadian bishops: Assisted suicide law perilous for disabled, mentally ill, By Agnieszka Ruck, Catholic News Service, April 9, 2021
Canada’s Catholic bishops said the possible pressures the country’s new assisted suicide law will place on Canadians with mental illness or disabilities are “all too real, perilous and potentially destructive.”
In a statement April 8, the Canadian Conference Catholic Bishops denounced the expansion of “medical assistance in dying” — or MAiD, as it is known — to those who are not near death. They called on people of faith to pray and to lobby elected officials about the issue.
The statement, signed by Archbishop Richard Gagnon, CCCB president, said: “Our position remains unequivocal. Euthanasia and assisted suicide constitute the deliberate killing of human life in violation of God’s commandments; they erode our shared dignity by failing to see, to accept and to accompany those suffering and dying. Furthermore, they undermine the fundamental duty we have to take care of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society.”
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2021/04/canadian-bishops-assisted-suicide-law-perilous-for-disabled-mentally-ill/
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3. US Theologians Echo Fears of Schism in Catholic Church in Germany, As the closely watched ‘Synodal Path’ in Germany moves forward, scholars in the U.S. say a bolder response from Rome is needed., By Joan Frawley Desmond, National Catholic Register, April 8, 2021
The Catholic Church in Germany’s two-year reform program that has questioned established teachings on faith and morals has prompted Pope Francis and Vatican officials to take increasingly urgent action to head off the possibility of a formal schism.
Across the Atlantic, the U.S. bishops have largely remained silent on the German program of reform, called the “Synodal Path.” But Catholic scholars here made their anxiety plain in interviews with the Register. They called for additional action by Pope Francis, pointed to signs that open dissent was spreading in Europe, and highlighted decisions in Rome and Germany that laid the groundwork for the Synodal Path.
https://www.ncregister.com/news/us-theologians-echo-fears-of-schism-in-catholic-church-in-germany
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4. Church in France opposes bill to legalize euthanasia, By Catholic News Agency, April 8, 2021, 5:01 PM
As parliamentarians debated Thursday a bill to legalize euthanasia, French bishops spoke out against the proposal.
A bill to institute a right to “a free and chosen end of life” was debated in the National Assembly, the lower house of France’s parliament, April 8.
“The solution when a person faces suffering is not to kill them, but to ease their pain and to accompany them,” Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris told France Inter.
“It is all the more paradoxical that there is this attack on death, on the manner of causing death, at the very moment when death surrounds us everywhere. On the contrary, we should fight for life,” he exclaimed, urging better palliative care.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247210/church-in-france-opposes-bill-to-legalize-euthanasia
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5. Wyoming governor signs born-alive bill into law, By Catholic News Agency, April 8, 2021, 4:00 PM
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on Wednesday signed a bill protecting infants who survive botched abortions.
Wyoming’s Senate File 34, known as “Born alive infant-means of care,” requires that any “commonly accepted means of care that would be rendered to any other infant born alive shall be employed in the treatment of any viable infant aborted alive.” It requires any physician performing an abortion to “take medically appropriate and reasonable steps to preserve the life and health of an infant born alive.”
Gordon vetoed a similar “born-alive” bill last year.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247214/wyoming-governor-signs-born-alive-bill-into-law
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6. Law firm tallies 2,800 suits filed against Catholic entities under NY Child Victims Act, By Catholic News Agency, April 8, 2021, 7:19 PM
A law firm that frequently represents victims of clerical sexual abuse announced April 6 that it had counted at least 2,800 lawsuits filed so far against Catholic institutions in New York under the 2019 Child Victims Act.
Of those lawsuits, over 700 have been filed against the Archdiocese of New York.
New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act created a one-year “lookback” window where alleged abuse victims could file lawsuits long after their statute of limitations had ended.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has since extended the window for filing lawsuits until Aug. 14, 2021, due to complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247211/law-firm-tallies-2800-suits-filed-against-catholic-entities-under-ny-child-victims-act
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7. Top Catholic, Anglican prelates tell UK govt: ‘Do the right thing’ on international aid, By Charles Collins, Crux, April 8, 2021
England’s top Catholic and Anglican prelates have condemned the UK government’s plan to cut its international development aid budget to save money during the COVID-19 crisis.
In a joint statement to the Evening Standard, a London newspaper, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury said, “Balancing the books during a pandemic on the backs of the world’s poorest is not acceptable.”
Nichols is the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and Welby leads the Church of England and Anglican Communion.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-uk-and-ireland/2021/04/top-catholic-anglican-prelates-tell-uk-govt-do-the-right-thing-on-international-aid/
___________________________________________________________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. |
