1. Antiabortion activists’ suit against D.C. can proceed, court rules, By Casey Parks, The Washington Post, August 16, 2023, Pg. B1 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday that a lower court was wrong to dismiss antiabortion advocates’ claims that the city violated their free speech rights when it arrested them for writing a slogan on a sidewalk in 2020. In August 2020, police arrested Erica Caporaletti, a 22-year-old student at Towson University, and Warner DePriest, a 29-year-old D.C. resident, who were writing “Black Pre-Born Lives Matter” with chalk on the sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood facility in Northeast Washington. It is illegal for people to write or mark on any public or private property without a permit. With assistance from the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, the advocates sued the District that fall, arguing that the city had violated their rights to free speech and equal protection because it allowed others to paint “Defund the Police” and other messages on D.C. streets during Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Lawyers for Caporaletti and DePriest argued the city targeted them because of “the content of the message.” … https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/08/15/dc-abortion-arrest-black-lives-matter/__________________________________________________________ 2. U.S. exempts Baylor University from Title IX rules, By Fiona Andre, The Washington Post, August 16, 2023, Pg. A3The U.S. Education Department accepted Baylor University’s request for exemption from Title IX’s sexual harassment provision after the private Baptist school asked to dismiss discrimination complaints filed by LGBTQ+ students that the university said were “inconsistent” with the institution’s religious values.… Through this request, the private Christian university obtained the guarantee “that the belief in or practice of its religious tenets by the University or its students would not constitute unwelcome conduct,” as it is characterized in Title IX’s definition of sexual harassment. … https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/08/15/baylor-lgtbq-sexual-harassment-exemption/__________________________________________________________ 3. Jobless Gänswein back in the spotlight, says he’s looking for work, By Elise Ann Allen, Crux, August 16, 2023 German Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former private secretary to the late Pope Benedict XVI, has made his first public appearances after being sent back to his native Freiburg with no formal job, jesting about his unemployment, promoting his controversial memoirs from the Benedict years, and celebrating a large public Mass. Last Thursday Gänswein attended the presentation of the German edition of his book Nothing but the Truth, published earlier this year in Italy shortly after the passing of Pope Benedict XVI, for whom he served as private secretary for decades, as cardinal and later as pope and pope emeritus. … Gänswein, 67, has been unemployed since returning to Freiburg in June, when Pope Francis sent him packing from Rome with no new assignment. The move was widely seen as a rebuff of Gänswein, who had been de facto removed from his post as Prefect of the Papal Household by Francis in 2020, and who made waves following the death of Benedict XVI Dec. 31, 2022, with remarks made in various interviews, as well as in his new book, which was published shortly after Benedict’s passing. … https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2023/08/jobless-ganswein-back-in-the-spotlight-says-hes-looking-for-work__________________________________________________________ 4. Vatican secretary of state to meet refugees from Sudan in four-day visit to South Sudan, By Kerbino Kuel Deng, Catholic News Agency, August 15, 2023, 1:45 PM Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin arrived in South Sudan on Monday, Aug. 14, to meet people fleeing violence from neighboring Sudan among other activities lined up for his four-day visit to the east-central African country. In an interview with ACI Africa, CNA’s partner news agency in Africa, ahead of the visit, the apostolic nuncio in South Sudan said the visit by Parolin is an extension of the “care and love” of Pope Francis to the people of South Sudan. Parolin is visiting South Sudan at the invitation of Bishop Stephen Nyodho of the Diocese of Malakal as a follow up to his July 2022 visit to review the situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and those fleeing violence in neighboring Sudan. These include people who have been displaced by the ongoing war between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). … https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255093/vatican-secretary-of-state-to-meet-refugees-from-sudan-in-four-day-visit-to-south-sudan__________________________________________________________

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.
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