TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences,” Episode 71 – Bringing Mass To The Masses With Archbishop Cordileone And Dr. Timothy Flanigan
On this week’s Conversations with Consequences, Dr. Grazie Christie invites Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco to discuss his creative ways of maximizing opportunities for the Faithful to attend Mass given a strict 12-person capacity for outdoor Masses in California. With new research showing that best practices put in place to keep parishioners safe at Mass are working amid the pandemic, Dr. Timothy Flanigan joins with some very uplifting news!
https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-71-bringing-mass-to-the-masses-with-archbishop-cordileone-and-dr-timothy-flanigan/
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1. Weekend Reading, By The Washington Times, August 28, 2020, Pg. A2
The Catholic Association has released a master list of Mr. Trump’s pro-life accomplishments while in office, complete with citations in the press. Find it — including the “top-10” victories – at TheCatholicAssociation.org/promises.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/aug/27/the-catholic-association-releases-master-list-of-d/
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2. The Trump Disruption, By The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2020, Pg. A16, Editorial
When Donald Trump won the Presidency four years ago, half of America gnashed its teeth or cried and even supporters who cheered weren’t sure what to expect. Four years later our verdict is that he has been better on policy than we feared but worse on personal behavior than we hoped. Whether Americans re-elect him depends on how they assess that political balance sheet.
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These policies are more likely to be sustained by the more than 200 conservative judges Mr. Trump has appointed. These judges are more attentive to the abuses of the regulatory state, harm to the separation of powers, and limits on religious liberty. The latter explains the enduring support for Mr. Trump from evangelicals and church-going Catholics.
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Before Election Day in 2016, we wrote that the biggest gamble of a Trump Presidency wasn’t the fantasy that he was a Mussolini from Manhattan. It was that he’d face a hostile press and bureaucracy that his inexperience and erratic management would be unable to navigate. So it has often been, and in 2018 the resulting tumult cost Republicans control of the House.
Americans now know Mr. Trump isn’t going to change, but then he isn’t running only against himself. He has a chance to win another four years if voters conclude that his disruption is less risky than the Biden-Sanders Democratic agenda.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-disruption-11598570719?
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3. Judge blocks rule that moves relief funds to private schools, By David Eggert, Associated Press, August 28, 2020
A federal judge in California has blocked a rule that Michigan, seven other states and four big-city school districts said would unlawfully allow too much pandemic relief aid to be diverted from K-12 public schools to private ones.
Judge James Donato ruled late Wednesday that the Education Department “went well beyond” its authority in trying to replace a funding formula mandated by Congress “with ones of its own choosing.” The decision came days after a different federal judge issued a similar injunction in a lawsuit filed by Washington state.
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Paul Long, president and CEO of the Michigan Catholic Conference, said the judicial decision was disappointing but not unexpected.
“Clearly the attorney general went out to California to find a favorable ruling that discriminates against nonpublic schools,” he said. “Congress included nonpublic schools in the CARES Act to ensure all students are treated equally, without prejudice due to the school they attend.”
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2020/08/judge-blocks-rule-that-moves-relief-funds-to-private-schools/
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4. New Reasons to Doubt That Pope During ’40s Sought to Save Jews, By Elisabetta Povoledo, The New York Times, August 28, 2020, Pg. A8
Some have cast Pius XII as the pontiff who remained shamefully silent as the Nazis massacred Jews during the war. Others claim that Pius worked behind the scenes to encourage the Roman Catholic Church to save thousands of Jews and other victims of persecution.
Now documents from the archives are beginning to trickle out, offering an early taste of what could emerge from the tens of thousands of papers that scholars had been clamoring to study for decades.
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In an article published in The Atlantic on Thursday, Dr. Kertzer revealed previously unpublished documents, including a memorandum advising Pius against making a formal protest when the Gestapo rounded up 1,000 of Rome’s Jews on Oct. 16, 1943, for deportation to the concentration camp in Auschwitz.
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But others who study church history say that the rush to find gems buried in the newly opened archives could also result in a selective understanding of events.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/world/europe/pope-pius-xii-jews-vatican-archives.html?
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5. At RNC, nun lauds Trump for being pro-life, By Associated Press, August 28, 2020
A Washington nun who is also a surgeon and retired U.S. Army officer says, “Donald Trump is the most pro-life President that this nation has ever had.”
Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary focused her remarks Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention on abortion.
She says the president’s “belief in the sanctity of life transcends politics.”
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2020/08/__trashed-253/
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6. 47 names of clergy abuse victims part of accidental email leak, By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter, August 28, 2020
A clergy abuse victim who participated in the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s independent compensation program for survivors is alleging that the confidentiality of nearly 50 other victims was compromised when the program administrator mistakenly sent the individual an email in 2019 with the names of participants from another diocese’s program.
Since October 2016, Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, national mediation experts who managed the compensation payouts to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing, have partnered with Catholic dioceses throughout the country to implement voluntary programs where victims pursue their claims outside of court.
Victims whose cases fall outside the statute of limitations are allowed to seek compensation under these programs, which often rely on a lower standard of evidence than court proceedings.
If the victim agrees to compensation, they are guaranteed that their information will remain confidential and they waive their right to pursue further litigation. Among the dioceses participating in similar programs, which are quickly becoming the standard model for handling abuse payouts, are the archdioceses of New York, Los Angeles, and Newark, New Jersey.
The Philadelphia program, known as the Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program, was initiated in 2018 and as of this spring has had more than 600 claimants come forward. Among those participants was an individual who on Aug. 23, 2019, received an email from Biros listing the names of 47 claimants in the Pittsburgh Diocese’s compensation program.
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Upon receiving the email from Biros, the participant — who has requested anonymity due to the promised confidential nature of the program — informed the Feinberg Law Group of the error but was unsatisfied with the response. The person told NCR they were not guaranteed that the victims whose identities had been disclosed would be informed of the error.
https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/47-names-clergy-abuse-victims-part-accidental-email-leak
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7. Christians: Let’s unite in pandemic to fight injustices, By Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press, August 27, 2020, 9:02 AM
Two authoritative religious bodies on Thursday called on Christians to band together to fight “sins” laid bare or aggravated by the pandemic, including racism and economic injustice.
The Vatican and the World Council of Churches, which is based in Switzerland, issued a joint document noting that the COVID-19 outbreak has drawn attention to “the scandalous gap between the rich and the poor.” The document declared that Christians are compelled to work to heal inequalities, including between men and women.
Christians must “own up to our own complicity and guilt in many systems of oppression” and resist the “temptation” to blame the poor for their poverty, it said.
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Citing the gap between rich and poor, the appeal said the pandemic has “exacerbated racial prejudices and led to increased violence against those who have for long been considered a threat to the dominant body politic that is structured and sustained” by systems of inequality, discrimination and domination. The document named no country, society or political system.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/christians-lets-unite-in-pandemic-to-fight-injustices/2020/08/27/83faa092-e865-11ea-bf44-0d31c85838a5_story.html
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8. Vatican dicastery joins call for ‘interreligious solidarity’ amid pandemic, By Catholic News Agency, August 27, 2020, 10:30 AM
Christians should respond to the coronavirus pandemic by showing “interreligious solidarity,” a new document jointly issued by a Vatican dicastery and a global ecumencial organization said Thursday.
The document, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity,” was published Aug. 27 by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-dicastery-joins-call-for-interreligious-solidarity-amid-pandemic-51356
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9. Boston cardinal: Catholics have ‘right’ to clarity, after priest supports ‘right to choose’, By Christine Rousselle, Catholic News Agency, August 27, 2020, 2:26 PM
The Church’s teachings on the sanctity of life are of preeminent priority, the Archbishop of Boston said on Thursday, August 26.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM, Cap., said that Catholics have “the right to expect the priests of the Archdiocese and those entrusted with handing on the faith to be clear and unequivocal on the Church’s teaching concerning respect and protection for life from the first moment of conception to natural death.”
“This teaching is of the highest priority for the Church,” he added in a statement provided to CNA.
O’Malley said that archdiocesan clergy, as well as “religious and laity who minister or serve in the Archdiocese of Boston,” as representatives of the archdiocese, are not to endorse or condemn political candidates or political parties.
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O’Malley’s statement comes a day after an Aug. 26 report by CNA including a statement by a priest of the archdiocese praising presidential candidate Joe Biden and supporting the “right to choose” abortion being enshrined in U.S. law.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/boston-cardinal-catholics-have-right-to-clarity-after-priest-supports-right-to-choose-19790
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10. Boston cardinal: Catholics have ‘right’ to clarity, after priest supports ‘right to choose’, By Christine Rousselle, Catholic News Agency, August 27, 2020, 2:26 PM
The Church’s teachings on the sanctity of life are of preeminent priority, the Archbishop of Boston said on Thursday, August 26.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM, Cap., said that Catholics have “the right to expect the priests of the Archdiocese and those entrusted with handing on the faith to be clear and unequivocal on the Church’s teaching concerning respect and protection for life from the first moment of conception to natural death.”
“This teaching is of the highest priority for the Church,” he added in a statement provided to CNA.
O’Malley said that archdiocesan clergy, as well as “religious and laity who minister or serve in the Archdiocese of Boston,” as representatives of the archdiocese, are not to endorse or condemn political candidates or political parties.
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O’Malley’s statement comes a day after an Aug. 26 report by CNA including a statement by a priest of the archdiocese praising presidential candidate Joe Biden and supporting the “right to choose” abortion being enshrined in U.S. law.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/boston-cardinal-catholics-have-right-to-clarity-after-priest-supports-right-to-choose-19790
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11. US bishops call for day of fasting to end racism, By Catholic News Agency, August 27, 2020, 3:00 PM
The bishops of the United States are urging Catholics to pray and fast for an end to racism on Friday, following the unrest in Wisconsin this week.
“On this Friday’s anniversary, in the midst of our country’s ongoing racial unrest, we restate our commitment to peacefully seeking racial justice,” said Bishop Shelton Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, chair of the anti-racism committee of the U.S. bishops’ conference, on Thursday.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/us-bishops-call-for-day-of-fasting-to-end-racism-39705
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12. USCCB to Trump administration: ‘Stop these executions!’, By Catholic News Agency, August 27, 2020, 5:30 PM
The U.S. bishops’ conference on Thursday criticized the federal government for its continued use of the death penalty, which the Justice Department resumed this summer after a 17-year moratorium on federal executions.
“The Church’s opposition to the death penalty is clear, and we have made many requests that the federal government should not resume these executions. Yet, not only has the government done so, they have scheduled even more executions. After the first three in July, there are two this week, and two more at the end of September,” the U.S. bishops said in an Aug. 27 statement.
“Remembering the Lord’s call for mercy, we renew our plea: stop these executions!”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/usccb-to-trump-administration-stop-these-executions-52742
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13. Our Conscience Rights Extend Beyond the Church Parking Lot, By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, National Catholic Register, August 27, 2020, Opinion
“The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy — a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.”
George Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island has informed U.S. domestic policy for generations. But now our robustly defended conscience rights, essential to a pluralistic society, are under relentless attack from secularists and progressives. And things are only going to get worse.
A person’s most fundamental values traditionally are informed by his or her religious convictions. Claims to rights of conscience, therefore, often arise when government treats religion unfairly. Temporary restrictions by the government on communal worship during the current coronavirus pandemic are permissible, if necessary, provided they are made on equal terms with other activities, showing no special disfavor to religion.
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One reason secular dogmatists oppose conscience rights so vehemently is that they often allow faith-based groups to work with state and local governments in social services without having to leave their religious convictions at the door. So they are worried about what might happen this coming fall, when the Supreme Court will consider whether to revisit a 1990 decision – Employment Division v. Smith – that, by refusing to grant First Amendment protection to religious opposition to “generally applicable laws,” placed an obstacle in the way of conscience rights.
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Recent court decisions and administrative orders have protected those rights, but don’t bet on this trend continuing without significant pushback. The plans by liberal politicians, lobby groups and their media allies to extinguish conscience rights are already far advanced. Therefore, the battle to defend them must continue.
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is the director of the Conscience Project.
https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/our-conscience-rights-extend-beyond-the-church-parking-lot
___________________________________________________________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. |
