1. Study finds religious households donate more money than secular ones, By Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times, August 5, 2021, Pg. A1 Religious households are more generous than secular ones when they donate money to charity, but they are less likely to give anything at all, a new study has found. … The average amount given per household favored religious donors, however. Those households gave an average of $2,656 each, with a median amount of $1,000 per household. Among the secular donors, the average was less than half the religious donor figure, $1,225 apiece, with a median amount of $450. The most generous givers in both camps are over age 65, the survey found. That raises the question of how generous Americans will be in the decades to come as the older donors pass from the scene. The data on religious versus secular household giving is part of a biennial study of U.S. charitable giving, which showed a mere 49.6% of households made a charitable contribution in 2018, the latest year for which data is available. That is a drop of 17% from 2000, when 66.2% of American households donated to charity. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/aug/4/religious-households-give-more-support-charities-s/ _______________________________________________________________ 2. Statute of limitations ‘pause’ allows criminal case against McCarrick to proceed, By John Lavenburg, Crux, August 5, 2021 A specific aspect of the statute of limitations on criminal charges in Massachusetts allowed ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s accuser to pursue charges for an alleged sexual assault nearly 50 years ago. The laicized cleric was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, according to a court filing by the Wellesley police in Dedham District Court last week. The charges stem from McCarrick allegedly sexually assaulting a minor during a wedding reception at Wellesley College on June 8, 1974. The statute of limitations for criminal cases in Massachusetts is set up to “toll” (pause) when the offender is out of the state. McCarrick has never resided in Massachusetts, therefore the statute of limitations never expired on this allegation. https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2021/08/state-of-limitations-pause-allows-criminal-case-against-mccarrick-to-proceed/ _______________________________________________________________ 3. The Justice Department Declines to Defend Conscience Rights, By Alexandra DeSanctis, National Review Online, August 4, 2021, 10:47 AM The Department of Justice has declined to pursue a case against the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), a suit that the government initially filed last year after a former nurse alleged that she had been forced to participate in an abortion procedure despite her objections. In December of last year, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division under the Trump administration filed a lawsuit in federal court against UVMMC, arguing that the center had violated the Church amendments, federal statutes enacted in the 1970s to protect the religious-freedom and conscience rights of health-care workers. Under these protections, medical entities are prohibited from discriminating against health-care workers who have religious or moral objections to performing abortions or sterilization procedures. But yesterday, Biden’s Justice Department announced that it had dropped the case, effectively permitting the medical center to get away with what the nurse alleges was a blatant violation of her conscience rights and of federal law. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-justice-department-declines-to-defend-conscience-rights/ _______________________________________________________________ 4. Bishop Paprocki Discusses ‘Traditionis Custodes’: Liturgical Unity Doesn’t Mean Liturgical Uniformity, By Joan Frawley Desmond, National Catholic Register, August 4, 2021 Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, a canon lawyer, sparked headlines after he promptly issued dispensations for two churches in his diocese, allowing them to continue to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass following the release of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. But in an interview with Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond, he also pushes back against reports that frame the Pope’s move as a full suppression of the extraordinary form of the Mass, or link the celebration of this rite to open dissent from the Second Vatican Council. [Q] After the release of Pope Francis’ motu proprio, you issued dispensations for two churches in the Diocese of Springfield, allowing them to continue to celebrate Masses in Latin according to the 1962 Missal. Yet you’ve also challenged claims that Francis is suppressing the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. [A] I was baptized Thomas, so my patron saints are Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher. I look to both for guidance, particularly St. Thomas More, who was a lawyer. He did what we lawyers are trained to do: Read the words [in a document]. That instinct is helpful now as we review Pope Francis’ motu proprio. Some folks think the traditional Latin Mass, the Missal of 1962, has been suppressed, but Traditionis Custodes doesn’t say that. https://www.ncregister.com/interview/bishop-paprocki-discusses-traditionis-custodes-liturgical-unity-doesn-t-mean-liturgical-uniformity _______________________________________________________________ | 
