1. Pope discusses health, his ditched peace prayer in Fatima and LGBTQ+ Catholics in airborne briefing, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, August 7, 2023, 7:21 AM
Pope Francis said Sunday his recovery from his latest abdominal surgery is going well and stressed that he ditched speeches during his five-day trip to Portugal and spoke off-the-cuff not because he was tired or feeling unwell, but to better communicate with young people.
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One of the most notable deviations was a prayer for peace that Francis was supposed to have delivered in the Portuguese shrine of Fatima, which is famous precisely because of its century-old connection to exhortations for peace and Russia’s conversion in the aftermath of World War I.
Given Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, a papal peace prayer at Fatima was to have been one of the highlights of Francis’ visit, but also potentially problematic as the Vatican seeks to maintain relations with Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church, which has strongly supported the Kremlin’s invasion.
Instead of pronouncing the prayer, Francis ad-libbed his speech before the statue of the Madonna and skipped the peace prayer entirely, reciting instead a Hail Mary with young disabled people. The Vatican later posted part of the prayer on the @Pontifex handle of the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Asked why, Francis insisted en route back to Rome that he had prayed silently for peace but didn’t want to give “publicity” to a public prayer.
“I prayed! I prayed! I prayed to the Madonna and I prayed for peace. I didn’t make publicity. But I prayed. And we have to continually repeat this prayer for peace.”
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In other comments, Francis affirmed that he included LGBTQ+ Catholics in his exhortation that “todos, todos, todos” (everyone, everyone, everyone) is welcome in the Catholic Church. The comment became something of a motto for this World Youth Day, reflective of his vision of an inclusive church, welcome to all.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/06/pope-health-portugal-russia-ukraine-war/20899740-349b-11ee-ac4e-e707870e43db_story.html
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2. Pope announces World Youth Day to return to Asia in 2027, urges young people ‘not to be afraid’, By Nicole Winfield, Barry Hatton and Helena Alves, Associated Press, August 6, 2023, 1:08 PM
Pope Francis told young people on Sunday the Catholic Church needs them and urged them to follow their dreams as he wrapped up World Youth Day in Portugal with a massive open-air Mass and an announcement that the next edition would be held in Asia for the first time in three decades.
News that Seoul, South Korea would host World Youth Day in 2027 was a reflection of the continent’s increasing importance to the Catholic Church, given the church is young and growing there, whereas it is withering in traditionally Christian lands in Europe.
Francis made the announcement at the end of a Mass before an estimated 1.5 million pilgrims, many of whom camped out overnight on the Lisbon field so they could be in place for the grand finale of the Catholic festival. Joining them were some 700 bishops and 10,000 priests, the Vatican said.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/06/portugal-pope-world-youth-day/d1152a7e-342e-11ee-85dd-5c3c97d6acda_story.html
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3. A judge has ruled Texas’ abortion ban is too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications, By Paul J. Weber, Associated Press, August 5, 2023, 1:00 AM
A Texas judge ruled Friday the state’s abortion ban has proven too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications and must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges.
The ruling was the first to undercut Texas’ law since it took effect in 2022 and delivers a major victory to abortion rights supporters, who see the case as a potential blueprint to weaken restrictions elsewhere that Republican-led states have rushed to implement.
However, the injunction was immediately blocked by an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, the state attorney general’s office said.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2023/08/04/abortion-texas-lawsuit-ban-exceptions-women-denied-pregnancy/76bb6c94-3331-11ee-85dd-5c3c97d6acda_story.html
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4. Archbishop Cordileone: Chapter 11 bankruptcy for San Francisco ‘very likely’, By Daniel Payne, Catholic News Agency, August 5, 2023, 12:22 PM
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone on Friday revealed that it was “very likely” that the archdiocese would be filing for bankruptcy in the near future due to the hundreds of clerical abuse lawsuits that have been filed against it.
The prelate revealed the news in an announcement on the archdiocesan website Aug. 4 in which he noted that, following a 2019 California law that lifted the statute of limitations on certain sexual abuse claims, the archdiocese was ultimately served with “more than 500 civil lawsuits” related to clerical sexual abuse.
The “vast majority of the alleged abuse occurred in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and involved priests who are deceased or no longer in ministry,” Cordileone noted, while others involved “unnamed individuals or named individuals who are unknown to the archdiocese.” The archdiocese has been “investigating the best options for managing and resolving these cases,” Cordileone said.
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255016/archbishop-cordileone-chapter-11-bankruptcy-for-san-francisco-very-likely
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5. With SCV visitation underway, suppression seems unlikely, By JD Flynn, Catholic News Agency, August 5, 2023, 6:10 PM
When a senior Vatican official arrived in Peru last month to look into the affairs of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, journalists in Latin America and Rome began speculating that the controversial institute might soon be dissolved, closing years of allegations against the group’s founder and other ranking leaders, and more than five years of Vatican-appointed oversight of the institute.
Indeed, the late July arrival of Archbishop Charles Scicluna in Lima has triggered speculation about the future of the Sodalitium, as the archbishop — head of the canonical disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith — is likely the Church’s most credible expert on clerical sexual abuse and misconduct, and an often-influential figure in the Roman Curia, and with Pope Francis.
But as the visitation now draws to a close, it seems unlikely that the probe will spur major changes to the institute. While it is possible that disgraced founder Luis Fernando Figari will be finally dismissed formally from the group — a society of apostolic life, in Church language — the tenor and scope of the investigation make it unlikely that broader changes will be coming.
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https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/with-scv-visitation-underway-suppression
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6. Federal appeals court upholds Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption, By Susan Haigh, Associated Press, August 4, 2023, 4:53 PM
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities.
The decision comes about a year and a half after a lower court judge dismissed the lawsuit challenging the contentious law, which drew protests at the state Capitol.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/04/connecticut-religious-exemption-school-vaccinations/060079a4-3309-11ee-85dd-5c3c97d6acda_story.html
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7. US judge blocks new Illinois law allowing state to penalize anti-abortion counseling centers, By Associated Press, August 4, 2023, 4:54 PM
A federal judge has blocked a new Illinois law that allows the state to penalize anti-abortion counseling centers if they use deception to interfere with patients seeking the procedure.
U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston said Thursday the new law “is painfully and blatantly a violation of the First Amendment.”
The law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week bans anti-abortion counseling centers, often referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” from using “misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation” to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. Violators faced fines of up to $50,000.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2023/08/04/illinois-law-crisis-pregnancy-centers-blocked/fe3d6e66-32f9-11ee-85dd-5c3c97d6acda_story.html
__________________________________________________________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. |
