1. Pope makes it official practice that women can read at Mass but reaffirms they can’t be priests, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, January 11, 2021, 6:09 AM
Pope Francis changed church law Monday to explicitly allow women to do more things during Mass, granting them access to the most sacred place on the altar, while continuing to affirm that they cannot be priests.
Francis amended the law to formalize and institutionalize what is common practice in many parts of the world: that women can be installed as lectors, to read the Gospel, and serve on the altar as eucharistic ministers. Previously, such roles were officially reserved to men even though exceptions were made.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-says-women-can-read-at-mass-but-still-cant-be-priests/2021/01/11/6dad453e-53fd-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html
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2. Cardinal Dolan accuses Trump of ‘stoking the flames’ in Capitol violence, By John Lavenburg, Crux, January 11, 2021
In his first comments since President Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in protest of the 2020 election this past Wednesday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, condemned the president for instigating the behavior.
“It all seemed to be exacerbated by the fact that the man who should be a voice of reason and encouraging us to law and order and civility and unity, namely the president, seemed to be the one who was stoking these flames,” Dolan said in a video posted to his Twitter account Sunday.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2021/01/cardinal-dolan-accuses-trump-of-stoking-the-flames-in-capitol-violence/
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3. Pope prays for dead in Capitol rioting, appeals for calm, By Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press, January 10, 2020, 7:23 AM
Pope Francis said Sunday that he is praying for those who died in the U.S. Capitol rioting and has appealed for calm to prevail in the United States to help safeguard that nation’s democratic values.
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“Violence is always self-destructive,” Francis said. He appealed to a “high sense of responsibility” by leaders to “calm souls” to prevent further violence.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pope-prays-for-dead-in-capitol-rioting-appeals-for-calm/2021/01/10/a26908b8-533e-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html
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4. Pope Francis plans to get coronavirus vaccine, calling it ethical obligation, By Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli, The Washington Post, January 9, 2020, 11:32 AM
In a forthcoming television interview, Pope Francis says he will soon receive a coronavirus vaccination, perhaps as early as next week, while calling the inoculation a duty for everyone.
“I believe that ethically everyone needs to receive the vaccine,” Francis said in an interview with Italy’s TG5 that will air Sunday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-francis-coronavirus-vaccine/2021/01/09/7c3d8f62-5292-11eb-a1f5-fdaf28cfca90_story.html
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5. Incoming USCCB doctrine chair: Death penalty is part of ‘throwaway culture’, By Catholic News Agency, January 9, 2021, 5:00 AM
In an online panel Friday, the incoming chair of the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee discussed the Church’s opposition to the death penalty as a matter of fighting the “throwaway culture.”
“[B]asically the Church is stating the state cannot and should not exercise this power [to execute],” Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville said.
Bishop Flores, who was elected in November to be the new chair of the doctrine committee of the U.S. bishops’ conference, spoke at an online panel “Killing in Our Name: Federal Executions and Pro-Life Witness,” hosted by Georgetown University. He will begin serving on the USCCB’s doctrine committee after the conference’s Fall, 2021 assembly.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/incoming-usccb-doctrine-chair-death-penalty-is-part-of-throwaway-culture-82605
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6. Wyoming legislature to re-visit ‘born-alive’ abortion bill despite 2020 veto, By Catholic News Agency, January 9, 2021, 5:51 PM
The Wyoming legislature will again consider a bill to protect infants born alive in legal abortion attempts. Its backers say it is needed to push abortion doctors to provide health care to any baby who survives an abortion.
Deacon Mike Leman, legislative liaison for the Diocese of Cheyenne, told CNA Jan. 8 that abortion providers “aren’t confused by the euphemisms.”
“They know the law separating ‘reproductive rights’ from a crime is arbitrary right now,” he said. “We have to ask ourselves if a provider who sets out to end the life of an unborn child is suddenly capable of switching to life saving mode without clear direction to do so. Especially in a state where providers who have a history of ignoring statutes in the first place.”
In March 2020 the Wyoming House of Representatives passed the bill 44-16 and the Senate passed it by 23-7, but the governor vetoed it.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/wyoming-legislature-to-re-visit-born-alive-abortion-bill-despite-2020-veto
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7. HHS issues final rule protecting faith-based adoption agencies, By Matt Hadro, Catholic News Agency, January 8, 2021, 2:11 PM
The Trump administration finalized a rule this week allowing faith-based adoption agencies to receive federal funding regardless of their views on same-sex marriage.
In a final rule issued Jan. 7, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revised a 2016 rule by the Obama administration that had conditioned federal grants on adoption agencies’ willingness to match children with same-sex couples.
The U.S. bishops’ conference had opposed the 2016 rule, saying that it “threatened to shut out faith-based social service providers, namely adoption and foster care agencies that respect a child’s right to a mother and a father.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/hhs-issues-final-rule-protecting-faith-based-adoption-agencies-61349
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8. America’s Soul Needs Healing, Only love — the love the Lord Jesus Christ commands his followers to bring into the world — guarantees the future, By National Catholic Register, January 8, 2021, Editorial
The dark events on Jan. 6 in Washington — when protesters bearing Trump flags and paraphernalia stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unsuccessful bid to thwart Joe Biden’s certification as president — were horrifying, reprehensible and utterly un-American.
Our nation was founded on the basis of democracy, so the despicable actions of the protesters — unacceptably fueled by President Donald Trump’s rhetoric — are by their very nature incompatible with Americans’ most cherished political ideals.
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Catholics must propose and insist upon a politics, whatever the political party, that demands we see each other as brothers and sisters. Our very future is at stake.
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/america-s-soul-needs-healing
___________________________________________________________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. |
