1. Jesuits expel prominent priest Rupnik after allegations of abuse against adult women, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, June 15, 2023, 5:50 AM
Pope Francis’ Jesuit religious order said Thursday it has expelled a prominent Slovenian priest from the congregation following allegations of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses against adult women.
A statement from the Jesuits, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, said the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik was dismissed from the Jesuit order by decree on June 9 “due to stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”
Rupnik is one of the most celebrated religious artists in the Catholic Church, whose mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the world, including at the Vatican.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/15/pope-vatican-abuse-adult-women/75705ac0-0b5e-11ee-8132-a84600f3bb9b_story.html
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2. Catholic family, school sue Maine over exclusion from tuition assistance program, By John Lavenburg, Crux, June 15, 2023
A Catholic family and Catholic high school in Maine have sued the state, alleging that it continues to exclude faith-based schools from a tuition assistance program even after the Supreme Court ruled last year that it couldn’t do so.
In the lawsuit, filed June 13, the plaintiffs argue that amendments made to Maine’s human rights law in 2021 force faith-based schools to forgo participation in the program. The amendments impose religious neutrality on schools, and add new non-discrimination requirements related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Then, last year in the case Carson v. Makin, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the state could no longer exclude faith-based schools from the program. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the state had violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
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However, at the same time the case was working its way through the courts, Maine lawmakers passed the amendments to the state’s human rights law, essentially circumventing a future ruling. The plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit that “Maine’s attempts were open and blatant: craft a new policy to get out from under the clear pronouncement of Carson.”
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2023/06/catholic-family-school-sue-maine-over-exclusion-from-tuition-assistance-program
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3. Pope joins with imam in making calls for peace before UN Security Council vote, By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, June 14, 2023, 6:49 PM
Pope Francis and a leading Sunni imam made calls for peace as the U.N. Security Council met Wednesday to discuss the importance of “human fraternity” and condemn the hatreds that kindle conflicts.
The pope, who is in hospital recovering from abdominal surgery, sent a statement saying that a third world war is being fought “piecemeal” and with the potentially catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons “the time has come to say an emphatic ‘no’ to war.”
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni learning in Cairo, said in a virtual briefing that human fraternity was the key to global peace, a point he and the pope had made in a joint document released in 2019.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/14/pope-islam-war-fraternity-un/e6f61518-0aff-11ee-8132-a84600f3bb9b_story.html
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4. Pope Francis’ emphasis on synodality cited in joint Catholic-Orthodox statement, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, June 14, 2023, 1:17 PM
Catholic-Orthodox relations took a step forward this month with the publication of the first joint statement in seven years.
The document said Pope Francis’ hope for a synodal Church promotes “a more effective synodality,” which could eventually bring the Catholic and Orthodox Churches closer together on the issue.
It also quoted Pope Francis’ words in the 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, that “in the dialogue with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, we Catholics have the opportunity to learn more about the meaning of episcopal collegiality and their experience of synodality.”
The joint statement, on “Synodality and Primacy in the Second Millenium,” gives an overview of the history of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches from the Great Schism of 1054 to today.
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254569/pope-francis-emphasis-on-synodality-cited-in-joint-catholic-orthodox-statement
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5. Exclusive: Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams speaks out on Dodgers controversy, By Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency, June 14, 2023, 11:32 AM
In an exclusive interview with EWTN’s Colm Flynn, Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams shared his faith journey and how his relationship with Christ prompted him to defend Catholicism against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to honor an anti-Catholic group.
“It had to be said,” Williams said on EWTN News In Depth. “We cannot stand idly by while Our Lord gets mocked.”
When asked what prompted him to stand up for his faith despite the potential backlash and repercussions, Williams explained that he felt defending his faith was his duty as a Catholic man.
“When I die,” he said, “and St. Peter greets me at the gates, he’s not going to ask what your win-loss record was in 2023. He’s going to ask, ‘How did you build the kingdom of heaven?’”
Williams made headlines on May 30 when he became the first MLB player to denounce the Dodgers’ decision to honor an anti-Catholic group known as the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.”
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254568/exclusive-washington-nationals-pitcher-trevor-williams-speaks-out-on-dodgers-controversy
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6. On Dodgers and Drag Queens, After the Dodgers reinvited an anti-Catholic drag group to their ‘Pride Night,’ Catholics must respond with something stronger than boycotts., By Michael Warsaw, National Catholic Register, June 14, 2023, Opinion
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Boycotts and religious-inclusion initiatives might raise awareness. They may correct some particularly bad excesses. But real transformation requires the understanding and application of fundamental Christian principles that put truth over inclusion and self-giving over self-indulgence.
For the Dodgers, that means they must not merely include Catholics or institute moderate changes to their behavior, but instead offer true contrition for the offense of promoting anti-Catholic bigotry.
Ironically, we’re only asking the Dodgers for what they were so quick to give the sacrilegious drag queens: an apology, a commitment to learn why what they did was wrong, and the promise to do better.
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/on-dodgers-and-drag-queens
__________________________________________________________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. |
