1. Baker fined for refusing to make transgender transition cake, By Colleen Slevin, Associated Press, June 17, 2021
A Colorado baker who won a partial victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 for refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple violated the state’s anti-discrimination law by refusing to make a birthday cake for a transgender woman, a state judge has ruled.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Denver District Judge A. Bruce Jones said Autumn Scardina was denied a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate her gender transition on her birthday because of her transgender status in violation of the law. While Jack Phillips said he could not make the cake because of its message, Jones said the case was about a refusal to sell a product, not compelled speech.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2021/06/baker-fined-for-refusing-to-make-transgender-transition-cake/
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2. Bishops debate unlimited debate time on USCCB Eucharist doc, for nearly an hour, By The Pillar, June 16, 2021
A parliamentary vote to approve the agenda at semi-annual meetings of the U.S. bishops’ conference is usually a perfunctory, pro-forma affair of the type that might be missed by anyone who was still getting settled in to observe as the meeting began.
But at the June 16 opening session of the U.S. bishops’ conference spring virtual assembly, the bishops’ debate over the agenda stretched 45 minutes, and gave immediate evidence of burgeoning division within the USCCB.
The agenda eventually passed, after 59% of voting bishops struck down a motion that would have allowed indefinite debate Thursday over the drafting of a document on the Eucharist, which would address, in some form, the question of whether Catholic politicians who support legal protection or state funding for abortion should receive the Eucharist. After that motion was defeated, the agenda in its entirety was passed with support from 86% of voting bishops.
Supporters of the proposed amendment said it was important that all bishops be heard, while critics said the amendment was a “delaying tactic” that amounted to passing a “filibuster” provision for a document that has been controversial among the bishops since at least January.
It was Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis who proposed from the meeting’s virtual “floor” that unlimited time be allocated to the bishops’ Thursday discussion on whether to commission the USCCB’s doctrinal committee to draft a catechetical document on the Eucharist, which would include a section on “Eucharistic coherence.” Rozanski’s motion was seconded by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark.
Both Rozanski and Tobin were signatories of a May 13 letter to USCCB president Archbishop Jose Gomez which had called for the discussion of the document to be dropped from the meeting agenda altogether.
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/bishops-debate-agenda-motion-called
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3. Archbishop Gomez opens USCCB meeting with passionate call for unity, By Catholic News Agency, June 16, 2021, 2:20 PM
In his opening address at the 2021 spring meeting of the U.S. bishops on Wednesday, conference president Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles made a passionate call for unity.
Archbishop Gomez reminded fellow bishops that “only a Church that is united can heal the brokenness and challenge the injustices that we see more clearly now.”
“We have been living through some extraordinary times,” the archbishop said. “We’ve seen a pandemic shut down our civilization, including the Church, for more than a year. We’ve lived through riots in our major cities, rising social divisions and unrest, and maybe the most polarized election our country has ever seen.”
He also said that “the Church’s mission will be shaped for years to come by the troubles of these recent months.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248020/archbishop-gomez-opens-usccb-meeting-with-passionate-call-for-unity
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4. Rome tribunal backs Vatican in case against Italian broker, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, June 16, 2021, 3:35 PM
A Rome court has strongly backed Vatican prosecutors in their pursuit of an Italian businessman accused of bilking the Holy See of millions of euros in a London real estate deal, saying he used bad-faith negotiations, last-minute contractual changes and a web of accomplices.
The three-judge panel of the Tribunal of Review rejected several motions by lawyers for Gialuigi Torzi, lodged after Rome prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Torzi in April. The tribunal let the warrant stand, and Torzi was arrested in London but is now free pending extradition hearings.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/rome-tribunal-backs-vatican-in-case-against-italian-broker/2021/06/16/fdfca33a-ced9-11eb-a224-bd59bd22197c_story.html
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5. After enrollment dips, public schools hope for fall rebound, By Associated Press, June 16, 2021, 3:52 PM
There are early signs that [public school] enrollment may not fully rebound, and the stakes are high. If enrollment does not recover, public schools that lose students eventually could see funding cuts, though pandemic relief money is boosting budgets for now.
…
Certain pandemic schooling options, like putting young children in child care instead of kindergarten, will likely fall by the wayside. But some families may stick with private schools, especially if, like Pearce, they see them as a way to avoid uncertainty.
It remains unclear exactly how many students those schools absorbed. In some states that track it, like Delaware and New Hampshire, private school enrollment grew 5% or more this year, according to data obtained by Chalkbeat and the AP. But in several others, including New York, Louisiana, Indiana and Colorado, private school enrollment fell by 3% or more, indicating families didn’t switch en masse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-enrollment-dips-public-schools-hope-for-fall-rebound/2021/06/11/2d4413ce-cb08-11eb-8708-64991f2acf28_story.html
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6. Appeals court refuses to reinstate N Carolina abortion ban, By Gary D. Robertson, Associated Press, June 16, 2021, 4:50 PM
North Carolina’s ban on most abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy must remain unenforceable, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting arguments that the law should be left intact because prosecutors aren’t going after doctors who violate it.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, upheld a 2019 lower-court decision striking down the prohibition, which has been on the books since 1973.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/appeals-court-refuses-to-reinstate-n-carolina-abortion-ban/2021/06/16/f9bc0c38-cec1-11eb-a224-bd59bd22197c_story.html
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7. Cardinal: Religious freedom will be Europe’s ‘great problem of the future’, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, June 16, 2021, 1:00 PM
A leading European cardinal has said that the great problem the continent will face in the future is attacks against religious freedom.
In a June 16 interview with ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language partner agency, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said he thought that “the problem of religious freedom will be the great problem of the future in Europe.”
“There is no persecution of the Church: it would be too much to say,” he said. “But, in some countries, there are, at different levels, small attacks against the freedom of religion, and we must be on guard.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248016/cardinal-religious-freedom-will-be-europes-great-problem-of-the-future
___________________________________________________________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.
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