TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences,” Episode 114 – Abigail Tucker Talks Mom Genes & Father Jeff Kirby On The Way Of The Cross For Loved Ones
 
Dr. Grazie Christie and TCA colleague Ashley McGuire talk to Abigail Tucker about her new book, “Mom Genes:  Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct,” offering insightful new research on how motherhood transforms not only the body but mind. Father Jeff Kirby also joins with his new book, “Way of the Cross for Loved Ones Who Have Left the Faith,” a very important read post-pandemic. Father Roger Landry also offers a beautifully moving homily to prepare us for this Sunday’s Gospel. Catch the show every Saturday at 7amET/5pmET on EWTN radio!
 
https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-114-abigail-tucker-talks-mom-genes-father-jeff-kirby-on-the-way-of-the-cross-for-loved-ones/
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1. Vatican ‘foreign minister’ doubts speaking out on Hong Kong ‘would make any difference whatever’, By Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency, June 25, 2021, 5:45 AM
 
A senior Vatican official said Friday that he and many of his colleagues at the Secretariat of State have yet to be convinced that speaking out on the situation in Hong Kong “would make any difference whatever.”
 
When Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s equivalent of a foreign minister, was asked what made the civil unrest in Lebanon different to the Holy See than the protest movement in Hong Kong, he replied that the Vatican Secretariat of State did not see that it could make a positive contribution in Hong Kong.
 
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248139/vatican-foreign-minister-doubts-speaking-out-on-hong-kong-would-make-any-difference-whatever
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2. Gibraltar approves changes to strict abortion law in ballot, By Associated Press, June 25, 2021, 4:56 AM
 
Voters in Gibraltar have endorsed legislative changes that will ease the British territory’s current ban on abortion.
 
Supporters of the changes cheered and clapped when an official read out the referendum result at Gibraltar university after midnight Thursday.
 
The ‘yes’ vote captured a majority of 62%. Officials said 12,343 votes were cast, a turnout of 53%.
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gibraltar-approves-changes-to-strict-abortion-law-in-ballot/2021/06/25/49dcb744-d593-11eb-b39f-05a2d776b1f4_story.html
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3. University of California sets rules for religious hospitals, By Associated Press, June 24, 2021, 8:16 AM
 
The University of California’s governing board has adopted a new policy that tightens the rules on affiliations with hospitals that impose religious restrictions on health care.
 
The new policy follows criticism the UC system has faced for contracts with religious hospitals that refuse to provide services such as abortions, sterilizations or transgender surgery. The UC is fighting legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, that would require it to end contracts with religious health facilities unless the hospitals changed their policies or did not apply them to UC physicians and students working there.
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/university-of-california-sets-rules-for-religious-hospitals/2021/06/24/a691b046-d54a-11eb-b39f-05a2d776b1f4_story.html
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4. Vatican moves to tamp down spat with Italy over LGBT rights, By Colleen Barry, Associated Press, June 24, 2021, 11:40 AM
 
The Vatican’s Secretary of State attempted to tamp down controversy Thursday over a Vatican diplomatic communication to Italy, saying the Holy See was not trying to block passage of a law that would extend additional protections from discrimination to the LGBT community.
 
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s No. 2, told Vatican News that he personally approved the diplomatic communication, which was intended to express concerns over the proposed Italian legislation. The Vatican is against any “attitude or gesture of intolerance or hatred toward people motivated by sexual orientations,’’ he added.
 
The chief concern, Parolin said, is that “vagaries” in the text of the proposed law could expose anyone expressing an opinion about “any possible distinction between man and woman” to prosecution.
 

 
The letter, which has been published by Italian media, claims specifically that the law would violate a landmark treaty establishing diplomatic ties between Italy and the Vatican by putting at risk the right of Roman Catholics to freely express themselves. It cited as an example a clause that would require Catholic schools, along with their public counterparts, to run activities on a designated day against homophobia and transphobia.
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/vatican-moves-to-tamp-down-spat-with-italy-over-lgbt-rights/2021/06/24/8020b6a2-d502-11eb-b39f-05a2d776b1f4_story.html
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5. Poland seeks Vatican’s data for its church sex abuse probes, By Monika Scislowska, Associated Press, June 24, 2021, 12:18 PM
 
Poland’s state commission for fighting sex abuse of minors said Thursday it has asked the Vatican for data on abuse by the clergy in Poland because Poland’s church is not providing the requested information.
 
Commission head Blazej Kmieciak said some 30% of cases of abuse of persons aged under 15 that the commission is analyzing relate to the clergy.
 
He said, however, that despite written requests made earlier this year to regional leaders of Poland’s Catholic Church and of other churches, only one bishops’ court made its files available to the State Commission for Cases of Pedophilia.
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/poland-asks-vaticans-data-for-its-church-sex-abuse-probes/2021/06/24/e5279a7c-d4f6-11eb-b39f-05a2d776b1f4_story.html
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6. European Parliament backs ‘extreme’ abortion report despite protests, By Catholic News Agency, June 24, 2021, 10:35 AM
 
The European Parliament voted Thursday in favor of a report describing abortion as “essential healthcare” and seeking to redefine conscientious objection as a “denial of medical care.”
 
Members of the European Parliament, the EU’s law-making body, voted on June 24 by 378 votes in favor, 255 against and 42 abstentions, to adopt the text, known as the Matić Report, at a plenary session in Brussels, Belgium.
 
The report also declares that violations of “sexual and reproductive health and rights” are “a form of violence against women and girls.”
 

 
Catholic leaders and pro-life groups had urged the European Parliament to reject the report, presented by the Croatian politician Predrag Fred Matić and debated on June 23, the day before the vote.
 
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248121/european-parliament-backs-extreme-abortion-report-despite-protests
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7. Discord over whether to halt South Carolina abortion case, By Meg Kinnard, Associated Press, June 24, 2021, 10:52 AM
 
The parties involved in a lawsuit over South Carolina’s new ban on almost all abortions disagree about how the case should be handled while the U.S. Supreme Court considers similar litigation from Mississippi.
 
Those supporting the restrictions argue they should be allowed to collect information for their defense in the coming months.
 
Earlier this week, attorneys for both the state and Planned Parenthood signed on to a court filing, which ultimately deferred to a federal district court’s judgment over how to handle the case regarding the “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act.”
 

 
In court papers filed this week, attorneys for Planned Parenthood argued that discovery — evidence that the other side intends to use — should be halted entirely if their overall lawsuit is put on hold and “would unnecessarily strain judicial resources.”
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/discord-over-whether-to-halt-south-carolina-abortion-case/2021/06/24/d0ecc30c-d4fb-11eb-b39f-05a2d776b1f4_story.html
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8. Cardinal Cupich to lead visitation of Vatican department, By The Pillar, June 24, 2021
 
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago has been appointed by the pope to conduct a visitation of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Holy See Press Office has confirmed.
 

 
The raft of departmental visitations is widely expected to be linked to the forthcoming promulgation of a new governing constitution for the Roman curia, Evangelium Praedicate, which is expected to be promulgated in the coming weeks.
 
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/breaking-cardinal-cupich-to-lead
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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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