1. Posters near Vatican urge pope to stop Latin Mass crackdown, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, March 28, 2023, 1:16 PM
Posters calling on Pope Francis to stop his crackdown on the old Latin Mass were plastered near the Vatican on Tuesday, in the latest display of conservative opposition to the pontiff.
The posters featured images of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II and quoted from their texts speaking positively about the old rite, which Francis has sought to restrict.
“For the love of the pope. For peace and unity of the church. For the free practice of the traditional Latin Mass,” read the posters, which were put up primarily in the Prati residential neighborhood near St. Peter’s Square.
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The poster initiative, which is due to last 15 days, was organized by a group of pro-Latin Mass activists and bloggers who said they feared Francis’ ultimate aim was to forbid the ancient rite entirely. After Francis’ initial decree restricting the celebration, the Vatican’s liturgy office has issued two subsequent clarifications making it tougher to celebrate it widely.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/28/vatican-pope-latin-mass-conservative/c67faf3c-cd61-11ed-8907-156f0390d081_story.html
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2. Catholic Charities D.C. names James Malloy president and CEO, By Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post, March 28, 2023, 7:34 PM
Catholic Charities, one of the D.C. area’s largest social services groups, on Tuesday announced that their new CEO and president will be James Malloy, a Silver Spring native and retired Navy commander. He will officially begin July 1.
Malloy, 60, replaces Monsignor John Enzler, a popular spiritual leader and fundraiser who expanded the nonprofit’s programs and grew its budget from $64 million to $100 million. Enzler will step down later this spring, and help Catholic Charities part-time.
Malloy will become the 14th leader of the 100-year-old group, which serves some 167,000 people each year in the District and several Maryland counties. It is also one of the largest of Catholic Charities’ 167 branches around the country.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/28/catholic-charities-dc-names-james-malloy-president-ceo/
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3. Poll: Religious service attendance a bit down after pandemic, By Luis Andres Henao, Associated Press, March 28, 2023, 10:20 AM
A “stable share” of Americans has participated in religious services in some way – virtually or in person – during the coronavirus pandemic, though in-person attendance is slightly lower than before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Those are among the key findings in a comprehensive report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center titled: “How the Pandemic Has Affected Attendance at U.S. Religious Services.” The poll surveyed 11,377 U.S. adults in November last year. Its margin of error for the full sample of respondents is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.
The poll found that the share of U.S. adults typically attending religious services at least once a month dropped from 33% in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak, to 30% in 2022. About 20% of Americans say they now attend in person less often than they did before the pandemic.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2023/03/28/religion-virtual-worship-covid-pandemic/a10398e2-cd73-11ed-8907-156f0390d081_story.html
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4. Latin America Celebrates ‘Day of the Unborn Child’ With Pro-Life Marches in Several Countries, Thousands came out March 25 to support the gift of life., By Walter Sanchez Silva, Catholic News Agency, March 28, 2023
March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation and the incarnation of Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is celebrated as the “Day of the Unborn Child” in Latin America, and large pro-life marches were held in Argentina, Ecuador and Peru.
Argentina
According to local organizers, 20,000 people turned out for the march in Buenos Aires alone. In addition, marches were held in the cities of Salta, Tucumán, Bahía Blanca, Corrientes, Mar de Plata, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero.
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Ecuador
The same day, thousands of people took to the streets in the Ecuadorian cities of Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca to defend the right to life of the unborn child.
President Alfredo Palacios González established the Day of the Unborn Child in the country by decree 1441, which recognizes that the conceived person is a child.
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Peru
Thousands turned out in a festive and peaceful atmosphere for the March for Life in Lima, Peru, the country’s capital. The march had been suspended for various reasons since 2018.
https://www.ncregister.com/cna/latin-america-celebrates-day-of-the-unborn-child-with-pro-life-marches-in-several-countries
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5. Colorado proposes radically expanding abortion access in the state — again, By Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency, March 28, 2023, 12:00 PM
The Colorado state Senate last week passed a three-bill “Safe Access to Protected Health Care” package that would radically expand abortion access in the state.
The package now advances to the state House, which is likely to hold a vote on it this week. Given that Colorado has a Democratic majority in its House and a Democrat governor, the bills seem likely to become law.
These measures would further expand abortion in Colorado, a state that already has some of the most pro-abortion laws in the U.S.
If enacted, the three bills would mandate employers fully cover abortions until birth, ban treatments to reverse the abortion pill, greatly restrict crisis pregnancy centers from advertising, and more.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253961/colorado-proposes-radically-expanding-abortion-access-in-the-state-again
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6. Cardinal Hollerich: There’s ‘space to expand’ Church teaching on all-male priesthood, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, March 28, 2023, 1:00 PM
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the archbishop of Luxembourg and a key leader of the Synod on Synodality, said the Catholic Church’s teaching on a male-only priesthood is not infallible and a future pope could allow women priests.
The cardinal, 64, addressed the topic of the ordination of women, homosexuality, women in the Church, obedience to the pope, and the German “Synodal Way” in an interview with Glas Koncila, a Croatian Catholic weekly, published March 27.
“Pope Francis does not want the ordination of women, and I am completely obedient to that. But people continue to discuss it,” Hollerich said.
The cardinal questioned the infallibility of papal documents such as St. John Paul II’s Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, which affirmed the Church’s perennial teaching that only men may be ordained to Holy Orders.
“It is the Holy Father who has to decide” whether women can be priests, Hollerich said.
The cardinal added that “with time” a pope could go against what John Paul II wrote in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, saying he is “not sure you could call it” infallible.
“It surely is a true teaching for its time, and we cannot just push it aside. But I think that there might be some space to expand the teaching — to see which of the arguments of Pope John Paull II could be developed,” he said.
“But for the moment, if Pope Francis tells me it is not an option, it is not an option.”
John Paul II stated in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: “Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church … in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful” (No. 4).
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253959/cardinal-hollerich-there-s-space-to-expand-church-teaching-on-all-male-priesthood
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7. Catholic University of America Professor Pushes Back Against ‘Reparative Therapy’ Studies, Father Paul Sullins challenges what he calls the flawed methodology used in studies that prompted calls for a global ban on ‘sexual orientation change efforts.’, By Joan Frawley Desmond, National Catholic Register, March 27, 2023, Interview
Over the past two decades, as Americans who identify as “gay” and “lesbian” secured social acceptance, expanded legal protections and marriage rights, an acrimonious parallel debate has sprung up over claims that so-called “conversion therapy” for people dealing with unwanted same-sex attraction is unethical, harmful and should be prohibited.
The American Psychological Association (APA) and leading medical organizations have condemned “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy” — described in academic literature as “sexual orientation change efforts” or SOCE — citing research linking the practice to higher rates of suicidality for people who undergo treatment to remove or mitigate homosexual feelings. These studies have bolstered attacks on the practice by “LGBT” activists who say such efforts are coercive and motivated by “hate.” Last year, President Biden issued an executive order directing federal agencies to prevent federally funded programs from offering conversion therapy.
Father Paul Sullins, a professor of sociological research at The Catholic University of America, has studied the most recent, widely cited research supporting the claims against conversion therapy. In a 2022 paper, “Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Do Not Increase Suicide: Correcting a False Research Narrative,” he challenged the methodology employed in the influential studies that prompted calls for a global ban on SOCE, and his findings have prompted pushback, as well as debate.
During an interview with Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond, Father Sullins explained why the studies’ methodology was flawed. He also discussed the “monoculture” within the academy that has allowed poorly executed peer-reviewed studies to go largely unchallenged.
Likewise, he pointed to signs of hope that encourage researchers like him to continue to provide strong, evidence-based research evaluating these treatments and sharing information on what they can and cannot do for people looking for help.
https://www.ncregister.com/interview/catholic-university-of-america-professor-pushes-back-against-reparative-therapy-studies
__________________________________________________________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. |
