1. Pope urges countries to manage migrant waves, expand legal channels, By Philip Pullella, Reuters, May 11, 2023, 7:50 AM Pope Francis appealed to countries on Thursday to manage waves of migrants as best they can and to expand channels for their safe and regular movement, as the United States grapples with a surge of new arrivals at its southern border. Francis made his comments in his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees, whose title this year is “Free to Choose Whether to Migrate or to Stay”. He called for a “shared commitment” to manage migration, with politicians in countries of origin implementing “transparent, honest and farsighted” policies and rich countries shunning any form of “economic colonialism” that exploits the natural resources of poorer countries. “Persecutions, wars, atmospheric phenomena and dire poverty are among the most visible causes of forced migrations today. Migrants flee because of poverty, fear or desperation,” Francis said, calling on countries to work together to eliminate the causes. Francis, who has made defence of migrants and refugees a major part of his 10-year-old pontificate, said the aim of international cooperation should be to establish the right not to be forced to emigrate. He did not mention any countries. https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-urges-countries-manage-migrant-waves-expand-legal-channels-2023-05-11/__________________________________________________________ 2. Night At The Vatican, After the tourists go home, a museum’s collection tells its own story., By Cullen Murphy, The Atlantic, May 11, 2023, 7:00 AM At the vatican museums, the nightly ritual of the keys begins in Room 49A, a tight, windowless chamber, generally referred to as il bunker, which I entered one evening last November from a grassy courtyard as rain began to fall. The keeper of the keys—the clavigero—is a former member of the carabinieri named Gianni Crea. He has a staff of about a dozen, and keeps nearly 3,000 keys in the bunker. Can he match each one to a lock? At the Vatican, yes, he said; he has trouble at home. Some keys, like No. 401, which weighs a pound and opens the main interior door to the oldest of the museum buildings, were forged centuries ago; others resemble keys you’d find in a hardware store or a kitchen drawer. Many have plastic tags with handwritten labels. They open every utility box, every window, every gate and portal. The heavy bronze doors at the museums’ main entrance are pulled shut every afternoon at 4 p.m. and locked with a key numbered 2,000. Over the next two hours, until the exit doors are also closed, the last visitors proceed through the hallways. Behind them, here and there, lights begin to dim. Metal detectors power down. At the glassed-in security station in the Atrium of the Four Gates, departing guards punch time cards. Behind the glass, alongside a crucifix and a photograph of Pope Francis, a flatscreen presents live images from security cameras. The screen gives the enclosure a quiet glow. …https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/06/vatican-museums-collection-night-after-hours-tour-photos/673784/__________________________________________________________ 3. Is the Pope Catholic? Yes, but Wisconsin Rules This Catholic Charity Is Not ‘Primarily’ Religious., By Maggie MacFarland Phillips, Real Clear Investigations, May 11, 2023 For over a century, the Catholic Charities Bureau of Superior, Wis., has aided people of all faiths: the developmentally disabled, seniors, and children, many of them low income. As Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki recently noted, since the time of Jesus Christ, the Church has had “a mandate from Scripture to serve the poor.”  The state of Wisconsin disagrees. Its labor division has ruled that the charity is not eligible for a religious exemption from contributing to the state’s unemployment insurance system, because it offers its services free of proselytizing, regardless of clients’ religious background. As a result, Wisconsin’s Labor and Industry Review Commission determined it was essentially a secular organization, not operated for “primarily religious purposes.”   The charity’s appeal, which contends that the state is determining for itself which activities are and are not within the scope of religious obligation, looms as a possible watershed for religious liberty.  Proceedings open May 18 before the Supreme Court of Wisconsin – before the August swearing-in of Justice-elect Janet Protasiewicz, a progressive who will give the court a 4-3 leftward tilt after a costly, high-profile election this spring to replace a conservative. A close watcher of the case said it seems likely that it will be heard in the fall term, after Protasiewicz is sworn in. … “This is not having a fire marshal come in and tell you how many people you can seat on a Sunday,” said Daniel Suhr, an attorney who filed an amicus brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court in support of the Becket petition, on behalf of a coalition of Protestant educational institutions. “This is much more entangled than that.”   … “As denominations decline, we have these legacy institutions that have denominational backgrounds, but not necessarily, you know, the full, vibrant present-day faith that’s visible,” said Suhr. He points to universities, hospitals, and social services providers, “all these other places that get significant government contracts” in order to serve the public. But the institutional affiliations remain. “Are we going to have a bureaucrat make a judgment call about how religious is enough?”  https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2023/05/11/wisconsin_rules_this_charity_is_not_primarily_religious_charity_responds_is_the_pope_catholic_898369.html__________________________________________________________ 4. FDA panel backs over-the-counter sales of birth control pill, By Matthew Perrone, Associated Press, May 10, 2023, 3:03 PM Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication. The panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously in favor of drugmaker Perrigo’s request to sell its once-a-day medication on store shelves alongside eye drops and allergy pills. The recommendation came at the close of a two-day meeting focused on whether women could safely and effectively take the pill without professional supervision. A final FDA decision is expected this summer. If the agency follows the nonbinding recommendation, Perrigo’s drug, Opill, would become the first contraceptive pill to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. The company said sales could begin late this year if OK’d. … https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/05/10/birth-control-pills-without-prescription-fda/a8b14ab6-ef57-11ed-b67d-a219ec5dfd30_story.html__________________________________________________________ 5. Nevada advances proposal to enshrine abortion rights into state constitution, By Gabe Stern, Associated Press, May 10, 2023, 4:42 PM Nevada lawmakers on Wednesday passed a joint resolution that would codify reproductive rights — including already-existing abortion access up to 24 weeks — into the state constitution. The state Assembly approved of the measure 28 to 14 along party lines, about three weeks after the state Senate passed it 13 to 8 along party lines. State lawmakers must pass the resolution again in 2025 before it would go before voters as a ballot question in 2026. If passed, the resolution would provide the highest level of state protection for not only abortion rights, but also other reproductive access, including postpartum and prenatal care, as well as birth control. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/10/nevada-abortion-abortion-rights/2eedeb5a-ef73-11ed-b67d-a219ec5dfd30_story.html__________________________________________________________ 6. Vermont governor signs 1st-in-nation shield bills that explicitly include medicated abortion, By Lisa Rathke, Associated Press, May 10, 2023, 2:36 PM Vermont’s Republican governor signed abortion and gender affirming shield bills into law Wednesday that are the first in the country to explicitly include protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone. The bills protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services. “Today, we reaffirm once again that Vermont stands on the side of privacy, personal autonomy and reproductive liberty, and that providers are free to practice without fear,” Republican Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2023/05/10/vermont-abortion-drug-shield-bills/c727704a-ef4a-11ed-b67d-a219ec5dfd30_story.html__________________________________________________________ 7. North Carolina governor makes last-minute plea to block new abortion limits, By Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press, May 10, 2023, 8:58 PM North Carolina’s Democratic governor rallied residents and local doctors Wednesday in Wilmington as part of a last-minute bid to persuade at least one Republican lawmaker to sustain his expected veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The visit marks the second day of Gov. Roy Cooper’s cross-state campaign to urge the constituents of four GOP state legislators to demand they uphold abortion access after expressing hesitance about further restrictions during their election campaigns last year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/10/abortion-cooper-north-carolina-veto/6d4e4a42-ef74-11ed-b67d-a219ec5dfd30_story.html__________________________________________________________ 8. McConnell opposes Alabama Republican’s blockade of military nominees over Pentagon abortion policy, By Mary Clare Jalonick, Catholic News Agency, May 10, 2023, 6:09 PM Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that he won’t support a fellow GOP senator’s blockade of military nominees, backing Democrats and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who have said that the holdup is harming national security. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is objecting to the normally routine practice of confirming dozens of military nominations, a move that would force the Senate to hold potentially hundreds of votes to confirm non-controversial senior military officers. Tuberville has not backed down from his now-monthslong pledge to hold up the nominees over the Pentagon’s abortion policy, which provides travel funds and support for troops and dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal. … https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/10/mcconnell-tuberville-military-nominees-blocked-pentagon/51bfa130-ef7f-11ed-b67d-a219ec5dfd30_story.html__________________________________________________________

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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