1. Harris to meet with abortion providers as court ruling looms, By Associated Press, May 19, 2022, 7:17 AM
Vice President Kamala Harris will speak Thursday with abortion providers from states with some of the nation’s strictest restrictions to thank them for their work, the White House said.
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“The Vice President will hear stories from abortion providers who are working in states with some of the most extreme abortion restrictions, and she will thank them for fighting to protect reproductive health care, despite personal risk,” the White House said in a statement. She will “emphasize that the Administration will continue to defend women’s constitutional rights and protect access to abortion,” it said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/harris-to-meet-with-abortion-providers-as-court-ruling-looms/2022/05/19/41569750-d765-11ec-be17-286164974c54_story.html
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2. Cardinal: Pope ordered auditor to resign over spying charge, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, May 18, 2022, 3:19 PM
A Vatican cardinal testified Wednesday that Pope Francis himself ordered the ouster of the Holy See’s auditor-general, turning the tables on a scandal that had sparked questions about the Vatican’s commitment to financial transparency and accountability.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu opened a second day of questioning in the Vatican’s big financial fraud trial by saying Francis had recently authorized him to reveal the details of Libero Milone’s 2017 departure as the Vatican’s first auditor-general. He did so to clarify his previous testimony, during which he declined to respond to questions about Milone “out of love for the Holy Father.”
The Vatican announced June 20, 2017 that Milone had resigned two years into his mandate, without providing details. His ouster, as well as the removal of PriceWaterHouseCoopers as Vatican auditors, had long been cited by Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s former financial czar, and others as evidence of possible shady dealings by Becciu and the secretariat of state and a step back in the Vatican’s efforts at financial transparency and reform.
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It was the latest incidence in the Vatican’s sprawling financial trial of defendants asserting that Francis had approved every major undertaking related to the Vatican’s financial decisions and the scandal concerning the secretariat of state’s 350-million-euro ($367 million) investment in a London property, which is at the center of the trial.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/cardinal-pope-ordered-auditor-to-resign-over-spying-charge/2022/05/18/5ffc4d16-d6df-11ec-be17-286164974c54_story.html?
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3. US warns abortion ruling could increase extremist violence, By Ben Fox, Associated Press, May 18, 2022, 11:29 PM
The leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion striking down the constitutional right to abortion has unleashed a wave of threats against officials and others and increased the likelihood of extremist violence, an internal government report says.
Violence could come from either side of the abortion issue or from other types of extremists seeking to exploit tensions, according to a memo directed to local government agencies from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-warns-abortion-ruling-could-increase-extremist-violence/2022/05/18/2b480f00-d6e0-11ec-be17-286164974c54_story.html
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4. Pope Francis changes rules for major superiors of religious orders, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, May 18, 2022, 10:25 AM
Pope Francis has changed the Church’s regulations to allow religious brothers who are not priests to lead their religious communities with Vatican permission.
In a “rescriptum ex audientia” issued May 18, the pope said that the Vatican congregation overseeing religious orders can, in individual cases and at its own discretion, grant permission for non-priest religious members to assume the role of major superior.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251284/pope-francis-changes-rules-for-major-superiors-of-religious-orders
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5. Pope Francis dismisses prominent German ex-monk from clerical state, By Catholic News Agency, May 18, 2022, 10:51 AM
Pope Francis has dismissed a prominent German former monk from the clerical state in the wake of his continued celebration of weddings and baptisms after leaving the Catholic Church.
The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising on May 18 confirmed to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, “that Anselm Bilgri has been dismissed from the clerical state by the Vatican.”
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In December 2020, Bilgri formally left the Catholic Church. He joined Germany’s Old Catholic community.
Old Catholics belong to a movement originating primarily in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, consisting of Catholics who were excommunicated over their refusal to acknowledge papal authority in dogmatic matters following the First Vatican Council.
In Old Catholic communities, women can be ordained, remarriage after divorce is possible, and homosexual unions are blessed.
In March 2021, Bilgri came out as homosexual and announced that he was marrying “his long-term boyfriend,” a man almost 30 years his junior. The ceremony was officiated by the mayor of Munich.
Speaking to the German tabloid Bild, the 68-year-old Bilgri accused the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising of having “snitched” on him, saying that the pope had “punitively dismissed” him from the clergy for “persisting in Church schism.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251283/pope-francis-dismisses-prominent-german-ex-monk-from-clerical-state
___________________________________________________________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. |
