TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences,” Episode 162 – Melissa Overmyer Talks from Worry to Wonder & Dr. Morse on Life after Roe
As the country mourns another tragic school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children, Catholic author Melissa Overmyer joins to discuss her new book,From Worry to Wonder: A Catholic Guide to Finding Peace Through Scripture. Dr. Jennifer Roback-Morse also joins with a look at the potential fall of Roe and how we might move forward to protect life and the family working to heal the wounds wrought on by the sexual revolution. Father Roger Landry also offers an inspiring homily for Ascension Sunday. Catch the show every Saturday at 7amET on EWTN radio!
https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-162-melissa-overmyer-talks-from-worry-to-wonder-dr-morse-on-life-after-roe/
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1. In troubled South Sudan, missionaries are a sign of hope, By Elise Ann Allen, Crux, May 27, 2022
There are now less than two months to go until Pope Francis’s highly-anticipated visit to South Sudan, which has been widely praised as a sign of hope and encouragement for the war-torn country as its leaders continue to navigate a complex path to peace.
Yet while the papal visit will undoubtedly bring fresh impetus to this process and provide much-needed consolation to a population suffering from years of violent conflict and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, Catholic missionaries in the country have long been putting their lives at risk to serve the people of South Sudan, and will continue to do so after the pope is gone.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-africa/2022/05/in-troubled-south-sudan-missionaries-are-a-sign-of-hope
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2. Alaska Airlines’ unfriendly skies, Fired flight attendants suing woke carrier for anti-religious bias, By The Washington Times, May 27, 2022, Pg. B2, Editorial
Alaska Airlines wants everyone to know that it’s all for equality and inclusion. Except when it isn’t.
In fact, thanks to a lawsuit filed May 17 by two fired former flight attendants against the Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, we know the carrier regards some favored classes — specifically, LGBTQ individuals — as more equal than others; in this case, people with sincerely held religious beliefs.
Marli Brown and Lacey Smith, a pair of Christian women represented by First Liberty Institute, accused the airline of “cultivating a hostile work environment for people of faith.”
“Despite Alaska Airlines’ claimed commitment to an inclusive culture and its frequent invitations to employees to dialogue and express a diversity of perspectives, Alaska Airlines created a work environment that is hostile toward religion,” the court filing says.
It cites several Alaska Airlines’ policies openly omitting religion as a protected characteristic of employees, and its nondiscrimination policies often fail to include religion as a protected classification.
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Stiff punitive judgments against Alaska Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants would go a long way toward reminding them — and the rest of the rabidly woke corporate world — that there’s a steep price to be paid for violating the rights of religious Americans.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/may/26/editorial-alaska-airlines-unfriendly-skies/
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3. Why Most Pastors Avoid Politics, Clergy who endorse candidates and preach about hot-button social issues get a lot of attention, but they’re far from typical., By Ryan Burge, The Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2022, 12:55 PM, Opinion
Pastors like Rev. Locke and Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas—who once stated mid-sermon, “President Trump, we love you!”—are often raised up by critics as examples of how American Christianity has become overtly political, sparking a movement on social media to revoke the tax-exempt status of all U.S. churches.
In fact, research shows that only a very small fraction of American pastors invoke politics from the pulpit. The reason isn’t ministers’ fear of running afoul of the IRS, but instead a strategic calculation about their own careers and the future of the churches they lead.
In 2019, I conducted a survey of 1,010 Protestant Christians asking them if they had heard their pastor discuss a list of 10 political issues from the pulpit over the previous year. The list ranged from simple encouragement to vote on election day to hot-button issues like abortion and gay rights. The survey showed that 30% had heard none of the issues discussed in church, while another 25% said they had heard only one. The most commonly mentioned issue was religious liberty, cited by 30% of respondents. Just a quarter of churchgoers said that they had heard a sermon about gay rights or abortion, and only 16% had ever heard Donald Trump’s name invoked from the pulpit.
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While pastors are no doubt beholden to their understanding of the scriptures and their divine calling, they are also rational actors who are looking for ways to protect themselves and their congregation. A few pastors may earn headlines for their seemingly unwavering devotion to Donald Trump and the Republican Party, but the vast majority of Sunday sermons encourage and edify members of their flock to be better, more thankful spouses and citizens, without delivering any fiery messages about how to vote on election day.
Mr. Burge, a pastor in the Baptist church and a professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, is the author of “Twenty Myths About Religion and Politics in America” (Fortress Press).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-most-pastors-avoid-politics-11653584104?
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4. Legal challenge filed to stop Oklahoma anti-abortion bill, By Associated Press, May 26, 2022, 1:19 PM
A group of abortion providers in Oklahoma filed a legal challenge Thursday to a new law that bans nearly all abortions in the state.
The lawsuit filed with the Oklahoma Supreme Court seeks to stop the new law from taking effect. The court declined to temporarily halt a similar law that prevents abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy that took effect earlier this year. But the court did agree to hear arguments in that case and scheduled dates for briefs to be filed in June and July.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/legal-challenge-filed-to-stop-oklahoma-anti-abortion-bill/2022/05/26/fadac8e2-dd17-11ec-bc35-a91d0a94923b_story.html
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5. Oklahoma governor signs the nation’s strictest abortion ban, By Sean Murphy, Associated Press, May 25, 2022, 7:58 PM
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed into law the nation’s strictest abortion ban, making the state the first in the nation to effectively end availability of the procedure.
State lawmakers approved the ban enforced by civil lawsuits rather than criminal prosecution, similar to a Texas law that was passed last year. The law takes effect immediately upon Stitt’s signature and prohibits all abortions with few exceptions. Abortion providers have said they will stop performing the procedure as soon as the bill is signed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/oklahoma-governor-signs-the-nations-strictest-abortion-ban/2022/05/25/748d18dc-dc84-11ec-bc35-a91d0a94923b_story.html
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6. Nancy Pelosi’s Communion ban will apply in Diocese of Arlington, bishop says, By Catholic News Agency, May 25, 2022, 9:21 PM
The Communion ban in place within House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home diocese in California now extends to the Diocese of Arlington, located just outside Washington, D.C.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge said Wednesday that he would respect the ban imposed by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone last week because of Pelosi’s staunch advocacy for legalized abortion.
“He is her bishop and as that bishop the direction and guidance he provides is not limited to just a geographical area,” Burbidge said on his diocese’s “The Walk Humbly Podcast.” His comments were first reported Wednesday by the Arlington Catholic Herald, the diocese’s newspaper.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251369/nancy-pelosis-communion-ban-will-apply-in-diocese-of-arlington
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7. Cardinal Zen pleads not guilty, says ‘martyrdom is normal’ in Church, By Elise Ann Allen, Crux, May 25, 2022
On Tuesday, Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, made a court appearance and pled not guilty to charges that led to his arrest earlier this month, saying in a Mass later in the day that Christians must “steel themselves” for defending the faith.
Zen, 90, and three other trustees of the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund were detained between May 10 and 11 on charges that they had violated Hong Kong’s new national security law and were guilty of “collusion” with foreign forces – something the security law, imposed by Beijing in the summer of 2020, strictly prohibits.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2022/05/cardinal-zen-pleads-not-guilty-says-martyrdom-is-normal-in-church
___________________________________________________________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. |
