1. Pope greets Russian Orthodox envoy amid peace mission talk, By Associated Press, May 3, 2023, 4:50 AM
Pope Francis on Wednesday greeted the foreign envoy of the Russian Orthodox Church, just days after revealing a secret “mission” was under way to try to put an end to the war in Ukraine.
Metropolitan Anthony attended Francis’ weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square and then greeted Francis at the end. He presented the pope with an icon, which Francis blessed. Anthony was later seen being led off the stage by one of Francis’ aides.
Francis devoted his remarks at the audience to a recap of his weekend visit to Hungary, during which he made repeated calls for an end to the war. While in Budapest, he met with Metropolitan Hilarion, Anthony’s predecessor as the foreign envoy of Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian church who has strongly supported the Kremlin’s war and justified it on religious grounds.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/03/russia-ukraine-orthodox-pope-vatican/8afeb814-e98f-11ed-869e-986dd5713bc8_story.html
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2. Expanded abortion access for military, vets draws Catholic rebuke, By Mark A. Kellner and Mike Glenn, The Washington Times, May 3, 2023, Pg. A9
The Catholic Church’s archdiocese serving the U.S. military community has joined the protest against new Defense Department and Veterans Affairs policies offering abortion services to active-duty personnel and vets, a protest that so far has yet to draw a response from the Biden administration.
The chastising letter from Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, made public late last week, echoes complaints by Republicans on Capitol Hill that the Defense Department and VA under President Biden have improperly expanded taxpayer-financed services for those seeking abortions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last year striking down the Roe V. Wade decision.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, refused to comment about the April 28 letter from Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who heads the Catholic military archdiocese. The archbishop condemned what he called an “unconstitutional overreach” by Democrats in Congress to support abortion access for the military and veterans.
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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/may/2/military-archbishop-blasts-va-dod-abortion-rules-u/
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3. A year later and the illicit Dobbs leak goes unpunished, Supreme Court has yet to hold anyone responsible, By The Washington Times, May 3, 2023, Pg. B2, Editorial
It was a year ago this week that Politico published a report, based on a leak from an anonymous pro-abortion source within the Supreme Court, about the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that subsequently overturned the high court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide.
The report, “Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows,” was published on the evening of May 2 and became the lead story everywhere else in the media the next day.
Now, a year later, the leaker still has not been publicly identified — much less prosecuted and punished — for the disclosure. The perpetrator hoped it would generate the kind of public blowback that might give pause to one or two conservative justices inclined to overturn Roe, thereby changing their minds and preserving the misbegotten 50-year-old ruling.
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There will apparently be no legal consequences for the leaker, even though the unauthorized disclosure led to illegal pro-abortion demonstrations outside the homes of the conservative justices and threats to their safety and that of their families.
Those demonstrations were likewise illegal under federal law. Still, they too went unpunished by the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland, who implausibly claimed that he didn’t know that U.S. marshals had been instructed by his own department not to arrest the illegal protesters “unless absolutely necessary.”
If Mr. Garland really is that clueless (or dishonest), we should thank God that a Republican-controlled Senate thwarted his 2016 nomination to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/may/2/editorial-year-later-and-illicit-dobbs-leak-goes-u/
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4. Pope Francis: Freedom is under threat in Europe, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, May 3, 2023, 2:21 AM
Pope Francis said Wednesday that freedom is under threat in Europe, as people choose consumerism and individualism over building families and community.
Even today, “freedom is under threat,” he said May 3. “Above all with kid gloves, by a consumerism that anesthetizes, where one is content with a little material well-being and, forgetting the past, one ‘floats’ in a present made to the measure of the individual.”
“This is the dangerous persecution of modernity that advances consumerism,” he underlined.
“But when the only thing that counts is thinking about oneself and doing what one likes, the roots suffocate,” he warned. “This is a problem throughout Europe, where dedicating oneself to others, community feeling, the beauty of dreaming together and creating large families are in crisis. All of Europe is in crisis.”
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254229/pope-francis-freedom-is-under-threat-in-europe
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5. North Carolina Republicans unveil new abortion restrictions, By Gary D. Robertson and Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press, May 2, 2023
North Carolina Republican legislative leaders said on Tuesday there’s agreement in the GOP-dominated legislature on backing a measure that would prohibit abortion in nearly all cases after roughly the first trimester of pregnancy.
House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger announced at an early-evening news conference that there’s consensus between Republicans in the state House and Senate.
North Carolina law currently bans nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The measure would reduce that to 12 weeks, with new exceptions in cases of rape, incest or fetal abnormality. An existing exception for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger would remain.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/02/north-carolina-abortion-restrictions-bill/8736eac2-e943-11ed-869e-986dd5713bc8_story.html
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6. Oklahoma bishops applaud governor’s signing of bill prohibiting sex changes for minors, By Joe Bukuras, Catholic News Agency, May 2, 2023, 1:25 PM
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a law Monday prohibiting gender reassignment surgery and hormone use for minors younger than 18 years old.
The new legislation earned praise from the organization representing the state’s Catholic bishops.
“Having worked closely with House and Senate authors, we commend Gov. Stitt for swiftly signing S.B. 613 into law and adding Oklahoma to the list of states protecting children from these dangerous and irreversible procedures,” Brett Farley, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, told CNA on Tuesday.
Oklahoma is one of 15 other states that have taken steps to ban the controversial procedure for minors.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254222/oklahoma-bishops-applaud-governor-s-signing-of-bill-prohibiting-sex-changes-for-minors
__________________________________________________________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. |
