| 1. Vatican urges internal migrants get same rights as refugees. By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, May 5, 2020, 6:39 AM The Vatican says internal migrants should have the same legal protections as refugees and says their children should have the right to birth certificates, education and being reunited with their parents if separated. The Vatican on Tuesday published a booklet of pastoral guidelines to care for internally displaced people — migrants who are forced to flee their homes because of conflict, natural disasters or persecution but don’t cross international borders to seek asylum elsewhere. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/vatican-urges-internal-migrants-get-same-rights-as-refugees/2020/05/05/a5359e0e-8ebc-11ea-9322-a29e75effc93_story.html
___________________________________________________________ 2. Justice Department sides with church over virus restrictions. By Associated Press, May 4, 2020, 10:30 AM The Justice Department has filed a statement of interest siding with a Virginia church suing the state’s governor over restrictions because of the coronavirus. The filing was made Sunday in support of the Lighthouse Fellowship Church, which is in Chincoteague on the state’s Eastern Shore. The lawsuit alleges the church’s pastor, Kevin Wilson, was issued a criminal citation because he held a service with 16 people on April 5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/justice-department-sides-with-church-over-virus-restrictions/2020/05/04/c2681afa-8e13-11ea-9322-a29e75effc93_story.html
___________________________________________________________ 3. Pope hopes for COVID vaccine, supports interreligious prayer initiative. By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service, May 4, 2020 Expressing his hopes for a vaccine against the coronavirus, Pope Francis also gave his support to an interreligious day of prayer and fasting for an end to the pandemic. After reciting the “Regina Coeli” prayer May 3, Pope Francis said he supported the call of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity because “prayer is a universal value.” The day of “Prayer for Humanity,” which is set to take place May 14, will be an opportunity for all believers “to pray, fast and do works of charity,” he said. https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/05/pope-hopes-for-covid-vaccine-supports-interreligious-prayer-initiative/
___________________________________________________________ 4. In new biography, Pope Benedict says world threatened by humanism. By Catholic News Service, Crux, May 4, 2020 In a newly published biography, Retired Pope Benedict XVI said the Catholic Church is threatened by a “worldwide dictatorship of seemingly humanist ideologies.” He cited same-sex marriage, abortion and the “creation of humans in the laboratory” as examples. The retired pope, 93, said: “Modern society is in the process of formulating an anti-Christian creed, and resisting this creed is punished by social excommunication.” Commenting on the state of the church in the 21st century, he said, “Events have shown by now that the crisis of faith has above all led to a crisis of Christian existence.” The German Catholic news agency, KNA, reported the remarks were published in the final chapter of a biography of the retired pope by bestselling author Peter Seewald. https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/05/in-new-biography-pope-benedict-says-world-threatened-by-humanism/
___________________________________________________________ 5. CDF: Belgian Bros. of Charity Hospitals Must Drop Catholic Identity Over Euthanasia. By Catholic News Agency, May 4, 2020 The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has ordered 15 psychiatric hospitals in Belgium which belong to the Brothers of Charity to cease identifying as Catholic institutions after they allowed the euthanization of patients in 2017. The hospitals are managed by a civil non-profit corporation with the same name as the Brothers of Charity religious congregation which owns them. The CDF decision was communicated in a letter dated March 30, stating that “with deep sadness” the “psychiatric hospitals managed by the Provincialate of the Brothers of Charity association in Belgium will no longer be able to consider themselves Catholic institutions.” In a statement responding to the CDF’s decision, the superior general of the Brothers of Charity, Br. René Stockman, said that “with a heavy heart” the religious congregation “must let go of its psychiatric centers in Belgium.” https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/cdf-belgian-bros.-of-charity-hospitals-must-drop-catholic-identity-over-eut
___________________________________________________________ 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. | 
