1. Old Latin Mass Finds New American Audience, By Ruth Graham, The New York Times, November 16, 2022, Pg. A1 The traditional Latin Mass, an ancient form of Catholic worship that Pope Francis has tried to discourage, is instead experiencing a revival in the United States. It appeals to an overlapping mix of aesthetic traditionalists, young families, new converts and critics of Francis. And its resurgence, boosted by the pandemic years, is part of a rising right-wing strain within American Christianity as a whole. The Mass has sparked a sprawling proxy battle in the American church over not just songs and prayers but also the future of Catholicism and its role in culture and politics. … The traditional Latin Mass, also referred to as the “extraordinary form,” was celebrated for centuries until the transformations of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which were intended in part to make the rite more accessible. After the Council, Mass could be celebrated in any language, contemporary music entered many parishes and priests turned to face people in the pews. But the traditional Latin Mass, with all its formality and mystery, never fully disappeared. Though it represents a fraction of Masses performed at the 17,000 Catholic parishes in the United States, it is thriving. The United States now appears to have at least 600 venues offering the traditional Mass, the most by far of any country. More than 400 venues offer it every Sunday, according to one online directory. This growth is happening as Pope Francis has cracked down, issuing strict new limits on the rite last year. … Political and theological conservatives see in Pope Francis’ restriction of the traditional Latin Mass a troubling disregard for orthodoxy more broadly. … https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/us/latin-mass-revival.html __________________________________________________________ 2. US Catholic bishops elect Timothy Broglio as new president, By Peter Smith and David Crary, Associated Press, November 15, 2022, 6:53 PM Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services, who oversees Catholic ministries to the U.S. armed forces, was elected Tuesday as the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Broglio, 70, was elected to a three-year term from a field of 10 candidates. He will succeed Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who assumed the post in 2019. The archbishop of Baltimore, William Lori, was elected as the conference’s new vice president. … While Broglio was not considered as hardline a conservative as a few other candidates, his election was not welcomed by some left-of-center Catholics who empathize with Pope Francis in his occasional conflicts with the U.S. bishops. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/us-catholic-bishops-elect-timothy-broglio-as-new-president/2022/11/15/9bbc2f3c-651f-11ed-b08c-3ce222607059_story.html __________________________________________________________ 3. Broglio: conservative, continuity, or compromise?, The bishops took three rounds of voting to elect a new USCCB president. But does Archbishop Broglio have stronger hand than you might think?, By Ed. Condon, The Pillar, November 15, 2022, 7:07 PM The U.S. bishops’ elected a new president and vice president on Tuesday afternoon, returning Archbishops Timothy Broglio and William Lori after third round runoff elections for both positions. The extended voting sessions needed to return the archbishops as president and vice president painted a picture of a conference without a clear consensus, and suggest the bishops may already be looking ahead to their next vote in three years. But it is not clear that an expected turnover among the American episcopate in the coming years will produce a new majority for a different kind of leadership. In the meantime, the lack of consensus among the bishops could shift how the Broglio presidency is seen, both within the Church in the U.S. and in Rome. … In the run-up to the election, Broglio was widely tagged as a “continuity candidate,” serving as conference secretary and having been runner-up in the vice-presidential election three years ago. He is also usually framed as “conservative” bishop, at least relative to some other members of the conference. … If Broglio can call on his past experiences as a Vatican diplomat, he could prove an effective communicator for the U.S. bishops in their dealings with the Holy See. At the same time, the circumstances of Broglio’s election mean his mandate is closer to that of a “compromise” rather than “continuity” president. The extent to which he will have to represent a diversity of voices within the conference, instead of a super-majority block, will mean he can credibly claim to speak for all sides of the American hierarchy, rather than being the tribune of one or other faction. … https://www.pillarcatholic.com/broglio-conservative-continuity-or-compromise/ __________________________________________________________ 4. Hate crimes against Christians on the rise in Europe, report says, By Andrea Gagliarducci, Catholic News Agency, November 15, 2022, 8:06 AM Hate crimes against Christians are on the rise in Europe, according to a new report published this week. The Observatory for the Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians (OIDAC) in Europe documented more than 500 anti-Christian hate crimes — including four homicides — in Europe in 2021. Since 2005, the Vienna-based organization has tracked cases of discrimination and other hate crimes against Christians. These range from vandalism to homicide. The data collected is on public record, and anyone can check the figures and see the source of the incidents. The report denounced a “chilling effect among victims” and a lack of media coverage. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252814/hate-crimes-against-christians-on-the-rise-in-europe-report-says __________________________________________________________ 5. Judge overturns Georgia’s ban on abortion around 6 weeks, By Sudhin Thanawala, Associated Press, November 15, 2022 A judge overturned Georgia’s ban on abortion starting around six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling Tuesday that it violated the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it was enacted three years ago and was therefore void. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney’s ruling took effect immediately statewide, though the state attorney general’s office said it filed an appeal. The ban had been in effect since July. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, which represented doctors and advocacy groups that had asked McBurney to throw out the law, said it expects abortions past six weeks of pregnancy to resume Wednesday at some clinics. Their lawsuit, filed in July, sought to strike down the ban on multiple grounds, including that it violates the Georgia Constitution’s right to privacy and liberty by forcing pregnancy and childbirth on women in the state. McBurney did not rule on that claim. Instead, his decision agreed with a different argument made in the lawsuit — that the ban was invalid because when it was signed into law in 2019, U.S. Supreme Court precedent under Roe. v. Wade and another ruling allowed abortion well past six weeks. … https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-health-government-and-politics-atlanta-58ba677dd47afad6d25d9887f17e8763 __________________________________________________________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. |