Pope Francis on Sunday made an impassioned plea to end the practice of returning migrants rescued at sea to Libya and other unsafe countries where they suffer “inhumane violence.”

Francis also waded into a highly contentious political debate in Europe, calling on the international community to find concrete ways to manage the “migratory flows” in the Mediterranean.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-dont-send-migrants-back-to-libya-and-inhumane-camps/2021/10/24/9a15ab56-34bd-11ec-9662-399cfa75efee_story.html
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2. Young People Say Disconnect Keeps Them From Church, Half of people between 13 and 25 surveyed by a nonprofit said they felt out of sync with their houses of worship on race, gender, immigration and more, By Clare Ansberry, The Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2021, 8:00 AM

Several religious denominations have seen memberships fall in recent years, including among young adults and teens. A new survey suggests that many young people perceive a disconnect between themselves and the houses of worship that need believers to sustain their congregations.

Half of young people ages 13 to 25 surveyed said they don’t think that religious institutions care as much as they do about issues that matter deeply to them, according to a report released Monday by the Springtide Research Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit. Those issues include racial justice, gender equity, immigration rights, income inequality and gun control. Springtide tracks the views of American teens and young adults. It has done research work in conjunction with the Princeton Theological Seminary and the Mennonite Church, among others.

The biggest disconnect involves LGBT rights. About 71% of youths said they care about gay rights, but feel that 44% of religious communities care about the same issue, according to the survey of 10,274 people across the country representing various faiths.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-people-say-disconnect-keeps-them-from-church-11635163200?
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3. Vatican at COP26: Hearts, habits must change fast to care for creation, By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service, October 24, 2021

Even though Pope Francis will not attend the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in person, the Vatican delegation and the Catholic Church will be “everywhere” during the two-week summit — from the highest-level private negotiations to the sidelines with grassroots “social action” and community-led events, said two delegates.

And most importantly, church representatives will bring with them the people that climate change affects the most “to make sure that the voices of the Global South are heard clearly and are taken seriously. This cannot be a meeting about them without them,” said Alistair Dutton, a member of the Holy See delegation to COP26 and the chief executive of Caritas Scotland’s Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), which is one of a number of key local organizers.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2021/10/vatican-at-cop26-hearts-habits-must-change-fast-to-care-for-creation/
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4. Top Court To Hear Texas Abortion Challenge, By Brent Kendall, The Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2021, Pg. A1

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to quickly consider two lawsuits challenging a Texas ban on most abortions but left the restrictive law in place for now, adding a new blockbuster battle to a docket that already included another major abortion-rights case.

The court set oral arguments for Nov. 1 but deferred acting on an emergency request from the Justice Department to block the Texas law while the federal government challenges its legality. The Texas limits, which are the most restrictive in the U.S., have been in effect for nearly two months.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-agrees-to-quick-consideration-of-texas-abortion-case-leaves-state-law-in-place-for-now-11634921299?
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5. There is no middle ground in the Mississippi abortion case. The court must overrule ‘Roe.’, By Sherif Girgis, The Washington Post, October 22, 2021, 2:39 PM, Opinion

The question the Supreme Court agreed to decide in the Mississippi abortion case sounds deceptively simple: Are “all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions” unconstitutional?

If the answer to that is a clear yes, the justices will surprise us all and strike down the state law, which prohibits most abortions after 15 weeks. No one expects that to happen.

But if the answer is no, the justices will confront the reality that there is then no intellectually honest way for them to uphold the Mississippi law without overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the 1992 case that reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion.

There is, in other words, no middle ground in the pending case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Upholding the Mississippi law without overruling the court’s previous abortion cases would lack support in any legal source, send even more abortion cases to the court and curb the justices’ ability to overrule Roe down the road.

Sherif Girgis is an associate professor of law at Notre Dame Law School.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/22/mississippi-abortion-case-supreme-court-must-overrule-roe/
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6. Human Rights Begin in the Womb, By Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, The Catholic New York, October 20, 2021, 5:00 AM, Opinion

Everyone seems to lament the divisiveness in our society today—in politics, culture, schools, even within our beloved Church.

One thing that seems to unite all sides is the worry that our world has lost a basic respect for life. Left and right, Democrat and Republican, East and West, across the globe, all seem to agree.

…

Where will all this stop, we ask?

I propose it will not end until we stop the presumed untouchable radical abortion license that seems to have captivated a segment of our society. As Mother Teresa wrote, “We must not be surprised when we hear of murder, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left for us but to kill each other?”

…

As with other issues of human rights, it is essential that there be equal justice under law for the baby. So, while we rally for equal protection of the law for the baby, let us also rally around women tempted to terminate their baby’s life, providing care, compassion, accompaniment, proper medical attention, alternatives such as adoption, and a culture that protects babies and moms before and after birth.

Ask again: when will all this violence, and disregard for life that causes us to cringe, halt?

The first step has to be an end to abortion.

https://www.cny.org/stories/human-rights-begin-in-the-womb,22937
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