Dr. Grazie Christie & Ashley McGuire speak with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone about his recent op-ed challenging Catholic politicians who openly support abortion. The shepherd of San Francisco also discusses St. Junipero Serra as the state of California looks to erase his legacy, slandering his name in new legislation. Maureen Ferguson also joins with professor and children’s book author Dr. Matthew Mehan with a look at Hillsdale’s 1776 Curriculum, an ‘antidote to America’s ailing civics miseducation’. Father Roger Landry also offers an inspiring homily on this Sunday’s Gospel. Catch the show every Saturday at 7amET/5pmET on EWTN radio!

https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/ep-126-archbishop-cordileone-on-slandering-st-serra-dr-matt-mehan-on-the-1776-curriculum/
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1. Viability of fetus, medical progress loom in legal abortion battles, By Alex Swoyer, The Washington Times, September 17, 2021, Pg. A1

Viability — the period when a fetus can survive outside the mother’s womb — has become a key factor in efforts to restrict abortion, with pro-life advocates and politicos citing medical advancements that have allowed premature babies to survive after shorter pregnancies.

The issue likely will play a significant role when the Supreme Court hears arguments in its upcoming term in a lawsuit opposing Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The case directly challenges the high court’s precedent in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a right to abortion before the third trimester.

Medical technology has changed since 1973,

when viability was determined to occur “at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks,” according to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe.

The world’s earliest successful premature birth occurred in June 2020, when Richard Hutchinson was born at 21 weeks and two days, weighing less than a pound. He celebrated his first birthday this summer, according to The Washington Post.

In Mississippi’s legal battle, the state moved to present evidence about viability and medical advances. A filing tells the justices that a lower court did not allow such evidence to be presented in its defense of the state’s 15-week abortion ban.

Medical and legal authorities now say viability is reached around the 24th week of pregnancy, with rare births as early as 21 weeks.

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/sep/16/viability-medical-advancements-loom-in-legal-battl/
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2. Lawsuit: Defrocked Cardinal McCarrick abused man in 1980s, By David Porter, Associated Press, September 16, 2021, 7:16 PM

Three sex abuse lawsuits filed against a New Jersey diocese and announced Thursday include claims that defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abused a young man in the 1980s.

The lawsuit accuses McCarrick of sexual battery against the man, who was in his late teens and early 20s when McCarrick was Bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, in central New Jersey.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/lawsuit-defrocked-cardinal-mccarrick-abused-man-in-1980s/2021/09/16/050b7276-1725-11ec-a019-cb193b28aa73_story.html
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3. Another Texas execution delayed on religious freedom claims, By Juan A. Lozano, Associated Press, September 16, 2021, 6:14 PM

Another Texas inmate has had his execution delayed over claims the state is violating his religious freedom by not letting his spiritual adviser lay hands on him at the time of his lethal injection.

Ruben Gutierrez was set to be executed on Oct. 27 for fatally stabbing an 85-year-old Brownsville woman in 1998.

But a judge on Wednesday granted a request by the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office to vacate the execution date. Prosecutors said the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming review of similar religious freedom issues made by another inmate, John Henry Ramirez, whose execution the high court delayed last week, will impact Gutierrez’s case.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/another-texas-execution-delayed-on-religious-freedom-claims/2021/09/16/b6797d0a-1739-11ec-a019-cb193b28aa73_story.html
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4. Federal judicial nominee grilled over 1990s religious freedom case, By Christine Rousselle, Catholic News Agency, September 16, 2021, 10:15 AM

Multiple senators accused a judicial nominee of being hostile to religious freedom during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

Beth Robinson, nominated by President Joe Biden to be a judge on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, was grilled by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Wednesday. They asked her about her representing a woman who sued a Vermont Catholic-owned print shop in the 1990s for not printing business cards of a pro-abortion group.

The print shop, Regal Art Press in St. Alban’s, Vermont, was owned by two practicing Catholics, the Bakers. Robinson’s client, Linda Paquette, sought to order membership cards for the now-inactive organization Vermont Catholics for Choice. The Bakers refused the order, saying that they did not believe Catholics could be in favor of abortion, and Paquette sued, saying that her rights were violated.

In a legal brief supporting Paquette in state courts, Robinson referred to the Baker family’s pro-life beliefs as “invidious” and “pernicious.” 

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249008/bidens-judicial-nominee-grilled-over-1990s-religious-freedom-case
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5. The Papal Foundation provides $800K in scholarships for studies in Rome, By Christine Rousselle, Catholic News Agency, September 16, 2021, 9:34 AM

The Papal Foundation has awarded nearly $800,000 in scholarships to 96 priests, brothers, sisters, and lay faithful as part of the Saint John Paul II Scholarship Program.

The scholarships will enable the recipients to study at 16 universities in Rome. The recipients hail from five continents.

…

Since the Saint John Paul II Scholarship Program launched in 2000, it has provided nearly $13 million in scholarships to over 1,600 recipients. Recipients, known as Saeman Scholars in honor of major donors John and Carol Saeman, are from disadvantaged countries.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249007/papal-foundation-awards-800k-for-john-paul-ii-scholarship-program
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6. Benedict XVI: Legalization of same-sex marriage is ‘a distortion of conscience’, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, September 16, 2021, 9:15 AM

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI has said that the legalization of same-sex marriage in many countries is “a distortion of conscience” which has also entered some Catholic circles.

In an introduction to a new anthology of his writings on Europe, Benedict XVI said that “with the legalization of ‘same-sex marriage’ in 16 European countries, the issue of marriage and family has taken on a new dimension that cannot be ignored.”

“We are witnessing a distortion of conscience which has evidently penetrated deeply into sectors of the Catholic people,” the pope emeritus wrote. “This cannot be answered with some small moralism or even with some exegetical reference. The problem goes deeper and therefore must be addressed in fundamental terms.”

The introduction, published in the Italian newspaper Il Foglio on Sept. 16, was written for the Italian book “The Real Europe: Identity and Mission.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249006/benedict-xvi-legalization-of-same-sex-marriage-is-a-distortion-of-conscience
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