1. For Conservative Christian Women, Amy Coney Barrett’s Success Is Personal, Judge Barrett is a new kind of icon for some, one they have not seen before in American cultural and political life, By Ruth Graham, The New York Times, September 28, 2020, 6:29 AM
Judge Barrett’s nomination pleased many conservatives, who see in her legal credentials and judicial philosophy the potential for her to be the next Antonin Scalia, a solidly conservative presence on the court for decades.
But for many conservative Christian women, the thrill of the nomination is more personal. Judge Barrett, for them, is a new kind of icon — one they have not seen before in American cultural and political life: a woman who is both unabashedly ambitious and deeply religious, who has excelled at the heights of a demanding profession even as she speaks openly about prioritizing her conservative Catholic faith and family. Judge Barrett has seven children, including two children adopted from Haiti and a young son with Down syndrome.
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For women with large families, Judge Barrett’s appearance in the Rose Garden on Saturday with her seven children, whom she called “my greatest joy,” was especially poignant. “She shows that it’s possible for a woman to rise to the top of her profession while having many children,” said Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, a Catholic mother of 10 who graduated from Stanford Law School and now serves as director for a conservative legal advocacy group focusing on religious liberty.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/us/amy-coney-barrett-christian-women.html
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2. What ACB has in common with RBG, By Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post, September 28, 2020, Pg. A21, Opinion
Knives are being sharpened and armies of Democratic operatives have saddled up to try and ride Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett out of town.
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A Notre Dame law professor before she joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in 2017, she’s also a mother to seven children, including one with special needs and two adopted from Haiti. Yes, she’s certainly pro-life.
She’s also a Catholic, a near-apocalyptic thought to liberals fearful that a majority conservative court will overturn Roe v. Wade.
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Worse, at least in the eyes of secularists, Barrett has been a member of a small charismatic community in Indiana called People of Praise, a diverse group of Protestants and Catholics.
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With all the conversation about what the late justice wanted — her dying wish reportedly was that her replacement not be installed until after the next president is sworn in — it’s impossible to think she’d object to a sharp mind like Barrett’s joining the bench.
They surely would have disagreed on any number of issues — and probably become friends. Both the late justice and her likely replacement benefited from being easy to underestimate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/27/what-amy-coney-barrett-has-common-with-ruth-bader-ginsburg/
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3. Steer clear of People of Praise, Go after Trump, but spare Barrett’s religion, By Melinda Henneberger, USA Today, September 28, 2020, Pg. 7A, Opinion
All faiths are at least a little bit weird to those outside of them. Imagine telling someone unfamiliar with Catholicism, “Every chance I get, I eat some bread that I believe is the body of God’s only son, who was executed in Jerusalem under Tiberius.” Totally normal, right?
So to all of my friends who think that the religious practice of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, who is a member of a charismatic ecumenical community called the People of Praise, ought to bring out the bulldog in Kamala Harris and other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I say dear God, no.
First, you cannot fight bigotry with bigotry; religious intolerance is just as wrong as any other kind of othering. Indulging it won’t get us a more tolerant America.
And Senators, treating her like the kook that she is not is just what the president is counting on you to do. Unless you want to star in Trump campaign commercials that he’ll say prove Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is “against God,” don’t even think about it.
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By all means, Democrats, go after the fact that this shouldn’t be Trump’s choice to make and that he’s trying to undo the Affordable Care Act in the middle of a pandemic. But heap scorn on the People of Praise and you’ll regret it.
Melinda Henneberger, a graduate of Notre Dame, is an editorial writer and columnist for The Kansas City Star and a member of the USA TODAY Board of Contributors
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/09/26/amy-coney-barrett-people-of-praise-catholic-democratic-bigotry-column/3549734001/
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4. Everybody Expects the Anti-Catholic Inquisition, Prejudice against ‘popery’ grew out of the English Protestant tradition and took root in America, By Dominic Green, The Wall Street Journal, September 28, 2020, Pg. A17, Opinion
The fear that Catholic-influenced thought is un-American is older than the republic. The English Protestant tradition identified Catholicism with “popery,” political absolutism and foreign influence—all the undemocratic spirits inimical to the freedom-loving Englishman. This is what John Wilkes, an English patriot dear to the Founders, meant when he said that Edmund Burke’s rhetoric “stank of whiskey and potatoes.”
These attitudes took firm root in the American colonies.
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This ignoble tradition runs through the English-speaking tradition of rights and sovereignty. As late as 1960, John F. Kennedy had to promise that he wasn’t taking orders from the pope, or at least wouldn’t listen to them if he was. Since then, the march of freedom has allowed Jews and Muslims to share the burden of insult about dual loyalty.
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Judge Barrett can now explain her values to the Democratic inquisitors at a Senate hearing. Let the public watch and listen, and decide whether her antagonists’ conduct, her answers and the Senate’s vote should influence their votes in November. The alternative is to forestall the workings of the nomination process and American democracy. That, unfortunately, is what Judge Barrett’s detractors have in mind. Forgive them, Lord: They know exactly what they’re doing.
Mr. Green is deputy editor of the Spectator (US).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/everybody-expects-the-anti-catholic-inquisition-11601154297?
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5. Report: Cardinal Pell returning to Vatican in crisis, By Rod McGuirk, Associated Press, September 28, 2020
Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, will soon return to the Vatican during an extraordinary economic scandal for the first time since he was cleared of child abuse allegations in Australia five months ago, a newspaper reported Monday.
Pell will fly back to Rome on Tuesday, Herald-Sun newspaper columnist Andrew Bolt wrote. The report by a vocal champion of the cardinal did not cite a source for the cardinal’s plans.
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Pell’s reported return follows Francis last week firing one of the cardinal’s most powerful opponents, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, over a financial scandal.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-oceania/2020/09/report-cardinal-pell-returning-to-vatican-in-crisis/
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6. If Barrett is confirmed, Supreme Court would have six Catholics, By David Crary, Associated Press, September 27, 2020
Catholics account for a bit more than 20 percent of the U.S. population, yet they are on track to hold six of the Supreme Court’s nine seats now that President Donald Trump has nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill its vacancy.
It’s a striking development given that the high court, for most of its history, was almost entirely populated by white male Protestants. Catholic academics and political analysts offer several explanations for the turnaround – related to Catholics’ educational traditions, their interest in the law, and – in the case of Catholic conservatives – an outlook that has appealed to recent Republican presidents filling judicial vacancies.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2020/09/if-barrett-is-confirmed-supreme-court-would-have-six-catholics/
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7. Christians on right, left react to Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to US Supreme Court, By Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post, September 27, 2020
President Trump officially nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday, and Christians from both ends of the political spectrum have released statements of support and opposition ahead of the Senate’s vote next month.
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Maureen Malloy Ferguson, a senior fellow for The Catholic Association, called Barrett “a brilliant and esteemed constitutional scholar who is admired as much for her magnanimous heart as for her intelligence.”
“In the hearings, Americans will get to know an extraordinary woman: a principled and independent judge, a loving mother,” Ferguson said in a statement.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-on-right-and-left-react-to-trumps-nomination-of-amy-coney-barrett-to-us-supreme-court.html
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8. Under Pope Francis, ‘accountability’ finally crosses the Tiber, By John L. Allen Jr., Crux, September 27, 2020, Opinion
Although the drama triggered by the sudden fall from grace of Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu is far from over, things nonetheless have reached the stage where it’s also possible to stand back and ponder the bigger picture.
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Such diversions aside, there is at least one big-picture insight confirmed by the Becciu affair: “Accountability,” in the full American sense of the word, is finally crossing the Tiber in the Pope Francis era.
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For Americans, it seems a no-brainer that someone caught in a scandal or who’s responsible for a failure would be fired. That’s what we mean by “accountability” – coaches whose teams lose get fired, CEOs whose companies under-perform get fired, politicians caught with their hands in the cookie jar get fired, TV stars whose ratings go down get fired, and on and on. It’s the heart of capitalist psychology, really – success brings rewards, failures bring punishment.
Yet Italian culture, which is the matrix in which the Vatican is set, hasn’t always rolled that way
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So, what to make of it?
It could just mean that Francis is losing patience about the progress of his Vatican reform. Perhaps he feels that he’s tried moral suasion, personal example, exhortation and even rebuke, and it isn’t working, so he’s more inclined to make heads roll.
Whatever the explanation, let’s pause for a moment and savor an aspect of all this that shouldn’t be lost.
Francis is well known for his antipathy to many aspects of capitalism and American culture, born in part of the decidedly checkered history of US involvement in his native Latin America. Proving once again that God has a keen sense of irony, who would have predicted that it would be this pope, of all people, who would carry American-style accountability across the Tiber river and bring it home to Rome?
https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/09/under-pope-francis-accountability-finally-crosses-the-tiber/
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9. Thousands gather at prayer march on the Mall, By Michelle Boorstein and Sarah Pulliam Bailey, The Washington Post, September 27, 2020, Pg. C1
Thousands of Christians gathered on the Mall in Washington on Saturday, waving U.S. flags, kneeling in small prayer circles alongside monuments, singing and listening to speakers who called on the nation to come together and heal.
Two groups — one organized by New Jersey-based pastor and popular author Jonathan Cahn, the other led by Evangelist Franklin Graham — emphasized slightly different objectives but came with a shared focus central to many millions of Christian conservatives: repairing a country they say is in the midst of a spiritual crisis.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/prayer-march-national-mall/2020/09/26/e401f184-002f-11eb-b555-4d71a9254f4b_story.html
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10. Statements From TCA On The Nomination Of Judge Amy Coney Barrett To The Supreme Court, By The Catholic Association, September 26, 2020
Statement from Maureen Ferguson, Senior Fellow for The Catholic Association:
“Judge Barrett is a brilliant and esteemed constitutional scholar who is admired as much for her magnanimous heart as for her intelligence. In the hearings, Americans will get to know an extraordinary woman: a principled and independent judge, a loving mother. She is a professional woman of the highest caliber, and Democrats in the upcoming hearings would do well to recognize her legal accomplishments and examine her record fairly, rather than attack her faith as they did during her confirmation to the 7th Circuit.”
Statement from Ashley McGuire, Senior Fellow for The Catholic Association:
“Judge Amy Coney Barrett is an extraordinarily accomplished woman who deserves an expeditious vote in the Senate. She has a record of fairness and independence and will defend the Constitution and our rights. President Trump has once again fulfilled his promise to the American people. Democrats should give her a fair hearing and refrain from the bigoted attacks on her faith they employed against her before.”
Statement from Dr. Grazie Christie, Policy Advisor for The Catholic Association:
“By choosing Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump will nominate someone to the Supreme Court who will be, like her predecessor, a model and an inspiration to American women for decades to come. She is brilliant, accomplished, and committed to interpreting the text of the Constitution as written. Her stellar record calls for a speedy and fair hearing. Democrat Senators must put aside the religious bigotry they have shown in the past.”
https://thecatholicassociation.org/statements-from-tca-on-the-nomination-of-judge-amy-coney-barrett-to-the-supreme-court/
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11. What Americans Really Think About Abortion, It’s the issue that most epitomizes our ‘us’ versus ‘them’ political culture, but actually talking to people yields much more nuance, By Tricia C. Bruce, The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2020, Pg. C3, Opinion
But for all of abortion’s prominence in the culture war, constitutional battles and social movements, there’s a much quieter, more personal and less binary character to the ways that ordinary Americans actually think and talk about the issue. It’s the kind of dialogue that can’t take place on billboards, license plates, protest signs or memes—it requires seeing someone face-to-face, and listening.
My team of five sociologists did just that over the course of the past year.
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Though Americans’ views on abortion are very personal, more gray than black and white, and steeped in considerations of the “good life,” such nuances seldom find a place in public discourse on the issue. Polling that focuses on the extremes, or on hypotheticals rather than lived situations, exacerbates the disconnect between how we talk about abortion and how Americans actually understand it.
Listening in-depth makes sense of the paradox that most Americans don’t “want” abortion but nonetheless support legal access to it. One could call them confused, conflicted or even incoherent about the issue, but their views differ notably from the positions of many activists, politicians and religious leaders, who insist on hard-line “pro-choice” or “pro-life” labels. Most ordinary Americans engage in difficult moral juggling about abortion, whether or not they slow down to tell others about it.
Dr. Bruce is a sociologist at the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame and the author of the new report, “How Americans Understand Abortion,” from which this essay is adapted.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-americans-really-think-about-abortion-11601042639?
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12. Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court praised by religious conservatives, By Paul Best, Fox News, September 26, 2020
President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court Saturday, a move immediately met with praise from religious conservatives, who have Barrett for years.
Maureen Ferguson, senior fellow for the Catholic Association, called Barrett an “esteemed constitutional scholar” Saturday.
“In the hearings, Americans will get to know an extraordinary woman: a principled and independent judge, a loving mother,” Ferguson said in a statement to Fox News.
“She is a professional woman of the highest caliber, and Democrats in the upcoming hearings would do well to recognize her legal accomplishments and examine her record fairly, rather than attack her faith as they did during her confirmation to the 7th Circuit.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/judge-barretts-supreme-court-religious-conservatives
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13. Thoughts on Pope Francis’s ‘great defenestration’ of Cardinal Becciu, By John L. Allen Jr., Crux, September 26, 2020, Opinion
By now, a great deal has been said and written about the defenestration of Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once arguably the most influential man in the Vatican after the pope himself, who now finds himself suddenly stripped of both his Vatican sinecure and the rights pertaining to being a cardinal.
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Three thoughts about the drama suggest themselves.
First, the Vatican announced the news Thursday night at roughly 8:00 p.m. in a terse one-line statement saying only that Becciu had resigned from his office and from his rights as a cardinal. In a certain way, you have to admire Vatican communications personnel; sometimes it’s as if there’s an Olympic event for leaving obvious questions dangling, and these guys are training hard for the gold.
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If the Vatican is going to announce that the pope has thrown an official under the bus, it might as well go ahead and say why. It does no one any favors to be coy … unless, of course, there’s concern the actual reason might not withstand scrutiny, in which case you’ve got bigger problems that whatever you put in the official announcement.
Second, Becciu was adamant Friday that he didn’t see any crime in paying his brother’s company roughly $230,000 for fixtures for the Vatican embassy in Cuba where he served as ambassador between 2009 and 2011.
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Of course, there’s a notoriously bad word for such deals, which is “nepotism.” Not knowing anyone else who could do the work is no excuse, because that’s what open bidding for contracts is all about. Clearly the operation wasn’t in the spirit of Pope Francis, who decreed a new law in early June specifying, among other things, that no one with a family relationship with a bidder for a Vatican contract can be involved in the decision.
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Third, it will be fascinating to see what Becciu chooses to do now.
https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/09/thoughts-on-pope-franciss-great-defenestration-of-cardinal-becciu/
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14. Anti-Catholic bigotry has no place in the Barrett confirmation hearings, By Hugh Hewitt, The Washington Post, September 26, 2020, 2:04 PM, Opinion
Liberal scholar Father James Martin wrote 20 years ago about anti-Catholicism and its reputation as the “last acceptable prejudice.” It isn’t acceptable. Not then. Not now. With President Trump’s expected nomination of 7th Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett — a Catholic, as I am — to the Supreme Court on Saturday, the country may be about to see who among us still harbors this prejudice.
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I and many other Catholics worry that a Supreme Court with a strong, long-term presence of self-identifying Catholics (there are currently five) could create the mistaken impression that the court’s decisions are driven more by theological concerns than legal ones. But that worry does not license the exercise of anti-Catholic bigotry against a particular nominee.
What matters regarding a nominee’s faith, or lack of it, is Article VI of the Constitution, which provides in its relevant part that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” That is an absolute prohibition, and any senator who violates it in the coming weeks should be ashamed — and shamed. Either we are for or against the Constitution. To ignore this strict prohibition is to be against it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/26/anti-catholic-bigotry-has-no-place-barrett-confirmation-hearings/
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15. Women Leaders Praise Trump Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett: ‘Role Model for Women and Girls Across Country’, By Dr. Susan Berry, Breitbart, September 26, 2020, 9:46 AM
Women leaders are applauding President Donald Trump for nominating to the U.S. Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a constitutional scholar who, they say, will serve as a “role model for women and girls across the country.”
Barrett is not only esteemed as a “brilliant” constitutional scholar, but also for her “magnanimous heart,” said Maureen Ferguson, senior fellow for The Catholic Association:
“Americans will get to know an extraordinary woman – a principled and independent judge, a loving mother. She is a professional woman of the highest caliber, and Democrats in the upcoming hearings would do well to recognize her legal accomplishments and examine her record fairly, rather than attack her faith as they did during her confirmation to the Seventh Circuit.”
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Dr. Grazie Christie, a policy advisor for The Catholic Association, said Barrett will be, “like her predecessor, a model and an inspiration to American women for decades to come.”
“She is brilliant, accomplished, and committed to interpreting the text of the Constitution as written,” Christie added. “Her stellar record calls for a speedy and fair hearing. Democrat Senators must put aside the religious bigotry they have shown in the past.”
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Ashley McGuire, also a senior fellow for The Catholic Association, described Barrett as “an extraordinarily accomplished woman who deserves an expeditious vote in the Senate.”
“She has a record of fairness and independence and will defend the Constitution and our rights,” she added. “President Trump has once again fulfilled his promise to the American people. Democrats should give her a fair hearing and refrain from the bigoted attacks on her faith they employed against her before.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/26/women-leaders-praise-trump-nomination-of-amy-coney-barrett-role-model-for-women-and-girls-across-country/
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16. Vatican cardinal forced to resign insists he’s innocent, says ‘I’ll prove it’, By Elise Ann Allen, Crux, September 25, 2020
In an impromptu press conference held the day after his unexpected resignation was announced, Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu argued that he is innocent of accusations of illegal financial activity and will prove his innocence if given the chance.
“In our meeting, the Holy Father told me that I favored my brothers and their companies with money from the Secretariat of State,” Becciu said in a Sept. 25 invite-only press conference he organized the day after his resignation was announced.
“I told the pope: Why are you doing this to me? In front of the whole world, nonetheless,” he said, but insisted that he could explain.
Becciu has been accused of using money from the Secretariat of State and from the Vatican’s Peter’s Pence charitable fund to contract companies two of his brothers hold ties to, to provide favoritism to his home diocese through generous donations, and to make an illegitimate real estate contract in London.
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After news of Becciu’s resignation broke, Australian Cardinal George Pell, who once led the pope’s bid for financial reform as head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy and who was recently acquitted of allegations of child sexual abuse, issued a statement praising Pope Francis’s decision.
“The Holy Father was elected to clean up Vatican finances. He plays a long game and is to be thanked and congratulated on recent developments,” Pell said, adding, “I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria,” the latter referring to his home state in Australia.
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/09/vatican-cardinal-forced-to-resign-insists-hes-innocent-says-ill-prove-it/
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17. Vatican cardinal pushes back after pope fires him in scandal, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, September 25, 2020, 10:37 AM
A powerful Vatican cardinal who was sacked by Pope Francis in an astonishing twist to the Vatican’s latest financial scandal pushed back Friday against allegations he embezzled Holy See money and denied he did anything wrong.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu presided over an extraordinary news conference a day after Francis fired him and yanked his rights and privileges as a cardinal. The 72-year-old Becciu, a onetime papal contender, said his downfall was “surreal,” but that he had a clear conscience, remained loyal to Francis and was ready to die for him.
Becciu said Francis had asked him to step down as prefect of the Vatican’s saint-making office during a “troubled” 20-minute meeting Thursday evening in which the pope said he “no longer had confidence in me.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/vatican-cardinal-pushes-back-after-pope-fires-him-in-scandal/2020/09/25/a18a83f0-ff3c-11ea-b0e4-350e4e60cc91_story.html
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18. Pope to UN: Use COVID crisis to come out better, not worse, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, September 25, 2020, 12:21 PM
Pope Francis urged world leaders Friday to use the coronavirus emergency as an opportunity to reform the injustices of the global economy and the “perverse logic” of the nuclear deterrence doctrine, warning that increased isolationist responses to problems “must not prevail.”
Francis laid out his appeal for greater involvement and influence of the United Nations in protecting the poor, migrants and the environment in a videotaped speech Friday to the U.N. General Assembly, held mostly virtually this year because of the pandemic.
Francis said the world has a choice to make as it emerges from the COVID-19 crisis and addresses the grave economic impact it has had on the planet’s most vulnerable: greater solidarity, dialogue and multilateralism, or self-retreat into greater nationalism, individualism and elitism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pope-to-un-use-covid-crisis-to-come-out-better-not-worse/2020/09/25/34fa5a1c-ff4b-11ea-b0e4-350e4e60cc91_story.html
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19. I taught and worked with Amy Coney Barrett. Here’s what people get wrong about her faith., By John Garvey, The Washington Post, September 25, 2020, 7:49 PM, Opinion
I would be astonished if anyone were to oppose her nomination on the basis of character or intellect. Anxiety about her confirmation instead seems driven by the fear that her religious belief is somehow incompatible with the impartiality demanded of a judge. Some have tried to attach a sinister significance to her association with the People of Praise, an ecumenical Christian organization started by Notre Dame students in the 1970s. People of Praise is part of the charismatic renewal movement, focused on community, fellowship and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pope Francis has referred to the various groups in this movement as “a current of grace in the Church and for the Church.”
In an attempt to capture the public imagination, Barrett’s detractors have tried to associate the People of Praise with the regime depicted in the dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
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The organization’s fidelity to traditional Christian teachings rubs some lawmakers the wrong way. This is not a uniquely modern aversion. The English Test Act and Corporation Act used to require people seeking government office to prove that they did not believe in the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation — the idea that the bread and wine of Communion become the body and blood of Christ.
But the only thing our Constitution said on the subject of religion — before the First Amendment was added — was that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” That has, for more than two centuries, been a guarantee of a tolerant pluralism in our country. The Constitution invites Catholics, evangelicals, Mormons, Jews, Muslims and nonbelievers alike to serve their country, and promises them that they won’t be interrogated about the way they choose to love and serve God.
As a law professor, dean and college president invested in Catholics’ continued service to America, I hope Barrett’s critics will observe this part of our original understanding.
John Garvey is president of the Catholic University of America. He is a former dean of the Boston College Law School and a former president of the Association of American Law Schools.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/25/i-taught-worked-with-amy-coney-barrett-heres-what-people-get-wrong-about-her-faith/
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20. Court weighs fate of sweeping Missouri abortion restrictions, By Jim Salter, Associated Press, September 25, 2020, 2:11 PM
A federal appeals court panel is weighing the fate of a sweeping Missouri abortion law, including a provision that prohibits a woman from having an abortion because the fetus has Down syndrome.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard arguments Thursday in the legal battle over the 2019 measure that bans abortions at or after eight weeks of pregnancy. The appeals court ruling isn’t expected for several weeks.
Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood, operator of Missouri’s lone abortion clinic, and the American Civil Liberties Union sued. A federal judge blocked the law while the legal challenge plays out, prompting the state’s appeal to the 8th Circuit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/court-weighs-fate-of-sweeping-missouri-abortion-restrictions/2020/09/25/7b5e5670-ff5a-11ea-b0e4-350e4e60cc91_story.html
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21. In UN message, Pope Francis decries abortion and family breakdown, By Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency, September 25, 2020, 2:00 PM
Pope Francis told the United Nations Friday that denying the existence of human life in the womb through abortion does not solve problems.
“Unfortunately, some countries and international institutions are also promoting abortion as one of the so-called ‘essential services’ provided in the humanitarian response to the pandemic,” Pope Francis said in his address to the UN Sept. 25.
“It is troubling to see how simple and convenient it has become for some to deny the existence of a human life as a solution to problems that can and must be solved for both the mother and her unborn child,” the pope said.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/in-un-message-pope-francis-decries-abortion-and-family-breakdown-91621
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22. US ambassador issues religious freedom warning at UN event, By Matt Hadro, Catholic News Agency, September 25, 2020, 1:30 PM
The U.S. religious freedom ambassador has warned against governments using the pandemic to crack down on religious minorities, in remarks on Friday during the United Nations General Assembly.
Sam Brownback, Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, spoke at an online event “Answering the Call to Protect Religious Freedom” event, held during the 2020 UN General Assembly.
In a review of the developments of global religious freedom in the past year, Brownback noted that the U.S. has “urged governments to make sure members of religious minority groups are not discriminated against during the pandemic,” whether through scapegoating of minority groups for the spread of the virus or unnecessary restrictions on their access to worship.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/us-ambassador-issues-religious-freedom-warning-at-un-event-53011
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23. Bishops in US emphasize importance of life, Church teaching in voting guidances, By Catholic News Agency, September 25, 2020, 12:17 PM
As election day looms, Catholic bishops throughout the country are issuing pastoral guidance on how Catholics should think about their vote, emphasizing the preeminent importance of “life issues” and Church teaching.
“I recognize that many of you feel such deep distress about this election, perhaps the most contentious in the course of our lifetime,” Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh said in a Sept. 22 letter to Catholics in his diocese.
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“At the forefront of ‘life issues’ is the right to be born as the right upon which all other ‘life issues’ rest,” he said.
Zubik said that the primacy of the right to life has been a “consistent Catholic teaching,” and pointed to the words of St. John Paul II, Pope Francis, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as examples of this.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/bishops-in-us-emphasize-importance-of-life-church-teaching-in-voting-guidances-49492
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24. Religious groups criticize ‘faith test’ for Supreme Court seat, By Christopher Vondracek, The Washington Times, September 25, 2020
Some religious liberty groups are sending a shot across the bow to U.S. senators, warning against any religious prejudice that may infiltrate potential Supreme Court vacancy hearings, should President Trump choose Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
“Democrats tried making Amy Coney Barrett’s faith disqualifying during her confirmation hearing for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals when they attacked her Catholic beliefs,” said Ashley McGuire, senior fellow with the Catholic Association, a group of laypersons. “We call upon all senators and elected officials to reject applying religious tests for public office.”
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/sep/25/religious-groups-criticize-faith-test-supreme-cour/
___________________________________________________________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. |
