Jackson, Miss., Oct 22, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Jackson and its ordinary, Bishop Joseph Kopacz, are being sued by the diocese’s former director of finance, who says he was unjustly fired last year.
Arie “Aad” Mattheus … […]
Washington D.C., Oct 22, 2019 / 05:19 pm (CNA).- The U.S. Secretary of State listed promoting international religious freedom and fighting abortion as among U.S. foreign policy priorities in a Tuesday speech on diplomacy.
In his remarks, Secretary of … […]
Poznan, Poland, Oct 22, 2019 / 04:07 pm (CNA).- The Polish Bishops’ Conference has asked Pope Francis to name St. John Paul II a patron of Europe and doctor of the Church.
Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, president of the Polish Bishops C… […]
Since the 1960s, women have been encouraged to throw off the shackles of home and dive into careers. The regnant wisdom has been that a career is far more satisfying than homemaking. As I’ve outlined […]
Canberra, Australia, Oct 22, 2019 / 03:18 pm (CNA).- A hearing of the Australian Senate was told Tuesday that the government had narrowed the purview of an independent inquiry into the effect of anti-discrimination laws on religious schools and organizations.
The government had asked the Australian Law Reform Commission in April to report on how to balance competing claims of religious freedom rights and LGBT rights. In recent years, Australia has seen debate over religious freedom with respect to the seal of the confessional, hiring decisions, and same-sex marriage.
Sarah Derrington, president of the ALRC, told a Senate hearing Oct. 22 that the government had in August limited the commission’s field of inquiry and delayed its report.
“The terms of reference as originally drafted were quite narrow in any event but they are narrower again,” she said, according to the AAP.
The ALRC was to have published a discussion paper on its findings in November, but the government directed that it be pushed back at least eight months.
It was also told to confine its recommendation to laws other than the religious discrimination bill, and ensure that legislation on sex discrimination and employment are consistent with the bill.
Derrington said that as a result, she has paused the commission’s inquiry.
The religious discrimination bill is intended make it unlawful to discriminate against people on the ground of their religious belief or activity; establish a religious freedom commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission; and amend existing laws regarding religious freedom, including marriage and charities law, and objects clauses in anti-discrimination law.
The coalition government, which is led by the Liberal Party and includes the National Party, wants to make religious belief and activity a protected class, like race or sex. It also hopes to ensure that groups rejecting same-sex marriage are not stripped of their charitable status.
The bill has faced criticism from both religious groups and LGBT advocates.
Freedom for Faith, a Christian legal think tank, said in September that the bill would have unintended consequences, and urged that it be re-drafted before it is passed.
Among its objections to the bill was that “it does not make much sense to create new exemptions in legislation at the same time as two organisations that report to the Attorney are busily working to reduce or eliminate them,” in reference to the work of the ALRC and the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The Australian bishops’ conference has said that while the religious discrimination bill shows promise, it does not do enough to safeguard religious freedom.
Washington D.C., Oct 22, 2019 / 02:27 pm (CNA).- A coalition of pro-life leaders has sent a letter calling on federal lawmakers to oppose an amendment to a foreign funding bill that would give money to organizations that promote abortion overseas.
The… […]
Next year, 2020, will see the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the most remarkable men of our times. In today’s West, it is almost standard to assume that anyone whose life has […]
Vatican City, Oct 22, 2019 / 02:10 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Christoph Schönborn explained Monday that the final document at the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops on the Amazon will be written principally by a team chaired by the synod’s Relator General, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes.
“The word ‘drafting committee’ is not very clear, in fact, the drafts are from the principal relator and his team. The role of the drafting committee is to give immediate approval of the work the relators do. So we, the drafting committee, don’t write the text,” the Austrian archbishop said at a press conference held October 21 in the Vatican press room.
Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican’s press office, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner, that Hummes and the synod’s “special secretaries” are principally responsible for the text of the final report.
“The relator and the special secretaries prepare the draft of the document based on the reports from the ‘small groups’ and the contributions of the participants during the general sessions. In doing this they are assisted by the ‘experts,’ included on the list of the Synod participants which was published before the synod began,”
The roles played by various contributors in the drafting process is not entirely clear.
Bishop Erwim Kräutler, emeritus heard of Brazil’s Xingu diocese, told ACI Prensa this week that Hummes, who chairs the drafting team, has not yet read the existing draft of the final document, suggesting it has been principally compiled by “special secretaries” participating in the synod, and by experts and other collaborators.
On Oct. 21, theologian Fr. José Oscar Beozzo told ACI Digital, CNA’s Portguse language news partner, that he was busy “helping with drafting the text” and needed to cancel a scheduled interview.
Beozzo is a well-known proponent of liberation theology in Latin America, a theological approach that has been the subject of several corrections and criticisms by the Vatican’s doctrinal offices.
On Oct. 22, Beozzo told ACI Digital that “the drafting of the document is the responsibility of the bishops, experts, consultants that are in the synod hall. I’m on the outside.”
He added that some Brazilian bishops had asked him to pray the Office of the Martyrs in the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina during his free time.
The Vatican’s Synod of Bishops on the Amazon is an Oct. 6-27 meeting on the Church’s pastoral and social ministry in the Amazon region, which spans nine countries in South America.
The synod is considering the nature of evangelization in the region, as well as the proposals of married priests in the region and commission women to serve as deacons, and is expected to issue a final report this week, which will constitute a set of recommendations for the consideration of Pope Francis.
A version of this story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
The family is an active and vital agent in establishing a civilization of love and the renewal of Christian culture. […]
Washington D.C., Oct 22, 2019 / 11:53 am (CNA).- A professional baseball clubhouse might not be considered a particularly religious place today, but one chaplain says the Catholic priesthood is needed—and desired—as much as ever there.
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