CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 11:30 am (CNA).- The Bishop of Charleston, SC, has been cleared of accusations of sexual abuse by the Vatican, the diocese announced Sunday.
In a release from the Diocese of Charleston Monday, Bishop Robert Guglielmone said th… […]
CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The Labor Department (DOL) finalized a rule on Monday that allows faith-based government contractors to make employment decisions based on their religious beliefs.
The rule clarifies existing protections for faith-based contractors that date back to the Johnson era. It allows them to hire only people of a certain faith without regard to an anti-discrimination requirement of the government.
Exempt contractors can also make employment decisions based on an employee’s “acceptance of or adherence to religious tenets.”
The final rule retains most of the proposed rule, with some alterations regarding the scope of the religious exemption, DOL said.
Religion, according to the rule, includes “religious belief” as well as “all aspects of religious observance and practice.”
Eligible religious groups are not limited to churches and similar bodies, DOL said, but can be “a corporation, association, educational institution, society, school, college, university, or institution of learning” that is “organized for a religious purpose.”
The rule also says that “the contractor must engage in activity consistent with, and in furtherance of, its religious purpose” and is exempt when it “makes it reasonably clear to the public that it has a religious purpose.”
The agency says it would not challenge a group’s “sincere” claim of religious character, but a “sincere” claim must be more substantial than a group adding “a religious purpose to its documents after it becomes aware of potential discrimination liability or government scrutiny.”
Eligible contractors would not necessarily be non-profits, as some religious groups may operate small stores or could be entities such as hospitals, the agency said. However, any for-profit group would need to present “strong evidence” of their religious character, DOL said.
The group First Liberty Institute welcomed the new rule on Monday.
“Religious organizations should never be forced to abandon their religious identity and mission in order to be eligible to partner with the federal government,” said Stephanie Taub, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute.
There were more than 109,000 comments on the proposed rule, according to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
“When a religious group hires people of the same religion to carry out their mission, it’s not ‘discrimination,’ it’s common sense,” said Luke Goodrich, senior counsel and vice president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, to CNA when the rule was first proposed in Aug., 2019.
“And when the government refuses to work with religious groups that do the best job of caring for the needy, it’s not ‘equality,’ it’s nonsense,” he added.
In May, the agency issued broad new religious freedom protections for federal employees and faith-based grant recipients, including by implementing religious freedom into the daily operations of the agency and establishing “reasonable religious accommodations” for employees and applicants.
Under the guidance, religious groups had to have equal access to federal grants as their secular counterparts.
Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 06:20 am (CNA).- The Immaculate Conception is “one of the wonders of the story of salvation,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Tuesday.
Speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the pope encouraged Catholics to entrust themselves to Mary, seeking purity and holiness.
He said: “The uncontaminated beauty of our Mother is incomparable, but at the same time it attracts us. Let us entrust ourselves to her and say ‘no’ to sin and ‘yes’ to Grace once and for all.”
It is customary for the pope to lead the Angelus prayer not only on Sundays, but also on Marian solemnities. In his address, the pope reflected on the meaning of the Immaculate Conception.
“Today’s liturgical feast celebrates one of the wonders of the story of salvation: the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Even she was saved by Christ, but in an extraordinary way, because God wanted that the mother of His Son not be touched by the misery of sin from the moment of her conception,” he said.
“And so, for the entire course of her earthly life, Mary was free from any stain of sin, she was the ‘full of grace’ (Luke 1:28), as the angel called her. She was favored by a singular action of the Holy Spirit so as to always remain in perfect relationship with her Son, Jesus. Rather, she was Jesus’s disciple: His Mother and disciple. But there was no sin in her.”
Citing the hymn that opens St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the pope said that we too are created by God for the “fullness of holiness” granted to Mary from the beginning.
“And what Mary had from the beginning will be ours in the end, after we have passed through the purifying ‘bath’ of God’s grace,” he said.
“What opens the gates of paradise to us is God’s grace, received by us with faithfulness.”
Yet even the most innocent person is marked by original sin, he said, and therefore must engage in a lifelong struggle against its consequences. Lest we be discouraged, we should remember that the thief who was crucified beside Jesus “is the first person we are sure entered paradise,” the pope noted.
He continued: “But be careful. It does not pay to be clever — to continually postpone a serious evaluation of one’s own life, taking advantage of the Lord’s patience. He is patient. He waits for us, He is always ready to give us grace. We may be able to deceive people, but not God; He knows our hearts better than we ourselves do.”
“Let us take advantage of the present moment! This, yes, is the Christian sense of seizing the day. To not enjoy life in each passing moment — no, this is the worldly sense. But to seize today, to say ‘no’ to evil and ‘yes’ to God, to open oneself to His grace.”
The pope said that the “journey of conversion” begins with seeking God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We must then seek to repair the harm we have done to others.
“And this, for us, is the path for becoming ‘holy and immaculate,’” he explained.
After the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in the square below, which was wet following a rainy morning. He singled out an Italian group holding a banner proclaiming “L’Immacolata vincerà” (“The Immaculate will triumph”). The group, inspired by the spirituality of St. Maximilian Kolbe, has brought the banner to St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus since the 1990s.
“They are great, they are always here!” the pope commented.
He continued: “As you know, this afternoon the traditional veneration of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza di Spagna will not take place, to avoid the risk of a crowd gathering, as disposed by the civil authorities, whom we need to obey.”
“But this does not keep us from offering our Mother the flowers that she enjoys the most: prayer, penance, a heart open to grace.”
The pope recalled that that morning he had made a private visit to the statue of the Immaculate Conception in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna and then celebrated Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
“I wish everyone a happy feast day. And, please do not forget to pray for me,” he said.
Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 04:08 am (CNA).- Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph Tuesday in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church.
The year begins Dec. 8, 2020, and concludes on Dec. 8, 2021, according to a decree authorized by the pope.
The decree said that Francis had established a Year of St. Joseph so that “every member of the faithful, following his example, may strengthen their life of faith daily in the complete fulfillment of God’s will.”
It added that the pope had granted special indulgences to mark the year.
The Dec. 8 decree was issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees indulgences, and signed by the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, and the Regent, Msgr. Krzysztof Nykiel.
In addition to the decree, Francis issued an apostolic letter Tuesday dedicated to the foster father of Jesus.
“Each of us can discover in Joseph — the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence — an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble,” he wrote in the letter, entitled Patris Corde (“With a father’s heart”) and dated Dec. 8.
“St. Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”
Pope Pius IX proclaimed St. Joseph patron of the Universal Church on Dec. 8, 1870, in the decree Quemadmodum Deus.
In its decree Tuesday, the Apostolic Penitentiary said that, “to reaffirm the universality of St. Joseph’s patronage in the Church,” it would grant a plenary indulgence to Catholics who recite any approved prayer or act of piety in honor of St. Joseph, especially on March 19, the saint’s solemnity, and May 1, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
Other notable days for the plenary indulgence are the Feast of the Holy Family on Dec. 29, St. Joseph’s Sunday in the Byzantine tradition, the 19th of each month and every Wednesday, a day dedicated to the saint in the Latin tradition.
The Apostolic Penitentiary added: “In the current context of health emergency, the gift of the plenary indulgence is particularly extended to the elderly, the sick, the dying and all those who for legitimate reasons are unable to leave the house, who, with a soul detached from any sin and with the intention of fulfilling, as soon as possible, the three usual conditions, in their own home or where the impediment keeps them, recite an act of piety in honor of St. Joseph, comfort of the sick and patron of a happy death, offering with trust in God the pains and discomforts of their life.”
The three conditions for receiving a plenary indulgence are sacramental confession, the reception of Holy Communion and prayer for the pope’s intentions.
Pope Francis has promoted devotion to St. Joseph throughout his pontificate.
He began his petrine ministry on March 19, 2013, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, and dedicated the homily at his inauguration Mass to the saint.
“In the Gospels, St. Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love,” he said.
His coat of arms features a spikenard, which is associated with St. Joseph in Hispanic iconographic tradition.
On May 1, 2013, the pope authorized a decree instructing that St. Joseph’s name be inserted into Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV.
During an apostolic visit to the Philippines in 2015, the pope explained why he kept an image of the saint on his desk.
“I would also like to tell you something very personal,” he said. “I have great love for St. Joseph, because he is a man of silence and strength.”
“On my table I have an image of St. Joseph sleeping. Even when he is asleep, he is taking care of the Church! Yes! We know that he can do that. So when I have a problem, a difficulty, I write a little note and I put it underneath St. Joseph, so that he can dream about it! In other words I tell him: pray for this problem!”
At his general audience on March 18 this year, he urged Catholics to turn to St. Joseph in times of adversity.
“In life, at work and within the family, through joys and sorrows, he always sought and loved the Lord, deserving the Scriptures’ eulogy that described him as a just and wise man,” he said.
“Always invoke him, especially in difficult times and entrust your life to this great saint.”
The pope concluded his new apostolic letter by urging Catholics to pray to St. Joseph for “the grace of graces: our conversion.”
He ended the text with a prayer: “Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you Christ became man. Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.”
CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 01:45 am (CNA).- Pope Francis made a surprise visit Tuesday morning to the statue of the Immaculate Conception in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna.
The Holy See press office said Dec. 8 that the pope had made a private visit to t… […]
CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 12:21 am (CNA).- Legislators have sent to the Massachusetts governor a $46.2 billion full-year budget plan that includes provisions to expand access to abortion, additions which have drawn strong pro-life criticism.
An amendment to the budget bill would allow 16-year-olds to obtain an abortion without parental consent, a change from the current age of 18 years. Minors under the age of 16 could obtain a judicial bypass waiver to get an abortion without parental consent. A waiver could be granted via teleconference, according to the bill’s sponsor, State House News Service reported.
The provisions would also allow abortions after 24 weeks into pregnancy, even to the point of birth, for diagnosed fatal anomalies. Under the proposed amendment, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurse midwives could perform abortions.
Despite Democratic leaders’ statements appearing to reject major policy riders, the budget bill includes these and other abortion provisions. Also included is some of the language of the “Roe Act,” a 2019 proposal to maintain legal abortion if Roe v. Wade and other pro-abortion precedents were to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The abortion proposals did not draw much comment in the Senate session, though Republican lawmakers were critical of it elsewhere, the news site MassLive reports.
House Minority Leader Brad Jones criticized the use of the budget process to pass an abortion amendment.
“I don’t care what side of the issue you’re on, this being done as part of the budget process in a lame duck session, under the cover of darkness, in the midst of a pandemic is wrong,” Jones said last month, according to State House News Service.
Democratic State Sen. Marc Pacheco, who opposed the budget bill, speculated that Republican Gov. Baker could return the bill to lawmakers with amendments and further extend debate on the bill, the Boston Globe reports.
Baker is a pro-abortion Republican. The Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund was neutral in the governor’s 2018 reelection campaign, and it is not clear whether he will run for a third term in 2022.
However, he voiced disapproval of the proposed Roe Act’s abortion expansion last year.
“I don’t support late-term abortions,” Baker said. “I support current law here in Massachusetts.”
In 2017 the governor pledged state funds would make up any shortfalls in cuts to Planned Parenthood’s federal funding. In 2018 he challenged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Protect Life Rule, which blocks recipients of Title X family planning funds from performing or making referrals for abortions. He also approved the repeal of a 19th century law that criminalized abortion.
The Massachusetts Catholic Conference had sought to rally voters to ask their senators to vote against the budget amendment. On Nov. 11 the conference said amendment would “expand abortion access in the Commonwealth well beyond what is enshrined in state law.” Under the changes, abortion “would remain an option under certain circumstances for the full term of the pregnancy.”
The conference stressed that “the Catholic Church teaches that life itself starts at conception and ends with natural death.”
The Catholic conference criticized the proposed changes to parental consent law, arguing that “a 16 or 17 year old girl would be deprived of the guidance and support of an adult at the time of making this life changing decision.”
While the measure does require “life-saving equipment” to be present in the room when an abortion is performed past 24 weeks, the conference suggested this is a toothless requirement. The amendment’s language is “nuanced enough that the physician would not be required to use the equipment” if a baby survived an abortion attempt.
In addition, the bill calls for life-saving equipment to be in the room when a doctor performs a legal late-term abortion, but only says the equipment is to “enable” the doctor to safe the life of a baby surviving an abortion. Pro-life groups have warned that the language allows “passive infanticide” by not specifically requiring a doctor to save the infant’s life.
The amendment to the larger budget bill was adopted by the state House by a 108-49 vote, State House News Service reported. A dozen Democrats voted against the amendment, while one Republican voted for it. On Nov. 18, the state Senate passed amendment 180 by a vote of 33-7.
Though the full budget bill passed the House, it did not have enough votes to prevent a veto.
Michael New, a visiting professor of political science and social research at The Catholic University of America, testified against the Roe Act’s proposal to reduce the age of consent. The current law, he estimated, has saved 10,000 to 44,000 lives from abortion.
In his review of 16 peer-reviewed studies, every one “finds that state-level parental involvement laws reduce the in-state abortion rate for minors,” he said in his testimony.
According to Christopher F. Rufo, the San Diego Unified School District is requiring teachers to attend “white privilege” trainings where they are taught that they are racists. The captive audience is also taught they are […]
Denver Newsroom, Dec 7, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The legislature of Ohio has passed a bill that would require the bodies of babies killed in surgical abortions to be cremated or buried at the abortion clinic’s expense.
Senate Bill 27 would allow … […]
CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2020 / 05:07 pm (CNA).- The bishops of Indonesia urged Catholics to participate in the upcoming local elections by voting for Catholics who honor the common good while fighting unjust practices.
The Indonesian Bishops’ Conference (KWI) issued an exhortation on Dec. 4, asking people to vote for candidates who avoid corruption and represent national values, UCA News reported.
The exhortation was signed by Archbishop Vincensius Sensi Potokota of Ende, who serves as chairman of the KWI’s Commission for the Laity, and Father Paulus Christian Siswantoko, executive secretary of the commission.
The Indonesian province, district and municipal elections will take place on Dec. 9. They were previously set for Sept. 23, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The two-page statement encouraged Catholics to vote for candidates whose political platform upholds the five principles of Pancasila – Indonesia’s official philosophy. The principles refer to an individual’s belief in one God, a fair society, a united country, democracy, and social justice.
“Catholics should vote for… candidates who have adequate national insights, who accept pluralism, and who treat people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds in a fair way,” the bishops’ conference said, according to UCA News.
“The candidates should also have the courage to fight against any form of extremism, thuggery, and intolerance which adversely affects people’s lives.”
The bishops also asked Catholic voters to refrain from unfair practices, such as vote-buying, fake news, bigotry, and hate speech. They said these practices have tainted the country’s elections in the past and “are against the noble values of democracy.”
“We hope Catholics, particularly, and people, generally, will play a significant role in creating a peaceful situation and ensure the elections can be conducted in a just way,” they said.
UCA News reported that Eusabius Binsasi, a Catholic layman who serves as chief of the North Central Timor district, said he would abide by the bishops’ exhortation. Binsasi is running for office in the East Nusa Tenggara province.
“All elections should be dignified. In my campaign, I always reminded local people that selling their vote and underhand tactics by political rivals do not benefit them in the long run,” he said.
CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2020 / 04:37 pm (CNA).- An order shuttering in-person education until Jan. 4 in Kentucky amid rising COVID-19 cases amounts to religious discrimination, the US Supreme Court has been told in amici curiae briefs.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) temporarily halted in-person learning in the state by executive order.
The order, which applies to both public and private schools, allows for elementary schools in “red” zones (counties with 25 or more new coronavirus cases a day) to reopen as long as they are following state public health guidance.
Danville Christian Academy sued over the order.
A federal district judge had ruled Nov. 25 that Beshear’s order could not apply to private religious schools because it infringed on their First Amendment rights. On Nov. 29, a federal appeals court overturned that decision, upholding Beshear’s original order.
Danville Christian Academy has asked the US Supreme Court to temporarily suspend the executive order, while its appeal is pending.
Several groups have submitted amici curiae briefs in the case in support of Danville Christian Academy.
Thirty-eight Republican Senators – including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, both of Kentucky – filed one such brief Dec. 4.
“COVID-19 is undoubtedly a serious health threat, but the Constitution applies even in difficult times. This Court should again remind Governors across the Country that shutdown orders cannot trample Constitutional rights,” the Senators stated in their amicus brief.
The state’s attorney general and treasurer have also indicated their support for Danville Christian Academy.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty submitted an amicus curiae brief, arguing not only “That movie theaters and horse tracks are open for business, but religious schools cannot open, is reason enough to vacate the Sixth Circuit’s stay,” but also that Beshear’s executive order is subject to strict scrutiny because it interferes “with the right of parents under the Free Exercise Clause to direct ‘the religious upbringing and education of their children’”.
Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior counsel, John Bursch, and other ADF attorneys filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of 17 Christian schools in Kentucky.
“The Kentucky governor’s order allows movie theaters, indoor event venues, gyms, childcare centers, and professional offices to operate, but private Christian schools cannot, even when they comply with all recommended public health and safety guidelines. That’s why we are asking (the) high court to put a stop to the governor’s unconstitutional edict,” Bursch said Dec. 4.
“Government discriminatory treatment of religion must end. Now,” the ADF brief in Danville Christian Academy v. Beshear states.
“In the nine months since the COVID-19 pandemic began, state executives have consistently imposed more severe burdens on religious conduct than comparable secular activities. They do so without any showing that religious activities present a greater COVID-19 risk than their secular comparators,” ADF added.
“Instead, governments have consistently favored commerce over religion and—often with a judicial seal of approval—have cloaked their disparate treatment of religious worship and education in terms like ‘emergency police powers’ and ‘substantial discretion.’”
Religious schools and churches have also submitted briefs in support of Danville Christian Academy, while a group of church-state scholars wrote one in defense of Beshear.
Beshear defended his order, citing health risks and the order’s equal treatment of public and private schools. “Kentucky is in the midst of a deadly third wave of the coronavirus. We have taken the necessary actions to slow the growth in cases and save the lives of our fellow Kentuckians,” Beshear said in a Dec. 4 statement, reported by the Courier Journal.
“In the most recent executive order regarding schools, every school is treated equally and each is asked to do its part over a limited period of time to slow the spread of the virus. The effectiveness of these actions requires everyone to take part, and anyone or any entity that tries to be the exception lessens the effectiveness of the steps,” he added.
Bursch pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in late November, which ruled that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s restrictions on religious services during the coronavirus pandemic were a violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free religious exercise.
“As the U.S. Supreme Court said in its recent order halting Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order in New York, ‘even in a pandemic,’ the First Amendment is not ‘put away and forgotten,” Bursch stated.
The federal appeals court which ruled to uphold Beshear’s order said that the case was “distinguishable” from Cuomo’s order, since the Kentucky order applied to both religious and public schools, the Courier Journal reported.
The case also comes shortly after the four bishops of Kentucky announced in late November that they will continue holding in-person Masses, despite Beshear’s order for all places of worship to halt in-person services until Dec. 13.
Schools throughout the United States have grappled with what to do about in-person learning after the coronavirus pandemic caused nationwide shutdowns last March. Though the country saw a dip in coronavirus cases over the summer, recent surges this fall, shortly after classes resumed, have caused some schools to close again, and some states to reinstate lockdowns or stay-at-home orders.
Catholic schools have worked to put extensive health and safety regulations in place, including mandatory masking and social distancing, and virtual options for families who choose to keep their children at home. Some Catholic school leaders and bishops have argued that children have a right to in-person learning, which can help to ensure the quality of their education and to prevent their social isolation.
Some Catholic schools, such as those in Baltimore, have seen spikes in enrollment this fall because they are offering in-person learning more consistently than area public schools.
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