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Denver, Colo., Apr 3, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
Christian leaders of Jerusalem on March 31 issued a joint statement calling on governing authorities to enhance security at holy sites as Easter approaches.“As … […]
Pope Francis washes inmates’ feet at Rome’s Regina Coeli Prison on Holy Thursday, March 29, 2018. / Vatican Media.
Washington D.C., Apr 3, 2023 / 12:09 pm (CNA).
Less than a week after being released from Gemelli Hospital, where he was being tr… […]
A school with an office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is not a self-confidently Catholic school. The school’s leaders believe social justice requires bolstering the Cross of Christ, the Gospels, and Catholic social teaching […]
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone / Archdiocese of San Francisco
Washington D.C., Apr 3, 2023 / 11:00 am (CNA).
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco will hold a eucharistic Holy Hour and rosary Monday evening for the people of Hong Ko… […]
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020. He was the head coach of Auburn University’s football team from 1999 to 2008. / Sen. Tommy Tuberville Facebook page.
Washington D.C., Apr 3, 2023 / 10:00 am (CNA).
The nationwide debate over abortion has spilled over into the Senate’s confirmation of military appointments, which has turned a usually simple and routine process into a battleground over the rights of unborn children.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, has blocked 184 promotions for generals and officers, which the Department of Defense (DOD) has asked the Senate to confirm. Tuberville refused to allow their confirmations by unanimous consent of the Senate, which would force Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, to bring every nominee up for a vote individually if Tuberville remains firm.
Although these confirmations are usually approved by unanimous consent on the first vote, the politicization of the DOD has shaken up the process. Tuberville stood against their confirmations because of a DOD policy that uses taxpayer money to fund travel and paid time off needed for an employee to procure an abortion. The policy also provides funds for an employee’s spouse or an employee’s dependents who are seeking an abortion.
“Let’s be clear about what we’re talking about,” Tuberville said on the Senate floor. “We’re not talking about access to abortion. We’re talking about taxpayer funding for travel and extra pay time to get elective abortions.”
“This policy includes spouses and dependents,” the senator continued. “We’re talking about taxpayer funding for somebody’s kids to get an abortion in another state. This has never been in the policy until now because Congress has ensured that the Pentagon cannot perform or facilitate abortions, except in legal circumstances and limited.”
Current law prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion in most cases under the Hyde Amendment, which has been in effect since 1980. However, the Hyde Amendment does not explicitly prohibit the federal government from using taxpayer funds to support an employee’s travel expenses or time off for an abortion. Although Republicans have introduced bills that would block federal funding for this purpose, those proposals have been rejected by Democratic lawmakers.
Tuberville’s decision to hold up military appointments has led to attacks from Schumer and other Democrats who have urged everyone in the Senate to support unanimous consent.
“The senator from Alabama continues his hold on more than 180 … military promotions, blatantly ignoring many warnings of the harm he is causing to our national security,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “It’s reckless; it’s just reckless.”
Schumer quoted Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who said that holding up the nominations “actually creates a ripple effect through the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be.”
Tuberville has rejected those claims, stating on the Senate floor that “this entire line of attack on me is absolutely false” and argued that the military suffers from a shortage of recruits but not a shortage of generals. He added that Democrats can hold individual votes on each nominee if they want to do so.
“Every single one of these nominees can receive a vote if Sen. Schumer wants it,” Tuberville said. “… If Democrats are so worried about these nominations, let’s vote. If we’re not going to vote on taxpayer-funded abortion, then let’s vote on these nominees. Voting is our job. It’s not much to ask of the United States Senate to do our job to vote.”
The senator also said his refusal to allow these nominations to go through with unanimous consent is not unprecedented.
“My hold is far from unprecedented,” Tuberville said. “In fact, Sen. [Michael] Bennet himself threatened to do this exact same thing just a few months ago. … Two years ago, we had a senator from Illinois put a hold on 1,000 nominees over the promotion of one single officer.”
After he took his stand, some Republican lawmakers have come out to support Tuberville.
“Until these policies are rescinded, I’m going to also have to consider holds against DOD nominees in solidarity with my colleagues,” Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, told Austin during a hearing. “Mr. Secretary, you can fix this … in nearly an instant. I would encourage that.”
Others, such as Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, also came to his aid.
“I think he’s right in his concern for what the department is doing because we have never agreed to fund abortions in the past, and on this particular case, it’s a pretty fine line when you’re funding to get them someplace to get an abortion,” Rounds told The Hill.
As the Senate enters into recess for Easter, Tuberville intends to stand firm in his approach.
“The Democrats are in panic over the idea of taking more votes,” the senator said. “I don’t mind working a full week; I worked all my life. I’ve had a full-time job. I’ll stay here until hell freezes over. I’m not going to be intimidated by a campaign of selective outrage.”
Pope Francis meets with executives and employees of the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, Italy’s main welfare agency, April 3, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Apr 3, 2023 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has urged Italy’s main welfare agency not to forget the contribution of foreign workers.
“It should not be forgotten that foreign workers who do not yet have Italian citizenship also contribute to the pension system,” the pope said in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on April 3.
“It would be a good sign to be able to express gratitude to them for what they do,” he said. “Social security also reminds us that ‘everything is connected’ and that we are interdependent on each other.”
Francis met 400 employees of the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, better known as INPS, to mark the institution’s 125th anniversary.
INPS is the main welfare agency of the Italian public pension system. It serves more than 42 million people, providing retirement pensions and other state welfare such as social security, maternity leave, disability benefits, and workers’ compensation.
“Social life stands because of supportive community networks,” Pope Francis said. “The common good passes through the daily work of millions of people who share the principle of the bond of solidarity among workers.”
He acknowledged Italy’s aging population as he urged the agency to promote dignified, stable work and to fight illegal labor.
The pope appealed to them “to guard a welfare system that is up to the challenges of societies that, like Italy’s, are growing older and older.”
Dignified work “is always ‘free, creative, participatory, and supportive,’” he said, quoting the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.
“Welfare is a form of participation in one’s own and others’ well-being,” he continued. “Setting aside economic resources and ensuring access to health care are valuable assets that can hold together the different seasons of life.”
INPS Director General Vincenzo Caridi said Monday’s meeting was a chance to listen closely to Pope Francis “at a time when the sphere of social work and closeness to the least is (in continuity with the great pontificates that have confronted the challenge of modernity) the cornerstone of his message.”
Caridi said “the tree of the welfare state is nourished by many cultural roots, among them certainly the social doctrine of the Church. His is an invitation, a spur which gives strength to all employees of the Institute — believers and nonbelievers alike — who are called to renew the spirit of service with which they carry out their daily commitment.”
In his speech, Pope Francis used two stories from the Bible to illustrate both a good and a bad model of welfare.
A “bad welfare,” the pope said, is like the greedy man in the parable from the Gospel of St. Luke who builds a bigger warehouse to hold all of his crops, planning to rest, eat, drink, and enjoy himself, “but God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’”
“Those who accumulate only for themselves end up deluding themselves,” Francis said.
An example of “good welfare,” instead, is that of the patriarch Joseph, he said.
As governor of Egypt, Joseph ordered that some grain be put aside from the abundance in order to be prepared for the future, when there may be a period of famine.
“Joseph not only trusts in God’s providence and recognizes it, but [he also] shows foresight for the good of the people,” Francis explained. “He knows how to look forward; he envisions good even when evil seems to prevail; he cares for the people entrusted to him. And this is your vocation: taking care of people in the future.”
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Pope Francis greets religious sisters at the end of his general audience on Aug. 10, 2022. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Apr 3, 2023 / 05:03 am (CNA).
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