News Briefs

Washington D.C., Aug 15, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The Department of Labor announced Wednesday that it is considering a new rule that would allow federal contractors who identify as religious to hire employees based on faith and religious practice.

The new policy would expand a Johnson-era executive order protecting the rights of religious employers with federal government contracts to hire from within their religious group. 

The new proposal, announced August 14, the Department of Labor said the new policy “clarifies the scope and applications of the religious exemption contained in section 204(c) of Executive Order 11246.”  

Executive Order 11246 forbids federal contractors from engaging in discriminatory hiring on the basis “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” An exemption for religious-based employers allowed them legally to hire only people of a certain faith if they so choose, but the executive order did not fully define as to what “religious-based” meant. 

The proposed new rule takes steps to better define the term, saying that the “religious exemption covers not just churches but employers that are organized for a religious purpose, hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose, and engage in exercise of religion consistent with, and in furtherance of, a religious purpose.” 

The new definition also includes companies that claim to be religious “in response to inquiries from a member of the public or a government entity.” 

Additionally, the new rule states that “employers can condition employment on acceptance of or adherence to religious tenets without sanction by the federal government,” meaning that a federal contractor can make hiring decisions based upon how devoutly an employee practices a certain religious faith. 

All companies are still barred from discriminating on other grounds. 

The Department of Labor cited recent Supreme Court cases, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission and Hobby Lobby v. Burwell as having underscored constitutional religious freedom protections.

Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella said in a released statement that “As people of faith with deeply held religious beliefs are making decisions on whether to participate in federal contracting, they deserve [a] clear understanding of their obligations and protections under the law.” 

About a quarter of workers in the United States are employed by a company that is contracted with the federal government. 

LGBT-rights activist groups like the Human Rights Campaign, who called the change a “license to discriminate,” came out strongly against the policy shift.

Louise Melling, acting deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union told a press call that the rule was “just the most recent in an ever-lengthening list of actions by this administration to authorize discrimination in name of religion.”

The White House responded to the criticism in a statement Wednesday, saying “In no way does today’s announcement by the Department of Labor undermine the President’s promise and commitment to the LGBTQ community.” 

“The proposed rule will continue to responsibly protect religious freedom and members of the LGBTQ community from discrimination,” the statement said.

While some activist groups have criticized the new rule as a license for widespread discrimination, Luke Goodrich, senior counsel and vice president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told CNA that he believes the policy is a far from controversial. 

“When a religious group hires people of the same religion to carry out their mission, it’s not ‘discrimination,’ it’s common sense,” Goodrich told CNA. 

“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. 

The new rule is open for comment in the Federal Register until September 16.

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Philadelphia, Pa., Aug 15, 2019 / 03:25 pm (CNA).- After a standoff between police and a gunman in Philadelphia yesterday, in which six officers were shot, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has praised the work of the responding officers and ca… […]

Albany, N.Y., Aug 15, 2019 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- Over 400 lawsuits were filed in New York state on the first day of a one-year window in the statute of limitations, allowing abuse survivors to file suit against their abuser or the institution where the ab… […]

Buffalo, N.Y., Aug 15, 2019 / 11:55 am (CNA).- Twenty-two plaintiffs filed August 14 a lawsuit against the Diocese of Buffalo, a province of the Society of Jesus, multiple priests, eight parishes, three high school, a seminary, among others, alleging &… […]

Charleston, S.C., Aug 15, 2019 / 07:38 am (CNA).- Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charleston, SC, has been named in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in New York. The accusations contained in the suit concern the bishop’s time as a pastor in the Diocese … […]

San Diego, Calif., Aug 14, 2019 / 07:19 pm (CNA).- Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego announced Aug. 13 an Independent Compensation Program for victims of sexual abuse, set to begin in September.

He also called on all diocesan employees— not just those who are mandated reporters under the law— to contact the appropriate authorities if they “come to a strongly founded belief that a minor is being victimized sexually.”

“I would suggest that if you are not a mandated reporter, but come across evidence which points in your mind to the existence of the sexual abuse of a minor either within the life of the Church or in their family or social lives, and you are unsure how to proceed, you consult with one of the experienced mandated reporters at your school, parish or agency to come to clarity on what you should do,” the bishop said.

“I would ask those of you here today who are not mandated reporters to keep in mind that both the moral law and the civil law urge you to report known or suspected instances of the sexual abuse of a current minor to child welfare services.”

The bishop announced the program and the new policies in front of 2,500-plus employees of the parishes, schools, and organizations in the San Diego diocese. Currently, under a change in California law passed last December, the statute of limitations for sexual abuse is 10 years after the last act or attempted act of sexual assault.

Kevin Eckery, Vice Chancellor of the San Diego diocese, told CNA that the bishop’s call to diocesan employees to alert authorities encompassed all forms of abuse.

“It includes all forms of physical or sexual abuse that might be encountered by church workers at school, in the parish or in the community,” he told CNA.

Eckery also clarified that the bishop was encouraging those who suspect abuse to go directly to law enforcement, but also to alert the diocese.

“Mandated reporters under California law are supposed to go directly to law enforcement,” he said.

“So it’s not a matter of waiting for approval or running it up the chain…for the non-mandated reporters, he was giving them complete license to do the same, to go directly to law enforcement or whatever the proper civil authority is. But in all cases we are anticipating that people will alert us so that we can track these reports at the diocese to make sure everything is followed up on.”

Money for the victim compensation fund will come from diocesan funds and insurance; no parish funds will be used, nor money raised through the diocese’ annual appeal, the diocese said.

“Victim/survivors of abuse by a priest of the San Diego diocese will be invited to apply for compensation regardless of when the abuse occurred. Undocumented immigrants may also apply. There will be no statute of limitations,” the diocese said in a release announcing the program.

In addition to announcing the compensation program, McElroy also promulgated two new diocesan policies related to social media.

“It will be forbidden for any employee or clergy in the diocese to communicate privately with a specific minor whom he/she has come to know through ministry without copying that minor’s parent or guardian. Moreover, it will be forbidden for any cleric or employee to have any direct interaction on any personal media account with any individual minor whom they have met through their work in the Church,” McElroy said.

Eckery said the new social media policy was not a response to any specific incident of inappropriate communication between a diocesan employee and a minor.

“It’s more based on a feeling of what’s right,” he said. “It’s really meant to avoid problems, rather than address problems that exist.”

“We’ll promulgate [the new rules] in written form as soon as we have everybody informed on the software changes, the updates, just so that we don’t tell people not to do something before we give them a solution.”

The bishop also announced the creation of a Task Force, headed by diocesan Chancellor Marioly Galván and Director of Schools John Galvan to “focus upon designing pathways for our local Church to bring to our parents and families a deeper understanding of the pervasiveness, patterns and damaging effects of the sexual abuse of minors.”

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San Francisco, Calif., Aug 14, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- At a Mass marking Sunday’s conclusion of a novena for the defeat of a California bill that would require public universities to provide free access to abortion pills for students, the Archbishop of San Francisco challenged parishioners to grow in charity by embracing works of mercy to the most vulnerable – those in the womb.

Confidence in God “gives us the courage to put our identity into action by imbuing our minds and values with the truth of the Gospel so that we may live our faith with integrity and so be vigilant to the Lord’s coming by serving as a moral conscious of our society,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in his homily at an Aug. 11 Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco.

“And we do so above all, by bearing witness to God by a life of charity, seeking the good of those who are most disadvantaged and defenseless and so fulfill our human vocation of eternal happiness with God in heaven.”

Catholics in California held a novena Aug. 3-11 for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in order to defeat Senate Bill 24. The state legislature returned from summer recess Aug. 12.

SB 24 is a slightly-amended version of a bill introduced in California’s state legislature last year that was ultimately vetoed.

Former Governor Jerry Brown, a public supporter of abortion, vetoed the similar bill last September, saying it was was “not necessary,” as abortion services are already “widely available” off campus.

California’s current governor, Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said before his election that he would have supported the abortion pill mandate, but has not commented on the new version of the bill since he took office.

The bill would also create a fund to provide a $200,000 grant to each public university student health center to pay for the cost of offering abortion pills, with money coming from nonstate sources such as private sector entities and local and federal government agencies.

The bill would only take effect if at least $10.29 million in private funds are made available by Jan. 1, 2020, which funding has already been secured according to an Aug. 12 analysis of the bill by the State Assembly’s appropriations committee.

Besides requiring college health centers to provide abortion pills free of charge, SB 24 would also require abortion counseling services to students, but it is “specifically written in such a way to exclude pro-life counseling,” according to the California Catholic Conference.

In his homily Archbishop Cordileone said the US “is a country that tolerates the destruction of human beings in their mothers’ wombs, and it exalts it by calling it choice while actually doing nothing to help a woman in a crisis situation to have the support that she needs to make a truly happy choice, a choice for life.”

The archbishop expanded on three lessons: identity, vigilance, and charity.

He said fathers of the Old Testament understood their identity as children of God and took courage in his providence. He said these people were rewarded for their trust, even if the answer to their prayers was not seen for generations to come.

“As the people of God, we are rooted in the certainty of a past historical saving event, which gives us the certainty of hope for God’s deliverance in his own time and in his own way,” he said.

“The fathers of the chosen people did not see this liberation. This was for a future generation, but they had confidence that God would fulfill his promise so they had the courage to do God’s will in the face of great hardship and uncertainty.”

Secondly, he said, Catholics must rise above worldly concerns and be vigilant in their identity in the faith.

“We are not to be duped by popular fashions, by political convention, or by the cultural pressure of the time,” he said. “Our values and our whole way of thinking is not to be conditioned by popular trends or pressure, but by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

He said parishioners cannot act as the gluttonous and violent man in the Gospel’s parable of the unfaithful steward. He said adopting the values of society condones a culture of death.

Lastly, he pointed to Christ’s words on true wealth.

In order to store up riches in heaven, he said, Catholics should give alms to the poor and the most vulnerable. He said, under the Catholic faith, the action of giving alms can be demonstrated in numerous ways, such as participating in the pro-life movement.

“What can be a greater act of charity than to defend those who have no voice with which to defend themselves? It is precisely by such acts of charity on behalf of the poor, defenseless, and marginalized that we prepare ourselves for the life of heaven.”

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