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Bishops lament Virginia Beach killings

June 3, 2019 CNA Daily News 0

Richmond, Va., Jun 3, 2019 / 03:18 pm (CNA).- After 12 people were killed Friday by a gunman in Virginia, the local bishop offered his prayers for all those affected in the tragedy.

DeWayne Craddock allegedly opened fire May 31 on employees and customers of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center Complex, whence he had quit his job that morning.

Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond said Friday that “My prayers and thoughts are with the people of Virginia Beach and the community of Hampton Roads. Tonight, I will continue to pray for those who lost their lives, those who are injured, the medical personnel and first responders who are assisting the victims, families and all affected. I would ask all the faithful to pray with me during this time.”

Eleven of those killed were Virginia Beach employees, and one was a contractor at the municipal center. Four others were injured, and Craddock died in a shootout with police.

The police are unsure of the motive for the attack. CNN reported that several former co-workers were dismayed and surprised by Craddock’s behavior.

Virginia Beach City Manager Dave Hansen said Craddock had been “in good standing within his department and there were no issues of discipline ongoing.”

Craddock’s family said they were unfamiliar with any problems he had at work and posted a note on their front door, expressing sorrow for the loss of life, according to CNN.

“We are grieving the loss of our loved one. At this time we wish to focus on the victims and the lives (lost) during yesterday’s tragic event,” the Craddocks wrote. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who (lost) their lives, and those recovering in the hospital,” the note read.

Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, offered his condolences to the victims in a June 1 statement. He said this incident points to an underlying problem in society, “when ordinary workplaces can become scenes of violence and contempt for human life.”

“As Americans we must deeply examine why these horrific occurrences of gun violence continue to take place in our communities, in order to root out the causes of such evils. Action is needed to attempt to reduce the frequency of these abhorrent acts through legislation and training. I call on Catholics around the country to pray for the dead and injured, as well as for healing in the community,” he said.

“May Jesus, whose victory over death we celebrate during this Easter Season, bring consolation and healing at this time of great sorrow.”

Bishop Knestout issued another statement June 2 expressing hope that the community will find comfort in prayer and saying t is God who provides strength.

“ I hope in some small way this prayer and support brings comfort to you and to the Virginia Beach community. This is your home and I know words fall short in easing the pain of this time, but offer them to you in the hope that in being united with you in thought and prayer, we might also help you carry the burden of this loss,” he said.

“It is in this time of loss that we turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer. To ease our grief – it is God who provides the strength and peace to sustain us in times of loss and distress.”

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News Briefs

Catholic Social Services launch new appeal to Supreme Court

June 3, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Washington D.C., Jun 3, 2019 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Lawyers representing Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia are appealing to the Supreme Court after the agency was stripped of its contract to provide foster care services for the city for refusing to place children with same-sex couples.

Although the Supreme Court declined to hear the case last year, Lori Windham, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is providing counsel in the case, said that this year is a different story.

“Last year, we made a very unusual emergency request asking the Supreme Court to get involved before the case even been heard in the appeals court,” Windham explained to CNA June 3.

In April, the Third Circut Court of Appeals ruled that city contractors in Philadelphia must place foster children with same-sex couples.

Although the Supreme Court declined the case earlier this year, three members–Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas–dissented from the decision.

Windham said that the minority interest was “encouraging” at the time, and that following the appeals court ruling the case was ready for the higher court’s attention.

“Now is the time for the Supreme Court appeal,” said Windham.

The City of Philadelphia received an allegation in March 2018 that two of the Department of Human Services’ approximately 30 contracted agencies would not place children with same-sex couples as foster parents. After the department investigated, it stopped referring foster children to those agencies.

One of those agencies was Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (CSS), that had been working with foster children since its founding. CSS served approximately 120 foster children in about 100 homes at any one time and been in operation in the city for more than a century.

At the time the contract was ended, no same-sex couple had ever approached Catholic Social Services seeking a home study or placement, and there are 30 other foster care agencies located in the city which work regularly with same-sex couples.

If a same-sex couple, or an unmarried couple living together, were to have approached Catholic Social Services seeking a home study for foster care, Catholic Social Services would have worked to refer them to another foster care agency, Windham explained.

“[Catholic Social Services] simply cannot provide a written certification for a marriage relationship that is contrary to their beliefs,” she said.

Immediately before ending its relationship with Catholic Social Services, Philadelphia officials put out an “urgent call” for 300 new foster families, in part due to the ongoing opioid crisis. Due to its decision to stop working with Catholic Social Services, many eligible, safe foster homes are now empty.

Windham claimed the city was inventing policies specifically to target Catholic Social Services.

“The city is still trying to use city laws and policies–they can’t quite tell us which policy, they keep making them up as they go along–the city is making up new policies to try and shut down Catholic Social Services and stop them from caring for foster children as they have done for a century,” she said.

“The city of Philadelphia has engaged in some really disturbing targeting of Catholic beliefs,” said Windham.

“The head of the city agency in charge of foster children told Catholic [Social Services] that it’s not 100 years ago, and that they need to obey the teachings of Pope Francis,” she said.

Pope Francis has said that same-sex marriage “threatens the family” and “disfigures God’s plan for creation.” The pope has also told parents to love their gay children.

Additionally, Philadelphia’s city council “passed a resolution calling this ‘discrimination under the guise of religious freedom,”” said Windham.

“So I think this city has sent a really troubling message to Catholics.”

Windham noted to CNA that the Trump administration had made a series of recent decisions aimed at protecting religious liberty, and highlighted the president’s announcement last month that he would reverse a policy that denied federal funding to adoption organizations that will not work with same-sex couples.

“Unfortunately, the city of Philadelphia did not get the message,” said Windham.

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News Briefs

Prostitution is an ‘inherently violent’ practice, say critics of decriminalization

May 31, 2019 CNA Daily News 3

New York City, N.Y., May 31, 2019 / 02:49 pm (CNA).- Marijuana, mushrooms, and now prostitution: decriminalization as a legal tactic for handling previously (or currently) illicit activities is a growing trend, and lawmakers in multiple states are now considering bills that could decriminalize the buying and selling of sex, to varying degrees.

The push to decriminalize prostitution is happening primarily in Democrat-led state legislatures, including in New York, Maine, Massechusets, Washington, D.C., and in Rhode Island, which is considering a proposal that would study the impact of decriminalizing prostitution, according to the New York Times.

“This is about the oldest profession, and understanding that we haven’t been able to deter or end it, in millennia,” Senator Jessica Ramos, a Democrat from Queens, told the New York Times. “So I think it’s time to confront reality.”

New York Democrats plan to introduce a proposal that would decriminalize prostitution both for the men, women and children who are prostituted, and for those who buy their services. Other efforts focus on criminally prosecuting pimps and buyers of prostitutes, but offer social services to the prostitutes themselves, rather than criminal charges, which is sometimes called the Nordic Model or the End Demand Model.

Currently, prostitution is only legal in the United States in 10 Nevada counties. A bill pushing to make prostitution illegal throughout the whole state of Nevada died in committee in April.

Critics of total decriminalization say that it would only further facilitate and legitimize criminal activity like sex trafficking and child prostitution.

Ane Mathieson is a program specialist at Sanctuary for Families, a Manhattan-based organization that serves victims of domestic violence and is part of an anti-decriminalization coalition.

“Prostitution is inherently violent,” Mathieson told the New York Times. “Sex buying promotes sex trafficking, promotes pimping and organized crime, and sexual exploitation of children.”

Laura Ramirez, a representative with international feminist group AF3IRM, said at a protest against decriminalization in New York that she was “absolutely appalled at the fact that this is being sold as something that’s progressive.”

“This proposed legislation is the most classist, racist and absolutely obtuse legislation that we have ever seen,” Ramirez said, according to the New York Times. “Women and girls of this state deserve better.”

Decriminalization proponents point to countries in Europe, like Germany and the Netherlands, where prostitution has been decriminalized for years. However, critics of decriminalization say that this ignores the problems that these countries have had as a result of the decriminalization of prostitution.

Tina Frundt, a survivor of child sex trafficking and founder of Courtney’s House, which helps victims of domestic sex trafficking and commercial sex exploitation, told CNA in 2015 that the decriminalization of prostitution would be a “terrible idea.”

“This has been tried and failed – in the Netherlands, in Germany – they’ve closed down over 30 brothels because we are talking about a criminal industry that we are trying to legalize,” Frundt said at the time. She said that women and underage girls from other countries were trafficked to places with legalized markets and given fake IDs, so that they could work in a legitimized market.

“Criminals think like criminals. It’s a die-hard criminal business making millions,” she added.

Frundt spoke with CNA in 2015 after global human rights organization Amnesty International announced that it supported the worldwide decriminalization of prostitution.

Candace Wheeler, a therapist with Restoration Ministries who works with victims of sex trafficking, also spoke with CNA in 2015.

Wheeler said she was skeptical of decriminalization efforts, based on what she’s seen in other countries.

“What they have found (in Amsterdam) is that tolerance is not protecting women who are in prostitution there, because it’s mostly women who are trafficked from other countries, and they are realizing that their tolerance is a huge problem,” Wheeler said.

“If it’s decriminalized, then that just opens up the door for that kind of business. We could have established brothels and red light districts, and then crime comes with that, and drugs – and I am the person that gets to see them afterwards and try and heal them.”

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