CNA Staff, Feb 9, 2021 / 05:56 pm (CNA).- Sister Andre Randon, a religious sister in France, will turn 117 years old this week, after surviving COVID-19 last month, her congregation announced Tuesday.Born Lucile Randon on Feb. 11, 1904, she converted t… […]
How should the Catholic Church in the United States prepare to carry-out her mission in a “post-COVID” world? As the now-infamous year 2020 has ended, and the world eagerly awaits the benefits of recently approved […]
Vatican City, Feb 4, 2021 / 06:05 am (CNA).- Pope Francis praised musicians on Thursday for showing “new creativity” despite severe restrictions imposed on their work by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Feb. 4 video message to … […]
Washington D.C., Feb 3, 2021 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- U.S. bishops are asking that the next COVID relief bill include “life-affirming policies” and reject abortion funding.
In a letter to members of Congress on Wednesday, several bishops advocated for the next COVID relief bill to include certain emergency aid policies while excluding funding of abortions.
The relief package “should promote the dignity and value of all human life and protect poor and vulnerable people who are most at risk,” the bishops stated.
“Accordingly, we urge you in the strongest possible terms to use the money and policies in these bills to fund and promote life-affirming policies and not to advance the destruction of innocent unborn human life,” they added in their letter.
The letter’s signers included Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, the domestic justice chair of the U.S. bishops’ conference (USCCB); Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, chair of the USCCB’s international justice and peace committee; Bishop Michael Barber of Oakland, chair of the USCCB’s education committee; Bishop Shelton Fabre, chair of the USCCB anti-racism committee; Bishop Mario Dorsonville, chair of the USCCB migration committee; and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, chair of the USCCB pro-life committee.
President Joe Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. Although he met with Republicans on Tuesday, who presented a $600 billion counter-proposal, Democrats appear poised to pass Biden’s proposal with or without Republican support.
Senate Democrats are reportedly using the parliamentary process of reconciliation to pass the relief measure, thus only requiring 50 votes in the chamber with Vice President Kamala Harris available to break a 50-50 split.
Pro-life groups had expressed concern to CNA earlier this month that COVID relief could open up new federal funding of health care without pro-life protections. On Wednesday, the pro-life group March for Life Action tweeted its concern that the bill could include abortion funding.
The bishops on Wednesday reiterated their stance against abortion funding in the relief bill.
“Any public option for health care, or similar efforts to increase access to health care, must include protections against using taxpayer dollars for elective abortions,” the bishops said.
The bishops asked members to maintain increases to food stamp benefits, fund emergency rental assistance, provide for “testing, vaccination, and treatment for COVID-19 for all,” increase Medicaid resources for states, and provide for protective equipment and paid leave for essential workers.
In addition, they advocated for “equitable access” to emergency aid for non-public schools, “legal status and a pathway to citizenship” for essential workers, Dreamers, and TPS recipients and their families, and an expansion of the above-the-line charitable tax deduction.
House Republican Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) has criticized the use of reconciliation to pass the relief measure, saying that it included a $15-an-hour minimum wage among other policies that Republicans are objecting to.
The United Republic of Tanzania has stood out as the only country to declare victory over the coronavirus when, in April 2020, President John Pombe Magufuli, who is Catholic, told worshippers in an Evangelical Lutheran […]
Mexico City, Mexico, Jan 30, 2021 / 06:01 am (CNA).- The Dominican Nuns of the St. Catherine of Siena Monastery in Mexico City sent an urgent request for “fervent prayers” to local and international Catholics after 10 of their 24 religious fell ill with Covid-19 early this week.
The superior of the community sent a letter to supporters and Catholic news organizations explaining that most of the infected religious have mild symptoms, but the required isolation is preventing them from producing the sweets, bread, and cakes whose sales constitute the financial pillar of the community.
“Two of our sisters have been in very bad condition and have been transported to a hospital, while our older sister, 87 year-old Sister Teresa Coronado, died of COVID late last week.
Most of us continue to be in stable condition, with minor flu symptoms, but social distancing is preventing us from fulfilling our regular duties. Please keep us in your prayers so that God’s will may always be done.”
In Mexico, there have been 1.8 million cases of Covid-19, and more than 153,000 deaths. Of the dead, 166 have been clerics and 11 religious.
CNA Staff, Jan 29, 2021 / 06:27 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of New York announced Thursday that Cardinal Timothy Dolan is quarantining after “close contact” with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. The cardinal does not currently have symptoms.
“Cardinal Timothy Dolan has cancelled all public appearances, including celebrating 10:15 a.m. Sunday Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, to remain in quarantine after last week having been in close contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID,” the brief statement said.
The 70-year-old cardinal “has not tested positive, feels fine, and has no symptoms,” it added.
The archdiocese indicated that “others on his staff who also had close contact with this individual” will similarly follow “health and safety protocols as instructed by medical professionals.” The statement did not specify who or how many members of his staff will be under quarantine.
Since 2009, Cardinal Dolan has led more than 2.8 million Catholics in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, and six counties north of the city.
New York has reached a new peak of COVID-19 cases this month, with more than 10,000 infected per day during January 2021.
Last Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James released a 76-page report accusing the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo of undercounting the number of elderly who died in nursing homes by as much as 50%.
According to the Health Department’s data, there were 8,671 reported COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities as of January 18. The report from the Attorney General suggests that many nursing home residents died from COVID in the hospital, resulting in their deaths being reported as hospital deaths.
CNA Staff, Jan 29, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis encouraged Catholic organizations on Friday to continue to fight against “unacceptable poverty.”
In a message to two Belgian groups released on Jan. 29, the pope said that the coronav… […]
Rome Newsroom, Jan 28, 2021 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis met on Thursday with the head of the World Food Program, as the organization issued a warning that more than 300 million children are going hungry amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The pope met … […]
Washington D.C., Jan 27, 2021 / 12:37 pm (CNA).- Americans are more likely than people in other developed countries to say their faith has strengthened during the pandemic, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.
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