Rift on Communion policy as US Catholic bishops open meeting
Divisions have flared up among U.S. Catholic bishops as they opened a national meeting highlighted by a sensitive agenda item: a possible rebuke of Catholic politicians, including President Joe Biden, who receive Communion while supporting abortion rights.
WATCH LIVE: Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at Catholic school in Jacksonville
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Floridaโs โeducation choiceโ bill into law Tuesday during a ceremonial signing at a Catholic school in South Florida, expanding the eligibility for students to receive scholarship support to attend private school.
The Latest: Metro Manila, outlying provinces go on lockdown
___ROME โ Police in Italy have been cracking down on violators of ordinances aimed at reining in what has been weeks of stubbornly high incidences of COVID-19 cases. North Macedonia has recorded more than 126,000 coronavirus cases and more than 3,600 deaths. ___TIRANA โ Albania started a mass inoculation campaign Sunday ahead of the summer tourism season after acquiring 192,000 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinovac earlier this week. The church drew media attention after reports it had opened the service to its entire congregation despite a tough coronavirus lockdown and sharply rising infection rate in the Netherlands. ___MEXICO CITY โ Mexicoโs government is acknowledging that the countryโs true death toll from the coronavirus pandemic now stands above 321,000.
US Catholic leaders urging faithful not to use Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
Roman Catholic leaders across the United States are discouraging the faithful from getting inoculated against COVID-19 with the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Some within the Catholic church have called the vaccine โmorally compromisedโ because it was produced using a line of lab-grown cells that descend from cells taken in the 1980s from the tissue of aborted fetuses. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, however, was developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines raising additional moral concerns. Therefore, if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Modernaโs vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnsonโs. their vaccine does not contain any fetal tissue.
Poles hold more protests over abortion; activist released
The poster, she said, celebrated the recent liberalization of the abortion law in Argentina and expressed hope Poland would be next. Mass nationwide protests have recurred repeatedly since then, growing into the largest protest movement in post-communist Poland. The court's judges argued that allowing abortion when there are congenital defects is unconstitutional because the Polish Constitution protects human life. Suchanow and Marta Lempart, the leaders of the Womenโs Strike group that has spearheaded street protests against the law, are now looking for inspiration to Argentina. AdIrene Donadio, a leading strategist with International Planned Parenthood Federation, a group promoting reproductive health and choice, said her organization is appalled that such a restrictive law could be imposed in a European Union member state.
Poland: Near-total abortion ban takes effect amid protests
(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW โ A near-total ban on abortion has taken effect in Poland and triggered a new round of nationwide protests three months after the constitutional court ruled that the abortion of congenitally damaged fetuses is unconstitutional. Members of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party, which is aligned with the Roman Catholic Church, had sought the new restriction. The protesters are demanding a full liberalization of the abortion law and the resignation of the government, neither of which seem likely in the short term. Some protesters Wednesday covered their faces with green bandanas, which are the symbol of the abortion rights movement in Argentina. The constitutional court is made up mostly of Law and Justice appointees who ruled on a motion brought by lawmakers from the party.
New protests as Polish court seals divisive abortion ruling
People gather in Warsaw, Poland Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021 to protest after the country's top court on Wednesday confirmed its highly divisive ruling that will further tighten the predominantly Catholic nation's strict anti-abortion law. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW โ New anti-government protests broke out in Polish cities Wednesday, shortly after the country's top court confirmed its highly divisive ruling that will further tighten the predominantly Catholic nationโs strict anti-abortion law. The ruling right-wing Law and Justice party is widely seen as having undue influence on the judiciary following reforms it passed affecting the way judges are appointed. It was made in response to a motion from over 100 ruling party lawmakers, whose names have not been made public. A prominent lawmaker for Law and Justice, Marek Suski, said work will begin on an entirely new abortion law that will take into account lethal defects.
Bosnian city of Mostar holds 1st local election in 12 years
(AP Photo/Kemal Softic)MOSTAR โ MOSTAR, Bosnia-Long-entrenched ethno-nationalists were projected to win the first local election in Bosniaโs southern city of Mostar in 12 years, but early results of Sunday's vote also indicated multiethnic parties and alliances would be a strong part of the future city council. Mostar is split between Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats, who fought fiercely for control over the city during the countryโs 1992-95 war. It hasnโt held a local election since 2008, when Bosniaโs constitutional court declared its election rules discriminatory and ordered them changed. Thus, the lawmakers from multiethnic parties appear set to become tiebreakers in all but certain disputes between the dominant Bosniak and Croat nationalists. Prior to the war, ethnically mixed couples made up 10% of all marriages in Mostar, and the city was markedly cosmopolitan.
High court hears Philly same-sex foster parent dispute
WASHINGTON โ The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed likely to side with a Catholic social services agency in a dispute with Philadelphia over the agencyโs refusal to work with same-sex couples as foster parents. Catholic Social Services, which is affiliated with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, says its religious views keep it from certifying same-sex couples as foster parents. Kavanaugh, for his part, suggested Wednesday there should be a way for Catholic Social Services to continue to work with foster families. Even liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed to recognize the court was sympathetic to Catholic Social Services. Catholic Social Services did not, and the city stopped placing children with the agency, which sued.
Pelosi to church: 'Follow science' on COVID-19 restrictions
WASHINGTON โ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Friday against the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco's criticism of COVID-related restrictions, saying he should โfollow scienceโ rather than advocate for fuller in-person gatherings for Mass and worship. โWith all due respect to my archbishop, I think we should follow science on this,โ Pelosi said. Pelosi noted that faith and science are sometimes seen at odds. โAround here, people say to me, You're a person of faith, why do you believe in science?" โI say, I believe science is an answer to our prayers.
Principal tests positive for COVID days after graduation
MIAMI โ The principal of a private Catholic high school tested positive for COVID-19 days after participating in a graduation ceremony at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, school officials said. Christopher Columbus High School Principal David Pugh tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, spokeswoman Cristina Cruz told the Miami Herald. โAlthough he does not have any symptoms now, he may have had the virus on Saturday during the graduation ceremony at the raceway,โ Cruz told the Herald in an email. The all-boys high school hosted graduation at the racetrack as a way of providing 2020 graduates with an in-person but socially distanced ceremony. The school was closed on Wednesday and will be sanitized over the next few days before reopening on Monday, Cruz said.