Briefs

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

NATION
WASHINGTON (CNS) – House sponsors of a new bill to protect pregnancy centers said the measure would require the Biden administration to publicly disclose how it is handling the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators of violent attacks on pregnancy resource centers around the country. “My goal is to foster an environment where no woman feels like their only option is abortion, and I am committed to supporting women and children at every stage of life,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. “The violent attacks on pregnancy centers in Washington state and across the country are reprehensible and only endanger and intimidate the women who depend on them for critical medical care, education and other resources,” Rodgers said in a statement Sept. 20, the day she and Smith introduced the bill. The Protect Pregnancy Care Centers Act of 2022 quickly garnered 28 co-sponsors. “I believe all extreme and hateful acts of violence should be condemned, which is why I’m helping lead this legislation to hold President (Joe) Biden accountable for his failure to respond to this threat with the urgency it deserves,” Rodgers said. Nearly 70 acts of violence against such centers have been recorded since May, when a draft opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was leaked.

NEW YORK (CNS) – “Little Amal,” a giant puppet that is on a worldwide pilgrimage to raise awareness about the plight of unaccompanied refugee minors, made a stop at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Sept. 18. The 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl met migrant families who recently arrived in New York City from Ecuador, Afghanistan and Myanmar; Father Enrique Salvo, the cathedral’s rector; and representatives from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. “For immigrants and refugees around the world, New York is seen as a place of opportunity and promise – but there’s a tension running through U.S. history that suggests not everyone is welcome here,” said playwright/director Amir Nizar Zuabi, the artistic director of this “public art project” called “The Walk” and starring Amal, whose name means “hope.” “Amal will experience the wonder of New York and also the apprehension of arriving in a strange new place,” Zuabi said in a statement issued in advance of several New York events featuring the puppet. “This is a crucial moment to explore these themes. How will she be welcomed here? Who will do the welcoming?” The cathedral stop was one of 55 New York events welcoming the puppet over a three-week period that began Sept. 14 and ends Oct. 2 and is titled “Little Amal Walks NYC.”

“Little Amal,” a 12-foot-tall puppet of a young Syrian refugee girl, greets migrant families who have recently arrived in New York City from Ecuador, Afghanistan and Burma at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York Sept. 18, 2022. “Little Amal” has become a globally recognized symbol of human rights, especially for immigrants, refugees and other marginalized people. (CNS photo/courtesy DKC)

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As the October deadline approaches for the extension of the Vatican’s agreement with the Chinese government, the newly appointed editor of the news agency of the Dicastery for Evangelization said the deal has been instrumental in allowing Catholics to practice their faith openly and in communion with the church. In an editorial published Sept. 22, Gianni Valente, who was appointed earlier in the month as editor of Fides news agency, also said recent statements by Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, “hinted at a positive intention on the part of the Holy See to continue the process of negotiation.” The agreement, he wrote, has allowed for Chinese Catholics to “experience the adventure of confession of faith in Christ in today’s China as it is, without privileges, without being pointed at and perceived as a foreign body, as exotic guests or representatives of distant cultures.” First signed in Beijing Sept. 22, 2018, the Vatican and the Chinese government agreed in 2020 “to extend the experimental implementation phase of the provisional agreement for another two years.” The provisional agreement, the text of which has never been made public, outlines procedures for ensuring Catholic bishops are elected by the Catholic community in China and approved by the pope before their ordinations and installations, according to news reports at the time.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Marking World Alzheimer’s Day Sept. 21, Pope Francis asked people to pray for all those affected by the illness, including families and caregivers. Alzheimer’s disease “affects so many people, who are often pushed to the margins of society because of this condition,” the pope said at the end of his general audience talk in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 21. “Let us pray for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, for their families, and for those who lovingly care for them, that they may be increasingly supported and helped,” he said. He also asked that people pray for men and women facing hemodialysis, dialysis or an organ transplant. September is also World Alzheimer’s Month, which is an initiative by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) to raise awareness, challenge the stigma surrounding Alzheimer’s and dementia, and garner more support for those affected. Dementia is a general term for a group of symptoms that negatively impact memory, and Alzheimer’s is a specific disease that is the most common cause of dementia.

WORLD
DUBLIN (CNS) – More people in Northern Ireland now identify as Catholic than Protestant for the first time in the history of the jurisdiction, new census figures reveal. The data has led to calls for a referendum for voters to decide whether to remain part of Britain or join with the rest of Ireland and form a new country. It comes 101 years after Northern Ireland was established in the six northeastern counties on the island of Ireland, remaining part of Britain when the 26 southern counties won independence from British rule. The founders of Northern Ireland drew the boundaries of the state along lines that they hoped would guarantee a permanent Protestant majority. Traditionally, Protestants have supported being part of Britain, whereas the Catholic community has traditionally supported unity with the rest of the island to form a single independent Ireland. The first prime minister of Northern Ireland, Sir James Craig, famously addressed the legislature describing it as a “Protestant parliament for a Protestant people,” and the Catholic minority complained of discrimination in terms of jobs, housing and voting rights. The proportion of the resident population that is either Catholic or brought up Catholic is 45.7%, compared to 43.5% Protestant.

MOSCOW (CNS) – A senior Russian priest dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear war as “just words,” but said many young Catholics now fear being forcibly conscripted with their priests to join the war against Ukraine. “Although I’m not a military person, I don’t think the Russian army could even use nuclear weapons – and if it did, this would be much more dangerous for Russia itself than anyone else,” said the priest, who asked not to be named. “People are certainly frightened here, particularly since Catholic parishioners and clergy could now be called up, beginning with those who’ve done military service. But I don’t think there’s much to fear from Putin, who’s just coming out with words.” Street protests erupted in Russia after Putin’s Sept. 21 order for a nationwide call-up of 300,000 reservists after setbacks in the Ukraine war. The priest told Catholic News Service Sept. 21 students and young people had “reacted very emotionally” to the mobilization order, with many debating its practical consequences. He added that there had been “no consultation” with Russia’s minority churches and said he had consulted lawyers about the order’s implications for church personnel. “Some young Catholics have already left the country, and more are doing so now,” the priest told CNS.

U.S. synod report finds participants share common hopes, lingering pain

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

By Dennis Sadowski
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Catholics across the country continue to feel wounded by the clergy abuse crisis, seek a more welcoming church in which their “lived reality” is prioritized over rules and regulations, and desire lifelong spiritual, pastoral and catechetical formation as disciples, according to a report synthesizing the 10-month synodal process in dioceses.

Participants in the process also expressed concern that the U.S. Catholic Church is deeply divided and that a lack of unity exists among the bishops, spoke of a desire to “accompany with authenticity” LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, and voiced hope that laypeople’s gifts would be more widely utilized in a spirit of collaboration throughout the church, the report said.

Released Sept. 19 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the report summarizes the concerns, hopes, pains and desires voiced by an estimated 700,000 participants who joined thousands of listening sessions and other events during the diocesan phase in the lead-up to the Synod of Bishops on synodality in October 2023.

There are roughly 66.8 million Catholics in the U.S., according to the report, meaning more than 1% of Catholics participated in the listening sessions.
“The listening is an opening movement toward a wise discernment locally, regionally and nationally about what our deepest concerns, our deepest hopes are right now at this moment in time,” Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who is overseeing the U.S. involvement in the synodal process, told Catholic News Service.

Bishop Flores, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, said the process that has unfolded since October – and led to the 16-page synthesis report sent to the Vatican – enabled people to respectfully listen to each other and develop a new understanding of what life in the church can be.

Titled “National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Diocesan Phase of the 2021-2023 Synod,” the report was prepared in advance of the Synod of Bishops called by Pope Francis.

The synod’s theme is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” The report is the synthesis of 290 documents received by the USCCB from various contributors. The report said the documents “represent over 22,000 reports from individual parishes and other groups” that emerged from more than 30,000 opportunities to join the synodal process.

The national synthesis report draws from the 14 intermediate syntheses submitted by teams from each of the geographic regions of the U.S. church. All 178 Latin dioceses and archdioceses submitted syntheses that were incorporated into the regional reports.
For the process, the USCCB created a 16th “region” for the numerous Catholic national ministries, universities, associations and organizations working throughout the country. Those organizations submitted 112 summary reports.

In a letter introducing the report, Bishop Flores described the document as “an attempt to synthesize and contextualize the common joys, hopes and wounds called forth with the help of the Holy Spirit in the unfolding of the synod.”

“While not a complete articulation of the many topics and perspectives shared in the listening process, this synthesis is an attempt to express the broader themes that seemed most prevalent in the dioceses and regions of our country,” he wrote.

The report is divided into four themes: “Enduring Wounds,” “Enhancing Communion and Participation,” “Ongoing Formation for Mission” and “Engaging Discernment.” Each section summarizes common observations raised in the listening sessions.

It includes directly quoted descriptions of common concerns, hopes and desires from individual regional reports raised in the local listening sessions.

The report cites several “enduring wounds” expressed during the sessions. In addition to the still unfolding effects of the sexual abuse crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exact a toll on the sense of community people felt before the virus swept around the world in 2020.

“The pandemic itself ‘has led to the fraying of our communities in some ways, accelerating a trend toward disengagement and intensifying the isolation and loneliness of many, youth and elderly in particular. A large number of faithful have not yet returned to worship,’” the report said, quoting the Region 12 submission from Northwestern states.

Divisiveness and polarization in the church was a concern expressed in multiple regional reports. The Region 9 report covering four Midwestern states said division over the celebration of the Eucharist is disconcerting, particularly when it comes to the pre-Vatican II Mass.

“The limited access to the 1962 missal was lamented; many felt that the difference over how to celebrate the liturgy ‘sometimes reach the level of animosity. People on each side of the issue reported feeling judged by those who differ from them,’” the national synthesis report said quoting the Region 9 submission.

Other concerns were expressed by people who feel marginalized. The report said marginalized people fall into two broad groups.

One made up of those who are vulnerable by their lack of social or economic power, including those with disabilities, the mentally ill, immigrants, ethnic minorities, people in the U.S. without documents, the unborn and their mothers, and those living in poverty, who are homeless, are incarcerated or living with an addiction.

The second group includes women, “whose voices are frequently marginalized in the decision-making processes of the church,” the report said. Others in the group include those who are marginalized “because circumstances in their own lives are experienced as impediments to full participation in the life of the church” including members of the LGBTQ+ community and people who are divorced and may have remarried, and those civilly married.

“The synodal consultations around the enduring wounds caused by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the pandemic, polarization and marginalization have exposed a deep hunger for healing and the strong desire for communion, community, and a sense of belonging and being united,” the national synthesis report said.

Under the theme of “Enhancing Communion and Participation,” the sacramental life of the church and the spirit of welcome within the church were addressed. The report found that the wounds expressed among participants in listening sessions could be addressed by the church being more welcoming to those not in the mainstream.

Quoting the Region 13 report from Southwestern states, the synthesis report said participants were concerned with “obstacles to community within their parishes, partly due to the divisive political climate and resulting polarization within the country.”

People in the region also identified the centrality of the Eucharist as a “source of hope for greater unity.” They said in addition that “receiving Eucharist does bring them more closely in solidarity with the poor,” according to the synthesis report.

Concerns about racism within the church and the lack of welcome to diverse cultural and ethnic communities emerged in listening sessions. The elderly, the report said, were particularly hurt by the departure of young people from church life.

“Young people themselves voiced a feeling of exclusion and desired to participate more fully as members of the parish community,” the synthesis report said.

The synthesis report also included the observation that “nearly all synodal consultations shared a deep appreciation for the powerful impact of women religious who have consistently led the way in carrying out the mission of the church.”

Participants in listening sessions expressed a “desire for stronger leadership, discernment and decision-making roles for women – both lay and religious – in their parishes and communities.”

The synthesis report said a common hope that emerged nationwide was the “desire for lifelong spiritual, pastoral and catechetical formation as disciples.” Discussions in the sessions “made clear the importance of evangelization as we continue to live out the church’s mission, which requires stronger formation.”
Steps would include accompaniment with families in their formation as people long for a closer encounter with Jesus.

Suggestions also emerged on the need to “journey together” in the formation of clergy. The Region 5 intermediate report from Southern states suggested such formation was needed to better understand human and pastoral needs, cultural sensitivity, stronger emphasis on social justice, how to include laypeople in decision-making and “learning to speak with empathy, creativity and compassion.”

Laypeople, the synthesis report said, also expressed hope that a genuine appreciation for their gifts and talents would grow into a “relationship of collaboration” with pastors.

The final theme, “Engaging Discernment,” concluded that the diocesan phase of the synodal process was the first step in a church rooted in synodality, or walking together.

The synthesis report said the process enabled thousands of people to reengage “in the simple practice of gathering, praying together and listening to one another.”

It invited people to commit to “ongoing attentive listening, respectful encounter and prayerful discernment.”

Going forward, the report called for continued engagement with communities that did not participate broadly in the listening sessions particularly Indigenous people, ethnic communities and immigrants.
“Engaging and discerning with our sisters and brothers who experience the woundedness of marginalization, as well as those whose voice were underrepresented within the synodal process, will be essential for the unfolding of the synodal journey in our dioceses and in our country,” the report said.

The next phase in preparation for the Synod of Bishops is being called the continental phase. It will find teams gathering by continent to synthesize the reports submitted to the Vatican thus far. Synod officials will prepare the “instrumentum laboris,” or working document, to guide continental or regional ecclesial assemblies that will take place by March.

The North American report will be submitted by the U.S. and Canada. Bishop Flores said some preliminary outreach has already occurred among the teams from the two nations. Other continental reports will involve significantly larger gatherings of teams from individual ecclesial assemblies.

Those assemblies will produce another set of documents that will help in the drafting of a second working document for the Synod of Bishops in October 2023.

The synod is expected to produce a final document on how synodality can be practiced throughout the church.

Catholic leaders weigh in on upcoming, busy Supreme Court term

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

By Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Supreme Court begins its new term Oct. 3, jumping right back into the fray with cases that take on affirmative action, voting, immigration, the environment and freedom of speech.
This term will include a new member, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, replacing Justice Stephen Breyer, who retired at the end of last session. It also will be the first time the public will be allowed back inside the court since the start of the pandemic.

In late September, the court had not announced if it will continue to provide live audio of oral arguments.
Another change is outside. Barriers around the court since May – after protests erupted following a leak of the court’s draft opinion on its Dobbs decision – have now been removed. The investigation into that leak, ordered by Chief Justice John Roberts, is still continuing.

The Supreme Court is seen in Washington June 7, 2022. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

For now, the court has agreed to hear 27 cases and has scheduled 18 of them.

In the weeks leading up to the court’s new session, law schools and think tanks have presented previews of big cases coming up and speculation on how the justices might respond.

Adam Liptak, a Supreme Court reporter for The New York Times, who moderated a few of these panels, pointed out in a Sept. 15 preview by the American Constitutional Society, that the court was not taking a breather after just finishing “a tumultuous term.”

And this term, as in many previous sessions, Catholic leaders have something to say about major cases coming up.

One case getting a lot of attention is 303 Creative v. Elenis about a Colorado graphic designer who does not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples based on her Christian beliefs about marriage. The case, which does not have a date yet for oral arguments, is similar to the 2017 case involving a Colorado baker who refused to make a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple based on his religious beliefs.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by the Colorado Catholic Conference and other religious groups, are siding with the designer as they did with the baker five years ago.

In an amicus brief they said this case gives the court the chance to clarify free speech issues it said the court fell short of doing in the previous case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
In a Sept. 21 court preview by the Federalist Society, one panelist described the website case as a sequel to the court’s bakery decision and noted that the initial case “didn’t actually address the big speech issues at play” and instead took an “off ramp narrowly in favor of the baker on very established religious liberty grounds.”

“Here we have a new court,” Amanda Shanor, assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, continued.

One difference is that in the current case, the artist, Lorie Smith, is not fighting a specific incident, as was the baker who denied baking a custom cake for a same-sex couple. Smith wants the court to weigh in before she is even asked to design a website for a same-sex couple.

Even though she does not wish to provide a service based on her Christian beliefs about marriage, the case hinges on her freedom of speech claim.

Shanor said Supreme Court preview panels in 2017 likely didn’t predict the baker winning, but now she already is pretty sure the court will likely rule in the artist’s favor and said the case could have broad implications about who can be viewed as an artist.

The USCCB’s brief said there is a “pressing need for the court to clarify how the compelled speech doctrine applies to wedding-vendor cases and other disputes.” It urged the justices to do what they have done in the past: “Apply the Free Speech Clause to protect religious speech, thereby strengthening liberty not just for the religious but for all society.”

It also said the current case “provides an appropriate and especially important opportunity to invoke free speech protections again to address the ongoing tensions in wedding-vendor cases and in the current cultural context more broadly” and implored the court to “protect individuals from compelled speech and to provide space in the public square for minority voices.”

Other groups that filed briefs on behalf of the wedding vendor included Catholicvote.org, the Thomas More Society, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the Becket Fund.

DignityUSA, an unofficial Catholic support group for gay Catholics and their families, and New Ways Ministry, a Catholic pastoral outreach to LGBTQ people and their families, joined a brief filed by 30 religious and civil rights groups opposing the graphic artist’s case.

“Carving out this broad exemption would allow public businesses to legally exclude customers based on their identities,” it said, adding that “instead of safeguarding every citizen’s right to buy goods and services from businesses open to the public,” the proposed exemption “would further hurt the very people these civil rights laws were designed to protect.”

Another hot-button topic before the court this year involves affirmative action with two separate cases – from Harvard University and the University of North Carolina – challenging the way higher education institutions use race as a factor in their admission process.

The court chose to hear the two challenges Oct. 31 separately since Justice Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case because she just recently finished serving a six-year-term on the university’s board of trustees.

Georgetown University filed an amicus brief with 56 Catholic colleges and universities urging the court to uphold affirmative action in admissions in these cases that challenge a 40-year legal precedent.

The brief, joined by the University of Notre Dame, the College of the Holy Cross, DePaul University and Villanova University, among others, said the right to consider racial diversity in admissions is essential to their academic and religious missions and is “inextricably intertwined” with their religious foundations.
The brief also argued that this right is rooted in the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and free exercise of religion, particularly for Catholic higher education institutions, whose ability to have discretion in how they choose students is critical to their religious missions.

The challengers in both cases are urging the justices to overrule their 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, a ruling that said the University of Michigan could consider race in its undergraduate admissions process as part of its efforts to obtain a diverse student body.

Catholic leaders and immigration groups also will be paying attention to United States v. Texas, which does not have an argument date yet.

The case will once again examine the executive branch’s authority to set immigration policy, criticized by Texas and Louisiana leaders as too lenient. It specifically challenges federal policy that prioritizes certain groups of unauthorized immigrants for arrest and deportation.

In the last term, the court ruled 5-4 in Biden v. Texas that the administration could end the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, or the Migrant Protection Protocols, that required people seeking asylum at the southern U.S. border to stay in Mexico until their asylum case could be heard.

Another Texas case, on the death penalty, has long had the attention of Texas Catholic bishops, Catholic opponents of capital punishment, as well as celebrities. The case, Reed v. Goertz, argued Oct. 11, will examine when prisoners can pursue post-conviction claims for DNA testing of crime scene evidence.

Rodney Reed, sentenced to death more than 23 years ago for the murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites, has maintained his innocence and his attorneys from the Innocence Project have brought forward crime scene evidence, not tested for DNA, that they say implicates someone else.

In 2019, five days before he was scheduled to be executed, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted an indefinite stay of Reed’s execution and said it was sending his case back to trial court for further review.

Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille, who is a longtime opponent of the death penalty, has been drawing attention to Reed’s case for several years, citing lack of evidence of his guilt.

Similarly, Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, said in a 2019 statement that if Reed’s execution proceeds, “there is great risk the state of Texas will execute a man who is innocent of this crime while allowing the guilty party to go free.”

Other big cases before the court this term involve voting rights, the Clean Water Act and a challenge to a California animal welfare law.

The court starts its new session amid low public support. A Gallup poll in June found just 25% of the public have confidence in the court.

A poll by Marquette University Law School this September found 40% of adults approve the job the court is doing, while 60% disapprove. A similar poll conducted by the Milwaukee Jesuit-run university in July showed 38% of adults favored the court’s work and 61% disapproved. Both results were down from court approval the poll found in 2020 and early 2021.

(Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim)

After Roe, Catholics must help ‘build a world’ that welcomes all

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade “is, without question, an answer to prayer,” but in a post-Roe world, “Catholics must now work together for another, even deeper paradigm shift,” said the U.S. bishops’ pro-life chairman.

“We must move beyond a paradigm shift in the law in order to help the people of our nation better see who we can be as a nation by truly understanding what we owe to one another as members of the same human family,” said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-life Activities.

“To build a world in which all are welcome,” he said, Catholics “must heed” the words of St. Teresa of Kolkata “and remember ‘that we belong to one another.'”

“We must shift the paradigm to what St. John Paul II described as ‘radical solidarity,’ making the good of others our own good, including especially mothers, babies – born and preborn – and families throughout the entire human lifespan,” Archbishop Lori said.

This is the poster for Respect Life Month 2022, which has as its theme: “Called to Serve Moms in Need.” The U.S. Catholic Church celebrates Respect Life Month every October. The first Sunday of October is designated as Respect Life Sunday, which is Oct. 2 this year. (CNS photo/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)This is the poster for Respect Life Month 2022, which has as its theme: “Called to Serve Moms in Need.” The U.S. Catholic Church celebrates Respect Life Month every October. The first Sunday of October is designated as Respect Life Sunday, which is Oct. 2 this year. (CNS photo/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)

He made the remarks in a Sept. 21 statement for the U.S. Catholic Church’s observance of Respect Life Month, which is October. The theme of the observance is “Called to Serve Moms in Need.”

The first Sunday of October is designated as Respect Life Sunday, which is Oct. 2 this year.
In their June 24 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a majority of the justices ended the court’s nearly 50-year nationwide “regime of abortion on demand,” the archbishop said.

This “regime” was “based on the indefensible view that the U.S. Constitution implicitly forbids government from protecting the preborn child in the womb from the violence of abortion,” he said.

The court “concluded that there is nothing in the Constitution’s text, history, American legal tradition or the court’s precedents that justified the extreme holding of Roe,” he said.
Dobbs was a challenge to a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. The court affirmed the law 6-3 and also voted 5-4 to overturn the 1973 Roe ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide, and 1992’s Casey v. Planned Parenthood ruling, which affirmed Roe.

The ruling returned the issue of abortion to the states.

With Dobbs, the high court “cleared the way for a paradigm shift in American law, allowing it to enlarge its boundaries to again welcome a segment of the human family that had been outside of its protections for close to half a century,” he added.

He called Dobbs “a victory for justice, the rule of law and self-governance.”

“But for those of us who have prayed for this moment to arrive, it is the time for a renewal and rededication of our efforts to build a culture of life and civilization of love,” he said. “Justice is, of course, essential to this end. But it is not sufficient.

“To build a world in which all are welcome requires not only justice, but compassion, healing, and above all, unconditional love.”

“Abortion is a gruesome sign of how we have forgotten our mutual belonging,” Archbishop Lori continued. “The logic of Roe v. Wade has framed our national discourse on the issue of abortion as a zero-sum conflict among individual strangers.”

But “mother and child are not strangers; they are already bound together by flesh and kinship,” he said. “The new life that is developing under the heart of the mother is already situated in a network of relations, including family, neighbors and fellow citizens.”

Roe‘s logic “offers the woman only the right to see lethal force used against her child, but it otherwise abandons her,” he explained.

But “the logic of the culture of life recognizes that the pregnant woman and her child are not alone – they are fellow members of our larger human family whose interwoven vulnerability is a summons to all of us, but especially Catholics because of the teaching of Jesus and his proclamation of the Gospel of life,” the archbishop said.

To practice “radical solidarity and unconditional love in a post-Roe world,” he said, means speaking and living the truth” with compassion – the truth that abortion not only “unjustly kills a preborn child, but also gravely wounds women, men, families and the nation as a whole.”

Through law, policy, politics and culture, society must do whatever it can to provide mothers, children and families in need “with the care and support necessary for their flourishing throughout the entire arc of life’s journey,” he said.

“Building a world in which women are esteemed, children are loved and protected, and men are called to their responsibilities as fathers, requires us to understand and address the complex and tragic tangle of affliction and strife that culminates in the violence of abortion,” Archbishop Lori said. “This is a massive and daunting undertaking.”

“Catholics already have a strong foundation in the church’s centuries-long encouragement of parental and societal duties,” he said. “Millions of individual Catholics from all walks of life are already personally endeavoring to build the bonds of solidarity and compassion throughout our society.”

Many also are engaged in parish and community initiatives such as pregnancy resource centers, post-abortion counseling, he said, as well as Walking with Moms in Need, an initiative of the U.S. bishops to connect pregnant women and their families with parishes and to a growing network of resources.

(Editor’s Note: The full text of Archbishop Lori’s statement and Respect Life Month materials from the USCCB’s Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities can be found online at https://www.respectlife.org/respect-life-month.)

El Mundo en Fotos

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

ITALIA – Una niña lanza flores mientras una procesión eucarística pasa por la calle durante el Congreso Eucarístico Nacional de Italia en Matera, Italia, el 24 de septiembre de 2022. (Foto CNS/Paul Haring)

CANADA – Casas destruidas a lo largo de la costa en Port Aux Basques, Terranova y el corte del suministro eléctrico son productos de la devastación de Fiona, que azotó las provincias atlánticas del país como una tormenta postropical, el 25 de septiembre de 2022, (Foto del CNS/John Morris, Reuters)

FILIPINAS – Una mujer vadea a través de las inundaciones hasta el pecho, el 26 de septiembre de 2022, después que el tifón Noru azotara Bulakan, Filipinas. Noru dejó un rastro de destrucción en las provincias del norte de Filipinas y se dirigía hacia Vietnam. (Foto del CNS/Eloisa López, Reuters)

NEW YORK – La “pequeña Amal”, una marioneta de 12 pies de altura de una joven refugiada siria, saluda a las familias migrantes que llegaron recientemente a la ciudad de Nueva York desde Ecuador, Afganistán y Birmania, en la Catedral de San Patricio en Nueva York el 18 de septiembre de 2022. La “pequeña Amal” se ha convertido en un símbolo mundialmente reconocido de los derechos humanos, especialmente para inmigrantes, refugiados y otras personas marginadas. (Foto de CNS/cortesía de DKC)

PAKISTAN – Las personas desplazadas debido a las inundaciones se reúnen para recibir alimentos en un campamento en Sehwan, Pakistán, el 20 de septiembre de 2022. (Foto del CNS/Reuters)

Huracán Ian deja catástrofe en Florida, Cuba, millones sin electricidad

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

Por Rhina Guidos

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Todavía no se conocen todos los daños del huracán Ian en las diócesis católicas de Venice y St. Petersburg o en el resto de la Florida, pero el presidente Joe Biden dijo en una conferencia de prensa el 29 de septiembre que es probable que termine siendo uno de los huracanes más peligrosos en la historia de la Florida.

Un oficial de policía se para junto a una bandera cubana rasgada después del huracán Ian en Puerta de Golpe el 28 de septiembre de 2022. (Foto CNS/Alexandre Meneghini, Reuters)

“Los números (de muertos)… aún no están claros, pero estamos escuchando los primeros informes de lo que puede ser una pérdida sustancial de vidas”, dijo el presidente.

No se reportaron muertes oficiales a principios del 29 de septiembre, pero las autoridades apenas estaban comenzando los esfuerzos de búsqueda y rescate, que se vieron obstaculizados por los escombros esparcidos en las carreteras y puentes dañados por vientos de 155 mph de Ian tras su pasó en la Florida el 28 y 29 de septiembre.

“Sabemos que muchas familias, muchas, muchas, están sufriendo hoy y todo nuestro país sufre con ellas”, dijo el presidente Biden durante la conferencia de prensa en la sede de FEMA en Washington.

Prometió visitar el estado en el futuro para no molestar durante esfuerzos iniciales de rescate, pero prometió ayuda económica del gobierno federal y ayudar a Florida a recuperarse.

El gobernador de Florida, Ron DeSantis, en una conferencia de prensa del 29 de septiembre, dijo que el impacto del huracán Ian en su estado es histórico. Informó que más de 2 millones están sin electricidad en su estado.

Una familia cena durante un apagón tras el paso del huracán Ian en La Habana, Cuba, el 28 de septiembre de 2022. Funcionarios cubanos dijeron que habían comenzado a restaurar parte del suministro eléctrico después de que el huracán Ian dejó sin electricidad a toda la isla y devastó parte del país. plantaciones de tabaco más importantes cuando azotó el extremo occidental de la isla como una gran tormenta. (Foto del CNS/Alexandre Meneghini, Reuters)

“El daño que se hizo ha sido histórico y esto es solo de las evaluaciones iniciales… Nunca hemos visto un evento de inundación como este. Nunca hemos visto una marejada ciclónica de esta magnitud”, dijo.

Organizaciones como Catholic Charities USA dijeron que cuentan con sus equipos de respuesta para hacer frente a las secuelas de la enorme tormenta de categoría 4 que azotó el oeste y el centro de Florida.

Incluso en un estado acostumbrado a fuertes tormentas, la destrucción de Ian asombró, dejando recuerdos de su poder en forma de automóviles golpeados por el viento y agua, que quedaron flotando en las calles inundadas de la ciudad junto a árboles y partes de techos arrancados de los edificios en las ciudades de Fort Myers, Tampa y Punta Gorda.

Parte de un puente que conectaba la isla de Sanibel con el continente de Florida se derrumbó.

En una serie de actualizaciones para el Tampa Bay Times, el reportero Zachary T. Sampson escribió el 29 de septiembre que: “En la playa de Fort Myers, los funcionarios de emergencia esperan encontrar cuerpos entre los escombros. Saben que la gente no hizo caso a las órdenes de evacuación…”.

Las diócesis de las áreas afectadas cerraron sus iglesias, escuelas y otros centros. La Diócesis de Venice publicó un video de las Siervas de la Virgen de Matara el 28 de septiembre mientras los voluntarios ayudaban a tapar las ventanas de la Iglesia St. Michael en Wauchula, en la parte norte de la diócesis.

No hubo actualizaciones en las redes sociales o en los sitios web de esas diócesis a principios del 29 de septiembre.

El obispo Gregory L. Parkes de St. Petersburg, que incluye a Tampa, y el obispo Frank J. Dewane de Venice habían pedido oraciones, sabiendo que sus territorios diocesanos estaban en el paso de la tormenta.

Algunos otros obispos de EE. UU. mantuvieron un ojo en noticias del huracán y ofrecieron su solidaridad con el pueblo de Florida.

“Oramos por todas las personas en Florida, especialmente por las vidas de las personas afectadas”, escribió el arzobispo Gustavo García-Siller de San Antonio en Twitter justo antes de que el huracán tocara tierra. “¡Que tú, Señor, seas su fuerza! No controlamos todo”.

Más de 2 millones seguían sin electricidad cuando el huracán, el cual disminuyó a tormenta tropical a principios del 29 de septiembre, se dirigía al norte hacia Georgia, Carolina del Norte y Carolina del Sur. Personas en Twitter pidieron noticias sobre las condiciones en lugares como Venice, cerca de donde la tormenta tocó tierra y donde muchos, incluso sus familiares, permanecen sin comunicación.

Las autoridades comenzaron a inspeccionar los daños a principios del 29 de septiembre, buscando a aquellos que no habían logrado salir antes del paso del huracán. Pidieron a los que se quedaron en sus hogares que permanecieran adentro mientras se llevan a cabo rescates acuáticos pero aún luchaban por abrir camino entre los escombros y las inundaciones y el viento restantes.

Catholic Charities USA dijo en un comunicado que sus equipos de respuesta a desastres “tienen un largo historial de movilización rápida para satisfacer las necesidades de los afectados por eventos catastróficos en los EE. UU. y sus territorios”.

La organización pidió donaciones en https://ccusa.online/Ian para ayudar a quienes enfrentan a la destrucción de la tormenta.

El gobernador DeSantis dijo el 28 de septiembre que los esfuerzos de recuperación necesitan asistencia económica y pidió a las personas que no envíen artículos, como ropa, a la Florida y mejor den ayuda económica o se ofrezcan como voluntarios.

También dijo que le pidió al presidente Biden una declaración de desastre mayor para que el gobierno federal pague los esfuerzos de recuperación en el estado. Biden dijo en su conferencia de prensa que el gobierno ayudaría al pueblo de la Florida.

En Cuba, donde Ian causó estragos el 27 de septiembre antes de dirigirse a Florida, la diócesis más afectada publicó el 28 de septiembre en Facebook fotos de daños generalizados, cultivos destruidos, techos dañados y edificios derrumbados en Pinar del Río, donde niños ayudaban con los esfuerzos de limpieza en las iglesias católicas.

La agencia de noticias EFE dijo que se reportaron tres muertes en la isla hasta septiembre y Cuba permanece en gran parte sin electricidad. Su cultivo de tabaco, famoso por los cigarros de la isla, ha resultado dañado.

“Las imágenes son devastadoras. Un pueblo sumido en la miseria y la desesperanza ahora se enfrenta al embate de un fenómeno natural de gran magnitud”, dice la publicación de Facebook de la página de la Diócesis de Pinar del Río, donde el huracán tocó tierra. “El huracán Ian ha destruido viviendas, cultivos, centros estatales, etc, pero también ha sembrado tristeza y desolación”.

La publicación dijo que tanques de agua resultaron dañados, junto con ventanas y techos, y propiedad personal en muchas casas, y “personas que se han quedado sin lo poco que tenían”, dice la publicación, y agrega que hay “en medio de todo, la tristeza y preocupación por un futuro muy incierto”.

“Así está la Diócesis de Pinar del Río hoy”, dice la publicación, pero agrega que “en medio de esta realidad la Iglesia desea hacerse presente para decirnos que no estamos solos, que Dios no nos ha abandonado”.

Corte Suprema anula “Permanecer en Mexico” y Católicos miran a su nuevo mandato

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

Por Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) – La Corte Suprema comienza su nuevo mandato el 3 de octubre y vuelve a la carga con casos que abordan affirmative action (acción afirmativa), la votación, la inmigración, el medio ambiente y la libertad de expresión.

Este término incluirá un nuevo miembro, el juez Ketanji Brown Jackson, que reemplazará al juez Stephen Breyer, quien se retiró al final de la última sesión. También será la primera vez que se permitirá que el público regrese a la cancha desde el comienzo de la pandemia. A fines de septiembre, el tribunal no había anunciado si continuara brindando audio en vivo de los argumentos orales.

Félix, un migrante peruano que busca asilo, lleva a su hijo de 3 años por un camino de tierra en Roma, Texas, el 11 de agosto de 2022, después de cruzar el Río Grande desde México. (Foto del CNS/Adrees Latif, Reuters)

Otro cambio está afuera. Las barreras alrededor de la corte desde mayo, luego de que estallaron las protestas luego de una filtración del borrador de la opinión de la corte sobre su decisión Dobbs, ahora se han eliminado. La investigación sobre esa filtración, ordenada por el presidente del Tribunal Supremo, John Roberts, aún continúa.

Por ahora, el tribunal ha accedido a escuchar 27 casos y ha programado 18 de ellos.

En las semanas previas a la nueva sesión de la corte, las facultades de derecho y los grupos de expertos han presentado avances de los grandes casos que se avecinan y especulaciones sobre cómo podrían responder los jueces.

Adam Liptak, un reportero de la Corte Suprema de The New York Times, quien moderó algunos de estos paneles, señaló en una vista previa del 15 de septiembre de la Sociedad Constitucional Estadounidense, que la corte no se estaba tomando un respiro después de terminar “un mandato tumultuoso.”

Y este período, como en muchas sesiones anteriores, los líderes católicos tienen algo que decir sobre los casos importantes que se avecinan.

Un caso que recibe mucha atención es 303 Creative v. Elenis sobre un diseñador gráfico de Colorado que no quiere crear sitios web de bodas para parejas del mismo sexo basados en sus creencias cristianas sobre el matrimonio. El caso, que aún no tiene una fecha para los argumentos orales, es similar al caso de 2017 que involucró a un panadero de Colorado que se negó a hacer un pastel de bodas personalizado para una pareja del mismo sexo en base a sus creencias religiosas.

La Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de EE. UU.(USCCB), junto con la Conferencia Católica de Colorado y otros grupos religiosos, están del lado del diseñador como lo hicieron con el panadero hace cinco años. En un escrito, dijeron que este caso le da a la corte la oportunidad de aclarar los problemas de libertad de expresión que, según dijo, la corte no logró en el caso anterior, Masterpiece Cakeshop contra la Comisión de Derechos Civiles de Colorado.

En una vista previa de la corte del 21 de septiembre por la Sociedad Federalista, un panelista describió el caso del sitio web como una secuela de la decisión de la panadería de la corte y señaló que el caso inicial “en realidad no abordó los grandes problemas de discurso en juego” y en su lugar tomó un ” fuera de la rampa por poco a favor del panadero por motivos de libertad religiosa muy establecidos.”

“Aquí tenemos un nuevo tribunal”, continuó Amanda Shanor, profesora asistente de estudios legales y ética empresarial en la Escuela Wharton de la Universidad de Pensilvania. Una diferencia es que en el caso actual, la artista, Lorie Smith, no está luchando contra un incidente específico, como lo estaba el panadero que negó haber hecho un pastel personalizado para una pareja del mismo sexo. Smith quiere que la corte intervenga antes de que se le pida que diseñe un sitio web para una pareja del mismo sexo.

Aunque ella no desea brindar un servicio basado en sus creencias cristianas sobre el matrimonio, el caso depende de su reclamo de libertad de expresión. Shanor dijo que los paneles preliminares de la Corte Suprema en 2017 probablemente no predijeron que el panadero ganaría, pero ahora ya está bastante segura de que la corte probablemente fallará a favor del artista y dijo que el caso podría tener amplias implicaciones sobre quién puede ser visto como artista.

El escrito de la USCCB dijo que existe una “necesidad apremiante de que el tribunal aclare cómo se aplica la doctrina del discurso forzado a los casos de proveedores de bodas y otras disputas.” Instó a los jueces a hacer lo que han hecho en el pasado: “Aplicar la Cláusula de Libertad de Expresión para proteger el discurso religioso, fortaleciendo así la libertad no solo para los religiosos sino para toda la sociedad.”

También dijo que el caso actual “brinda una oportunidad apropiada y especialmente importante para invocar nuevamente las protecciones de la libertad de expresión para abordar las tensiones en curso en los casos de proveedores de bodas y en el contexto cultural actual en general” e imploró a la corte que “proteja a las personas de la expresión forzada” y proporcionar espacio en la plaza pública para las voces de las minorías.

Otros grupos que presentaron informes en nombre del proveedor de la boda incluyeron a Catholicvote.org, la Sociedad Thomas More, la Liga Católica para los Derechos Religiosos y Civiles y el Fondo Becket.

DignityUSA, un grupo de apoyo católico no oficial para católicos homosexuales y sus familias y New Ways Ministry, una pastoral católica para personas LGBTQ y sus familias, se unieron a un escrito presentado por 30 grupos religiosos y de derechos civiles que se oponen al caso del artista gráfico.

“Establecer esta amplia exención permitiría a las empresas públicas excluir legalmente a los clientes en función de sus identidades,” dijo y agregó que “en lugar de salvaguardar el derecho de todos los ciudadanos a comprar bienes y servicios de empresas abiertas al público, la exención propuesta lastimó aún más a las mismas personas que estas leyes de derechos civiles fueron diseñadas para proteger.”

Otro tema candente ante la corte este año involucra la acción afirmativa con dos casos separados, de la Universidad de Harvard y la Universidad de Carolina del Norte, que cuestionan la forma en que las instituciones de educación superior usan la raza como un factor en su proceso de admisión.

El tribunal eligió escuchar los dos desafíos el 31 de octubre por separado, ya que la jueza Jackson se recusó del caso de Harvard porque acababa de cumplir un mandato de seis años en el consejo de administración de la universidad.

La Universidad de Georgetown presentó un escrito de amicus curiae con 56 colegios y universidades católicas instando a la corte a respaldar la acción afirmativa en las admisiones en estos casos que desafían un precedente legal de 40 años.

El escrito, al que se unieron la Universidad de Notre Dame, el Colegio de la Santa Cruz, la Universidad DePaul y la Universidad de Villanova, entre otros, dijo que el derecho a considerar la diversidad racial en las admisiones es esencial para sus misiones académicas y religiosas y está “inextricablemente entrelazado” con sus fundamentos religiosos.

El informe también argumentó que este derecho está arraigado en la garantía de la Primera Enmienda de la libertad de expresión y el libre ejercicio de la religión, particularmente para las instituciones católicas de educación superior, cuya capacidad de tener discreción en la forma en que eligen a los estudiantes es fundamental para sus misiones religiosas.

Los impugnadores, en ambos casos, están instando a los jueces a anular su decisión de 2003 en Grutter v. Bollinger, un fallo que decía que la Universidad de Michigan podría considerar la raza en su proceso de admisión de pregrado como parte de sus esfuerzos para obtener un cuerpo estudiantil diverso.

Los líderes católicos y los grupos de inmigración también prestarán atención a Estados Unidos v. Texas, que aún no tiene fecha de argumento.

El caso examinará una vez más la autoridad del poder ejecutivo para establecer la política de inmigración, criticada por los líderes de Texas y Luisiana como demasiado indulgente. Desafía específicamente la política federal que da prioridad a ciertos grupos de inmigrantes no autorizados para su arresto y deportación.

En el último término, la corte dictaminó 5-4 en Biden v. Texas que la administración podría poner fin a la política de “Permanecer en México” de la era Trump, o los Protocolos de Protección de Migrantes, que requerían que las personas que buscaban asilo en la frontera sur de los EE. UU. se quedaran en México, hasta que su caso de asilo pudiera ser visto.

Otro caso de Texas, sobre la pena de muerte, ha atraído durante mucho tiempo la atención de los obispos católicos de Texas, los católicos que se oponen a la pena capital y las celebridades. El caso, Reed v. Goertz, argumentado el 11 de octubre, examinará cuándo los presos pueden presentar reclamos posteriores a la condena para pruebas de ADN de la evidencia de la escena del crimen.

Rodney Reed, condenado a muerte hace más de 23 años por el asesinato de Stacey Stites, de 19 años, ha mantenido su inocencia y sus abogados del Innocence Project(Proyecto Inocencia) han presentado pruebas de la escena del crimen, sin pruebas de ADN, que dicen implica a alguien más.

En 2019, cinco días antes de la fecha prevista para su ejecución, la Corte de Apelaciones en lo Penal de Texas concedió una suspensión indefinida de la ejecución de Reed y dijo que enviaría su caso de vuelta a la corte de primera instancia para una revisión adicional.

La Hermana Helen Prejean, de St. Joseph of Medaille, que se opone desde hace mucho tiempo a la pena de muerte, ha estado llamando la atención sobre el caso de Reed durante varios años, citando la falta de pruebas de su culpabilidad.

De manera similar, el obispo Joe S. Vasquez de Austin, Texas, dijo en una declaración de 2019 que si procede la ejecución de Reed, “existe un gran riesgo de que el estado de Texas ejecute a un hombre que es inocente de este delito y permita que la parte culpable quede libre.”

Otros casos importantes, ante la corte este término, involucran los derechos de voto, la Ley de Agua Limpia y un desafío a la ley del bienestar animal de California.

La corte inicia su nueva sesión en medio de un escaso apoyo público. Una encuesta de Gallup en junio encontró que solo el 25% del público tiene confianza en la corte.

Una encuesta realizada por la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Marquette en septiembre encontró que el 40% de los adultos aprueba el trabajo que está haciendo el tribunal, mientras que el 60% lo desaprueba. Una encuesta similar realizada por la universidad dirigida por los jesuitas de Milwaukee en julio mostró que el 38% de los adultos estaba a favor del trabajo de la corte y el 61% lo desaprobaba.

Ambos resultados estuvieron por debajo de la aprobación judicial que encontró la encuesta en 2020 y principios de 2021.

Conferencia analiza complejo panorama de
inmigración en EE. UU.

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

Por Rhina Guidos
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Mientras las autoridades federales anunciaban el 20 de septiembre un récord histórico de detenciones en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México (más de 2 millones), una conferencia anual sobre inmigración se llevaba a cabo en el Centro de Derecho de la Universidad de Georgetown en Washington.

La 19ª Conferencia Anual de Inmigración y Políticas, que reúne a trabajadores gubernamentales, políticos, abogados, periodistas, y representantes de organizaciones humanitarias, reveló números y tendencias en el movimiento de personas a través de los continentes.

Sin embargo, las soluciones siguen siendo pocas.

Migrantes venezolanos en el Centro de los Trabajadores Agrícolas Fronterizos (Border Farmworkers Center) en El Paso, Texas, esperan en fila para abordar un autobús a Chicago y Nueva York el 2 de septiembre de 2022. (Foto CNS/Paul Ratje, Reuters)

“En general, no se ve bien” el panorama, expresó la panelista Caitlin Dickerson, reportera de inmigración de la revista The Atlantic, hablando de su informe sobre la posición del Congreso sobre cualquier posible acuerdo en asuntos de inmigración. Ha resultado difícil encontrar una solución sobre qué hacer con los aproximadamente 11 millones que se encuentran en el país sin permiso legal, así como un alivio permanente para quienes ingresaron ilegalmente al país cuando eran menores.

No solo hay división entre los dos principales partidos del país, sino que incluso los propios partidos están divididos sobre qué hacer, reveló. “Cada vez que piensas, tal vez van a empezar a colaborar, y no lo hacen … es sorprendente y también no”, dijo Dickerson. “Estamos de vuelta donde hemos estado tantas veces”.

La conferencia se llevó a cabo en persona por primera vez desde que comenzó la pandemia de coronavirus, pero también incluyó participación en línea. Los participantes escucharon cómo los cubanos, nicaragüenses, y venezolanos, quienes huyen de gobiernos autoritarios y economías en crisis, se unen cada vez más a los centroamericanos que ingresan al país en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México.
Algunos se preguntaron cuáles serían las implicaciones para los políticos republicanos, como Marco Rubio, que tienen grandes electorados de personas de raíces cubanas y venezolanas. A pesar de que promocionan una línea dura contra los gobiernos de los países de los cuales viene la nueva ola de inmigrantes, políticos como Rubio también votan en contra de legislación de inmigración.

Sin embargo, como señaló Dickerson, los demócratas tienen sus propios problemas en temas de inmigración.

“No son solo los conservadores de extrema derecha los que están impidiendo que los demócratas cambien algo en el Congreso en este momento, también son los demócratas moderados”, acotó. Cuando uno observa proyectos de ley de inmigración más ampliamente, “no había demócratas moderados que firmaran para copatrocinar esos proyectos de ley. Se veía a los mismos miembros de la izquierda progresista que suelen pronunciarse sobre este tema”, y ellos estaban “allí, solos”, acotó.

Migrantes son vistos fuera del Instituto Nacional de Migración en Ciudad Juárez, México, el 8 de julio de 2020, donde tuvieron que renovar su permiso de permanencia en México a la espera de una audiencia de inmigración en los Estados Unidos. (CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters)

En el frente de los refugiados, el representante del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos, Lawrence Bartlett, director de admisiones de refugiados, dijo que, si bien “nos hemos quedado cortos” ante la meta establecida por el presidente Joe Biden de admitir 125,000 refugiados en Estados Unidos este año fiscal, el país ha acogido a un gran número de personas que huyen de situaciones peligrosas. Si bien Estados Unidos habrá admitido alrededor de 25,000 refugiados oficiales en el año fiscal que finalizará el 30 de septiembre, bajo un programa de “libertad condicional”, 80,000 afganos han ingresado al país, manifestó, con 90,000 ucranianos con libertad condicional, pero solo 55,000 han entrado al país.

Bartlett habló de cómo, aquellos que ayudan a los migrantes y refugiados, están explorando una serie de formas de lidiar con el rostro cambiante de los refugiados y las situaciones. Una de esas formas incluye identificar a aquellos que califican para el estatus de refugiado mientras aún están en sus países de origen, para que no tengan que emprender el peligroso viaje hacia el norte.

“Tratar de averiguar quién es un refugiado mientras todavía están en su país es complicado”, dijo. Es más fácil identificarlos en lugares como Nicaragua, Cuba y Venezuela, pero más complicado en lugares como Guatemala, Honduras, y El Salvador sostuvo. “Todavía no hemos descifrado el código” sobre el reasentamiento de refugiados en esa zona, agregó.

La conferencia también organizó una charla con el gobernador republicano Asa Hutchinson de Arkansas, quien, en 2019, firmó un proyecto de ley que permite a los beneficiarios de la Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA, por sus siglas en inglés), de la era de Barack Obama, obtener licencias profesionales u ocupacionales en el estado.

Los beneficiarios de DACA fueron traídos al país ilegalmente cuando eran menores de edad, pero el estatus les otorga un aplazamiento de deportación, un permiso de trabajo, y otra documentación temporal, siempre que cumplan con ciertos criterios. Hutchinson habló de los beneficios para su estado y cómo los beneficiarios de DACA contribuyen a la fuerza laboral en profesiones como la enfermería y la enseñanza.

Un participante le preguntó a Hutchinson si apoyaba o condenaba las acciones recientes de sus compañeros republicanos de transportar y dejar grupos de migrantes varados en varias partes del país. En el momento de la conferencia, el gobernador de Florida, Ron DeSantis, enfrentaba críticas por enviar un grupo compuesto principalmente por venezolanos a Martha’s Vineyard.

Hubo preguntas sobre por qué el gobernador de Florida había sacado al grupo de Texas y bajo circunstancias que aún no se conocen. Una firma de abogados de derechos civiles presentó una demanda colectiva contra el gobernador tras el incidente, pero la oficina del gobernador dijo que los inmigrantes firmaron documentos estando de acuerdo con ser trasladados a Massachusetts.

“Lo diré de esta manera. No lo he hecho, no he hecho eso, no tengo la intención de hacer eso. Más allá de eso, estos migrantes tienen que ofrecerse como voluntarios para ser transportados … Dejaré que esos hechos se desarrollen”, dijo, y agregó que las personas tenían que ser tratadas humanamente.

Hutchinson reconoció la ruptura del sistema de inmigración y dijo que “cuando hablamos de inmigración, tenemos que reconocer la importante historia de la inmigración para el tejido de nuestro país”. Hablando del anhelo de “aquellos que quieren venir a nuestras costas”, sus esperanzas de libertad hacen de Estados Unidos un lugar mejor, dijo. “Obviamente, queremos que vengan aquí a través de un proceso ordenado y legal”, agregó. Sin embargo, la política tiene que ser estricta, dijo, y tener en cuenta orden y la seguridad de la frontera.

“Tienes que tener una política estricta por sobre encima de la compasión. La razón es que una política compasiva básicamente les dice a todos:

‘Nuestras fronteras están abiertas’ y eso es lo que ves durante esta administración. Y entonces es una circunstancia tipo de ‘amor duro’. Tienes que mostrar fuerza para obtener el control de esa frontera”
Sin embargo, la administración de Biden ha sido criticada por los defensores de la inmigración, en particular por las palabras de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris en julio de 2021 en Guatemala, cuando dijo a posibles inmigrantes de América Central que “no vengan”.

Es un mensaje que los funcionarios de la administración de Biden han repetido.

El orador principal de la conferencia, el fiscal general de Connecticut, William Tong, dijo que muchas veces las personas hablan de la inmigración como un problema para las personas en la frontera sur, uno en el que se trata a los inmigrantes como “el otro”. Esto no reconoce que casi todos en Estados Unidos tienen una conexión personal con la inmigración y están aquí porque vino uno de sus antepasados, dijo.
“Mi historia comenzó cuando mi papá emigró a este país”, dijo.

Labor Day statement: Building a just economy for women and families

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

By Bishop Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

Sept. 5, 2022 – The church often looks at the well-being of society through the lens of the well-being of the family. As Pope Francis said during his visit to the United States in 2015, “We cannot call any society healthy when it does not leave real room for family life. We cannot think that a society has a future when it fails to pass laws capable of protecting families and ensuring their basic needs…”1 This Labor Day, let us reflect on how we can build a more just economy by promoting the welfare of working families through both charitable works and through advocacy for improved policies such as expanding the Child Tax Credit and passing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Advancing these two policies would have a profound impact on family stability, especially for families who are financially vulnerable.

Some recent reports have found the economy is returning to a pre-pandemic norm with regards to unemployment rates.2 However, other reports demonstrate that, while wages are rising, much or all of the increases are lost to inflation, which affects low-income families the most and puts our economy in a precarious position.3 I pray that government leaders who deal with inflation may have prudence in addressing its complexities and challenges.

A worker uses a shovel at a highway construction site in Stony Brook, N.Y., Aug. 30, 2022. Labor Day, observed Sept. 5 in 2022, is an annual U.S. holiday that celebrates and recognizes the contributions and achievements of American workers. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

But pre-pandemic norms were far from perfect. Even before current economic uncertainties, women – especially women of African descent and Latina women – earned less than their male counterparts, including when doing the same work with the same qualifications. They filled the majority of direct care jobs, experiencing increased risk of injury, high stress, and exposure to illness while earning low wages.4,5 They were the majority of caretakers for their loved ones, yet many lacked adequate family and medical leave policies. These and other economic challenges continue to affect working families and children.
This is also the first Labor Day since the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. The ruling is an incredibly significant step towards healing the deep wounds of abortion and protecting all preborn human life. But our aim as Catholics has always been, and remains, to build a society in which abortion is unthinkable. This unique moment necessitates a society and an economy that supports marriages, families, and women; it demands that all of us reach across political aisles and work diligently to reframe social policies in ways that are pro-woman, pro-family, pro-worker and, thus, authentically pro-life.

One of the USCCB’s policy priorities this Congress has been supporting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). There is currently no federal law requiring employers to provide short-term, reasonable accommodations to pregnant women in the workplace and the PWFA would do so. Common requests include being able to carry a bottle of water, a stool for jobs that involve long periods of standing, or lighter duty for jobs that entail heavy lifting. Women in low-wage and physically demanding jobs, disproportionately held by women of color, are regularly denied these simple accommodations and terminated or forced to take leave without pay.6 A number of states already have laws like this in place; however, pregnant women in every state should be protected by these standards. No woman should be forced to risk her or her child’s health, miscarriage, preterm birth, economic security or losing insurance benefits just because she requests a short-term, reasonable, pregnancy-related accommodation. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed this bill with strong, bipartisan support. Now, with a short time left in this current legislative session of Congress, we urge immediate Senate passage of this proposal that would make the workplace safer for women and their preborn children. Hundreds of Catholics who participated in this year’s Catholic Social Ministry Gathering advocated for this bill in meetings with their U.S. Senators and we encourage Catholics to continue doing so through the advocacy center on the USCCB website.

The USCCB has also been actively advocating in favor of expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC). In 2021, the CTC provided financial relief for families who were having difficulty making ends meet. Families largely spent this money on food, energy bills, housing payments and other basic needs. With rising inflation, continuing to expand this tax credit would be critically helpful to families forced to choose between buying food and filling up their gas tanks. Congress should move forward with a CTC proposal that has no minimum income requirement, includes families with mixed immigration status, is available for the year before birth, and is offered to every child – regardless of the size of the family. The CTC was enormously effective at reducing child poverty in 2021 and we should not regress from this progress.

Additionally, the USCCB supports federal paid leave policy, just wages, and the right to organize. We have long called for a system in which the whole of society enjoys fundamental human needs including nutrition, affordable housing, education, and health care. These common goods cannot be achieved through individual efforts alone, but require the collaboration and cooperation of everyone, and the exclusion of no one.

Just as significant as federal policy, there is much work that can be done locally to advance the dignity of work. For example, there are always opportunities to volunteer to help struggling families, such as with Catholic Charities. Additionally, the efforts of labor unions have helped union workers fare better during the pandemic than non-union workers, as they were more likely to maintain their pay and their jobs. To this end, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development supports organizations that work on low-wage workers’ rights and training, in an effort to eliminate labor trafficking and related workplace abuses such as wage theft.

Finally, in writing this Labor Day reflection, I am reminded of Monsignor George Higgins, who passed away 20 years ago this year. He was a fervent advocate of economic justice for all, working closely with unions and union organizers, including Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, and received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was the director of what was then called the Social Action Department of the bishops’ conference and, in fact, wrote or was consulted on the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Labor Day statements for decades. Inspired by him, let us continue his good work in building a just society for all. May the spirit and example of Monsignor Higgins inspire us, that we might have the wisdom to build up justice and improve the lives of workers and their families as he did throughout his life.

1 Pope Francis, Prayer Vigil for the Festival of Families (Sept. 26, 2015). Apostolic Journey – United States of America: Prayer vigil for the Festival of families at the B. Franklin Parkway (Philadelphia, 26 September 2015) | Francis (vatican.va)
2 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Summary (Aug. 5, 2022). https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
3 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost Index Summary (July 29, 2022). https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.nr0.htm
4 PHI. Direct Care Worker Disparities: Key Trends and Challenges (Feb. 8, 2022). https://www.phinational.org/resource/direct-care-worker-disparities-key-trends-and-challenges/
5 PHI. Workplace Injuries and the Direct Care Workforce (April 20, 2018). https://www.phinational.org/resource/workplace-injuries-direct-care-workforce/
6 A Better Balance. Long Overdue: It is Time for the Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (May 2019). https://www.abetterbalance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Long-Overdue.pdf

Catholics see synod listening sessions as significant for the entire church

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Mississippi Catholic

By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON – Evangelizing the whole church, taking personal responsibility for the mission to evangelize, engaging youth and young adults better, accompanying families, asking parishes to become more welcoming, understanding the experience of LGBTQ+ Catholics and allowing more women in church leadership roles.

These are some common themes that surfaced in a sampling of U.S. dioceses’ synthesis reports on listening sessions they held in preparation for the world Synod of Bishops on synodality in October 2023.
Dioceses utilized several different tools and opportunities to gather feedback: in-person and online group listening sessions, one-on-one meetings, targeted outreach efforts, online surveys and other methods.
In the listening phase, members of parishes, dioceses, religious orders and Catholic movements were asked to consider the ways in which they currently experience the church as “synodal,” that is, as a community that walks together, and to suggest ways to strengthen that in practice.

A synthesis of the listening sessions formed a report each diocese had to submit to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; 16 regional teams were working on drafting regional reports synthesizing diocesan reports.

Bishops and cardinals are pictured as Pope Francis celebrates a Mass to open the process that will lead up to the assembly of the world Synod of Bishops in 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in this Oct. 10, 2021, file photo. The pope told the Reuters news agency that he is preparing to name two women to the committee that helps him choose bishops for the world’s Latin-rite dioceses; the current members are all cardinals and bishops. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)

The USCCB will in turn synthesize the summaries from throughout the nation for a report to submit to the Vatican Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

The secretariat will use the reports from bishops’ conferences around the world to develop the “instrumentum laboris,” or working document, to guide continental or regional ecclesial assemblies that will take place by March 2023.

“Pope Francis’ vision for the synod called for the largest consultative process both in the history of the Catholic Church and the history of humankind,” said Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, who attended several local gatherings.

The archdiocese’s report captures feedback from nearly 1,000 online and in-person gatherings since January, involving over 11,000 people across western Washington.

“I’m so proud of the many thousands of people in western Washington who led, participated and invited others to prayerful dialogue. These events were marked by prayer, heartful sharing and attentive listening,” Archbishop Etienne said.

“The purpose was not to determine solutions; rather to practice walking with each other as church, to listen for the Holy Spirit and to begin to discern what God is asking of us in our time,” he added.
Suggested discussion prompts were intentionally broad. One participant described the synod as “an official, church-sanctioned conversation in which there are no taboo subjects, no off-limits subjects, no wrong answers.”

More than 90% of the archdiocese’s parishes are represented in its synod synthesis report. Additionally, listening sessions were held with students, the imprisoned, Catholic Community Services of Western Washington and women religious.

In the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, the faithful shared their experiences of the church during 120 in-person group listening sessions.

Seventy-eight sessions were hosted by parishes; 12 were based at schools; 23 were conducted through archdiocesan agencies and outreach programs; four religious orders hosted sessions; three lay associations held listening sessions.

“This synthesis reveals pain and challenges within our church along with opportunities for healing and growth,” wrote Louisville Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre in a cover letter accompanying the archdiocese’s synthesis. “It also reflects the great enthusiasm with which participants entered into this process.”

For thousands of Catholics in the three-county Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, the listening phase was “more than simply an enormous feedback session.”

“The process was a deeply spiritual moment of collective discernment and encounter connected to the universal church,” the diocese said in its synthesis report.

“A full spectrum of opinions was represented,” it said. “Some called for the church to fully adapt and adjust to current times and trends; still, others to clearly articulate her immutable, orthodox teaching without compromise.

“Contrasting suggestions were made; for example, to limit the participation of, and presence of, the laity in the sanctuary and affirm the male, celibate priesthood versus to allow a married clergy and ordain women as deacons and/or priests.”

Participants identified a lack of inclusion and sensitivity to women, the Hispanic/Latino community, LGBTQ+ people, families with young children, people with special needs, people victimized by abuse, the elderly, “and other people who, for whatever reason, feel that they do not conform to the prevalent social or moral norms,” the report said.

“Although not all participants called for a change in the church’s teaching on these matters, they did call for a change in approach and attitude,” it said. “Most participants articulated a need for more listening and consultation in the church – most especially to engage the next generations.”

Diocesan spokesperson Jai Agnish said that “reading the report was a moving experience.”

“The feedback is real and authentic and provides an honest assessment of experience and perceptions of Catholics right now. It also offers great hope for the future,” Agnish said. “The report reveals a deep concern and love for the church and reflects on the positive dynamism of this collective discernment process.”

Each parish in the Denver Archdiocese held listening sessions after an archdiocesan-wide retreat in Advent on mission of the synod. At these sessions, parishioners prayed together and discussed questions about mission.

This was followed by the archdiocesan discernment event March 25-27, where representatives from across the archdiocese “gathered to pray and discern together” what was revealed in the listening phase.
The faithful identified four primary missions, according to the archdiocese’s report:

– The disciple: “Take seriously that we have personal responsibility for the mission to evangelize those closest to us: our family, neighbors and co-workers.

– The family: “Every family needs accompaniment of some sort. Help the family to encounter healing and forgiveness. Recognize that parents are the primary formators and educators of their children. There is a desire to receive formation on how to do this well.”

– The parish: “God is asking our parishes to become more welcoming. The parish doesn’t exist for its own sake but is sent out for the sake of the broader community. … We need to reach out with the good news, with the treasure we have, and share it with those who have fallen away, with the poor, and with the broader community. The Eucharist is the soul of the parish.”

– The Denver Archdiocese: It “is called to be an agent of unity, manifesting the unity of the mystical body of Christ. She is especially called to help unify the divides between our diverse languages and cultures. Clarity of communication about our mission, more initiatives for communal prayer and healing of wounds will all help to bring about this unity.”

In Iowa, the Diocese of Davenport’s “58,000 Cups of Coffee” initiative fueled synod conversations.
Massgoers were invited to have conversations with at least three different people: someone already in the pews; someone who used to be in the pews but hasn’t been since the pandemic; and someone who has never been a part of a faith community or stopped practicing long ago. Responses were shared on the diocesan website.

The coffee initiative was one of two prongs of the diocese’s synod preparation process. The other prong focuses on organized listening sessions. Responses from the listening sessions and conversations provided the content for the diocese’s 10-page summary.

On a regional level, Patrick Schmadeke, diocesan director of evangelization, represented the Davenport Diocese on the Region IX team working on its own synod report. Altogether, 17,044 people of the 15 dioceses that comprise the episcopal region participated in listening sessions and 37,666 completed online surveys.

“We’re not alone in the joys and challenges we experience in the church,” Schmadeke told The Catholic Messenger, Davenport’s diocesan newspaper.

“Among the joys is the Eucharist, which the faithful say strengthens their faith and their connection with one another as members of the body of Christ,” he said. “Among the challenges is polarization.”

He added: “We need to participate in the healing that has to come, which points back to two things: the Eucharist and thoughtfully tending to the fabric of our communities.”

(Contributing to this story were Marnie McAllister in Louisville and Barb Arland-Fye in Davenport.)

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