With a well-attended Mass that sent people forth with a rousing rendition of Richard Smallwood’s “I Love the Lord” — served up by the choir of New York’s St. Paul the Apostle Church and soloist Paulist Father Steven Bell — the third annual Outreach gathering of LGBTQ+ Catholics came to a close after a weekend of thoughtful discussion panels held at the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University.
Celebrating a special Mass June 18 at Mount Calvary Parish in Forestville to commemorate the next day’s Juneteenth federal holiday, Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington said that historic event offers an important reminder to work for freedom and justice today.
The Biden administration’s recent announcement that it would extend legal status for 300,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal by 18 months was described by a Catholic immigration advocate as a positive step but not enough.
Out of a relatively sparse agenda, the main actions taken by the U.S. bishops at their spring general assembly were the decisions to revise the directives and ethical guidelines for Catholic heath care providers and to approve a new 10-year national pastoral plan for Hispanic ministry in the United States.
Hours before the Los Angeles Dodgers honored a drag group dressed as nuns for their community service work at the team’s Pride Night game June 16, groups of protestors took part in what they described as a “prayerful procession” in one of the team’s parking lots.
By a voice vote June 16 during their spring meeting in Orlando, Florida, the U.S. bishops decided to proceed with revisions on their Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, to specifically address if Catholic hospitals can provide gender-affirming medical treatment to transgender patients.
Encouraging Catholics to be “slaves to the truth,” Archbishop Timothy Broglio delivered his first address as the new leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Thursday, touching on immigration reform, support for Haiti and Ukraine, and what he called the “disrespect for the truth and traditions” of the faith by a group the Los Angeles Dodgers will honor Friday night.
The Catholic bishops’ first day of public sessions during their spring meeting in Orlando, Florida, June 15 started and ended with discussion about the Church’s ongoing efforts in the synodal process.
As the U.S. bishops gathered for their spring plenary assembly, they voted June 15 to approve a letter intended for Pope Francis that also denounced Florida’s planned execution that day.
Texas has become the seventh state to enact a law requiring age verification for viewing pornography online.
