Catholic leaders in Colorado and Oklahoma reacted with dismay and praise for their state legislatures earlier this week as the former enshrined the right to abortion into state law, and the latter passed a near-total abortion ban.
National News
Jackson’s Confirmation to Supreme Court Moves Ahead
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court moved forward April 4 after a 53-47 Senate procedural vote to bring her nomination before the full Senate likely before April 8.
HHS Expected to Propose Health Care Rule on Abortion, Transgender Services
Leadership at the Catholic Benefits Association believes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will soon announce new regulations that may pose an existential threat to religious-based employers including Catholic hospitals.
After Shootings, Sacramento Bishop Says Good Neighbors Can Restore Peace
Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, asked people to “invest” in being good neighbors and help restore peace after six people were fatally wounded in the worst mass shooting in California’s sixth largest city, which also left at least 12 people injured April 3.
Immigration Advocates Praise Decision to End Title 42 Border Policy
When Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso got the news that the federal government will soon terminate Title 42, a controversial border policy, he said he began “thanking God.”
Pope Francis Appoints Cincinnati Priest as Bishop of Columbus, Ohio
Pope Francis has appointed Father Earl K. Fernandes, a former staff member of the apostolic nunciature in Washington and currently a Cincinnati pastor, to head the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio.
After Clampdown in El Salvador, Some Worry Human Rights Are in Peril
Human rights groups in Washington sounded the alarm after the Salvadoran government began mass arrests and suspended personal freedoms following a record-breaking spree of homicides by gangs in late March.
Advocate Says Vatican Curia Changes Allow Women in Management, Not Ministry
One of the nation’s foremost champions for the cause of female deacons considers the Vatican’s new apostolic constitution — which in part opens top Vatican leadership roles to any baptized layperson, including women — an important step for Pope Francis’s vision, but not necessarily one that affects the future of women in the diaconate.
Faith Leaders Urge Senators to Confirm Judge Jackson to Supreme Court
Under gray skies March 30, a group of faith leaders assembled on the Supreme Court’s steps to show their support for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court and urge the Senate to quickly vote to confirm her.
Some Catholics Stress Need for Dialogue With Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter movement is coming up to its 10th anniversary next year, so it’s hardly in its beginning stages.