Death, and burial, are lively topics of conversation in the Catholic Church these days. With increasing numbers of people opting for cremation over the more traditional full-body burial, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the department within the Vatican responsible for defending Catholic teaching, recently clarified the Church’s position on cremation.
If it would not cause scandal or confusion among other Catholics, “a transsexual — even one who has undergone hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery — may receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful,” said a document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Responding to a group of five conservative cardinals who posed critical questions about his upcoming Synod of Bishops on Synodality, Pope Francis largely upheld the Church’s ban on women priests, while suggesting the doctrine can still be studied, but signaled openness to giving blessings to same-sex couples provided that doing so is not confused with the sacrament of marriage.
Retired Bishop Joseph H. Hart of Cheyenne, who headed the statewide diocese from 1978 until his retirement in 2001 and had over the years faced accusations he had sexually abused minors in years past, died Aug. 23 at Davis Hospice Center in Cheyenne, according to an Aug. 25 obituary in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle daily newspaper. He was 91.
Argentine Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, Pope Francis’ pick as the new head of the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has said that he originally declined the position in part because he feels incompetent in handling the clerical abuse crisis.
