U.S. life has “dramatically changed” due to the yearlong pandemic, and alongside it, racial injustices and political divisions have shaken the nation, yet there is “comfort in God’s promise,” the U.S. bishops’ Administrative Committee said in a March 9 pastoral message.
If it becomes law, the American Rescue Plan Act would pit the great need Americans have for economic relief in this pandemic against those who insist the bill must include abortion funding, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairmen of seven USCCB committees.
Several Catholic ethicists are urging people to steer clear of the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine if possible, but at the same time affirm it is morally acceptable to receive it if the alternatives are not an option.
A special working group of the U.S. bishops formed last November to deal with conflicts that could arise between the policies of President Joe Biden, a Catholic, and church teaching has completed its work, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a March 1 memo to all the U.S. bishops.
The House passed the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, also referred to as the American Rescue Plan of 2021, early Saturday morning, Feb. 27. While the bill will fund vaccines, testing and tracing, and will also provide economic relief to American families and adult dependents, it doesn’t include prohibitions on abortion funding.
The Catholic bishops of Texas said Feb. 20 that the generosity of their fellow Texans reaching out to help their neighbors, even while they are also managing their own needs during a historic winter storm, “is truly edifying.”
Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth wants people to consider three questions regarding the use of social media: does this need to be said? Is it my place to say it? And am I saying this in a way that builds up or tears down?
There have been enough earthquakes in Puerto Rico over the past year and a half that the sensation has stuck with Archbishop Roberto González Nieves of San Juan. Sometimes, González said, he thinks the earth is shaking even when it’s not.
While new U.S. President Joe Biden is still reviewing immigration directives from his predecessor, policy watchers expect a more immigrant-friendly path forward as well as help for some families adversely affected by Trump administration policies. But that path forward still is not clear.
For Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, the way U.S. bishops should approach President Joe Biden and important issues can in part be answered through a question his mother used to ask: “What would Jesus do?”
