Three U.S. Bishops Conference chairmen on March 15 gave their support for First Amendment protections for faith-based foster care and adoption providers with legislation introduced that aims to ensure those institutions continue to receive funding.
USCCB
It’s ‘Unconscionable’ COVID-19 Relief Package Doesn’t Prevent Abortion Funding, Denounce USCCB Chairmen
Hours after the Biden administration’s COVID-19 relief plan passed Wednesday, several U.S. Bishops Conference chairmen called it “unconscionable” that the bill didn’t include protections against taxpayer funding of abortion.
USCCB Administrative Committee’s Pastoral Message Marks Year of Pandemic
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.
Bishops Say Pandemic Relief Bill Must be Passed Without Abortion Funding
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.
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Raises Ethical Concerns
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.
Archbishop Gomez: U.S. Bishops’ Working Group Set Up Last November Completes Work
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.
Pro-Life Groups Warn That New COVID Relief Bill Funds Abortion
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.
Bishops Say Fellow Texans’ Help for One Another Amid Storm Is ‘Edifying’
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.”
Bishops: Why You Shouldn’t Give Up Social Media for Lent This Year
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?
Catholic Leaders Call on Biden to Rescue Reeling Puerto Rico
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.