Joan Rosenhauer’s appointment serves as a one-two punch of sorts, coming at a time in which more than 65 million refugees are currently displaced around the world, and also when the topic of women’s leadership within the Church continues to dominate conversation.
Fifty years after his assassination in 1968, Catholic leaders in the United States say that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, especially his determination to do God’s will, continues to inspire the Church in its own efforts to overcome racism.
As thousands marched on Washington and around the country in support of tighter gun control policies, a number of Catholic bishops took to social media to offer support for those participating in the events.
Following last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a call for Congress to work together to find “concrete proposals” in response to the “crisis of gun violence.”
Pope Francis’ upcoming Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment will be more important than the 2014 and 2015 Synods on the Family, says Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles, Calif.
Responding to the Trump administration’s 2019 federal budget proposal, the U.S. Catholic bishops are urging for a budget that shows greater concern for “the least of these,” warning that the budget must not be balanced on the backs of the poor.
Pope Francis has taken the rich social tradition of the Church that was championed by Pope John Paul II and “made it front stage,” says Bishop Frank Dewane. He said that while there has been a constant tradition of Catholic social activism, he believes there’s been an uptick during the Francis papacy.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, is urging his fellow U.S. bishops to hold out for a clean DACA bill, rather than settle for a compromise that includes funding for the border wall.
The U.S. bishops have termed the Trump administration’s decision not to renew the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation to El Salvador as “heartbreaking” and pledged to stand with Salvadoran TPS recipients as they risk being separated from their families and homes in the United States.
The response to Cardinal Law’s death has been nothing short of a delicate tightrope act of witnessing to both the Christian hope of resurrection in death and great mercy in light of grave sins, while also duly acknowledging the continued pain of the clergy sexual abuse crisis – the most cancerous manifestation in the Roman Catholic Church, according to some observers, since the Protestant Reformation.
