The U.S. bishops begin their spring General Assembly today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On the agenda are ethical and religious directives for Catholic health care, a pastoral for Asian and Pacific Islander Catholics and the upcoming Synod on Young People. They also will begin discussing “Faithful Citizenship,” the bishops’ quadrennial document on voting. NCR’s Brian Roewe will be covering the meeting from Florida, so watch our website and social media pages for breaking news.
The Southern Baptists are also meeting this week. This morning Vice President Mike Pence will address the convention. Here’s why that’s so controversial.
At the end of a meeting of the Council of Cardinals, the advisory body released a statement saying they are planning restructuring of the Vatican bureaucracy to make it more missionary.
In other Vatican news, a team has returned to Chile to ask forgiveness about how clergy sex abuse was handled.
Republicans reached a deal late last night to schedule two votes on immigration issues, including DACA, next week, but the bills are largely a political exercise. Meanwhile, children are being separated from their families at the border:
- Our editorial says that is immoral and ineffective,
- Our Theology en la Plaza columnist says it demands moral action from Catholics,
- And Michael Sean Winters asks where is the voice of the bishops on this?
The bishops in Nigeria are pressuring the government to do something about the killings of farmers and two Catholic priests by nomadic herdsmen, who have turned violent in search of land for grazing.
Amid preparations for Pope Francis’ trip to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in August, a church reform group there is calling for changes in the church’s language about LGBT people that is “complicit in marginalization.” Also, organizers announced this week that Jesuit Fr. Jim Martin will speak about how parishes can welcome LGBT Catholics.
Speaking of Jesuits, the U.S. West Province held its ordinations at the U.S.-Mexico border this year.
ICYMI: Theologians are raising questions about the justice and morality of using contingent faculty at Catholic colleges and universities.
Catholic sisters in India are literally saving lives by donating one of their kidneys to sick people who need them.
Oops. A mistake in a diocesan newspaper headline goes viral.
Opinion:
Though some Catholics believe Adam and Eve were real people, a new book about them explores the historical foundations and reactions to the creation story in Genesis.
In the wake of two prominent people who died by suicide, we need to see the causes of suicide in our midst, says this columnist.
Mark Silk has a plan for President Trump’s new faith-based office: offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. He’s not holding his breath.
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