Morning Briefing

Lots of scary news this All Hallow’s Eve:

President Trump floated the idea of an executive order that would deny birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants, a move most legal scholars see as unconstitutional.

Most likely, the announcement was meant to shore up the base for the upcoming midterm elections. See NCR’s continuing series of background stories on Catholic voters here. Sisters talk about how their political action confronts pervasive structures of oppression is the latest edition of Global Sisters Report’s “The Life.”

A plaque honoring a former chaplain at Franciscan University of Steubenville has been removed, in acknowledgement that the priest was a serial abuser of young women.

ICYMI: "60 Minutes" did a  segment on the mishandling of priests accused of sexual abuse in Buffalo, N.Y., including an interview with Bishop Richard Malone’s former executive assistant, who leaked diocesan files on those priests to a local TV station.

An Indiana priest who said he was attacked by an unknown assailant allegedly motivated by anger over sex abuse news this summer has been placed on administrative leave after an abuse claim against the priest was deemed credible.

Sex abuse is on the agenda at the upcoming bishops’ meeting Nov. 12-14, but plans are underway for the worldwide summit of bishops conference presidents on the topic in Rome in February. Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias told NCR Vatican correspondent Josh McElwee that he hoped the meeting would get at the root causes behind why clergy have harmed children.

Michael Sean Winters sees the development of a more synodal church as one of the youth synod’s successes, despite complaints on both the right and the left about the gathering of bishops and young people.

 

And some saintly news too:

Sr. Thea Bowman, who challenged the U.S. bishops on racism before her death, will once again be on the agenda at the bishops’ meeting, this time to consider endorsing her cause for sainthood.

 

 

If you’re in New York, Manhattan College will host the annual Dorothy Day lecture, with Daniel Cosacchi, Joanne Kennedy and Michael Lee discussing Day, Oscar Romero and “The Making of a Saint.”

Students at Catholic Theological Union are celebrating the Day of the Dead on All Souls Day by creating altars that represent local pastoral realities in various Chicago neighborhoods. CTU also celebrated its 50th anniversary last week.

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