News:
Happy feast day of St. Francis. The saint’s hometown is honoring him by joining other Catholic groups in divesting from fossil fuel companies.
We have two previews of this week’s by-invitation-only conference on Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ controversial apostolic exhortation on family life. Michael Sean Winters gives some history, while Joshua McElwee explains the conference. Only a handful of press have been invited to report on the proceedings, including NCR so look for more coverage later in the week.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” has the support of the White House and the U.S. bishops.
In the aftermath of the shooting in Las Vegas, the local bishop is calling for hate not to have the last word. Is this shooting terrorism? The answer brings up the divisive issues of race, religion and politics, experts say.
On the accountability beat, the Archdiocese of Agana on Guam is facing lawsuits from more than 100 men and women alleging abuse by priests between the 1950s and 1980.
The U.S. Supreme Court is in session. The new Catholic justice got “slapped” by Ruth Bader Ginsburg for his comments during discussion of the gerrymandering case. All eyes are on the upcoming “cake case,” that pits a Christian baker’s religious liberty rights against the rights of LGBT folks not to face discrimination. Good background here. (Michael Sean Winters gives his two cents on the cake case.)
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Opinion:
ICYMI: Three Catholic lesbian/queer women call for a new conversation on LGBT issues — one that involves listening to LGBT people’s experiences, rather than clergy talking about them.
Jesuit Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin should be named a doctor of the church, this sister argues. There’s a link to a petition to Pope Francis if you agree.
The tables have turned, with liberal Catholics becoming defenders of the pope, and more traditionalist Catholics saying dissent is OK. “Welcome to the cafeteria,” says Jesuit Fr. Tom Reese.
I’ve seen lots of folks leave Facebook in the last few weeks. But a new book says that virtual connectivity can help alleviate suffering.
