On May 21, Pope Francis surprised the Church by announcing that the Synod of Bishops postponed due to the pandemic will be preceded by a synodal process that includes “listening to all of the baptized” in every local diocese before the bishops gather again in 2023.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling June 17 in Fulton v. Philadelphia, faith-based and other agencies across the country may not be forced by a government agency to violate their deeply held beliefs against placing children in households led by same-sex or cohabitating adults.
The candidates are Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, an Army chaplain who died in World War II, and Leonard LaRue, a naval captain who later became a Benedictine monk named Brother Marinus.
A group of at least 162 organizations are asking bishops’ conferences in the U.S., Central America and Mexico to “hear the cries of our brothers and sisters on the move and respond with bold leadership.”
Chairwoman of the National Review Board told the spring assembly of bishops much work remains ahead for the U.S. Catholic Church for reconciliation with survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
The first day of the U.S. bishops’ June 16-18 spring assembly began with drafting of a formal statement on the “meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church,” remarks from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio and an address by Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In a 7-2 decision June 17, the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, saying the states that sued over the law did not have the legal right to do so.
Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith urged the U.S. bishops to proceed with caution in their discussions about formulating a national policy “to address the situation of Catholics in public office who support legislation allowing abortion, euthanasia or other moral evils.”
