INDIANA
Court: Catholic school has right to hire staff who uphold church doctrine
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago said July 28 that a Catholic high school in Indianapolis and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis have a constitutional right to hire staff who will uphold their core religious teachings. The case, Starkey v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, involves Lynn Starkey, a former guidance counselor at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis, who sued the school and the archdiocese in 2019, after her contract was not renewed due to her same-sex marriage. School officials said her marriage was a violation of her contract and church teaching. Starkey argued she had been discriminated against based on her sexual orientation. She appealed her case to the 7th Circuit after a federal District Court threw out her lawsuit last year.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
House OKs anti-trafficking bill to ‘protect the most vulnerable among us’
“Critical” anti-trafficking legislation overwhelmingly approved by the House in a bipartisan vote July 26 “will go a long way toward protecting so many vulnerable people from exploitation while providing tremendous support and resources to victims,” said one of it is sponsors, Rep. Chris Smith, N.J. Smith and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., wrote the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022, which House members passed in a 401-20 vote. The House vote came four days ahead of the U.N. World Day Against Trafficking in Persons July 30. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass in a bipartisan vote.
KENTUCKY
Judge dismisses student’s defamation suits against media outlets
A federal judge in Kentucky July 26 dismissed defamation lawsuits filed against five media outlets by a former Covington Catholic High School student and his family over their coverage of an incident that occurred after the 2019 March for Life that quickly went viral. The coverage in question centered on Nicholas Sandmann’s encounter with a Native American activist on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. A junior at the time, Sandmann was with other Covington students but he was the most prominent in viral footage of the Jan. 18, 2019, encounter in Washington. The widely seen footage prompted accusations the 16-year-old’s conduct was racially motivated, which Sandmann denied.
UKRAINE
Ukraine marks Statehood Day
Ukrainians will fight for their statehood to the last and will not stop until they liberate the last meter of Ukrainian land, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address for Ukrainian Statehood Day July 28. The day marks the 988 baptism of “Kyivan Rus,” the origin of Christianity in the region, but this is the first year Ukrainians marked Statehood Day, reported Religious Information Service of Ukraine. The United Nations reported July 25 more than 5,200 civilians had been killed and more than 7,000 injured in Ukraine since the war began.
AUSTRALIA
Billings fertility pioneers promoted as potential saints
An Australian couple who pioneered one of the world’s most successful natural fertility methods are being celebrated as potential saints by those in the medical profession who worked with them as well as families who benefited from their innovative ovulation method, now taught in more than 40 countries around the world. Drs. John and Evelyn Billings are perhaps best known overseas for their work in pioneering the Billings Ovulation Method, which has helped countless women around the world determine the most fertile and infertile periods of their menstrual cycle by using mucus patterns from the cervix as the most reliable indicator of fertility. While John Billings died in 2007 and Evelyn Billings died in 2013, interest in their personal story is growing, with a dedicated website to promote their sainthood cause, based on their inspirational personal attributes and deep Catholic faith.
ITALY
Network against trafficking offers virtual tour of nuns helping survivors
The global network of women religious fighting human trafficking was offering a virtual tour of its work helping survivors as a way to mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The Talitha Kum anti-trafficking network was making the “Nuns Healing Hearts” photo exhibition available online on its website, www.talithakum.info, starting July 30, the day the United Nations has dedicated to raising awareness about the battle against human trafficking. The exhibit of more than two dozen images, taken by U.S. photographer Lisa Kristine, illustrates the stories of women and men once ensnared by traffickers and the nuns working alongside them, dedicated to their healing and also working in vulnerable communities, seeking to prevent new victims.
Photo: A sign for Roncalli High School in Indianapolis is seen July 23, 2020. (CNS photo/Sean Gallagher, The Criterion)