The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, involves a Mississippi law that bans abortion starting at the 15th week of pregnancy.

Significantly, the statute draws the line before fetal viability—the point at which survival is possible outside the womb.

The Court has previously held that before viability, "the state's interests are not strong enough to support a prohibition of abortion or substantial obstacle to the woman's effective right to elect the procedure."

To uphold Mississippi's law, the Court would have to rewrite the rules—perhaps just the opportunity it needs to overturn Roe altogether.

If that happens, it will represent the culmination of decades of work by anti-abortion-rights activists.

But for those activists, gutting Roe would be just the beginning.

Ever since Roe, abortion-rights foes and their Republican allies have been asking the Court to reverse course—to acknowledge that the Constitution has nothing whatsoever to say about abortion, either in favor of or against it.

Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court justice arguably most beloved by conservatives, routinely stated that the Constitution is silent on abortion.

Republicans have railed against the Court's judicial activism in Roe, insisting that the justices robbed the American people of the opportunity to decide the abortion issue for themselves.

In this account, Roe did not just destroy valuable opportunities for compromise on abortion; the decision did fundamental damage to America's democratic principles, removing one of the most controversial issues from representative legislatures and resolving it by judicial fiat.

But within the anti-abortion-rights movement, there is not so much talk about democracy anymore.

Now some abortion-rights opponents are quite literally looking for a Roe of their own, asking the Court to recognize fetal rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Remember that overturning Roe wouldn't make abortion illegal; it would mean that states could set their own abortion limits, which would no longer be subject to constitutional review.

That will never be enough for anti-abortion-rights activists, though.

In the conservative magazine First Things, John Finnis, a professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, recently made an argument that could provide the framework an anti-abortion-rights Supreme Court could use to outlaw abortion across the country: that the legislators who wrote the Fourteenth Amendment viewed unborn children as persons.

If the Constitution recognizes fetal personhood, then unborn children would have the right to equal protection under and due process of the law.

Abortion would be unconstitutional in New York as well as in Alabama.

Other leading anti-abortion-rights scholars have made the same argument.

Finnis's article has provoked debate across the ideological spectrum.

The conservative attorney Ed Whelan has taken issue with the substance of Finnis's claim, suggesting that unless the anti-abortion-rights movement first wins over public opinion, Finnis's approach will backfire.

Progressives have been far harsher, unsurprisingly.

Writing in The New York Times, the columnist Michelle Goldberg denounced what she calls an authoritarian turn in anti-abortion-rights advocacy—one more sign that the GOP has changed fundamentally in the post-Trump era.

The abortion debate has never been about just Roe—and it's never been about letting a popular majority have a say.

What's new is that this argument now meets a receptive Supreme Court for the first time in more than a generation. Continue reading

This is a stark change from President Donald Trump's steep cuts to the U.S. refugee program during his presidency.

Biden made the announcement on Nov. 12 to a Catholic group that works with refugees.

"The United States has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed, a leader of resettling refugees in our humanitarian response," Biden said. He made the statement during the virtual event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jesuit Refugee Service.

"I promise, as president, I will reclaim that proud legacy for our country. The Biden-Harris administration will restore America's historic role in protecting the vulnerable and defending the rights of refugees everywhere and raising our annual refugee admission target to 125,000."

Biden praised Jesuit Refugee Service as a "great organization" and framed the country's historic commitment to refugee resettlement in theological terms.

"This organization was founded to serve the needs of some of the most vulnerable among us: refugees and displaced people. JRS believes that, in the stranger, we actually meet our neighbor. And that every society is ultimately judged by how we treat those most in need," he said.

Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic organization committed to serving refugees and other forcibly displaced people.

That work includes advocating for refugees, serving as chaplains to those in detention and supporting other projects and programming around the globe.

Faith-based organizations, like Jesuit Refugee Service, have long played an essential role in refugee resettlement work in the U.S.

Six of the nine agencies tasked with resettlement by the federal government are faith-based.

They include Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries, HIAS (founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and World Relief.

Trump has set the refugee ceiling, to a new historic low every year he has been in office.

Former President Barack Obama increased the quota to 110,000 his last year in office. Trump recently put it at 15,000 for the current fiscal year, which started in October.

The agencies' budgets are based on the number of refugees admitted. Due to the reduction in refugee numbers, government funding has been decimated. This has led to agencies having to shutter or scale back offices and lay off workers.

If Biden does raise the refugee quota, those budgets would increase.

There are now more than 120,000 refugees in the pipeline. They need to pass rigorous security and medical checks, a process taking months and sometimes years.

Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute is concerned Congress may not have the appetite to take on immigration policy amid the coronavirus pandemic and an economic recession.

"For the first 100 days, there will be very little bandwidth for a Biden administration to deal with anything other than COVID. We have never faced a crisis like this before," Chishti says. "We can't expect a huge leap on immigration policy. If people expect that this is going to happen tomorrow, they will be in for a big disappointment."

Sources

Religion News Service

NPR

Your friends in the media, including myself, have for the most part given you a pass on this, but I think that is a mistake. Your true friends will tell you the truth. As a brother Jesuit, I feel obligated to offer you some fraternal correction.

Here are six reasons you should wear a mask.

1. Follow the science

As a young man, you were trained as a scientist. You should show respect for what doctors and scientists are telling us about COVID-19. Absent a vaccine, the science is telling us to wear masks, keep social distance and wash our hands. I will not belabor this because it has been well covered in the media, except by those who deny the science for partisan reasons.

In addition, you are especially vulnerable to a respiratory virus because of your age and the fact that you are missing part of one lung. If you get sick, you will be in danger of dying.

2. Be a good Jesuit

Jesuits who become bishops (or popes) continue to be Jesuits except they are no longer bound by their vow of obedience. That means that there is no Jesuit superior who can order you to take better care of your health, which is what would happen with any other Jesuit. Jesuit bishops are asked to listen to advice from our superior general in Rome, so I hope he is advising you to wear a mask and take care of your health.

You should also remember that Part 3 of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus tells us to show "great patience and obedience toward the physician and infirmarian." All good doctors and infirmarians are telling us to wear masks, so be a good Jesuit and wear one.

3. Follow your own rules

The Vatican is clearly not a virus-free zone. There have been about two dozen confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Vatican, including 11 Swiss guards and a resident of Casa Santa Marta, where you live.

The Vatican City State has established procedures for dealing with the pandemic, one of which is to wear masks. You're the boss; you should follow your own rules. When the clergy hold themselves above the rules, we call that clericalism, a sin that you have loudly denounced. You should follow the rules that apply to everyone else in the Vatican.

4. It is a sin not to wear a mask

Being a hypochondriac is, of course, silly. But God expects us to take care of the body he gave us. Recklessly endangering our health is a sin. You have a duty to protect your health so you can keep working as long as God wants you to be pope. Not wearing a mask is suicidal.

John Paul I did not take care of his health and look what happened to him. Go to confession and wear a mask.

5. Be a good example

As a Christian, let alone pope, you have an obligation to be a good example to the rest of the world. You are currently giving bad example. As the head of the Christian family, you need to give better example by wearing a mask.

6. Do you really want to be like Trump?

There is another major world leader who does not wear a mask, Donald Trump. Do you really want to be in company with a man who builds walls rather than bridges, who demonizes refugees and immigrants, who turns his back to the marginalized? I don't think so, but that is where you are as long as, like Trump, you do not wear a mask.

I convey this message with love and concern. I want you to have a long and fruitful papacy. There is much God still wants you to do. It is too soon to have another conclave.

So, forgive me, but I am asking your friends to give you a bad time until you regularly wear a mask. They should leave you a message on Twitter @Pontifex. Since you do not have an official email address, they will have to write you at:

Pope Francis
00120 Vatican City

Maybe we could even get a few signs or banners in St. Peter's Square calling for you to wear a mask.

I hope also that my fellow journalists will start badgering the Vatican on this. Every cardinal must be asked, "Have you advised the pope to wear a mask?"

Every person who meets with the pope should be asked the same question. Every press conference should begin with a question on whether the pope is wearing a mask.

The people of God want you to stay healthy. You need to listen to them.

• Thomas Reese SJ is a senior analyst at Religion News Service, and a former columnist at National Catholic Reporter, and a former editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magazine America. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

Noor Bin Ladin, niece of the notorious terrorist - who was shot dead during an operation ordered by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama - said that the Republican "must" remain at the White House. Read more

While Trump was not my first (or even second or third) choice among the expansive field of Republican candidates, he promised to protect the unborn and religious liberty, in part by appointing judges who would interpret the Constitution according to the text and original intent.

His promises to create jobs and restore balance in many of our foreign trade agreements was a welcome contrast to our painfully slow return from the great recession that had destined many of my graduating law students to temporary work or finding jobs in other fields.

Having lived in Texas for several years, Trump's promises to create a system of orderly immigration, in part by building a wall, was welcome given the human trafficking and abuses by criminals operating across parts of our border that Texas papers regularly reported.

His demand that we fix our porous border before negotiating the fate of people who entered the US illegally made sense to me as someone who had actually supported Reagan's 1986 Immigration and Reform Act.

As a new lawyer in the late '80s, I had happily provided pro bono services to a woman who, after having entered the country illegally a decade earlier, qualified for amnesty.

However, while the amnesty provisions were pursued enthusiastically, the Act's promises of tighter border security and strict employer penalties faded away. Given that experience, it seems quite sensible to pursue border security before discussing amnesty.

I believe that each of these positions was (and is) consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, notwithstanding the contrary position of individual bishops, priests and some lay people.

The USCCB, in its 2015 "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States," identified "the ongoing destruction of over one million innocent human lives each year by abortion"; "the narrowing redefinition of religious freedom, which threatens both individual conscience and the freedom of the Church to serve"; and a "broken immigration system" as three of the several "threats" facing American society.

Candidate Donald Trump had identified these three things as threats as well and promised to work to limit or eliminate them.

Imagine my surprise and excited optimism the morning after the election when I learned that Trump would be president for the next four years.

I hurriedly rewrote my remarks to be celebratory but muted, knowing that the vast majority of my colleagues at the university would be in mourning.

Had President Trump proven unfaithful to his promises to protect the unborn and religious liberty, I would consider voting for someone else.

Had a significant number of his judicial nominees been unqualified or unsuitable, I would be looking at other candidates more closely.

Had the president failed to seek an orderly and just system of legal immigration, I would have to look at others.

In fact, the president has been faithful to his promises and delivered more than I hoped for when I voted for him in 2016.

He has publicly and repeatedly opposed abortion.

One of his first executive orders was an order reinstating and expanding the Mexico City Policy prohibiting U.S. funding of foreign organizations that perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.

Under the president's leadership, federal officials have publicly and effectively opposed attempts to create an international "human right" to abortion by prochoice activists.

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly, the president explained: "We in America believe that every child — born and unborn — is a sacred gift from God."

He supports the passage of federal legislation that protects children born alive during an abortion and prohibiting abortions obtained for discriminatory reasons.

His support of religious liberty is evident by his executive order on the subject, the resulting regulations issued by the US Department of Labor and the positions the Department of Justice has taken in litigation.

Two concrete outcomes of these actions are the current protection of conscience rights enjoyed by the Little Sisters of the Poor related to contraception distribution and, more generally, the newly established procedures for healthcare workers to enforce their federally protected rights of conscience related to abortion, sterilization and other procedures.

The president's selection of judicial nominees has been thoughtful and informed by the standards of judicial independence.

The circus surrounding Justice Kavanaugh's appointment merely reinforces the importance of the presidential power of appointment and the disproportionate power the Supreme Court wields on contemporary issues that divide the country.

Absent the power of the Supreme Court to declare certain debates outside the political process, there would be little incentive to wage such bitter partisan war over appointments.

Both Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have largely proven to be faithful originalists when called to interpret the Constitution, although Justice Gorsuch's opinion purporting to interpret Title VII in Bostock v. Clayton County is troubling.

His importation of political views of 2020 regarding LGBT issues into language enacted in 1964 is strained and unpersuasive.

The dissent of Justice Alito clearly has the better side of the argument, but at least the majority opinion did not constitutionalize the issue — unlike abortion and the definition of civil marriage.

Congress remains free to amend the law if it has the political will to do so.

The president's leadership on economic issues led to record levels of employment, not only among workers generally, but also among blacks, Hispanics, women and youth before COVID-19 struck.

His recent executive order extending federal assistance to states providing enhanced unemployment compensation and aid to small businesses and other organizations illustrates both his compassion and commitment to ensuring our economic foundations remain sound.

His general response to COVID-19 has been measured, deferential to state authority over public health and much stronger than the government's 2009 response to another unknown virus, the H1N1 swine flu virus, that initially looked equally lethal and frightening — the World Health Organization called it a threat "to all humanity" at the time.

His leadership in criminal justice reform also weighs heavily in my decision to support the president in 2020. Under the First Step Act, which was strongly supported by the USCCB, thousands of prisoners sentenced before August 2010 for crack cocaine crimes will have the opportunity for a reduced penalty, and federal judges are given more freedom to focus on rehabilitation when sentencing drug offenders.

Yet his recent actions in the face of dangerous riots show that the president is not "soft on crime," especially violent crime directed at federal officers and facilities.

As a Catholic who embraces the Church's teaching on the innate value of every human life, the primacy of faith, the dignity of work, the importance of public order and the need for mercy to temper justice, I am very comfortable supporting the reelection of our president.

• Teresa S. Collett is professor of law at the University of St. Thomas.
• First published by RNS, reproduced with permission.
• The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of CathNews.

An American church leader, Bishop John Stowe of Kentucky challenged Trump's pro-life claims in a recent webinar. He told his audience that rather than being pro-life, Trump was actually anti-life.

"For this president to call himself pro-life, and for anybody to back him because of claims of being pro-life, is almost willful ignorance."

"He is so much anti-life because he is only concerned about himself, and he gives us every, every, every indication of that," Stowe said.

"Pope Francis has given us a great definition of what pro-life means," Stowe explained.

"He basically tells us we can't claim to be pro-life if we support the separation of children from their parents at the U.S. border, if we support exposing people at the border to COVID-19 because of the facilities that they're in, if we support denying people who have need for adequate health care access to health care, if we keep people from getting the housing or the education that they need, we cannot call ourselves pro-life."

Trump's alleged pro-life stance deliberately seeks to win over Catholic voters, Stowe said.

"Every unborn child is a precious gift from God," he said at the 2018 March for Life in Washington.

Stowe says being truly pro-life must include efforts towards racial, social and environmental justice.

"We have to be concerned for the unborn children, it's foundational for us."

While the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference often criticizes Trump administration, environmental and immigration policies, Stowe's critique is unusual in criticism of Trump himself.

The webinar, which was about the church's future after 2020, was hosted by the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs.

The other two speakers on the webinar panel were Shannon Dee Williams, the Albert LePage assistant professor of history at Villanova University, and Michael Bayer, the former director of evangelisation and adult formation at St. Clement Parish in Chicago.

Speaking about the future of the church, they addressed the importance of racial and social justice advocacy.

"The church has to take leading roles in campaigns that are working to protect Black lives [and] working to dismantle white supremacy," said Williams.

In her view, the church needs to address inequities in health care access and outcomes, end mass incarceration and secure police reform and accountability.

"Where are our hierarchy on this? Why aren't we planning a million-person march in Washington, D.C. for immigrants?" Bayer asked.

"I've been in those marches protesting the assault on pre-born life. Where are our mass Washington, D.C. [efforts to] show up and protest the assault on Black and brown life?"

The webinar, which was about the church's future after 2020, was hosted by the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs.

Source
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

The campaigns and their surrogates say the choice is stark, each highlighting issues they believe will appeal to their kinds of Catholic voters: those motivated primarily by abortion and those who see in the last four years a turn away from caring for society's most marginalized.

Mr Biden has spoken frequently about his own faith while talking to voters, especially in the early primary states.

His campaign has so far courted voters motivated by their faith by inserting "values" language into outreach aimed at traditional Democratic cohorts, such as women, Hispanics and L.G.B.T. people.

The Biden campaign also plans to announce a group of high-profile Catholics endorsing the former vice president later this summer.

In the meantime, the campaign launched a "Believers for Biden" online campaign, which includes virtual conversations with campaign staff and weekly prayer reflections.

The Biden campaign recently hired a faith outreach director, and it has specifically targeted Jewish, Muslim and even Republican-leaning evangelical Christian voters, but it is seeking to imbue Mr Biden's entire message with language informed by faith and values.

A recent campaign ad from the Biden campaign, for example, includes an image of a priest standing in a hospital room.

As for Catholic voters specifically, John McCarthy, a staffer on the Biden campaign, said Mr Biden's personal story, as well the campaign's theme will speak directly to faith voters.

"At the core of Catholicism is the message that we look out for our neighbour. As we look toward the general election, America has to answer the question of who we are."

"At the core of Catholicism is the message that we look out for our neighbour. As we look toward the general election, America has to answer the question of who we are," Mr. McCarthy said in a phone interview with America. "For Catholics, and for faith voters, the question is, are we going to look out for one another, see the other as ourselves? If they ask that, these voters will ultimately stand with Vice President Biden, who has a lifelong commitment to issues at the core of Catholic Social Teaching."

Michael Wear, who worked in faith outreach for former President Barack Obama, has been critical of Democratic efforts to reach faith voters, especially in the 2016 election.

In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama announced a National Catholic Advisory Council in April but in 2016, Hillary Clinton's campaign did not organize a Catholic leadership team.

Mr Wear said he sees signs that the Biden campaign is taking faith outreach more seriously.

"The most important thing there needs to be is an explicit invitation to religious voters that Joe Biden wants their vote. That needs to be clear," Mr Wear said. "The vice president doesn't need to be doing faith events every other day, but what we're looking for is one or two key moments where faith takes centre stage."

(One small example: In a 2016 interview with The Atlantic, Mr Wear recalled that he had once drafted a strategy memo about the Democratic Party's concern for "the least of these," a nod to a story in the Gospels about Jesus' concern for the poor and marginalized, a phrase met with confusion by another staffer. Four years later, on the Biden campaign's web page highlighting his outreach to Catholic voters, is a section about the former vice president's commitment to build an economy that protects "the least of these.")

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has resurrected its Catholics for Trump group, which got off to a rocky start earlier this year.

The campaign published a video in May—conversations with some of the group's members, including the political pundit Mary Matalin and the conservative activists Matt and Mercedes Schlapp—after an in-person launch was scrapped in March because of the pandemic.

The event, which was supposed to be held in Wisconsin, drew criticism from at least one Catholic bishop, who wanted to distance the institutional church from the rally.

"Like all voters, Catholics have concerns on a number of issues and especially those that impact the most vulnerable."

"Another member of Catholics for Trump who was part of the YouTube event says she is supporting the president's re-election because of his views on abortion, an issue she said "reveals the heart and soul of a candidate and is a roadmap to their other positions." Continue reading

The ad, released on Tuesday (July 14), features several self-identified Republicans discussing Trump and his presidency as a piano softly plays the hymn "Amazing Grace" in the background.

The speakers juxtapose Trump's rhetoric and behavior — such as video of him bragging about sexual assault in 2005 and retweeting a video in June of a supporter shouting "white power" — alongside appeals to Christian teaching and Scripture. Read more

He said the sin exists among those who say they fight for all human life - yet it doesn't fit with the belief system that defends human life at all stages.

"We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life," Francis said.

"Today, I join ... in praying for the repose of the soul of George Floyd and of all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism."

Generally, Floyd's murder and the subsequent global protests denouncing racism and police brutality might have drawn a muted diplomatic response from the Vatican. But this is a U.S. election year.

The intensity and consistency of the Vatican's reaction suggests that, from the pope on down, the Vatican is seeking to encourage anti-racism protesters, say a number of commentators.

At the same time, the Vatican is making a clear statement about where American Catholics should stand ahead of President Donald Trump's bid for a second term this November.

As an example, Francis rang to praise Texan Bishop Mark Seitz who took the knee at an anti-racism protest last week.

"That's what our Catholic Christian faith is all about: It's about the fact that God has loved humanity enough — not just one group... that he chose to become one of us," Seitz said.

"When it comes to racism, clearly this is a sin that causes division, and it is against the will of God."

Anthea Butler of Yale Divinity School said Francis "wants to send a very clear message to these conservative Catholics here who are pro-Trumpers that, ‘Listen, this is just as much of an issue as abortion is'".

In another sign of his push for unity among Catholics in America, Francis quoted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) calls for nonviolent protests.

Archbishop José Gomez, who is the USCCB president had both condemned Floyd's "senseless and brutal" death and said the violence that occurred in the first days of protests was not the right way to address it.

"The violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost," Gomez's said. Francis echoed these words.

The pope's comments on protests against police violence and racism in America occurred as Trump's support among Catholic Americans is slipping.

A Pew Research poll conducted in late April and early May shows Trump's support among white Catholics was on the decline because of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

A poll published by the Public Religion Research Institute last week also showed Catholic support further declined in the days following Floyd's death.

Source

• Newsweek
• AP News
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) reported last Thursday that Trump's support among white Catholics fell from 60 percent in March to 48 percent in April to 37 percent in May.

The new poll was conducted May 26-31 during a week of widespread civil unrest in several major cities, following George Floyd's death in police custody on May 25. The poll sampled 1,003 U.S. residents aged 18 or over.

The findings reflect other national polls showing a general growing disapproval for Trump in recent weeks. All register broad disapproval for his handling of the aftermath of George Floyd's death.

Nonetheless, according to PPRI's findings, support for President Trump is still strong within half of overall respondents in election swing states. His approval in those states has increased to 50 percent from 38 percent in April.

PRRI's poll numbers among Catholics mark a sharp change from a Pew Research Center poll on Trump's handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, conducted at the beginning of May.

The May Pew report showed while Americans overall characterized Trump's response to the pandemic as either "fair" or "poor" by a margin of 59 percent to 41 percent, white Catholics approved of his response as "excellent" or "good" by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. In that same poll, however, 70 percent of Hispanic Catholics said Trump's response was "fair" or "poor."

Earlier this year an EWTN News/RealClearOpinion Research poll showed almost six-in-ten white non-Hispanic Catholics approved of Trump's presidency.

According to the poll of 1,512 Catholic registered voters conducted from Jan. 28 through Feb. 4, 58 percent of white non-Hispanic Catholics approved of Trump "strongly" or "somewhat,". Fifty-three percent said they would vote for him in November or there was a "strong chance" they would.

Trump's approval rating among Catholics overall was at less than half in the EWTN poll. Partly this is because of overwhelmingly negative reviews by71 percent of Hispanic Catholics who disapproved of him. A smaller subset of devout Catholics who said they accepted all the Church's teachings, showed strong approval of his presidency at a rate of 63 percent to 37 percent.

The Catholic vote has largely mirrored the overall popular vote in recent presidential elections.

The share of Republican Party members who identify as Christian fell slightly, with 79 percent identifying as Christian today compared with 87 percent in 2008.

Overall, the share of U.S. adults who identify as Christian has fallen in recent years. Sixty-five percent said they were Christian in 2018-2019. This compares with 77 percent a decade earlier. At the same time, the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans increased from 17 percent to 26 percent.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• America Magazine
• Image: CNBC.com

"Long before he became Supreme Pontiff, he was battling systems that were intended to destroy, weaken, or certainly, deny human dignity," Gregory said of Pope John Paul II.

"That shrine is a holy place because of the man that it honors," he said, repeating his denunciation from Wednesday of the President's visit one day after police used tear gas to clear out Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Washington in order for Trump to visit St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo-op holding up the Bible. Read more

Gregory said arranging for Trump to visit the shrine was "baffling and reprehensible." He is outraged at what he called a politicised photo opportunity.

Protesters from a number of Catholic social advocacy groups greeted Trump as he arrived at the shrine.

Cardinal Blase Cupich defended the protesters, saying "if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. What did we expect when we learned ... the price of a black life is a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill?"

During the past week the US has devolved into widespread unrest after police killed an unarmed black man, George Floyd.

A police officer involved in the killing has been sacked and arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter.

Gregory says he is outraged any Catholic facility "would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree.

"Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings," said Gregory, who is Washington's first African American archbishop.

"His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace."

Gregory called out the sin of racism while encouraging nonviolent protests as a means of resistance.

"We, as a society, must find ways to understand and to respond to the pain of our brothers and sisters. We see racism destroying the lives of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian people ... [it] triggers the divisive and xenophobic attitudes of nationalism."

"We must non-violently and constructively work together to heal and build the ‘Beloved Community' ..." he added.

A statement from the Shrine (which is a Knights of Columbus initiative) defended Trump's visit saying he had originally intended to sign an executive order on religious liberty while he was there.

"This was fitting given Saint John Paul II was a tireless advocate for religious liberty throughout his pontificate."

"International religious freedom receives widespread bipartisan support, including unanimous passage of legislation in defense of persecuted Christians and religious minorities around the world."

Trump's visit to the shrine came less than twenty-four hours after police used tear gas to dislodge protesters so Trump could visit St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House.

St. John's rector, Rev. Gini Gerbasi, said on Facebook that she was shaken by the show of force for a photo opportunity.

"The patio of St. John's... had been holy ground today ... But that man turned it into a battleground first and a cheap political stunt second."

After police removed the St John's protesters, Trump posed in front of St John's church holding a Bible.

Source

• Archdiocese of Chicago
• Crux Now
• The Oregonian\
• Image: CNN

Trump pushed for churches to reopen, deeming them essential, but did not attend church on Sunday, Avlon said.

Instead, Trump played golf on Sunday - which makes him "more of the ‘do as I say, not as I do' presidency."

Trump's Sunday golf was in direct contrast to his statements at a press conference o 22 May when he said:

"Today I'm identifying houses of worship, churches, synagogue and mosques as essential places that provide essential services."

"Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship."

"...I call upon governors to allow our churches and places of worship to open right now."

Avaon says he thinks Trump "is willing to use religion as a political weapon, but not walk the walk."

"And that's because he's never particularly been a person of faith, even though he's very popular among evangelicals."

However, Mark Finkelstein of Newsbusters says Trump isn't being hypocritical, despite Avalon's views on the matter.

"The free exercise of religion also implies the right not to practice one," Finkelstein notes.

"And so, contrary to Avlon's claim, there was no ‘walk to walk.' There was nothing hypocritical about President Trump choosing not to attend church over the weekend."

Source

• Daily Wire
• Image: NPR

Trump takes the opposite view to Fr Edward Beck, and says he considers houses of worship and their religious services essential.

"The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, this weekend," Trump said last Friday. If they don't do it, I will override the governors."

"But who says that religious organizations haven't already been providing "essential" services without this presidential "blessing?" Beck argues.

"I am a Roman Catholic priest in the Passionist Community serving, at the moment, in New York. During this pandemic I have buried the dead at cemeteries ... prayed with people via FaceTime and Zoom and even heard a confession in a supermarket parking lot."

"Priests with whom I live have blessed the sick and dying in hospitals and nursing homes. We have also celebrated virtual Masses and prayer services for countless of the faithful."

Beck says the churches in his area have been open for individual prayer, Benediction and Stations of the Cross. Social distancing is strongly encouraged.

He says priests have even paraded in processions in neighborhoods with the Blessed Sacrament to bring elements of the church service out to the faithful.

Other faith leaders like rabbis and imams have also "been doing the equivalent with their respective religious congregations," Beck says.

That is all "religious service," he told Trump.

Keeping themselves and their parishioners safe from the contagion has been the responsible thing to do, Beck says.

Not to do so would be " irresponsible and sinful... responsible action with regard to religious organizations during this pandemic is a right-to-life issue. This is a right that needs to apply to those who live after birth, too."

Beck has an answer for those who think telling churches not to reopen is a violation of our First Amendment rights.

"No one is prohibiting the free exercise of religion ... people can and do continue to worship, albeit in temporarily altered circumstances and in novel ways."

"We all want to be able to open churches and places of worship fully so that those who wish to gather in physical communion again can do so."

"However, this must be done incrementally and with utmost care. Physicians and health experts should be our primary guides here, and religious leaders should follow their guidance with strict and humble adherence."

"Eventually we will all be ready. But let us take the time we need to get it right."

"When those of us who are Christian put out our hands for communion again, let's be confident that the body of Christ will nourish our bodies and not infect them. Our bodies — and lives — may depend on it."

Source

• CNN
• Image: CNBC.com

Even though they have been withdrawn, one of the articles has been saved by a digital archive that allows people to see websites as they existed at various points in time. A link to the other article is still referred to in various tweets and listed by Google News.

The article that has been saved is a commentary by Catholic Theological Union public theologian Steven P. Millies.

Stephen Schneck, a political scientist and the executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, says he wrote the second article. The U.S. Catholic withdrew it without informing him, he claims.

"They haven't communicated with me in any way," he says. "Obviously, they're entitled to run what they want to run. But I would have expected to at least have a conversation before a piece was taken down."

Several hours after Schneck's comments were published, Millies tweeted that he would no longer write columns for U.S. Catholic.

His tweet said it was "a difficult decision because I enjoy it and because I think contributing to the debate as a public intellectual is more needed now than ever."

His article began by asking if the U.S. bishops had "crossed a sort of Rubicon" by taking part in a controversial phone call with Trump on 2 April.

Image He also wondered if Dolan's flattery of Trump during a 27 April "Fox & Friends" appearance "may prove to be a moment from which American Catholicism cannot turn back."

Over 1,000 Catholics signed a letter on 1 May expressing outrage that the cardinal was so publicly praising a president known for separating migrant families and stoking racial divisions in the country.

After Vatican officials criticized the magazine for publishing the piece, the Claretians arranged for the U.S. Catholic to print church documents explaining the church's position against the ordination of women to the priesthood.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: TodayShow

"You could view it as the ultimate swing constituency in the country," says Matt Schlapp, a conservative activist and co-chair of the newly formed "Catholics for Trump" coalition. He was speaking last month on EWTN, a Catholic cable network. Read more

Responding to Trump's request for their political support, Dolan thanked him for his leadership on pro-life and religious liberty issues.

Trump responded by tweeting that he would be watching Sunday Mass on 26 April livestreamed from New York's St Patrick's cathedral.

Taking note of this, Dolan began his sermon on Sunday by welcoming the president's virtual attendance and promising to pray for him.

Although the group telephone call discussion rambled over many topics, it was supposed to focus on the plight of Catholic education. Many religious schools have seen registrations plummet as a result of economic hardship caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

However, Trump repeatedly turned the subject to other issues.

He reminded the listeners of his pro-life record, even recalling a debate with his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton.

"We probably helped out the pro-life [cause] more than anything you can imagine," he said.

Looking ahead to this coming election he added, "I hope that everyone gets out and votes and does what they have to do."

"You're going to have a very different Catholic Church," if he wasn't re-elected, he warned those on the phone call.

Despite being brought back to the matter of Catholic school funding and the need for federal assistance to sustain them, Trump persisted in focusing on political issues.

"The other side [the Democratic Party] is not in favour of it," the president warned.

"What a similarity we have and how the other side is the exact opposite of what you're wanting, so I guess it's an important thing to remember."

Trump was similarly distracted the week before during a call with religious leaders from various denominations to discuss the role of faith-based organisations in helping people cope.

On neither call, nor in his sermon on Sunday, did Dolan discuss the president's treatment of immigrants, even though the US bishops' conference has made it's views clear on this issue.

"We are extremely concerned about how the proclamation will impact immigrant families looking to reunify, as well as religious workers," a statement from the conference says.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image:National Catholic Reporter

But among categories in America's largest single faith — ranging from occasional church-goers to non-practicing Catholics — support for the president drops dramatically.

Trump, in fact, loses among non-devout Catholics to all of the major Democratic presidential hopefuls. But among devout practicioners of the Catholic faith, he wins re-election handily. Read more

Citing economic downsides to the plan, on June 1, 2017, President Donald Trump said he would pull out of the deal at the earliest possible date.

It makes the US the only nation in the world to be outside the Agreement.

Calling the move "realistic and pragmatic", US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced the beginning of the US withdrawal.

"Today we begin the formal process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement".

"The U.S. is proud of our record as a world leader in reducing all emissions, fostering resilience, growing our economy and ensuring energy for our citizens", Pompeo tweeted.

However two US Church groups, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), are left feeling less proud.

LCWR says it is "profoundly troubled" by the White House's move.

"The failure of the United States to fulfil its 2015 commitment will dishonour our nation and threaten our common home," it added.

"Catholic teaching is clear: climate change is a grave moral issue that threatens our commitment to protect human life and dignity; to exercise a preferential option for the most vulnerable; to promote the common good, and to care for God's creation," said Carol Zinn, LCWR executive director.

CRS, the official charitable arm of the US Catholic bishops, similarly opposes the move saying the US is turning its back on a "concrete pledge affirming the shared responsibility for the planet."

"The U.S. must not turn its back on the rest of the world at a time when urgent action is needed," said CRS' executive vice president Bill O'Keefe.

"With the planet warming at an alarming rate and the poorest of the poor left to withstand the consequences, there will undoubtedly be more global instability, forced migration and conflict," said O'Keefe.

CRS is urging the country to rejoin the agreement as soon as possible.

"It is not too late to take meaningful steps to care for creation and mitigate some of the worst impacts of climate change, which is why we hope our government reconsiders this misguided decision," O'Keefe says.

The Paris Agreement was reached in 2015 at the COP21 United Nations climate summit.

195 countries agreed to reduce their national greenhouse gas emissions toward limiting average global temperature rise "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and as low as 1.5 C (2.7 F).

NCR reports that climate scientists have identified 1.5 C as the threshold where the most severe impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels, longer droughts and more powerful storms.

Climate change is an issue which is challenging Catholics around the world.

It has also raised the concern of the past three popes.

The Church's interest is due in large part because threats to life posed by a warming world are often experienced first and most severely by the poor and vulnerable, despite these people contributing little to the problem.

Sources

• NCR
• CNA

Bibles are among about 25 product categories removed from 10 percent tariffs due to take effect next month and in December.

Other products have removed from the tariff plans because they are considered important.

They include child safety seats, cranes used in ports and construction, shipping containers and certain types of fish.

However, rosaries and other personal religious items that are imported from China will be affected by the 10 percent tariff.

Around 60 percent of these imported religious items come from China.

A list of products subject to the additional tariffs, was released last week by the Office of the US Trade Representative.

Although Bibles and other religious books were not included on the list, items including children's books will not be subject to the new tariff until December.

Trump says delaying imposing the tariffs on children's books and other items such as mobile phones and laptops, were implemented to avoid hitting Christmas shoppers.

Other types of books, such as American fiction and non-fiction, will still be subject to the charge.

Association of American Publishers president and c.e.o. Maria Pallante has criticised the tariffs saying: "We remain deeply concerned that a wide range of other books remain on the list, including American fiction and non-fiction books; art books; textbooks; dictionaries and encyclopedias; and technical, scientific and professional books.

"A tariff on books is a tax on information, and at odds with longstanding US policy of not imposing tariffs on educational, scientific and cultural materials.

"Just as importantly these books are part of a vital economic engine that makes significant contributions to the US economy, and supports American publishers, authors, illustrators, editors, and designers, as well as distributors and booksellers."

Source

• Investing.com
• The Bookseller
• Image: Chicago Tribune