NEW YORK (CNS) -- Utilizing personal stories from his interactions with the New York Police Department, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said in a newspaper column that the city's police officers deserve better treatment and broad support on the job.
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DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNS) -- A Johnson County district court judge has temporarily blocked the enforcement of the state's new law requiring women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion, the Iowa Catholic Conference reported July 1.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- An concert honoring the centennial of St. John Paul II's birth is now available online. The concert, featuring some of the United States and Poland's top classical music artists, was held June 21. St. John Paul's birth was May 28.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CNS) -- Two days after a vandal defaced some of the gravestones and a central cross with swastikas at the Dominican Cemetery at Providence College, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence reconsecrated and rededicated the sacred grounds where Dominican friars have been buried since the college's founding in 1917.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, has suspended a priest from public ministry after the pastor referred to Black Lives Matters protesters as "maggots and parasites" in a Sunday bulletin.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The consensus from religious liberty advocates following the June 30 Supreme Court ruling on public funds and sectarian schools is the Blaine amendments, a hated remnant of 19th-century anti-Catholic bigotry, are finally gone for good.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Back in March, Juliana Colorado was going about life as usual for an 8-year-old, trying out for a talent show at St. Joseph's Catholic School in Long Beach, California. "Her last day she was in school was Thursday, March 12. There were talent show tryouts after school and Juliana performed a stirring rendition of 'You'll Be Back' from the 'Hamilton' soundtrack," said her father, Carlos.
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ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) -- Pro-life advocates in Florida applauded Gov. Ron DeSantis when he signed a bill June 30 that requires parental consent before a minor has an abortion. In a statement following the signing of the bill, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops thanked Florida's governor for signing S.B. 404.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- While America grapples with racism and bigotry and other social ills, Washington Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said people must reach out to one another, learn about others different from themselves and rediscover that all religions teach that hatred is wrong.
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LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Here is a meditation based on the writings of St. Junipero Serra compiled by Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, which he included in his June 29 column on the saint in Angelus, https://angelusnews.com, the online news platform of the archdiocese. The saint's feast day is July 1:
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NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- The Democratic state senator who wrote the Louisiana abortion law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court June 29 said the ruling almost took her breath away. "This is a decision that I holistically do not agree with. It's a very disappointing decision," Sen. Katrina Jackson said at a news conference in New Orleans.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Many of the country's leading pro-life advocates said the U.S. Supreme Court's June 29 ruling striking down a Louisiana abortion law puts women's health in danger, allows subpar care of women and gives abortion clinics a pass on "commonsense regulations" for "the sake of profit."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a 5-4 ruling June 30, the Supreme Court said the exclusion of religious schools in Montana's state scholarship aid program violated the federal Constitution. In the opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court ruled that if a state offers financial assistance to private schools, it has to allow religious schools to also take part. Separate dissents were written by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor.
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SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Several dozen people joined San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone as he led the rosary June 27 and recited the prayer of St. Michael the Archangel for protection from evil at the site of the now-toppled statue of St. Junipero Serra in the city's Golden Gate Park.
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LAS VEGAS (CNS) -- The "tragic death" of George Floyd, an African American killed while in the custody of a white police officer, "has torn the scab away from the gaping wound of racism that still infects communities across the globe," said Bishop George L. Thomas of Las Vegas.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a 5-4 decision June 29, the Supreme Court ruled that a Louisiana law requiring that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals could not stand.
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Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2020 CNA.- In the wake of a gene-editing experiment gone wrong, the president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center saidthat the Church must stand firm against the unborn being “sacrificed on the altar of scientific research.”
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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 27, 2020 CNA.- Tennessee’s new pro-life legislation is “designed to stand up to court challenges,” State Rep. Susan Lynn (R), a sponsor of the bill, said Thursday.
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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 26, 2020 CNA.- A federal judge on Friday ruled that New York must allow indoor and outdoor religious services in the same way it would allow mass outdoor protests, or indoor shopping malls.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- After visiting a group of pregnant migrant women on the Mexico side of the border, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso Texas, issued strong words June 25 about the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" program and other restrictive immigration measures, saying that turning away those seek asylum in the U.S. amounts to sending them to their death.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- For those who think lists of virtues started with William Bennett's "The Book of Virtues" in 1993 and ended when word got out 10 years later of Bennett's enormous gambling losses, there is a rich tradition of elucidating principles to live by that is so long-standing it predates the birth of Christ.
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (CNS) -- The Diocese of Springfield has released a report submitted by retired Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis documenting his investigation into a claim of sexual abuse by the late Springfield Bishop Christopher J. Weldon and his finding the claim "to be unequivocally credible."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Donald Trump June 24 called for creating partnerships between state agencies and public, private, faith-based and community organizations "to help keep families together and, when that is not possible, to find children forever families."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a 7-2 decision June 25, the Supreme Court said the Trump administration can deport some asylum-seekers without granting them a federal court hearing. The opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, said asylum-seekers on track for expedited removal from the U.S. are not entitled to seek habeas corpus -- or the right to challenge government detention. The court also ruled that a 1996 law allowing for fast-tracked deportations is constitutional.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic organizations have joined others in protesting some of the latest immigration restrictions issued by the Trump administration, including a popular visa program now suspended until the end of the year.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- More than 4,400 allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy were reported during the year ending June 30, 2019, a significant jump from the previous auditing period, according to a report on diocesan and eparchial compliance with the U.S. bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The calls to "abolish the police" did not begin with the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Instead, they simply picked up steam. Yet other corrective measures are needed within society that go hand in hand with abolishing police, said panelists during a June 24 forum, "Police Abolition: What Does It Mean?" It is sponsored by Georgetown University Law School.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on group gatherings and recent court rulings are part of a growing challenge to religious liberty, said participants in an online symposium June 22.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis welcomed the Vatican's updated "Directory for Catechesis," saying it is exciting to have "a fresh and focused tool to enhance our evangelization efforts in catechesis."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairmen of three U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees have called for "better practices for formation and accountability for police" in a joint letter to all members of Congress.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As solidarity around the death of George Floyd and police brutality in America grows, young people all over the world continue to join together, their efforts for social justice arguably a spiritual mission.
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TORONTO (CNS) -- The Catholic Church has been caught up in a quagmire of racism in American society, especially in the wake of the May 25 police-related killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Despite its reputation as an institution of communion, reconciliation and healing, the church is drawing fire in some circles for its words-only response to incidents of racial injustice, and for "sustaining" racism by the attitudes of both ordained and lay membership.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The head of the Catholic Health Association has urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his decision to pull the United States out of the United Nations' World Health Organization.
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PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Two Black Catholic pastors in Philadelphia say their parishes are drawing strength from the Eucharist, prayer and a rich spiritual heritage in the fight against racism. "St. Katharine Drexel used to say, 'We go in to go out,'" said Father Stephen Thorne, pastor of St. Martin de Porres in North Philadelphia. "What she meant was that (our time with) the Blessed Sacrament gives us the energy to go forth and do justice."
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SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- San Francisco's archbishop said June 20 the "toppling and defacing" of a statue of St. Junipero Serra and other statues in the city's Golden Gate Park is the latest example of some people using the current movement against racial injustice as a reason for violence, looting and vandalism.
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CLEVELAND (CNS) -- One more Jesuit has had an asteroid named for him. Father Chris Corbally, a stellar astronomer at the Vatican Observatory, has had his name attached to a rocky body in the asteroid belt that orbits the sun in slightly less than four years.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "It's DACA; it's good." Those were the words Giovana Oaxaca wrote to her staff, hands trembling, when she heard the Supreme Court ruled in favor of recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Jean Kennedy Smith, a diplomat, humanitarian and author and the last surviving sibling of the late President John F. Kennedy, died June 17 at her home in Manhattan. She was 92. President Bill Clinton nominated her to serve as ambassador to Ireland in 1993, and she held the post until 1998.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With the 6-3 Supreme Court decision June 15 banning job discrimination against individuals in the workplace identifying as LGBTQ, the Catholic Church in the United States has a new moment of reckoning.
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ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops are urging Catholics to "pray, reflect and take action" on religious liberty in the United States and abroad during Religious Freedom Week June 22-29. The first day of the observance is the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, both martyred for their Catholic faith.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In one of the most anticipated cases of the term, the Supreme Court June 18 ruled against efforts by the Trump administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.
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CNA Staff, Jun 17, 2020 CNA.- Catholic leaders say the Church has an important role in working for racial justice, but that protesting for justice does not imply endorsement of the positions taken by Black Lives Matter organizations.
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OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Catholic bishops in Turkey pledged not to contest plans to turn Istanbul's ancient Hagia Sophia cathedral that now serves as a museum into a Muslim place of worship. In announcing their decision June 18, the bishops backed government claims that the monument's future is a question of national sovereignty.
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LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles said June 16 that his recent virtual message to 2020 graduates -- posted on YouTube and shared on social media -- is "a sign of these unusual times" amid the coronavirus.
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CLEVELAND (CNS) --The announcement that two historic Catholic schools in the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, were closing for good as the academic year ended sent a wave of loss and sadness across the diocese.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay of execution for Texas death-row inmate Ruben Gutierrez June 16, saying the state prison officials need to reexamine their rule that bans clergy from being with prisoners to the execution chamber.
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DICKSON, Tenn. (CNS) -- Mikey Schachle, 5 years old, climbs onto a stump in the yard of his family's home in Dickson. He carefully takes stock of the short distance to the trampoline buried in the ground below him, then slowly steps off the stump into space and falls happily onto the trampoline as some of his 12 brothers and sisters surround him with smiles and hugs.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. demonstrations over police aggression toward minorities has an antecedent in Northern Ireland, according to a police commander in Salinas, California, who spent the first 10 years of his life in Northern Ireland in the midst of "the Troubles" there, then later wrote his master's thesis on the applicability of its policing reforms to the United States.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said he is "deeply concerned" that by ruling federal law protects LGBT workers from discrimination, the U.S. Supreme Court "has effectively redefined the legal meaning of 'sex' in our nation's civil rights law."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairmen of three U.S. bishops' committees welcomed a final rule implemented by the Trump administration June 12 to restore "the long-standing position of the federal government that discrimination on the basis of 'sex' means just that and does not refer to 'termination of pregnancy' nor 'gender identity.'"
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A panel of police and civil rights activists suggested numerous ways to reform the nature of police work in the United States during a June 11 forum sponsored by Georgetown University Law School.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a 6-3 vote June 15, the Supreme Court said LGBT people are protected from job discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex," said Justice Neil Gorsuch writing the opinion in the case argued at the start of the court's term last October.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- An investigation into allegations of "sexual impropriety" by Msgr. Walter R. Rossi, rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, found no "credible evidence" of such misconduct, said Bishop Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a June 12 statement.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Faith groups and other immigrant supporters are bracing for an announcement from the White House that may further limit those seeking asylum in the U.S. Trump administration officials are soon expected to announce the changes, which may eliminate multiple grounds under which people can be granted asylum, allow immigration judges to reject asylum applications without hearing from those seeking it and may not allow those who have traveled through more than one country on their way to the U.S. to petition for asylum.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CNS) -- After Tianna Barnes-Palmer watched local protests and marches for racial justice unfold on social media, she helped organize the "Black Catholics Unite: Stand For Justice March" in downtown Louisville.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- About 25 years ago, the World Wide Web was becoming a "thing." By the time of the new millennium, growing numbers of Americans were sending e-mails (with a hyphen) over the capital "I" Internet.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis and has named Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of Springfield, Massachusetts, as his successor. Pope Francis also appointed Redemptorist Father Bruce A. Lewandowski as an auxiliary bishop of Baltimore. He currently is the pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Southeast Baltimore.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Texas Supreme Court agreed June 5 to review an appeal by the Diocese of Lubbock over a former deacon's defamation lawsuit against it. The suit, which lower courts said could proceed, sought more than $1 million in damages from the diocese claiming it had falsely included the former deacon in its published list last year of clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The streets in front of the White House of late have been filled with thousands of youthful faces carrying signs or wearing T-shirts calling for racial justice, with fists raised in the air, or posing for selfies with a large "Black Lives Matters" sign.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishops called for Americans to celebrate the country's diversity, prayed the deep sin of racism can be overcome and invited people to remember that each person is a unique creation of God in Trinity Sunday homilies, messages and events.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Just as the world is facing the coronavirus pandemic and its deadly impact, racism likewise is a deadly virus that must be cured, Washington Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said June 5.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and a few Catholic Charities agencies have joined more than 30 other religious groups, states and a group of Congress members urging the Supreme Court to protect Philadelphia's faith-based foster care.
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