CNA—The House on Thursday passed the Equality Act, a bill that the U.S. bishops have warned would trample religious freedom protections while codifying gender ideology in federal law. By a vote of 224 to 206, the House passed the Equality Act only six days after it was introduced on Feb. 18. The legislation, sponsored by…
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the deceptively named ‘Equality Act,’ legislation that could be used to restrict the religious freedom of churches and religious nonprofits including religious schools; set back protections for women on the playing field, at work, and in private spaces like showers and locker rooms; as well as inhibit…
Roger Severino, the outgoing director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Civil Rights, stepped down from his high-profile role last month, after launching a new division dedicated to the protection of conscience rights and religious freedom. A Catholic pro-life lawyer, Severino is OCR’s longest-serving director in the past three decades…
Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s injunction issued late last night (2-5-21) in South Bay United Pentecostal Church, et. al striking down California’s blanket ban on indoor worship. “This is a very significant step forward for basic rights. This decision makes clear we can now return to…
(January 8, 2021 – New York, New York) Religious freedom received validation this week from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the case of two Catholic priests, two Catholic school students, and four Orthodox Jewish individuals who are suing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Thomas More Society attorneys are representing…
Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver expressed disappointment with the government’s decision to ban religious services as part of a plan to curb the pandemic in British Columbia. During Sunday Mass at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, Miller said religious institutions are not being treated fairly compared to the other establishments. “As I mentioned in the…
New York Post—The usual mainstream-media suspects wasted no time in blasting as inappropriate Samuel Alito’s address last week to the Federalist Society. Which is another way of saying they didn’t like what he had to say. The Supreme Court justice warned that “religious liberty is fast becoming a disfavored right,” that freedom of speech is…
CNA—“On veut la Messe!” (“We want Mass!) signs read as Catholics in France gathered outside churches in multiple cities this weekend calling on the government to allow them to attend Mass during the national lockdown. Protests took place across France, including in Nantes, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Rennes, and Versailles, Nov. 14 and 15. A Sunday protest…
While mainstream media and PBS news continue to stir ordinary citizens into a state of near perpetual fear with hourly news reports that drone on about new covid cases — never about the new vaccine(s) recently announced that have so far shown 93% success rates, nor about successful recovery — many many MANY people wonder……
The Catholic Leader—BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge has joined church leaders from around the world condemning the killing of three people in southern France – hacked to death in Nice’s Notre Dame Basilica while preparing for morning Mass. “Violence in the name of God is the ultimate contradiction and is utterly abhorrent, whatever historic injustices are…
CNA—A federal court ruled on Friday that Florida State University (FSU) must pay the Catholic former leader of the student senate who was removed in June for comments he made about Church teaching and anti-racist groups. Jack Denton, the former president of the FSU student senate, was removed from his position by fellow senators in…
Op.Ed, Washington Post—Sept 16, 2020—I never expected that the most basic religious freedom, the right to worship — protected so robustly in our Constitution’s First Amendment — would be unjustly repressed by an American government. But that is exactly what is happening in San Francisco. For months now, the city has limited worship services to…
A Catholic congressman is asking the U.S. Attorney General to respond to a spate of acts of vandalism against churches around the country. In a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) urged the Justice Department “to protect religious freedom and combat religious discrimination in the United States.” Fleischmann cited…
CNA—The Chinese Communist Party is offering monetary rewards to those who report the presence of home churches in their communities, the magazine Bitter Winter reported on Thursday. The rewards appear to be an expansion of a program already in place in the province of Heilongjiang, reported earlier this year. In the city of Nenjiang, residents…
When viewing the events of recent weeks I think most Americans share the common heartbreak, anger and confusion of a mugging victim. We have been violently assaulted by some thugs and something precious has been wrenched from us. Our mugging was not a one-time crime on the streets of Chicago or New York during which…
Catholic League—Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on two Supreme Court decisions handed down today: In the last week of its 2019-2020 term, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered two back-to-back victories for religious liberty; they were both 7-2 decisions. Catholic schools and agencies were the big winners. The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that religious…
Fr. Stephen Schumacher, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was among the defenders of a prominent statue of the city’s namesake as protesters called for its removal Saturday. Umar Lee, an organizer of the protests, said June 27 that the statue “is gonna come down,” reported Joel Currier of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.…
As the local churches gradually open again, one is reminded of the persistence of Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, president of the College of William and Mary, ringing the school bell during seven years of closure after the Civil War. It is yet to be seen how many return to our churches after the quarantine, but the…
This is the fourth month of our lives being impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. We have gone from total uncertainty of the length and strength of the virus, to having some knowledge without definite assurance of the accuracy of the information. We hunkered down and did our best to find ways to usefully apply ourselves,…
CNA—The governor of Delaware has amended controversial restrictions on houses of worship after a local church threatened a lawsuit. In an updated guidance released by Gov. John Carney (D) on the evening of June 2, the number of people who are allowed to gather in a house of worship was adjusted to match that of…
