Did Biden HHS nominee sue Catholic charity over contraceptives? (The Sacramento Bee) Republicans trying to sink California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s nomination to join President Joe Biden’s cabinet as health secretary are frequently citing California’s ongoing litigation involving the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic nonprofit run by nuns…
House passes Equality Act (CNS) The House of Representatives passed the Equality Act in a 224-206 vote Feb. 25. A couple days ahead of the vote, the chairmen of five U.S. bishops’ committees said its mandates will “discriminate against people of faith” by adversely affecting charities and their beneficiaries, conscience rights, women’s sports, “and sex-specific facilities”…
Prominent theologian under investigation for sexual assault (NCR) Boston College is investigating the chairman of its theology department following allegations he sexually assaulted a former classmate in 1987. Richard Gaillardetz, a professor of Catholic systematic theology and a former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, has been accused by theologian Laura Grimes in two YouTube videos made public on Jan. 23 and Feb. 24. Gaillardetz, a past NCR contributor and a prominent author of over a dozen books, denies the allegations…
Chicago tries to clear ‘misconceptions’ about Father Pfleger (CNA) Defenders of outspoken activist priest Fr. Michael Pfleger are wrong to claim an investigation has cleared him of decades-old sexual abuse allegations or to claim that the priest was singled out, the Archdiocese of Chicago has said…
Social media uproar after high school posts racially charged old yearbook pictures (Lansing State Journal) A furor broke out on social media Thursday morning after a Catholic high school posted a photo from the 1978-9 yearbook appearing to show students performing a Nazi salute, at least one of them in a KKK hood. The photo was posted to Lansing Catholic High School’s Instagram and Facebook pages around 9:45 a.m., accompanied with a #ThrowbackThursday hashtag, according to screenshots provided to the Lansing State Journal…