Federal judge blocks Texas abortion ban (CNN) A federal judge in Texas issued an order Wednesday blocking the state’s six-week abortion ban. “From the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution,” US District Judge Robert Pitman said in the decision, granting a request from the Justice Department, which brought the lawsuit…

Tennessee deacon suffering from cancer is a model of “the icon of Christ who came to serve” (OSV) Deacons are ordained to serve the Church and the world, and sometimes the greatest service one can offer is through personal suffering. A recent ordination in the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, put this form of diaconal service on full display…

Dominican friars leaving New Haven parish after 135 years (New Haven Register) The Dominican friars who have served St. Mary Roman Catholic Church, the home church of the Knights of Columbus, will be turning over parish oversight to the Archdiocese of Hartford after 135 years. The friars, who are members of the Province of St. Joseph, based in New York, said they are relinquishing pastoral care of St. Mary Church and priority in January 2022 “with profound sadness” but with the “deepest gratitude for the privilege of serving the people of New Haven since 1886…”

Diaconate ordinations held amid turmoil in Myanmar (UCANews) The Catholic Church in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar has ordained a dozen young men to the diaconate amid the political turmoil following the military’s Feb. 1 coup. On Oct. 5, Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam of Banmaw presided over the ordination of four deacons at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Banmaw town. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and the volatile political situation, only relatives and some priests were allowed to take part in the event…