Supreme Court to hear challenges to abortion rules (NPR) The U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear a set of cases involving a Trump-era rule on abortion, giving the 6-3 conservative majority its first opportunity to weigh in on the hot-button issue…
German bishops pick woman as top administrator (DW) The German Catholic Bishops’ Conference (DBK) elected a woman for the first time as the conference’s top administrator on Tuesday. Theologian Beate Gilles was appointed as general secretary of the conference, which is based in Bonn. After her election to the post, the 50-year-old noted her skills as a runner are also well suited to her new role. “I am an endurance athlete,” Gilles said. “That means I know that a marathon is not decided in its 40 kilometers, but rather by the 1,000 kilometers in training — that’s my distance…
Covington Catholic students suit against Kathy Griffin dismissed (Cincinnati Enquirer) The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled on Tuesday that Covington Catholic students cannot bring harassment claims against nationally renowned comedian Kathy Griffin. Judges upheld a decision by the U.S. Eastern District of Kentucky to dismiss the claims brought against Griffin and Sujana Chandrasekhar, a New Jersey-based doctor who was also named in the students’ complaints over statements made on social media, according to court documents…
Brooklyn bishop denies abuse allegation as lawsuit is filed (The Tablet) Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is denying a sexual abuse allegation made by a Florida man who filed a lawsuit on Feb. 17 against the Archdiocese of Newark and the bishop. The man claims Bishop DiMarzio, who was then a priest in New Jersey, abused him when he was a child — more than 40 years ago. “I did not abuse the accuser or anyone else in my 50-year-ministry as a priest. This is defamatory,” Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement on Feb. 22. “False claims do real damage to victims of sexual abuse…”
Parishes should plan now how to welcome people back to Mass (CNS) Even with many recent hopeful signs on vaccinations and the reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases, there is no date certain at which the coronavirus pandemic will be declared over. That should not stop parishes from planning now to welcome back parishioners to Mass in the future. “You can’t be thinking, ‘What will we do after the pandemic?’ You have to be doing it now,” said Dominican Sister Teresa Rickard, president and executive director of Renew International, which has been offering parish renewal programs since 1976…
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