I’m trying something new: a morning roundup of Catholic news and commentary that may not be on everybody’s radar. Take a look:
MIT chaplain forced out over his response to Floyd killing (The Boston Globe) An MIT chaplain was asked to resign last week after he sent a message to the university’s Catholic community suggesting that George Floyd’s killing by a white Minneapolis police officer may have had nothing to do with racism and questioning Floyd’s character…
Hong Kong clergy risk jail under new laws (UCANews) Church leaders supporting Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement including Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing could be sent to mainland China to be tried under its opaque, politicized system when onerous new security laws are passed by Beijing as early as the end of this month.The official draft of the laws has yet to be officially released but both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have said they will cover sedition, secession and acts of terrorism.
Mexico’s secret churches defy COVID-19 rules (The Guardian) The assemblies might be organized like illegal dance parties. But they are actually clandestine Catholic masses that have continued to take place in defiance of a coronavirus ban on religious events. “The bells don’t ring, there are no calls to mass,” said Antonio Hernández, who has watched worshippers steal into secret sessions at the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús church in the town of Ixtapa…
What the New Orleans Saints did for the archdiocese (Sports Illustrated) New Orleans’s favorite team has acknowledged providing “minimal” public relations help to the local archdiocese as it handled revelations of sexual abuse by clergy—but an SI investigation found that the team’s aid was more extensive. Survivors, who feel betrayed by both institutions, want answers…
Dorothy Day, the Catholic activist who believed in civil disobedience ‘animated by love’ (Zocalo) Though she is an obscure figure today, Dorothy Day was once very well known in the social-justice movement and in Catholic circles, having founded a newspaper, a network of “houses of hospitality” to serve the urban poor, and having given thousands of lectures. On her death in 1980, her obituary appeared on front pages around the country. While her name is no longer familiar, Day’s commitment to civil disobedience in response to America’s racism, militarism, and capitalist excess resonates today…
Bishop to new deacons: ‘Don’t let anything weigh you down’ (Arlington Catholic Herald) Bishop Michael F. Burbidge ordained four seminarians from across the Arlington diocese to the transitional diaconate June 13 at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. Bishop Burbidge told the candidates to remember that in the Gospel reading, “the Lord told his disciples ‘Don’t let anything weigh you down’ ” in their mission. “Dear candidates, never be weighed down by fear, doubt or insecurity. Rely totally on Jesus….”
