Catholic News

• US State Dept. publishes International Religious Freedom Report; Tillerson highlights ISIS genocide
  The US State Department cited the Islamic State as for genocide in its annual report on religious freedom around the world.
• Melbourne archbishop says he’s prepared to go to jail rather than divulge confessions 
  Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, Australia said that he would go to jail rather than obey a law requiring him to divulge the contents of a sacramental confession.
• Church must clarify papal teaching, Cardinal Burke says
  Cardinal Raymond Burke insisted that a clarification of Church teaching on divorce, remarriage, and the Eucharist is “now necessary,” in an interview with the weekly The Wanderer.
• Teacher in landmark Philadelphia abuse case released 10 years early
  A former teacher at a Catholic school in Philadelphia has been released from prison after a court overturned his conviction on charges of molesting a student.
• Syriac Catholic patriarch laments US invasion of Iraq, Western aid to ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels 
  Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan of Antioch said that Western support for “moderate” Syrian rebel factions has caused the devastation of the country.
• Trump administration poised to end contraceptive mandate
  The Trump administration will soon unveil new regulations that will exempt religious institutions from the “Obamacare” requirement that health-insurance programs must include contraceptive coverage, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Cardinal Sarah urges faithful to resist ‘revolutionaries’ who attack faith and family
  At a memorial Mass honoring the martyrs of the Vendée region in France, Cardinal Robert Sarah challenged Catholics to oppose “the modern persecutors of the Church,” and warned that today’s attack on the faith is centered on a bid to undermine the family.
• Indian state of Jharkand passes anti-conversion bill 
  Jharkhand was become the 7th state in India to enact legislation to limit religious conversions, despite heavy opposition from religious-freedom advocates.
• Investigator in fetal-parts scandal wins legal battle against university employees 
  The man responsible for a series of investigative reports on the involvement of Planned Parenthood with the sale of fetal body parts has won a court victory over researchers who had sought to prevent public disclosure of their involvement.
• Over 200 Christians detained in Eritrea since May 
  The death of a Christian woman in a prison camp in Eritrea has called attention to the arrests of scores of Christians.
• India: Catholics rally against ‘one village, one denomination law’ 
  Catholics in a small village in India’s state of Manipur have rallied to protest local officials’ decision that a Catholic who once lived in the village cannot be buried there.
• Vatican donates to shelters for immigrants on Texas border
  The Vatican has donated $175,000 to two centers serving immigrants and refugees in the Rio Grande valley in Texas.
• For assumption, Pope speaks on power of Mary’s humility
  In his Angelus audience on August 15, the feast of the Assumption, Pope Francis spoke on the humility of the Virgin Mary, remarking that “humility is like an emptiness that leaves room for God.”
• Australian bishops: seal of Confession must be protected
  The Australian Catholic bishops have indicated that they will not accept an infringement on the confessional seal.
• Bishops ‘very slow to change’ in confronting abuse, says lay leader of Catholic commission
  The head of the Australian bishops’ commission on sexual abuse has said that she fears the Church has been only “partially cleansed and unreconstructed” despite months of intense public scrutiny.
• Nigerian cardinal: Amoris Laetitia affirmed traditional Church teaching on receiving Holy Communion
  A Nigerian cardinal has said that Amoris Laetitia upheld the Church’s traditional teaching that Catholics who are divorced and remarried cannot receive the Eucharist.
• ‘This is the land of Gandhi and Buddha’: India’s prime minister denounces religious violence
  India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for an end to religious violence in a speech marking the 70th anniversary of India’s independence.
• Kenyan bishops plead for peace, fear post-election violence
  The Catholic bishops of Kenya have called for calm in the wake of disputed general elections.
• Father Sosa: Jesuits’ mission is fostering reconciliation with God, human beings, environment
  The superior general of the Society of Jesus said that the Jesuits are called to work for reconciliation “on three levels: with God, with human beings, with the environment.”
• New Jersey: judge affirms right of Catholic school to refuse to re-enroll student
  A New Jersey judge has affirmed the right of a Catholic school to deny admission to two girls whose parents had twice filed suit against the school’s administration.
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