US Catholic bishops OK Communion document, avoid direct rebuff to Biden
Baltimore, USAP US Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a long-anticipated document on Communion on Wednesday that stops short of calling for withholding the sacrament from politicians such as President Joe Biden who support abortion rights but offers plenty of tacit justification for individual bishops to do so. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ first major statement […]
US Catholic bishops urged to listen as they consider Communion document
Updated: 12:40pm (AEDT)Baltimore, USAP Pope Francis’ top envoy to the United States cautioned the country’s bishops on Tuesday that the church needs to listen before it teaches as they deliberated at their fall meeting on a sensitive document about Holy Communion that emerged amid debates over Catholic politicians’ support for abortion. “It is sometimes said […]
Top US Catholic bishop calls social justice movements “pseudo-religion”
RNS Archbishop José H Gomez, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, railed against “new social justice movements” during a speech Thursday, decrying them as “pseudo-religions” that ultimately serve as “dangerous substitutes for true religion”. Gomez, who heads the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, delivered the remarks in a video message sent to a meeting of […]
In Rome and at the Vatican, Biden found refuge and welcome in Catholic community
Vatican CityRNS In Rome and at the Vatican, President Joe Biden found a safe haven from the debates taking place back home, where some US bishops argue Catholic politicians should not be allowed to receive Communion if they support abortion rights. Biden was in Rome from Friday to Monday to attend the G20 summit, convening […]
US agencies celebrate as Biden raises refugee ceiling to 125,000; UN says expulsions of Haitians may violate law
RNS Faith-based refugee resettlement groups are celebrating the Biden administration’s proposal to admit as many as 125,000 refugees to the United States in the coming year, calling the decision a “return to moral leadership”. The news came Monday afternoon as the Biden administration submitted its report to Congress setting the refugee ceiling for the new fiscal year, […]
Rift on Communion policy as US Catholic bishops open meeting
AP Divisions flared quickly on Wednesday as US Catholic bishops opened a national meeting highlighted by a sensitive agenda item – whether to take initial steps toward a possible rebuke of politicians, including President Joe Biden, who receive Communion while supporting abortion rights. Some said the issue was so important and contentious that all the […]
Essay: As Catholic bishops’ Communion war roils June meeting, look what’s not on the agenda
US Catholic commentator Rev THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, looks at what’s not on the agenda of US Catholic bishops during next week’s meeting…
Essay: Politicising Biden’s faith is pastoral malpractice
JOHN GEHRING, Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, writes – in an article first published on Religion News Service – that deploying Communion as a bludgeon to selectively sanction elected officials on a single issue is not the answer…
The President and abortion: US Catholic bishops may press Biden to stop taking Communion
DAVID CRARY, of Associated Press, reports on how US Catholic bishops are grappling with President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion rights…
Refugee resettlement: US faith-based groups describe what it will take to rebuild program after Trump cuts
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER and JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, report on the response from US heads of faith-based groups to moves by the Biden administration to lift the number of refugee resettlements…