An Ecumenical Ministry in the Parish of St Patrick's Catholic Church In San Diego USA

米国サンディエゴの聖パトリックカトリック教会教区におけるエキュメニカル宣教

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Pope Francis has not devalued the Torah

Even some Catholic pro-lifers have concerns about Texas' abortion law

Like many Catholics with strong pro-life views, Steven Greydanus believes the unborn have a right to life, argues the state is morally obliged to protect them, and says Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 landmark ruling that declared abortion to be a constitutional right, is an "abomination."

But Greydanus, a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Newark, New Jersey, who is known for writing movie reviews in Catholic publications, says Texas' controversial "heartbeat law" that deputizes private citizens to enforce its anti-abortion regime with $10,000 cash incentives is "not the way" to advance the cause.

Other Catholics with similar anti-abortion convictions, as well as leaders of some pro-life organizations who otherwise support the law's aim to curb legal abortions, also have serious qualms about the statute's unusual enforcement mechanism that critics say risks creating an unseemly bounty system in Texas while establishing disastrous legal precedents elsewhere.

You can read more of the story here.

More background:


Religious leaders call for release of David Gilbert from New York prison

On his way out of office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted clemency to 10 people who had served long sentences, including David Gilbert. Gilbert was the only one of those whose sentences Cuomo commuted who is required to apply for parole before being released.

"As Christians, we applaud the expanded use of clemency, a synonym for the mercy and forgiveness at the heart of the Christian faith," say Bishop John Stowe, bishop president of Pax Christi USA, and Marie Dennis, past co-president of Pax Christi International, in a commentary for NCR. "Society needs appropriate sanctions for criminal behavior, but those sanctions need to be applied with hope for rehabilitation. We believe in the capacity of all people to change and to grow and in our own obligation to forgive our brothers and sisters who repent of their sins."

Read more of the commentary here


More headlines

  • In her latest column, St. Joseph Sr. Christine Schenk writes about Ludmila Javorova, the first publicly known woman priest who was ordained in the Czech Republic in 1970. Javorova was honored in an online event just hours after Pope Francis addressed Catholics in Slovakia.

  • As the delta variant spreads in Vietnam, sisters in heavily affected areas have moved some of their ministries online or now run them over the phone to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Read more at Global Sisters Report.

  • ICYMI: Pope Francis has not devalued the Torah and does not question the fact that the Torah is crucial for modern Judaism, Cardinal Kurt Koch told two prominent Jewish leaders. 

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