It’s another win for Catholics at the Supreme Court. On the last day of their session the Justices handed down rulings on two big cases related to climate and immigration. The latter could lead to big changes at the southern U.S. border.
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Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller: America’s Immigration Laws are Broken and Wrong
A tractor trailer carrying dozens of dead or dying migrants that wound up in San Antonio managed to pass through a checkpoint in the U.S.
An Associated Press report, citing a U.S. official, says the migrants were already in the truck when it passed the checkpoint about 26 miles from Laredo.
A total of 53 migrants died in the sweltering heat inside the trailer.
Three people were arrested, including the driver of the truck, in what’s being called one of the deadliest migrant incidents in U.S. history.
Joining us now to talk about how the church is responding to this tragedy is Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
Homilies in Your Home: Matthew 9:1-8
Most Reverend Bishop Robert J. Brennan’s Homily from Thursday’s Mass on 6/30/22
Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 06/30/22
Another win for Catholics at the Supreme Court. On the last day of their session the Justices handed down rulings on two big cases related to climate and immigration.
Russian forces have pulled out of Snake Island in the Black Sea in what’s seen as a big win for Ukraine.
Currents News will be taking a break for the week of 4th of July.
Why Overturning Roe v. Wade Means Nothing in New York
Friday’s Supreme Court decision did nothing to change the legality of abortion in New York.
The 2019 “Reproductive Health Act” made abortion a fundamental right in the state and legally, it is impossible to enact regulations or restrictions on abortion as most other states have done.
Kristen Curran, Director of Government Relations for the New York State Catholic Conference, joins Currents News to explain.
Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday, 06/29/22
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis Wednesday morning.
Tears and prayers in San Antonio, Texas – a is memorial growing at the spot where dozens of migrants were found dead in a stifling trailer.
Friday’s Supreme Court decision did nothing to change the legality of abortion in New York.
Pelosi Receives Communion at Mass Presided Over by Pope Francis
By Inés San Martín
ROME – Nancy Pelosi took Communion during a Mass presided over by Pope Francis on Wednesday.
In May, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Pelosi’s home diocese, barred the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from receiving communion in the archdiocese over her outspoken support of abortion rights.
Pelosi, who is currently in Rome as part of a family vacation, attended the liturgy for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica, and according to sources who were present at the time, received the Eucharist.
She did not receive it from the pope himself, but from one of the priests at the basilica, whose nationality remains unknown. It is also unclear if the priest knew who she was.
Cordileone announced his decision to bar her from receiving Communion with a letter to the faithful May 20: “After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a declaration that she is not admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confesses and receives absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of penance.”
The California Democrat pushed back at the time, saying that she comes from a large family with many members who oppose abortion.
“I respect people’s views about that. But I don’t respect us foisting it onto others.” Pelosi said. “Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights. In fact, he led the way in an initiative on the ballot in California.”
Pelosi also said that women and families need to know this is about more than abortion: “These same people are against contraception, family planning, in vitro fertilization. It’s a blanket thing and they use abortion as the front man for it.”
Pope Francis referred to the question of pro-abortion politicians and Communion in 2021, on his return to Rome from Slovakia.
At the time, Francis said that the Eucharist is for those who are “in the community” and politicians who support abortion are “outside of the community.”
However, he also said that in these cases, it’s a pastoral matter that must be addressed by the individual’s pastor.
Pope Francis began his response by saying that he’s never denied Communion to anyone, but also that, “I don’t know if any came in this condition. But I was never conscious of having in front of me a person like the one you describe.”
When Francis was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, all Argentinian Catholic politicians were openly pro-life, with the push to legalize abortion in the country gaining steam in the years after he became pope.
Last year, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, head of the Vatican’s doctrine office, wrote the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, warning them that a national policy against giving Communion to pro-choice politicians could become “a source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate and the larger church in the United States.”
During his homily Wednesday, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church has to be a place where “everyone can feel welcomed and accompanied, one where listening, dialogue and participation are cultivated under the sole authority of the Holy Spirit.”
But he also urged the bishops and those present not “to retreat into our ecclesial circles and remain pinned to some of our fruitless debates. Together we can and must continue to care for human life, the protection of creation, the dignity of work, the families, the elderly, all those abandoned or rejected.”
Brooklyn Church Marks 125 Years as Sunset Park Parish Celebrates Polish Roots
The parish at Our Lady of Czestochowa and St Casimir marked their 125th anniversary Sunday together with the 100th anniversary of their church building
The big day kicked off with a special Mass honoring the parish’s Polish roots.
The parish was founded in 1896 as a mission church for Polish immigrants in Brooklyn.
In 1980, the church merged with the parish family of St Casimir, and since then, they have continued to provide outstanding ministry to the Sunset Park community.
The Diocese of Brooklyn’s New Superintendent is Starting This Friday
Deacon Kevin McCormack- who was the principal of Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge for 15 years- will take over the position from Doctor Thomas Chadzutko, who served Diocese of Brooklyn schools for almost two decades.
Following his appointment by Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan, Currents News spoke to Deacon McCormack about his new job and the importance of technology in the classroom.
Homilies in Your Home: Matthew 8:23-27
Monsignor Sean G. Ogle’s Homily from Tuesday’s Mass on 6/28/22