The rumors are true. A majority of Supreme Court Justices are ready to overturn Roe v Wade. Chief Justice John Roberts is ordering an investigation into the source of that leaked draft opinion.
Hundreds of Haitian migrants are at the border with Mexico, hoping to seek asylum in the U.S.
A recent baby formula recall is making a supply chain shortage, even worse.
By Currents News Staff and Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Supreme Court appears set to overturn its Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion for nearly 50 years, according to a leaked initial draft of a court opinion obtained by Politico and published online late Monday, May 2.
Just minutes after the leak was published, reactions were fast and furious on social media, and barricades were erected around the Supreme Court building. Many people gathered at the court in protest and some, including students from The Catholic University of America, were there to pray the rosary.
The draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, said Roe “was egregiously wrong from the start” and that “Roe and Casey must be overruled.” Casey v. Planned Parenthood is the 1992 decision that affirmed Roe.
Alito’s opinion said the court’s 1973 Roe decision had exceptionally weak reasoning “and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division,” he wrote.
He also said abortion policies should be determined at the state level.
Politico’s report says Alito’s opinion is supported by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett and that Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan were working on dissents. It was not clear how Chief Justice John Roberts planned to vote.
A May 3 statement by the Supreme Court verified that the draft opinion reported on “is authentic” but that it “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
Roberts, in his own statement, emphasized the significance of the leaked document, which he said was a “singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.”
He also said that if this action was “intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.” He said he has directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.
The 98-page draft, which includes a 31-page appendix of historical state abortion laws, is an opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a case about Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with the potential to also overturn Roe.
The fact that the opinion was leaked also prompted significant reaction, because this is unprecedented in the court’s recent history, especially with such a big case.
Politico acknowledged that “deliberations on controversial cases have in the past been fluid. Justices can and sometimes do change their votes as draft opinions circulate and major decisions can be subject to multiple drafts and vote-trading, sometimes until just days before a decision is unveiled.”
“The court’s holding will not be final until it is published, likely in the next two months,” it added.
But that won’t stop the firestorm of speculation and discussion.
“The leaking of an internal draft opinion of the Supreme Court is an egregious breach of trust and an attack on the integrity of the Judicial Branch of government,” Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference told The Tablet. “While we fervently pray for legal protections of unborn children, we will not dignify the goals of the leaker by commenting on the contents of the draft document.”
Some pro-life groups praised the court’s potential decision, but some also questioned the motivation behind the leak and wondered if the court was being manipulated by this action.
A May 2 tweet by Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said her organization would “not be providing comment on an official decision of #scotus possible leak until a decision is officially announced.”
“We also believe that given the leak the court should issue a ruling as soon as possible. This leak was meant to corrupt the process. It is heartbreaking that some abortion advocates will stoop to any level to intimidate the court no matter what the consequences,” she added.
“This leak is an act of desperation from rabid abortion supporters,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, in an email to Catholic News Service. She noted that although she didn’t know if rumors about ending Roe were accurate, she stressed that “ending Roe is the right decision.”
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas and former Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said his initial reaction to the leak was when he heard that the majority of the court wanted to overturn Roe v. Wade, he “hoped it was true.”
“This would be a great human rights advancement for our nation; there is no right to abortion in our constitution, abortion was certainly not in the minds of our founders,” Archbishop Naumann said.
“The pro-life community now needs to renew our efforts to pass legislation that protects children and mothers from the tragedy of abortion, but we also have to be equally determined to increase the resources to assist those with difficult pregnancies.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, also expressed some skepticism, but also praise, for the potential decision.
“If the draft opinion made public tonight is the final opinion of the court, we wholeheartedly applaud the decision,” she said in a statement, adding: “If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature.”
Those on the other side of the issue were similarly taken aback by the leak but also by the potential impact of the decision if it ultimately echoes the draft opinion.
American Civil Liberties Union tweeted: “If the Supreme Court does indeed issue a majority opinion along the lines of the leaked draft authored by Justice Alito, the shift in the tectonic plates of abortion rights will be as significant as any opinion the Court has ever issued.”
And Planned Parenthood said in a May 2 tweet: “Let’s be clear: This is a draft opinion. It’s outrageous, it’s unprecedented, but it is not final.”
During oral arguments in this case last December, a majority of the justices indicate that they would uphold Mississippi’s abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which was struck down by a federal District Court in Mississippi in 2018 and upheld a year later by the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
A 15-week ban is not a “dramatic departure from viability,” Justice Roberts said.
The point of viability — when a baby is said to be able to survive on its own — was key to the discussion because the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that states cannot restrict abortion before 24 weeks or when a baby is said to be able to survive on its own.
In the draft opinion, Alito said Roe’s viability distinction “makes no sense.”
If this draft is adopted by the court, it means a ruling in favor of the Mississippi abortion ban. If it goes further to overturn Roe, there would be stricter limits to abortion in parts of the U.S., particularly the South and Midwest, with several states set to immediately impose broad abortion bans.
Currents News Staff and Inés San Martín
ROME (Crux) — In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Pope Francis said he has reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin about meeting him in Moscow, warned Russian Patriarch Kirill against becoming an “altar boy” for the Kremlin, and compared the ongoing war in Ukraine to Rwanda’s genocide.
“On the first day of the war I called Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on the phone,” Pope Francis said. “Instead, I did not call Putin. I had heard from him in December for my birthday but this time no, I did not call.”
However, he wanted to make “a clear gesture” for the world to see, which is the reason he went to the Russian embassy to the Holy See.
”I asked them to explain. I said, ‘please stop’,” Pope Francis disclosed, before acknowledging that, “I asked Cardinal [Pietro] Parolin, after 20 days of war, to send Putin the message that I was willing to go to Moscow.”
Despite the Vatican’s diplomatic efforts, Pope Francis said they have not yet had an answer, and he fears Putin can’t, rather than won’t, meet with him at this time.
“But such brutality, how can you not stop it?” he said. “Twenty-five years ago with Rwanda we experienced the same thing.”
According to the Italian newspaper, there was a vein of pessimism in Pope Francis as he recalled the efforts that the Vatican has been making to try to secure a ceasefire.
Pope Francis is also quoted as saying that he has attempted to think about the roots of Putin’s seemingly unstoppable behavior, acknowledging it might have been “NATO’s barking at Russia’s door.”
“I cannot say if this anger was provoked,” he said. “But perhaps facilitated.”
On the question of NATO countries supplying weapons to Ukraine to try to fend off Russian aggression, the Italian newspaper said Pope Francis expressed his doubts.
On the one hand, his doctrine on peace has been centered on condemning the arms race and calling for the de-escalation of weapons production, but he understands the need for Ukrainians to defend themselves.
“I can’t answer, I’m too far away, the question of whether it’s right to supply the Ukrainians,” Pope Francis said. “The clear thing is that weapons are being tested in that land. The Russians now know that tanks are of little use and are thinking of other things. Wars are made for this: to test the weapons we have produced. This is what happened in the Spanish Civil War before the Second World War.”
“The arms trade is a scandal, few fight it,” he said. “Two or three years ago in [the Italian port of] Genoa, a ship arrived loaded with weapons that were to be transferred on a large cargo ship to transport them to Yemen. The port workers didn’t want to do that. They said, let’s think about the children in Yemen. It’s a small thing, but a nice gesture. There should be many like that.”
Pointing out that he has sent two cardinals to Ukraine — Cardinal Michael Czerny and Cardinal Konrad Krajewski — since the war began, he said, “I feel that I must not go. I have to go to Moscow first, I have to meet Putin first. But I am also a priest, what can I do? I do what I can. If Putin would open the door…”
Pope Francis also shared more about his conversation with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and why he thinks he won’t try and convince Putin to back down.
“I spoke with Kirill for 40 minutes via Zoom. During the first 20, with a card in his hand, he read me all the justifications for the war,” Pope Francis recalled. “I listened and told him: I don’t understand anything about this. Brother, we are not state clerics, we cannot use the language of politics, but the language of Jesus. We are pastors of the same holy people of God. That is why we have to look for ways of peace, to stop the fire of weapons.”
Pope Francis also said that “the Patriarch cannot become Putin’s altar boy,” and that the second meeting between the two, which had been scheduled for June 14 in Jerusalem, has been canceled.
Discussing his alarm of a third world war being fought piecemeal — something he has been saying since the beginning of his pontificate in 2013 — Pope Francis said that it was an observation of reality, looking at the fact that Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and many African places had one war after the other.
“There are international interests in every bit of it,” he said.
“One cannot think that a free state can wage war on another free state,” Pope Francis said in the interview.
He also acknowledged that, after the reaction from Ukraine over a woman from Ukraine and another from Russia carrying the cross during the papal-led Way of the Cross on Good Friday, Cardinal Krajewski insisted that the prepared meditation not be read.
“They were right, even if we could not fully understand,” Pope Francis said. “They have a susceptibility; they feel defeated or enslaved because in the Second World War they paid so much. So many men died, it is a martyred people.”
Pope Francis also regretted that there is not enough “will” for peace and that he is “pessimistic” about the war after seeing Russia’s escalation and attempt to take all of Ukraine’s Black Sea port.
Most Reverend Bishop Robert J. Brennan’s Homily from Tuesday’s Mass on 5/3/22
Currents News Staff and John Lavenburg
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian city of Lviv Sunday night to meet with Ukrainian refugees and the Catholic agencies helping them.
“I wanted to go to Ukraine from the beginning,” Cardinal Dolan said in a social media video posted Monday morning. “We just want to do anything we can to show solidarity with these people.”
The western Ukraine city has taken in hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion began. The city is also home to the Ukrainian Catholic University, which has been on the front lines of relief efforts, providing housing and supplies to the displaced, as well as support for journalists and relief agencies.
The visit, part of Cardinal Dolan’s trip to countries bordering Ukraine since he left Rome on April 28, included stops in multiple cities in Poland and Slovakia.
“I wanted to see the refugees who were in the border countries … We wanted to see them and to thank them and to love them and see what they need so we can continue to be of help,” Cardinal Dolan said in the video. “We wanted to thank them for their sense of hope that they haven’t lost that confidence and that trust in Jesus.”
Cardinal Dolan posted another video earlier on Monday from Przemyśl, Poland — the closest city to the Ukrainian border, which Cardinal Dolan said is the first stop for many o Ukrainian refugees who fled Russian aggression. He applauded the efforts the city of about 65,000 people took in caring for their Ukrainian neighbors, noting the 600 lunches and 8,000 tons of food that have been served and distributed.
“You know what gets me, though? There’s a sense of normalcy here,” Cardinal Dolan said. “It’s like people haven’t panicked. They’re not frantic. They’re just coming together in serenity and trust in helping one another. I’ve just been amazed and inspired.”
In another video posted on Sunday, Cardinal Dolan highlights the efforts by a family near the Ukrainian border to turn their hotel into a depot for food and supplies that get shipped across the border daily by the Knights of Malta. He notes that the supplies go directly to priests, convents, and schools for distribution.
“The closer to the ground you are the more you’re able to assist people, and there’s nobody closer than the Church,” Cardinal Dolan said.
Cardinal Dolan’s journey started in Krakow, Poland, where he visited a local parish supported by Aid to the Church in Need that has supported Ukrainian refugees, and another stop at a train station in that Polish city, to visit the Polish Malteser Medical Corps and members of the Polish Order of Malta.
He then traveled to Košice, Slovakia, where he met with representatives of the Ukrainian community and volunteers.
Before the visit to Lviv on Sunday, Cardinal Dolan traveled from Slovakia to Kombornia, Poland, to a Malteser International Supply facility where food, medicines, and other supplies are kept for distribution to Ukraine. He got to Przemyśl in the afternoon, where he met with more other refugees and Catholic relief workers.
Today, Cardinal Dolan stopped in Hrebenne, Poland, before going on to Warsaw to visit a Knights of Columbus/Catholic Near East Welfare Association mercy center. He concludes his trip tomorrow with a visit to the Caritas Poland offices.
Cardinal Dolan wraps up his overseas trip on Tuesday. He’s scheduled to celebrate Mass and then visit Caritas, Poland before flying back to New York.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan is back in Poland today, after crossing the border into Ukraine yesterday.
Pope Francis is urging the faithful to pray a rosary every day for peace in Ukraine.
The “Angels Unawares” sculpture is at its new home on the Catholic University campus.
Currents News Staff
President Joe Biden says he plans to announce his decision on federal student loan relief within the next couple of weeks.
“I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” the president said.
Members of his own party are asking him to forgive $50,000 dollars per borrower – that could help them in the midterms.
“I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction,” Biden said, “but I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there are going to be additional debt forgiveness.”
Biden campaigned on forgiving a fifth of that amount and waiving what some students owe for undergraduate studies at public schools. He also campaigned to make community college free.
He hasn’t been able to do those things yet, but he has forgiven more student loan debt than any other president. He’s also allowed borrowers to pause payments without interest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s been no conclusion of any process internally yet,” said Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary.
The catch with loan forgiveness is inflation: canceling all federal student debt could increase the inflation rate by .1 – .5 percent over a year. The current proposals wouldn’t go that far. Biden says he’s open to that, but the problem is that Americans are already dealing with high prices.
“You’ve seen the war interrupting all kinds of things — supply chains, creating inflation,” sai Rana Foroohar, CNN Global Economic Analyst & Global Business Columnist & Associate Editor for Financial Times. “That has a knock-on effect for companies. It makes prices higher. Consumers start to feel that.”
The Federal Reserve says it plans to raise interest rates to control inflation. That has some economist worried about a recession.
Monsignor Kieran E. Harrington’s Homily from Sunday’s Mass on 5/1/22
A final farewell for a heroic FDNY firefighter killed in the line of duty in a massive house fire in Brooklyn.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan is in Poland meeting Ukrainian refugees driven from their homeland by the raging war with Russia.
Joy for the family of a Hispanic woman on death row who was granted a stay of execution.
Currents News Staff and Bill Miller
BELLE HARBOR — Thousands of firefighters from the FDNY and units from around the metropolitan area lined the streets of this oceanside community Friday morning to honor one of their own, who died in the line of duty five days earlier.
Funeral services for Firefighter Timothy Klein, 31, were held at St. Francis de Sales Church, his home parish on Rockaway Beach Blvd. Mayor Eric Adams, Acting FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, and Bishop Robert Brennan attended.
Klein, a six-year veteran, was remembered by family and fellow firefighters as a jolly prankster and a hard-charging, straightforward first responder who never shirked from danger or community service.
He died while battling a three-alarm fire Sunday, April 24 in a Canarsie home. He is survived by his father, Patrick, a retired member of the FDNY, his mother Diane, and three younger sisters.
Klein was set to be in the wedding party of close pal James O’Connor and his wife-to-be Danielle Mulle — and the couple has no plans to replace him, according to a friend. The funeral memorial for Klein will be left on the altar for the wedding Mass.
Diane Klein said her son, Timothy, was born with debilitating anemia which slowed his growth, but he was scrappy and played every sport he could in school. Meanwhile, he endured rounds of medications, blood transfusions, and the removal of his spleen.
As Klein fought for his life, his father’s fellow firefighters did not hesitate to donate blood, she said.
“So there is lots of firefighting blood in him, no doubt about it,” she added. “His ultimate dream job was to be a fireman. It was legit, and he loved everything about being a firefighter. His assignment to [Ladder Company] 170, Canarsie’s bravest, was now a reality.”
Speakers recalled how Klein offered a eulogy at the funeral of Firefighter Steven H. In Pollard, a fellow member of Ladder 170 who died when he fell through a gap on the Mill Basin Bridge while responding to a two-car crash in January 2019.
Klein was active in the Firefighter Steven H. Pollard Memorial Foundation, which was formed after his death to provide scholarships in his name. Klein also worked with the Fight for Firefighters Foundation, a non-profit organization that constructs wheelchair ramps in homes for people who need them. He spent countless off-duty hours helping build those ramps, as well as driving retired firefighters to their hospital appointments.
Klein was appointed to the FDNY on December 28, 2015. After graduating from the Fire Academy, he was assigned to Ladder Company 170 in Canarsie.
Fellow firefighter Vincent Geary said the company jokingly called him the “Golden Child” because he frequently gained accolades from FDNY commanders and other members of the department.
But, according to Geary, Klein was equally famous for his firehouse pranks that were accomplished with creativity and stealth, calling him a “prankster hiding in plain sight.” He recalled how Klein slipped a bouillon cube into a fellow fireman’s coffee; the victim was alarmed to find his coffee had turned into beef-flavored gravy.
“I knew Timmy well before the fire department,” Geary said. “I’m only three years older than him. We grew up a few short blocks from each other, and we both attended this very school where we are today — St. Francis DeSales.
“But it wasn’t until I walked through the door at Canarsie that I understood the man that he became and the person I looked up to.”
He recalled how when they were both new, they responded to a fire at a daycare center. He said Klein conducted a search for children, “showing leadership, courage, and confidence.”
“Everything went smoothly and safely on that job, thanks to Tim,” Geary said.
During the fire on Sunday, conditions deteriorated rapidly and the incident commander ordered all members from the building, according to an FDNY report.
“At that time, a collapse occurred inside the building, injuring four members,” the report stated.
Geary said he responded to the blaze with Klein, adding: “He responded as he always did — prepared, excited, eager for what that job would bring. He died doing what he loved. Being a fireman was his true purpose in life — a hero.”
“I’ll end this by speaking for all of Canarsie,” Geary said. “I will miss your infectious smile and contagious laugh. “I know you and Steve are together again, someone you truly loved and missed. Canarsie will never be the same again, but we’ll continue to get back on the trucks, and do what you loved, knowing you are always with us.”
Toward the end of the funeral Mass, Bishop Brennan offered comfort to Klein’s family and the FDNY.
“Today,” he said, “while we honor Tim’s memory and celebrate his life, we also, probably most importantly, celebrate his new life — his eternal life. We just celebrated Easter, and we’re still in that sense of Easter. That means that God wants us to live forever.
“We know that we’ll see Tim again, and enjoy his friendship and love. And we pray for the strength to know that he’s with us now, even from his place with God. May God grant him the reward of all of his goodness, bring him to the happiness of all the saints and, one day, reunite us in his love.”
Belle Harbor, a community of about 30,000 on the Rockaway Peninsula, dropped everything to honor Klein.
Schools and businesses closed, and a few hours before the funeral, people of all ages brandished huge American flags along the roads leading into the community. Heavy traffic forced funeral-goers to find parking and walk about a mile into town, shoulder-to-shoulder with firefighters clad in their dress-blue uniforms.
A worker at Callie’s, a restaurant down the street from the church, explained that Belle Harbor is home to scores of retired and active-duty civil servants. Many of them are members of the FDNY. Several of them died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Two months later, the community endured the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, which killed all 260 passengers and crew and five people on the ground. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy flooded Belle Harbor, but it recovered.
The worker declined to give his name, saying he, too, was retired FDNY. But, he said, Belle Harbor folks band together in tough times, just as they did for Klein’s funeral. Firefighters and police officers lined the procession route, silently saluting, as the fire truck carrying Klein’s casket rolled out of town.
Jim Price, a 15-year resident of Belle Harbor, was helping out at Callie’s, serving the crush of hungry firefighters who filled the premises after the funeral.
“I never saw anything like this in my whole life,” said Price. “I mean, just look at this, for one guy. It’s a heck of a club to be in.”