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August 28, 2020 | catholicnewsherald.com

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Bishop Cantú: Californians ‘on edge’ as historic wildfires rage

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Some of the few Masses available for Catholics in California’s Bay Area came to a halt the weekend of Aug. 22 as bishops urged parishioners to pray for one another, for firefighters, and to stay home as air quality diminished in some parts of the state because of some of the largest wildfires in California history. “People are just stunned, with the pandemic and the downturn in the economy and the racial issues and then on top of that, the wildfires,” said Bishop Oscar Cantú, head of the Diocese of San Jose in an Aug. 24 interview. “It makes you wonder, what else? All we need is an earthquake.” Evacuation orders have affected more than 250,000 Californians, including many Catholics in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of San Jose, Sacramento and Monterey. All except Monterey are on a list of cities trending at the national level for fastrising COVID-19 rates. More than a million acres in the area burned in the span of a week, The Associated Press reported, causing 7 deaths as of Aug. 24. The blazes, which began Aug. 14, are believed to have been caused by lightning strikes and made worse by drought conditions.

Cardinal Dolan’s prayer opens Republican National Convention

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan thanked God for living in a country that respects religious freedom and prayed for people battling COVID-19 and those caring for them, the unborn, the elderly, immigrants and refugees during the opening evening of the Republican National Convention. The cardinal offered the prayer, which was prerecorded, prior to a full evening of speakers Aug. 24. The cardinal also prayed “that all lives may be protected and respected, in our troubled cities and the police who guard them.” The minute-long invocation recalled the men and women of the U.S. military serving “in tense world situations” working to “keep the peace.” Cardinal Dolan also prayed for people facing serious challenges including those whose lives are “threatened by religious persecution throughout the world, or by plague, hunger, drugs, human trafficking or war.”

Prayers at Democratic convention seek compassion for people, planet in peril

CLEVELAND — Prayers offered by a pair of prominent Catholics during the closing night of the Democratic National Convention focused on addressing the needs of people on the margins of society and a planet facing environmental catastrophe. The prayers from Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, and Jesuit Father James Martin, editor at large of America magazine, bookended the convention agenda Aug. 20. Sister Campbell, a member of the Sisters of Social Service, and Father Martin, pre-recorded their respective prayers earlier. Sister Campbell offered the invocation and Father Martin delivered a benediction. In her opening prayer, Sister Campbell called upon the “Divine Spirit” to “stir our hearts and minds that we might fight for a vision that is worthy of you and your call to honor the dignity of all of your creation.” Father Martin’s benediction focused on “the dignity of all human life, including the unborn, including LGBT people, including inmates on death row.” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, a Catholic, accepted the party’s nomination for president during the evening’s events.

PP drops suit against Indiana abortion law on ultrasounds

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Ending three years of legal dueling, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill announced Aug. 20 that Planned Parenthood has conceded defeat in a lawsuit that challenged a state law requiring women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion. After the Indiana Legislature passed the ultrasound bill in 2017, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky was successful in getting a court injunction that prevented the law from being implemented. The organization claimed the law was unconstitutional and would prevent some women from getting abortions, especially low-income women who would be forced to travel to clinics located farther away because not all Planned Parenthood offices have ultrasound equipment. The concession on the suit was the result of Planned Parenthood’s decision to offer the ultrasounds required by law at a clinic in Fort Wayne that no longer offers abortion procedures. Planned Parenthood agreed to drop its lawsuit against the ultrasound requirement provided that Indiana refrains from enforcing it until Jan. 1, 2021 – giving Planned Parenthood time to train staff at its Fort Wayne clinic to operate ultrasound equipment.

Report shows NGOs complying with ban on using U.S. foreign aid for abortion

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration has released its second report on implementation of its Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy, which bans all foreign nongovernmental organizations that receive U.S. foreign aid from using the funds to perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning in other countries. The report shows the vast majority of foreign nongovernmental organizations – 1,285 out of 1,340 – have complied “with this policy with minimal disruption of health services and no reduction in funding.” In response to the report, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said the Trump administration “deserves our praise for ensuring that U.S. global health assistance funding actually promotes health and human rights, and doesn’t undermine them by promoting abortion. Killing innocent and defenseless unborn children through abortion is not health care,” Archbishop Naumann said in an Aug. 20 statement. “Abortion violates an unborn child’s most basic human right, the right to life, and it also can wound the mother emotionally and physically.” By executive order Jan. 23, 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated the so-called “Mexico City Policy, which had been suspended by President Barack Obama, and expanded it to create the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy.

NIH board votes against funding most research proposals using fetal tissue

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee Aug. 20 praised the National Institutes of Health’s Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board for its decision to withhold funds from 13 of

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14 research proposals that involved the use of fetal tissue. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said the bishops applaud the Trump administration “for moving NIH in a direction that shows greater consideration for medical ethics in research, and greater respect for innocent human life.” “It is neither ethical nor necessary to further violate the bodies of aborted babies by commodifying them for use in medical research,” he said in a statement. “The victims of abortion deserve the same respect as every other human person. We are grateful that the administration is following through on its commitment to end federal funding of research using aborted fetal tissue.” The 15-member NIH advisory board issued its report late Aug. 18. It can be found online at https://bit.ly/3j0m8qZ.

Bishop Bransfield repays diocese, publicly apologizes

WHEELING, W.Va. — Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, former head of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, was told to publicly apologize to West Virginia Catholics and repay the diocese $441,000. The Congregation for Bishops in Rome reached this decision on how Bishop Bransfield should fulfill Pope Francis’ requirement that he “make personal amends for some of the harm he caused” while serving in the diocese. Bishop Mark E. Brennan, Wheeling-Charleston’s current bishop, made the announcement in a letter to the faithful Aug. 20, saying that the decision comes after extensive input from him and with consideration of governing factors in both civil and canon law. Bishop Bransfield has now repaid the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston the amount stipulated for “unauthorized benefits received from diocesan resources.” The diocese also has received his letter of apology, dated Aug. 15, which has been made public on its website www.dwc.org. “I am grateful to Pope Francis and the Congregation for Bishops for accepting in large part the outline of the amends plan I presented to Bishop Bransfield in November 2019,” Bishop Brennan said in his letter to the Catholics in the diocese.

Damages caused by Iowa derecho disaster estimated at $4B

DAVENPORT, Iowa — The derecho storm that ravaged Iowa Aug. 10 caused an estimated $4 billion in damages, and Gov. Kim Reynolds requested an expedited Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for the state to assist with the recovery. “From cities to farms, Iowans are hurting; many still have challenges with shelter, food, and power. Resilience is in our DNA, but we’re going to need a strong and timely federal response to support recovery efforts,” Reynolds said in an Aug. 16 news release. She requested funding under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individual Assistance Program for 27 counties, including nine in the Diocese of Davenport. She also requested funding under FEMA’s Public Assistance Program for repair or replacement of public infrastructure and debris removal for 16 counties, seven of which are in the Diocese of Davenport. On Aug. 17, Trump signed the disaster declaration, but an AP story said he had approved only the public assistance portion of the governor’s request for $3.99 billion. — Catholic News Service

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