Religious curriculum to be removed
The government of Quebec is about to eliminate its Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) curriculum, the Catholic News Service reports.
In announcing a public consultation about what should replace the programme, education minister Jean-François Roberge (pictured) said there was still “too much” religion in schools.
This revision process “is part of the government’s desire to offer students a modern citizenship education course based on respect for oneself and others,” he said.
Educationalist Jean-Pierre Proulx said: “There’s a strong anti-religious movement that has developed in Quebec that has targeted the ERC course.”
Planned Parenthood breaks election spending record
Planned Parenthood has announced that it will spend $45 million (£34.5 million) on supporting pro-abortion candidates in the 2020 elections – the largest sum in its history.
Planned Parenthood Votes, the organisation that organises campaign spending, is structurally and financially separate from Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinics.
Planned Parenthood’s spending is still less than that of the pro-life Susan B Anthony List, which plans to spend $52m (£40m).
The announcement came as the Trump administration reaffirmed its commitment to pro-life causes. Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, told a meeting attended by representatives of more than 30 countries: “There is no international human right to abortion.”
Planned Parenthood breaks election spending record
Planned Parenthood has announced that it will spend $45 million (£34.5 million) on supporting pro-abortion candidates in the 2020 elections – the largest sum in its history.
Planned Parenthood Votes, the organisation that organises campaign spending, is structurally and financially separate from Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinics.
Planned Parenthood’s spending is still less than that of the pro-life Susan B Anthony List, which plans to spend $52m (£40m).
The announcement came as the Trump administration reaffirmed its commitment to pro-life causes. Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, told a meeting attended by representatives of more than 30 countries: “There is no international human right to abortion.”
Causes open for 12-year-old and teacher
The Causes for canonisation of two laymen have opened at a ceremony attended by hundreds.
Bishop Douglas Deshotel signed the papers to begin the Causes of Charlene Marie Richard and Auguste Pelafigue. They now both have the title Servant of God and an in-depth process will begin of seeking evidence that they lived lives of heroic virtue – the first step towards being recognised as saints.
Charlene Marie Richard (right) died of leukaemia in 1959 aged 12. She was known for offering her suffering to God, and miracles have been reported by those who have prayed at her grave. Pelafigue (1888-1977) was a much-loved teacher and evangeliser.
Minister takes on liberation theologian
Brazil’s foreign minister Ernesto Araújo has clashed with the liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, in a heated exchange of words on Twitter.
Araújo tweeted that he planned to work “against the leftist mechanism”. Boff accused him of “anti-human and anti-life prejudice”, prompting Araújo to denounce Boff’s school of thought. “When your Liberation Theology appeared, more than 90 per cent of Brazilians were Catholic,” he wrote, according to Crux’s translation. “Today they’re only 50 per cent and going down. Brazilians – especially the poor – rejected your theo-Marxism and ran to the Evangelical churches, where they can praise Jesus Christ.”
Professor ‘sacked for sharing article’
A professor has allegedly been dismissed from a university for sharing a Facebook article critical of Pope Francis.
Maximiliano Loria, of the diocesan University School of Theology, shared an article by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, adding that he agreed with some of the archbishop’s criticisms of Pope Francis’s actions.
According to allegations made at the website Adelante da Fe, Loria’s Bishop Gabriel Mestre rang him to inform him he would be dismissed. The diocese has not yet commented.
Speaker’s talks cancelled over views on sexual morality
Two schools and a university have cancelled talks by the American Catholic speaker Jason Evert, after LGBT campaigners objected to his statements on homosexuality and contraception.
Evert, a popular speaker on chastity and Church teaching, has written that “the homosexual act is disordered, much like contraceptive sex between heterosexuals. Both acts are directed against God’s natural purpose for sex – babies and bonding.”
Evert was due to speak at a retreat at University College Dublin. But after the university’s LGBT society said his appearance could have “lasting and damaging effects on the mental wellbeing of LGBTQ+ students”, his talk was cancelled.
Pharmacist wins landmark morning-after pill case
A German pharmacist has won a landmark court case after refusing to sell the morning-after pill.
The case is significant because, while laws in European countries usually protect the conscience rights of medical professionals, pharmacists’ rights are often a grey area.
The Berlin Chamber of Pharmacists, which brought the case, is considering whether to appeal.
Bishop ‘chosen’
The next Bishop of Hong Kong will be Fr Peter Choy Wai-man, but the Vatican has delayed announcing this due to political concerns, according to the Catholic News Agency.
Fr Choy is seen as sympathetic to the Chinese government, currently the target of mass protests.
Steve Bannon group wins court case
A tribunal in Lazio has upheld a ruling in favour of an educational institute best known for its association with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon (right).
The court ruled that the Italian ministry of culture had acted unlawfully in preventing the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI) from taking a lease on Trisulti Charterhouse. The site would be used as a “gladiator school” for training political leaders, and DHI claimed that the ministry had acted from political motives. It defines its mission as the defence of the “Judaeo-Christian West”.
Protestant leader returns to Catholicism
The founder of a Protestant group with around two million
followers spread across 30 countries has returned to Catholicism, the faith in which he was originally baptised.
Sajith Joseph, who founded Grace Community Global in 2011, said that his study of Church history had led him to Catholicism.
Joseph had tried to foster unity among Pentecostal groups, but this proved “impossible because of the difference of doctrines”, he told the Catholic News Agency. This focused his mind on the doctrinal unity offered by Catholicism.
Joseph received the Sacrament of Confirmation at St Mary’s Cathedral, Punalur, last month.
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