After Hobby Lobby, time to face the real war on religion
UNITED STATES
Boston Globe
By John L. Allen Jr. | GLOBE STAFF JULY 06, 2014
Last week’s big religion story in the States was Monday’s Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case, striking down the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandates for some closely held firms. Predictably, America’s Catholic bishops applauded the ruling while expressing hope it will extend to nonprofits, such as the University of Notre Dame and the Little Sisters of the Poor, which also have legal challenges pending.
Wherever one stands on the merits of requiring employers to cover birth control, this seems a good time for the White House to find a political solution without putting everyone through litigation that now seems terribly redundant.
Among many faith-based groups, Monday’s ruling is being celebrated as a big win for religious freedom. And protecting religious expression was indeed a major focus of the decision. Yet Americans might do well to recall that in many other parts of the world, believers face threats far graver than lawsuits or fines. ...
What to expect from pope’s meeting with abuse victims
Pope Francis will meet victims of clerical sexual abuse for the first time on Monday. The plan is for a small group to join the pontiff for his morning Mass, and then for the pope to sit down with each victim one-on-one. This time there won’t be any Americans in the group, though the pontiff may meet with victims from the United States when he travels to the country in September 2015.
Pope Benedict XVI met victims six times, and on each occasion the Vatican didn’t announce the encounter until it was over. In this case, Francis revealed plans for the meeting during the return flight from his May 24-26 trip to the Middle East. But even so, organizers are trying to keep things low key. Whatever information emerges is likely to come from the victims rather than Vatican channels.
Francis is famously unpredictable, making it hard to handicap how the meeting will play out. If things hold to form, however, there are three outcomes one can reasonably expect.
Boston Globe
By John L. Allen Jr. | GLOBE STAFF JULY 06, 2014
Last week’s big religion story in the States was Monday’s Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case, striking down the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandates for some closely held firms. Predictably, America’s Catholic bishops applauded the ruling while expressing hope it will extend to nonprofits, such as the University of Notre Dame and the Little Sisters of the Poor, which also have legal challenges pending.
Wherever one stands on the merits of requiring employers to cover birth control, this seems a good time for the White House to find a political solution without putting everyone through litigation that now seems terribly redundant.
Among many faith-based groups, Monday’s ruling is being celebrated as a big win for religious freedom. And protecting religious expression was indeed a major focus of the decision. Yet Americans might do well to recall that in many other parts of the world, believers face threats far graver than lawsuits or fines. ...
What to expect from pope’s meeting with abuse victims
Pope Francis will meet victims of clerical sexual abuse for the first time on Monday. The plan is for a small group to join the pontiff for his morning Mass, and then for the pope to sit down with each victim one-on-one. This time there won’t be any Americans in the group, though the pontiff may meet with victims from the United States when he travels to the country in September 2015.
Pope Benedict XVI met victims six times, and on each occasion the Vatican didn’t announce the encounter until it was over. In this case, Francis revealed plans for the meeting during the return flight from his May 24-26 trip to the Middle East. But even so, organizers are trying to keep things low key. Whatever information emerges is likely to come from the victims rather than Vatican channels.
Francis is famously unpredictable, making it hard to handicap how the meeting will play out. If things hold to form, however, there are three outcomes one can reasonably expect.
No comments:
Post a Comment