Kate Scanlon

Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching, urged its supporters to speak out against what it called a "regressive" trend of five executions in five states in the span of one week.

A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers gathered Sept. 18 to call for the immediate release from prison of prominent Hong Kong Catholic, philanthropist and media mogul Jimmy Lai, who is facing a trial on what they called bogus charges.

Amid an unprecedented U.S. presidential election cycle, Catholic voters should reflect on fostering key principles of Catholic social teaching — such as respect for human life, solidarity and the common good — through dialogue and civic engagement, panelists said at a discussion event Sept. 11 hosted by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.

A coalition of Western Apache people, along with other Native American and non-Indigenous supporters, under the banner of the non-profit Apache Stronghold, asked the U.S. Supreme Court Sept. 11 to protect their sacred site at Oak Flat, Arizona, from destruction by a copper mining giant after a federal appeals court rejected their request.
 

Voters in states with abortion referendums on the ballot in November broadly appear poised to approve the efforts to codify abortion protections, according to polls of those contests.

"Once again, we implore elected officials to work together, regardless of political or religious affiliation, to enact laws and provide services that will prevent the repetition of such tragedies," the bishops said..
 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the exemption Aug. 30, finding that it only applies to schools under the purview of a religious group, and only if the application of Title IX "would not be consistent with a specific tenet of the controlling religious organization."

Former President Donald Trump pledged his administration would require the government or insurance companies to pay for in vitro fertilization treatments, commonly known as IVF, in comments to multiple media outlets. IVF is a form of fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church on the grounds that it often involves the destruction of human embryos, among other concerns.

Since the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 that reversed its previous abortion precedent, voters in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it as the result of ballot measures.

Meghan J. Clark, an associate professor of moral theology at St. John's University in the Queens borough of New York and the author of "The Vision of Catholic Social Thought: The Virtue of Solidarity and the Praxis of Human Rights," pointed to areas of convergence and divergence with Catholic social teaching in both the records of Vance and Walz on a range of issues.

The Supreme Court Aug. 16 declined to allow the Biden administration to enforce portions of a new regulation expanding Title IX protections from sex discrimination to include students who identify as transgender while legal challenges to the rule proceed.

Jill Rauh, the executive director of a newly created secretariat at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, pledged to support the work of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the USCCB's domestic anti-poverty initiative, after some expressed concern about the future of that project following some staff layoffs. Rauh oversees the work of the new Secretariat of Justice and Peace, announced Aug. 6. The new office will serve four bishops' committees to advance the social mission of the church through formation, policy analysis, advocacy and outreach.

The Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, filed an appeal to the high court of a March 14 ruling by the Wisconsin court that Catholic Charities is not exempt from paying into the state's unemployment insurance system because its operations aren't primarily religious under the statute.

"As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his. It's great to have him on the team," Harris wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The tax relief would have had a substantial direct impact on U.S. Catholic households. According to Pew Research, 55% of Catholic households make under $50,000, including 36% making under $30,000.

President Joe Biden July 29 called for legislation and a constitutional amendment that would result in massive changes to the U.S. Supreme Court, including term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code.

The president's announcement brings to an end several weeks of speculation about his political future, including both his viability in the November election and his ability to serve another four years in the White House.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a direct appeal July 15 to the Texas Supreme Court seeking to revive his effort to shut down Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas,

Former President Donald Trump on July 15 named Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a Catholic, as his running mate on the Republican ticket in November.

Bishop David A. Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which includes Butler, said in a statement, "Let us join together in prayer for the health and safety of all, for healing and peace, and for an end to this climate of violence in our world."