Church in the US Archives

Auxiliary bishop from Slovakia named apostolic administrator of Eparchy in Ohio

A bishop from Slovakia, fluent in five languages including English has been named by Pope Francis as the apostolic administrator of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Ohio. Auxiliary Bishop Milan Lach of Presov will be the first European-born bishop to be appointed to the eparchy since its founding in 1969.

Bishops: Loss of affordable care under GOP plan ‘simply unacceptable’

After the Congressional Budget Office found that the Senate health care bill would leave 22 million more people without coverage, Bishop Frank Dewane, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said that “the loss of affordable access for millions of people is simply unacceptable.”

Catholic leaders decry SCOTUS upholding parts of Trump travel ban

On the same day the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling in a religious freedom case described by a leading bishop as a “landmark victory,” it also upheld parts of the Trump administration’s travel ban on people from six majority-Muslim states, a decision another U.S. bishop warned “will have human consequences.”

Supreme Court allows state funding in church playground case
- Church in the US
- June 26, 2017
In a highly anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court said the government cannot deny funds on purely religious grounds to organizations putting the money to non-religious use. In an amicus brief, the United States bishops’ conference warned that if the decision against the church had stood, it “would invite state officials to invoke those concerns as a pretext for penalizing religious groups whose beliefs or practices diverge from government-prescribed orthodoxy.”
READ MORE
Circle of Protection mobilizes to change nation’s budget priorities
- Catholic News Service, Church in the US
- June 25, 2017
The Circle of Protection coalition released a two-page statement stressing that the country must address the national debt, but also called on Congress to “approve a budget that weighs the importance of providing for critical needs and that responsibly manages the country’s fiscal issues; but the most vulnerable should not carry the burden of solving this challenge.”
READ MORE
Judge blocks deportation of Chaldeans and other Iraqis
- Church in the US, Religion News Service
- June 25, 2017
Clarence Dass, an attorney representing many Iraqi Christians the U.S. government wants deported deported, said he was “ecstatic” over a court decision delaying the order. “When your life is on the line, each day is a victory. And in this case, 14 days,” Dass said. “We now have the breathing room to ensure that every individual detained has the proper motions filed and, ultimately, a chance to be heard. The work continues.”
READ MORE