Italian ambassador killed in Congo remembered for humanitarian work
- Feb 23, 2021
Several hundred joined Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik for a liturgy that prayed for people currently battling drug addiction and remembered those who have died from it.
The United States bishops are urging caution on the proposed Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill that is currently scheduled for a Senate vote next week. Four bishops from pro-life, migration, religious liberty, and justice and human development committees sent on a letter on Thursday rejecting the partisan bill and its rushed timeline.
A radical new plan in the Diocese of Pittsburgh could reduce the number of parishes to a third of their current number. A diocesan commission is recommending keeping multiple worship sites open in the parishes, although some churches would close. The number of active priests in the Diocese of Pittsburgh is expected to decline from 211 to 112 by 2025.
Despite appeals from Catholic leaders across the country, the Trump administration announced today that he would end the DACA program in six months if Congress failed to provide a permanent fix. Established in 2012, DACA provided protection to an estimated 800,000 immigrants who entered the United States as minors and allowed them to continue their education or employment. Catholic leaders have expressed outrage at the decision and pledged solidarity with immigrant communities.
Bishop David A. Zubik said he got hate mail over a decision to allow Catholics to eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day, a Friday during Lent, which he took as symptomatic of an excess of anger, feat and hatred in the world. Zubik also said that when Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump, he expects Francis to have the “little people” of the world on his mind.
The Pittsburgh Diocese continues to try to resolve the issues it has with mandated insurance coverage of things which it finds religiously objectionable. The secular media has not focused on this issue much during the 2016 election coverage.