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Des Moines, Iowa, Oct 28, 2016 / 02:56 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Des Moines church has dropped its lawsuit against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, after a federal court reassured the church it would not face penalties for preaching and following its views on homosexuality and transgender issues, including single-sex bathrooms.

“The Iowa commission’s guidance was vague and empowered government bureaucrats far beyond what the constitution allows,” said Steve O’Ban, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel. “The court cut off this unconstitutional power grab by clarifying that the law does not apply to churches and reassured Iowa churches that they are free from improper state interference.”

O’Ban represented Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in U.S. district court. The church filed suit based on fears that the state’s anti-discrimination policy on gender identity and sexual orientation would make it legally liable for preaching and following its views on homosexuality and transgender issues – including maintaining single-sex bathrooms.

The Iowa Civil Rights Commission, however, said it has never enforced the law against churches and had been clear that churches are generally exempt.

“We have the same comments that we had in July, there had been no change to the law, no change in the application of the law and we were never trying to impose any kind of requirements against the preachers and the pulpit,” Kristin H. Johnson, the commission’s executive director, told the Des Moines Register.

In mid-October, the federal court ruled that the legal challenge was based on reasonable concerns of fear of prosecution, but at the same time said that churches are not public accommodations subject to government control.

The court also declined church attorneys’ request for a preliminary injunction against state enforcement.

Christian Holcomb, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said the lawsuit was necessary to ensure there would be no state enforcement of the law against churches. She added “we’re pleased that Iowa churches now have the reassurance and clarity that they need.”

Earlier this year, the state civil rights commission had produced a guide to Iowa law for public accommodations providers concerning sexual orientation and gender identity.

The brochure-sized guide said the 2007 Iowa Civil Rights Act applies to churches “sometimes.” It suggested that churches could be subject to the law if they operated a child care facility or held “a church service open to the public.”

The guide barred harassment including “intentional use of names and pronouns inconsistent with a person’s presented gender.”

According to the commission, the law requires locker rooms, restrooms, and living facilities in places of public accommodation to be open to persons based on their self-identified gender identity.

The civil rights commission receives complaints from those who believe they have been discriminated against. Its pamphlet said it was designed for educational purposes only and not intended to be legal advice.

The pamphlet was revised after the lawsuit was filed.

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Washington D.C., Oct 28, 2016 / 03:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear a case on whether students identifying as transgender may be required to use restrooms according to their biological birth sex.

“Schools have a duty to protect the privacy and safety of all students. That’s a compelling reason for the Supreme Court to review the 4th Circuit’s decision in this case, especially when other courts – including the 4th Circuit itself previously – have upheld that principle,” said Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Gary McCaleb, in response to the Court’s taking up the case G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board.

“In light of the right to bodily privacy, federal law should not be twisted to require that a male be given access to the girls’ facilities, or a female to the boys’ facilities,” he continued. “The Supreme Court should reverse the 4th Circuit’s ruling, which is out of step with the law and previous federal court precedent.”

Earlier, a U.S. Fourth Circuit Court judge had ruled that, in the case of student Gavin Grimm, who identified as transgender in the Gloucester County (Va.) School District, the school board must allow Grimm access to the bathroom of choice.

The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which put a temporary stay on the ruling in August. Then on Friday, Court agreed to hear the case. It may serve as a landmark case for how other similar situations around the country are resolved in the courts.

According to court documents, Grimm was born a girl but received hormone therapy and a legal name change. Grimm’s mother told school officials that Grimm was “a transgender boy.”

Grimm was initially allowed access to the boys’ bathroom at school but then “the Board began receiving complaints from parents and students who regarded G.G.’s presence in the boys’ room as an invasion of student privacy,” the petition to the Court seeking review of the case stated.

“Parents also expressed general concerns that allowing students into restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite biological sex could enable voyeurism or sexual assault,” the statement continued.

The board, “to provide a safe learning environment for all students and to protect the privacy of all students,” then restricted access to bathrooms based on a student’s sex at birth. Students identifying as a different gender would use a separate unisex bathroom.

According to lawyers, Grimm refused to use a private bathroom because doing so would “make him feel even more stigmatized….Being required to use separate restrooms sets him apart from his peers, and serves as a daily reminder that the school views him as ‘different.’”

The case went to court, and in April, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court ruled that Grimm should be allowed access to the boys’ bathroom. It cited the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights statement that “a school generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.”

The petition to the Court noted that Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination on basis of sex, allows for “separate toilet, locker rooms, and shower facilities on the basis of sex” so long as the facilities are “comparable.”

However, it added, “a Department of Education official opined in an unpublished letter that Title IX’s prohibition of ‘sex’ discrimination ‘include[s] gender identity,’ and that a funding recipient providing sex-separated facilities under the regulation ‘must generally treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.’”

Thus, the case will hinge on whether the Court allows for this interpretation of Title IX – one that includes “gender identity” under protections against “sex discrimination” – to be correct and carry the “force of law.”

 

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Munich, Germany, Oct 28, 2016 / 05:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a recent article for a German journal, Cardinal Walter Kasper – a protagonist for the admission of the divorced-and-remarried to Holy Communion – has written that Amoris laetitia marks a “paradigm shift” that allows for a “changed pastoral practice.”

“There is leeway in the concrete elaboration of the dogmatic principles’ practical pastoral consequences,” the president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wrote in his article for the November 2016 edition of Stimmen der Zeit, a monthly journal on Christian culture.

Cardinal Kasper began by examining the range of interpretations of the apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Francis in March. He dismissed Cardinal Raymond Burke's denial that it is magisterially binding, saying this “formally contradicts the character of an apostolic exhortation as well as its content.”

The cardinal complained that most commentaries focus on the document's controversial eighth chapter, saying this “does not do justice in any way to the rich biblical and pastoral content of the exhortation.”

On the conservative side, he cited Robert Spaemann's view that Amoris laetitia is a breach with the Church's teaching tradition; Cardinal Gerhard Müller's that it has not changed the Church's “teaching position”; and Rocco Buttiglione's that it is a “progression” which “lies on the line sketched out” by St. John Paul II.

Turning to the progressive side, Cardinal Kasper pointed to those who see “a cautious progression” and those who, like Norbert Lüdecke, “see the door open for a new pastoral praxis, which allows civilly remarried divorces to decide themselves in their own conscience, whether they can partake in Communion.”

For his own part, Cardinal Kasper said he “fundamentally associates” with the “centrist conservatives (or also centrist progressives)”, such as Cardinal Christoph Schönborn and Fr. Antonio Spadaro, whose interpretation he said “essentially concurs” with Buttiglione's position.

He charged that “alleged anxiety” about the document comes from a group “which has alienated itself from a sense of faith and the life of the people of God.”

Amoris laetitia has “a new, fresh and honestly liberating tone,” Cardinal Kasper maintained. “It speaks not from an abstract image of the family thought out at a desk, but a realistic one of the joys as well as the difficulties in family life today. It does not want to criticize or moralize or indoctrinate, but it addresses sexuality and eroticism openly and in a relaxed manner expressing understanding and appreciation for the good that can also be found in situations that are not or not fully conforming to church teaching and ordinance.”

He emphasized the encouragement and joy of the exhortation, pointing out that the fourth chapter, an exegesis on St. Paul's hymn to charity, is what Pope Francis has called its “heart”. From this exegesis comes a pastoral conception “not characterized by the raised finger but the outstretched helping hand. Listening, appreciating, accompanying and integrating are decisive for this pastoral care.”

According to Cardinal Kasper, behind this pastoral tone is a “thoroughly thought-out theological position,” demonstrated by the “many references” to St. Thomas Aquinas on the passions: “One could say cum grano salis that Amoris laetitia refrains from a predominantly negative, Augustinian view of sexuality and turns toward the creation-affirming Thomistic view.”

He also emphasizes the central place of the concept of the journey of life in Francis' thought, in which he said “the law always applies” as the final cause which “orients every single step towards the goal” and “is not a distant ideal.”

“Usually people – and we are all such people - cannot do the optimum, but only the best possible in one’s situation; often we must choose the lesser evil. In a lived life, there are not only black and white, but also very different nuances and shades,” Cardinal Kasper wrote.

He added that Amoris laetitia can be understood only “if the paradigm shift that this exhortation undertakes is comprehended.”

“A paradigm shift does not change the previous teaching; it moves the teaching nonetheless into a larger context. So Amoris laetitia does not change an iota in the Church’s teaching, and yet it still changes everything. The paradigm shift entails Amoris laetitia taking the step from a legal morality towards the virtue ethics of Thomas Aquinas. Hence the exhortation stands in the best tradition. The new is, in reality, the proven old.”

The cardinal cited Aquinas as a support for his understanding of the exhortation, and hearkened back to his February 2014 address to the consistory of cardinals in which he suggested that a “smaller segment” of the divorced-and-remarried might be admitted to Communion. He emphasized the virtue of prudence and concluded that “the norm is not applied in the same mechanical manner to every situation. For its appropriate application, it needs the visual judgement of prudence and the eye of love and mercy.”

Prudence, Cardinal Kasper wrote, “does not rescind the words of the Gospel on adultery but applies them. So the statement of John Paul II is also irrevocably valid, according to which a civil marriage during the continuity of the first valid sacramental marriage stands in objective contradiction to the indissoluble sacramental bond of the first marriage. That is immovable Catholic tradition, which is not contradicted in Amoris laetitia, but affirmed.”

As a consequence, he acknowledged that “a civil marriage during the continuity of the first sacramental marriage cannot be a sacramental marriage.”

He also traced different ways that the tradition has regarded the divorced-and-remarried, saying that Benedict XVI “adhered to the decision of John Paul II to not allow divorced-and-remarried persons to Communion; he did this while he spoke of an encouragement of civilly divorced-and-remarried persons to an abstinent life. With this, he focused on a process of maturity and spiritual growth.”

“In this dynamic way of thinking, Pope Francis now goes a step further, in which he places the problem in the process of a comprehensive pastoral care of gradual integration.”

According to Cardinal Kasper, St. John Paul II “had already opened the door a little bit” by allowing the divorced-and-remarried to receive absolution if they take on the duty to live in complete continence.

“This clause is basically an admission,” the cardinal wrote. “For the abstinence belongs to the realm of intimacy and it does not rescind the objective contradiction between the continuous marital bond of the first sacramental marriage and the legal public marriage … It shows that there is leeway in the concrete elaboration of the dogmatic principles’ practical pastoral consequences.”

For Cardinal Kasper, Amoris laetitia gets to the root of this leeway by its use of Aquinas' “distinction between the objective deadly sins and their subjective culpable apportionment,” with Pope Francis choosing to emphasize the subjective aspect of sin and the role of conscience.

He noted that the exhortation does not draw “any clear practical consequences,” but it does adopt premises by which “a changed pastoral practice is allowed in justified individual cases.”

“It leaves open the concrete question of admittance to absolution and Communion,” Cardinal Kasper wrote.

“On this question, the Pope has followed the way of the preserved tradition of the teaching to not force contentious questions but to leave it open for the unity of the Church. That does not mean, as some think, that the teaching office is abolished; leaving a question open is itself a momentous decision of the teaching office.”

He said that “The direction in which Pope Francis wants to go seems clear,” while adding that it is much more important that step-by-step integration of the divorced-and-remarried be “oriented according to its essence towards admittance to the Eucharist as a full form of participation in the life of the Church.”

This interpretation “agrees with valid canon law without any difficulties,” according to Cardinal Kasper.

“With what right may the Church deny Christians the help of a means of grace that they, moved by grace, strive with their best powers towards a Christian life through prayer, the Christian raising of children, service to the parish, and charitable and social dedication?” he asked.

“Can it be that the Spirit of God proves to be presently effective, but the Church – like Pilate – washes her hands in innocence and is sorry to not be able to do anything? Does it not also pertain to the Church in certain situations to be merciful like our Father?”

Concluding, Cardinal Kasper maintained that Amoris laetitia “does not give up one iota of the traditional teaching of the Church. Indeed, this exhortation changes everything insofar as it places the traditional teaching in a new perspective. This apostolic exhortation is no breach of tradition, rather the renewal of a great tradition. It is about continuity in the reform as Benedict XVI – following John Henry Newman – described.”

He said local Churches now “face the question of how they can concretely pursue the pastoral way that Amoris laetitia basically established,” and that this should be not focused solely on the divorced-and-remarried, but includes marriage prep and accompaniment.

Regarding the divorced-and-remarried, he said the exhortation “does not lead us on the comfortable way of patent formulas, which cannot exist in reality … that presents bishops, priests, and pastoral ministers, but most especially confessors, with great challenges.”

“Spiritual discernment demands spiritual competence,” he maintained. “It is a gift of the Holy Spirit as well as a fruit of spiritual experience and of learning from the great masters of the spiritual life. This matter must be strongly accounted for in the formation and continuing education of clerics and pastoral ministers going forward.”

Cardinal Kasper finished, saying, “Everything will need time: time to rethink and time to implement. We can absolutely not forget the synod. There remains much to be done. The synod has passed. The fierce debates will also hopefully pass soon. The concrete work begins now. We must make Amoris laetitia an awakening of family pastoral ministry. Marriage and family must be the central theme in pastoral care because the family is the way of the Church.”

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn

By Carol Zimmermann

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Builders, church leaders, choir members and journalists gathered atop eight floors of scaffolding -- 159 feet high -- in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Oct. 28 for the blessing of the workspace where a new mosaic will be installed on the shrine's Trinity Dome.

"It will be a wonder to behold," said Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of the dome, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The mosaic will depict the Trinity, Mary and 13 saints associated with the United States or the national shrine, the four evangelists and words from the Nicene Creed.

The finished dome also will mark the completion of the national shrine, according to the original architectural plans for the church set to mark its centennial in 2020 -- the 100th anniversary of the placement of its foundational stone.

During the blessing, Cardinal Wuerl offered prayers for the success of the project and the safety of the workers involved. He said the shrine puts into "image form" the message of the Gospel and does so "in a way that everyone can bask in its beauty."

He said the finished dome, with its particular emphasis on American saints, will remind people of the "face of who we are and the face of God." He also said it will reflect "living images of God and living images of everything we are capable of being."

In introductory remarks, Msgr. Walter Rossi, rector of the national shrine, stressed the parallels between the mosaic design on the dome and the very character of the shrine itself -- often described as America's Catholic church -- representing a mosaic of Catholic parishioners from every corner of the globe.

He said a special one-time collection for the dome work will take place on Mother's Day, May 14, 2017. The last time a national collection was done for the shrine was in 1953 when it was being built.

Both Cardinal Wuerl and Msgr. Rossi noted that the scaffolding itself, allowing the workers to complete the work on the dome, was an engineering feat. Work on the scaffolding began early this year.

The mosaic work is being done at the Travisanutto Giovanni mosaic company in Spilimbergo, Italy, and will be shipped to the national shrine in 30,000 sections weighing 24 tons and composed of more than 14 million pieces of glass.

Cardinal Wuerl, who blessed the work site, the workers and those present, urged the group of about 90 people at the ceremony to be sure they touched the wall of the dome before they left "because you'll never have a chance to do it again."

Remind yourself, he said, that this is "the completion of a 100-year project" which reflects to whoever comes in this building that God is with us.

"Remember today for a number of reasons," the cardinal added. "First of all you were here. You were here at a moment in history."

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Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim.

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