Catholic News 2
ISTANBUL (AP) -- The suicide attacker who detonated a bomb that killed 10 German tourists in the heart of Istanbul's historic district had registered as a refugee just a week earlier, Turkish officials said Wednesday, raising questions over whether extremists are posing as asylum-seekers to inflame anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe....
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- When the largest-ever lottery prize is finally awarded, the winners and losers will extend well beyond the lucky few who hit the jackpot and the multitudes of disappointed ticket buyers. Here's a breakdown of how Powerball affects the players, the public and others....
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The mentally unstable gunman who shot up a Louisiana movie theater last summer left a rambling, hate-filled journal in which he called the U.S. a "filth farm," railed against women, gays and blacks, and thanked a man accused of killing nine churchgoers in South Carolina for his "wake up call."...
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Transcripts of over a month of text messages between drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo showed the capo was less interested in making a movie about his life than he was in flirting with the actress....
WASHINGTON-In light of recent enforcement actions conducted by the Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of deporting 121 individuals, primarily mothers with children, the bishops who chair the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network called for an end to such practices.In a letter sent to Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, January 11, Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Migration and Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Orange, California, chairman of Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., (CLINIC), urged the administration to end such practices that began in early January and have targeted individuals in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. "We find such targeting of immigrant women and children - most of whom fled violence and persecution in their home countries - to be inhumane and a grave misuse of limited enforcement resources," the bi...
WASHINGTON-In light of recent enforcement actions conducted by the Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of deporting 121 individuals, primarily mothers with children, the bishops who chair the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network called for an end to such practices.
In a letter sent to Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, January 11, Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Migration and Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Orange, California, chairman of Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., (CLINIC), urged the administration to end such practices that began in early January and have targeted individuals in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina.
"We find such targeting of immigrant women and children - most of whom fled violence and persecution in their home countries - to be inhumane and a grave misuse of limited enforcement resources," the bishops wrote. "DHS's action contrasts sharply with the statements articulated by President Obama himself in November 2014, namely, that his administration would pursue the deportation of 'felons, not families; criminals, not children; gang members, not a Mom who's working hard to provide for her kids.'"
Bishop Elizondo and Bishop Vann also addressed serious due process concerns. "Some of these cases, and likely many others, illustrate the serious due process issues facing these mothers and children. We object to the removal of any migrants who were apprehended without first confirming that they received actual meaningful opportunities to present their asylum claims at hearings in immigration court," the bishops wrote.
Bishop Elizondo and Bishop Vann also urged the administration and Congress to adopt long-term solutions such as supporting humanitarian efforts in Central America and addressing the root causes of forced migration.
The full letter is available at: www.usccb.org/about/migration-policy/bishops-statements/upload/Letter-to-Jeh-Johnson-on-Deportations.pdf
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Keywords: Committee on Migration, USCCB, CLINIC, Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, Bishop Kevin W. Vann, Jeh Johnson, deportation, detention, families, immigration, raids, DHS, enforcement
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(Vatican Radio) The European Commission, the EU's executive, has opened an inquiry into whether new Polish laws break European Union democracy rules. The procedure comes amid EU concerns that recently adopted legislation limits press freedom and reduces the power of the country's top court.Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans announced Wednesday that his executive will carry out a preliminary assessment of the state of democracy in Poland amid wider worries that eastern Europe is slipping back into its authoritarian past. This is the first step in what is known as the EU's rule of law mechanism, an extensive procedure that could ultimately lead to suspending Poland's voting rights in the 28 nation-EU. The procedure comes shortly after Poland's President Andrzej Duda approved controversial laws enabling the recently elected right-wing Law and Justice party-led government to appoint and dismiss th...
(Vatican Radio) The European Commission, the EU's executive, has opened an inquiry into whether new Polish laws break European Union democracy rules. The procedure comes amid EU concerns that recently adopted legislation limits press freedom and reduces the power of the country's top court.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans announced Wednesday that his executive will carry out a preliminary assessment of the state of democracy in Poland amid wider worries that eastern Europe is slipping back into its authoritarian past.
This is the first step in what is known as the EU's rule of law mechanism, an extensive procedure that could ultimately lead to suspending Poland's voting rights in the 28 nation-EU.
The procedure comes shortly after Poland's President Andrzej Duda approved controversial laws enabling the recently elected right-wing Law and Justice party-led government to appoint and dismiss the heads of public radio and television and choose judges for Poland's constitutional court.
DEMOCRATIC CREDENTIALS?
Timmermans made clear that the European Commission is launching the procedure amid questions over the current government's democratic credentials. "We are taking this step in light of the information that is currently available to us. In particular the fact the binding ruling by the constitutional court are currently not respected which I think is a serious matter in any rule of law dominated state. I am also conscious of the recent reforms of the media law which raises serious pertaining to freedom and pluralism of the media," he said.
"I would like to recall that the rule of law as defined in the rule of law framework requires the respect for democracy and for fundamental rights and that there can be no democracy and respect for fundamental rights without respect for the rule of law and vice versa," Timmermans added.
But Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has denied that her government has violated democratic norms while another official called the criticism "beyond proportions" and said the Commission "risks being perceived as not impartial".
And Hungary, which has come under similar EU criticism, has already threatened to use its veto to prevent any punitive measures against Poland.
Washington D.C., Jan 12, 2016 / 08:52 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a religious freedom case against the federal contraception mandate, the EWTN Global Catholic Network has filed a brief with the court.“Our brief argues that the government’s mandate and its subsequent ‘accommodation’ scheme seek to coerce EWTN and other religious organizations into violating our strongly held beliefs,” EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael Warsaw said Jan. 11. “The Supreme Court needs to find the mandate to be unconstitutional.”EWTN Global Catholic Network was founded by Mother Angelica, a Franciscan nun. It is the largest religious media network in the world and is among hundreds of organizations to challenge the mandate. However, its legal appeal is still pending with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in February 2015.The Department of Health and Human Services mandate requires employers to offer health...
Washington D.C., Jan 12, 2016 / 08:52 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a religious freedom case against the federal contraception mandate, the EWTN Global Catholic Network has filed a brief with the court.
“Our brief argues that the government’s mandate and its subsequent ‘accommodation’ scheme seek to coerce EWTN and other religious organizations into violating our strongly held beliefs,” EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael Warsaw said Jan. 11. “The Supreme Court needs to find the mandate to be unconstitutional.”
EWTN Global Catholic Network was founded by Mother Angelica, a Franciscan nun. It is the largest religious media network in the world and is among hundreds of organizations to challenge the mandate. However, its legal appeal is still pending with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in February 2015.
The Department of Health and Human Services mandate requires employers to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.
Employers who fail to comply with the mandate face crippling penalties. Many Catholic and non-Catholic organizations have filed lawsuits against the mandate, saying it violates religious freedom and compels them to act against their religious and moral beliefs.
On Nov. 6, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear several remaining legal challenges to the mandate, including plaintiffs like Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh and the Little Sisters of the Poor.
For failing to comply with the mandate, EWTN said it could face fines of $35,000 per day, about $12.7 million per year. Its amicus curiae, “friend of the court” brief charged that the government aims to force EWTN into “complicity with wrongdoing.”
“Giving in would not only violate EWTN’s conscience, but would destroy EWTN’s credibility as a witness to the Catholic faith it proclaims every day to a worldwide audience,” the network’s brief said.
Warsaw said EWTN’s Jan. 11 brief with the Supreme Court “allows EWTN to have its voice heard as the court gives consideration to these important cases challenging the government’s contraceptive mandate scheme.”
The brief noted that the government’s religious exemption to the mandate applies to churches, auxiliaries and their religious orders. This exemption did not help EWTN. Although the network is dedicated to proclaiming Catholic teaching, “it is not an arm of the Catholic Church, and while EWTN was founded by the head of a cloistered order of nuns, it is not a religious order.”
The lawsuit was dismissed on technical grounds in March 2013. The network again filed a lawsuit on Oct. 28, 2013, joined by the State of Alabama and its Attorney General Luther Strange.
In 2014 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, a closely-held private company whose Christian owners objected to parts of the mandate. EWTN then secured an injunction from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The injunction allowed EWTN to continue its court challenge without facing fines.
EWTN broadcasts to over 258 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. It also broadcasts via satellite radio, internet radio and other media. Its publications include the National Catholic Register. Its news services include Catholic News Agency.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Long before Donald Trump laid waste to political correctness, there was Maine Gov. Paul LePage....
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PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- The Al Jazeera America cable news network said Wednesday it will shut down two and a half years after its launch, a victim of a rough business environment and political headwinds it could not conquer....
