Appeals court rules against West Virginia 'Save Women's Sports Act'
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&view=post&articleid=275207&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The Court of Federal Appeals (Lewis F. Powell Courthouse) and the skyline of Richmond, Virginia, from the foot of the Virginia Capitol grounds, Richmond, Virginia. / Credit: Acroterion|Wikipedia|CC BY-SA 3.0Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2024 / 17:55 pm (CNA).A federal appeals court has blocked a West Virginia law titled the "Save Women's Sports Act" that prohibits biological males from competing in female sports in the state.The 2-1 decision was issued by a panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. The decision extends an already existing block on the law and sends the case back to a lower court for further consideration.This is the latest development in B.P.J v. West Virginia State Board of Education, a case in which a 13-year-old child who identifies as a girl is alleging that the West Virginia law violates Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination.The 13-year-old, who is a biological male named Becky Pepper-Jackson, is being represented by the AC...
The Court of Federal Appeals (Lewis F. Powell Courthouse) and the skyline of Richmond, Virginia, from the foot of the Virginia Capitol grounds, Richmond, Virginia. / Credit: Acroterion|Wikipedia|CC BY-SA 3.0
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2024 / 17:55 pm (CNA).
A federal appeals court has blocked a West Virginia law titled the "Save Women's Sports Act" that prohibits biological males from competing in female sports in the state.
The 2-1 decision was issued by a panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. The decision extends an already existing block on the law and sends the case back to a lower court for further consideration.
This is the latest development in B.P.J v. West Virginia State Board of Education, a case in which a 13-year-old child who identifies as a girl is alleging that the West Virginia law violates Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination.
The 13-year-old, who is a biological male named Becky Pepper-Jackson, is being represented by the ACLU of West Virginia. Pepper-Jackson is seeking to compete in a school track and cross country program.
The Fourth Circuit Court said that the lower court, which had upheld the West Virginia law in a January ruling, erred by ruling to allow the law to go into effect.
The law, signed by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice in April 2021, declares that "athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex" because "there are inherent differences between biological males and biological females."
The law states that allowing biological males in competitive female sports would "displace" female athletes from those spaces.
The circuit court's Tuesday ruling said that Pepper-Jackson has demonstrated that if implemented the law "would treat her worse than people to whom she is similarly situated, deprive her of any meaningful athletic opportunities, and do so on the basis of sex."
Based on this, the panel ruled that the case be "remanded with instructions to enter summary judgment for B.P.J. on her Title IX claims and for further proceedings (including remedial proceedings) consistent with this opinion."
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=275942&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Francis meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Vatican, Oct. 4, 2021. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 17, 2024 / 18:04 pm (CNA).Pope Francis might be traveling to Turkey next year for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, according to Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew in comments he made on Thursday.Although the Holy See has not confirmed any travel plans, the ecumenical patriarch told a group of reporters that a committee is being established to organize a visit, according to the Orthodox Times. The referenced council took place in the ancient city of Nicaea in 325 A.D. in the former Roman Empire, which is now the present-day city of Iznik in Turkey. "His Holiness Pope Francis wishes for us to jointly celebrate this important anniversary," Bartholomew said.The Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council in the Church. It is accepted by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church,...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=275938&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Francis meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Vatican, Oct. 4, 2021. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 17, 2024 / 18:04 pm (CNA).Pope Francis might be traveling to Turkey next year for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicea, according to Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew in comments he made on Thursday.Although the Holy See has not confirmed any travel plans, the ecumenical patriarch told a group of reporters that a committee is being established to organize a visit, according to the Orthodox Times. The referenced council took place in the ancient city of Nicea in 325 A.D. in the former Roman Empire, which is now the present-day city of Iznik in Turkey. "His Holiness Pope Francis wishes for us to jointly celebrate this important anniversary," Bartholomew said.The Council of Nicea was the first ecumenical council in the Church. It is accepted by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, th...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=275936&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
School children read about the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis at the celebration of his new shrine at St. Dominic Parish in Brick, New Jersey. Oct, 1, 2023. / Credit: Thomas P. Costello IIACI Prensa Staff, May 17, 2024 / 14:46 pm (CNA).The film "Eucharistic Miracles: The Heartbeat of Heaven" about Blessed Carlo Acutis and the Eucharistic miracles he studied with such devotion is showing in theaters across multiple U.S. states and the nation's capital this weekend. Specifically, the feature film is showing in theaters in California; Nevada; Arizona; Utah; Idaho; Texas; Washington; Oregon; Indiana; New Jersey; Colorado; New York; Tennessee; Michigan; Georgia; Illinois; Florida; Kansas; Washington, D.C.; Virginia; Pennsylvania; and Mississippi.Gaby Jácoba, director of the International Catholic Film Festival, which is bringing the film about Acutis to movie theaters in the United States, emphasized the importance of "attending the first weekend" to see the film, in order for th...