WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A new annual report by the U.S. bishops’ conference identifies five top threats to religious liberty in the United States, including a federal regulation it says could impose mandates on doctors to perform objectionable procedures and threats to the church’s service to people who are migrants. The U.S. Conference of Catholic …
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WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A rule proposed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace,” would govern the implementation of federal law on harassment and associated nondiscrimination policies. However, the U.S. Catholic bishops and other religious organizations have argued that the way the rule defines “pregnancy, childbirth or related …
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has put out a proposed regulation that would require employers to accommodate employees who choose to get abortions, such as by giving them leave to obtain one. The proposal misinterprets the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is a new law meant to help working mothers keep their job, …
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HONOLULU (OSV News) – “For us, it’s like a miracle,” Msgr. Terrence Watanabe, the Honolulu Diocese’s vicar of Maui and Lanai, said about Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in the town of Lahaina being seemingly untouched by the fierce Maui wildfires Aug. 8-9. The blaze burned Lahaina to the ground in the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii’s …
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WASHINGTON – On Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released proposed regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, responded with the following statement: “We supported the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness …
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WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The Biden administration has drawn criticism for its inclusion of abortion in a proposed rule for a bipartisan law guaranteeing protections for pregnant workers that had the support of Catholic, pro-life and Republican leaders. The bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was passed by Congress Dec. 27, 2022, signed into law by …
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LONDON (OSV News) – Human trafficking doesn’t happen only in far away places where human rights are neglected. It happens around the corner. It’s modern-day slavery, say those working to stop it around the world. “Slavery didn’t end in the United States with the Civil War and the 13th Amendment in 1865. Legal slavery ended,” …
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WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision June 29 in favor of a former postal worker who said he was denied a religious accommodation to observe Christian precepts on keeping holy the Lord’s Day by his former employer. The case Groff v. DeJoy concerned Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian and …
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HOMILYWedding Anniversary Mass – June 4, 2023Trinity Sunday Somebody once said, “all marriages are happy. It’s the living together afterwards that causes all the trouble.” A few weeks ago, Broadway Theatre of Scranton hosted performances of Fiddler on the Roof. Maybe some of you attended the show. There’s a wonderful scene from Fiddler when Tevye and his wife …
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Life and Dignity of the Human Person The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. In our society, human life is under direct …
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