Feature

PARIS — Symbolic lifting of the statues surrounding the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris marked the beginning of one of the last phases of the roof reconstruction before the towers of the Parisian icon will reopen to the public on Sept. 20.

The Catholic Church “maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates,” said U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops spokesperson Chieko Noguchi, following a recent court case in which a long-standing federal ban against such activity appeared to have been partly relaxed.

A contested Washington state law that would require priests to violate the seal of confession to report abuse “represents an egregious violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, who is a member of the U.S. Religious Liberty Commission, told OSV News.