In new term, Supreme Court once again takes up religious liberty August 21, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, Supreme Court, World News As part of what seems to be a new trend for the Supreme Court, it will once again take up a religious liberty case in its new term with oral arguments Nov. 4 in a case about a Catholic social service agency excluded from Philadelphia’s foster care program for not accepting same-sex couples as foster parents.
Disappearance of Chinese bishop is subject of congressional hearing August 2, 2020By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, U.S. Congress, World News “We are saddened by the recent reports that Bishop Su may have died during his recent imprisonment,” said Nury Turkel, a Uighur American who is a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, in testimony during the hearing. Bishop Su, if he is alive, would be 88 years old.
U.S. bishops welcome court decision on Catholic schools July 8, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News Two U.S. bishops said they welcomed the Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling July 8 which said California Catholic schools could not be sued for job discrimination in firing teachers.
Court rules in favor of employer exemptions to contraceptive coverage July 8, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, Supreme Court, World News In a 7-2 decision July 8, the Supreme Court upheld regulations by the Trump administration giving employers more ability to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage in their health plans.
New report says Iraqi Christians could face extinction July 7, 2020By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News Without immediate action from the international community, Christians in northern Iraq could be endangered with extinction, warns a new report from the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need. The report, “Life after ISIS: New Challenges for Christianity in Iraq,” is based on a survey of Christians in the liberated Ninevah Plains. With anticipated […]
USCCB president ‘deeply concerned’ about impact of court’s LGBT ruling June 15, 2020By Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said he is “deeply concerned” that by ruling federal law protects LGBT workers from discrimination, the U.S. Supreme Court “has effectively redefined the legal meaning of ‘sex’ in our nation’s civil rights law.”
Supreme Court says federal law protects LGBT workers from discrimination June 15, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, Supreme Court, World News In a 6-3 vote June 15, the Supreme Court said LGBT people are protected from job discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
State Department report: China among worst offenders of religious freedom June 11, 2020By Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News Top U.S. State Department officials singled out China as one of the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom because it had subjected religious minorities to imprisonment and forced labor.
USCCB, other Catholic groups urge court to protect faith-based foster care June 8, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and a few Catholic Charities agencies have joined more than 30 other religious groups, states and a group of Congress members urging the Supreme Court to protect Philadelphia’s faith-based foster care.
Divided court examines if religious schools exempt from discrimination laws May 12, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News In oral arguments May 11, the Supreme Court examined, and seemed divided about, laws governing church and state in its look at two California Catholic schoolteacher firings where the teachers claimed they had been victims of job discrimination.
Divided court reexamines insurance coverage of contraceptives May 7, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed divided May 6 over Trump administration rules that give employers more ability to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage in their health plans.
Court to hear Little Sisters, Catholic school cases by teleconference April 14, 2020By Carol Zimmermann Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News For the first time in its history, the Supreme Court announced April 13 it will conduct 10 oral arguments by teleconference in May. Among the arguments it will hear are cases involving the Little Sisters of the Poor and California Catholic schools.
