Austin, Texas, Oct 24, 2019 / 05:38 pm (CNA).- A Texas judge granted Jeffrey Younger and Anne Georgulas joint managing conservatorship of their son, James Younger, over whose gender identity his parents have argued in court.
The decision, given by Judge Kim Cooks of a Texas Family District Court, means that both parents have equal decision-making power in their child’s medical, dental and psychiatric treatment, The Texan reported.
Georgulas, who believes James identifies as a girl named Luna, will now have to obtain the consent of Younger before allowing James to undergo any hormonal or psychiatric “gender affirmation treatment.”
Georgulas is reported to believe James identifies as a girl in part because of his affinity for the Disney movie “Frozen” and its female character leads, along with other feminine preferences in toys. She has wanted to affirm James’ identity as a girl, while Younger has advocated for a “watchful waiting” approach to see if James changes his mind as he matures, The Texan reported.
According to the Washington Examiner, expert witnesses called in the court expressed doubts as to whether James actually strongly identifies as female. Younger has said that James identifies as a boy while he is in the care of his father.
Georgulas reportedly wanted to enroll James as a patient at the GENECIS in Dallas in their “Gender Affirming Care Program” for youth. On its website, the clinic says it offers hormone therapy and puberty suppression therapy along with mental health and social services. It does not currently offer “gender transition” surgery. Georgulas and Younger now have joint decision-making power over James’ enrollment in the program. Judge Cooks also reportedly issued a gag order against Jeffrey Younger, which means he is not allowed to discuss the case with members of the press.
The case of James Younger was met with outrage from critics who say it raises seriously ethical concerns regarding the rights of parents and the best interests of children experiencing gender dysphoria.
Several state representatives vowed to draft legislation that would protect children against hormonal treatments for gender dysphoria because of the Younger case.
“Absent a special session between now & the 87th Session, I will introduce legislation that prohibits the use of puberty blockers in these situations for children under 18. We missed our opportunity to do so in the 86th Session. We won’t miss the next one. #savejamesyounger,” State Rep. Matt Krause (R) said on Twitter.
Reps. Jared Patterson (R) and Cody Harris (R) both voiced their support for such legislation in tweeted replies to Krause.
Governor Greg Abbott tweeted that “the matter of 7 year old James Younger is being looked into by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. #JamesYounger.”
According to The Texan, Rep. Chip Roy (R) sent a letter about the issue to U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, the director of the National Institutes of Health, and the director of the National Drug Control Policy, asking for a “federal study on individuals who undergo sex-reassignment surgery or hormone treatment before the age of 18,” and the potential harmful consequences of such procedures.
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Washington D.C., Mar 19, 2018 / 04:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A report calling the practice of abortion in the U.S. a safe procedure was published last week, causing multiple critics to question the accuracy of its findings.
Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly speaks with EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado on Thursday, July 11, 2024, regarding the organization’s decision to cover mosaics by the accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik in chapels in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. / Credit: EWTN News
Rome Newsroom, Jul 11, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
The Knights of Columbus announced Thursday they will cover mosaics by the accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut, a dramatic move that represents the strongest public stand yet by a major Catholic organization regarding the former Jesuit’s embattled art.
The 2.1-million-member lay Catholic fraternal order said July 11 it would use fabric to cover the floor-to-ceiling mosaics in the two chapels of the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and in the chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut — at least until the completion of a formal Vatican investigation into the Slovenian priest’s alleged abuse.
Patrick Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, told EWTN News Thursday the opaque material would be installed “very soon” but gave no firm timetable. The Knights said in a statement released Thursday afternoon that the artwork may later be more permanently hidden with a plaster covering after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues its ruling on Rupnik.
The decision by the Knights to cover the sprawling works, which envelop both spaces, was made at the end of a comprehensive, confidential review process that included consultations with sexual abuse victims and those who minister to them, art historians, pilgrims to the shrine, bishops, and moral theologians.
“The Knights of Columbus have decided to cover these mosaics because our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely in the Church, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics at the shrine,” Kelly said in the statement.
“While opinions varied among those consulted,” he said, “there was a strong consensus to prioritize the needs of victims, especially because the allegations are current, unresolved, and horrific.”
Kelly reiterated that point in his interview with EWTN News.
“Our decision process really came down to multiple factors. But the No. 1 factor was compassion for victims,” Kelly said. “We needed to prioritize victims over anything, any material thing. So that was our primary consideration.”
The first segment of Kelly’s interview with EWTN News will air on “EWTN News Nightly” Thursday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Additional comments will air on “EWTN News In Depth” on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly speaks with EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado on Thursday, July 11, 2024, regarding the organization’s decision to cover mosaics by the accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik in chapels in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. Credit: EWTN News
Once a renowned artist Rupnik, whose mosaics are featured in hundreds of Catholic shrines, churches, and chapels around the world, was expelled from the Jesuits in June 2023.
His expulsion followed a long review of what the society called “highly credible” accusations of serial spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse of as many as 30 religious sisters by the priest spanning decades. Some women allege Rupnik’s abuse sometimes happened as part of the process of creating his art at the Centro Aletti, an art school he founded in Rome.
The Vatican announced in late October 2023 that Pope Francis had waived the statute of limitations in the Rupnik case, allowing the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to do a canonical investigation into the abuse allegations.
There has been no further communication from the Vatican about the inquiry, and it is unclear whether Rupnik may still be living in Rome despite having been given priestly faculties in a diocese of his home country of Slovenia last year.
Growing public outcry
What to do with Rupnik’s once widely-praised works, colorful mosaics characterized by grand, flowing figures and large eyes, has proven to be a divisive question in the wake of the numerous allegations against him, which first came to public attention in December 2022.
While some want to await Vatican judgment before dismantling and replacing Rupnik’s works, much of it made in collaboration with other artists of the Centro Aletti — a Rupnik-founded art school and theological center in Rome — the public outcry for the removal of his art has intensified.
The Knights also announced several immediate changes that would be enacted at the shrine in solidarity with abuse victims, including providing educational materials about the mosaics, making clear that their display during the consultation process “was not intended to ignore, deny, or diminish the allegations of abuse.”
Every Mass at the St. John Paul II National Shrine will now also include a prayer of the faithful for victims of sexual abuse, and saints with connections to abuse victims, such as St. Josephine Bakhita, will be specially commemorated.
The group said it became aware of the allegations against Rupnik in December 2022 — and noted that the artist, while under investigation, remains a priest in good standing in the Diocese of Koper, Slovenia.
“This decision is rooted in a foundational purpose of the Knights of Columbus, which is to protect families, especially women and children, and those who are vulnerable and voiceless,” Kelly said in the July 11 statement.
The “Redemptor Hominis” chapel of the National Shrine of St John Paul II in Washington, DC, is decorated with mosaics by Fatherr Marko Rupnik. Credit: Lawrence OP|Flickr|CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The St. John Paul II National Shrine is a pastoral initiative of the Knights of Columbus, established in 2011, and designated a national shrine by the U.S. Catholic bishops in 2014.
Rupnik’s mosaics were installed at the shrine in 2015. The Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters has featured Rupnik’s art since 2005.
Highlighting the John Paul II shrine’s mission of evangelization, the supreme knight said, “the art we sponsor must therefore serve as a stepping stone — not a stumbling block — to faith in Jesus Christ and his Church.”
Rupnik has not made any statements since the allegations came to light.
An eye on Lourdes
The Knights’ move to conceal the mosaics follows just a week after the bishop of Lourdes, France, said that despite his personal feelings that Rupnik’s artwork at the renowned Marian shrine there should be removed, he has decided to wait to make a final decision due to “strong opposition on the part of some.”
After forming a special commission in May 2023, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes announced July 2 that more time was needed “to discern what should be done” about Rupnik’s mosaics at the Marian apparition site, because his belief that they should be torn down “would not be sufficiently understood” and “would add even more division and violence” at this time.
As a “first step,” the French bishop said he had decided the mosaics will no longer be lit up at night during the shrine’s nightly candlelight rosary processions.
In his interview with EWTN News, Kelly said the Lourdes bishop’s intent to make a decision of some kind this spring galvanized the Knights to act at this time.
In his July 11 statement, Kelly thanked the Lourdes bishop for his “thoughtful decision” and said it “both informed and confirmed us in our own decision-making. Shrines are places of healing, prayer, and reconciliation. They should not cause victims further suffering.”
Emphasizing the importance of discernment based on mission and context, the supreme knight said: “Every situation is different. In the United States, Catholics continue to suffer in a unique way from the revelations of sexual abuse and, at times, from the response of the Church. It is clear to us that, as a national shrine, our decision must respect this country’s special need for healing.”
The Knights of Columbus was founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882 by Blessed Michael McGivney, a parish priest. Dedicated to the advancement of the group’s key principles — charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism — its members in 2022 provided 50 million service hours and nearly $185 million to charitable causes in their communities.
National Catholic Register Editor-in-Chief Shannon Mullen contributed to this story.
CNA Staff, Feb 24, 2021 / 03:33 pm (CNA).- As part of the Year of Saint Joseph called for by Pope Francis, the National Shrine of St. Joseph will host a virtual conference and rededicate the saint’s statue. The event takes place on March 19, the S… […]
4 Comments
Praise God.
I’m guessing if the case had been in another state and not in Texas, things might have ended differently.
In the coming decades it’s hard to imagine that there won’t be many malpractice and other suits filed by individuals who were medically experimented upon as children. It’s not unlike the eugenic surgeries of a previous generation. We see gender as something to be erased, a hundred years ago it was race, ethnicity or disability.
I have been reading about this case on many websites, but no one has commented on a point of interest to me. That is, that the child’s legal mother is not the biological mother. I am curious as to who donated the eggs (the actual, biological mother), and what her stance might be? In the past, I recall various legal matters where a biological parent was able to interject and influence a case, even if some contract had previously been signed giving parental rights to another (as is typical with donating eggs).
Thank you for mentioning that. I’d brought that up also in a comment in a previous article.
I heard someone speculate that the mother receiving the IVF treatment may have really wanted a boy and a girl all along. Who knows, but when you separate procreation from what God intended you can end up with all sorts of unintended consequences. And ultimately everyone involved suffers.
Praise God.
I’m guessing if the case had been in another state and not in Texas, things might have ended differently.
In the coming decades it’s hard to imagine that there won’t be many malpractice and other suits filed by individuals who were medically experimented upon as children. It’s not unlike the eugenic surgeries of a previous generation. We see gender as something to be erased, a hundred years ago it was race, ethnicity or disability.
I have been reading about this case on many websites, but no one has commented on a point of interest to me. That is, that the child’s legal mother is not the biological mother. I am curious as to who donated the eggs (the actual, biological mother), and what her stance might be? In the past, I recall various legal matters where a biological parent was able to interject and influence a case, even if some contract had previously been signed giving parental rights to another (as is typical with donating eggs).
Thank you for mentioning that. I’d brought that up also in a comment in a previous article.
I heard someone speculate that the mother receiving the IVF treatment may have really wanted a boy and a girl all along. Who knows, but when you separate procreation from what God intended you can end up with all sorts of unintended consequences. And ultimately everyone involved suffers.
I also noticed the left leaning news articles are trying to make this into a partisan thing. It is not.
It is child abuse.
God bless