CNA Staff, Jul 18, 2020 / 03:38 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia will receive a liturgical vestment known as the pallium in a local Mass this weekend, breaking from the tradition of receiving it in a papal ceremony at the Vatican due to Covid-related travel restrictions.
The pallium is a vestment the pope and metropolitan archbishops wear in their churches. It is a white woolen stole adorned with six black crosses.
The pope traditionally bestows the stole to the new archbishops on June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. The rite is a sign of communion with the See of Peter.
However, with travel still restricted as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Perez will instead receive the pallium from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the pope’s apostolic nuncio to the U.S., at a Mass in Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
The Mass will be held at 11 a. m. on July 19 and will be livestreamed.
Perez was installed as the Archbishop of Philadelphia on February 18.
Born in Miami to Cuban parents, he is the first Hispanic bishop to lead the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He previously served as a priest in Philadelphia, an auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre and bishop of Cleveland.
The archbishop has worked extensively in Hispanic ministry and was part of the delegation that presented the conclusion of the National V Encuentro of Hispanic and Latino Ministry to Pope Francis in September 2019.
Perez chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church.
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Dallas, Texas, Feb 8, 2019 / 03:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The University of Dallas has announced the creation of the St. John Paul II Social Thought Teaching Fellowship, with Dr. Ryan Anderson as the first fellow in the role.
The formation of the fellowship is part of the university’s plan to create an institute for Catholic social teaching, offering degree programs that include the philosophical foundations and applications of Church social teaching, opportunities for continuing education, and the promotion of research.
“The University of Dallas is already a center for significant work on Catholic social thought,” said University Provost Dr. Jonathan Sanford in a Feb. 7 statement. “Inviting Dr. Ryan Anderson will strengthen the university’s commitment to Catholic social teaching, provide new insights for our students, and help us to fulfill our mission to pursue the truth and cultivate justice.”
Sanford said the University of Dallas “is uniquely positioned to make a special contribution to the church and help shape culture through Catholic social teaching, and takes seriously its responsibility to do so.”
In a press release announcing the new program, the university applauded Anderson for his “clear and careful writing as well as his poise and civility in addressing controversial social issues.”
Anderson is a prominent Catholic speaker and author on marriage, sexuality, religious freedom, and natural law.
He has coauthored the books What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. He is also the author of Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom and When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment.
Anderson is a senior research fellow in American Principles and Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation, as well as the founder and editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute. His research has been cited by Supreme Court justices in two cases.
As the inaugural St. John Paul II Social Thought fellow, Anderson will become an adjunct faculty member in the university’s Politics Department. He will teach two classes each year and will offer lectures and an annual conference, in cooperation with the American Public Philosophy Institute (APPI).
Anderson’s first lecture, entitled “Catholic Thought and the Challenges of Our Time,” will be held on campus March 25 and will be open to the public.
The talk will give an overview of Catholic social teaching and preview the courses Anderson will be teaching in the next two years.
Sanford attributed the new fellowship in part to the work of Rob Hays, head of the Dallas Business Ethics Forum, which promotes business practices and formation based on Catholic social teaching. Hays, a local businessman, contributed to the project and worked to obtain other contributions and corporate sponsorships.
Located in Irving, Texas, the University of Dallas is a Catholic university with a focus on the Western tradition of liberal arts education.
Eleanor McCullen testifies during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, March 24, 2022. / Screenshot taken from PBS NewsHour YouTube channel
Washington D.C., Mar 25, 2022 / 09:32 am (CNA).
A pro-life sidewal… […]
Paula Scanlan, a women’s sports activist and former teammate of trans-identifying athlete Lia Thomas on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team, speaks to a crowd about her story. Originally only speaking out anonymously, Scanlan has since gone public about the emotional impact of having to share a locker room with a biological male had on her as a sexual assault survivor. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Independent Women’s Forum
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 19, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
The Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX regulations to offer protection of transgender individuals in women’s sports, educational programs, and school bathrooms has been blocked in half of the states in the country.
The new rule is currently blocked in 26 states as a coalition of states and conservative groups are fighting the rule in court.
Yet, for many of the country’s most populous states — such as California, New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania — the rule took effect on Aug. 1. This means that the measure is impacting Americans in many of the country’s largest population centers.
Christiana Kiefer, senior counsel at one of these groups, the Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA that “the Biden-Harris administration’s radical attempt to redefine sex in Title IX turns back the clock on women’s opportunities, erodes student privacy, and threatens women’s sports.”
“Policies that deny biological truth create real victims — particularly impacting the dignity and safety of women and girls,” Kiefer said. “We are hopeful that the courts will ultimately rule to protect privacy and safety, free speech, and fairness in sports.”
What is the new rule?
In April, the Biden Department of Education redefined the prohibition on sex discrimination in education, enshrined in the 1972 Title IX provisions, to include discrimination based on a person’s “gender identity.”
The new guidelines prohibit any policy and practice that “prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity.” Schools that do not comply risk having their federal funding cut off.
According to May Mailman, director of the Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), the rule means that any male can now assert that he has been discriminated against based on gender identity and claim a right to use a women’s space.
As IWLC director, Mailman said she has seen the personal impact that forcing schools to allow biological men into women’s sports and private spaces has had on young women. Ultimately, she believes the new rule amounts to “the elimination of women’s spaces.”
“You have Paula Scanlan, who’s an IWF [Independent Women’s Forum] ambassador, she was forced to undress before a fully intact male 18 times a week. And she suffered through it, but how many women would do it? Certainly not all. So, women are going to remove themselves from circumstances that require them to be naked or to do really private activities like urinating in front of males,” Mailman explained.
Scanlan is a women’s sports activist and former teammate of trans-identifying athlete Lia Thomas on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team. Originally only speaking out anonymously, Scanlan has since gone public about the emotional impact of having to share a locker room with a biological male had on her as a sexual assault survivor.
“That is the opposite of what Title IX was created to do, which is to give women opportunities. So, what you’re going to see is Title IX actually being flipped on its head. Women are going to remove themselves from educational programs like sports because it requires such indecency.”
Where is the rule in effect?
A slate of Republican-led states has challenged the rule in court, many arguing that it violates their state laws. As a result, the Biden administration’s changes are currently blocked in 26 states.
The Independent Women’s Forum has published an interactive map showing which states have successfully blocked the rule and in which states it is currently active. The map also shows which states have pending litigation on the rule. Credit: Image courtesy of Independent Women’s Forum.
The Biden Title IX changes are currently blocked in most of the South and Midwest, including Texas, Florida, and Ohio. Because of a Kansas lawsuit that was joined by several other states and conservative organizations, the rule has been blocked in over 3,800 individual schools across the country.
However, the blocks in these states are only considered “preliminary injunctions,” meaning they are temporary, pending further review in the courts. Because of this, the rule could eventually take effect in any of the 26 states where it is currently blocked.
The Biden administration’s Title IX change has already taken effect in 24 states, primarily in Western and Northeastern coastal states, as well as the Great Lakes region.
“It seems like half the country, but it’s actually more than half the country because if you think about population, this is California, this is New York, so for a huge portion of the population, they are now under the Biden regime, where male and female spaces are no longer protected in education programs,” Mailman said.
“In those schools, the Biden administration can absolutely go after a school if it does not police pronouns, if it has male and female locker rooms, if it has male and female bathrooms, if it has male and female scholarships … it affects all education programs that accept federal money.”
What’s next?
On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously denied the Biden administration’s request to partially enforce the new rule in several states where it has been blocked. Mailman explained in a video posted to social media that while the decision does not change much right now it does signal the Supreme Court may agree that Biden’s changes to Title IX are unconstitutional.
Ultimately, Mailman believes the fate of this rule depends in large part on the presidential election. If elected to the White House, Mailman said that a Kamala Harris administration is “absolutely going to take it further.”
“Judges are something that the president has a huge say in because they nominate them. You can’t be a judge if you don’t have the president,” she said. “So, the types of judges that Kamala Harris is going to put on the courts are the types of judges who are going to say that absolutely, Title IX is some gender identity law, even though it’s not.”
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