GOP softens pro-marriage language in 2024 platform

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Washington D.C., Jun 14, 2023 / 10:30 am (CNA).
An event advertised as a “Pride Mass” scheduled to take place on the feast of Corpus Christi at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University was canceled after the di… […]

CNA Staff, Jul 27, 2020 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- The Catholic community at Queen of Peace Parish in Ocala, Florida is rebuilding after the church was set on fire earlier this month.

In addition to the physical restoration, Fr. Patrick O’Doherty, the church’s pastor, said the community is keeping the faith.

“Evil never attacks evil. The church is something very good. I take the attack on the church as a sign that we’re doing the right thing here,” he said in a video posted recently to YouTube by the Diocese of Orlando.

On the morning of July 11, a man crashed a minivan through the front door of Queen of Peace Catholic Church. He then set the church aflame while parishioners inside prepared for morning Mass.

Police arrested Stephen Anthony Shields, 24, of Dunnellon, Florida later that day. He has been charged with attempted murder, arson, burglary, and evading arrest.

According to local media, Shields told police he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia but is not currently taking prescribed medication. He said that he awoke on Saturday morning with a “mission,” and that he purchased the gas at a nearby gas station, according to Ocala-News.

In the diocese’s video, O’Doherty thanked God that no one was injured in the incident. He recalled his experience that morning.

“This white van came towards me, did a U-turn, jumped the pavement, and crashed into…the two front doors of the church. He’d gotten inside the narthex, put 10 gallons of gasoline on the floor, set it on fire and came out, and I was face-to-face with him,” the priest said. “He jumped into his car, and off he sped.”

Last week, the parish posted an update on the restoration process on Facebook. Current work includes the disassembly of the organ pipes and the early stages of demolishing the narthex. The full restoration is expected to take 8-10 weeks.

Progress on restoration.
Total time is estimated to be 8-10 weeks.
 
Photos courtesy of Mike Boisvert (Knight of Columbus)

Posted by Queen of Peace Catholic Church – Ocala, FL on Thursday, July 23, 2020

O’Doherty said artwork on the church walls was damaged and will be replaced.

The church was housing several relics – from St. Therese, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. John of the Cross – which were among the few things that did not burn in the fire.

Bishop John Noonan of Orlando said Catholics should see this as a reminder of God’s providence, prompting us to greater trust.

“The good Lord always works miracles. Certain things in life show us that we’re not in charge,” he said in the diocese’s video. “The Lord is in charge, and these are the moments where we have to realize there’s a greater power than we are.”

He also stressed the need to imitate Christ in forgiving those who have harmed us, saying, “The whole message of the Gospel is redemption, forgiveness. If we don’t have forgiveness in our hearts, then what are we filling our hearts with?”

With attacks on Catholic churches and statues across the country, the bishop stressed the need for trust amid uncertainty.

“At the moment, all of us are apprehensive about many things,” he said. “It’s like the disciples in the boat, in the middle of a storm. They wake Jesus up and say, ‘Aren’t you concerned about our safety? What shall we do?’ And Jesus’ response is, ‘Don’t you have faith?’”

“The question today is: Where is the good news?” Noonan continued. “The good news is in the Gospel. The good news is Jesus Christ. And unless we hear the good news, then we are lost.”
 

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Washington D.C., Jun 30, 2019 / 06:01 am (CNA).- In the wake of recent controversies over teacher hiring, and firing, at religious schools, CNA spoke with professor Rick Garnett from Notre Dame Law School to discuss the future of religious liberty.

In 2012 the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the case Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment prevents the government from interfering with the hiring or firing of ministers. The case also determined what can be considered under the ministerial exception.

A woman named Cheryl Perich was a religion teacher at Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran School for five years, before she went on disability in 2004. When she was cleared to work the following year, she was not offered her job back, and the school said they had hired someone else to teach religion. Perich then sued for unlawful dismissal, stating that her firing was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The court said that her firing was in fact not unlawful, due to the religious component of her job, which the Supreme Court said likened her to a minister. The government cannot be involved with the employment of ministers, which would be a violation of the First Amendment.

The Establishment Clause would prevent “a situation like in England, where the queen picks the bishop,” explained Garnett. “The idea behind the ministerial exception is that our Constitution doesn’t permit stuff like that.”

A minister, said Garnett “is broader than just, you know, an ordained priest or pastor. It includes people who work for religious institutions, and who have a role in the religious mission of these institutions.”

The effects of Hosanna-Tabor may be seen in the coming years, as the exercise of religious liberty in schools becomes a bigger and bigger problem.

“One place where this is coming up a fair bit and creating some controversy is when you have religious schools that are firing teachers who enter into a civil same-sex marriage,” said Garnett.

“That’s happened at a number of Catholic schools around the country. And in a number of these cases have been lawsuits saying the firing was illegal, on the ground that it was discrimination.”

The schools, Garnett said, have responded to the claims of discrimination that these teachers are teaching at Catholic schools, and therefore are ministers.

“So far, there’s been some disagreement about how to handle these cases in the Supreme Court,” said Garnett.

Recently, two Jesuit high schools in Indianapolis were in the news. One defied orders from the archbishop to not renew the contract of a teacher who is in a civil same-sex marriage, opting to keep him on staff. The other high school decided not to renew the contract of one of their teachers who is in a same-sex marriage, who is, coincidentally, married to the other teacher.

Other religious liberty issues are beginning to arise over school vouchers. The Maryland Department of Education last year disqualified Bethel Christian Academy from participating in the state’s Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today voucher program, which benefits low-income students in the area.

The department had previously requested to see the student handbooks of schools in the program. Bethel’s handbook includes a statement of Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality.

Garnett told CNA that does not think schools should be forced to give up the ministerial exemption to get vouchers, and that “every school [should] get some sort of public support.”

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