Maryland school district pulls LGBTQ books amid legal battle before Supreme Court

Baltimore, Md., Nov 13, 2019 / 09:44 am (CNA).- The USCCB’s migration committee chairman hopes that Congress can come to a solution regarding the situation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy recipients, as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a case seeking approval to eliminate the program altogether.

Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin told CNA Nov.12 that while he and his brother bishops have been advocating for a congressional solution to DACA, their main concern now was the situation of the approximately 700,000 DACA recipients.

“Those people need also to have someone advocate for them. So the bishops need to speak up and say very clearly that these people, we don’t want separation of families,” said Vasquez. About 256,000 children have at least one parent with DACA status.

There are fears that if DACA were to be repealed, these people would then be deported, splitting up the family. This is “a big concern for the Church,” said Vasquez.

“The Church is always going to advocate on the side of the family, because the family is very important,” he added.

DACA recipients, he said “already are…part of the fabric of this country” and contribute to the economy and to their communities.

“They’re leaders already in many of our parishes and churches,” said the bishop.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in three cases – Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of University of California; McAleenan, Secretary of Homeland Security v. Vidal; Trump, President of U.S. v. NAACP – which concern whether the Trump administration may end DACA outright.

President Barack Obama introduced DACA via executive memorandum in June 2012. It permits people who were brought to the United States illegally as children to apply for temporary protection from deportation and work permits. The program was set to expire in 2017, but this has been delayed after Congress was given a chance to codify parts of DACA into law.

Congress failed to pass DACA into law, and the partisan-based debate over immigration and border security has continued.

The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision about whether President Donald Trump would be permitted to end DACA in the spring or early summer of 2020.

As for Vasquez, he will continue to hope that Congress can come to a solution.

“My hope and prayer is that they would be able to do something, they’d be able to reconcile and come together and take care of these people,” he said. “I think deporting them is the wrong answer. It’s not the way to address this issue.”

[…]

St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus, by Guido Reni, circa 1635 / Public domain

Orange, Calif., Aug 11, 2021 / 09:18 am (CNA).
Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry recently announced that Fr. Stan Fortuna will speak at the upcoming Saint Joseph Summit 2021… […]

Father Patrick Wattigny pleaded guilty July 12, 2023, to two child molestation charges. / Credit: Warren Montgomery District Attorney’s Office

Boston, Mass., Jul 17, 2023 / 12:38 pm (CNA).

A New Orleans priest pleaded guilty last week to two child molestation charges for incidents that took place as recently as 2013.

Father Patrick Wattigny, 55, the former pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church and chaplain at Pope John Paul II High School, both in Slidell, Louisiana, was sentenced to five years in prison with five years of probation. He was also required to register as a sex offender.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans, where Wattigny was a priest, announced his removal from ministry Oct. 1, 2020. 

The priest was originally arrested and charged in 2020 when a victim reported that Wattigny molested him when he was 15 years old in 2013. Another victim came forward in the fall of 2022 and claimed that Wattigny molested him when he was a 9-year-old student. The victim said the abuse occurred during the mid-1990s, according to The Guardian.

Wattigny pleaded not guilty to both charges until changing his plea last week, according to Fox 8 Live.

One of Wattigny’s victims said at sentencing that Wattigny groomed him from an early age, the Warren Montgomery District Attorney’s office said in a July 12 statement.

The victim said that after Wattigny molested him, the priest told him that he would “go to hell” if he told anyone about the abuse, the statement said. 

The victim said that “his childhood was stolen” and that he “contemplated suicide,” according to the statement.

In a statement to reporters, the victim from the priest’s first arrest in 2020 said Wattigny’s punishment is a “grossly lenient and unfair slap on the wrist,” The Guardian reported.

“This sentence makes me feel really worthless and hopeless as a victim,” the victim said.

At the time of Wattigny’s removal from ministry in 2020, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond wrote in a statement: “Reverend Patrick Wattigny disclosed today his sexual abuse of a minor in 2013. His name will be added to the list of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Clergy Abuse Report. Law enforcement has been notified.” 

That list can be found here.

Ordained in 1994, Wattigny had seven different assignments including at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Kenner, St. Benilde Church in Metairie, St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, St. Peter Church in Covington, The Visitation of Our Lady Church in Marrero, Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie, and Pope John Paul II High School in Slidell.

The archdiocese encouraged survivors of clergy abuse to report any allegations to its Victim’s Assistance Response Team. 

The team can be contacted at (504) 861-6253 or by emailing VAC@arch-no.org.

[…]