US

Houston, Texas, Nov 28, 2018 / 10:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Investigators have executed a search warrant on the chancery offices of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. A search warrant obtained by the district attorney’s office for Montgomery County was served Wednesday morning by officers from the Texas Rangers and Conroe Police Department.

According to local media reports, the district attorney’s office is seeking documents related to the case of Fr. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, who was arrested by Conroe police in September on four charges of indecency to children.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston was unavailable to comment on the search, or to clarify whether it was limited to the case of La Rosa-Lopez.

The district attorney’s office has already conducted searches at two churches where La Rosa-Lopez had been previously assigned – St. John Fisher in Richmond and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe – as well as the Shalom Treatment Center in Splendora, where La Rosa-Lopez was sent for evaluation and treatment in the early 2000s.

While stationed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez was accused in 2001 of kissing and inappropriately touching a 16 year-old girl. Following consideration of the allegation by both civil authorities and the archdiocesan review board in 2003, La Rosa-Lopez was allowed to return to ministry in 2004.

On Aug. 10, 2018, a 36-year-old man alleged to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston that Fr. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez sexually abused him from 1998-2001, when he was a high school student and La Rosa-Lopez was assigned to Sacred Heart Parish.

The archdiocese said in a statement following La Rosa-Lopez’s arrest Sept. 11 that it had immediately reported the man’s allegation to Child Protective Services.

In October, a third individual came forward with allegations that La Rosa-Lopez had sexually abused him on several occasions during the mid-1990s. According to reports, a lawyer for the third accuser said that the family of the alleged victim had reported La Rosa-Lopez at the time.

La Rosa-Lopez is currently released on bail and scheduled to return to court in January.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, has found himself at the forefront of the American hierarchy’s response to the sexual abuse crisis. He chaired the U.S. bishops’ conference general assembly in early November, during which he announced that the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops had instructed them to delay voting on a proposed code of episcopal conduct or on the creation of an independent commission for investigating allegations of misconduct against bishops.

Last week, DiNardo was the subject of a television report claiming he had knowingly left two priests in active ministry despite “credible accusations” of abuse having been made against them. Cardinal DiNardo denied that either case was “credible.”

[…]

Washington D.C., Nov 28, 2018 / 09:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that abortion rates in 2015 reached their lowest level in 10 years, although limitations in data collection make … […]

Knoxville, Tenn., Nov 28, 2018 / 03:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Diocese of Knoxville is seeking to unearth the remains of a Tennessee pastor whose canonization cause is currently open.

Servant of God Father Patrick Ryan was a diocesan priest who cared… […]

Sacramento, Calif., Nov 27, 2018 / 06:52 pm (CNA).- After 17 days of scorching more than 150,000 acres in northern California, the Camp Fire – one of the states deadliest and most destructive wildfires on record – has finally been contained.

The fire … […]

Washington D.C., Nov 27, 2018 / 05:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Chinese scientist’s claim to have created a gene-edited baby has been met with an outpouring of condemnation, with critics voicing alarm at what they described as a disregard for biomedical ethics.

Approximately 120 scientists released a letter condemning the research, Reuters reported. The Chinese-language letter called the gene manipulation a “Pandora’s box,” warning, “The biomedical ethics review for this so-called research exists in name only. Conducting direct human experiments can only be described as crazy.”

Earlier this week, Chinese researcher He Jiankui claimed that he had altered embryos for seven couples, resulting in one twin pregnancy so far. There is no independent confirmation of this claim, the Associated Press noted.

He says his goal was to edit embryos to give them the ability to resist HIV infection, by disabling the CCR5 gene, which allows HIV to enter a cell.

Shenzhen’s Southern University of Science and Technology of China, where He is an associate professor, said in a statement that the researcher had not made the school aware of the gene editing he was doing.

According to Business Insider, the university said He had been on unpaid leave since this February and was not expected to return until January 2021. It is not clear why he had been placed on unpaid leave.

The university said that the use of genetic editing technology in human embryo research constitutes a serious violation of academic ethics. It announced that it would be conducting an investigation into He’s work.

He says he used a technology known as CRISPR to edit sections of the human genome, performing the procedure on embryonic humans. The technology, which selectively “snips” and trims areas of the genome and replaces it with strands of desired DNA, has previously been used on adult humans and other species. CRISPR technology has only recently been used to treat deadly diseases in adults, and limited experiments have been performed on animals.

Catholic bioethics experts have warned that while gene editing may sometimes be morally acceptable, it poses numerous ethical challenges that must be addressed in order to ensure its legitimacy.

Chinese officials and scientific organizations also issued harsh condemnations of the reported gene editing.

The Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research and China’s Genetics Society released a joint statement saying He’s experimentation posed “tremendous safety risks for the research subjects” and violated “the consensus reached by the international science community,” Reuters reported.

Xinhua’s official news agency also rejected the experimentation, stressing that ethical standards must not be ignored in scientific research.

The Shenzhen government medical ethics committee is reportedly investigating the matter.

[…]

Washington D.C., Nov 27, 2018 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a motion to intervene after lawyers from the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued the IRS, arguing that churches should not be exempt from having to file tax ret… […]

Arlington, Va., Nov 27, 2018 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Catholics in the Dioceses of Arlington, Virginia, and Knoxville, Tennessee, are praying for their bishops as they face serious health challenges.

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, VA, is reco… […]

Washington D.C., Nov 27, 2018 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Catholic groups have reacted to the use of tear gas at the U.S. – Mexico border Sunday, calling the situation “sad,” and expressing concern about the instability of the situation at the borde… […]

Washington D.C., Nov 27, 2018 / 08:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has chosen Bishop Daniel Elias Garcia as the new Bishop of Monterey, California. The diocese of Monterey has been without a bishop since the death of Bishop Richard Garcia in July.

The announcement was made Tuesday, Nov. 27, and released by both the Vatican press office and the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C.

Bishop Daniel Garcia has served as auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Austin since his consecration on March 3, 2015. He was the first auxiliary bishop in the history of the diocese.

A native of Texas, Garcia was born in the city of Cameron in 1960. After earning his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Divinity degrees from St. Mary’s Seminary at the University of St. Thomas, he was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Austin in 1988. He received a Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies from the Saint John’s School of Theology in 2007.

Garcia spent several years in parochial ministry in Austin, serving in the parishes of St. Catherine of Siena, Cristo Rey, St. Louis, and St. Vincent de Paul. He also spent three years in the parish of St. Mary Magdalene, in Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

In the Diocese of Austin, Garcia has held numerous administrative assignments including serving as a member of the Priests’ Personnel Board, the College of Consultors, and the Diocesan Liturgical Commission. He has also been both a member and later chairman of the Presbyteral Council.

Garcia is a current member of the U.S. bishops’ conference’s committees on communications and divine worship, and is the chairman of the subcommittee on Spanish language worship. He is also a consultant to the USCCB’s subcommittee on Hispanic affairs.

The Diocese of Monterey covers an area of 21,916 square miles and is home to more than 200,000 Catholics, some 20 percent of the total population. Upon his installation, Garcia will become the fifth bishop of Monterey.  

[…]

Washington D.C., Nov 27, 2018 / 03:23 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Chinese scientist says he has created the first genetically edited babies, a claim that has led members of the scientific community to raise serious ethical concerns.

Chinese researcher He J… […]