National Catholic Register News
Fitch, in her brief, said that Mississippi is “simply asking the Court to affirm the right of the people to protect their legitimate interests and to provide clarity on how they may do so.”
COMMENTARY: A review of the last term makes clear the composition of the court makes a difference when it comes to protecting religious freedom — for better or worse.
The justices denied review of a Fourth Circuit ruling siding with Grimm, who argued that school policies requiring transgender students to use the bathroom aligned with their biological sex violated Title IX protections against discrimination, but the rebuff did not address the case’s merits.
“If Catholic schools disregard their calling and lose their saltiness,” warns one analyst, “they will have a much harder time convincing students, parents and judges that they need religious accommodations.”
The U.S. Bishops met in a virtual assembly this week. The center of debate was “Eucharistic coherence” — how to respond to declining belief in the Eucharist on one hand and how to handle Catholics in public life like President Biden who promote abortion and transgenderism in laws contrary to what the Church teaches. Register Washington Correspondent Lauretta Brown covered the conference and gives us a wrap on Register Radio. Also, the Supreme Court just decided unanimously that the City of Philadelphia can’t force Catholic foster care agencies to place children in same-sex households. EWTN News legal analyst Andrea Picciotti-Bayer provides an overview.
Foster parents who care for children through the agency of the local Catholic Social Services could be empowered by yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to continue this selfless service.
“CSS seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.
The state of Maine operates a tuition assistance program to help families pay for public or private schools, but religious schools have been excluded for more than 40 years. The case may soon head to the Supreme Court.
The court majority noted in an unsigned order that the state’s “three households” rule did not apply as strictly to secular indoor gatherings, such as indoor shopping or businesses such as nail salons, as it did to private religious gatherings at homes.
“Structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that perception, further eroding that trust,” the justice warned during a speech at Harvard Law School.
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