Father Giancarlo Ruggieri celebrates a livestreamed Easter Mass in San Giorgio Ionico, Italy, on April 12, 2020. (CNS photo/Alessandro Garofalo, Reuters)
In a Lenten season with a possible end of the Covid-19 pandemic in sight, I remain skeptical of claims that restrictions on how many people can gather inside a church for Mass violate religious liberty, an argument made in the Diocese of Brooklyn’s recent lawsuit against the State of New York. (The U.S. Supreme Court found in favor of the diocese last November, and in February it sided with other churches in a similar case in California.) This is because I am aware of how recent, how uncommon and how privileged the custom of weekly Mass attendance is. For centuries, and for all sorts of reasons, weekly (or even monthly) Mass was simply not an option for most Catholics. In many parts of the world, it still isn’t.
Pope gives nun voting rights in Synod of Bishops
The pope has appointed a woman as an undersecretary to the synod for the first time UCA News reporter Updated: February 08, 2021 07:00 AM GMT
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Pope Francis holds a candle during a Mass on the World Day of Consecrated Life at St. Peter s Basilica in the Vatican on Feb. 2. (Photo: Vatican Media/AFP)
Pope Francis has made history by appointing a nun as an undersecretary to the Synod of Bishops with voting rights.
The pope on Feb. 5 appointed 52-year-old Sister Nathalie Becquart from France, giving her voting rights in the body that advises him on crucial issues taken up by the Church.
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Pope Francis changes the Code of Canon Law to institutionalize what is already allowed in practice: the access of lay women to the service of the Word .