WORLD

Pope responds to cardinals on blessings for homosexuals, female priests

VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church, in pursuit of “pastoral prudence,” should discern if there are ways of giving blessings to homosexual persons that do not alter the Church’s teaching on marriage, Pope Francis said. Writing in response to a “dubia” letter delivered to him by five cardinals seeking clarification on doctrinal questions, the pope addressed issues surrounding the authority of the synod, women’s ordination and blessing homosexual unions in a letter made public Oct. 2. Marriage is an “exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to conceiving children,” wrote the pope. But pastoral charity also is necessary, and “defense of the objective truth is not the only expression of that charity,” he added. “For that reason, pastoral prudence must adequately discern if there are forms of blessing, solicited by one or various persons, that don’t transmit a mistaken concept of marriage.” The cardinals had asked the pope about St. John Paul II’s declaration that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women.” The pope wrote that “nobody can publicly contradict” the Church’s current rules prohibiting women’s ordination, “however it can be a subject of study, as is the case with the validity of ordinations in the Anglican Communion.” (CNS)

Fire at wedding reception in Iraq kills more than 100

QARAKOSH, Iraq — A Christian wedding party meant to celebrate the joining of young lives turned into a nightmare when a lit flare set the packed hall in northern Iraq on fire, killing more than 120 people and injuring some 250 others as authorities warned the death toll is expected to rise with many more people still missing. The devastating blaze Sept. 26 in Qaraqosh located in the Hamdaniya area of Iraq’s Nineveh province is the latest tragedy to befall Iraq’s dwindling Christian minority population suffering from sectarian violence. Upon hearing about the tragedy, Chaldean Catholic Cardinal Louis Sako traveled to the destroyed hall to minister to traumatized survivors. Celebratory gunfire and fireworks or flares often accompany weddings and other festivities in the Middle East. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. Flares may have set alight cladding, or a chandelier, initial reports said, leaving the building ablaze within two minutes. Some 1,000 guests attended the celebration. Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil said the newlyweds managed to escape the fire and are alive. (OSV News)

U.S.

Baltimore Archdiocese files for Chapter 11 to resolve abuse claims, continue ministries

BALTIMORE — The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 reorganization Sept. 29 to address “a great number of historic” child sex abuse cases it expects to face under a new Maryland law lifting the statute of limitations on such cases that took effect Oct. 1. “After consulting with numerous lay leaders and the clergy of the Archdiocese, I have made the decision I believe will best allow the Archdiocese both to equitably compensate victim-survivors of child sexual abuse and ensure the local Church can continue its mission and ministries,” Archbishop William E. Lori announced Sept. 29 in a statement. The filing was not unexpected, the archbishop said, referring to his Sept. 5 open letter to the faithful in which he said the decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was being seriously considered because the new law allows abuse claims “previously barred by Maryland law” to be brought forward. (OSV News)

Supreme Court’s docket this term could address social media, abortion and guns

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s new term began Oct. 2, and on its docket are legal challenges concerning both the First and Second Amendments, as well as potentially other related major cases. The court will hear challenges regarding Texas and Florida laws designed to combat what they alleged were social media companies’ content policies that disproportionately restricted conservatives. The justices will consider a challenge to the constitutionality of a federal ban on the possession of firearms by those who are under domestic violence restraining orders. The Supreme Court may also choose to take up a case concerning a challenge brought by a coalition of pro-life opponents of mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in a medication or chemical abortion. (OSV News)

Pope appoints bishop of Steubenville, Ohio, as Detroit auxiliary bishop

WASHINGTON — Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton of Steubenville, Ohio, as auxiliary bishop of Detroit and named retired Bishop Paul J. Bradley of Kalamazoo, Michigan, as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Steubenville. A Detroit native, Bishop Monforton, 60, is the fifth bishop of Steubenville and has headed the Ohio diocese since 2012. Bishop Bradley, 77, headed the Kalamazoo Diocese from 2009 until the pope accepted his resignation in May. The appointments were publicized in Washington Sept. 28 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. (OSV News)