Month: August 2024

(OSV News) – Among American Olympians achieving a spot on the podium in Paris are Catholics who have expressed their dependence on faith over the years as they’ve pursued excellence in their athletic pursuits.

Swimmer Katie Ledecky is outspoken about how her Catholic faith guides her life.

On Aug. 3, Ledecky became the most decorated American female gold medalist in any sport as well as one of only two women from any nation, in any sport, to win nine gold medals. It was her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 800 freestyle. She has 14 medals total. Just two days earlier she won her 13th Olympic medal — in itself historic. She took silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay.

After the 2021 Olympic games in Tokyo, the Catholic school graduate told the Catholic Standard, the Archdiocese of Washington’s newspaper, that she prayed the Hail Mary before each race to calm her nerves, just as she had during the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

“My faith remains very important in my life, especially the last two years,” Ledecky told the Catholic Standard in 2021. She noted that watching livestreamed Mass, celebrated by her godfather Jesuit Father Jim Shea at a parish in Charlotte, North Carolina, helped her through the pandemic.

“My faith is strong, and I realized more how important that is,” she said.

Ledecky, 27, has nine gold, four silver and one bronze Olympic medals. In Paris, she is teammates with two fellow alumnae of her all-girls high school, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland: Phoebe Bacon and Erin Gemmell. Gemmell medaled alongside Ledecky with the 4×200 meter relay.

Ledecky and Bacon also attended the elementary Little Flower School in Bethesda, where both families are members of the parish.

They are among a host of U.S. Olympians who are Catholic, were raised in the faith, or attended Catholic schools or colleges and are now competing in Paris. Several have spoken in the past about the role their faith has played in their training and shaped their self-perception.

U.S. Olympic gymnast and Paris gold medalist Simone Biles, who was raised Catholic and in years past spoke about the role of faith in her life, has said she credits God for her success.

The high-flying 27-year-old, who trains in Spring, Texas, at her World Champions Centre gym, said in the past that when she travels, she sometimes takes with her a statue of St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, and she also carries a rosary her mother gave her. Her parents have told media that they often pray the rosary for Simone. Biles and her family have also been known to attend St. James Catholic Church in Spring.

Biles, who won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around competition in Paris Aug. 1 and helped lead the U.S. women to a team gold July 30, made those comments to Us Weekly in 2016.

“I never thought I’d be who I am,” she told Vanity Fair in a story published in January, “but look at God’s blessings.”

In recent years, Biles has been more private about her faith journey. In 2021, she diverged from church teaching on abortion access, saying on Twitter (now X) that she was “very pro-choice” arguing “you should not control someone elses body/decision.”

However, Biles has also been outspoken about addressing and prioritizing mental health, an issue the U.S. bishops have sought to raise with the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign. Following the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, Biles (a survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by Larry Nassar, a USA Gymnastics’ national-team doctor) publicly admitted that she struggled with her mental health and athletics. At the time, she had stepped out of the Olympic competition after experiencing the “twisties,” a sense of disorientation when in motion that could lead to serious injury.

In Paris, however, Biles has exuded confidence — publicly thanking her therapist for routine care — and her dedication to her sport has paid off, with many calling her the “greatest of all time.” She is now the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history, with nine Olympic medals.

Ryan Murphy, a Catholic swimmer who grew up in Florida, is taking home a bronze medal in the men’s 100-meter backstroke. In a 2016 interview with the National Catholic Register, he described the importance of having an active prayer life and living out his faith. He said, “I’m a firm believer in God. My faith is important to me. There are, however, times when I rely on him more than others. Overall, I am private in my spirituality.”

Murphy, 29, drew the spotlight in Paris not only for his race, but for the sign his wife, Bridget, held up as he was walking to the podium: “Ryan it’s a girl!” The couple, who married in September, are reportedly expecting their first child in January.

A former altar boy, Murphy described his family to the Register as ardent supporters of Catholic education. The story described him as having “a great devotion to St. Christopher, the patron saint of swimmers.”

He garnered attention during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — where he won three gold medals — after genuflecting following a swim.

“I believe God has given me a great talent, for which I’m eternally grateful,” he told the Register at the time. “My faith gives me comfort despite the outcome of a race. I ultimately believe — I know — God has a larger plan for me.”

BRAINTREE, Mass. (OSV News) – Ending months of speculation about the future leadership of the Archdiocese of Boston, Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley and appointed Bishop Richard G. Henning of Providence, Rhode Island, to succeed him as the archdiocese’s 10th bishop and seventh archbishop.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington Aug. 5 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

According to the archdiocese, Archbishop Henning, 59, will be installed Oct. 31. Cardinal O’Malley remains archbishop of Boston until that date.

According to rules set by St. Paul VI, all bishops must submit their resignation to the pope at age 75, which the pope is free to accept or defer as he chooses. However, because the same rules dictate that cardinals lose their appointments in Vatican dicasteries and may not participate in the conclave to elect the next pope once they turn 80, it is typically expected that the pope will accept the resignation of active cardinals at or around that age.

Cardinal O’Malley celebrated his 80th birthday on June 29. He has headed the Boston Archdiocese since July 2003. Archbishop Henning has headed the Providence Diocese since his May 1, 2023, installation.

For the time being, Cardinal O’Malley remains the head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, a body created by Pope Francis to fight pedophilia by priests that the Boston prelate has led since 2014.

In a statement released in English and Spanish, Cardinal O’Malley welcomed Archbishop Henning on behalf of the archdiocese’s priests, religious, deacons and laity.

“We extend our deep gratitude to the Holy Father for this appointment demonstrating his ongoing pastoral care for the people of the Archdiocese,” he said, adding that he looked forward “to our people and the wider community” getting to know his successor in “in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. He ministers with the heart of a pastor with a sincere commitment to serving Christ and the Church.”

Cardinal O’Malley asked the faithful of the archdiocese to pray for the newly named archbishop “as he begins to plan for this transition. In the meantime, please be assured of my continued prayers for all of you.”

Archbishop Henning expressed gratitude to the pope “for his confidence in me and for his conferral of this new mission as Archbishop of Boston. I receive this appointment relying upon divine Providence, aware that this is the Lord’s Church and that I am no more than an unworthy servant.”

He thanked Cardinal O’Malley for serving “the Church of Boston for many faithful and joyful years” and greeted the clergy, religious and laity of the archdiocese, asking for their prayers “that I may cling to the Lord’s Holy Cross, honor His mother, imitate His saints, and love you as His people and His ministers.”

After Cardinal O’Malley and Archbishop Henning celebrated a morning Mass at the archdiocesan Pastoral Center, they held a joint press conference.

The church has faced many challenges in his 40 years as a bishop, the cardinal said, including “a time of great crisis and of great pain because of the terrible scourge of sexual abuse.” “But despite all the challenges we’ve had I’m full of hope,” he said.

Cardinal O’Malley described his successor as “someone who transmits hope to restless hearts” and said his appointment is “a time of renewal and hope.”

Archbishop Henning said he was a child himself when many of “these crimes and sins” of abuse were committed. “I’m grateful to God that I was not affected by it personally, but people in my generation were,” he added.

The survivors “deserve a listening heart,” he said. “In some ways they have as much to proclaim to us about the Gospel as we do to them.”

Shortly after his appointment was announced, Archbishop Henning told reporters his first actions as Boston’s new shepherd will be “visiting, listening, learning before I start setting priorities.”

In a statement directed at the Diocese of Providence, he said, “You may have noticed that I usually have something to say. I regret that in this instance, I do not feel that I can find the words to express my sorrow in leaving the Church of Providence. In so many ways and moments, you have welcomed me into your churches, homes, and hearts. Your resilience in the face of challenges, your commitment to family and community, and your abiding faith in Jesus have lifted me and taught me. I am ever in your debt.”

“I will never cease to pray for you, and I hope for your prayers for me,” he said.

Richard Garth Henning was born in Rockville Centre, New York, Oct. 17, 1964, to Richard and Maureen Henning, the first of five siblings. He grew up in Valley Stream, receiving the sacraments of baptism, first Communion and confirmation at Holy Name of Mary Parish, where he also attended the parish grammar school.

Archbishop Henning attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York, going on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from St. John’s University in the New York City borough of Queens. He studied for the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, New York, and was ordained in 1992.

Following his ordination, he was assigned to a local parish for five years and gained extensive pastoral experience working in the parish school and ministering to the Spanish-speaking Catholics of the area.

In 1997, then-Father Henning was assigned to postgraduate studies in sacred Scripture. He earned a licentiate in biblical theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington and a doctorate in the same subject from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

After his studies, Archbishop Henning joined the faculty of Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, where he taught Scripture for more than 10 years.

In 2012, as part of the partnership for seminary formation among the dioceses of Rockville Centre, New York, and Brooklyn, New York, and the Archdiocese of New York, then-Msgr. Henning was appointed to lead Immaculate Conception Seminary through its transition to the largest retreat house in the Northeast. The ordinaries of Rockville Centre, Brooklyn and New York also charged him to establish and lead the Sacred Heart Institute for the ongoing formation of Catholic priests and deacons. Archbishop Henning is also noted for his work with international priests serving in the U.S.

In 2018, Pope Francis appointed then-Msgr. Henning as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where he served as a regional vicar and later as the vicar for Clergy and Pastoral Planning.

In November 2022, Archbishop Henning was appointed the coadjutor bishop of Providence. He succeeded Bishop Thomas Tobin as the Bishop of Providence on May 1, 2023.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Every Christian, but especially seminarians, should set aside their screens regularly and spend time with a book of literature or poetry, Pope Francis said.

In a world that so often prizes efficiency and accomplishment, “we desperately need to counterbalance this inevitable temptation to a frenetic and uncritical lifestyle by stepping back, slowing down, taking time to look and listen,” the pope wrote. “This can happen when a person simply stops to read a book.”

In a letter “On the Role of Literature in Formation,” published by the Vatican Aug. 4, Pope Francis said he initially intended to write a letter on how important it is for seminarians to devote time to reading novels and poetry but decided to expand it because reading is important for “the formation of all those engaged in pastoral work, indeed of all Christians.”

The pope’s letter cited his own experience as a high school literature teacher in 1964-65 as well as essays by the writers C.S. Lewis, Marcel Proust and Jorge Luis Borges and texts by Jesuit Father Karl Rahner, St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II and the Second Vatican Council. He also referred to evidence in the Acts of the Apostles that St. Paul knew the work of the poet Epimenides, who wrote in the sixth century B.C.E., and the poet Aratus of Soli from the third century B.C.E.

Reading, the pope said, is a healthy form of relaxation, an important way to increase one’s vocabulary and an essential exercise in learning to listen to the experiences of other people and other cultures.

“Often during periods of boredom on holiday, in the heat and quiet of some deserted neighborhood, finding a good book to read can provide an oasis that keeps us from other choices that are less wholesome,” the pope said. “Likewise, in moments of weariness, anger, disappointment or failure, when prayer itself does not help us find inner serenity, a good book can help us weather the storm until we find peace of mind.”

Pope Francis insisted reading “is not something completely outdated” and is an antidote to “our present unremitting exposure to social media, mobile phones and other devices.”

“I very much appreciate the fact that at least some seminaries have reacted to the obsession with ‘screens’ and with toxic, superficial and violent fake news by devoting time and attention to literature,” he wrote. “They have done this by setting aside time for tranquil reading and for discussing books, new and old, that continue to have much to say to us.”

However, the pope said, even in those seminaries, literature is often seen merely as a form of healthy entertainment rather than as a subject that is important in their training.

A lack of literature and poetry, he said, “can lead to the serious intellectual and spiritual impoverishment of future priests, who will be deprived of that privileged access which literature grants to the very heart of human culture and, more specifically, to the heart of every individual.”

Literature, he said, is “listening to another person’s voice.”

Especially for those preparing for the priesthood, learning to listen to others, particularly those who challenge one’s point of view, is a necessary skill, the pope said. Without it, “we immediately fall into self-isolation; we enter into a kind of ‘spiritual deafness,’ which has a negative effect on our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with God, no matter how much theology or psychology we may have studied.”

Literature and poetry, like other arts, also help hone a reader’s ability to be in awe — of others, of the world and, ultimately, of God, the pope said.

Literature, he said, “teaches us how to look and see, to discern and explore the reality of individuals and situations as a mystery charged with a surplus of meaning that can only be partially understood through categories, explanatory schemes, linear dynamics of causes and effects, means and ends.”

Learning that lesson is essential for effective evangelization, which is not first about proclaiming and explaining church doctrines but about helping people “encounter Jesus Christ made flesh, made man, made history,” the pope wrote.

“We must always take care never to lose sight of the ‘flesh’ of Jesus Christ: that flesh made of passions, emotions and feelings, words that challenge and console, hands that touch and heal, looks that liberate and encourage, flesh made of hospitality, forgiveness, indignation, courage, fearlessness; in a word, love,” Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – More than a week after the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, the Vatican joined people who complained that a segment of the show featuring drag performers offended Christians.

“The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes in the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris and can only join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offense caused to many Christians and believers of other religions,” said the statement published by the Vatican press office late Aug. 3.

The Vatican statement did not specifically identify the July 26 performance, which featured drag performers, including one wearing a crown, seated at a table in a scene that reminded many people of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of the Last Supper.

“In a prestigious event where the whole world gathers around common values, there should be no allusions that ridicule the religious convictions of many people,” the Vatican statement said.

While insisting it was not questioning the freedom of expression of the event’s organizers, the Vatican said that freedom “finds its limit in respect for others.”

At a news conference July 28, organizers apologized.

Thomas Jolly, the French creative director of the opening ceremony, said at the news conference that he “did not intend to be subversive or to mock or shock,” saying the show included “ideas from the French Republic,” “inclusive ideas,” because in France “we’re allowed to love who we want, how we want.”

The Vatican statement came two days after Pope Francis spoke by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. While the Vatican provided no details about their conversation, Erdogan’s office said he told the pope that the “immoral” Olympics opening ceremony had made a mockery of sacred values and called for a common stand to be taken against it, Reuters reported.

(OSV News) – A retired FBI agent will head up the U.S. bishops’ consultative safe environment body, while a clergy abuse survivor, a nursing professor and two clinical social workers are also among the board’s Aug. 1 appointments.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has appointed James Bogner as the next chair of the National Review Board. A former high-level FBI special agent with more than 35 years of law enforcement experience, Bogner succeeds outgoing chair Suzanne Healy, who recently completed her four-year term, having led the board since 2020.

Three new members have also been appointed to the board: Paulette Adams, a tenured professor emeritus at the University of Louisville School of Nursing; independent business owner Scott Surette, a survivor of clerical abuse; and retired clinical social worker Barbara Thorp of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Reappointed to the board for a second term was Vivian M. Akel, a retired licensed clinical social worker who serves as safe environment coordinator for the Maronite Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn.

The board appointments were announced in two separate press releases issued by the USCCB Aug. 1.

The lay-led, 15-member board is a key part of the bishops’ commitment to preventing sexual abuse of minors, as detailed in the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” established in 2002 amid a number of emerging clerical abuse scandals. Commonly called the Dallas Charter, the document lays out a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, and includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability and prevention of abuse.

Created in tandem with the charter’s adoption, the board works closely with the USCCB to uphold the charter. Among its functions are reviewing the annual report and overall work of the bishops’ Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection, alerting the secretariat and its standing committee of issues and making recommendations.

The professional and personal backgrounds of the latest appointees reflect a range of experiences relevant to addressing the issue of sexual abuse in the church.

During his FBI career, Bogner oversaw that agency’s internal affairs units, and was also a special agent in charge in several capacities. His positions — which included supervisory roles in the investigation of the 1995 Oklahoma City domestic terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, and in designing post-9/11 airport security protocols in Nebraska and Iowa — spanned investigations, responses to personnel misconduct, risk analysis and strategic planning. A lifelong Catholic and an active member of the Knights of Columbus, Bogner chairs the Archdiocese of Omaha’s advisory review and ministerial misconduct boards, as well as the Missionary Society of St. Columban’s U.S. review board.

Surette knows first-hand the trauma of clerical sexual abuse, having been molested at age 15 by an abusive priest in his native Indiana. Four decades of fallout from the abuse led him to seek healing through resources at the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, which provided counseling and arranged for a meeting with Lafayette Bishop Timothy L. Doherty. According to the USCCB release, Surette “believes he was given a vision of his abuser through the eyes of Christ,” coming to see the now-deceased priest as “a hurt, wounded and lost soul” whom Surette fully forgave, and for whom he now regularly prays.

“This healing and peace have touched every aspect of Mr. Surette’s life, and he now wishes to bring this total paradigm shift from anger and vengeance to healing and forgiveness to the Church to help the Church recover from the deep wounds that the sexual abuse scandals have caused,” the USCCB press release said.

Adams, a longtime nurse and nursing professor, has 25 years of experience as a nurse legal consultant on malpractice cases handled by several law firms. In addition, she has testified in court as an expert witness. Adams has served on the Archdiocese of Louisville’s sexual abuse review board since its creation in 2002, while chairing the archdiocese’s Peace and Justice Commission.

Thorp spent 35 years as a clinical social worker for the Archdiocese of Boston, where she also founded and, from 2002 to 2012, directed the archdiocese’s Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach, which provides trauma-informed services for clerical abuse survivors, family members and parishes. Thorp assisted with the first papal meeting between clergy abuse survivors and Pope Benedict XVI in April 2008, an encounter led by Cardinal Seán O’Malley. Along with initiating the post-abortion healing ministry Project Rachel in the Boston Archdiocese, Thorp is a board member for Awake, a community of abuse survivors, concerned Catholics and allies responding to the wounds of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

In addition to leading the safe environment office in the Maronite Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, Akel — a member of the National Review Board since 2020 — serves as a seminary formator and marriage preparation facilitator. She spent 21 years as a school social worker for the New York City Department of Education, and also directed social work at an acute care medical center. Akel maintained a private psychotherapy practice until 2014.

Archbishop Broglio, who thanked Healy for her leadership and service while welcoming Bogner, said in the release that the board and USCCB committee have experienced an “excellent and collaborative” working relationship.

“We have witnessed great strides and challenges in the continued and ongoing efforts for the Catholic Church in the United States to strengthen and renew her efforts for the protection of young people and the healing of victims,” said Archbishop Broglio. “I thank Mrs. Healy for her longtime service on this most crucial issue, and I look forward to working with the (National Review Board) under the leadership of Mr. Bogner to continuing that process in the future.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – While bishops around the world are asked to designate their cathedrals or other significant churches as special places of pilgrimage and prayer for the Holy Year 2025, the Vatican is not asking them to dedicate and open a “Holy Door” at those churches.

The Dicastery for Evangelization, which is coordinating the celebration of the Jubilee, issued a note Aug.1 praising “the pastoral and devotional motivations” of bishops who wanted to designate a local Holy Door but saying the only holy doors will be at the basilicas of St. Peter at the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome and, perhaps, at a prison.

In “Spes Non Confundit” (“Hope Does Not Disappoint”), the papal bull officially proclaiming the Holy Year, Pope Francis wrote that “in order to offer prisoners a concrete sign of closeness, I would myself like to open a Holy Door in a prison, as a sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence.”

In Catholic tradition, the Holy Door represents the passage to salvation — the path to a new and eternal life, which was opened to humanity by Jesus.

The tradition goes back more than 600 years. Pope Martin V, in 1423, opened the Holy Door in the Basilica of St. John Lateran — the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome — for the first time for a jubilee. Later, Pope Alexander VI had Holy Doors opened at the four main basilicas in Rome for the Holy Year of 1500.

The doors are formally closed at the end of a Holy Year and then bricked up by masons.

Starting in the 16th century, the ceremony to open the door in St. Peter’s Basilica included the pope reciting verses from the Psalms and striking the wall covering the Holy Door with a silver hammer three times.

The designation of a Holy Door in every diocese and at many shrines around the world was an innovation Pope Francis made for the celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015-2016.

In his bull of indiction proclaiming the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis asked the world’s bishops to open Holy Doors so that their dioceses and eparchies would be “directly involved in living out this Holy Year as an extraordinary moment of grace and spiritual renewal,” ensuring the Jubilee would be “celebrated both in Rome and in the Particular Churches as a visible sign of the Church’s universal communion.”

In its note Aug. 1, the Dicastery for Evangelization pointed out that the pope did not make such a request of bishops for the Holy Year 2025.

Instead, Pope Francis asked bishops to celebrate the solemn opening of the jubilee on Sunday, Dec. 29, and suggested that “a pilgrimage that sets out from a church chosen for the ‘collectio’ and then proceeds to the cathedral can serve to symbolize the journey of hope that, illumined by the word of God, unites all the faithful.”

The Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court dealing with matters of conscience and with the granting of indulgences, issued a document in May spelling out how Catholics can receive the traditional Holy Year indulgence, which the church describes as a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for their sins.

The document said that bishops should designate their cathedral or another church or sacred place as local sites for Holy Year pilgrims. “Bishops will take into account the needs of the faithful as well as the opportunity to reinforce the concept of pilgrimage with all its symbolic significance, so as to manifest the great need for conversion and reconciliation,” the Vatican court said.

Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 24 and at St. John Lateran Dec. 29. The Holy Door at St. Mary Major will be opened Jan. 1, he said, and at St. Paul Outside the Walls Jan. 5.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Senate passed two major online child safety reforms July 30, but the bills face an uncertain future in the House.

The bills – the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act and the Kids Online Safety Act, sometimes called COPPA 2.0 and KOSA – were approved by the upper chamber in a bipartisan 91-3 vote. But the legislation faces some criticism from tech industry groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, and it is not yet clear if it would have the necessary support to pass in the GOP-controlled House.

KOSA would create the new obligation of “duty of care,” a requirement for social media companies to mitigate potential harms to children. COPPA 2.0 would expand the parental consent requirement for data collection and would ban companies from targeting children with advertising.

Jessica Heldman, a child rights professor at the University of San Diego, a Catholic university, and a member of its Children’s Advocacy Institute, told OSV News, “the research is clear that social media puts children at risk.”

“They are being bullied, exploited, exposed to drugs and harmful content through platforms designed to keep their attention to the point of causing addiction,” she said July 30. “The legislation overwhelmingly passed by the Senate today is an important and long-awaited step toward protecting the safety and well-being of children online. Quite simply, it will save lives.”

Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., spearheaded KOSA after reporting by The Wall Street Journal that social media companies were aware of risks presented by their platforms to kids, including Instagram’s adverse effects on the mental health of teen girls.

Blackburn said in a July 30 statement their legislation “provides young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against online harms.” Blumenthal added, “It will be the first internet safety reform in nearly three decades — a resounding bipartisan achievement showing democracy still works.”

COPPA 2.0, was spearheaded by Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Bill Cassidy, R-La. In remarks on the Senate floor July 30, Markey said its passage would mean “an end to the manipulative personalized ads that trick young people into purchasing unwanted goods and services.” Cassidy said in a statement, “The internet is an integral part of children’s lives today. It is time our laws reflect this new reality.”

In a statement, President Joe Biden urged the House to follow the Senate’s lead.

“Today, the Senate took a crucial bipartisan step forward to make our kids safer online,” Biden said July 30. “There is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms contribute to our youth mental health crisis. Today our children are subjected to a wild west online and our current laws and regulations are insufficient to prevent this. It is past time to act.”

He said his administration “has taken important steps to address the harms of social media and online platforms” but “we need action by Congress to protect our kids online and hold Big Tech accountable for the national experiment they are running on our children for profit.”

Biden said the KOSA bill “answers the call from the Unity Agenda of my first State of the Union Address, when I said it was time to strengthen privacy protections, ban targeted advertising to children, and demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children.”

But groups including the ACLU criticized KOSA, arguing it would censor protected speech.

“KOSA compounds nationwide attacks on young peoples’ right to learn and access information, on and offline,” Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said in a statement. “As state legislatures and school boards across the country impose book bans and classroom censorship laws, the last thing students and parents need is another act of government censorship deciding which educational resources are appropriate for their families. The House must block this dangerous bill before it’s too late.”

The bill’s path forward in the House is not yet clear, and the chamber is scheduled to be in recess until September.

Prior to the Senate’s passage of the legislation, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Axios he is focused on finding consensus in his chamber on the matter.

(OSV News) – Organizers of the Paris Olympic Games apologized during the Games’ daily news conference July 28 to those offended by a drag performance during the opening ceremony that the French bishops said “included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity.”

In what was supposed to be a feast of unity and joy for the world, France put itself in the eye of the storm July 26 as television cameras shown LGBTQ+ performers, one of whom wore a crown, seated at a table. The shape of the crown brought to mind a monstrance or halo.

The scene was immediately interpreted as a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic wall painting in Milan’s Dominican convent of the Last Supper.

The drag queen table scene was later complemented with a nude singer appearing in the middle of a fruit basket, to represent Dionysus, ancient Greece’s God of wine, with the Olympic Games official profile on X, formerly Twitter, saying the depiction made us “aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”

In a statement July 27, the French bishops deplored the scenes at the opening of the Olympic Games.

While the ceremony was a “marvelous display of beauty and joy, rich in emotion and universally acclaimed,” they said, it “unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply regret.” The Olympic celebration, they said “goes far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists,” the bishops stressed.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Olympic spokeswoman Anne Descamps told reporters July 28. “If people have taken any offense we are, of course, really, really sorry.”

Thomas Jolly, the French creative director of the opening ceremony, said at the news conference that he “did not intend to be subversive or to mock or shock,” saying the show included “ideas from the French Republic,” “inclusive ideas,” because in France “we’re allowed to love who we want, how we want.”

Right after the apology, Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, went on X, formerly Twitter, to say that while he complained about the Last Supper scene July 27 on social media and “had no intention of returning to the issue,” he decided to do so after the “so-called apology from the organizing committee” was “anything but an apology,” he said.

Reacting to Descamp’s comments that there “was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Bishop Barron said, “Give me a break.”

“So we have a group of drag queens cavorting in a kind of sexually provocative way, clearly in imitation of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, which presents to the world the Last Supper of Jesus. And no disrespect was meant. Do you think anyone takes that seriously?” Bishop Barron asked.

To the comment by the show’s director that what was intended was celebrating “community tolerance,” Bishop Barron responded: “Yeah, tolerance. Except for those pesky, 2.6 billion Christians on the planet. Everyone’s welcome. Everyone’s tolerated, all this lovely diversity. Until you get to anyone that disagrees with your ideology. Like these 2.6 billion people,” Bishop Barron said, referring to the size of the world’s Christian population.

He noted the organizers said that “celebrating tolerance was achieved.”

“I wonder what planet they’re living on if they think this, that harmony and peace and all this was achieved by this clear affront to Christians,” he said.

“Christians were offended because it was offensive, and it was intended to be offensive,” Bishop Barron said, adding that “a real apology would be something like: This was a mistake. It should never have been done, and we’re sorry for it.” Bishop Barron also said that Christians “should keep raising our voices.”

In a conversation with OSV News, Bishop Emmanuel Gobilliard of Digne, the special representative of the Holy See for the 2024 Paris Olympics, said July 27 that what shocked him most “is that the freedom of spirit and tone claimed by those who set this up shouldn’t be directed against others.”

Bishop Gobilliard said, “You can make fun of your own ideas, laugh at yourself, why not. But to mock the faith and religion of others in this way … is very shocking. That was my first reaction.”

He further stressed that the Olympic Games are the last place to create such divisions and that the scene violated the Olympic charter.

Rule 50 of the charter says: “It is important, on both a personal and a global level, that we keep the venues, the Olympic Village and the podium neutral and free from any form of political, religious or ethnic demonstrations.”

Two days after the opening ceremony, a 16-year-old Catholic Brazilian skateboarder, Rayssa Leal, used sign language to quote John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” to celebrate her bronze medal in the women’s street skateboarding final in Paris.

“I did it because I do it in every competition. For me it is important, I am Christian, I believe a lot in God. There I asked for strength and sent a message to everyone, that God really is the way, the truth and the life,” Leal told Brazilian media outlet UOL.

Brazilian media however raised a question whether after displaying her faith in a silent way two days after the controversial opening ceremony, Leal may be punished by the International Olympic Committee.

Meanwhile, the Polish state broadcaster suspended a sports television star journalist, a Catholic, who, during the controversial Olympic Games opening ceremony, reacted to a performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” by saying it was a “vision of communism.”

“A world without heaven, nations and religion. This is the vision of communism, unfortunately,” Przemyslaw Babiarz said live on air July 26. Lennon’s song asks to imagine no heaven or hell, no countries, and no possessions.

After state-owned Polish Television suspended Babiarz, Polish state Ombudsman spoke up on July 29, saying that the Polish constitution protects free speech of journalists and “the public broadcaster is obliged to respect it in particular, and should ensure that journalists are able to express themselves unhindered and that there is a plurality of views.”

Almost 30 current and former Olympians, and dozens of Babiarz’s colleagues from the sports newsroom of Polish Television signed a letter of support July 30, asking the CEO of TVP to let Babiarz come back on air and continue commenting on the Olympic Games.

Babiarz doesn’t shy away from talking about his faith. In a meeting with university students back in 2012 he said: “I think I talk about God with more commitment than about sports. This happens for a simple reason: God is more important to me.” He is one of the most iconic sports commentators in Poland, which for 50 years was under communist rule — a regime St. John Paul II helped overturn in 1989.

Suspending Babiarz for his opening ceremony remarks, Polish Television said in a statement that “sports should be free from politics,” but many commentators in Poland saw the journalist’s comments as a remedy for the controversial ceremony that made headlines for mocking the Catholic faith.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Thanks to Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples always, the faithful can be fully present for others, especially those in need, Pope Francis told thousands of altar servers from around the world.

“Thanks to Jesus, always and only thanks to him — you also can say to your neighbor, ‘I am with you,’ not in words, but in deeds, with gestures, with your heart, with concrete closeness,” the pope told the young people July 30.

The faithful can show their closeness concretely, he said, “by weeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice, without judgment or prejudice, without selfishness and excluding no one.”

This closeness is to be extended “even with those we might not like; with those different from me; with foreigners; with those whom we feel do not understand us; with those who never come to church; with those who say they do not believe in God,” he said.

The pope presided over an evening meeting of prayer, song and sharing experiences with nearly 50,000 altar servers from 20 countries making an international pilgrimage to Rome. The majority of young men and women came from Germany, but there also were pilgrims from Austria, Hungary, France and other countries. The last international pilgrimage was in Rome in 2018.

The pope first arrived by popemobile with a few children accompanying him. He spent about 20 minutes circling St. Peter’s Square, which was only about half-full, as well as a portion of the wide boulevard outside the square where thousands of visitors and altar servers were stuck, having not gotten to their seats in time before security closed the area. After the pope was seated in front of the basilica, security allowed the special guests to take their seats and fill the square.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg is president of Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium, the association of altar servers that hosted the meeting along with the German bishops’ conference.

He told the pope that altar servers approach Jesus in a special way during their service at Mass. “Through the special bond with Christ comes a true friendship, a connection between us,” which also means “drawing closer to one another.”

Jesus inspires the faithful “to be true friends of all people with the help of Christ,” which means extending a hand to those in difficulty: the poor, the persecuted, the oppressed, the homeless, the unemployed, the refugees or those without a homeland, the cardinal said.

The pope gave brief remarks that were then translated into German for the crowd.

Reflecting on the pilgrimage’s theme of “With You,” the pope said, “Your experience of serving the liturgy reminds me that the first subject, the agent of this ‘with you,’ is God.”

“This occurs above all during Mass, in the Eucharist, where the God who is ‘with you’ becomes a real and concrete presence in the body and blood of Christ,” he said. “When we receive holy Communion, we experience that Jesus is ‘with us’ both spiritually and physically.”

“You too, in Communion, can say to the Lord Jesus, ‘I am with you,’ not in words, but with your heart and your body, with your love. Precisely because Jesus is with us, we can truly be with him” and then with others, he said.

The pope thanked the young people “for coming here as pilgrims in order to share the joy of belonging to Jesus, of being servants of his love, servants of his wounded heart that heals our wounds, that saves us from death and that gives us eternal life.”

At the end of the prayer service, the pope spent another 20 minutes greeting the many bishops who had accompanied their dioceses’ altar servers and scores of young people seated in front of the basilica, signing the back of their tickets, taking selfies, exchanging remarks and receiving gifts.