This week in summary: It was not a good week for two east-coast governors, the archdiocese of Chicago, or Justine Bieber. This is your weekly roundup.
It was a scandalous week in New Jersey and in Virginia. Chris Christie's administration has come under fire in recent weeks for the traffic jam now fondly known as "Bridgegate." But this week, the scandal expanded to include abuse of powder allegations against the governor's office with regard to allocation of emergency funding after Hurricane Sandy devastated Hoboken, NJ.
In Virginia, the only-just-former governor and first lady of the state, Bob and Maureen McDonnell, have been federally indicted on 14 counts of corruption and bribery. They have both pled "not guilty" to the charges.
In Ohio, a man was executed using a never-before-used method. The execution was called "horrific," as the Dennis McGuire apparently suffered "air hunger" and terror as the execution extended for about 25 minutes.
The March for Life was held this week, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and this year the march got a makeover. Cardinal O'Malley of Boston gave a homily about the consistent ethic of life that the church teaches.
In a Seattle Catholic school, a president has resigned her post after "unrelenting protests" over her decision to fire the vice-principal after he married his partner.
Filed under "good reads" is this piece over at Religion and Politics that features Megan Rice, an 83-year-old nun who is awaiting sentencing for "federal crimes of terrorism." She is a peace activist who broke into a federal nuclear facility in an act of protest.
In Chicago, more than 6,000 pages of documents detailing the archdioceses' mishandling of sexual abuse has been released. The documents involve less than half of the 65 priests it has acknowledged faced substantiated abuse claims.
At the Vatican, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the head of a "kitchen cabinet" the pope created to draw up reform proposals, said that Archbishop Gerhard Mueller – who has opposed any loosening of Church rules on divorce – was a classic German theology professor who thought too much in rigid black-and-white terms, and said that he should loosen up.
Also at the Vatican, a former prelate has been arrested on money laundering charges.
Our friends over at Jesuit magazine America think that Stephen Colbert might have a thing or two to teach us Catholics about catechizing the masses.
And now for the Papal rapid fire roundup.
- This week, Pope Francis announced a trip to the United States.
- Also, the POTUS will be visiting him.
- He likes the Internet.
- And breastfeeding.
- Fox News does not like him.
That's all for now! Have a great weekend and stay warm out there!
