Happy Friday! As always, your weekly roundup:
A large group of gay and transgender Catholics are seeking a meeting with Pope Francis during his first visit to the United States in September, pushing him to take a stand on the issues of sexuality and gender that are increasingly dividing Catholics.
A newly discovered artifact buried with one of Jamestown’s most prominent leaders suggests he could have been a crypto-Catholic. This idea is stunning for a couple of reasons, the most important of which is that Jamestown was fundamentally anti-Catholic.
The Boy Scouts of America ended its national ban on openly gay adult leaders and employees on Monday while allowing local religious units to continue to exclude gay adults. Meeting by conference call, 79 percent of the BSA’s national executive board members favored the resolution ratified earlier this month by its executive committee.
The state of Washington can require a pharmacy to deliver medicine even if the pharmacy’s owner has a religious objection, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday, the latest in a series of judgments on whether religious believers can opt out of providing services. The ruling, from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, came in a case filed by pharmacists who objected to delivering emergency contraceptives.
The last Catholic priest in the Antarctic was told he is "not needed anymore." "After 60 years of ministry at the end of the Earth," he said, "it's a bit sad."
The search for accommodations during Pope Francis' September visit to Philadelphia led one New Jersey church group straight to the animals. Instead of scrambling to find hotel rooms, seeking out host families, or searching through private rental listings, the 240-person group from North Jersey will be sleeping amid the Philadelphia Zoo's 1,300 animals.
A judge said Thursday that he believes a group of elderly nuns improperly sold their hilltop convent to a businesswoman but delayed any efforts by church officials to finalize a competing sale to pop singer Katy Perry.
And now for the papal rapid fire roundup
This week, Pope Francis:
- Can't win, apparently.
- Is making everybody anxious.
- Is a lottery prize.
