Happy Friday! Here's a roundup of this week's news, just for you:
Pope Francis said Catholics have a moral responsibility to limit the number of their children and shouldn't reproduce "like rabbits.''
As thousands participated in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. this week, a bill that prohibits using federal money to pay for "any abortion" or for "health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion" was approved by the House.
Earlier in the week, though, the House dropped a 20-week abortion limit as, according to NPR, some Republican lawmakers raised objections that the bill's language was too restrictive, especially a provision that would exempt rape victims from the abortion restrictions, but only if they report the attack to police.
A huge measles outbreak linked to Disneyland proves it really is a small world after all. The outbreak of the once-eradicated highly contagious disease casts a spotlight on the recent anti-vaccine movement as at least 70 people have been infected and more than 30 babies too young to receive the measles vaccine have been placed in home isolation after possible exposure.
Pope Francis confirmed his U.S. trip itinerary this week and says he will visit New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. this fall.
President Obama was the third president to reference a pope during the State of the Union address when he gave Pope Francis a shout-out in his speech Tuesday night.
A close aide to emeritus Pope Benedict XVI denied reports that the former pontiff is playing a behind-the-scenes role over the issue of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, Crux reports, calling the reports a “pure invention.”
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight, AKA a global catastrophe. It now stands at three minutes before midnight. The last time the clock read 11:57 p.m. was in 1984 when tensions escalated between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, NPR says.
And now for the papal rapid fire roundup:
This week, Pope Francis:
- Offended German rabbit breeders.
- Became a sommelier.
- Confused Rick Santorum.
