TGIF, and welcome to your regularly scheduled Weekly Roundup (albeit without your regularly scheduled weekly rounder-uper, as I am pinch-hitting for Kira Dault this week).
Same-sex marriage has again been all over the news, and the country, this week. An Arkansas circuit judge clarified his ruling that clears the path for same-sex marriages to begin in the state, while a federal judge struck down Idaho's ban on same-sex marriage. For the moment, however, marriages in Idaho remain on hold as the state appeals the ruling. A federal judge in Oregon also denied a motion by the National Organization for Marriage to defend the state's same-sex marriage ban as it faces a legal challenge.
The 9/11 memorial museum opened this week, but it was quickly the subject of controversy over a short film shown in the museum on Al Qaeda.
Speaking of controversies, a planned "black Mass" at Harvard University was cancelled, much to the delight of the Archdiocese of Boston. For those not following the story, here's a full recap of how plans for the satanic ritual got started and why the plug was pulled.
Amid news stories that the number of Hispanic Catholics in the church is shrinking, our own Elizabeth Lefebvre looked at what the numbers mean and Claretian Publications' own Carmen Aguinaco discussed the issue with WBEZ's Afternoon Shift here in Chicago.
More bad news for the church on the sex abuse front in the past week: The Archdiocese of Seattle came under fire for its handling of an abusive priest, 40 priests in Santa Fe, New Mexico were accused of abusing minors, and a Scottish priest was dismissed from the priesthood after avoiding criminal prosecution for his actions.
Moving on to celebrity news, we learned more about the late Jackie Kennedy this week from letters she wrote to a priest. And this week marks the retirement of another famous female icon, the legendary Barbara Walters, which should make Bill Donahue happy.
Oh, and what was Pope Francis up to this week? Better question: What is Antonio Banderas up to?
Do your plans for the weekend include going to confession? Or is that something that wouldn’t even cross your mind? Either way, we’d like you to take our reader survey on sin and let us know whether you still fear the seven deadlies.
Have a great weekend!
