It's a beautiful Friday, gearing up for a beautiful weekend. This is your weekly roundup.
First things first, let's look at the Vatican. Harley Davidson (the motorcycle company) is celebrating 110 years in existence, and as part of their celebration they have gifted two of their classic bikes to Pope Francis. Hey, it's more stylish than the Pope-mobile.
We all know that Papa Francesco is a rather quotable pope, so CNN has collected some of his greatest hits from his first 100 days as pope. Not included in the CNN list were some of Francis' choice words on capitalism, but it's a worthwhile list nonetheless.
One of the quotes included on CNN's list, however, were some recent remarks that Pope Francis probably made about the so-called "gay lobby" in the Vatican. Because the Vatican refused to make any comment after the report was released (Oops! Sorry that got out!), no one knows with certainty what this "gay lobby" indicates.
In that same meeting (he was meeting with the Latin American Conference of Religious, or CLAR), Pope Francis also maybe told the religious communities not to worry too much about scrutiny from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Once again, we on the outside are left not knowing entirely what that means, but it might mean a glimmer of hope for the LCWR.
Back stateside, The USCCB is gearing up for the second (annual?) Fortnight for freedom. Even while attempting to protect religious liberty, some of the U.S. bishops have been supportive of President Obama's attempt to curb gun violence through gun control legislation. But one police advisor in Virginia, John Snyder, says that the bishops have been sucked in. Snyder claims that "freedom haters" are working hard to take away the freedoms that Americans are rightfully due. He seems to think that the Fortnight for freedom ought to include prayers not just for freedom from contraception, but also freedom for guns.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun Times has reported that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) may decide to pull funding from some organizations who partner with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, an organization that recently endorsed same-sex marriage. This even after Cardinal Dolan's op-ed in which he endorsed the current immigration reform legislation. Read Scott Alessi's comments about this latest CCHD scandal here.
Another Catholic school gone wild. This time, a Catholic school fired a woman who is a victim of domestic abuse because she is a victim of domestic abuse. Carie Charlesworth and her four children were expelled from the school (and all the diocesan schools) after an incident in which Charlesworth's ex-husband showed up at the school. The school claimed that "for the safety of the students, faculty, and parents at the school" Charlesworth's teaching contract would not be renewed. See Elizabeth Lefebvre's comments about the incident here.
Speaking of biblical values, there are a couple of new ways to "read" the Bible. Zondervan has published a new "graphic novel" version of the book of Revelation. It looks visually stunning, and is distributed with the hope that it will make Revelation "easier to read." Of course, if reading isn't your thing – just go see the movie! Mark Burnett has confirmed that he will be directing a sequel to "The Bible" miniseries. He has also finished editing down the miniseries into a feature-length film that focuses on Jesus. No word yet as to what exactly the sequel to "The Bible" will entail.
Finally, if you don't have big plans for the weekend, why don't you join 26 Democratic members of Congress and take the "Food stamp challenge." Try living on a food stamp budget and see how far you get! Read Caitlyn Schmid's comments about this here.
That's our roundup for the week. Hope you have a great weekend.
Just remember, be humble.
