U.S. bishops

U.S. bishops introduced a series of sweeping measures Wednesday intended to streamline reporting of sexual abuse and ensure that justice is done to victims.

The president of the U.S. Bishops Conference (USCCB) has written a letter to every U.S. senator urging them not to make support for Roe v. Wade into a “litmus test” for judicial nominees.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to press U.S. legislators to pass the Conscience Protection Act, which would ensure that health care personnel and others could not be coerced into participating in actions such as abortion that violate their moral conscience.

The U.S. Bishops have written to all members of Congress “urging members of the House and Senate to provide a replacement plan” to the Affordable Care Act.

After the democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Kaine expressed his prediction that the Catholic Church would alter its teaching on gay marriage, two leading U.S. bishops have issued a joint statement declaring that the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage as the union of one man and one woman “cannot change.”

Liberal Catholic media are trying to push the U.S. bishops to amend their election guidelines to focus more on care for the poor and immigration than issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion and religious liberty.

In a scalding reproach to abortion giant Planned Parenthood, Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted has denounced its “barbaric practice of selling baby body parts,” calling for its immediate defunding.

With Wednesday’s expiration of the Congressional mandate for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the American Catholic bishops have formally petitioned Congress to reinstate it.

Six U.S. Bishops are sufficiently principled to earn a place on a hate list published by the GLAAD gay lobby, just prior to Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. Through its guide, GLAAD hopes to dictate to the media which terms to use and which to avoid in discussing homosexuality, as well as pointing out possible “pitfalls” in reporting on LGBT Catholics. It also suggests a series of story lines and angles to take in reporting to highlight the positive sight of LGBT life.