We're in the midst of Religious Freedom Week in the U.S. Catholic Church and, for each day, the U.S. Bishops urge the faithful to pray for a certain item that affects, either negatively or positively, religious liberty. Today's intention is for the proposed Equality Act which is currently in the U.S. Senate. Although it sounds noble, it is anything but as it seeks to publicly redefine gender and force religious institutions to host functions that violate their beliefs. It would also force some health care workers to violate their consciences. Gus is joined by National Catholic Register staff writer Lauretta Brown who goes over the nuts and bolts of this bill.
In response to the Equality Act, the USCCB posted a list on their Web site of all the many ways it would violate religious liberty. Gus goes over that list and then opines on several of the aspects and makes the point that all of this is being pushed by our Catholic president, Joe Biden, who said passing it is a top priority.
Also, today is the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. His is only one of three birthdays celebrated in the liturgical calendar (the other two being Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary). Gus says that St. John the Baptist is considered a miracle baby because of his parents' advanced age. He invites listeners who have miracle baby stories of their own to call in and share them.
And, Gus provides an update on the situation regarding side altar masses at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Back in March, the Vatican Deputy Secretary of State, Archbishop Edgar Pena Perra, issued a directive that stated that individual masses at side altar would be suppressed in order to ensure an atmosphere of recollection and liturgical decorum." Since that time, the number of daily masses has plummeted from around 75 per day to less than 10. The directive also banned the traditional Latin mass from St. Peter's and relegated them to the small Clementine chapel and for no longer than 30 minutes. After essentially turning St. Peter's into a museum and a loud public outcry, which included laypeople, priests and high-ranking clergy, the Vatican announced that it was easing those restrictions.
St. John the Baptist, pray for us!
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