News

SJC Allows a Casino Repeal Vote

Gambling supporters, opponents mobilizing for prospective referendum in November

The state’s highest court decided Tuesday that a casino repeal measure can appear on the November ballot, touching off a ferocious referendum campaign over one of the most charged issues in a generation and jeopardizing the future of the billion-dollar industry in Massachusetts.

Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone Law Struck Down

The nation’s highest court today struck down a Massachusetts law that created buffer zones around abortion clinics.

The US Supreme Court ruled that the state law violated the First Amendment, restricting access to public ways and sidewalks, places that are traditionally open for free debate. The government’s ability to regulate speech in such areas is limited, the justice said in a unanimous decision. 

“The buffer zones burden substantially more speech than necessary to achieve the Commonwealth’s asserted interests,” the court said.  

Pope Names Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Mitchell Rozanski as Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts

Pope Francis has named Auxiliary Bishop Mitchell Rozanski of Baltimore, 55,  as bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts and accepted the resignation of Bishop  Timothy McDonnell from pastoral governance of the diocese.

The announcements of the appointment and resignation were made June 19 in Washington by Archbishop Carlo Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishops issue statement regarding proposed firearm legislation

The Bishops of the Commonwealth issued the following statement regarding proposed firearm control legislation introduced this week by House Speaker Robert DeLeo:

 

 

STATEMENT OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF THE COMMONWEALTH ON PROPOSED FIREARM LEGISLATION

 

 

 

‘Praying the Rosary with Pope Francis’ released by US Bishops’ Communications Department; Promotional Contest To Offer Rosaries Blessed by Pope

Available Exclusively From USCCB in United States
Meditations on Jesus, Mary, Mysteries of Rosary, Sized to Fit in Pocket, Purse
Promotional Contest Through end of May

Bishops to Travel to Capitol Hill May 29, to Urge House of Representatives to Act on Immigration Reform

Bishops who celebrated border Mass to continue ‘Mission for Migrants’
Message to House: Now is the time to act
Mass on behalf of immigrant families to be celebrated on Capitol Hill

Echoing Pope Francis, Cardinal O’Malley and Brother Bishops Call For Action on Immigration Reform

Celebrate Mass and lay wreath at border to remember dead migrants
Call upon Congress to move quickly to end family separations
Request Administration to limit deportations of family members

Cardinal Seán O’Malley and the USCCB Committee on Migration to Visit U.S.-Mexico Border on a ‘Mission for Migrants’

ADVISORY
DATE:    March 26, 2014

TO:    News Media

FROM: USCCB Media Relations

Cardinal O’Malley Urges Congress to Support the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act

 

Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), urged support for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7) when it comes before the U.S. House of Representatives. In a January 28 letter to the House, Cardinal O’Malley called the bill “one small step toward a society that promotes life and not death for unborn children and their mothers.”

 

U.S. Bishops File Amicus Curiae Brief Supporting Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties

Brief highlights ‘potentially fatal fines’ confronting closely held businesses
Reiterates support for business owners challenging HHS mandate
Laws must protect individuals and families who seek to practice faith in daily life

Pages

view all news