We have only a few more Wednesdays before the election, so it is no surprise to find a rich variety of articles among our sources where wisdom may be sought – including opinion, analysis and straight reporting. And opinion. Did we mention opinion? We acknowledge the Feast of Sukkot on the Hebrew Calendar, and we also have items seeking to give us insight into our Catholic synodal process.
Synod on Synodality
Father Jim Bacik’s most recent video, # 97, is on the Synod, and is available at his website.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES by Thomas Reese. Canon lawyers and theologians recommend ways to make synodality more concrete. “Pope Francis preaches about synodality, but canon lawyers are showing us how to make it more than a pious wish,” says Jesuit columnist Thomas Reese.
Theologians called for power-sharing, reform at a synod forum on October 9. “The Catholic Church can no longer function as a monarchy: It must rethink its internal power dynamics, share its decision-making processes with laypeople and reform canon law.” Camillo Barone reports for National Catholic Reporter.
Polygamy At the Synod, Congo Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo says the Church is working to address polygamy. Catholic bishops in Africa are seeking both pastoral and theological ways to address such relationships. The report comes from Crux Now.
ANALYSIS: How ‘Special Interest Advocacy’ Works at the Synod on Synodality. Tuesday’s “women’s ordination” event, to which synod delegates were invited via mass email, is a good illustration of how side events attempt to influence the process.
EARTHBEAT: The Amazon synod five years ago reverberates through the Catholic Church today. Men and women, some in traditional Indigenous dress, filled the transepts and dome of St. Peter’s with a song of prayer alongside cardinals and bishops. Pope Francis then opened the monthlong Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region.
Daily Synod Reports. Michael Centore, editor of Today’s American Catholic files daily reports from Rome. Find his articles HERE.
A podcast for Sukkot
This week, Jews celebrate the holiday of Sukkot, during which it is traditional to read one of the most philosophically interesting books of the Hebrew Bible, Ecclesiastes. The narrator of the book, identified by Jewish tradition as King Solomon, has spent his life exploring the many corners of human endeavor, and he has come to say that each corner, no matter how satisfying to certain parts of us, cannot answer our deepest needs — or perhaps cannot answer anything at all. Everything is vanity, the book whispers famously, and nothing more. Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft admires Ecclesiastes for its honest look at human problems. As he writes in his own commentary, “honest hedonism is spiritually superior to dishonest self-delusion.” In conversation with Mosaic’s editor Jonathan Silver, he mines the biblical book for the wisdom it may offer. (Published in 2021)
Commemorating Oct. 7
On Oct. 7, Pittsburgh Jews embraced unity in a divided city. Roughly 1,000 people from a range of Jewish denominations stood shoulder to shoulder in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood Monday evening to commemorate the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.
Yom Kippur in Prague
Czech Jews marked the first Yom Kippur in historic Prague synagogue since the Holocaust. Rabbi David Maxa, who organized the observance in one of Prague’s 17th-century synagogues, said the moment “is not just a revival of our prayers, but a powerful testament to the resilience and continuity of our tradition.”
Czech Jews mark first Yom Kippur in historic Prague synagogue since the Holocaust
At the Vatican
OPINION Pope’s Oct. 7 letter citing an antisemitic verse is a disaster for Jewish-Catholic relations. Regardless of Francis’ intentions, he invoked a dangerous legacy when he chose John 8:44 to characterize “our one true enemy” in his letter to Middle Eastern Catholics.
Pope’s Oct. 7 letter citing antisemitic verse is a disaster for Jewish-Catholic relations
Victory plan
The Ukrainian president is traveling through Europe in search of financial and political support for his “victory plan.” He met Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy meets Pope Francis at Vatican to discuss humanitarian situation in Ukraine
INTERVIEW Palestinian and Christian in a violent time
“What does it mean to be church amid these very harsh circumstances?” asks Bethlehem pastor Munther Isaac
Election Section
Black, Hispanic Catholics in swing states favor Harris in new poll. Large majorities of Black and Hispanic Catholic voters in seven battleground states say they intend to vote for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris over her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, a new political poll found. It was commissioned by the National Catholic Reporter.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES by Thomas Reese. The columnist offers Five ways Catholic parishes can keep politics out of church. He says Most Catholics don’t want politics to divide their parishes, but the wise pastor will prepare for the worst.
Catholic Groups supporting Harris: This is Part 2 of a two-part series focusing on Catholic groups’ involvement in the 2024 presidential election. This story focuses on groups that support Vice President Kamala Harris. Part 1, published last week, explored groups supporting former President Donald Trump.
How to approach the 2024 election as a Catholic: Fr. Louis Cameli has a short video reflecting on Catholics and voting that Michael Sean Winters says “is 10 times better than the U.S. bishops’ conferences ‘Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.’” His remarks are thoughtful and capture the breadth of the tradition. There is no simplistic reductionism of our rich tradition to partisan talking points. Catholic groups supporting either candidate should consult this and see if their messaging lives up to the vision Cameli articulates. Cameli is the Cardinal’s Delegate for Formation and Mission for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
OPINION: It is natalism. Candidate JD Vance’s comments reek of the dark history of natalism, a sociopolitical framework promoting reproduction and exalting the role of the parent. Writer Emma Cieslik says Vance has argue for increased taxes for adults without children and suggested lessening their voting power. “Extreme, yes; but he is not alone,” says Cieslik. “A wider natalist movement with historical roots is gaining traction today among American conservatives, including conservative Catholics.”
OPINION by Jim Wallis. Get thee behind me, Satan. And Christian nationalists. Wallis says, “Like Jesus, Christians should reject calls to embrace power rather than love.”
Anti-Trump Billy Graham ad prompts threat of lawsuit: The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, led by the late evangelist’s son the Rev. Franklin Graham, has said it might sue over the ad’s use of clips from a 1988 Graham sermon. The ad, which has racked up over 30 million views, flips between Graham’s 1988 sermon, contrasting his points with shots of Trump using violent language, claiming to be “the chosen one” and talking about kissing women without their consent.
Evangelicals for Harris’ anti-Trump Billy Graham ad prompts threat of lawsuit
Why Harris and the Democrats may not be able to count on Hindu Americans in November. As Hindu American participation in politics has increased over the past decade, its political affiliations have begun to shift.
Why Harris and the Democrats may not be able to count on Hindu Americans in November
Wall Street Journal Survey: Trump more inflationary
Much of the Republican case against a Kamala Harris presidency has rested on the claim that she’s responsible for — and would continue — policies that caused eye-watering inflation for Americans under the Biden administration. But a new survey of economists, conducted by the Wall Street Journal, finds that most economists believe that former President Donald Trump would pursue a more inflationary policy regime. More from the Associated Press.
OPINION: Cameroon priest says rhetoric in U.S. election is symbolic of apartheid. The report from Crux Now.
America Magazine: What should be our response? JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, has falsely accused Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, of stealing and eating their neighbors’ cats and dogs. What should be our response to such disregard for the truth—and to such an apparent lack of compassion?
Five years ago, Vance became a Roman Catholic, becoming a co-religionist of about one-third of the Haitian population. Shortly after he became Roman Catholic, he said he liked Roman Catholicism because it was “old,” it felt “true,” and was the religion of an uncle by marriage whom he really cared for. But there is more to the Catholic faith than it being “old.”
ELCA condemns hateful, deceptive, violent speech
Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued a letter Oct. 1 to “condemn the hateful, deceptive, violent speech that has too readily found a place in our national discourse.”
The letter from the Council of Bishops said: “We lament the ways this language has led to hate-fueled action. We refuse to accept the ongoing normalization of lies and deceit.”
Although not naming Republican candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance, the letter takes clear aim at the kind of false statements both men have become known for and that have grown more outlandish as the election nears.
OPINION: Whenever three or more white males are afraid in America, a new nativist movement is born. Former President Trump is carrying on an old tradition rooted in nativist populism. Trump is a populist in the paranoid tradition of such aberrations as Joseph McCarthy and Patrick Buchanan. America rejected McCarthy and Buchanan, but Buchanan is still important because of his influence on Trump.
Donald Trump and the story of the magical phone app for immigrants
OPINION: What does JD Vance—and Springfield, Ohio—owe Haitian immigrants? Jack Champagne writes at Black Catholic Messenger on the GOP vice presidential candidate’s fixation on the immigrant other—and the malformed Catholic imagination that animates it.
Artist depicts ‘realistic’ birth of Jesus.
A realistic statue of Mary giving birth was criticized, then vandalized. An art historian says saints and artists have often reimagined Christ’s birth. Early Christian texts reveal how the birth of Christ reflected ideas of the day − in some illustrations, midwives helped the Virgin Mary give birth.
INTERVIEW How queer perspectives can open prayer to everyone
Contemplative Christianity has prioritized the same voices for far too long, says Cassidy Hall, a LGBTQ+ Christian contemplative scholar.
Hindus in Bangladesh celebrate under tight security
Bangladesh’s current interim leader, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has faced serious challenges in maintaining law and order since he took over in August, and Durga Puja, Bangladesh’s largest Hindu festival, was seen as an acid test of his administration’s ability to protect minorities. The weeklong celebration that ends in the Muslim-majority Bangladesh on Sunday with immersions of the Hindu Goddess has strained the Hindu community with reports of vandalism, violence and intimidation.
OPINION Jerry Falwell Jr. is back and it’s bad for everyone
Last month, former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell and his wife, Becki, returned to the campus for the first time since sex- and alcohol-ridden scandals surrounding the couple came to light in 2020, causing Jerry Falwell’s eventual resignation. The episode led to Falwell and the university suing each other and the couple being banned from campus. But a settlement was reached this summer and both lawsuits were dropped, along with the ban. Yet, there has been no public confession of, repentance for or even an acknowledgment of the betrayal of trust the Falwells’ misconduct incurred upon so many.
Transgender and intersex Catholics ask pope to rethink church stance on gender-affirming care. The meeting was organized after the Vatican issued a document condemning gender-affirming care and gender theory.
Michael Sean Winters: Catholics Behaving Badly
Column feature examines “Questionable defenses and double papal standards.”
Christopher Columbus
Although Christopher Columbus is remembered as much today for unleashing destruction on native peoples as for discovering new lands, one thing about him has remained a mystery: What is his own lineage? Now, Spanish scientists believe he was born into a Sephardic Jewish family from Western Europe and converted to Catholicism to avoid religious persecution.
On the path to sainthood
The Diocese of Jackson has published an update on the canonization cause of Servant of God Thea Bowman, one of seven African Americans currently on the path to sainthood in the Catholic Church. Bowman’s canonization cause, begun in 2018 by Bishop Joseph Kopacz, received approval from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops the same year and has since involved research on her life and work. This is part of the diocesan phase of the process, which for Bowman is reportedly halfway complete.
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