A priest prepares to distribute Communion during Mass in Washington. (CNS/Bob Roller)
The Vatican surprised many Catholics and politicos recently when it threw cold water on a plan by some of the church s American bishops to ban pro-choice Catholic politicians from receiving Communion.
It is well-known that the Catholic Church opposes abortion. Pope Francis, for all his talk about compassion and forgiveness for women who have sought out the procedure, is not about to change the church s teaching on abortion.
But as soon as the U.S. bishops moved to draft a document clarifying their stance on Communion, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote to the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops telling him, The effective development of a policy in this area requires that dialogue occurs in two stages: first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their juri
James Serritella, Counselor in Church Sex-Abuse Crisis, Dies at 78
He advised four Chicago cardinals and advanced the U.S. bishops’ zero-tolerance policy toward clergy guilty of sex crimes.
James A. Serritella with Pope John Paul II in 1997. His influence extended from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to the U.S. Supreme Court.Credit.via Serritella family
Published May 5, 2021Updated May 10, 2021
James A. Serritella, a lapsed seminarian who as counsel to four cardinals overseeing the Archdiocese of Chicago encouraged them and eventually the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to bar priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children, died on April 23 in Chicago. He was 78.
When Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was falsely accused of child sexual abuse in 1993, Chicago attorney James A. Serritella, led the successful defense of the popular archbishop. Serritella, who was was known as the draftsman of modern-day nationwide policies to combat child sex abuse, died April 23 at age 78.
These remain nameless statistics. But they are more than that. They are people who could have been named David or John or Anne or Ken. Picture, if you will, 139 young people just having graduated from high school. They are off to college, jobs, marriage, life activities. Many homes feel the pain of separation and the joy of pride as these young people enter the next phase of life. When we stop to think about the World Health statistics, it is mind blowing. A total of 73.3 million abortions per year. That can equal the population of Canada, Australia and Cuba. And that is in one year only.
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