I find it apt that Advent begins so soon after the Thanksgiving holiday this year. Thanksgiving is a time to express gratitude to God for His abundant gifts in our lives, and what better holiday to prime us for the season anticipating the birth of Jesus, the greatest Gift?
Below are a couple recent OSV News articles for your weekend reading. You can find even more on our website osvnews.com, and on social media @OSVNews.
Megan Marley
Digital Editor
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Pro-life sidewalk counseling highlighted in potential high court cases, federal pardons
The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon whether to hear a pair of First Amendment cases seeking to strike down so-called “bubble zones” for pro-life demonstrators outside abortion clinics. The cases have been heard in conference twice. If the court accepts the cases, a hearing is not expected until sometime next spring, and a decision not until next summer.
ILLINOIS: St. Jude relic tour halted over ‘incident’ involving students, visiting priest
MICHIGAN: Family sees God’s hand in son’s survival after suicide attempt, successful face transplant
Former Femen activist apologizes for desecrating Notre Dame in 2013 protest against church, pope
A decade ago, Marguerite Stern entered Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, screaming and topless, to demonstrate her hatred of the church and the pope. In a gesture of repentance, she has now apologized to Catholics for her actions, saying that Catholic tradition soothes, bringing people together, and that her past gesture was one of “damaging a part of France, and therefore a part of myself.”
Bishop Zaidan: Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire sparks ‘profound hope,’ inspiration for lasting peace
A ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and France between Israel and the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah was announced Nov. 26. Under the terms of the ceasefire, which took effect at 4 a.m. local time Nov. 27, “the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end” in what “is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” said President Biden.
Catholic bishops decry British end of life vote: ‘May God help us’
Catholic bishops in England have decried a vote for assisted suicide, with one saying it represented a “dark day” in the history of the country. Members of Parliament voted by 330 to 275 for the “Terminally Ill (End of Life) Bill,” which will permit doctor-assisted deaths for adult patients deemed to have less than six months to live. “It leaves me sad as it will put an intolerable pressure on the elderly and the terminally ill and undermine the trust normally placed in doctors and carers,” Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth told OSV News. “I fear too the ever-growing expansion of eligibility to other categories of people. Britain has now crossed a line: things will not be the same again. May God help us.”
BELARUS: Catholic priests face new pressures after nuncio departs Belarus
‘The Chosen’ Season 5 coming Lent 2025; Last Supper scene grounded in Roumie’s Eucharistic devotion
Beginning March 27, the fifth season of the hit series “The Chosen,” which focuses on the life of Jesus and his closest disciples, will hit theaters in the weeks leading up to Easter, which is April 20. The latest installment, “The Chosen: Last Supper” portrays the events of Holy Week.
Why ‘Conclave’ is captivating audiences as the season’s big Indie hit
Four weeks into its theater run, “Conclave” has had an exceptional box-office showing and has been floated as an Academy Award nominee. What are Catholics to make of the success of the papal election process as a political thriller, and the film’s plot twist?
Vatican to study how to address ‘spiritual abuse’ in church law
CNS ROME: The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Legislative Texts are setting up a working group to study how “spiritual abuse” can be defined and punished in church law, a note from the doctrinal office said. The doctrinal dicastery’s norms for discerning and making judgments about alleged supernatural phenomena, which were published in May, included a line saying, “The use of purported supernatural experiences or recognized mystical elements as a means of or a pretext for exerting control over people or carrying out abuses is to be considered of particular moral gravity.”
FAMILY: Pope asks St. John Paul II institute to study threats to marriage, family
JUBILEE: Pope to open Holy Year with full schedule of Christmas liturgies
SAINTHOOD CAUSES: Pope declares Spanish mystic ‘blessed,’ advances other sainthood causes
SYNOD: Final synod document is magisterial, must be accepted, pope says
TECHNOLOGY: St. Peter’s Basilica launches magazine, installs new webcams
Rwandan genocide shaped his vision of priesthood, Japanese cardinal-designate says
INTERVIEW: Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, a recently announced cardinal-designate, said he was humbled and “really afraid to be nominated.” He said the 21 cardinal-designates will face great demands, noting that some of are well-versed in administration, know many languages or have “a deep knowledge” of theology, “things I don’t have.”
Does marriage transcend death?
QUESTION CORNER: “I’m very moved by the examples of widowed family and friends who continue to be very devoted to their deceased spouse, praying for them daily and visiting their graves often. Often they speak of looking forward to seeing their spouse again in heaven. Does the church teach that marriage can transcend death in this way?”
“Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints”
NOW STREAMING: Stories of torturous martyrdom are, by definition, not fit fare for kids. But the parents of older teens will have to judge whether the spiritual value to be derived from these programs outweighs visuals that might otherwise be considered inappropriate for any but adults. As for grown TV fans, they’ll find much to appreciate in this well-crafted handful of hagiographies.
The post Week in Review | Nov. 29, 2024 first appeared on OSV News.
