When Do Ministers Win and Lose?

When Do Ministers Win and Lose?

In July 2020, in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru , the Supreme Court “ made it easier for religiously affiliated employers to discriminate” by concluding, 7-2, that two Catholic school teachers were ministers, not teachers. That ruling opened the door for thousands of Catholic school teachers to lose…

The Constitution Was Not Made Only For A Religious People

The Constitution Was Not Made Only For A Religious People

Last week, a ruling out of the Seventh Circuit presented the latest example that this country is facing an increasingly theocratic judiciary seeking to expressly favor religion and religious citizens at the great expense of nonbelievers. To be clear, the case is only at the preliminary injunction stage, so the…

Kamala Harris’s Threat to Religious Believers

Kamala Harris’s Threat to Religious Believers

Since presidential candidate Joe Biden selected Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, some Catholics have rightly raised concerns about Harris’s hostility toward Catholicism and her animus for Catholics whose moral lives are informed by Church teaching. Coupled with Biden’s own antagonism toward Catholic moral theology, Harris’s nomination clouds rather…

New Hampshire sued over Catholic schools tuition policy

New Hampshire sued over Catholic schools tuition policy

His own father murdered, Catholic archbishop speaks against death penalty Pope Francis to sign a new encyclical on human fraternity on Oct. 3 Question of Faith: In what cases can someone be denied communion? By Christine Rousselle Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 4, 2020 / 08:40 am MT (CNA).- A New…

San Fernando Valley church, L.A. County square off in court over indoor ban

San Fernando Valley church, L.A. County square off in court over indoor ban

Grace Community Church in Sun Valley has continued to hold Sunday services despite county and state health orders. On Tuesday, Aug. 25, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a temporary restraining order sought by county officials to prohibit indoor services at the church. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los…

San Fernando Valley church, L.A. County square off in court over indoor ban

San Fernando Valley church, L.A. County square off in court over indoor ban

Grace Community Church in Sun Valley has continued to hold Sunday services despite county and state health orders. On Tuesday, Aug. 25, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a temporary restraining order sought by county officials to prohibit indoor services at the church. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los…

Double standards for gatherings in San Francisco a source of growing frustration

Double standards for gatherings in San Francisco a source of growing frustration

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone celebrates the feast of the Assumption on the steps of the city’s Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption Aug. 15, 2020. (CNS photo/Dennis Callahan, Archdiocese of San Francisco) Earlier this week, the Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, released a statement…

New Hampshire sued over Catholic schools tuition policy

New Hampshire sued over Catholic schools tuition policy

New Hampshire State House, Concord, New Hampshire, USA. (Wangkung Gia/Shutterstock via CNA) A New Hampshire family has filed suit against the state after a town tuition program refused to pay for their grandson’s Catholic school education. The suit claims that the terms of the program violate religious discrimination laws and…

Religious freedom is not a license to ignore civil rights

Religious freedom is not a license to ignore civil rights

During the term it completed in July, the Supreme Court decided several important cases involving religious liberty and one that expanded legal protection for gay Americans. In the term that begins next month, the justices will hear a case that purportedly pits those two interests against each other. But the…

Judicial Winning: Kevin Newsom

Judicial Winning: Kevin Newsom

Kevin Newsom’s impressive tenure as solicitor general of Alabama made him an obvious choice for President Trump to appoint to the Eleventh Circuit, where Judge Newsom now sits. Just a few months after his appointment, Judge Newsom made it onto President Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist. Judge Newsom cares deeply about…

The role of religion in government

The role of religion in government

Not even Notre Dame can escape the Republican National Convention following famed football coach Lou Holtz’s speech last week. There has been some coverage from The Observer about students’ reactions, but I want to focus on a particular aspect of the speech. The most controversial part of Holtz’s time on…

Editorial: Religious freedom is not a license to ignore civil-rights laws

Editorial: Religious freedom is not a license to ignore civil-rights laws

During the term it completed in July, the Supreme Court decided several important cases involving religious liberty and one that expanded legal protection for gay Americans. In the term that begins next month, the justices will hear a case that purportedly pits those two interests against each other. But the…

Ky. court upholds wedding photographer’s liberty

Ky. court upholds wedding photographer’s liberty

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Chelsey Nelson runs a wedding photography and blogging business here. She is involved in a suit against the local metro government. (Alliance Defending Freedom photo) LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — A court decision in support of a Kentucky photographer who declines to shoot same-sex weddings is a victory…

Opinion: All cake designers deserve the same First Amendment freedoms

Opinion: All cake designers deserve the same First Amendment freedoms

An LGBT cake artist in Detroit was recently asked to create a custom cake with a religious message criticizing same-sex marriage. After she declined to express that message, the customer alleged she had illegally discriminated against him based on his religion. The situation presents an interesting reversal of roles to…

Rulings raise important considerations for religious employers

Rulings raise important considerations for religious employers

The just-concluded U.S. Supreme Court term was an eventful one for parochial schools and other religious employers. On June 15, the court held in Bostock v. Clayton County , 590 U.S. ____ (2020), that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because…

Govt must regulate freedom to practice religion: SC

Govt must regulate freedom to practice religion: SC

Says such regulations must be based on ‘administrative considerations in larger public interest’ An AFP file image ISLAMABAD: The apex court has ruled that exercise of the freedom to profess and practice religion must be reasonably regulated “on administrative considerations in the larger public interest”. "It is essential as well…

In new term, Supreme Court once again takes up religious liberty

In new term, Supreme Court once again takes up religious liberty

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington July 2, 2020. Legal experts have noticed a pattern in how the court handled religious liberty cases in the last term. (CNS photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters) WASHINGTON — As part of what seems to be a new trend for the Supreme Court, it…

In new term, Supreme Court once again takes up religious liberty

In new term, Supreme Court once again takes up religious liberty

You are here: Home » Featured » In new term, Supreme Court once again takes up religious liberty The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington July 2, 2020. Legal experts have noticed a pattern in how the court handled religious liberty cases in the last term. CNS photo/Jonathan Ernst,…

NAMB asks full court to review panel’s decision in McRaney case

NAMB asks full court to review panel’s decision in McRaney case

Citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board (NAMB) has asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a hearing by the full court in order to reconsider a ruling in a lawsuit filed by a former executive of the Baptist Convention…