BY TOM TRACY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
With several Northeast states now joining major metropolitan regions in the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Ida-related disaster areas, Catholic Charities agencies are using virtual deploy- ment systems refined dur- ing the coronavirus pan- demic to maximize their outreach to those in need. Prolonged power out- ages or record flooding are making quick disaster response access to the greater New Orleans and New York City areas an impossibility following the remnants of Hurricane Ida as it marched north after making landfall Aug. 29 in Louisiana. Right now, disaster re- sponse teams are turning to digital workaround solu- tions using staff members well outside the disaster zones. "COVID set the stage for being able to do virtual deployment: instead of a physical person on the ground, staff can assist by doing phone calls, setting up shared documents on the internet, and taking an administrative burden off the local staff," said Kath- leen Oldaker, senior direc- tor of disaster strategy for Catholic Charities USA. As it did during Hur- ricane Katrina, Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is expected to serve as the central supporting role in recovery efforts in hard-hit New Orleans and Houma- Thibodaux. "But we are also looking at possible virtual actions: a (staff) person in Califor- nia or Indiana - if there is a way of doing things with our network that might require some bandwidth - can help the agencies on the ground focus on their outreach," Oldaker told Catholic News Service Sept. 2. Hurricane Ida's remnants delivered a deadly surprise punch in the Northeast, causing an estimated 41 deaths and flooding roads and cities after slogging across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut. The post-tropical cyclone reportedly dropped more than three inches of rain in an hour in New York. Catholic Charities staff have learned that text messages can be a more reliable form of communi- cations wherever cellphone signals are knocked out.
U.S. bishops' Labor Day statement
WASHINGTON (CNS) - The "present ills of our econ- omy" invite Catholics to reflect on ways to propose new and creative responses to vital human needs in a post-pandemic world, said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Com- mittee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, in the U.S. bishops' annual Labor Day statement. Sept. 6 was Labor Day. Acknowledging that the economy is showing signs of recovery despite the continuing pandemic, Archbishop Coakley said the current time presents an opportunity to "build a consensus around human dignity and the common good." But despite signs of an economic recovery, he said in the state- ment released Sept. 2, millions of Americans continue to struggle financially because of unemployment, poverty and hunger made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. "There are still many uncertainties around this pandemic; however, we do know that our society and our world will never be the same," he said.
Bill aims to expand human trafficking prevention
(CNS) - Two members of Congress have introduced a bill to expand successful trafficking prevention efforts in schools and businesses. Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Karen Bass (D-Calif.) introduced the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protec- tion and Reauthorization Act of 2021 in the House of Representatives Sept. 3. "During COVID ... the exploita- tion of children has risen substantially, mostly online, and there is kind of like a pent-up demand to exploit, it's lingering there," Smith said during a livestreamed news conference prior to the bill's introduction. "As COVID further diminishes, we're going to see people who feel they're entitled to exploit young women or boys and we have to make sure we have all the tools arrayed against them," he said. The new bill would expand on measures enacted by passage of a 2018 bill that also carried Douglass' name.
Former Cardinal McCarrick pleads not guilty
WASHINGTON (CNS) - Former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick pleaded not guilty Sept. 3 in a Massachu- setts court, where he is facing three counts of sexually assaulting a teenager in the 1970s. Local news report- ers posted video on Twitter of the 91-year-old McCar- rick, wearing a face mask and slowly heading toward Dedham District Court with the aid of a walker as protesters shouted, "Go to hell, McCarrick," and "How many lives, how many children?" He was not taken under custody but was ordered to post $5,000 bail and have no contact with the alleged victim or children. The former high-ranking, globe-trotting church official also was ordered not to leave the country and surren- dered his passport. His next court appearance is Oct. 28. The day before the arraignment, a former employee and a former priest of the Archdiocese of Newark filed lawsuits alleging unpermitted sexual contact by McCarrick for incidents in 1991. The Massachusetts case is the first time, however, that McCarrick has faced criminal charges for assault of a minor, which is alleged to first have taken place at a wedding recep- tion in 1974 and continued over the years in different states.
Catholic Charities agencies rely on virtual outreach in Ida relief
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SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS
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Labor Day is reminder of dignity of workers
WASHINGTON (CNS) - "We are still too quick to judge a book by its cover," Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington said at the Archdiocese of Washington's annual Labor Day Mass. The adage applied even in Je- sus' time, he said in his homily during the Sept. 6 Mass celebrated at Our Lady Queen of the Americas Church in Washington. "Is this not the son of the carpenter? What therefore can we expect from him?' That was the intent of or at least the implication of that searing question," Cardinal Gregory said of those who were lis- tening to Jesus, a fellow Nazarene, preach at the syna- gogue in the Gospel passage of St. Matthew proclaimed at the Mass. To Jesus' audience that day, "he was only a carpenter's son and he ought to conduct himself more
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Supreme Court rules against blocking Texas' 6-week abortion ban
BY CAROL ZIMMERMANN
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON (CNS) - In a late-night decision Sept. 1, the Supreme Court ruled against blocking a Texas law banning abor- tions at six weeks of preg- nancy. The 5-4 vote, issued with a one-paragraph unsigned opinion, said the chal- lengers to the Texas law - which went into effect Sept. 1 - did not adequately address the "complex and novel antecedent procedur- al questions" in this case. "This order is not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas' law, and in no way limits other procedurally proper challenges to the Texas law, including in Tex- as state courts," the opin- ion said, leaving open the possibility that the state's abortion providers could challenge it in other ways. The Texas abortion pro- viders had come to the Su- preme Court with an emer- gency appeal to stop the law, but the court initially did not respond. The Texas Catholic Con- ference, the public policy arm of the state's Catholic bishops, said the Supreme Court's action marked the first time since Roe v. Wade that the nation's high court "has allowed a pro-life law to remain while litigation proceeds in lower courts." "We celebrate every life saved by this legislation. Opponents of the law ar- gue the term 'heartbeat' is misleading. They call it 'embryonic cardiac activ- ity' or worse, 'electrically induced flickering of em- bryonic tissue.' These at- tempts to dehumanize the unborn are disturbing," the Texas bishops said in a Sept. 3 statement. President Joe Biden criti- cized the Supreme Court's action and said in a Sept. 2 statement that his admin- istration will look to launch a "whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision" and look at "what steps the federal govern- ment can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe." Similarly, Attorney General Merrick Garland
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First responders in Mamaroneck, N.Y., pull local residents in a boat Sept. 2, as they rescue people trapped by floodwaters after the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida. issued a statement, which said the Justice Depart- ment was deeply con- cerned about the Texas abortion law and would be "evaluating all options to protect the constitutional rights of women, including access to an abortion." In the Supreme Court's decision, Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Ka- gan and Stephen Breyer in dissenting votes and each of them wrote separate statements. A key part of the law that the dissenting justices took issue with is its em- phasis on private citizens bringing civil lawsuits in state court against anyone involved in an abortion, other than the patient, but including someone who drives the patient to a clinic. In a statement just after the court's decision, Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Re- productive Rights, which represents abortion provid- ers challenging the Texas law, said these challengers would keep fighting. At least 12 other states have legislation banning abortions early in preg- nancy, but these bans have been blocked by courts.
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like a carpenter's son. He was the child of a common laborer and he should have behaved as a man who came from humble origins," the cardinal said. "We have not advanced very far in the arena of human expectations from this scene in first-century Nazareth," he added. "We still tend to view and judge people by their occupation, back- ground, their heritage - and their pasts. In addition, we often have scant appreciation for those who perform work that does not seem to be too lofty or very important."
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