In this week’s edition:

• Home school groups forbidden from using Diocese of San Diego parish property

• A Pew Research survey of the Americas has some shocking results - or are they?

• Multiple Catholic groups putting mental health support systems in place

• Shroud of Turin debunking debunked?

• and more!

New San Diego diocesan policy prohibits home school groups from using parish facilities

Summary: The policy would allow the parishes to rent spaces to non-Catholic groups while disallowing charter schools, private school groups, and home school groups from making use of parish spaces.

Details:

• The diocese banned home school groups from using parish facilities, citing concerns that these programs undermine Catholic schools and give the impression that the Church endorses alternative education.

• Some homeschooling communities sought independent sacramental preparation, causing friction with parish catechetical standards.

• Non-Catholic schools may still rent parish space on a case-by-case basis.

• Notified just days before classes started, home-schoolers now seek alternative meeting spaces.

• The diocese has rescinded the initial statement but maintains its policy.

Why we care: Home-schooling and Catholicism go together like love and marriage, a horse and carriage. Given the state of catechesis in our country (see the next story) it’s understandable why the diocese would want to have some controls in place over CCD, and we understand why parish schools (as businesses) might not want to give preferential treatment to unaffiliated home-school groups; what’s confusing is how the policy allows “non-Catholic educational program[s] or school[s]” to rent facilities. We’re hoping the situation is resolved amicably, but it’s tough to see how this doesn’t leave a bad taste in the mouths of home-schooling Catholics in San Diego.

Pew Research survey finds “widespread dissent from Church teachings” among Catholics in U.S. and major Latin countries

Summary: While Pope Francis is largely popular in all the countries surveyed, views on abortion, same-sex marriage, and female ordination largely stray from Church teaching.

Details:

• The Holy Father’s popularity is still high but his approval differs between regions, with Latin American Catholics more supportive than U.S. Catholics.

• The majority of American Catholics support female ordination, recognizing homosexual marriages, allowing priests to marry, and the Church allowing Catholics to use birth control.

• The survey shows notable differences in both the regional and generational responses to the survey.

Why we care: We shouldn’t be surprised at this point but we still are when results like this come out. How is that so many Catholics are so poorly catechized? Who along the way abdicated their responsibilities? We’re happy to stand around pointing fingers all day, but the truth is that things don’t change if we don’t work for it. The challenge, as we see it, is that there’s a domino effect at play. Poor catechesis begets poor catechesis; poorly catechized persons create/enable/empower other poorly catechized Catholics. How do we stop the bleeding? Lay apostolates like Catholic Answers et al. are certainly a step in the right direction, but how do you combat the hubris that thinks it knows better than millennia of Sacred Tradition? If you have the answer we think someone would pay quite handsomely.

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Word on Fire, Diocese of Phoenix, and USCCB supporting mental health initiatives

Summary: The programs cite rising suicide rates, undiagnosed mental health issues in men as motivating factors.

Details:

• The Diocese of Phoenix is training 16 lay individuals as mental-health instructors who can recognize signs of mental health issues and provide counseling on seeking help.

• +Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Institute began its “Redemption” ministry earlier in September, aimed at providing aid to young men struggling with their mental health, especially depression or suicidal thoughts.

• The USCCB started the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign in 2023, and is starting a novena on October 10 in support of the campaign and in solidarity with World Mental Health Day.

Why we care: It’s unfortunate that it has taken society so long to come around to providing adequate resources on mental health, but it’s encouraging to see groups in the Church taking the initiative in providing support and resources to those struggling with their mental health. So many individuals struggle silently with mental health issues - whether temporary or chronic - and in some cases these issues may be a cause for loss of faith. We’re extremely glad to see these efforts underway and hope that more Catholic organizations follow suit.

Shroud of Turin from the 1st century, says Catholic nuclear engineer and researcher

Summary: Robert Rucker has studied the shroud for over a decade, and claims that his latest research supports the case for a 1st-century date, challenging allegations that the shroud is a medieval forgery.

Details:

• The research re-analyzed the shroud using “…nuclear analysis computer calculations….”

• His work builds on a theory that failure to account for neutron radiation from an ancient event (i.e., resurrection) may have impacted the 1988 carbon dating results.

• Rucker will be presenting a workshop on his research at St. Thomas the Apostle and University of Michigan, both in Ann Arbor.

Why we care: Time and time again people claim that religion and science are incompatible, and again and again they’ve been proved wrong. Is that at play once again? Mostly we just find topics like this neat, and we hope you do, too.

Other Stories

• Florida Catholics seeking aid in wake of Hurricane Helene.

• TX AG Paxton sues City of Austin over use of municipal funds for grants towards out-of-state abortion expenses.

• Pope Frances praises Belgium’s late King Baudouin who abdicated for three days over abortion bill in 1990.

• New York’s Diocese of Rockville Centre to pay over $300 million in abuse case settlement.

• Pope Francis meets with four transgender “women”.

• Holy Father orders Soladitium Christianae Vitae to expel 10 members over abuse allegations.

• Catholic outcry over death penalty fruitless as MO executes alleged murderer.

Quote of the Week

What’s going on:

• October 2 is the Feast of the Guardian Angels

• Patriarch of Jerusalem announces day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7 anniversary of Hamas attacks

• Get ready - the Novena for Mental Health begins on Oct 10

• Notable Feast Days:

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