In this week’s edition:

• Sex trafficking and abuse allegations in New Orleans

• Record low birth rate in the U.S.

• ACA changes threaten religious freedom

• The AP cannot fathom the draw of orthodoxy

• and more…

Archdiocese of New Orleans Embroiled in Ugly Sex Trafficking Scandal

Summary: Information obtained during an earlier investigation into a retired priest led to suspicions of child sex trafficking within the archdiocese. An affidavit alleges the involvement of multiple priests, knowledge by previous archbishops, and support for the accused via use of archdiocese funds.

Details:

• Allegations include:

  • that victims were trafficked to parishes around and outside of Louisiana

  • that children provided priests with signals that they were targets

  • that victims swam naked in the pool at the archdiocese’ seminary and were assaulted and abused

  • that “previous archbishops … not only knew of the [widespread] sexual abuse and failed to report all the claims to law enforcement, but [also] spent archdiocese funding to support the accused.”

  • and that the archdiocese paid hush money to the victims or their families

• No specific time frame was mentioned in the affidavit

• The investigation is still being conducted

Why we care: Is it necessary to express why we care, or possible to express just how abhorrent this is? All we can say is that we ought to keep the victims in our prayers, to pray for the repentance of the perpetrators, and to pray that this blight might be wiped from the face of the earth and that the Church remain steadfast in the face of these trials.

The US sets a new record low fertility rate

Summary: A new report from the CDC shows that 2023 had the fewest babies born since 1979 and the lowest fertility rate since 2020.

Details:

• Just under 3.6 million babies were born in 2023, a 2% year-over-year decline in total births

• The total fertility rate was 1.6 births/woman, also down 2% year-over-year

• This is below the replacement rate of 2.1

• The decline was most significant for teenagers and women 20-30. Women 30-40 had a smaller decline, and the birth rate for women over 40 did not change significantly

Why we care: The US joins (or perhaps continues) the global trend of concerning fertility rates. Many are already aware of the issues facing South Korea, and Pope Francis is set to speak this Friday on Italy’s birth rate. Low birth rates could have problematic socio-economic, political, and religious consequences. While the article does not cite rates by religion, we’d like to believe that faithful Catholics are above the replacement rate and would encourage the faithful to do their part to grow the Church.

Change to ACA mandates gender-affirming care

Summary: Changes to the wording of Section 1557’s non-discrimination clause replaces the word “sex” with

This change raises concerns that refusal to cover gender-affirming care would now be considered discriminatory.

Details:

• Any insurer or physician who received financial assistance from the federal government must comply with this change or risk losing the funding.

• This updated reverses changes made by the Trump administration which excluded the aforementioned procedures from coverage.

• The Biden HHS has responded to these concerns with an assurance that there is a provision for religious freedom and conscience.

• Chris Faddis, the president of Solidarity HealthShare, says these changes would violate the religious freedom of providers who don’t want to perform these procedures.

Why we care: Forgive our cynicism, but on the heels of a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that Catholic Charities was not doing “religious work”, and given the track record of Democratic administrations, we find it a bit hard to buy that the provision for religious freedom will be respected. We’d love to be proven wrong, but it seems to be only a matter of time before a Catholic hospital ends up in court because it refuses to perform a “sex reassignment surgery”. While the current Supreme Court might (eventually) make the correct decision on this clause, it shouldn’t take years of litigation to defend a basic liberty.

Visible confusion over the appeal of traditional Catholicism

Summary: The story here isn’t so much the article itself, but perhaps what the article reveals about the secular and liberal Catholic understanding (or lack thereof) of traditional forms of Catholicism. You just have to read it for yourself.

Details:

• Contemporary hymns being replaced by medieval European music? Bad.

• Sermons focusing on sin and confession? Bad.

• Orthodoxy and food pantries? Incompatible.

• Men in ties and women veiling? Old-fashioned.

• Following the Church’s teaching on contraception? Outdated.

• Students flocking to conservative Catholic colleges? Befuddling.

Why we care: We certainly lean traditional at this publication, but we’re not going to sit here and claim that Pope Francis is invalid or that the TLM is the only valid form of the Mass. We recognize that there are various valid forms of worship, and that reverence looks different throughout the world. That said, the utter disbelief that anyone would be attracted to orthodoxy or that orthodoxy is problematic reveals the underlying mentality of many progressives: “Old Things Are Bad”. Some in the article left their parish or the Church as a whole due to changes like this, and while we’d hate for any of our Catholic brethren to fall away, perhaps this is what Pope Benedict referred to when he referenced a “smaller, purer Church”.

Other stories

• Victories and defeats for the pro-life movement at the state level

• Pro-Life group celebrates 22,000 lives saved

• English Ordinariate’s first bishop signals stability in the country

• Trouble at the USCCB’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development

• Project aims to bring sacred music back to the Church

• French government dismisses case against priest in a victory for freedom of religion and speech

Saint of the Day

St. Dominic Savio

Dying at the young age of 14, St. Dominic reminds us of the immense love we ought to have for Christ and sets an example of the child-like zeal and joy that our faith can bring to our life.

What’s going on:

• May is the month of Mary

• Notable Feast Days