Retired Deacon Natale Garofalo of Hammond leads a Blessings of the Graves ceremony on Nov. 1, All Saints Day, at Rose Memorial Park Cemetery in Hammond. Roman Catholics throughout Tangipahoa Parish and around the country honored their loves ones in the celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Nov. 2. Photo by Richard Meek | The Hammond Daily Star
Twenty-four high school students explored the world of nursing during a recent Future Nurses Camp at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University in Baton Rouge.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade in a historic decision released Friday that brings a sudden and dramatic end to nearly a half-century of nationwide legalized abortion in the U.S. The opinion, in the Mississippi abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, is widely seen as the Supreme Court’s most highly anticipated and consequential ruling since Roe. It not only overturns Roe, the landmark 1973 abortion case, but also Casey v. Planned Parenthood, a 1992 decision that affirmed Roe. "Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority," the opinion states. "We now overrule these decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives." The decision does not ban or criminalize abortion, nor does it recognize an unborn child's constitutional right to life. But in one, breathtaking stroke, the court’s action sweeps away entrenched legal barriers, created and strictly enforced by the federal judiciary, that for decades have blocked states like Mississippi from heavily restricting or prohibiting the killing of unborn children in the womb. In the process, the decision ushers in a new era of abortion politics in the U.S., with the battleground now shifting to state legislatures. Those democratically elected bodies are now free to debate and regulate abortion as they see fit, as happened throughout American history before the Supreme Court federalized the issue. At the same time, the ruling marks a watershed moment for the Catholic Church and the wider pro-life movement in the United States, which have painstakingly sought Roe’s reversal since the landmark 7-2 decision was handed down on Jan. 19, 1973. The opinion was written by Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined the opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. Associate justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented. The outcome of Dobbs came as little surprise, since the final opinion substantially resembled a draft written by Alito in February that was leaked to the press on May 2. In Roe v. Wade, the court ruled that states could not ban abortion before viability, which the court determined to be 24 to 28 weeks into pregnancy. Nearly 20 years later, the court upheld Roe in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The 1992 ruling said that while states could regulate pre-viability abortions, they could not enforce an “undue burden,” defined by the court as “a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.” Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, the subject of the Dobbs case, directly challenged both decisions, because it bans abortion weeks after 15 weeks, well before the point of viability. "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have inflamed debate and deepened division," the opinion states. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives," the opinion states. This is a developing story. Please check back with The Catholic Commentator for updates.
Bishop Michael G. Duca will join Pope Francis in praying an Act of Consecration to entrust Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at St. Joseph Cathedral Friday, March 25, 2022, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
Cristo Rey Baton Rouge Franciscan High School is changing its name but not its mission of educating low-income children in north Baton Rouge. School officials on Feb. 22 announced the school is not renewing its membership with the Cristo Rey network for the 2022-23 school year. Additionally, it will be renamed Franciscan High School as the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady will retain its sponsorship.
WASHINGTON – New Roads native Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux has been appointed archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, 75, from pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Louisville and appointed Bishop Fabre as his successor.
Bishop Michael G. Duca announced the appointment of Father Jamin David as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Baton Rouge in a letter addressed to priests, deacons and the Catholic Life Center Community on Jan. 28.
Dr. Melanie Palmisano, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, announced she will be stepping down effective June 30, 2022. She made the announcement in a letter that was released Dec. 8.
Bishop Michael G. Duca on Wednesday afternoon issued a mask mandate for everyone attending “any indoor church events,” including Mass, whether on Sundays or weekdays. The mandate includes all parish gatherings held indoors in a church facility and all communal celebrations of the sacraments.
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System announced today to its organization it will require the COVID-19 vaccine for all team members, employed providers, residents, students in clinical rotations, contract staff, and volunteers. Implementation of the requirement will occur over several months concluding in December.
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University will take additional measures for fall 2021 to ensure a healthy and safer campus due to the progression of the COVID-19 virus. All FranU faculty, staff and students who will be on campus are required to be vaccinated with one of the following COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson. Proof of vaccination will be required by Aug.13.
VATICAN CITY (CNA) - New Vatican restrictions on extraordinary form Masses elicited passionate responses from Catholics nearly as soon as the motu proprio was published shortly after noon Rome time on Friday. Many Catholics reacted strongly to the promulgation of “Traditionis custodes,” a motu proprio signed by Pope Francis on July 16, offering pithy comments on Twitter as well as more detailed takes.
Bishop Michael G. Duca held a press conference May 25 at the Catholic Life Center in Baton Rouge to discuss his decision to lift the dispensation of the obligation to attend Sunday Mass and relaxing the use of masks. The Diocese of Baton Rouge recently announced the updating of these two COVID-19-related protocols in a letter dated May 21.
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge suspended use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday, following the recommendation of the Centers of Disease Control and the Food and Drug Association. "Upon the CDC recommendations and in consultation with the Louisiana and Mississippi Departments of Health, we have immediately halted use of the J&J vaccine,” Dr. Stephen Gremillion, chief medical officer of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, said in a statement.
Weddings will now be allowed to be celebrated on Saturday evenings in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, effective upon the decree’s publication in The Catholic Commentator.
In their latest "Voter Voice" the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops state that "The Equality Act Discriminates AGAINST Life and People of Faith" and urge Catholics to voice their opposition to congressmen.
A collaborative effort involving the Diocese of Baton Rouge and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University will allow those wishing to enter formation with the goal of becoming spiritual directors to stay in Baton Rouge for training.
The Dominican Friars are leaving Holy Ghost Church in Hammond and St. Albert the Great Chapel and Catholic Student Center, both of which are located in Hammond, no later than the summer of 2022, thus ending more than a century of service in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, mainly in Tangipahoa Civil Parish.
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System announced today that Kathleen Healy-Collier, DHA, MHA, has been chosen market president for the Acadiana Region and will join the ministry on Feb. 22.