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Catholic school students in the Diocese of Palm Beach will be required to wear masks indoors for at least the first sixty days of school. The policy went into effect Monday. Administrators will review the policy after the first sixty days of school. Students who refuse to wear a mask will be sent home. Parents have the option to apply for a medical accommodation, but the child must continue to wear a mask until the application is processed and approved. Florida is in the midst of a COVID-19 case surge brought on largely by the spread of the Delta variant.
Catholics in Sri Lanka wore black and raised black flags last weekend, to protest what they consider to be the government’s failure to respond to the Easter Sunday attack on churches in 2019. The archbishop of the capital of Colombo has urged the government to name the perpetrators behind the coordinated bombings. More than 260 people died and more than 500 people were injured in the bombings.
The Holy See is urging countries around the world to welcome refugees from Afghanistan. During an emergency session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a Vatican diplomat stressed the right to life, the freedom of religion, the right to freedom of movement, and the right to peaceful assembly. He said that the Holy See had been following the situation in Afghanistan with great concern, and was hoping for a peaceful and swift resolution through dialogue.
Hypocrisy within the Church is detestable. Those were the strong words of Pope Francis today, during his general audience in Rome. The pope said there are many hypocritical Christians and ministers. He urged Christians to remember the words of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew: ‘Let what you say be simply Yes or No. Anything more than that comes from evil.’
Today is the feast day of the French king, and patron of builders, Saint Louis the Ninth.