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Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington has reportedly withdrawn permission for a solemn pontifical Mass that was to be offered on August 14 in D-C . The cardinal reportedly cited the pope’s recent motu proprio, restricting the Traditional Latin Mass . A pontifical Mass is celebrated by a bishop in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The Mass was to take place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in honor of the Solemnity of the Assumption. Cardinal Gregory has otherwise not yet applied the motu proprio to his archdiocese.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland issued a formal directive requiring that full abortion services are available in the region by March of 2022. Catholic bishops, including the Primate of All Ireland, are lamenting the directive as unjust and gravely disquieting. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, but abortion law is considered to be a devolved issue under the control of the Northern Ireland Assembly. But due to the suspension of the regional government, the British parliament decriminalized abortion in Northern Ireland in October 2019, and obliged the U-K government to create legal access to abortion in the region.
A new report shows the toll of the coronavirus pandemic on the Church in Mexico. The report suggests Mexico has lost five bishops, more than 230 priests, and fifteen religious men or women during the pandemic. The Archdiocese of Guadalajara has been the hardest hit, with 25 priests who have died.
Today the Church remembers one of its earliest popes - Saint Victor the First. Victor was pope from 189 to 199. He is most famous for decreeing that Easter be universally celebrated on a Sunday. He may have died from martyrdom.