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The Vatican’s doctrine office has said an adult who identifies as transgender can receive the sacrament of baptism under the same conditions as any adult, as long as there is no risk of causing scandal or confusion to other Catholics. The Vatican also said that children or adolescents experiencing transgender identity issues may also receive baptism “if well prepared and willing.” The Vatican also responded to questions about whether transgender-identifying people or those in homosexual relationships can be godparents or witness a marriage, and whether children adopted or born through assisted reproduction to same-sex couples can be baptized. For a full explanation of what the Vatican said, visit catholic news agency dot com.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255945/vatican-doctrine-office-transgender-identifying-people-can-be-baptized
The attorney general of Missouri announced this week a lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agency’s approval of shipping abortion drugs through the mail. Republican State Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced the filing on his website on Monday, claiming that the FDA had “unlawfully approved the shipment of chemical abortion pills in the mail.” The Missouri lawsuit includes a request for an injunction against rules from 2021 and 2023 “allowing abortion drugs to be sent by mail.” The FDA “failed America’s women and girls when it chose politics over science and approved risky, untested chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States,” the lawsuit argues, claiming further that the agency “has continued to fail them by turning a blind eye to these harms and repeatedly removing even the most basic precautionary requirements associated with the use of these risky drugs.” President Joe Biden had earlier in the year issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to support wider access to abortion pills. Biden’s memo came shortly after the FDA changed its guidance to allow any patient with a prescription to obtain mifepristone from her local retail pharmacy.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255946/missouri-attorney-general-files-lawsuit-against-fda-over-abortion-pill-by-mail
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Benignus of Kilbannon, the son of Sesenen, an Irish chieftain in the part of Ireland which is now County Meath. He was baptized by Saint Patrick, and became his favorite disciple and coadjutor in the See of Armagh.
The Church also marks the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. It marks the dedication of the cathedral church of Rome by Pope Sylvester the first in 324. This church is the cathedra (or chair) of the bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. A Latin inscription in the Church reads: “omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput.” Translated, this means, “The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.” The basilica was originally named the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior. However, it is called Saint John Lateran because it was built on property donated to the Church by the Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Divine served it.
The Diocese of Rome has planned a full year of events to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. The Diocese of Rome will open the year of celebrations with a solemn pontifical Mass celebrated by Rome’s vicar, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, in the afternoon on November 9.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/calendar/2023-11-9