Man Nabbed for Wrecking NYC Church Statue; Shown Knocking It Over,Hurlimg It onto Street

Police have made an arrest  after a man was caught on camera vandalizing a religious statue in Brooklyn, the CBS News website reports today (October 7, 2020).

The statue stood outside Shrine Church of Our Lady of Solace on West 17th Street and Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island. 

It depicts Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most iconic images of the Virgin Mary.

Surveillance video shows a man grabbing the statue of the Blessed Mother, knocking it over, and hurling it onto the sidewalk. Police have charged Manhattan resident Daniel Ventre, 37, with criminal mischief.

Inquiry Info:Church of England Aided Pedophiles; Allowed Them to Continue Working with Children

 A shocking new inquiry has found that the Church of England forgave some 400 pedophiles, and even allowed them to continue working with children, the RT website reports today (October 6, 2020).

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) found that between 1940 and 2018 some 300 people employed by the church, as clergymen or in trusted positions, were convicted of child sex abuse. 

They were "forgiven" for their crimes by the church and allowed to continue their duties, often in close proximity to children, the IICSA found. 

"The cultures of the Church of England facilitated it becoming a place where abuses could hide," the report reads.

Survey:61% of Evangelicals to Vote for Trump; Most Black Evangelicals Are Voting for Biden

A new online poll from Lifeway Research shows that just two in ten evangelicals plan to vote for Joe Biden in the presidential race, the Christian Headlines website reports today (October 5, 2020). 

White evangelicals tend to support President Trump in a landslide, with a 7 to 1 ratio out of every 10 voters.

Black evangelicals are overwhelmingly Biden supporters  by about the same margin.

Overall. the survey found that 61 percent of evangelicals plan to vote for the President. 

Pope: COVID-19 Proves Capitalism Has Failed; Issues Encyclical Rejecting Church Backing War

Pope Francis says the coronavirus pandemic has proven that the "magic theories" of market capitalism have failed and the world needs a new type of politics that promotes dialogue and solidarity and rejects war at all costs, the  Euro News website reports today (October 4, 2020). 

Francis today laid out his vision for a post-COVID world by uniting the core elements into a new encyclical, "Fratelli Tutti" (Brothers All), which was released on the feast day of his namesake, the peace-loving St. Francis of Assisi.

In the encyclical, Francis rejected even the Catholic Church's own doctrine justifying war as a means of legitimate defense, saying it had been too broadly applied over the centuries and was no longer viable. 

"It is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a just war," Francis wrote in the most controversial new element of the encyclical.

Cath. Must View More Than Abortion in Voting; Bishop Says Racism,Concern for Poor,Sick Imp.

 A Texas bishop said this week that abortion should not be the only issue that Roman Catholics care about when they decide how to cast their votes in the 2020 elections, the Huff Post website reports today (October 3, 2020). 

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz lamented the fact that some Christians are "single-issue" voters when it comes to abortion -- while ignoring issues such as racism, workers' rights, and climate change. 

Seitz pointed to how Pope Francis has challenged Catholics to treat their concern for the lives of the poor, sick, and marginalized as "equally sacred" as the "unborn."

NY Cath. Diocese Is Largest to File Bankruptcy; Over 200 Abuse Cases in Rockville Ctr. Diocese

A Roman Catholic diocese in New York City's suburbs has become the largest in the U.S. to declare bankruptcy to protect itself from a wave of lawsuits filed over past sexual abuse by clergy members, the AP website reports today (October 2, 2020).

The Diocese of Rockville Centre filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday. It is the eighth largest diocese or archdiocese in the U.S., serving more than 1.4 million Catholics on Long Island. 

"The financial burden of the litigation has been severe and only compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic," Bishop John Barres said.

More than 200 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy members have been filed against the diocese since the 2019 passage of New York's Child Victims Act, which suspended the statute of limitations to allow sex abuse victims to pursue decades-old allegations of abuse against clergy members. 

Dr. Fauci Says Some Businesses Should Be Closed; Says Closing Them Will Slow Spread of COVID-19

Some businesses might be operating as normal throughout the U.S., but that doesn't mean they should be, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Yahoo News website reports today (October 1, 2020).

In fact, during a recent appearance on MSNBC, he said that three types of businesses may be most likely to spread the novel coronavirus.  

Dr. Fauci emphasized that closing gyms, bars, and restaurants helped Arizona, New York, and Texas slow the spread of COVID-19.