RELIGION HEADLINES SUN 9-14-25

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(SRN NEWS)  The New Orleans Archdiocese has agreed to a 230 million dollar proposed settlement for survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.  The agreement paves the way for a final resolution to yearslong negotiations amid a series of similar settlements by the Catholic Church.  The New Orleans archdiocese had filed for bankruptcy in May 2020 rather than handle each abuse claim separately, which survivors point out allows church leadership to avoid facing tough questions in court.  Survivors have until late October to vote on whether or not to approve the deal.  If approved by two-thirds of survivors, payments could begin next year. 

(  )  With anti-Semitic attacks on the rise — even in the U.S. — a growing number of Jews are buying guns.  There are even Jewish gun clubs springing up around the nation.  The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that one of them, Lox and Loaded, opened its first club in Chicago and now has 15 of them across the country including in Florida, Texas and Illinois.  Jews have been amongst the racial groups least likely to own guns in the past, but that appears to be changing.  Anti-Semitism has surged around the world in recent years, fueled in part by the Hamas attack on Israel in the fall of 2023.

(  )  A federal judge has ruled that a Detroit-area city that banned Gay Pride flags from publicly owned flagpoles did not violate the Constitution.  U.S. District Judge David Lawson has dismissed a lawsuit against Hamtramck, two years after the city council voted to allow only five kinds of flags on public property.  They include the American flag, the Michigan flag and flags that “represent the international character” of residents.  A pride flag was flown in June 2021 and 2022 before some members of the all-Muslim council said it clashed with the beliefs of members of their faith. Businesses and residents can fly any flag they wish on their property. 

(  )  Hong Kong lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have granted recognition to same-sex partnerships in the Chinese city in a major setback to the LGBT movement.  The legislation, which stopped short of formally legalizing gay marriage, stemmed from one of the recent Hong Kong court rulings that pushed the government to offer more accommodations to LGBT people.  Out of the lawmakers who attended the meeting, 71 voted against the bill, 14 approved it and one abstained. Hong Kong’s highest court has ruled that the government should develop a framework for recognizing same-sex partnerships by October.