RELIGION HEADLINES THR 9-24

(SRN NEWS)-

(  )  About 2,000 people who reported being sexually abused by Catholic priests or other church representatives have sought reparations from a French independent body created to address decades of abuse.  The Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation is preparing to end its five year mission.  Survivors who went through the process were awarded an average of 42,000 dollars each out of a special fund financed by the church for payment.  The INARR report comes just ahead of Pope Leo’s four-day visit to France, beginning Friday, during which he is expected to meet privately with seven survivors of priest abuse.

(  )  A Sri Lankan court has convicted 15 men of helping to organize the 2019 Easter bombings on churches and hotels that killed 267 people.  Each of them has been sentenced to at least 200 years in prison after a trial that lasted more than five years.  The attacks, which were inspired by ISIS, were among the deadliest in Sri Lanka’s history.  They took place at the Zion Church, St. Sebastian’s Church and St. Anthony’s Church while each building was filled with Easter Sunday worshippers.  After the bombings, allegations emerged that the attackers had links to Sri Lanka’s state intelligence services.

(  )  The Supreme Court will not intervene in a custody dispute over a child who was born after a surrogate mother refused a California couple’s wishes to have an abortion.  Justice Elena Kagan denied the request from McKenna West, who was seeking conservatorship over the baby boy she gave birth to in Texas.  Multiple courts have rejected West’s efforts to have a say in the treatment of the child, who was born with a heart condition.  The couple who engaged her demanded that she have an abortion when she was nearly six months pregnant, after finding out that the child would be born with disabilities.