RELIGION HEADLINES WED 9-10-25

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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.

(  )  A Hong Kong judge has ruled in favor of a lesbian couple’s parental recognition of their son born through in vitro fertilization.  The couple underwent the medical procedure in South Africa in 2020 after getting married in that country. The child was born in Hong Kong in 2021, but only one of the two women was listed as his mother on his birth certificate.  The decision is another victory for LGBT activists who are also pressuring the government to legalize gay marriage.  Hong Kong lawmakers are set to resume their debate this week on a plan to allow homosexuas who have married abroad to register their partnerships locally.

(  )  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.

(  )  Hong Kong lawmakers are set to debate a government-proposed framework to recognize same-sex partnerships.  The debate this week will result in a vote determining the future of the city’s LGBT couples.  The proposal follows a 2023 landmark court ruling in favor of same-sex unions.  Passage of the bill would allow couples who already have formed unions overseas to register their partnerships locally and receive rights in handling medical and after-death matters.  Asia is generally conservative, but LGBT activists have been increasing the pressure on governments in the region to extend them special rights.