Lewis Macdonald MSP has been elected as a temporary Deputy Presiding Officer (DPO) of the Scottish Parliament. The election was held as part of the Parliament's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lewis Macdonald MSP has today chaired parliamentary proceedings for the first time as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.

Microsoft will probably deliver critical patches after it ends Windows 7 support in January 2020. But it's not guaranteed, so users and organizations should upgrade to Windows 10 now.

Obviously, some people have to work on Thanksgiving. But let's all work together to make the number of people working as small as possible.

Technology like DNA testing and facial recognition has helped me piece together a family history torn apart by war. But honoring Holocaust Remembrance Day is about more than remembering the past.

Noy shares her journey of experiencing God's love for herself and forgiving the community that persecuted her family.

Noy shares her journey of experiencing God's love for herself and forgiving the community that persecuted her family.

Kris DeFilippis and Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad question teachers who say they "don't see race," in this series guest-edited by Shannon R. Waite, Ed.D.

Noy shares her journey of experiencing God's love for herself and forgiving the community that persecuted her family.

By Bishop W. Shawn McKnight

The November General Assembly of Bishops in Baltimore was a difficult but perhaps unavoidable experience for us to move forward as a Church. I was very disappointed to learn that the Holy See found it necessary to insist that the USCCB not take action at this time on the proposals presented by our conference leadership. My frustration, shared with many other people, is this: We have known about the scandal of Archbishop McCarrick since the end of June, and our Church must take immediate, decisive and substantive action in light of the deep wound the scandal has caused.

I am not so concerned about the time it is taking to punish the perpetrator. Pope Francis immediately required the Archbishop to resign from the College of Cardinals when Cardinal Dolan announced the New York review board found a credible and substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against him. I’m okay with the fact that further penalties (which could include McCarrick’s return to the lay state) will take more time for a complete canonical process. McCarrick isn’t going anywhere and he is already living a life of imposed prayer and penance.

But much more is needed than simply meting out a just punishment. How could his rise to such an influential position in the Church have happened? I am concerned how the national conference of bishops and the Holy See answer that question. An internal investigation of the McCarrick scandal without the use of competent and qualified lay investigators will hardly be considered transparent and credible. We need and must utilize the best and brightest people to do a top-notch investigation and study of the problem. Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta is the most qualified Catholic clergy to lead such an investigation, but without knowing that his collaborators include competent laity, the public may not perceive his eventual report as independent and complete enough to be believed.

At the time of this writing, there has not been one bishop, archbishop or cardinal in either the Holy See or the United States who has come forward on his own to repent publicly of his sins of omission or commission with regard to Archbishop McCarrick’s series of promotions over decades. Please, be men, not cowards, and come clean on your own! There doesn’t have to be a formal and long, drawn out investigation for a bishop to exercise a little compunction and concern for the well-being of the whole Church. An independent and transparent investigation is all the more necessary when culpable hierarchs exhibit an incapacity to do the right thing on their own.

The laity are the only ones who can keep the hierarchy accountable and get us out of the mess we bishops got ourselves into. My singular focus throughout the Baltimore meeting was to advocate and push for greater public involvement of the laity at all levels of the Church. Why can’t we have well qualified, nationally known and trusted lay experts named to the special task force announced by the president of the USCCB? We are too insular and closed in as a hierarchy, and so are some of our processes at the USCCB. The Second Vatican Council gave us not only the freedom but the obligation to utilize and engage the gifts and talents of the laity in the life and mission of the Church.

Beyond the McCarrick scandal, we have more work cut out for us with regard to putting into place protocols and institutional structures to build credibility in the hierarchy’s handling of sexual abuse cases going forward. History proves that we bishops are not capable of policing ourselves adequately on the issue of clergy sexual abuse. Why not include the laity to assist us with this problem? The document the Missouri Province of Bishops presented to the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People on Oct. 6 was intended to offer a set of principles for the USCCB to consider as it was developing proposals for the full body of bishops, including the involvement of the laity. We Missouri bishops wanted something valuable to come from our November meeting.

And so, I was disappointed that even the mild proposals up for consideration at the Baltimore meeting had to be pulled from a vote. It was a rather harsh reminder to me of what many lay people have been saying throughout our Diocese: We bishops are ineffectual in our attempts to address the problem of abuse of power by the hierarchy. The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People has had a marked impact on lowering the number of incidents of abuse by clergy since 2003. But with the aggravation of the McCarrick scandal, the laity and clergy are now rightfully asking that we get it all out, once and for all, and respond with an urgency that this crisis deserves. We literally have people dying because of the harm caused by predator clergy, and survivors of abuse are further victimized when we fail to take swift action. Seeing certain retired bishops who were notoriously responsible for covering up clergy sexual abuse at this year’s General Assembly in Baltimore as welcome guests was a slap in the face to all who have been wounded by the clergy. This example of episcopal arrogance and clericalism evidences the fact that we still don’t get the problem.

The whole Church is needed to solve our problem which the whole world knows about. What more do we have to hide? If we are going to move forward, we need to have authentic communion and a genuine synodal process. And this requires transparency and better communication between the clergy and the laity, between the USCCB and its own members, and between the USCCB and the Holy See. We need to become the Church Christ founded us to be.

Some of the most poignant comments I heard during the listening sessions in our Diocese were in response to the question asking for people’s dreams for their children and grandchildren. People spoke of a Church where their children and grandchildren would find the love, mercy and hope of Jesus Christ, a community filled by God’s graces and led by holy priests. Despite our current lethargy, I believe we are witnessing the rebirth and renewal of our Church in our day. And I feel very blessed to be part of that renewal with each of you. We are better together.

 

 

Bishop McKnight's column was first published at Making Connections, his column on the website of the Diocese of Jefferson City.

Noy shares her journey of experiencing God's love for herself and forgiving the community that persecuted her family.

Penn State Scranton recently donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to two local hospitals, Geisinger Community Medical Center and Commonwealth Health Moses Taylor Hospital, to help them during the growing coronavirus pandemic.

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Two members of the Shoot To Kill (STK) gang, who were responsible for multiple armed robberies and three separate shootings—including the broad daylight murder of 15-year-old Brandon Wingo—have been sentenced by a Superior Court Judge. Diamonte Taylor, 22, of Wilmington, was sentenced life in prison plus 11 years after a Superior Court jury convicted him […]

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NEW CASTLE (Nov. 20, 2018) – The Department of Health and Social Services’ Adopt-A-Family Holiday program is seeking sponsors to help make the holiday season a happier one for thousands of children, adults, people with disabilities and seniors in need in Delaware. The Adopt-A-Family Holiday program anonymously matches sponsors to seniors, individuals with disabilities or […]

With back-to-school shopping already well under way for Delaware families, the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) asks you to considering helping students in need get off to a good start this school year by participating in the annual Adopt-A-Student program.

The State Office of Volunteerism (SOV) and the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) are partnering with Stockings for Soldiers on a public donation campaign to collect items during October and November to send to members of the military serving overseas during the holidays.

The Department of Health and Social Services’ Adopt-A-Family Holiday program is seeking donors to help make this holiday season a happier one for thousands of children, adults, people with disabilities and seniors in need across Delaware.

The MG Hector was converted to an ambulance in a span of 10 days, and was developed and retrofitted by MG's engineering team in Halol in collaboration with Ahmedabad-based Natraj Motor Body Builders.

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Increase your allocation to gold via the gold fund route from the safety and comfort of your home.

The Maruti Suzuki S-Presso has finally been launched in India at a very competitive price. We get behind the wheel of the manual and aAMT AGS automatic versions of the mini SUV which rivals the Renault Kwid and see what the entry-level SUV styled hatchback has to offer.

Encouraging data sharing can sometimes feel like refereeing kids on Christmas morning. “Mom said you have to SHARE!” my sister bawled, grabbing at the Game Boy in my hand as I held the toy just out of her reach. I had just gotten it as a Christmas present and had [...]

The post With government data sharing, don’t be a data scrooge appeared first on Government Data Connection.

A court document has surfaced showing that Tara Reade – a former Senate staffer for Joe Biden who has accused him of sexual assault – told her then-husband she was harassed while working in his office.
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UFC president Dana White said his team has worked flat out to keep fighters safe ahead of UFC 249, and revealed President Donald Trump is watching developments in Jacksonville ahead of fight night in Florida.
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The Italian baroque master’s 'Supper at Emmaus' is usually exhibited at London's National Gallery but, with that shut, Stanhope’s giant interpretation is now on show in Ladywell, southeast London

Commerce, energy secretaries & NSA are part of team to India

There is also the issue of increasing gross enrolment ratio (GER) while maintaining quality, as the GER of India is at least 50% lesser than developed countries like Australia and the US. Low global rankings of Indian universities is another concern.