EWTN News Nightly | Friday, September 17, 2021

another lawsuit a defrocked cardinal faces more allegations of sexual abuse pro-life court case the new texas law survives another attempt to block it stacking the supreme court justice clarence thomas warns against a political ploy and pope emeritus how young theologians are continuing the work of benedict the 16th on ewtn news nightly for friday september 17 2021 thank you so much for being with us tonight i'm tracy sable some breaking news tonight a drone strike launched last month by the united states against isis instead actually killed 10 civilians including seven children in the days since the august 29 attack pentagon officials said that it had been conducted correctly today they reversed that assessment and we will be following this story and we'll have more as it becomes available while the byte administration faces a series of setbacks in texas a judge refused to block a new pro-life law and thousands of migrants are overwhelming the border patrol which was already stretched thin white house correspondent owen jensen reports on the u.s southern border people keep coming non-stop a sprawling sea of humanity under a bridge thousands of migrants camped outside in del rio texas the border patrol is unfortunately ex strained to its limit beyond limit now here in the del rio sector and we just don't know who's crossing and that leads to a whole other set of variables terror threats safety threats also out of texas the heartbeat law this court document signed just hours ago reveals that a united states district judge has denied a government motion for in legal terms an expedited briefing schedule bottom line the pro-life law saving babies lives remains in place for now good morning thank you as president joe biden talks climate with a small group of world leaders meeting virtually the conflict gripping the tigray region in ethiopia continues months of fighting have left hundreds of thousands of people facing famine now a new executive order allows the u.s to sanction leaders and groups fueling the violence usaid administrator samantha power writing the conflict in northern ethiopia has sparked one of the worst humanitarian and human rights crises in the world with over five million people requiring humanitarian assistance and up to nine hundred thousand living in famine conditions going on to say i have personally met with ethiopian refugees from tigre many of them women who shared heart-wrenching experiences of armed actors committing murder rape and other gruesome acts of sexual and gender-based violence and in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic the white house covet 19 response team says it will be ready if government health experts decide to approve booster shots it's really important that people get their first and second shot while at the same time based on the recommendations of fda and cdc will obviously make it easy and convenient for people to get a boost as recommended owen jensen ewtn news nightly earlier this week a report emerged that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff made a call to one of china's military leaders regarding then-president donald trump general mark milley told the chinese military that he would warn them if the president tried to launch a strike today he defended his actions saying the calls were within his duties and responsibilities former president trump has called millie the favorite general of beijing and the taliban and many republicans are accusing the general of treason joining me now to discuss this and more is john schweppe director of policy and government affairs at the american principles project john welcome back great to see you uh first off i'd like to get your take on general milly's comments at the situation overall well he actually referred to it as a perfect phone call which you might remember a certain former president got impeached over a perfect phone call but this is much more serious i mean we're talking about a foreign power frankly an enemy of the united states and him colluding with them so you know i think a lot of republicans are are calling for his head over this you're going to see this the scandal continue to develop but you know the thing is for all these people who have served and who are currently serving to see this coming from military leadership is is really disappointing and dismaying yeah john another thing i want to talk about we mentioned this earlier breaking this afternoon the pentagon announced that that drone strike that it conducted on august mistakenly killed 10 civilians including seven children rather than isis k members that the military was originally of course targeting i want to get your thoughts on this tragic development yeah it's it's stunning i mean this level of incompetence we're not used to seeing this from our military i think this is you know the military is widely respected in this country but you know we saw it with the withdrawal from afghanistan leaving americans behind and now we're seeing it again there needs to be an investigation there needs to be accountability here and you know this is the kind of consistent thing we've been seeing now uh under this administration specifically but there seems to be no accountability whatsoever and you know we're talking about seven children 10 civilians here truly awful and you know we need to know who knew what when yeah and on a different note the pentagon also announced today that the d.c national guard has been deployed as a precaution for tomorrow's justice for j6 rally that's in support for those currently being held in jail for charges related to the january 6 insurrection that said john what more do we know about those people and their situation many of them still sitting in jail well julie kelly with american greatness has done some great reporting on this uh you know we really need to make sure that these people are are having their rights respected their constitutional rights um and and that they're getting a speedy trial and and right now that doesn't appear to be happening and so uh you know we hope obviously with the rally tomorrow it's always a little bit scary with with something like this we want to make sure it's peaceful and all of that but you know it is important and i do hope that uh you know at least some media coverage of this highlights the the plight of some of these people who are in jail many of whom didn't even enter the capitol yeah and john we have probably uh about a minute or so left but i want to get to this something a lot of people are talking about today as well the wall street journal is reporting that mexican drug cartels had actually been using facebook to recruit hitmen among other things and of course there was that other report this week that facebook knew that its instagram platform was actually toxic for teen girls i want to get your take on that as well and also what if anything should be done to kind of reel in social media companies well part of the problem here is that the us government has granted facebook uh an immunity from civil liability so if the doj doesn't take care of this if if law enforcement doesn't handle it there's no right for the victims to sue facebook for their part in this so you know i think this definitely we hope that law enforcement continues to review this and take takes action but you know really we need victims to be able to have the ability to hold facebook accountable accountable for their part in this type of thing well john always appreciate your analysis and coming on john schweppe director of policy and government affairs at the american principles project thank you again thank you a former cardinal theodore mccarrick is facing more legal trouble following another round of allegations of sexual abuse a lawsuit filed yesterday in new jersey alleges mccarrick abused a young man during the 1980s at the time mccarrick was the bishop of the diocese of mccutcheon a lawyer representing mccarrick declined to comment earlier this month the 91 year old was in court regarding another abuse case in massachusetts in which he pleaded not guilty we will continue to follow this story and of course bring you more information as it becomes available supreme court justice clarence thomas says an increasing number of judges are veering into the roles reserved for legislators and politicians when we do that we begin to venture into uh political uh the legislative or executive branch lanes and resolving things that are better left to those branches those of us in remarks last night at the university of notre dame justice thomas says that it is not the role of any court to make policy or base decisions on personal feelings or religious beliefs justice thomas who is a catholic also warned against expanding the supreme court calling it a political ploy adding it is not good to manipulate institutions quote when we don't get the outcomes that we like on new york governor kathy hokul says she plans to fight a lawsuit from christian health care workers over the state's coronavirus vaccine mandate the group is suing because the mandate does not offer a religious exemption earlier this week a federal judge said health care workers must be vaccinated by september 27th but did allow four religious exemptions australian prime minister scott morrison hits out at china he rejects beijing's criticism of the nuclear submarine alliance with the united states announced earlier this week we're just doing what we need to do to keep australians safe and protect our national interests i mean china do the same thing they have massive investments in their military capabilities including in this area and australia doesn't raise issues around that the prime minister also said that he did not mind that it appeared that president biden forgot his name during the announcement instead calling him pal and that fellow down under beijing says the agreement among the u.s australia and great britain is quote highly irresponsible two parliamentary ministers in the netherlands have resigned in the past two days over the evacuation from afghanistan the foreign minister and the defense minister each stepped down after parliament passed motions of censure against them over the government's handling of the evacuations pope francis says aging is a privilege in a letter to elderly priests from northern italy the holy father noted that growing older gives us the chance to suffer the way christ did and he added the biblical figures simeon and anna were in their old age when our lord lord and the gospel entered their lives altamar at the vatican is a meeting of former theology students of pope emeritus benedict xvi the group has met at the end of each summer since 2008 they are committed to researching the work of pope benedict and furthering his theological approach joining us now from rome is martin rothweiler director of ewtn germany martin great to be with you what more can you tell us about the symposium in rome yeah sure this is the third time that the so-called neue schulich josef ratzinger pope benedict the 16th will hold a public symposium in rome at the end of the annual meeting of the new year is in the traditional shula kais this year's topic of the public symposium is the so-called soteriology the doctrine of man's redemption through jesus christ why is man in need of redemption what does men need to be redeemed from among the speakers will be cardinal kotkoch president of the pontificial council for promoting christian unity and archbishop of george wein prefect of the papal household and personal secretary to pope emeritus benedict the 16th that god has become man in jesus christ to redeem us above all from sin from our separation from god to have eternal life seems to be very often neglected in the preaching and teaching of the church in germany the low confession practice in germany is an expression and result of this so this symposium intends to put a focus on this topic to rediscover the center of the good news why god became man in jesus christ out of an infinite love because he wants each and every one of us to live in unity with him and to be happy forever it is the second time by the way that ewtn germany is broadcasting this event live and i want to switch gears here slightly uh earlier this week the holy father decided not to accept the resignation offered by the archbishop of hamburg what more can you tell us about that the pope's decision not to accept the resignation of archbishop stephan heath archbishop of hamburg and former vicar general of the archdiocese of cologne has triggered different reactions the chairman of the german bishops conference bishop georg betsing has welcomed the decision while the central committee of german catholics has criticized it the independent expert report on abuse commissioned by the archdiocese of cologne had found breaches of duty in bishop stefan's his handling of abuse cases during his tenure as vicar general of cologne pope francis has remained true to his line with his decision for he had also not accepted the resignation request of cardinal reinhardt marx appearing to take the responsibility however after the apostolic visitation in cologne two auxiliary bishops who were also accused of breaches of duty are still waiting for a response from rome and martin before i let you go i know a lot of people are curious um what is the overall situation for the church in germany and what events are you keeping your eye on well there's no way and the topic of abuse continue to shape the discussion in the catholic church in germany next week the german bishops conference will meet for its autumn plenary assembly in fulda topics there in addition to the further processing of the abuse crisis are above all the cenotal path in preparation of the second syndical assembly to be held in frankfurt from september the 13th to october 2nd 2021 as well as the preparations for the world synod of bishops in rome which will begin in a worldwide process on october 9 2021 it is remarkable that the bishop of reagan's book rudolf footerholz has started an internet platform at the beginning of september on which alternative texts to the official proposals of the cenotal forums are published the intention is to make constructive contributions that are in harmony with the doctrinal tradition of the church a first document on the topic of power and separation of powers has already been published here the authors of this document were just dissatisfied with the content of the text discussed and adopted in their forum at the cenotal path they say it is important to develop reform proposals that could be derived from current dogmatics and canon law martin thank you so much for being with us today martin rothmeier director of ewtn germany thank you again thanks tracy coming up faith in politics how one congressman puts his catholic faith to work from fighting for religious liberties in the middle east to standing up for the unborn on pro-life issues catholic congressman jeff fortenberry looks at his service as an extension of his faith in tonight's faith and politics series capitol hill correspondent eric rosales sat down with a nebraska representative to explore how he keeps his spiritual cup full since 2005 catholic congressman jeff fortenberry has served the people in nebraska a former publisher a highly educated man he holds two master's degrees one in public policy the other in theology and he puts those into practice each day on capitol hill without being able to to participate in reflective activity having access to the mass being able to walk and reflect and pray the rosary i that's i deeply depend upon it that reflection he tells me has led him to focus on helping christians persecuted in the middle east he's had conversations with muslim leaders who tell him christianity must not disappear in the region the christians have traditionally served as a as a bridge a leavening influence have provided services particularly in education and medicine for all peoples and create again a bridge for the possibility of peace congressman fortenberry believes the catholic faith requires us to speak out part of our struggle in society is with the the fragmentation of family life and faith life and the church sitting passively by institutionally and why and just managing this decline what other institutions are out there that are going to save us for politicians taking a stand that promotes life and justice comes at a high cost you don't ask anyone to feel sorry for a member of congress but at the same time the reality of being on a front line here in this fight against the forces of of justice and nobility in artistry against the forces of decay degradation and darkness is very real he tells me all catholics must pass on the traditions of the church to the younger generation something he's learned from the founders of ewtn i owe a huge amount of thanks to mother angelica and ewtn for providing that gift of my own formation indispensable tradition he shares on capitol hill in friendship with fellow lawmakers eric rosales ewtn news nightly a house republican who voted once to impeach president donald trump says that he is not seeking reelection anthony gonzalez from ohio would have faced max miller an aide in the trump white house with the former president's endorsement the ohio gop censured representative gonzalez for his impeachment vote up next a new point of pride for bethlehem university how christians outside the holy land contributed finally tonight a catholic university in the holy land opened a new nursing building earlier this month the 5 million building is state of the art and is considered a beacon of hope for the region the building is dedicated to the late cardinal john patrick foley who died in philadelphia in 2011 the project was completely funded by christians outside of the holy land and earlier i spoke with one of the officials from bethlehem university who helped to raise money for that building and joining me now is brother balana med hannah vice president for advancement at bethlehem university brother bellana thank you so much for your time today uh what can you tell us about the new nursing building and how it came to be the mission of bethlehem university in the holy land is clear it is what paul vi envisioned in his visit to the holy land in 1964 which led the establishment of the university in 1973 by the vatican and the de la salle uh brothers jointly so it is to provide quality education to the people of the holy land especially here in palestine in catholic and lasallian educational tradition uh that is the mission so based on this the advancement of his my office together with many christians around the world including the usa try to ensure bringing this quality of education to this land a catholic university of bethlehem university uh has done great things in the past 47 years so this time we were working on helping the students through scholarship building facilities that improved quality education for the students and i understand the building is dedicated as eminence john patrick cardinal foley can you tell us more about that and why the building was named in his honor cardinal john patrick cardinal foley is a good was a good friend of bethlehem university uh the mid-atlantic literacy the exterior order uh when they wanted to help really this is to be named after him because he is very much uh passionate about education especially education to be provided here in the holy land especially in in palestine is to make that dream come true you know that quality education uh to to to the most needy ones uh so this is uh because of uh big uh support that we get from mid-atlantic literacy because of the passion of john patrick cardinal foley uh for education for bethlehem university uh we named it after him and as you mentioned the building was funded entirely from christians outside of palestine i'm wondering if you can once again you know quickly tell us about the significance of that and what it means to you for us christian brothers and for the community here at bethlehem university this is a support that encourages us to continue our mission here as you know this place is not uh the best in a way because of the situation around here but to uh stay here and give the best service to the people we need that kind of support that's support from the vatican that's support from christians because bethlehem university as the first catholic university in the holy land and then the presence of bethlehem university in the holy land is significant because as you know for a region where only two percent uh is christian the presence of catholic uh bethlehem university in the in bethlehem or in palestine and in the holy land at large is very symbolic it helps the christians to pursue their education to have hope at the same time uh learning with uh muslims and other faiths believers that is also a witness that goes beyond tolerance that goes into even hospital being hospitable to one another so that is how important it is when christians support this mission well brother bolana thank you so much for your time today and sharing all of that with us we really appreciate it god bless you thank you so much thank you and we thank you for watching tonight for the entire ewtn news nightly team i'm tracy sabel good night and god bless you

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Length: 24min 18sec (1458 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021