After several years of back and forth–and no small amount of controversy–the Society of St. Piux X (SSPX) and the Vatican seem no closer to reconciliation, according to Catholic News Service (via NCR) and Reuters. No surprise here.
The stateside bishops (USCCB) are doubling down on the contraceptive mandate, adding issues touching religious freedom in an attempt to be less partisan. A New York Times blog post recalls an entirely different reaction from Cardinal Richard Cushing to a similar (though hardly identical) issue. The majority of Catholics, however, remain on the sidelines, not agreeing that the contraceptive mandate is a matter of religious freedom. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is having a religous freedom debate of its own.
While we are in England, Lambeth Palace today announced Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury (ABC) Rowan Williams’ resignation from the thankless job, effective at the end of the year, to return to academia. Paul Elie has an appreciation at the Atlantic.
