Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington promulgated liturgical norms

The US bishops allowed a gay woman to become a foster parent. The broader meaning is unclear.

Kelly Easter won her legal battle to become a foster parent to refugee children. But Easter still feels like she's "in limbo."

"I don't know what to make of it," Easter said of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' explanation earlier this year that "a misunderstanding" caused one of its subcontracting agencies in 2020 to deny her application to become a foster parent because she is gay.

Easter and one of her lawyers told NCR that they tried to find out how that misunderstanding happened. They also attempted to learn if the bishops' conference would move to revoke her foster license if Easter, who is single, begins dating or marries a woman.

You can read more of this story here.

More background:

• Pope Francis in a new interview on LGBT Catholics said God "does not disown any of his children" and that a church that is "selective" about its membership more resembles a "sect" than what the Gospel commands. 

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In Canada, Pope Francis tells Indigenous people he is 'deeply sorry' for abusive schools

Pope Francis on July 25 said he was "deeply sorry" for the Catholic Church's "catastrophic" involvement in the "cultural destruction" of Canada's Indigenous peoples through its participation in running the country's residential schools.

"I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples," Francis said during a solemn meeting with Indigenous representatives, while visiting the former site of one of the largest residential schools in the country.

Read more of the story here.

More background:

• After a flight of more than 10 hours from Rome, Francis landed in Edmonton on Sunday and met briefly at the airport with Indigenous leaders, Canada's governor general and prime minister before heading to the local seminary for a rest.

• You can follow along with all of our coverage of the papal trip to Canada here.

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More headlines

• At Global Sisters Report, read a Q&A with University College Dublin professor Deirdre Raftery, who has led a project to digitize a unique collection of more than 500 photos taken in 1902-1908 by Mother Michael Corcoran of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

• As the first cardinal-elect from the Amazon region, Archbishop Leonardo Steiner attributed his selection to four priorities of the pope: the desire to do more missionary work in the Amazon and to be attentive to the poor; to care for the Amazon "as our common home" and to be a church that "knows how to contribute to the autonomy of Indigenous people."

• ICYMI: Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington promulgated liturgical norms for implementing Pope Francis' apostolic letter "Traditionis Custodes," which limits celebrations of the Mass according to the rite used before the Second Vatican Council.