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Jose Antonio Jimenez is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. for the 1992 murder of Phyllis Minas. In an August 9 letter to Governor Rick Scott on behalf of the bishops of Florida, Michael Sheedy, executive director, appealed to the governor to commute Jimenez' death sentence to a life sentence without parole.
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The only vaccines readily available in the U.S. for some contagious diseases (e.g. rubella and hepatitis A) have been manufactured using fetal tissue from induced abortions. This has created a problem of conscience for many Catholics. As recommended by the Pontifical Academy for Life in 2005, a long-term solution lies in working to ensure that future vaccines and other medicines are not developed in cooperation with practices that demean human life.
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Under U.S. law, a refugee is a person who is forced to flee his or her home country due to persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted on account of his or her nationality, race, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Worldwide, there are 65.3 million people who have been forced out of their homes.
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Religious Freedom Week will take place from June 22-29, 2018. The observance begins with the feast day of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, includes the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and ends with the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
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Florida's First Lady Ann Scott visited Ascension Catholic School in Melbourne to greet students and share her passion for reading and literacy. Mrs. Scott read several books to the students including the book that she authored, "Ally and Jordi's Adventures Through Florida".
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The U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The case involves Christian baker Jack Phillips who declined in 2012 to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony. State officials sought to compel Phillips to create such cakes under Colorado's public accommodations law. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Phillips under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
