Month: December 2023

Pope Francis has issued a historic decision allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples. According to a document released on Monday from the Vatican’s doctrine office, Pope Francis says allowing same-sex couples to be blessed is “as an expression of the Church’s maternal heart.”  The announcement comes months after the pope had responded to questions formally submitted by five cardinals about the matter. At that time, the 87-year-old pontiff indicated that he would be open to some Catholic priests blessing same-sex unions.

The document stated: “God never turns away anyone who approaches him! Ultimately, a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God. … It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered.” The doctrine, however, stresses that any any “rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage…and what contradicts it are inadmissible.”

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández states that the new declaration that the new rule didn’t amend “the traditional doctrine of the church about marriage,” and that it didn’t allow for liturgical rites that resemble the sacrament of marriage. The document stated that the declaration is intended to allow those seeking the blessing “to open one’s life to God, to ask for his help to live better, and live with greater faithfulness. The Church welcomes all who approach God with humble hearts, accompanying them with those spiritual aids that enable everyone to understand and realize God’s will fully in their existence.”

Pope Francis declared his support for the civil unions of same-sex couples in October 2020 during comments featured in the documentary Francesco.  In March 2021, the Vatican said that the Catholic community should welcome gay people with “respect and sensitivity,” and in July 2023, the pontiff said that laws criminalizing homosexuality are “unfair….We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are.”

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The Quaker Oats Company is recalling a variety of granola bars and cereals due to a possible salmonella risk, which can be deadly. The recall affects dozens of Quaker products, including certain varieties of granola bars, boxes of granola cereal, and granola bars included in snack boxes.

Quaker shared a list of the affected products with the Food and Drug Administration, who on Friday announced that the company would be recalling a variety of granola bars and granola cereals due to the possibility that they are contaminated with the bacteria salmonella.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella is a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and headache. However, a salmonella infection can be more severe for infants and children under 5 years old, people 65 and over, people with weakened immune systems, and people taking certain medications, such as stomach acid reducers.

Quaker said in a release that it “has received no confirmed reports of illness related to the products covered by this recall,” and that it had informed the FDA of the recall.  Affected products were sold in all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory of Guam and Saipan, which is part of a U.S. commonwealth.

The list includes certain varieties of Quaker Big Chewy Bars of various flavors, Quaker Chewy Bars of various flavors, Quaker Puffed Granola Cereal of various flavors, Quaker Simply Granola Cereal of various flavors, and a variety of snack boxes with Quaker Chewy bars (Quaker Chocolatey Favorites Snack Mix, Quaker On The Go Snack Mix, and Frito-Lay Snacks Variety Pack With Quaker Chewy.)

The complete list of products affected by the Quaker recall, along with their specific UPCs, expiration dates and photos, are available on the Quaker website. The company said in its release that no other Quaker products are affected.

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YouTube mom vlogger Ruby Franke and her attorney have spoken out for the first time since her arrest, after she and her business partner and mental health counselor Jodi Hildebrant were arrested and charged on six counts of aggravated child abuse in August.  Franke broke her silence through her attorney, sharing that she will be pleading guilty to the charges against her on Monday at the Washington County 5th District Court in Utah.  Both women have remained in custody since their arrest; Hildebrant has not yet entered a plea to the charges.

On August 30th, Franke’s 12-year-old son, who had been staying at Hildebrandt’s house, climbed out of a window and ran to a neighbor’s home, saying he had been abused.  The Santa Clara-Ivins police in Utah released a statement that the child “appeared to be emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around the extremities,” and upon searching the home, police said they found Franke’s 10-year-old daughter in the same condition. All of Franke’s four minor children were then placed into state care.

In his statement Franke’s attorney, LaMar Winward, described her as a devoted mother committed to constant improvement, saying she was a victim of manipulation: “Initially, Ms. Franke believed that Jodi Hildebrant had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement. Ms. Hildebrant took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous.  Over an extended period, Ms. Hildebrant systematically isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children, and her husband, Kevin Franke. This prolonged isolation resulted in Ms. Franke being subjected to a distorted sense of morality.”

Franke’s now defunct YouTube channel “8 Passengers” offered parenting advice, and Franke and Hildebrandt were business partners in ConneXions, an organization that according to its website promises to “encourage healing and facilitate personal growth through impeccable honesty, rigorous personal responsibility and vulnerable humility”. Hildebrandt is listed as the founder while Franke is listed as “a certified mental fitness trainer.”

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A suspect is dead after a shooting involving police on a crowded street in downtown Austin, Texas on Saturday night which wounded three people, one critically. The Austin Police Department said the officers called to the scene discharged their weapons, and the suspected gunman was struck by the officers’ gunfire and later pronounced dead. No officers were injured

Austin Police Department Interim Chief Robin Henderson at a news briefing Sunday morning that the incident began at a downtown bar shortly before midnight on Sunday, when police received a report that someone was trying to enter the establishment with a gun, in violation of a section of the Texas Penal Code related to unlawfully carrying weapons.  Henderson said that an employee at the bar identified the suspect when officers arrived at the scene, and when they approached him, the suspect pulled out a gun and pointed it at the responding officers as well as bystanders, at which point the three officers fired their weapons at the suspect, who was hit multiple times and later pronounced dead. Three other people were shot and wounded in the incident, all of whom were hospitalized, one with critical injuries.

The officers have been placed on administrative duty while the Austin Police Department conducts an internal administrative investigation into the shooting, as well as a criminal investigation in coordination with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Interim Chief Henderson said that the officers have worked at the police department for nine, 11 and 13 years, and the shooting was recorded on officers’ body-worn cameras.  Police ask that anyone with information about the shooting to contact the Austin Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, or to Capitol Area Crime Stoppers.

Editorial credit: Duncan Moore / Shutterstock.com