LIFESITE NEWSBYTES

HOMOSEXUALS BATTLE U.S. MARRIAGE AMENDMENT Advocates for religious and legal “marriage” for homosexuals are moving toward their goal, racing against a countermove to amend the U.S. Constitution to say marriage is between a man and woman.  Since May, lawyers for homosexual couples have sued Massachusetts and New Jersey for denying them marriage licenses. And last week, the Episcopal bishop of Kansas became the first in his denomination to approve religious rites for same-sex unions publicly.  https://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020715-22306932.htm   SEMINARIAN WINS NATIONAL COVERAGE FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY Starting in today’s National Post, Raymond J. de Souza starts a series of columns on Pope John Paul II’s visit to Toronto. “The next two weeks are going to be unlike anything we have seen before,” he writes. WYD “is something altogether new for Toronto and for Canada. It will be of decisive importance for the Catholic Church in Canada, but it will also touch the whole country.” De Souza, who has studied in Rome since 1998, will be ordained a Catholic priest in Kingston, Ont. on July 20. See https://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/story.asp?id=4E0BAB48-6660-42F4-94AD-ACF4233E56F2   HIV MUPPET UNDER ATTACK IN U.S.  Plans to create a Muppet character with HIV in the South Africa edition of children’s programme Sesame Street would not be welcome in the United States, Republican party politicians have said. Five congressmen have written to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which broadcasts the series, to say they do not believe the character would be appropriate given the average age of its viewers.  https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/tv_and_radio/newsid_2129000/2129144.stm