SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello, I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News, and this is your OSV Newscast for Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day. Here we go. Pope Leo XIV opened the five-week season of creation yesterday with a message of urgency paired with genuine hope. Celebrating Mass on the Royal Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the gardens of the Papal Villa at Castel Gondolfo, home to the Borgo Lodauto C Ecology Project, the Pope called on the faithful to step away from the frenzy of daily life to hear the melodious voice of creation. His central message was direct. It is not yet too late to repair humanity's relationship with the environment. Contemplating creation and its creator, the Pope said, should lead people to recognize their own responsibility for protecting it. As we become conscious of our shortcomings and failures, we can renew our commitment to restoring the relationships among all creatures according to the will of their creator, he said. This year's theme echoes the biblical call to beat swords into plowshares, drawing a direct connection between armed conflict and environmental destruction. The court finds that the allegations describing the four events cited by Miss Grole in the context of the class action are false, the judge wrote, awarding Cardinal Olette the $100,000 Canadian dollars in damages he had sought. The Cardinal, retired since April 2024, has pledged to donate the full amount to organizations fighting sexual abuse experienced by Indigenous Canadians. His defamation suit was part of a broader class action case against the Archdiocese of Quebec, which was separately ratified August 12th with an approved out-of-court settlement of $31.5 million Canadian dollars to be paid to abuse victims. According to Morse, when students asked about abortion, she told them, I am a faithful Roman Catholic and I am against it, while making clear the disagreement was perfectly acceptable. Morse sued Angus Council, which oversees the school, alleging unfair dismissal and arguing her firing violated her rights to freedom of religion, expression, and protection from discrimination. An employment tribunal had been scheduled for late August, but the council offered a financial settlement beforehand, which Morse accepted on the condition she not disclose the amount. Michael Robinson of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, which funded her case, said expressing a reasonable view on abortion is not something that should allow people of faith to be victimized. As Americans look forward to celebrating Labor Day next Monday, a leading U.S. bishop is connecting the holiday to one of the most pressing questions facing workers today: artificial intelligence. In the statement released yesterday, Archbishop Shelton Fob of Louisville, chairman of the U.S. Bishop's Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said the observance underscores Pope Leo XIV's call to be builders of communion while safeguarding human dignity as AI reshapes our economy and our work. Labor Day, the Archbishop said, is an opportunity to celebrate workers and honor the dignity of work, emphasizing that work is more than a paycheck, but rather a form of participation in God's creation. Drawing on multiple data sources, Archbishop Fobb pointed to mounting inequities and anxieties among low-wage workers, the majority of whom are persons of color, and among young people especially. Fears that AI has only compounded, even affecting whether people feel they can afford to raise children. Four states will consider ballot measures related to abortion policy. Proposals in Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia would establish abortion as a right, while Missouri's Amendment 3 would move in the opposite direction, limiting abortion as well as certain medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender. Jamie Morris, executive director and general counsel for the Missouri Catholic Conference, told OSV News he is cautiously optimistic about Amendment 3's prospects. Beyond abortion and gender policy, housing is emerging as a major theme this cycle. Voters in four states will consider a total of six housing-related ballot measures, the most in a single year in two decades. Ballot measures allow voters to weigh in directly on laws and regulations, sometimes alongside and sometimes in place of the traditional legislative process. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Maggie Murray of OSV News. Check out the show notes for direct links to the stories in this episode. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast, follow us on social media, and bookmark osvnews.com. Thanks so much for listening and God bless. This has been an OSV News production. To learn more, visit osvnews.com.