Welcome to the July 8, 2020 edition of Just 3 Things, the weekly social action newsletter of the Office of Human Life & Dignity. Here are some of the social justice news items of the week. If this email was forwarded to you and you'd like to receive it each week, click here to visit our website to subscribe.     __________________________________________________________________

July 9 is the anniversary of the death of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, the first African American ordained to the priesthood. Because Father Tolton was declared Venerable last June, we can now pray for the intercession of the man who who was born a slave and suffered bigotry throughout his life. Deacon Harold Burke Sivers offers some insights here.  His cause for sainthood is promulgated by the Archdiocese of Chicago. Click on his photo for another story too.

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning handed two victories to proponents of religious freedom, protecting the Little Sisters of the Poor and others against the Affordable Care Act contraceptive mandate and asserting the right of Catholic schools to hire and fire their teachers.  The high court ruled 7-2 for the Little Sisters of the Poor who refused to implement the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act, deciding against the states of California and Pennsylvania, in the latest bout in what has turned into a nine-year battle for the Sisters. More here. In the case of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the justices ruled  7-2 that teachers at Catholic grade schools were religious ministers, no matter what subject they taught. 

The first execution of a death row inmate in federal prisons since 2003 is scheduled for July 13. Catholic bishops and other Catholic leaders continue to call on the federal government to reverse its decision to reinstate the death penalty for those on death row in federal prisons.