The Catholic Church changed its stance on same-sex couples. The Texas

governor signed a bill that will allow police to arrest migrants and actor

Jonathan Majors was found guilty in a domestic abuse case.

That's some of what we'll get to on the 7th from the Washington Post.

I'm Jeff Pierre. It's Tuesday, December 19th.

Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.

At number one today, Pope Francis will allow Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples. The Vatican issued formal and

definitive permission yesterday for priests to give blessings to same-sex couples.

It largely reversed a ruling from 2021 which confirmed a ban on these kinds of

blessings and it expands on a statement of support for these blessings issued by Francis

in September. The new guidance made clear that the blessings

should be kept separate from marriage. It said priests can't wear traditional

wedding vestments or take part in ceremonies, formerly recognizing same-sex unions, but it explicitly gives

priests permission to carry out the blessings. This is a milestone for the LGBTQ-plus

community.

The Catholic Church has 1.3 billion followers around the world.

And the Church has previously said that any nod to same-sex unions will be equivalent

to blessing sin.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill allowing police to arrest migrants.

That is number two. The legislation was signed into law

yesterday. It gives state police the power to arrest migrants suspected of

entering Texas illegally from Mexico. It's expected to go into effect in March.

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