Thousands of football fans with Super Bowl tickets are converging on Atlanta, where two families are mourning young black men who were killed in separate police shootings this month, both believed to be unarmed, NBC News reported. Jimmy Atchison, a 21-year-old father of two, was shot last week after leading police and federal agents executing a warrant on a foot chase. His aunt, Tammie Featherstone, said police put the case “on the back burner because of the Super Bowl,” though an Atlanta police spokesman said the shooting is still being investigated. A week before, 18-year-old D’ettrick Griffin was shot while stealing a car at a gas station. It belonged to an off-duty officer. A coalition of civil rights groups has planned a Saturday rally near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the Super Bowl will be played, to highlight Georgia’s continuing struggles with policing.
Pope Francis has added a fourth pathway to possible sainthood.
Until now, gaining consideration for sainthood in the Catholic Church required martyrdom, living a life of heroic values or — less frequently invoked — having a clear saintly reputation.
The Vatican announced Tuesday that the pope has issued a new law outlining a new route: people who lived a good Catholic life and who freely accepted a certain and premature death for the good of others.
This is the first change to the main sainthood requirements in centuries.
Under the new category, a miracle must be attributed to the candidate's intercession prior to beatification, the first step toward canonization as a saint. Martyrdom, which stipulates being killed out of hatred for the faith, does not require a miracle.
