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Message for Lent 2010

Made public on Thursday was the 2010 Lenten Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI. The text, dated 30 October 2009, has as its title a passage from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans: 'The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ'. The full English-language translation of the document is given below:

'Each year, on the occasion of Lent, the Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of the teachings of the Gospel. This year, I would like to offer you some reflections on the great theme of justice, beginning from the Pauline affirmation: 'The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ'.

'First of all, I want to consider the meaning of the term 'justice', which in common usage implies 'to render to every man his due', according to the famous expression of Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the third century. In reality, however, this classical definition does not specify what 'due' is to be rendered to each person. What man needs most cannot be guaranteed to him by law. In order to live life to the full, something more intimate is necessary that can be granted only as a gift: we could say that man lives by that love which only God can communicate since He created the human person in His image and likeness. Material goods are certainly useful and required - indeed Jesus Himself was concerned to heal the sick, feed the crowds that followed Him and surely condemns the indifference that even today forces hundreds of millions into death through lack of food, water and medicine - yet 'distributive' justice does not render to the human being the totality of his 'due'. Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God. St. Augustine notes: if 'justice is that virtue which gives every one his due ... where, then, is the justice of man, when he deserts the true God?'

'The Evangelist Mark reports the following words of Jesus, which are inserted within the debate at that time regarding what is pure and impure: 'There is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him. ... What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts'. Beyond the immediate question concerning food, we can detect in the reaction of the Pharisees a permanent temptation within man: to situate the origin of evil in an exterior cause. Many modern ideologies deep down have this presupposition: since injustice comes 'from outside', in order for justice to reign, it is sufficient to remove the exterior causes that prevent it being achieved. This way of thinking - Jesus warns - is ingenuous and short-sighted. Injustice, the fruit of evil, does not have exclusively external roots; its origin lies in the human heart, where the seeds are found of a mysterious co-operation with evil. With bitterness the Psalmist recognises this: 'Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me'. Indeed, man is weakened by an intense influence, which wounds his capacity to enter into communion with the other. By nature, he is open to sharing freely, but he finds in his being a strange force of gravity that makes him turn in and affirm himself above and against others: this is egoism, the result of original sin. Adam and Eve, seduced by Satan's lie, snatching the mysterious fruit against the divine command, replaced the logic of trusting in Love with that of suspicion and competition; the logic of receiving and trustfully expecting from the Other with anxiously seizing and doing on one's own, experiencing, as a consequence, a sense of disquiet and uncertainty. How can man free himself from this selfish influence and open himself to love?

'At the heart of the wisdom of Israel, we find a profound link between faith in God who 'lifts the needy from the ash heap' and justice towards one's neighbour. The Hebrew word itself that indicates the virtue of justice, 'sedaqah', expresses this well. 'Sedaqah', in fact, signifies on the one hand full acceptance of the will of the God of Israel; on the other hand, equity in relation to one's neighbour, especially the poor, the stranger, the orphan and the widow. But the two meanings are linked because giving to the poor for the Israelite is none other than restoring what is owed to God, who had pity on the misery of His people. It was not by chance that the gift to Moses of the tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai took place after the crossing of the Red Sea. Listening to the Law presupposes faith in God who first 'heard the cry' of His people and 'came down to deliver them out of hand of the Egyptians'. God is attentive to the cry of the poor and in return asks to be listened to: He asks for justice towards the poor, the stranger, the slave. In order to enter into justice, it is thus necessary to leave that illusion of self-sufficiency, the profound state of closure, which is the very origin of injustice. In other words, what is needed is an even deeper 'exodus' than that accomplished by God with Moses, a liberation of the heart, which the Law on its own is powerless to realize. Does man have any hope of justice then?

'The Christian Good News responds positively to man's thirst for justice, as St. Paul affirms in the Letter to the Romans: 'But now the justice of God has been manifested apart from law ... the justice of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by His blood, to be received by faith'.

'What then is the justice of Christ? Above all, it is the justice that comes from grace, where it is not man who makes amends, heals himself and others. The fact that 'expiation' flows from the 'blood' of Christ signifies that it is not man's sacrifices that free him from the weight of his faults, but the loving act of God Who opens Himself in the extreme, even to the point of bearing in Himself the 'curse' due to man so as to give in return the 'blessing' due to God. But this raises an immediate objection: what kind of justice is this where the just man dies for the guilty and the guilty receives in return the blessing due to the just one? Would this not mean that each one receives the contrary of his 'due'? In reality, here we discover divine justice, which is so profoundly different from its human counterpart. God has paid for us the price of the exchange in His Son, a price that is truly exorbitant. Before the justice of the Cross, man may rebel for this reveals how man is not a self-sufficient being, but in need of Another in order to realize himself fully. Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this: to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one's own need - the need of others and God, the need of His forgiveness and His friendship.

'So we understand how faith is altogether different from a natural, good-feeling, obvious fact: humility is required to accept that I need Another to free me from 'what is mine', to give me gratuitously 'what is His'. This happens especially in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Thanks to Christ's action, we may enter into the 'greatest' justice, which is that of love, the justice that recognises itself in every case more a debtor than a creditor, because it has received more than could ever have been expected. Strengthened by this very experience, the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love.

'Dear brothers and sisters, Lent culminates in the Paschal Triduum, in which we shall celebrate divine justice - the fullness of charity, gift, salvation. May this penitential season be for every Christian a time of authentic conversion and intense knowledge of the mystery of Christ, who came to fulfil every justice. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you my apostolic blessing'. [VIS] 1613.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish bishops : a call for fidelity to the Magisterium

There can be no compromise on the life issues and the struggle against secularism, the pope told the visiting Scottish bishops this week. In his speech at their 'ad limina' visit and closely following similarly stern comments on Tuesday to the bishops of England and Wales, Benedict told the Scottish bishops that they must 'grapple' with the 'increasing tide of secularism' in Scotland, and held up the 16th century martyr St. John Ogilvie as a model.

 

Pope Benedict directly linked the secularist mentality to attacks on human life, saying support for euthanasia 'strikes at the very heart of the Christian understanding of the dignity of human life.' Benedict also noted, 'Recent developments in medical ethics and some of the practices advocated in the field of embryology give cause for great concern.'

The pope openly chided the bishops, saying that only complete support for all Catholic teaching can lend credibility to their voices: 'If the Church's teaching is compromised, even slightly, in one such area, then it becomes hard to defend the fullness of Catholic doctrine in an integral manner.'

The pope's comments coincide closely with those he gave last week when he urged the bishops of England and Wales to present Catholic moral teaching 'in its entirety' and are a strong hint that all his not well, in the eyes of the Vatican, in the British Catholic Church.

On Tuesday, he urged the English Church leadership 'to speak with a united voice,' and warned them against doctrinal 'dissent' in a society that 'encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises.'

'It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church's Magisterium that sets us free.'

On Friday he took up the theme again, urging the Scottish bishops to adhere to the official teaching of the Catholic Church: 'Pastors of the Church, therefore, must continually call the faithful to complete fidelity to the Church's Magisterium, while at the same time upholding and defending the Church's right to live freely in society according to her beliefs.'

In a speech that was short on the usual diplomatic expressions of camaraderie and harmony, the pope hinted at tensions in the relationship between the bishops of Scotland and the Holy See. Speaking of the link between the world's dioceses and the See of Peter as the 'reality that lies at the heart of every Catholic diocese,' the pope said that 'pastoral initiatives that take due account of this essential dimension bring authentic renewal.'

'When the bonds of communion with the universal Church, and in particular with Rome, are accepted joyfully and lived fully, the people's faith can grow freely and yield a harvest of good works,' Benedict added.

The pope illustrated his theme by reminding the bishops of the life of Saint John Ogilvie, the 16th century Scottish convert and martyr who was arrested in 1614 and hanged and disembowelled after torture for his refusal to give up the Catholic faith and revert to Protestantism. In 1560 it had become illegal and a capital offence to preach, proselytise for, or otherwise endorse Catholicism.

Catholic commentators have not missed the note of correction in Pope Benedict's remarks to the bishops of Britain. John Smeaton, head of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said the pope's 'strong words' were welcome by many laity who have long seen themselves as alone in the fight against the rising tide of anti-religious legislation in Britain.

'The Pope's warnings and directions about dissent from Church teaching on life and family issues will be greatly appreciated by countless ordinary Catholic and non-Catholic citizens in Britain,' Smeaton said.

'They are distressed by the undermining of Catholic pro-life and pro-family witness by influential clergy, laity, bodies and publications at home and abroad.'

Many Catholic laity have complained of the laxity of the Church leadership on sexual issues as well as abortion, contraception and euthanasia. As the pope was delivering his address in Rome, in Scotland the notorious dissenting theologian, Professor Thomas Groome of Boston College, a laicised priest, is scheduled to deliver a lecture at St. Aloysius's College in Glasgow, supported by the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the Scottish Catholic Education Service.

Groome is a 'guru' of the post-1960s style of 'experiential' catechetics and has openly opposed Catholic doctrine on the authority of the pope and magisterium and the limiting of the priesthood to celibate men. Influenced by the Chilean Marxist Paulo Freire, Karl Rahner and Leonardo Boff, he has written that he 'suspects' divine revelation, the authority of the papacy and the ministerial priesthood and the sacraments. Groome's books have been banned in at least one diocese - the Archdiocese of Sydney, which is under Cardinal George Pell. [LSN] 1613.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New stem cell source 'future of medicine'

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano republished an interview on Wednesday detailing current research on a new source of stem cells that is being called 'the future of medicine.'

According to the Vatican newspaper, the pioneering research is presently taking place at the Biocell Center of Busto Arsizio in Milan and involves using stem cells taken from amniotic fluid to create a retinal regeneration therapy. This stem cell source is considered morally licit as it does not require the destruction of human embryos.

In an interview with Giuseppe Simoni, an Italian biologist and geneticist from Milan, L'Osservatore Romano's Joseph Reguzzoni shed light on amniotic stem cells, which are now at the forefront of genetic research. The interview was originally published in September-December 2009 edition of the magazine 'Communio.'

'We are studying a particular type of stem cell, the amniotic stem cell, that represents a 'first' in the course of our existence,' Simoni said of Biocell. 'We are investing all of our work in the conviction that the study of amniotic cells could bring us to better understand many phenomena, and in consequence improve the lives of the sick, cure pathologies (which are) to-date incurable, and make more effective the remedies already used. In the field of amniotic cells, additionally, we are really at the beginning: everything still needs to be studied, verified, demonstrated.'

'The possibilities are really so many and the hopes infinite,' Simoni said.

When asked to explain why stem cells have been so pursued by medical researchers, Simoni explained that 'The stem cells and their behavior are important to understanding the dynamics of tumors, the regeneration of tissues, the continual cell proliferation that takes place each minute in the course our entire lives.'

Simoni also outlined the differences between embryonic stem cells and ones obtained from amniotic fluid. 'Unlike embryonic stem cells,' he noted, 'in a not so distant future, everyone could possess their own amniotic cells, or have in close relatives an availability of compatible amniotic cells.'

'For the embryonic cells, on the other hand, the conversation is more complicated, you need to find the embryo, develop compatible lines...' which, according to Simoni, not only have large costs associated with them but also have the power to generate large profits.

'All this,' he stated, 'is inconsistent with our mission and irreconcilable with our code of ethics.'

'We believe, actually, that ethics are necessary in everything,' he continued. 'You can't work well if you don't have respect for the person, also for a person yet to be born. How can something good come out of an injustice or an inethical behavior?' Simoni asked.

'In this sense the study of the amniotic fluid and the stem cells they contain are not inconsistent with ethical principles.'

L'Osservatore Romano reported that in addition to the Biocell Center of Busto Arsizio, numerous other institutions have agreed to take part in the research on amniotic stem cells and retina regeneration. The list includes Harvard Medical School's Department of Opthalmology, the IRCCS Foundation and three Italian hospitals. [CNA] 1613.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mass for Sick

In commemoration of the World Day for the Sick, the basilica of St. Peter's will host pilgrims with illnesses from all parts of the globe. The celebration of the Mass will also mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Pontifical Council for Health Ministry.

The Eucharistic celebration will be presided over by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's on the morning of Feb. 11.

As is customary on the occasion of the World Day for the Sick, the Holy See extends a particular invitation for the celebration to the members of UNITALSI, an Italian association that organizes pilgrimages for thousands of sick people to a number of holy sites every year. They also arrange for a pilgrimage to Rome every year on this date to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes and celebrate the Day for the Sick.

Hours after the celebration of the Mass, the sick and the volunteers associated with UNITALSI, the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Ministry, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski and the mayor of Rome will take part in a Eucharistic procession carrying with them the relics of St. Bernadette and a Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. The route will run the half-mile from Castel Sant'Angelo to St. Peter's Square, where the Pope will impart upon them the Apostolic blessing from the window of the Papal apartment.

The event will wrap up a series of activities scheduled to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Pontifical Council for Health Ministry. [CNA] 1613.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Family

 

UK families with one earner 'hit hard'

Families in which only one married parent works are being unfairly penalised by the tax system in Britain compared to those in other developed countries, according to a new report.

The study by CARE, the Christian social policy charity, claims that a one-earner married couple with children, whose wages are up to £33,000, pays a third more of their income to the taxman in the UK than families elsewhere in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Compared with the European Union average, the difference is 18 per cent more, the report says. The 50-page study advocates the introduction of 'transferable allowances' for married couples which would allow the non-working partner to transfer their tax allowance to the working partner.

The scheme is understood to be the favoured option for David Cameron who has pledged to recognise marriage in the tax system if the Conservatives win power. It would 'put the UK in line with the practice in many other countries,' the CARE study says.

In the US, a one-earner married couple with two children, on an average wage, pays just 48.2 per cent of the tax paid by a single person with no family responsibilities, according to the report. In Britain a comparable couple pays 75 per cent of the single person's burden.

Among OECD countries, whose ranks contain 30 of the highest performing economies, Britain joins Finland, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden and Turkey in having a tax system based on 'individual recognition'.

The majority of OECD members - including the US, Canada, France, Germany and Italy - all have some form of transferable allowances or tax married couples jointly.

Don Draper, one of the report's authors, said: 'The UK is in line with most other OECD and EU countries when it comes to tax rates, with the glaring exception of single-earning married couples with children - who are hit much harder.'

His co-author, Leonard Beighton, added: 'The tax system does not recognise the family unit. It sees taxpayers as individuals, regardless of their family circumstances. This is immensely damaging to the social fabric of the country.'

According to CARE, nearly 2.5 million children live in households where one parent is in full-time work and one stays at home. A single-earner married couple, with children, pays income tax at almost 20 per cent, even after child benefit and tax credits are discounted. The average for an OECD country is 14 per cent.

The report refers to 'horizontal equality' whereby tax-payers on different rates are equal in the proportion of income that is taxed, if not the amount. One way to achieve such equality, the report argues, would be for the UK to give married couples the option of being taxed jointly or as individuals.

The report came as details emerged of a proposal from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the think tank chaired by lain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, to offer tax breaks to families who build 'granny flats'.

Under the scheme a couple who build annexes for grandparents could be exempt from capital gains tax when the property is sold. A family who bought a house for £200,000, built a granny flat for £50,000 and sold the property for £400,000 would normally have to pay CGT of about 18 per cent on a share of the profits, or about £10,000. [Sunday Telegraph] 1613.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

United Nations

 

 

Promoting the Family can build the economy

The permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations is highlighting the family as a primary resource for building the economy and social integration and development.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore stated this on Thursday in an address about social integration, which he delivered at the 48th session of the Commission for Social Development of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Faced to the challenges of social integration in an increasingly globalized world, he said, there is a need to 'push further ahead and take into consideration the integral good of the human person in his various dimensions, including the spiritual.'

As well, the prelate added, due to the current economic recession, the social integration discussion 'must take into account its link with poverty eradication and full employment, including decent work for all.'

He continued: 'In this context, in order to promote economic and social growth along with employment, it seems that the patterns of consumption should be focused upon relational goods and services which promote greater connection between people.

'By investing in relational goods, such as medical care, education, culture, art, sport - all things which develop a person and require unique human interaction rather than machine production -- the state, through its public intervention, would be addressing development at its root, while also promoting employment and long-term development.'

Human relations

The archbishop pointed out that 'social development and integration will not come about solely from technological solutions, since they concern primarily human relations.'

'Focusing on human relations necessarily calls for an openness to life which is a positive contribution to social and economic development,' he added.

Archbishop Migliore noted that 'often population growth is viewed as the cause of poverty whereas it is a means of overcoming it, for only within the work force can the solution for poverty be found.'

In this light, he said, 'promoting life and the family and finding ways to integrate the contribution of all people will allow societies to realize their full potential and achieve development.'

'The family occupies a central place,' the prelate asserted.

It is the place where children first learn 'certain skills, attitudes and virtues that prepare them for the labor force and thus allow them to contribute to economic growth and social development,' he explained.

Policies promoting the family should be 'based not only on redistribution but above all on justice and efficiency' and should 'assume responsibility for the economic and fiscal needs of families,' the archbishop affirmed.

He concluded by pointing out that 'civil society and faith based organizations' play an important role in social integration programs, 'since they help to ensure the involvement of local communities and promote cooperation and participation of all peoples.' [Zenit] 1613.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New C-FAM blog

1613.78 The Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute have launched a new 'UN blog' at http://www.c-fam.org/blog

 

[C-FAM] 1613.7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Member states discuss new women's 'super-agency' details

Samantha Singson writes : 'This week at the United Nations (UN), member states will start deliberating the details of the new 'super' agency for women. The General Assembly decided last fall to reform the current 'gender architecture' by consolidating the UN's four existing departments on women and establish a new office, but details regarding the new entity's mandate, structure and funding have yet to be finalized.

In anticipation of these meetings, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon released a comprehensive proposal for the new entity last month, outlining a vision for the new office that includes a half-billion dollar budget, national, regional and international advocacy work and the creation of a new under-secretary-general position to accommodate the new office's executive director.

As decided in last year's resolution, the four existing UN offices that address women's issue, including the Division on the Advancement of Women, are to be merged into a new 'composite entity' headed by an Executive Director with the title of under-secretary-general, which is the third highest ranking position in the UN system, after secretary-general and deputy secretary-general. The new office will be a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly and report to it via the Economic and Social Council. In addition, the new entity will have its own financial regulations and rules and the Executive Director 'will have full authority in respect of all financial matters.'

The new organization was created with the broad mandate of working towards 'gender equality' and the 'elimination of discrimination against women and girls.' The Secretary-General's proposal lays out a more detailed proposed mission statement which reads 'women's rights will be at the centre of all its efforts' and that 'the composite entity will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.' The new office 'will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.'

The latest Secretary-General proposal for the composite entity reiterates that the new office will be funded by both voluntary contributions and the regular budget of the UN. The report states that 'taking into account the significant need to fill funding gaps, especially at the country level, total funding requirements for the start-up phase are approximately $500 million. Of that annual $500 million initial 'start-up' cost, $127 million is estimated for staffing costs. $7 million - the approximate amount made available from the UN's regular operating budget to the four existing offices - would be transferred to the new agency, with the rest coming from voluntary contributions from member states.

Radical feminist groups allied under the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) campaign worked in tandem with prominent UN staffers to successfully push for the creation of the new women's mega-agency. Critics fear that instead of advocating for the real needs of women worldwide, the new entity will be used as a tool to promote the abortion rights agenda of the radical feminist organizations who demanded for its creation in the first place.

Deliberations on the new agency are expected to take place through the coming months. [C-FAM] 1613.8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Europe

 

 

 

Politicians need Pope's Lent message

former president of the European Parliament says politics needs Benedict XVI's message for Lent 2010. Hans-Gert Pöttering, now president of a Germany-based research group called the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said this on Thursday when he presented the Pope's traditional Lenten message.

The message, dated Oct. 30, was released this week. It is on the theme of justice.

Pöttering was president of the European Parliament from 2007 till last July. 'If we want to preserve freedom and if we want to increase justice, then we have to place the value of fraternity or solidarity at the center of our political thinking,' Pöttering said in presenting the message.

The former Parliament leader suggested that Europe has achieved a 'unique political wonder in the spirit of solidarity, that hardly anybody would have considered possible at the end of the Second World War.'

'We have proven ourselves with the principle of solidarity evident between the states and the peoples of the old and the new European Union,' he contended. 'Lately, the joint measures taken to combat the financial crisis have shown that a common way of thinking and a joint policy are possible in the European Union.'

Fledgling

But, Pöttering lamented, 'the power of solidarity has rather faded inside Europe since reunification.'

He called solidarity 'at best in the fledgling stages,' particularly with the planet's poorest.

Pöttering noted how Europe and the world reacted to fight against the financial crisis, but said 'the implementation of charity leaves much to be desired, especially in the fight against hunger in the world.'

'The determination with which Europe and the world have reacted to the financial crisis shows that international cooperation can overcome huge challenges. A similar firmness is equally necessary in the fight against worldwide poverty,' he reflected.

He said taking further responsibility is a 'moral obligation.'

'It is exactly here that politics has to adopt the Lenten Message of the Holy Father,' Pöttering declared. 'We need again a European spirit of solidarity. And, more than ever, we need a European spirit of solidarity with all peoples and cultures of this one world. Those are the two most important social-ethical tasks that the European Union faces.'

The former Parliament leader went on suggest that Europe needs to bring about a 'spiritual renewal.'

'This is,' he said, 'about approaching the tasks that we face in the spirit of solidarity and that we seize the possibilities that we possess in a comparatively rich and privileged Europe so that justice becomes a reality for as many people as possible. Where justice is experienced, the value of freedom is equally strengthened.' [Zenit] 1613.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro-lifer wins Christian party chairmanship

Piero A. Tozzi, J.D. and Emanuele Rizzardi write: 'Italian pro-life politician Luca Volontè captured the chairmanship of the European People's Party (EPP) in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) last week, besting second-place finisher Jean-Claude Mignon of France, whom socially-liberal members had rallied around after their favored candidates faded.

Immediately upon assuming the chairmanship of the EPP, the chamber's Christian Democratic grouping, Volontè was confronted with a number of challenges on controversial social issues. Due to coordinated EPP opposition, a report on 'discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity' sponsored by Swiss socialist Andreas Gross was withdrawn and referred to the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. Volontè had engineered a flood of some 70 substantive amendments to the bill, joined by Italian colleagues Renato Farina and Lorenzo Cesa, as well as Marco Gatti, representing San Marino, an independent microstate on the Italian peninsula.

EPP unity was lacking, however, when PACE adopted a report by British Labour parliamentarian Christine McCafferty commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of the Cairo conference on Population and Development as an 'official recommendation.' The report calls for universal access to 'sexual and reproductive health rights, safe abortion services' and 'age-appropriate, gender-sensitive sexuality and relationship information and education in schools.'

The Recommendation serves as an action plan not only for the 47 Council of Europe countries represented in PACE, but also affects nations throughout the developing world. It calls upon donor governments to 'allocate 10% of ODA (Official Development Assistance) to population/sexual and reproductive health and rights' programs and mandates that recipients of such aid also devote two-thirds of their total 'population/sexual and reproductive budget' from domestic sources.

While non-binding, the McCafferty document also calls upon the decision-making Committee of Ministers - comprised of member state foreign ministers - to consider 'a European convention on sexual and reproductive health.'

The parliamentary tactics that worked with the Gross bill failed to stop the McCafferty proposal, as 60 amendments put forth by Volontè's EPP allies and Irish independent Ronan Mullen failed to pass by varying margins, the closest falling short by three votes. Among the amendments that failed was language reaffirming the Cairo declaration's rejection of abortion as a method of family planning.

Many EPP members did not support Volontè's amendments and joined the socialists bloc, voting to accept the recommendation in its entirety. Internal opposition was led by France's Mignon and Holland's Corien Jonker, a favored candidate of social liberals within the EPP and an abortion-rights sympathizer.?

Despite the evident split between EPP party members who adhere to the bloc's founding principles and those that want to blur distinctions from progressive parties, the week closed with a victory for those who favor less activism from European institutions. Guido Raimondi was elevated to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), filling Italy's seat and replacing a social liberal. Raimondi, a practicing Catholic, is respected across ideological lines for his past representation of Italy in front of ECHR and service as a legal adviser to the International Labour Organization. He also has been a noted jurist on the Court of Cassation, Italy's court of last resort on issues other than those calling for constitutional interpretations. [C-FAM] 1613.10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italy appeals EU crucifix ban

The Italian government is appealing a November ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that crucifixes in public school classrooms are a violation of freedom.

The Italian appeal defends the crucifix as 'one of the symbols of our history and our identity.'

'Christianity represents the roots of our culture, what we are today,' the text of the appeal states. 'The display of the crucifix in schools should not be seen so much for its religious meaning but as reference to the history and tradition of Italy.

'The presence of the crucifix in class remits also to a moral message that transcends secular values and does not infringe the right to adhere or not adhere to a religion.'

The European Convention on Human Rights foresees that the Grand Chamber can consider an appeal if a case raises 'a serious question' on the interpretation of the convention. [Zenit] 1613.11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The radical onslaught

 

 

UK Government's guidance on primary RE is a 'multi-faith mish-mash'

Primary school children in England should learn about obscure world faiths and humanism in Religious Education, according to new Government guidance.

Critics have attacked the recommendations as a 'multi-faith mish-mash' and warned that they herald an approach focussed on trivial aspects of religious expression.

All schools in England must teach RE, but it is not part of the National Curriculum. Instead, schools teach a syllabus developed at a local level in partnership with local authorities and faith groups. Faith schools can teach the syllabus in accordance with their own ethos.

The Government's new programme of learning and RE guidance documents are intended to 'give local authorities and schools more ideas and support on how to develop their local RE curriculum'.

The programme is not mandatory, but most primary schools are expected to make use of it.

In keeping with schools' current practice, the programme of learning prioritises teaching on Christianity and five other 'principal religions': Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism.

However, for the first time it also recommends that children study 'other religious traditions such as the Baha'i faith, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism, and secular world views, such as humanism'.

The programme covers all primary school stages. The youngest pupils are expected to 'explore a range of religious and moral stories and sacred writings, and talk about their meanings'.

Launching the new programme of learning, Schools Minister Diana Johnson MP said: 'In 21st century Britain, it is vital that young people develop a good understanding of other people's beliefs, faiths and religions.

'This means learning about Christianity and other religions like Islam, Hinduism and Judaism, but also considering other secular beliefs such as humanism and atheism.'

However, critics have labelled the new approach a 'multi-faith mish-mash'.

Colin Hart, director of The Christian Institute, said: 'The idea of having multi-faith RE isn't new but they seem to be adding ever more religions to it.

'There are now even things that aren't religions at all such as humanism. If humanism is added, why not political beliefs?'

Earlier this month it was reported that thousands of pupils are not having Christian assemblies because their schools have applied for legal exemptions.

230 schools have been given so-called 'determinations' which mean they do not have to give assemblies that are 'wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character'.

These schools have replaced the Christian assemblies with Islamic or 'multi-faith' assemblies.

Last year one exam board announced a new GCSE Religious Studies course which features coverage of Druidism, Rastafarianism and the 'rise of atheism'.

The 'groundbreaking' new Religion and Belief in Today's World course largely excludes the Bible and other religious texts.

Instead, pupils study 'community cohesion and valuing diversity' in order to help them 'make sense of religion in the modern world'. [Christian Institute] 1613.12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK pregnancy tests for girls aged 11

Girls as young as 11 are to be offered pregnancy tests at school. They will also have access to contraception, the morning-after pill and advice on sexually transmitted infections. All of the services will be confidential - meaning the teenagers' parents might never be told. The scheme is being piloted in sexual health drop-in clinics set up in state secondary schools in Wirral and Liverpool, an area with above-average rates of teenage pregnancy.

It is part of a Government strategy which could see sexual health clinics opening in every secondary school and college in England.

The pupils will be encouraged to tell their parents of their visits to the clinics, although their consent is not required.

Health chiefs have written to parents saying they are not obliged to inform them if their daughter has a pregnancy test or is prescribed the morning-after pill.

They claim that the moves will help cut the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions among teenagers, many of whom will be under 16 - the legal age of consent.

But critics say the move will encourage under-age sex and promiscuity.

Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, which researches the causes of family breakdown, said: 'Sexual health clinics on school premises send out the message that it is normal for schoolchildren to engage in sexual activity.

'In the past, natural inhibitions combined with fear of pregnancy, legal proceedings and being found out by parents offered a powerful disincentive to under-age sex.

'Confidential health clinics in schools are part of a mix that is removing the restraints which previously limited under-age sexual activity.'
Dr Adrian Rogers, a GP and founder of the Family Focus campaign, said: 'There is already free, confidential testing and advice available at every GP's surgery and family planning clinic.

'Offering this kind of service in the school setting is going to promote promiscuity. It is a complete waste of time and money and will prove counter-productive.'

The scheme is the latest Government attempt to curb Britain's teen pregnancy rate - the highest in Europe. The strategy, which has cost taxpayers more than £300million, was meant to halve the number of conceptions among girls in England between 1998 and 2010.

But the rate rose in 2007 and teen pregnancy rates are now higher than they were in 1995.

In Liverpool, 51 in every 1000 girls aged 15 to 17 are falling pregnant, compared with the national average of 41.7.

The sexual health clinics have been operating in 13 of Wirral's 29 secondary schools for several months, while the scheme is expected to be tested in five other comprehensives in neighbouring Liverpool later this year.
The clinics also offer obesity testing and advice on alcohol, drugs and smoking.

Gordon Fair, a lead consultant on the programme in Wirral, said: 'Initial indications have shown that health services in school teams are providing early identification on a range of potential health-related issues.

'We have found that many young people are being helped and guided on issues including smoking, alcohol use and associated risk-taking behaviours.' [Daily Mail] 1613.13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International news

 

 

 

GERMANY / 94 Church members accused of sexual abuse

The German news magazine Der Spiegel reports that the number of sexual abuse cases in Germany by Catholic clerics and laymen is much higher than was previously thought.

According to a poll by Spiegel, answered by 27 Catholic dioceses in Germany, more than 94 clerics and laymen have been suspected of sexual abuse since 1995. Only 30 have been prosecuted, due to the statute of limitations.

Ten employees of the Catholic church are currently accused of sexual abuse in Germany.

Germany has been shocked by revelations of serial sex abuse by Catholic priests in recent weeks. More than 20 alumni of Berlin's prestigious Canisius Kolleg have reported abuse by their former Jesuit teachers. Other students have also reported cases in cities across Germany where the priests also taught. [Hartford Courant] 1613.14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAITI / Life on Day 26

The Dominicans working in Haiti are still sleeping outside; since the Jan. 12 earthquake and series of aftershocks, buildings are still not safe.

There are not enough tents for all the homeless, however, and the elementary needs of food and medicine continue to be the priority.

These are the observations made to ZENIT by Dominican Father Manuel Rivero, provincial vicar of the order in Haiti, who was in Brazil at a meeting of Dominicans serving Latin America to consider the Haiti medium- and long-term response.

'The aid is not only economic,' Father Rivero assured, 'but also human and spiritual. The Church, mystery of communion, is a source of hope for the Haitian people.'

The Dominican friar recounted how Haitians, as 'believers, don't stop praying.' He said the majority have not fallen into blaming God, but rather, 'Jesus Christ continues to protect his Church. During the aftershocks of the quake, the prayer raised to heaven [was] 'Jesus! Jesus!''

Father Rivero also affirmed that there is a reason for Haitians to look to the future: 'Solidarity and friendship between peoples are sources of hope. The worst thing would be to feel abandoned. But this isn't the case!' [Zenit] 1613.15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IRELAND / 'No' to conscience clause in Civil Partnership Bill

Registrars who ask not to carry out same-sex civil partnerships due to their religious beliefs will have no 'freedom of conscience' clause to protect them from punishment, the Irish Justice Minister has said.

Dermot Ahern said it would be 'against public policy to permit State officials to choose not to perform certain of their official functions on the grounds that to do so would be contrary to their religious beliefs'.

The Civil Partnership Bill currently before the Irish Parliament would grant welfare and tax benefits on a par with marriage to homosexual and heterosexual cohabiting couples who enter a civil partnership.

Speaking to the Dáil, the lower chamber of the Irish Parliament, Mr Ahern said a freedom of conscience clause 'would have completely unintended consequences'.

However Seymour Crawford TD, speaking for the opposition, said that there were many 'practical ways' by which freedom of conscience could be allowed without 'getting all tied up in knots'.

He said many religious groups 'are genuinely worried about the situation and cannot understand why we cannot allow a level of freedom in this area'.

Concerns have been raised that giving same-sex couples and temporary relationships the same status as marriage devalues the institution.

Under the Bill registrars who refuse to carry out a same-sex civil partnership would face a €2,000 fine and up to six months imprisonment.

In England, which allows same-sex civil partnerships, some registrars with religious convictions have resigned rather than register them. Others have faced disciplinary proceedings.

Many councils, including Kent, have found ways to accommodate registrars who cannot perform civil partnerships for religious reasons.

However when Lillian Ladele, a long-serving registrar at Islington Council, asked to swap shifts so that she did not have to perform civil partnership registrations, she was disciplined.

The Council decided that she had committed gross misconduct, failed to consider her for promotion, and threatened her with dismissal.

No same-sex couple was denied a civil partnership registration at Islington Council as a result of Miss Ladele's stance.

Miss Ladele's case was recently heard by the Court of Appeal, where judges ruled that the Council's treatment of her did not amount to religious discrimination.

She is now intending to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, the UK's highest court. [Christian Institute] 1613.16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEXICO / Abortion a 'plague' in Mexico City, says government

The government of Mexico City noted in a report this week that abortion has become a 'plague' in the capital, as 7 out of every 10 women who inquire about the procedure end up choosing abortion.

The report, which was delivered to the Legislative Assembly's Commission on Health, reveals that between April 2007, when abortion was legalized in Mexico City, and December 2009, there were 50,936 inquiries about abortion before the 12th week of pregnancy. Sixty-eight percent of these women (34,660) opted to have the procedure while 32% (16276) chose to continue their pregnancies.

The report says that the Beatriz Velasco de Aleman Clinic and the Ticoman General Hospital have become the two main locations where abortions are performed. [CNA] 1613.17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RUSSIA / Orthodox Patriarch agrees with Pope

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is affirming that the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church stand together on many current social issues.

The Russian Orthodox leader stated this Tuesday while addressing a bishops' meeting of his Church in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, Interfax reported.

He observed: 'We [together with the Roman Catholic Church] have similar positions on many problems facing Christians in the modern world. They include aggressive secularization, globalization, and the erosion of the traditional moral principles.

'It should be noted that on these issues Pope Benedict XVI has taken a stance close to the Orthodox one.'

The patriarch, who celebrated his first anniversary as leader of the Russian Orthodox Church on Monday, added that on the other hand, he is noticing 'growing differences with Protestant denominations.'

Recently, the patriarch said, 'the Russian Church has seen less Protestant communities cooperating in the cause of preserving the Christian legacy' due to 'the relentless liberalization of the Protestant world.'

He continued, 'Alas, not only have they failed to conduct a real propagation of the Christian values among the secular society, many Protestant communities prefer to adjust to its standards.' The patriarch made a particular reference to the recent election of a female bishop, Margot Kaessmann, as head of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

New page

Patriarch Kirill also spoke to the bishops about inter-Orthodox relations, talking in particular about the official visit he made last June to the Church of Constantinople, the Department for External Church Relations reported.

He underlined the significance of that visit, stating: 'There are reasons to hope that in those days a new page was opened up in relations between the two patriarchates.

'These relations should not be built in a spirit of rivalry but in an atmosphere of trust and cooperation.'

The patriarch reported that the Moscow Patriarchate has opened 900 new parishes in the last year, and the total number of clerics has grown by 1,500.

The Russian Orthodox Church currently has 30,142 parishes (compared to 29,263 in 2008), 160 dioceses (three more than last year), 207 bishops (an increase from 203), and 32,266 clerics (compared to 30,670 last year).

When the 1000th anniversary of the Christianization, or the baptism, of Russia was celebrated in 1988, the Moscow Patriarchate counted 6,893 parishes, 76 dioceses, 74 hierarchs and 7,397 clerics.

Last week in Novosibirsk, the Catholic prelates met for the 30th plenary session of the bishops' conference. At that time, they sent congratulations to Patriarch Kirill for the anniversary of his Jan. 27 election.

The prelate stated to the patriarch, 'We wish you all the best in your difficult archpastoral ministry, ask for God's blessing and uplift traditional 'many years!' from Catholic bishops of Russia.' [Zenit] 1613.18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPAIN / Government course teaches sex can be practiced freely with 'girl, boy or animal'

Parent organizations in Spain are fiercely protesting the curriculum of the Socialist government's required education course, 'Education for the Citizenry,' after it was revealed that in one Spanish city, students are being taught that sex can be freely practiced, even with animals.

According to the organization 'Professionals for Ethics,' third grade students in Cordoba, located in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, are using course material stating that 'nature has given us sex so we can use it with another girl, with a boy or with an animal.' Parents groups say the material indoctrinates children and camouflages an agenda that is pro-homosexual and critical of moral norms and values.

In the region of Castille and Leon, some 500 students have been excused from participating in the course for reasons of conscience, while hundreds in Madrid and Valencia are awaiting a ruling from the courts on whether or not they are required to attend. [CNA] 1613.19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK / Cameron says Church of England should accept 'full equality' for homosexuals

David Cameron has said the Church of England should recognise 'full equality' for homosexuals in a wide ranging interview for a gay lifestyle magazine.

The leader of the Conservative Party also said he supports an end to the National Blood Service rule which prevents blood donations from men who have engaged in sexual activity with other men.

His latest comments follow his remark last month that children should be taught that homosexual civil partnerships are just as valuable as marriage.

Mr Cameron told Attitude magazine that the Church of England should follow the Conservative Party's example and recognise that 'full equality is a bottom-line, full essential'.

Referring to his Party's image, Mr Cameron said 'I think we can look gay people in the eye and say, 'You can now back us''.

'We now support gay equality', he added.

On homosexual adoption, he said 'the ideal adoption is finding a mum and a dad, but there will be occasions when gay couples make very good adoptive parents'.

'So I support gay adoption.'

Interviewer Johann Hari, who is gay, pushed Mr Cameron on whether he had voted for such adoption as an MP.

The 2002 Adoption and Children Act made adoption by homosexual couples legal.

The voting record shows Mr Cameron twice voted against gay adoption and then abstained or was absent for the final Commons vote on the issue.

Mr Cameron openly stated in January that any future Conservative tax reform for married couples would also apply to those in civil partnerships.

At the end of last month it emerged that Mr Cameron, in response to a question from gay lobby group Stonewall, told a forum that children should be taught that civil partnerships are as valuable as marriage.

He said at the time: 'Should we teach them about civil partnerships being a way of same-sex couples showing commitment just as married couples show commitment? Yes we should.'

He has also said sorry repeatedly for his party's support of Section 28 - a law banning local authorities from promoting homosexuality in schools.

During his first party conference as leader in 2006 Mr Cameron explained his view of marriage.

He said as far as he was concerned 'it didn't matter whether it was between a man and a woman, a man and a man or a woman and a woman'. [Christian Institute] 1613.20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK / New militant atheists want to 'destroy religious faith'

The 'new atheism' is not about equality of belief but 'destroying religious faith', according to a leading professor and apologist ..

Delivering the Institute for Faith & Culture Annual Lecture on 'Science, Ethics and the New Atheism' at the Palace of Westminster Professor John Lennox , Professor of Mathematics and a leading apologist who has debated faith and religion issues with Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens in recent years, focused on what he called 'a new militant atheism that is not just anti-God but anti those who believe in God'.

'There is a strong wind blowing for the privatisation of belief in God,' he emphasised. 'Secularism feels it holds the default position in society, and new atheists are about destroying religious faith. It has been stated that 'scientists should do everything that can be done to weaken the hold of religion'.'

He went on to identify key areas where new atheists both misrepresented and misunderstood religious faith, and in particular Christianity.

'Religion is seen as a 'pernicious delusion'. Yet, new atheists do not discriminate between moderates and extremists - and they fail to distinguish between Christ's teaching and Christendom.

'If we cease to believe in truth, we will end up having to believe what power dictates.'

He pointed out that new atheists portray the Christian faith as a 'blind faith' - believing where it is known there is no evidence. Yet 'the Christian faith is a response based on evidence - and science itself is dependent on faith.'

He went on: 'There is a huge danger of scientism - seeing science as the only way to truth, and asking people to choose between God and science. It's not 'God or science' - this is a confusion of mechanism and agency. The Christian faith was the motor behind the development of modern science.'

He contended that it was all too easy for new atheists to lay all evils at religion's door and exonerate atheism from any responsibility. Yet Stalin destroyed more than 50,000 churches, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn maintained the tragedy of communism arose because 'men have forgotten God'.

'Can science deliver morality? Every man or woman is created a moral being, made in the image of God. Yet Europe is in moral drift because no-one wants to raise the God question. Where is the new atheists' moral authority?'

He warned that Dawkins' views on a morality based on genetics were highly dangerous: 'No good or evil - 'we dance to dna's music'. No blame. This is very serious - and many of our young people are being taught this. 'If God does not exist, everything is permitted'.'

He closed by commenting on Dawkins' assessment that there is 'no justice' by saying 'If there is no final judgement, then justice is an illusion. God has appointed a judge, and his name is Jesus, who he raised from the dead'.

In taking questions he called for a more open public debate via the media, and stressed 'values have everything to do with your worldview'.

The event was organised by CARE and co-sponsored by MPs Jim Dobbin, Andrew Selous and Steve Webb. [Inspire] 1613.21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA / Cardinal Schönborn praises Christians' freedom from political correctness

In a Wednesday speech at Catholic University of America (CUA), Cardinal Christoph Schönborn lauded Christians' freedom from 'political correctness' and 'the latest fashions.' Seeing hope for renewal in past monastic movements and in the contemporary United States, he discussed the relationship between Christianity and the modern West.

His speech, titled 'Christianity: Alien Presence or Foundation of the West?' discussed Christianity's 'paradoxical' place in contemporary Europe. According to a press release from the university, he said Christianity is both alien and foundational to modernity in different ways.

'On the one hand, Christianity is Europe's roots. On the other hand, these roots are more and more forgotten, ignored, and in an alarming way. Christianity is for many a foreign element in a world determined by reason, enlightenment and democratic principles.'

The cardinal said he does not believe that Europe and the Western world will survive without Christianity, whose decline on the continent he described as shocking.

Although Christianity has taken a secondary role in public life, he said, it is not obsolete and there is a 'new desire' that sometimes turns people towards the religion.

While some ideologies see Christianity as an enemy of freedom, the cardinal said Christians have 'dual citizenship' in earthly and heavenly cities because he or she is 'never only a citizen of the state.'

Christian witness to this fact led to the deaths of millions of martyrs under 20th century totalitarianism.

According to Zenit, Cardinal Schönborn said Christianity offers 'freedom from the demands of the mainstream, from political correctness, or simply from the pressure of the latest fashions.'

The monastic movements that renewed and reformed the Church were an example of this freedom, he added.

The cardinal also said the United States is 'a country of great hope' for the Church, according to CUA. 'There is a true renewal of Catholic commitment in this country, and this gives us great hope. I hope you do not forget in your prayers good old mother Europe.'

The cardinal's visit to CUA was part of a six-day visit to the U.S. He also made stops in Kansas City and New York City.[CNA] 1613.22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA / Catholics call on Obama to fire Harry Knox

Harry Knox serves on President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He is also the director of a religion and faith program for the Human Rights Campaign. In 2009, he made a statement that Pope Benedict XVI is 'hurting people in the name of Jesus.' Now two Catholic, Republican Congressmen (Rep. Thaddeus McCotter and Minority Leader John Boehner) are calling on President Obama to fire Knox in light of more recent comments affirming his earlier position.

Knox's original comment cam in response to a question about the Pope's statement in early 2009 in which he said that condoms are contributing to the problems of HIV in Africa. In an interview with CNS News this week, Knox was asked if he still stands by his earlier statement. Knox replied, 'I do' adding that he believes the Pope is 'incorrect' and that all scientific evidence proves this. In a statement by the Human Rights Campaign, Knox was quoted as saying it is 'morally reprehensible' for the Pope to reject science and force Catholics to 'choose between their health and their faith.' Harvard AIDS researcher, Edward Green, supported the Pope's statements saying, 'We just cannot find an association between more condom use and lower HIV-reduction rates' in Africa. The debate about Knox and his statements made the national talk show lineup with a story about it on Sean Hannity's Fox News show (see video below).

 

 

These comments have resurfaced the same week as news reports indicated a decrease in U.S. teen pregnancy rates, a report of the success of abstinence education, and an 11-year-old girl giving birth. Teens are seeing and hearing so many messages about abstinence, birth control, condom use, STDs, and HIV. All the while, parents are trying to balance the messages their receiving about what is most effective and moral according to their faith. The debate of Knox's statements will only add fuel to the fire. [National Examiner] 1613.23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA / Pro-abortion and homosexual rights groups attack pro-life tv advert

Pro-abortion and homosexual 'rights' groups have attacked the decision of CBS television network to air an advert by Focus on the Family during today's championship game of the National Football League in the US.

 

 

The advert tells the story of Tim Tebow, 23, an outstanding American football player from the Florida Gators football team, whose mother refused to abort him when doctors advised her to do so to protect her life. Despite the doctors' advice, she decided to carry Tim to term and both survived.

Tim is a Heisman Trophy-winning American football quarterback for his team. He was the first college football player to win the highest sporting awards in a season and was the first sophomore to win the Heisman.

Focus on the Family, a global non-profit Christian organisation with a vision for healing brokenness in families, communities and societies worldwide through Christ, is planning to screen the advert at the Super Bowl championship game, the most watched event on US television, to feature Tim and his mother telling how she was told to abort her son in 1987.

However, pro-abortion and homosexual advocacy groups have complained about the message. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Women's Media Centre, the United Church of Christ, a group advocating homosexual 'rights', are among those who expressed their unease with the advert.

Jehmu Greene, President of the Women's Media Centre, a US pro-abortion advocacy group, says she wants the advert to be removed from the games' agenda, despite the fact that she has never seen it. Speaking to Bill O'Reilly on the Fox News's O'Reilly Factor she said: 'CBS has approved this ad in contradiction of their policy. It is that very choice that Pam Tebow [Tim's mother] was able to make about her reproductive health decisions that this ad is trying to take away from American women.'

Bill O'Reilly asked: 'If it is a positive choice and I am happy that this choice was made, like Tim is happy, why is that taking anything away from anybody? It is a positive statement.'

Greene responded: 'This is clearly a thinly veiled attempt to undermine a woman's right to make decisions about her reproductive health.'

'Why do you want to muzzle these guys, Jehmu? That is not the American way,' asked O'Reilly.

'If it is a positive message, and it is My Story and I am here to tell it, even if it is a pro-life message, you cannot muzzle that in the United States of America.'

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, commented: 'Why should it bother people who call themselves pro-choice if women watch Pam Tebow and her son Tim on Super Bowl Sunday and freely decide to choose life? Would fewer abortions be a bad thing?

'As for the argument that the ad should not be shown because it is divisive, since when do we broadcast only things on which the American people all agree? In that case, the Super Bowl itself could not be broadcast,' he added.

Life Site News, a non-profit Internet service dedicated to issues of culture, life, and family, has launched a petition to support the CBS's decision to air Tim Tebow Super Bowl Ad.

Since the controversy started, a number of NFL football professionals have thrown their personal support behind Tim.

As a sophomore in the 2007 American football season, Tim Tebow became the Gators' starting quarterback and broke the South-eastern Conference records for both rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns accounted for in a single season. In addition to the Heisman Trophy, his performance in 2007 also earned him the Maxwell Award as the US top football player, the Davey O'Brien Award as the American best quarterback, and the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation's most outstanding amateur athlete in any sport. [CCFON] 1613.24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA / Sisters in crisis after embracing 'secular culture' warns Vatican Cardinal

Some religious orders in the U.S. and most western countries are in a state of 'modern crisis' because the members of the order have embraced 'secular culture' and abandoned traditional religious practices, the head of the Vatican's office for religious life has said.

But, said the cardinal, the religious life in the Catholic Church should be presenting an alternative to the 'dominant culture, which is a culture of death, of violence and of abuse,' rather than mirroring it.

Cardinal Franc Rodé, the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which is undertaking a review (known as a 'visitation') of the active religious life for women in the U.S., was speaking to a conference on religious life sponsored by the Archdiocese of Naples on Wednesday.

He said, 'The crisis experienced by certain religious communities, especially in Western Europe and North America, reflects the more profound crisis of European and American society. All this has dried up the sources that for centuries have nourished consecrated and missionary life in the church.'

'The secularized culture has penetrated into the minds and hearts of some consecrated persons and some communities, where it is seen as an opening to modernity and a way of approaching the contemporary world,' the cardinal added.

In November last year, Cardinal Rodé forthrightly said that it is feminism that has created the crisis in the religious orders. In an interview with Vatican Radio, he said he had been 'alerted' by an unnamed representative of the Church in the U.S., 'to some irregularities or deficiencies' in the way the religious sisters were living.

'Above all, you could speak of a certain secularist mentality that has spread among these religious families, perhaps even a certain 'feminist' spirit,' the cardinal said.

Late last year, the increasingly loud complaints about the ongoing visitation from a small number of American communities prompted several public comments from the cardinal defending the Vatican's decision to investigate the sisters' lives. For some years now, Rodé has called on the sisters to refocus their communities on the 'founding charisms' or original purpose of their orders.

The deterioration since the 1960s into radical feminism and leftist politics of most of the religious orders in the U.S., especially those of women, has not gone unnoticed in Rome. In 2008 at a meeting of religious men and women in Boston, Cardinal Rodé said that today there are some in religious life 'who have chosen paths that have carried them away from communion with Christ in the Catholic Church, even though they have decided to physically 'be' in the Church.'

This assertion was bolstered in 2007 at a meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a keynote speaker, Dominican Sister Laurie Brink, said that the more liberal congregations of sisters were leaving behind 'institutional religion' and 'moving beyond the Church, even beyond Jesus.'

What she called a 'sojourning' order 'is no longer ecclesiastical,' she said. 'Religious titles, institutional limitations, ecclesiastical authorities no longer fit this congregation, which in most respects is Post-Christian.'

These statements were cited by the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) when it launched a doctrinal investigation into the beliefs and teachings of orders that are members of LCWR. The Apostolic Visitation being conducted by the Congregation for Religious is separate from the CDF investigation, but the latter has been excoriated as an 'inquisition' by the same religious orders that have objected to the Visitation. [LSN] 1613.25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA / USCCB brings pro-abortion, LGBT activists to speak at 4-day event

Already embroiled in an abortion scandal, (See Catholic News Roundup below) the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will host a line-up of progressive leaders - including prominent pro-abortion activists - to their 'Catholic Social Gathering' in Washington, D.C., Feb. 7-10.

The announced USCCB 'gathering' conference comes on the heels of revelations the USCCB has long standing ties to the radically pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage group Center for Community Change. New evidence continues to emerge that the CCC is only a small part of a larger collaboration with organizations that promote abortion and homosexual rights agendas.

Presenting at the Social Gathering will be:

Fr. Thomas Reese, who was forced to resign as editor of America Magazine by the Vatican for his refusal to stop publishing articles which question church orthodoxy on issues like contraception, human embryonic stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, homosexual priests, mandatory clerical celibacy, and whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be given communion

Diana Hayes, professor of systematic theology at Georgetown University and noted speaker for Call to Action, the 'Catholic' dissident group. Hayes is a homosexuality activist who wrote a book espousing liberation theology, calls for women's ordination and promotes same-sex 'marriage.'

Page six of the official 'Catholic Social Gathering' program gives a schedule for the Catholic Labor Network Gathering. USCCB exec John Carr is scheduled to join Paul Booth on a panel discussion. Paul Booth and his wife Heather Booth (another prominent pro-abortion activist with ties to the National Organization for Women, who helped organize a group called 'JANE' in 1965 which helped young women obtain illegal abortions) founded the Midwest Academy a training institute for progressive activists.

Paul Booth and his wife have served as host committee members for the National Organization for Women's Intrepid Awards Gala.

Currently Paul Booth is executive assistant to the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The AFSCME endorsed the pro-abortion March for Freedom of Choice, held in Washington, D.C. in 2004.

These speakers were invited by the USCCB.

'Looking at this speaker lineup, one wonders if USCCB staff is thinking clearly about Catholic Social Teaching. Why are those who represent openly anti-life and pro-homosexualist organizations treated as experts in the field of peace and justice by Catholics who should know better?' asked Michael Hichborn, American Life League's lead researcher into the USCCB. [PewSitter.com] 1613.26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL Catholic News Roundup 02-05

Today's story : A new scandal hits the problem-plagued USCCB

 

RealCatholicTV.com

 

 

The Vortex

 

 

[NB. The bishops' news service CNS reports : Bishops call charges against USCCB official false, ridiculous

Bishops who work closely with John Carr, who oversees the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, say new claims against him and the agency are false and 'totally ridiculous.'

Bishops William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., and Roger P. Morin of Biloxi, Miss., spoke with Catholic News Service Feb. 3 about recent allegations of 'a systemic pattern of cooperation with evil' by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops because of Carr's past involvement with the Center for Community Change.

'I'm concerned about these attacks on John Carr and I know they are false and I think they are even calumnious,' said Bishop Murphy, who chairs the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, by telephone to CNS. 'I am taking this to be a very sad, sad commentary on the honesty of some people in these pressure groups.'

'Personally I think (the claims) are totally ridiculous,' said Bishop Morin, who chairs the USCCB subcommittee that oversees CCHD, the bishops' domestic anti-poverty initiative, in a separate telephone interview. ]

 

[RCTV / CNS] 1613.27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Events

 

 

Homeschooling weekend

Alison and Peter Kahn < kahn@talktalk.net > write : 'You will remember that we organized a Catholic homeschooling weekend during 2005 and then again in 2008. It looks likely now that there will be another weekend this year: July 30th -1st August 2010. It does depend on the availabillity of the same venue which is still to be finally confirmed, but we wanted to let you know the provisional plans at this point in case this affects your holiday arrangements.

We are helping with the administration and publicity this time around, although won't actually be making the arrangements for the sessions, speakers, Mass, etc. Helen and Bob Harrold are taking on responsibility for this, and for oiling the wheels during the weekend itself. We will be rather occupied at this point in the Summer (given that I, Alison, am expecting twins in mid-July)! Last time, Mass was said according to the Extraordinary Form on the Saturday, and in English on the Sunday (although it's not yet clear what would happen this time).

As before, the weekend would be held near to Lichfield, just off the M6 Toll Road to the north of Birmingham. We would be camping in large family tents that will all have been assembled in advance. The venue also offers three marquees for activities, with buildings that provide a small chapel, a meeting room, modern toilet/shower block and kitchen; and a field for sports activities. The venue is used each year for a Catholic family camp.

The cost of the weekend for each family last time was around £100 (although it may be possible to vary this cost for a family in the case of special circumstances). This included the cost of the venue, facilities, tents and food. We would imagine that the price would need to be increased somewhat this time, although hopefully not by too much. For any family that is reluctant to camp it may be possible to stay at the nearby Holiday Inn (01543 482700).

You are welcome to let others know about the(provisional) weekend (and we will be posting up a message on the CathHome list as well).

The weekend will not be a conference full of lots of speakers, but rather a relaxed weekend for homeschoolers to meet and get to know others better. We do hope to have a program for the children and some some input on a variety of homeschool topics. We hope to inspire and encourage us all.

We will release further details in due course, assuming that the venue is confirmed. But in the meantime you are welcome to register interest in the weekend. The venue has a reasonable capacity, but not unlimited; so places will be available on the basis of order in which an initial interest is registered. So do let us know if you would be keen to come. 1613.28

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Media

 

 

 

Shocking report 'no real surprise'

Perhaps most curious of all the results of the recently released Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study 'Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds' are the headlines it has generated (writes Marybeth Hicks)
.
'Researchers shocked at kids' online time,' says one. 'U.S. kids using media almost 8 hours a day,' another screams. 'New media use by children up by hours per week,' another story warns.

Essentially, the news coverage since last week's unveiling of the updated research on children, teens and the media has focused on the sheer quantity of media consumed by America's youths, and this is newsworthy, to be sure.
The very idea that children and teens are physically able to absorb more than 53 hours per week of media content - or seven hours and 38 minutes per day - astonished even the researchers, who had thought the previous average of six hours and 21 minutes per day calculated in 2004 represented the maximum amount of time that could be spent.

Even more mind-boggling, thanks to multitasking (using more than one kind of media at a time) children and teens 'actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes … worth of media content into those 7½ hours,' the KFF study says. A note to the already astonished: The study didn't include the time youngsters spend texting via cell phones. Add another 1½ hours per day.
As the mother of four, I wonder if the folks who are surprised by this research have children. It strikes me that only the childless would be shocked by the results. The rest of us spend much of our time saying things like, 'Turn off the computer and go to bed.'

Those who wonder how it's possible that a child can rack up more time using electronic media than most people spend earning a living are perhaps unaware that nearly 70 percent of American children have television sets in their bedrooms. As well, most youngsters personally own computers, gaming systems and, increasingly, mobile devices that provide full access to the Internet. Most important, for most children, there are no rules about when and how they may use their electronics.

According to the study, 'Only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer. But when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media: those with any media rules consume nearly 3 hours less media per day (2:52) than those with no rules.' (Rule No. 1: No TV in the bedroom. Duh.)

It's challenging not only to monitor the amount of time youngsters spend using media, but how they use it as well. According to OnlineFamily.Norton, a monitoring system offered by the Internet security company Symantec, 2009's top five online search terms for children and teens were YouTube, Google, Facebook, 'sex' and 'porn.'

Clearly, some of those seven hours using media are unsupervised.

Common sense ought to tell us that there will be cultural repercussions for allowing our children to develop what can only be described as a media obsession.

For example, the KFF study reveals that roughly 75 percent of seventh- to 12th-graders have a profile on a social networking site. Meanwhile, Junior Achievement's seventh annual teen ethics survey found that those social networking sites have become so central to teens' lifestyles that more than half (58 percent) '[w]ould consider their ability to access them during working hours when weighing a job offer from a potential employer.'

Um, kids … Google 'time theft' and see what you get.

It's time for us to get over our shock that what is happening right before our eyes is, in fact, happening right before our eyes. Parents (read: we) must teach Generation M to incorporate media into a balanced, healthy, whole life.
As it is, 53 hours a week is just too much. [Catholic Exchange] 1613.29

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canadian tv station pulls pro-life ad as 'too graphic'

1CHBC, the Kelowna local television station that drew national coverage this week after agreeing to air a pro-life ad, has changed its mind, claiming that the ad is too graphic.

The ad was sponsored by Kelowna Right to Life (KRTL), who got the news of its cancellation yesterday. 'The reason they gave is that it's simply too graphic for a television commercial,' said Marlon Bartram, KRTL's executive director. The station told Bartram that they had received between 12 and 18 complaints from people who demanded the ad not run.

 

 

'So a handful of abortion activists have persuaded a major media outlet to once again censor the truth of what is the most important social, moral and human rights issue of our time,' he said in a press release. 'The bottom line here is that this outlet is compromising the fundamental purpose of media: to seek out the truth and present it in a fair, balanced, and thorough manner. Although Global TV has been very good about running our ads for some time now, it appears as though they have sided with abortion activists this time.'

KRTL has been inundated with e-mails about the ad, Bartram told LifeSiteNews (LSN), with approximately ten positive responses to every negative one. 'We received a number of comments saying (the ad) was not graphic, it was well done and even beautiful,' he told Kelowna.com.

The ad has drawn criticism for its inclusion of what has been called a 'graphic anti-abortion image.' It portrays an adult hand holding the hand of a baby, and as the camera pans out, it reveals that the hand is, in fact, that of a baby killed by abortion. The ad begins with the slogan: 'All those against abortion, raise your hand.'

'In a sense it's graphic, but there's much, much more graphic images that are shown on TV these days,' he told LSN. 'If you're going to ban this image, you're going to have to ban every crime show that's out there. You're going to have to ban advertising for upcoming movies, ... video games, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Half the content on TV will have to be banned if this sets the standard.'

The ad was produced by Priests for Life, based in New York, and Bartram told LSN earlier this week that he believes it would have been the first time an aborted child appeared on Canadian television.

While he says he's 'disappointed' at the cancellation, he's been pleased at the exposure generated by the national and even international media coverage. 'It's getting out there nevertheless, even though it's not running in our market for the time being,' he said. 'It's probably been seen by more people already than it would have been if it had just ran in our small market here.'

Before the ad was cancelled, Derek Hinchliffe, CHBC's news director, told The Province that it would be wrong for them to refuse the ad, as it was approved by the Television Bureau of Canada. 'It has met with their approval, so if we were to say, 'No, we're not going to run it,' we would have been offensive,' he said.

'700 living, unborn, human children are violently killed by abortion every year in our community alone, and over 100,000 across Canada,' stated Bartram. 'Its time the media does its due diligence, stop censoring the truth, and expose the horror of abortion for what it truly is.' [LSN] 1613.30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New website organizes Rosary campaign for individual bishops

Rosary for the Bishop, an online prayer campaign for Catholic bishops, has launched a new website to enroll participants and help remind them to pray.

The site opened on January 1, 2010.

The campaign was begun during Christmas of 2005 as a gift for Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin Robert Morlino. The year 2005 was difficult for the prelate, whose cathedral was destroyed by arson that year.

'We thought the good Bishop could use some prayers and encouragement,' said Syte Reitz, a Madison-area Catholic.

Reitz collected about 30 prayer pledges from friends at an October meeting of the Madison Catholic Women's Club. The pledges were presented to Bishop Morlino in a Christmas card thanking him for his work.

Reitz's son Tom, a computer student, offered to make a website where people could sign up online. He had just begun to learn about the power of the internet as an 'evangelization tool.'

The website attracted over 150 participants by Christmas 2005. By Christmas 2008 the campaign had over 300 participants from about 50 parishes throughout the diocese.

'This year, we wanted to make another Rosary for the Bishop campaign for Bishop Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa. We quickly realized that with only a bit of additional work, we could make Rosary for the Bishop available for all US bishops,' Tom Reitz reported.

His web development company now oversees the website.

Rosary for the Bishop was inspired by a passage from Exodus 17, which tells how Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands during battle.

'We need to support our Bishops' hands so that they do not weary in the battle for the faith. Many Catholics pray the Rosary every day. Why not pray one for our bishops?' Syte Reitz suggested. 'They are our shepherds, and their job is not easy. They need and deserve our prayers.'

Speaking to CNA in a Wednesday e-mail, Reitz said that the bishops have a difficult job of teaching 'the unpopular truth of Jesus Christ.'

'As Catholics, it is our responsibility to obey and support our shepherds. One of the best ways to support a Bishop is to pray for him, and that's the goal of Rosary for the Bishop. We took the effort online in order to reach the many Internet users around the country, especially young people.'

Response to the effort has been 'tremendous,' he reported, with over 400 people now praying for 68 bishops. Several bishops have also expressed their appreciation for the site.

'I think we Catholics need to be unafraid to explore and new technologies like the Web, and to use them to further Christ's work on Earth,' Reitz told CNA.

Participants can sign up for the campaign at http://www.RosaryForTheBishop.org/join.

[CNA] 1613.31

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Flock

The latest edition of The Flock newsletter (Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice) is now available by clicking on the Newletter navigation button at http://www.proecclesia.com 1613.32

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Job vacancy

 

 

Latin Mass Society seeks full-time General Manager

As part of its plans to respond to the Holy Father's motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum the Latin Mass Society is expanding its staff and activities. A full-time General Manager is to be appointed and the present part-time post holder, John Medlin, will move sideways to take up the post of LMS Editor and Publicist.

The LMS wishes to appoint a full-time General Manager will be responsible for the day to day administration and development of the Society as directed by the Committee. The post is based in the LMS's office in Holborn, London WC2. Applicants will have excellent managerial and communication skills and a proven track record of success. They will also have a knowledge and love of the Traditional liturgy and movement. The salary and pension package is in the range of £35K to £40K.

Much of the work involves the co-ordination and organisation of flagship national/international events including training conferences, the LMS AGM and the production of the annual Accounts, major Masses and liturgical events with national importance. It also involves maintaining and developing contacts with the hierarchy, diocesan authorities, Traditional Catholic bodies in England and abroad and the Traditional priestly and monastic orders. The General Manager will develop the LMS's Seminarians Fund in order to assist vocations.

The General Manager will also make strategic recommendations to the Committee, particularly concerning development, the generation of increased publicity, membership and income, and the timely control of expenditure. He/she will oversee and administer legacy generation work and will support the Society's network of diocesan representatives.

This position will entail some evening and weekend work, and travel, both UK and internationally.

A job description and details of the application process are available from the LMS office at 11-13 Macklin Street, London WCB 5NH. Tel: 020 7404 7284. E mail: info@latin-mass-society.org The closing date for receipt of applications is Thursday 4 March 2010. [ICN] 1613.33

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comment

 

 

 

Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) patients

Alison Davis of No Less Human comments on the Daily Telegraph's recent story on PVS patients: 'It seems that the main preoccupation of the authors of this story on direct communication with supposed 'Persistent Vegetative State' (PVS) patients is that they may 'choose to die'.

'When one thinks about the many thoughts and ideas that people may want to express who have been silenced by their physical condition for five years or more, one would guess that the so-called 'right to die' would be low on their list of priorities. Nevertheless, Jacob Appel, an American 'medical ethics expert' appears to assume not only that they will have these thoughts, but that if they do, doctors will have an 'ethical obligation' to kill them.

'However, the greatest arrogance and presumption is reserved for the final sentence of the article, where it is claimed that it is 'doubtful' that the 'mercy killing' of Tony Bland in 1993 would be affected by the new technique since 'he was thought to be in an extreme form of PVS.'

'This assumes that the state of medical knowledge 17 years ago is unchanged today. It also makes the reader wonder whether the writers of this sentence had actually read their own story. The people with whom doctors communicated successfully using the new technique were equally sure that their patients were in 'PVS' - until they communicated with them. Who is to say that Tony Bland could not have had the same ability?

'However, that is not the most important point. Whether or not a person said to be in 'PVS' is rightly or wrongly diagnosed makes not a jot of difference to their right to life, however restricted, attended by the best care and technology available, until they die naturally.' [SPUC] 1613.34

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fr Robert Barron on the Brit Hume controversy

 

 

 

[wordonfire.com] 1613.34

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catholic episcopal policy in England and Wales harms the common good

John Smeaton writes in his SPUC Director's blog : 'The British Government, it seems, is backing down on its discrimination legislation in the light of stiff opposition to its equality bill from Anglican bishops and others in the House of Lords, from the Catholic bishops, and, last but by no means least, as a result of Pope Benedict's stirring address to the English and Welsh bishops this week in Rome.

However, a much more important development has not yet occurred.

The British Government may have heeded church leaders' warning (including Catholic leaders) in relation equality legislation currently before Parliament, but will Pope Benedict's words be heeded by the Catholic bishops when he told them earlier this week:

' ... I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church's moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others - on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth ... ' ?

I explained earlier this week the terrible harm done by the Diversity and Equality guidelines published in 2005 by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales (which continue to appear on the Catholic Education Service website) and I concluded: 'With the bishops welcoming and guaranteeing the presence of homosexual, bisexual and transsexual teachers in Catholic schools, is it not completely unrealistic to expect that Catholic sexual morality, including the sacredness of human life before birth, will be taught in these schools?'

The reason why the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality is so important for the pro-life cause can be found in Pope John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae. In paragraph 97, Pope John Paul teaches that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

And shamefully, as I have said before, the Catholic Education Service in England and Wales (CESEW), an agency of the Catholic bishops, is betraying Catholics and non-Catholics alike by its giving general support to the British government's legislative proposals to require all state schools to teach sex and relationships education throughout the school years (from ages five to 16). (N.B. The state schooling system in England and Wales includes the majority of Catholic schools.) The British government has stated clearly that its proposals have been drafted to entrench a form of sex education which promotes access to abortion and contraception in all state schools, including in Catholic schools.

What a strange world we live in. On the one hand the British Government is seen to bow to church leaders' pressure (including the Catholic bishops of England and Wales) whilst, on the other, the same Catholic bishops are happily complying with the government's bidding! Let's remember, it's our children and grandchildren whose welfare is being put at risk - as well as the culture of life itself - by Catholic episcopal policy in England and Wales. Catholics have a right and a duty to tell the bishops that their policy is not in keeping with Catholic teaching and is doing harm to the common good. [SPUC] 1613.35

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Catholic Heritage
Site of the day

 

 

A somewhat decayed Victorian folly guards the approaches to the village of Banwell in Somerset. Its parish church, dating from the 15th-century, is one of the finest in Somerset. A monastery was founded here by an early Saxon king and had for one of its abbots Asserius or Asser, the biographer of King Alfred. The monastery was destroyed by the Danes. It was later restored and seems to have been converted into an episcopal palace for Bishop Beckington of Wells - it certainly ceased to be a monastery before the Dissolution. Part of the old palace is incorporated in Banwell Court where there is a chapel. In the 16th-century Bishop Godwin had a summer resort here, Tower Head Farm, which has his arms and motto over a door. 1613.36

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Catholic Heritage
Saint of the Day

 

 

SAINT RICHARD, King and Confessor, was an English prince, in the kingdom of the West-Saxons, and was perhaps deprived of his inheritance by some revolution in the state; or he renounced it to be more at liberty to dedicate himself to the pursuit of Christian perfection. His three children, Winebald, Willibald, and Warburga, are all honored as saints. Taking with him his two sons, he undertook a pilgrimage, and sailing from The Hamble landed in on the western coasts of France. He made a considerable stay at Rouen, and visited many most holy places on his way through France. At Lucca in Italy, on his road to Rome, he died suddenly, about the year 722, and was buried in St. Fridian's church there. His relics are venerated to this day in the same place, and his festival kept at Lucca. 1613.37

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

 

Adore Te, Domine Iesu Christe, in Cruce Pendentem

I adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, hanging upon the Cross, and bearing on your head a crown of thorns: I beseech you, Lord Christ, that your cross may free me from the avenging Angel.

I adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, wounded upon the cross, drinking vinegar and gall: I beseech you, Lord Jesus Christ, that your wounds may be my remedy.

I adore you Lord Jesus, placed in the tomb, laid in myrrh and spices: I beseech you, Lord Jesus Christ, that your death may be my life.

I adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, descending into hell, liberating the captives: I beseech you, never let me enter there.

I adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, rising from the dead, ascending into heaven and sitting on the right hand of the Father: have mercy on me, I beseech you.

O Lord Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, preserve the righteous, make righteous the sinners, have mercy on all the faithful: and be gracious to me, a sinner.

O Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you for the sake of that most bitter suffering which you bore for my sake upon the cross, and above all when your most noble soul left your most holy body: have mercy on its departing. Amen

O most kindly Lord Jesus Christ: turn upon me, a sinner, those eyes of mercy with which you beheld Peter in [Caiaphas'] court, and Mary Magdalene at the banquet, and the thief on the gibbet of the cross: and grant that with the blessed Peter I may worthily lament my sins, with Mary Magdalene may perfectly serve you, and with the thief may behold you eternally in heaven. Who live and reign with the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.' Amen

 

[Hor.Ebor] 1613.38