The Catholic Edition News

Summer Of Mercy Closes Carhart's Abortion Mill For One Week

2011-08-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Operation Rescue and the rest of the leadership team for the Summer of Mercy 2.0 has confirmed that Germantown Reproductive Health Services, where Carhart is employed, will be closed for the week.

"This is a huge victory," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "While this event is in progress no babies will die in Germantown. That is an answer to our prayers."

The Summer of Mercy 2.0 nine-day pro-life event kicked off over the weekend with two well-attended rallies and prayer vigils featuring powerful national speakers, a live-ultrasound of a pre-born baby, and testimony from a woman who was scheduled for a late-term abortion at Carhart's but instead gave birth to a healthy daughter.

With the clinic closed, Summer of Mercy 2.0 participants are drawing attention to Carhart's true track record including:

· A criminal investigation in his home state of Nebraska based on affidavits from his former employees who allege Carhart engaged in criminal conduct.

· A medical board investigation in Maryland for allegations he misled authorities to gain licensure in that state. Carhart claimed to be a university professor, but was stripped of any formal duties by the University of Nebraska in the 1990s. He claimed to be an emergency room physician even though he has had no relationship with any hospital since 1987. Never once did he mention his long work history at abortion clinics around the country or his defense of partial-birth abortion in two cases that were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

· A non-disciplinary agreement made with Nebraska authorities where Carhart agreed to stop falsifying medical records, falling asleep during abortions, and interrupting abortions to take personal phone calls.

· Shoddy abortion practices resulting in numerous emergency hospitalizations.

· At least one patient death from a botched third-trimester abortion.

· Evidence that Carhart and his nurse falsified ultrasounds to avoid complying with late-term abortion restrictions.

· Carhart committed late-term abortions illegally referred by Ann Kristin Neuhaus, who faces possible license revocation in Kansas for failing to provide proper patient evaluations and making unfounded psychiatric diagnoses for late-term abortion patients so they could "qualify" for abortions under a mental health exception.

· Other devious practices that are meant to deceive patients, authorities, and the public. Most recently, Carhart told the Washington Post that he only did late-term abortions in Germantown for fetal anomalies. However, personal testimony from Dr. Grace Morrison and a former Carhart patient named Keisha, who recently gave birth to a healthy daughter, prove that many of Carhart's late-term abortions are for no medical reason whatsoever.

"After years of investigation, we can confidently say that Carhart is a dishonest man who is a danger to the public that belongs behind bars. We can document everything we say about him. He cannot do the same," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

"Twenty years ago during the original Summer of Mercy, Operation Rescue led protests in Wichita, Kansas, that resulted in over 2,500 arrests for peaceful civil disobedience. Today, our tactics have changed and now we are using every legal tool available to expose abortion abuses and see to it that abortionists like Carhart are arrested and jailed and their clinics closed. One of the goals of the Summer of Mercy 2.0 is to encourage authorities to act now to bring Carhart to justice and shutter his shady late-term abortion business for good."

Visit SummerofMercy.com

Ex-Boyfriend's Abortion Billboard Ignites Free Speech Debate

2011-06-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

ALAMOGORDO, N.M.-- A New Mexico man's decision to lash out with a billboard ad saying his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes has touched off a legal debate over free speech and privacy rights.

The sign on Alamogordo's main thoroughfare shows 35-year-old Greg Fultz holding the outline of an infant. The text reads, "This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!"

Fultz's ex-girlfriend has taken him to court for harassment and violation of privacy. A domestic court official has recommended the billboard be removed.

But Fultz's attorney argues the order violates his client's free speech rights.

"As distasteful and offensive as the sign may be to some, for over 200 years in this country the First Amendment protects distasteful and offensive speech," Todd Holmes said.

The woman's friends say she had a miscarriage, not an abortion, according to a report in the Albuquerque Journal.

Holmes disputes that, saying his case is based on the accuracy of his client's statement.

"My argument is: What Fultz said is the truth," Holmes said.

The woman's lawyer said she had not discussed the pregnancy with her client. But for Ellen Jessen, whether her client had a miscarriage or an abortion is not the point. The central issue is her client's privacy and the fact that the billboard has caused severe emotional distress, Jessen said.

"Her private life is not a matter of public interest," she told the Alamogordo Daily News.

Jessen says her client's ex-boyfriend has crossed the line.

"Nobody is stopping him from talking about father's rights. ... but a person can't invade someone's private life."

For his part, Holmes said that during a domestic court hearing last week he pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year concerning the Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for demonstration signs and slogans that include anti-gay slurs.

"Very unpopular offensive speech," he told the Alamogordo Daily News. "The Supreme Court, in an 8 to 1 decision, said that is protected speech."

Holmes says he is going to fight the order to remove the billboard through a District Court appeal.

Catholic Education Based On Liberalism Of NCEA

2011-04-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

Today a leading Catholic educator expressed exasperation with the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) for its willingness to feature high-profile, left-wing speakers at its national convention. On the heels of last year's keynote speaker, pro-abortion media icon Garrison Keillor, the NCEA has invited controversial Sr. Helen Prejean to serve in the same capacity this year.

"This overt lurching to the extreme left-wing of American politics by the NCEA means the organization no longer represents all Catholic schools," said Dr. Kevin Roberts, who is leading an effort to start an alternative organization to the NCEA. "In fact, considering Helen Prejean's participation in the Democratic Convention in 2008, it politicizes an event that has no business being politicized."

Roberts expounded on that point, saying that lay Catholics who might be described as politically conservative are constantly reminded by bishops not to be "political" or "partisan." He says, "this double standard, for many of us, is very frustrating. I don't know why the Church's sacrosanct non-profit status is not threatened by Prejean, whose public involvement has been so partisan."

"The NCEA's decision to invite Keillor and Prejean is reflective of an organization that has become irrelevant--if not harmful--to the promotion of authentic Catholicism in Catholic schools," Roberts concluded. "The organization sees 'social justice' as the full extent of Church teaching, when, in fact, it is but one component. Of course, the liberals in the Church ignore that fact."

"Unfortunately, the NCEA has taken the wrong side of this debate. Our authentically Catholic schools need an appropriate networking, accreditation, and professional development organization, so there will be many of us working tirelessly to build that group."

Roberts pointed to the success of the Cardinal Newman Society, which has highlighted the Catholic identity problems of many Catholic universities nationwide. "The Cardinal Newman Society has changed the conversation about Catholic higher education," Roberts said. "We aim to do the same with Catholic secondary education."

An extended analysis of the problem, and more information on the effort to start a new Catholic schools organization, can be found at the website of Roberts' regular internet radio show,Capitol Hill Catholic.

Roberts has founded and heads a Roman Catholic school, and is considered a leading voice nationally among Roman Catholics who are concerned about the leftist lurch of some major voices in the Church. His regular internet radio show, Capitol Hill Catholic, has thousands of followers nationwide, and he is regularly invited to speak on topics of Catholic education, John Paul II's New Evangelization, and the principle of subsidiarity in the ever-growing welfare state.

Arizona Governor Brewer Acts On Pro-Life And School Choice Bills

2011-04-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Governor Brewer took action on three important bills yesterday. The good news is that she signed legislation (HB 2384) to prohibit tax credits for donations to organizations that provide or refer for abortions.

Additionally, Governor Brewer signed into law an innovative measure (SB 1553) that will create state funded education savings accounts for disabled students to use for a variety of purposes, including tuition at private schools.

Unfortunately, however, Governor Brewer expressed concerns about, and vetoed, a wide ranging bill (HB 2581) that would have, among other things, increased the tuition tax credit limits for married couples and individuals by fifty percent.

The Arizona Catholic Conference (ACC) is extremely grateful to the nearly 1,000 people who e-mailed Governor Brewer in support of HB 2581.

While (ACC) cannot help but be disappointed with the veto of HB 2581, they are encouraged by Governor Brewer’s history of supporting these measures as well as yesterdays statement that she will still work to find ways to expand school choice.

Moral Relativism Challenged By Acclaimed Natural Law Scholar

2011-03-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

In a new and revised edition of his groundbreaking work, "What We Can't Not Know", Professor J. Budziszewski challenges the modern assumption that moral truth is obscure or even unattainable. With clear, logical arguments he rehabilitates the natural law tradition, restoring confidence in a moral code based upon human nature.

"What We Can't Not Know" explains the rational foundation of precepts that are not only right for all, but at some level known to all. Budziszewski shows how that foundation has been kicked out from under Western society, so that we deceive ourselves about what we actually know. Having passed through atheism and nihilism in his own search for truth, Budziszewski understands the philosophical and personal roots of moral relativism. With wisdom born of both experience and rigorous intellectual inquiry, he offers a firm foothold to those who are attempting either to understand or to defend the reasonableness of traditional morality.

Budziszewski explains, "St. Paul said the most basic principles of right and wrong are 'written on the heart.' One might think that because they are written on the heart, we can never be confused about them. Or one might think that because we can be confused about them, they aren't really written on the heart. One of my reasons for writing this book was to explain how they really are written on the heart -- and we really can be confused."

Budziszewski believes that natural law theory has entered a new phase, in which theology will again have pride of place. Many thinkers have held that religious conviction hampers the search for common ground. Budziszewski demonstrates that on the contrary, faith can be a pathway to apprehending universal norms of behavior.

Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries, says, "'What We Can't Not Know' is a must-read for those concerned about the state of American culture."

Robert P. George, Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, says, "In 'What We Can't Not Know', J. Budziszewski shows that even the most sophisticated skeptics unwittingly reveal their moral knowledge in attempts to justify killing, lying, stealing, committing adultery, and other sins. In the very process of attacking Judaeo-Christian moral principles, they confirm them."

CNW

HLI Interim President Blasts Political Attacks On Pro-Lifers In Kansas And New York City

2011-03-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula, interim president of Human Life International (HLI) today responded to recent reports of fellow pro-lifers suffering attacks from governmental agencies.

"It is a grave injustice that defenders of the dignity of human life increasingly find themselves under attack from those who wield the power of the state," said Monsignor Barreiro. "Whether these attacks are directed at a person or at organizations, the aim is clear: to stop any speech or activity which in any way challenges the anti-life orthodoxy that has infected our governing institutions."

Referring to an ethics trial against former Kansas attorney general Phill Kline, the first part of which concluded yesterday, Monsignor Barreiro said: "Mr. Kline had less than one day to defend himself after enduring over seven days of testimony against him. No one can call this a just trial, it is rather an offense to justice, clearly perpetrated by those in power who want to see Mr. Kline punished for having the integrity to do his job and try to protect the women and children of Kansas."

Referring to a recent decision by the New York City Council to restrict the language available to anti-abortion pregnancy centers within the city, Monsignor Barreiro said: "Can you imagine any other service being told by its opponents what language they are allowed to use to promote themselves? And yet Planned Parenthood is still allowed to call itself a 'women's healthcare provider' while they destroy unborn human life through abortions and prescribe carcinogenic medication to unsuspecting women."

"America is running out of time to stand up against what Blessed Pope John Paul II called the 'thinly disguised totalitarianism' of a state that has given up on true human values. May Our Lord have mercy on us and deliver us from such assaults, so that we can serve and defend His weakest ones during this time when true freedoms are being eroded, and false freedoms exalted."

About HLI: Human Life International: Pro-Life Missionaries to the World. Founded in 1981, HLI is the world's largest international pro-life organization and has affiliates and associates in over 100 countries on six continents. www.hli.org

More Abortion Mills Close In San Francisco Area

2011-03-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Life Legal Defense Foundation joins San Francisco Bay Area pro-lifers in celebrating the closure of Golden Gate Community Health (GGCH). GGCH was the successor corporation to Planned Parenthood Golden Gate (PPGG), the organization that last summer was stripped of its affiliate status by Planned Parenthood Federation of America amidst allegations of financial and administrative mismanagement.

Before its closure, GGHC operated five abortion clinics in four Bay Area counties, already a considerable decline from its heyday in the '90's, when it operated four abortion clinics in San Mateo County alone. Its website boasted that, as PPGG, it had been in continuous operation for over 90 years.

PPGG was not only one of the oldest Planned Parenthood affiliates; it was also one of the most litigious. PPGG instigated frequent litigation against pro-life activists from the '80's to as recently as a year ago. The affiliate was a party in at least six lawsuits against pro-life activists, as well as the impetus for a seventh suit in federal court. In each case, LLDF represented the pro-life activists whose free speech rights were threatened, including (but not limited to) Ross Foti, Lowell King, Fr. Edward Cleary, Robert Cochran, and Jeannette and Louis Garibaldi. This litigation resulted in five published court opinions.

PPGG was also one of the plaintiffs in challenging the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.

PPGG lost $2.8 million during the tax year 2008-2009 and had not broken even since 2006. GGHC was reported to have run up a shortfall totaling $536,000 in 2010 and had attempted, apparently unsuccessfully, to raise $1.5 million in order to keep its clinics open.

At the same time it was struggling to survive financially, PPGG contributed over $750,000 to defeat three California ballot initiatives, in 2005, 2006, and 2008, that would have required parental notification before a minor could have an abortion.

"As Congress debates continued funding of Planned Parenthood, it should take note of the organization's spending priorities," said LLDF President Dana Cody. "Furthering Planned Parenthood's political agenda apparently was more important than providing all those 'critical health services' that we keep hearing about."

CNW

Ohio's Ban On Human Cloning And Animal-Human Hybrid

2011-02-18T05:23:00.000-08:00

"For the past eight years, OCA has been working with members of the Ohio Legislature to ban embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and in recent years, animal-human hybrid. Science has advanced to the point where DNA from animals and humans can be intermixed in scientific laboratory experimentation. These experimental practices simply are outrageous! Animal-human hybrid research is currently being conducted in England, which many in the international medical community now consider to be a rogue medical state. It is now known that some experimentation has taken place in some U.S. laboratories. Ohio Christian Alliance commends State Senator Kris Jordan from Ohio's 19th District for taking the leadership role in sponsoring this key legislation."

Leading the testimony on this legislative ban will be Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council who states, "Creating 'experimental humans' through nuclear transfer cloning or as animal-human hybrids is an unethical use of science, and will not lead to useful medical treatments for patients. This bill should be passed quickly and the focus should be on ethical and successful research that puts the patients first."

Ohio Christian Alliance believes that no human life should begin and end as the subject of an experiment. We attest that a process that knowingly encourages human life to be created, manipulated for research, and ultimately destroyed is immoral and should be prohibited. And all who believe that human life, including nascent human life, is a unique and precious gift from our Creator have an obligation to support efforts to ban it. The bottom line is still that any ban short of a total prohibition on human cloning further devalues the sanctity of human life.

For more information contact Chris Long 330-887-1922

CNW

Conference Opposes Euthanasia, Honors "Italy's Terri Schiavo"

2011-02-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, February 9th, pro-life leaders and anti-euthanasia activists will gather in Rome to remember the death of Eluana Englaro, who is often referred to as "Italy's Terri Schiavo" for the many similarities between the ways they were unjustly killed. The one-day conference will also raise awareness and support for an Italian anti-euthanasia bill that is circulating in the Italian Parliament.

Eluana Englaro, who was severely disabled, died on February 9, 2009 of dehydration, after her father, Beppino Englaro, was successful in having her feeding and hydration treatment removed. The case was widely publicized as Italian politicians took opposing sides in the matter, and many pro-life advocates from Terri Schiavo's late father, Bob Schindler, to the Vatican, pleaded for her life to be spared.

"There are many similarities between Terri's and Eluana's cases: both boiled down to a family member and the courts trying to end their lives, and being opposed by other family members, national politicians and the Church," said Joseph Meaney, Acting Director of HLI's Rome office, and one of the presenters at the conference. "Eluana's case has national and regional significance, as Italian legislators are trying to pass an anti-euthanasia bill. Euthanasia advocates are also busy throughout the European Union trying to expand this grisly practice, which is already sadly legal in several member nations."

Human Life International, Italia Christiana and Militia Christi are co-sponsoring the one-day conference at the prestigious Roma Cavour Conference center.

CNW

Aquinas College Hosts Marriage And Family Conference

2011-02-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

In an age when traditional marriage is under assault from all sides, Aquinas College is preparing to equip area youth and young adults with the knowledge to defend what they know to be true.

In partnership with the acclaimed Ruth Institute, Aquinas College will host "Love and Life in the Divine Plan (and in Real Life): A Marriage and Family Conference" on Friday and Saturday, February 25-26, 2011, at its campus located at 4210 Harding Road, Nashville.

The founder of the Ruth Institute, Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., is an economist who studies love and marriage. Dr. Morse has spent much of her career speaking against a declining understanding of lifelong, committed marriages in America.

"Americans are confused about the true nature of marriage because we live in an era of big government," said Dr. Morse. "Government did not create marriage. Marriage is a natural reality that pre-exists the state."

The "Love and Life" conference takes its name from a 2009 pastoral letter of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled "Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan," in which the bishops identified four threats to marriage. Along with addressing each of these threats, conference topics also include Christian anthropology and the real gift of God's love, covered in presentations by Dr. Janet Smith of Sacred Heart Seminary, Dr. Sam Gregg of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, Dr. Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia, Sister Jane Dominic, O.P., of Aquinas College, and other noted scholars.

A modest fee of $25 includes continental breakfast, lunch, and conference materials. Scholarships are available for students, clergy, and members of religious orders. Everyone -- especially students, clergy and pastoral workers of all religious traditions -- is welcome. Register online at www.ruthinstitute.org/loveandlife. For more information, please call (615) 297-7545 or visitwww.aquinascollege.edu.

cnw

Congress Asks Sebelius To Come Clean On Telemed Abortion Funding

2011-02-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Rep. Steve King, (R-IA), has sent a letter signed by 71 Congressmen to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking for information about the extent to which Federal tax dollars may be funding "telemed abortions," which involves the distribution of the dangerous abortion pill, RU486 over the Internet, but denies women access to physical examinations or emergency care by licensed physicians.

Sebelius is a long-time radical supporter of abortion, even late-term abortions that are opposed by 80% of the American people. Over 70% of Americans oppose tax-funding of abortions at any stage of gestation.

"RU-486 is a dangerous drug that has been associated with at least 11 deaths and thousands of cases of excessive bleeding and infection," said King. "Evading FDA guidelines by dispensing RU-486 through telemedicine has the potential to increase complications and fatalities associated with its use. We cannot allow taxpayer dollars to be used to support 'telemed abortions.'"

Currently, this experimental abortion pill distribution scheme is being employed only in Iowa, but Planned Parenthood has indicated publicly that it is their intent to expand this dangerous abortion practice to all its member clinics nationwide.

"Planned Parenthood's telemed/webcam abortion scheme strips away any semblance of a doctor-patient relationship. After the abortionist electronically pops open a drawer to dispense the abortion drugs, the abortionist never sees the patient again, even if there are complications," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

"This is a mockery of the doctor/patient relationship and a complete misuse of telemedicine."

In the Fiscal Year 2010 Congress designated $11.6 million for HHS telemedicine programs, which are intended for the development of services in rural areas.

"A common misconception is that telemed abortion is for women in rural areas. However, Planned Parenthood's Iowa telemed sites are located in major population centers, including the county with the highest population in the state," said Newman. "Telemed abortions are Planned Parenthood's solution to a shortage of abortionists. It helps them access customers in otherwise abortion-free population centers in order to increase revenue while disregarding the health and safety of women."

"We support Rep. King and the other members of Congress in their effort to get to the bottom of where our tax money is going. If it is funding this telemed abortion scheme, the people have a right to know, and a right to demand that the funding be stopped."

Read the letter to Sebelius
Learn more about telemed abortions

About Operation Rescue®
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates.

CNW

President Reagan, Anti-Abortion Protestors' Best Friend

2011-02-03T04:54:00.000-08:00

Ronald Regan laid a foundation for activism like no other US President. His encouragement of the Solidarity Movement, which led to the end of communist rule in Poland, was less controversial than his stand on abortion. Most acknowledge that Reagan's policies and words paved the way for activists to tear down the Berlin Wall. Most do not know that Reagan's policies and words also paved the way for activists to reintroduce abortion into American politics.

Prior to the Reagan years there were no crisis pregnancy centers, only a handful of homes for unwed mothers and very, very few organized anti-abortion groups. The fall of Tunisia's dictatorial government in January inspired Egyptians to seek their own freedom. As pro-lifers watched the Berlin Wall fall in 1989 -- they were inspired; if something as entrenched as communism could be defeated by peaceful activism -- why not abortion.

Under this last of the Reagan years, Operation Rescue was born. Operation Rescue is the group that took the idea of holding peaceful sit-ins to block access to abortion clinics. It became America's largest civil-disobedience movement with over 80,000 arrests in a time span of less than ten years. Yet Operation Rescue could have been aborted on Easter weekend of 1989, had it not been for actions of then retired President Reagan.

National interest first came in 1988 as a few hundred activists held Rescues (sit-ins) in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and in Atlanta. Then on Easter weekend of 1989, the chief of police of Los Angeles followed through on his televised threats and brutalized, then jailed hundreds of peaceful rescuers offering no resistance who were blocking the front and back doors of the abortion clinic on 6th and Westmorland.

Over the next three days, in response to the violence used on them, 760 pro-life activists refused to give their names to their jailers. An unlikely hero came to rescue these Rescuers, including myself; the word went from cell to cell on Monday morning and came with real results; Ronald Reagan had personally called and asked that the pro-lifers be released from custody.

The Operation Rescue movement grew exponentially. Within weeks of this miraculous release on Easter, as many as 50 Rescues occurred across the country on any given weekend. And though an abuse of anti-racketeering laws (RICO) were interpreted by the courts to make peaceful protests at abortion clinics into felonies, pro-life activism would not go back into the box. Money to fund every kind of pro-life mission increased a thousand-fold, and today there are three pro-life centers to help women facing a crisis pregnancy for every single center that kills unborn babies.

Reagan's role, along with the Pope, in returning communism to the back-alleys of society is a prominent part of his legacy. When abortion clinics finally close their doors it should be in-part credited to the words and policies of President Ronald Reagan.

In 1989 and the years that followed, Jeff White was the National Tactical Director for Operation Rescue. He is presently the Executive Director of Survivors, and spends his time training teens and young adults in pro-life activism.

Survivors is a Christian, pro-life activism organization dedicated to educating and activating high school and college age individuals.

CNW

Caught On Tape: Planned Parenthood Aids Pimp's Underage Sex Ring

2011-02-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

NEW JERSEY – A Planned Parenthood manager in New Jersey coaches a man and a woman posing as sex traffickers how to to secure secret abortions, STD testing, and contraception for their female underage sex slaves, and make their whole operation “look as legit as possible” in an undercover video released this morning.

Clinic manager Amy Woodruff, LPN, of Planned Parenthood Central New Jersey’s Perth Amboy center, warns the pimp and his prostitute to have their trafficked underage girls lie about their age to avoid mandatory reporting laws, promising, “even if they lie, just say, ‘Oh he's the same age as me, 15,’…it's just that mainly 14 and under we have to, doesn't matter if their partner's the same age, younger, whatever, 14 and under we have to report.” She says, “For the most part, we want as little information as possible.”

Woodruff also recommends how the pimp can get his prostitutes cheaper contraception by claiming they are “students”: “If they're minors, put down that they're students. Yeah, just kind of play along that they’re students--we want to make it look as legit as possible.”

If one of the young trafficked girls needs an abortion, Woodruff refers the pimp and prostitute to the Metropolitan Medical Association, where “their protocols aren’t as strict as ours and they don’t get audited the same way that we do.” The prostitute in the video asks how long after the abortion until the girls can have sex again, and when Woodruff says “minimum of 2 weeks,” she asks what sex acts the girls could still do to make money. Woodruff advises, “Waist up, or just be that extra action walking by” to advertise sex to potential clients.

Sex trafficking is punishable under federal law and carries a potential life sentence. The new video is released by Live Action, a pro-life new media organization led by 22-year-old Lila Rose. The video airs just days after Planned Parenthood’s leadership suspected the sting operation and sought an FBI probe of Live Action in order to deter the release of the exposé. Live Action is sending full footage to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, NJ Attorney General Paula Dow, officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and other law enforcement officials, requesting federal and state investigations into Planned Parenthood’s sexual abuse and sex trafficking cover up.

The abridged 11-minute video is available at: LiveAction.org

“This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Planned Parenthood intentionally breaks state and federal laws and covers up the abuse of the young girls it claims to serve,” said Lila Rose, President of Live Action. “Time and time again, Planned Parenthood has sent young girls back into the arms of their abusers. They don’t deserve a dime of the hundreds of millions they receive in federal funding from taxpayers. Congress must cease funding and the Department of Justice should investigate this corrupt organization immediately.”

Live Action has previously released more than a dozen hidden camera videos from ten states and shows the alarming trend of illegal Planned Parenthood activity including cover-up of sexual abuse of minors, the skirting of parental consent laws, citing unscientific and fabricated medical information to convince women to have abortions, and Planned Parenthood’s willingness to accept donations earmarked to abort African-American babies.

Illinois Family Institute Objects To Civil Union Legislation

2011-01-31T05:21:00.000-08:00

MOKENA, Ill., In the waning days of the previous General Assembly, during a lame-duck session and by razor thin margins, Illinois lawmakers passed a bill that radically redefines marriage and family.

"Marriage was not created by man or governments," said IFI Executive Director David E. Smith. "It is an institution created by God. Governments merely recognize its nature and importance."

Marriage is the institution that societies worldwide have recognized and encouraged because this unique relationship between a man and a woman provides particular benefits to society, chief among them, the procreation and nurturing of the next generation.

IFI's Director of School Advocacy Laurie Higgins says "If marriages were centrally or solely about affirming love between individuals, the government would have no reason to be involved in the business of sanctioning marriage. Government sanctions the type of relationship into which children may be born and raised because the government recognizes that that institution which best serves the needs and rights of children is the institution that best serves as the needs of a healthy society."

"It is either ignorant or dishonest to suggest that the inclusion of sexual complementarity in the list of central defining criteria for government-sanctioned marriage denies homosexuals a civil right," says Higgins.

Civil unions are merely a stepping stone to legalized same-sex marriage. Of the central defining criteria for marriage -- number of partners, blood kinship, minimum age and sexual complementarity -- sexual complementarity is the most enduring. Therefore, eliminating it constitutes the most radical redefinition of marriage imaginable.

"Gov. Quinn should reject this anti-family bill and reject the efforts of the homosexual lobby to impose this highly contentious and controversial policy on the people of Illinois. Homosexual behavior is not equivalent to race and gender diversity is essential to marriage. It is intellectually dishonest to maintain otherwise," said Smith.

Higgins states that "Once marriage is severed from procreative potential and gender, it becomes meaningless as a public institution."

Philosophical conservatives and all people who are committed to rational argument need to openly, courageously, and persistently challenge the flawed analogy that suggests that homosexuality is equivalent to race. Likewise, the legislative push for special rights legislation for special interest groups based on sexual inclinations and volitional sexual behavior must be challenged.

CNW

National Cancer Institute Admits Abortion Raises Breast Cancer Risk

2011-01-28T05:45:00.000-08:00

-- A paper on the link between contraception and breast cancer published this past April also included an admission from National Cancer Institute researchers that abortion raises women's breast cancer risk by 40 percent. Yet advocates for women are wondering why major research groups and breast cancer advocacy groups still aren't telling women about the risk.

The paper, headed by Jessica Dolle at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, not only found that oral contraceptives are a probable cause of breast cancer in women under age 45, but also contained findings from NCI researchers that abortion raised the risk of breast cancer by 40 percent.

The paper included abortion on a list of "known and suspected risk factors" for breast cancer. The study cited was headed by Louise Brinton of NCI, who, critics say, was the chief organizer of the 2003 NCI workshop on the abortion-breast cancer link which falsely assured women that the non-existence of the link was 'well-established.'"

Brinton had also previously worked on a 1996 study study of women that found reported increased risk of breast cancer after abortion of 20-25 percent, according to the Coalition on Abortion Breast Cancer.

Coalition president Karen Malec stated that "[a]lthough the study was published nine months ago, the NCI, American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and other cancer fundraising businesses have made no efforts to reduce breast caner rates by issuing nationwide warnings to women."

"Obviously, more women will die of breast cancer if the NCI fails in its duty warn about the risk of [oral contraceptives] and abortion and if government funds are used to pay for both as part of any healthcare bill," Malec added.

Political Tone Should Demand Honesty On Abortion, Health Care

2011-01-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

As pundits encourage us to engage in a national examination of conscience on the tone of our civil discourse, hundreds of thousands of students, young adults and pro-life veterans demonstrated civility in action over the past few days. At Marches for Life at the Capitol, on the West Coast, and at statehouses across the nation, the violence of abortion was met with a message of care and concern for both the woman and her unborn child.

The tone that we take in the public square is a legitimate topic of discussion. Yet in the debate on abortion and healthcare, some pundits and politicians have long overlooked the prerequisite condition of authentic civil discourse; namely, honesty about the terms of the debate.

President Obama recently noted that “only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation.”

Civil and honest – the two are indeed related. Civility in our public discourse is undermined if citizens have reason to believe that they are being misled. The most recent “Newspeak” rose out of the various health care mega-bills in the last Congress. While most citizens at town hall meetings were respectful in their tone, the scream-at-your-Congressperson approach taken by a few aptly expressed the hair-pulling frustration experienced by the vast majority of citizens across the political spectrum.

The indignation witnessed at town hall meetings was not only attributable to the sweeping scope of the bills that ballooned the deficit and blew past constitutional boundaries of federal power. Rather, the tone became intensified because the American people could not seem to get a straight answer on the life and death issues impacted by the massive legislation.

“Is public money going to subsidize coverage for elective abortion?” “Will there be politically appointed panels who will make life and death coverage decisions for seniors?” “Will I get to keep my current health plan?” (Yes, yes, probably not).

Without rehashing these issues, it is enough to say that the conflict between the bill language and the Administration’s rhetoric resulted in a level of intense emotional outbursts usually reserved for Italian-American dinner tables.

Now we begin again. The newly elected Congress is once again faced with a debate about tax-subsidized abortion coverage in the federal health care law. And State legislatures continue to debate “opt-out” bills that prohibit abortion coverage in any future state health insurance exchanges.

Those who peacefully march renew their call for elected officials to debate these critical issues with honesty. If we were truly honest, everyone would know about the empirical medical studies showing that abortion is not health care. It’s the opposite of care for the physical and psychological health of the woman, and it destroys the life of a unique and unrepeatable unborn child.

Those who nonetheless support tax-subsidized abortion coverage are required by that honesty so essential to civility to clearly state their goal and to make their case. No more outright denials of what is buried in the bill. No more hiding behind accounting schemes drafted behind closed doors in the middle of the night.

If a pro-life bill to prohibit abortion funding and protect health care provider rights of conscience makes its way to the President’s desk, honesty requires that he either sign it or veto it. No more empty and unenforceable executive orders.
It’s well past time for the honest terms of the abortion debate to be put on the table. Not only about who pays for it, but more importantly about the humanity of the unborn child and the coercive impact that it places on pregnant women.

The bottom line is that civil discourse does not preclude our duty to vigorously expose dishonesty in public policy. And it certainly does not require that we quietly look the other way as the culture of death marches on.

Note: Dorinda Bordlee and Nikolas Nikas are attorneys and co-founders of Bioethics Defense Fund. Contact us atinfo@BDFund.org to request model legislation addressing abortion coercion, ultrasound mandates, Obamacare abortion opt-out legislation, health care rights of conscience and the full range of bioethics issues.

Black Pro-Life Movement: "Sharpton Is Wrong - Santorum Is Right"

2011-01-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

Recently, Rick Santorum and Al Sharpton squared off in a fiery debate on race and abortion on the Hannity Show (FOX).

Black pro-life leaders weighed in:

"Al Sharpton, for the sake of Al Sharpton, railed against Rick Santorum for calling attention to the horrific impact abortion is having on the black community," said Rev. Dr. Johnny Hunter of Life Education and Resource Network. "It is inconceivable that blacks today continue in that same spirit of division as we saw on the Hannity Show," he said.

"I cannot believe that Sharpton called the taking of innocent life in the womb a civil right," said Alveda King, Founder of King for America and Director of African American Outreach for Priests for Life. "This is not the right my father and my uncle gave their lives for. Civil rights protect individual freedoms, not deny them. The right to life is the 21st century civil right that will protect all human beings from conception to natural death and we must all fight for it," she said.

"As in the Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court, in 1973, denied protection to a class of citizens," said Walter Hoye of Personhood USA. "Justice Blackmun and the core of eugenicists he collaborated with cloaked their racial intent in the garment of abortion and Al Sharpton has happily agreed to be one of the faces of the Negro Project authored by Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger" he said.

"For more than thirty eight years, abortion has cut into the birthrate of the black community" said Dean Nelson, Vice President, CareNet's Urban Outreach. "The black community must recognize that Roe v. Wade is the modern answer to the lynching and killing fields of the south. It must be stopped," he said.

"More black children have died by abortion than the seven leading causes of death in the African American community combined," said Catherine Davis of the Network of Politically Active Christians. "Since the days of Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood has targeted the black community in order to control the growth of our population."

Day Gardner, President of the National Black Pro-Life Union, states; "First of all, Al Sharpton is not my leader. Mr. Sharpton's head is buried so deep in the silk pockets of Planned Parenthood he can't see the light of day. In the early 70s, we were told pre-born children were blobs of tissue. We were ignorant to the truth and didn't know any better. But now with modern technology and the advances in 3D and 4D ultra sounds--we know the truth. Abortion is the greatest civil rights issue of our time! So, when we hear old cronies like Al Sharpton harping on protecting the civil rights of a woman to kill her child--I have to ask: What about the civil rights of the younger woman she's carrying? That baby girl is 'fully human' and her rights need to be protected, too--especially the most basic right, which is the right to life."

The National Black Pro-Life Union is an organization founded to serve as a clearing house to coordinate the flow of communications among all African American pro-life organizations and individuals in order to better network and combine resources. Day Gardner, President, 202-834-0844,www.nationalblackprolifeunion.com, dgardner@NBPLU.com

Dr. Alveda C. King, Director of African American Outreach for Priests for Life alveda@priestsforlife.org
www.africanamericanoutreach.org

CNW

St Joan Of Arc "One Of The Strong Women"

2011-01-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

During this morning's general audience, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 3,000 people, Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431), whom he described as "one of the 'strong women' who, at the end of the Middle Ages, fearlessly brought the splendid light of the Gospel into the complex events of history".

The life of Joan of Arc, who was born into a prosperous peasant family, took place in the context of the conflict between France and England known as the Hundred Years War. At the age of thirteen, "through the 'voice' of St. Michael the Archangel, Joan felt herself called by the Lord to intensify her Christian life and to act personally to free her people".

She made a vow of virginity and redoubled her prayers, participating in sacramental life with renewed energy. "This young French peasant girl's compassion and commitment in the face of her people's suffering were made even more intense through her mystical relationship with God. One of the most original aspects of her sanctity was this bond between mystical experience and political mission". said Benedict XVI.

Joan's activities began in early 1429 when, overcoming all obstacles, she managed to meet with the French Dauphin, the future King Charles VII. He had her examined by theologians of the University of Poitiers who "delivered a positive judgment, they discovered nothing bad in her, and found her to be a good Christian".

On 22 March of that year Joan dictated a letter to the King of England and his men, who were laying siege to the city of Orleans. "Hers was a proposal of authentic and just peace between two Christian peoples, in the light of the names of Jesus and Mary", said the Holy Father. But the offer was rejected and Joan had to fight for the liberation of the city. Another culminating moment of her endeavours came on 17 July 1429 when King Charles was crowned in Reims.

Joan's passion began on 23 May 1430 when she fell into the hands of her enemies at Compiegne and was taken to the city of Rouen. There a long and dramatic trial was held which concluded with her being condemned to death on 30 May 1431.

The trial was presided by two ecclesiastical judges, Bishop Pierre Cauchon and the inquisitor Jean le Maistre, but in fact it was conducted by a group of theologians from the University of Paris. These "French ecclesiastics, having made political choices opposed to those of Joan, were predisposed to hold negative views of her person and mission. The trial was a dark page in the history of sanctity, but also a shining page in the mystery of the Church which is, ... 'at the same time holy and always in need of being purified'".

"Unlike the saintly theologians who illuminated the University of Paris, such as St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Duns Scotus, ... the judges were theologians who lacked the charity and humility to see the work of God in this young girl. Jesus' words come to mind, according to which the mysteries of God are revealed to those who have the hearts of children, but hidden from the wise and intelligent. Thus Joan's judges were radically incapable of understanding her, of seeing the beauty of her soul", the Pope said.

Joan died at the stake on 30 May 1431, holding a crucifix in her hands and invoking the name of Jesus. Twenty-five years later a trial of nullification, instituted by Pope Callixtus III, "concluded with a solemn sentence nullifying the condemnation and ... highlighting Joan of Arc's innocence and perfect faithfulness to the Church. Much later, in 1920, she was canonised by Pope Benedict XV".

"The Name of Jesus invoked by this saint in the last instants of her earthly life was as the continual breath of her soul, ... the centre of her entire life", the Holy Father explained. "This saint understood that Love embraces all things of God and man, of heaven and earth, of the Church and the world. ... Liberating her people was an act of human justice, which Joan performed in charity, for love of Jesus, hers is a beautiful example of sanctity for lay people involved in political life, especially in the most difficult situations".

"Joan saw in Jesus all the reality of the Church, the 'Church triumphant' in heaven and the 'Church militant' on earth. In her own words, 'Our Lord and the Church are one'. This affirmation ... takes on a truly heroic aspect in the context of the trial, in the face of her judges, men of the Church who persecuted and condemned her".

"With her shining witness St. Joan of Arc invites us to the highest degree of Christian life, making prayer the motif of our days, having complete trust in achieving the will of God whatever it may be, living in charity without favouritisms or limitations, and finding in the Love of Jesus, as she did, a profound love for His Church".

Obama And His Unbalanced Ledger

2011-01-26T05:35:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON - The ledger did not appear to be adding up Tuesday night when President Barack Obama urged more spending on one hand and a spending freeze on the other. Obama spoke ambitiously of putting money into roads, research, education, efficient cars, high-speed rail and other initiatives in his State of the Union speech.

He pointed to the transportation and construction projects of the last two years and proposed "we redouble these efforts." He coupled this with a call to "freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years."

But Obama offered far more examples of where he would spend than where he would cut, and some of the areas he identified for savings are not certain to yield much if anything.

For example, he said he wants to eliminate "billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies." Yet he made a similar proposal last year that went nowhere. He sought $36.5 billion in tax increases on oil and gas companies over the next decade, but Congress largely ignored the request, even though Democrats were then in charge of both houses of Congress.

A look at some of Obama's statements Tuesday night and how they compare with the facts:

OBAMA: Tackling the deficit "means further reducing health care costs, including programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are the single biggest contributor to our long-term deficit. Health insurance reform will slow these rising costs, which is part of why nonpartisan economists have said that repealing the health care law would add a quarter of a trillion dollars to our deficit."

THE FACTS: The idea that Obama's health care law saves money for the government is based on assumptions that are arguable, at best.

To be sure, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the law will slightly reduce red ink over 10 years. But the office's analysis assumes that steep cuts in Medicare spending, as called for in the law, will actually take place. Others in the government have concluded it is unrealistic to expect such savings from Medicare.

In recent years, for example, Congress has repeatedly overridden a law that would save the treasury billions by cutting deeply into Medicare pay for doctors. Just last month, the government once again put off the scheduled cuts for another year, at a cost of $19 billion. That money is being taken out of the health care overhaul. Congress has shown itself sensitive to pressure from seniors and their doctors, and there's little reason to think that will change.

___

OBAMA: Vowed to veto any bills sent to him that include "earmarks," pet spending provisions pushed by individual lawmakers. "Both parties in Congress should know this: If a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it."

THE FACTS: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has promised that no bill with earmarks will be sent to Obama in the first place. Republicans have taken the lead in battling earmarks while Obama signed plenty of earmark-laden spending bills when Democrats controlled both houses.

It's a turnabout for the president; in early 2009, Obama sounded like an apologist for the practice: "Done right, earmarks have given legislators the opportunity to direct federal money to worthy projects that benefit people in their districts, and that's why I've opposed their outright elimination," he said then.

___

OBAMA: "I'm willing to look at other ideas to bring down costs, including one that Republicans suggested last year: medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits."

THE FACTS: Republicans may be forgiven if this offer makes them feel like Charlie Brown running up to kick the football, only to have it pulled away, again.

Obama has expressed openness before to this prominent Republican proposal, but it has not come to much. It was one of several GOP ideas that were dropped or diminished in the health care law after Obama endorsed them in a televised bipartisan meeting at the height of the debate.

Republicans want federal action to limit jury awards in medical malpractice cases; what Obama appears to be offering, by supporting state efforts, falls short of that. The president has said he agrees that fear of being sued leads to unnecessary tests and procedures that drive up health care costs. So far the administration has only wanted to study the issue.

Trial lawyers, major political donors to Democratic candidates, are strongly opposed to caps on jury awards. But the administration has been reluctant to support other approaches, such as the creation of specialized courts where expert judges, not juries, would decide malpractice cases.

___

OBAMA: As testament to the fruits of his administration's diplomatic efforts to control the spread of nuclear weapons, he said the Iranian government "faces tougher and tighter sanctions than ever before."

THE FACTS: That is true, and it reflects Obama's promise one year ago that Iran would face "growing consequences" if it failed to heed international demands to constrain its nuclear program. But what Obama didn't say was that U.S. diplomacy has failed to persuade Tehran to negotiate over U.N. demands that it take steps to prove it is not on the path toward a bomb. Preliminary talks with Iran earlier this month broke off after the Iranians demanded U.S. sanctions be lifted.

American Born Male Saint Inspired Modern Priest

2011-01-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

Fr. Nelson Baker (1842-1936), who was elevated to "Blessed" by Pope Benedict XVI last week (which will make the former Buffalo-diocese priest the first American-born male saint), actually inspired a Virginia priest to continue his mission. Fr. Baker had been named a Servant of God -- the first step toward sainthood -- in 1987 by the late Pope John Paul II.

Fr. Baker not only built Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna, NY, but founded multiple charities, including a home for infants, a home for unwed mothers, an orphanage, a nurses' home, and elementary and high schools -- literally creating "a city of charity" in that area. At his funeral in 1936, over a half-million people whose lives he had saved -- or whose family members or friends he'd preserved physically or spiritually -- flooded the streets of Lackawanna.

And a 41-year-old Catholic priest today in the Arlington diocese, Fr. Stefan Starzynski, attributes his opening three homes for expectant mothers there to a vision of Fr. Baker he had eight years ago. Fr. Starzynski describes the inspiration he got from this priest he'd never met -- a champion for unwed mothers, their babies, orphans, and children --- in his book, Miracles: Healing for a Broken World (Our Sunday Visitor, 2009).

My devotion to Fr. Baker began in 2003 while I was priest at St. Mary Parish in Fredericksburg, VA. One night, in the twilight stage of sleep, I saw a man whose body had no substance ... with a bald head and very thin face. There were buttons going down the front of his cassock. He looked like a priest from a hundred years ago, and not at all frightening...

I later learned that this man was Fr. Nelson Baker, and recognized him upon seeing his photo which someone gave me. When I made a retreat in 2008 at the Church where he is buried, Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna, I met a woman traveling who'd only had a few months to live, due to late-stage melanoma cancer. After I blessed her with a relic of Fr. Baker and prayed over her, asking Fr. Baker's intercession for her healing, she was healed.

I believe Fr. Baker appeared to me years ago because he wanted me to continue his mission or aiding women in crisis pregnancies. He had a great love for mothers and their babies, and also for pregnant women who might be tempted to abandon their children. In 1906, Fr. Baker announced plans to construct the Our Lady of Victory Infant Home.

In 2005, almost a century later, I founded the Paul Stefan Home for Expectant Mothers. The Paul Stefan Home for Expectant Mothers now has 3 homes in Virginia: 2 in Orange County and a third home in Falls Church. We have helped over 80 women and babies, and trust that God wants us to do much more.

In Miracles: Healing for a Broken World, Fr. Starzynski details the apparition of Fr. Baker, his newfound devotion to him, and Fr. Baker's inspiration to him to help women in crisis pregnancies.

CNW

"Stop Stericycle" Nations Top Abortion Collaborator

2011-01-20T10:36:00.000-08:00

Repent America (RA) has launched a nationwide effort called the Campaign to Stop Stericycle (CSS), which aims to expose America's leading medical waste disposal company for their collection, transportation and incineration of aborted children and the instruments used to kill them. Included in the launch of the campaign is the official announcement ofStopStericycle.com, a website dedicated to revealing the overwhelming evidence of Stericycle's collaboration with the abortion industry. While this month marks 38 years since the unlawful Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which has resulted in the violent deaths of fifty million children and counting, CSS is marking the end of our nation's deadly silence toward those that facilitate the abortion industry as it hurls a stone at this medical "waste" Goliath.

Photo: Stericycle's incineration plant in Haw River, NC, where aborted children from over 20 states are burned. This is one of a number of plants across the nation. Click here for High Resolution of Photo

Stericycle, whose profits total over a billion dollars in annual income, generates a portion of their sales revenue from services provided to abortion mills. One of Stericycle's largest clients is Planned Parenthood, which maintains a national account with the medical "waste" service. In recent years, Stericycle has acquired countless medical waste companies until it has become the premiere "waste" collection service to abortion mills nationwide. Consequently, the war on abortion has consolidated to the point where stopping this one giant could deliver a gigantic blow to the abortion industry.

Stericycle's collaboration with the abortion industry by collecting and incinerating murdered children is eerily reminiscent of the corporate collaboration of the Holocaust of the 1940's. During the Holocaust, the Nazi regime depended heavily on businesses to accomplish their evil schemes. Sadly, instead of condemning the mass murder of the Jewish people, a number of large corporations chose to aid the Nazi government in their plans by providing services and materials. In the end, those businesses were brought to justice as court tribunals proclaimed that those who aided and abetted murderers were equally as guilty as those who committed the acts themselves. Likewise, Stericycle must be called to account for their willful involvement in the furtherance of the abortion holocaust.

"It is sick beyond words that businesses like Stericycle are profiting from collecting murdered children and incinerating their bodies with the trash. What's more is the abominable child killing that has been tolerated in our nation for 38 years," campaign director Michael Marcavage stated. "While many have focused their efforts on overturning Roe v. Wade by putting their trust in corrupt judicial systems and politicians, they have neglected the necessity of pursuing those that enable abortion mills to operate in the first place," he added. "Without Stericycle and companies like it, the abortion industry would collapse," Marcavage concluded.

The evidence of Stericycle's collaboration with the abortion industry displayed onStopStericycle.com includes candid documents signed by abortion mills that confirm their use of Stericycle and their disposal of human "tissue," photographs of Stericycle removing large boxes and bins from abortion mills nationwide and explosive recorded telephone discussions with Stericycle representatives, who graphically explain the protocol for the packaging of "tissues...and human parts." (Click here to listen to a sample of Stericycle's shocking admissions.) Additionally, the site provides information about Stericycle's corporate leaders, as well as the top shareholders and mutual fund investors that are profiting from the blood money that Stericycle receives from its service to the abortion industry.

StopStericycle.com also outlines the truck companies that are currently leasing vehicles to Stericycle, which is the medical waste giant's primary means of collecting and transporting aborted children to their incineration plants, such as Stericycle's Haw River location. CSS has been urging these companies to stop allowing their trucks to be used for such purposes, and has already seen progress as Penske Truck Leasing has now prohibited Stericycle from using their trucks to service to abortion mills. In fact, Penske Truck Leasing President and CEO Brian Hard vowed in an e-mail to the campaign, "We have been, and you have my word that we will continue to be, proactive in stopping Stericycle from using our trucks to service abortion clinics." CSS is now urging several other truck leasing companies to do the same, including Ryder System, Inc.

"It is high time for businesses to follow Penske's lead and remove themselves from supplying the means for Stericycle to service the abortion industry. Those that willingly help Stericycle in this manner will be met with much public resistance," Marcavage firmly stated. "We will not sit idly by waiting upon the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which is not the law and never has been. We are committed to aggressively pursuing and exposing Stericycle, it's officers, suppliers and investors until this Goliath stops furthering the abortion holocaust in our nation," he concluded.

The Campaign to Stop Stericycle (CSS) is calling the public to act immediately in the following ways:

1) Call Stericycle President Mark C. Miller at (847) 607-2038 (direct line to his desk) or e-mail mmiller@stericycle.com and respectfully but firmly express your disgust of Stericycle's collaboration with the abortion industry.

2) Sign the petition demanding that Stericycle stop servicing the abortion industry.

3) Make a donation in any amount by clicking here. Every dollar is directly applied to the campaign.

4) Sign up for e-mail updates about the campaign by visiting StopStericycle.com.

5) "Like" Stop Stericycle on Facebook, suggest the page to friends and post the campaign website on your wall.

6) Post a permanent banner or link on your blog or website to help spread the word.

7) Pray for the success of this campaign and that the Lord will use it to end the abortion holocaust in our nation.

"Open thy mouth for the [voiceless] in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction." - Proverbs 31:8

CNW

Possenti Society Blast Anti-Gun Catholic Church Bureaucrats

2011-01-20T05:39:00.000-08:00

The St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc. today ripped into gun prohibitionists in the Catholic Church hierarchy and suggested gun owners place spent cartridge casings in collection baskets as an initial form of protest.

Society chairman John M. Snyder said "the forthcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II comes as a welcome spiritual torpedo moving against anti-gun owner Catholic Church bureaucrats."

"It is ironic that Pope Benedict XV's announcement of the May 1 event came as the Catholic News Service proclaimed in an article on gun control that the 'Church firmly, quietly opposes firearms for civilians,'" Snyder added.

"It's ironic because Pope John Paul proclaimed definitively traditional Catholic teaching on the right and even the obligation, including killing an aggressor, of self-defense. He did this in his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae. The late pope cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2265 that '...legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life, the common good of the family or of the state.' Pope John Paul stated, 'Unfortunately, it happens that the need to render the aggressor incapable of causing harm sometimes involves taking his life.'"

Snyder said "anti-gun church officials would render people incapable of defending themselves or others. It's hard to tell if these people are wicked or just plain stupid. It is hypocritical for Church officials to proclaim doctrinally respect for the right to life on the one hand and then, on the other hand, promote or support policies the implementation of which would render the defense or protection of life an impossibility.

"Devout Catholic firearm owners can let church officials at various levels know what they think of certain Vatican officials' inanity and hypocrisy. There are many ways to do this. One would be to place spent cartridge casings, preferably with primers removed, in church collection envelopes and collection baskets and in bishops' envelope solicitations for contributions. It would be good to remind them of Christ's statement, 'if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.'" (Luke 22:36)

St. Gabriel Possenti used handguns without injuring a single human being to rescue villagers of Isola del Gran Sasso, Italy in 1860 from a gang of marauders. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXNE2jBaL9o) Pope Benedict XV canonized him in 1920. The international, interdenominational Society seeks his official Vatican designation as Patron of Handgunners. It highlights historical, philosophical and theological bases for legitimate self-defense.

CNW

Saint Josemaria Escriva And Opus Dei On The Big Screen

2011-01-20T05:29:00.000-08:00

Oscar nominated Roland Joffe, the director of the highly acclaimed films "The Mission" and "The Killing Fields," has returned to the big screen with the epic movie "There Be Dragons," a powerful story of love, loss and forgiveness set during the time of the Spanish Civil War. Coming to US theaters on May 6, 2011, the film centers around the life of Saint Josemaria Escriva, founder of the Catholic organization Opus Dei. "There Be Dragons" combines action, adventure and romance through the life of two friends who are torn apart by war and political anguish.

The timely release of the film in 2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, the brutal war fought in Spain in the late 1930's, a time where both Catholic priests and nuns were murdered and persecuted.

The film's resource website www.dragonsresources.com offers behind-the-scenes information, movie trailers, cast and crew bios, photos, resource materials, promotional tools, blogs and much more.

ABOUT "THERE BE DRAGONS"
Set during the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War, "There Be Dragons" tells the story of two childhood friends who become separated during political conflict and find themselves on opposite sides as war erupts. One chooses the path of peace and becomes a priest while the other chooses the life of a soldier driven by jealousy and revenge. Each struggles to find the power of forgiveness over the forces that tore their lives and friendship apart.

CNW

Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Killed 7 Babies With Scissors

2011-01-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

PHILADELPHIA – A doctor who gave abortions to minorities, immigrants and poor women in a "house of horrors" clinic was charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could, prosecutors said. State regulators ignored complaints about him and failed to inspect his clinic since 1993, but no charges were warranted against them given time limits and existing law, District Attorney Seth Williams said. Nine of Gosnell's employees also were charged.

Gosnell "induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord," Williams said.

Patients were subjected to squalid and barbaric conditions at Gosnell's Women's Medical Society, where Gosnell performed dozens of abortions a day, prosecutors said. He mostly worked overnight hours after his untrained staff administered drugs to induce labor during the day, they said.

Early last year, authorities went to investigate drug-related complaints at the clinic and stumbled on what Williams called a "house of horrors."

Bags and bottles holding aborted fetuses "were scattered throughout the building," Williams said. "There were jars, lining shelves, with severed feet that he kept for no medical purpose."

The clinic was shut down and Gosnell's medical license was suspended after the raid.

Gosnell and four workers were charged with murder, while five others were charged with controlled drug violations and other crimes. None of the employees had any medical training, and one, a high school student, performed intravenous anesthesia with potentially lethal narcotics, Williams said.

All 10 defendants were taken into custody, authorities said.

Two listed numbers for Gosnell in Philadelphia have been disconnected. Defense lawyer William J. Brennan, who represented Gosnell during the investigation, noted that the doctor served patients in a low-income city neighborhood for decades.

"Obviously, these allegations are very, very serious," Brennan said.

The grand jury said the woman who died was a patient who came to Gosnell's clinic for an abortion and died of cardiac arrest because she was given too much Demerol. Gosnell wasn't at the clinic at the time, but directed his staff to administer the drug to keep the woman, a healthy 41-year-old woman, sedated until he arrived, prosecutors said.

Gosnell has been named in at least 46 malpractice suits, including one over the death of a 22-year-old mother who died of sepsis and a perforated uterus in 2000. Many others also involve perforated uteruses. Gosnell sometimes sewed up the injury without telling women their uteruses had been perforated, prosecutors said.

Gosnell charged $325 for first-trimester abortions and $1,600 to $3,000 for abortions up to 30 weeks. Abortions are legal up to 24 weeks gestation in Pennsylvania, although most doctors won't perform them after 20 weeks, prosecutors said.

Some women came from across the mid-Atlantic for the illegal late-term abortions, authorities said. White women from the suburbs were ushered into a separate, slightly cleaner area because Gosnell believed they were more likely to file complaints, Williams said.

"People knew near and far that if you needed a late-term abortion you could go see Dr. Gosnell," Williams said.

Few if any of the sedated women knew their babies were born alive and then killed, prosecutors said. Many were first-time mothers who were told they were 24 weeks pregnant, even if they were further along, authorities said.

Gosnell got his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and is board certified in family practice. He started, but did not finish, a residency in obstetrics-gynecology, authorities said.

"He does not know how to do an abortion. He's not board certified," Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said. "Once he got them there, he saw dollar signs and did abortions that other people wouldn't do."

Invoking The Gift Of Full Communion

2011-01-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

In his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dedicated his catechesis to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is taking place from 18 to 25 January and during which "all those who believe in Christ are invited to come together in prayer, so as to bear witness to the profound ties that unite them and to invoke the gift of full communion".

The Holy Father remarked on "the providential fact that prayer is at the centre of the journey to unity. This", he said, "reminds us once again that unity cannot be a product of mere human efforts, is its above all a gift of God. ... We do not 'construct' unity, God 'constructs' it, it comes from Him, from the mystery of the Trinity".

Benedict recalled how the theme chosen for this year's Week of Prayer "refers to the experience of the first Christian community in Jerusalem, as described in the Acts of the Apostles: 'They devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers'".

This quotation identifies "four characteristics defining the first Christian community of Jerusalem", he said, "which still act as pillars for the life of all Christian communities, and constitute the solid foundation on which to continue to construct the visible unity of the Church".

Commenting on the first of these characteristics, the Pope noted that, "even today, the community of believers recognises the norms of its own faith in that reference to the teaching of the Apostles. All efforts to build unity among Christians must, then, involve increasing faithfulness to the 'depositum fidei' handed down to us by the Apostles".

The Holy Father then turned to the second element, "fraternal communion, ... the most tangible expression of unity between disciples and the Lord, especially for the outside world. ... The history of the ecumenical movement has been marked by difficulties and doubts, but it is also a history of fraternity, of co-operation and of human and spiritual sharing, which has significantly altered relations among believers in the Lord Jesus. We are all committed to continuing this journey".

On the subject of the third characteristic, "the breaking of bread", the Holy Father noted that "communion in Christ's sacrifice is the pinnacle of our union with God and, therefore, it also represents the completeness of the unity of Christ's disciples, full communion". In this context he noted also how "the impossibility of sharing the same Eucharist ... also gives a penitential dimension to our prayers. This must be a reason for ever more generous commitment on everyone's part so that, having removed the obstacles to full communion, the day may come when it will be possible to gather around the table of the Lord, together breaking the Eucharistic bread and drinking from the same chalice.

"Finally", he added, "prayer was the fourth characteristic of the early Church inJerusalem ... Prayer also means opening ourselves to the fraternity that stems from our being children of the one heavenly Father; it means being ready for forgiveness and reconciliation".

"Like the first Christian community of Jerusalem, on the basis of what we already share we must offer a powerful witness - well-founded spiritually and well-supported by reason - of the one God Who revealed Himself and speaks to us in Christ, in order to be bring a message which guides and illuminates the path of modern man, who often lacks clear points of reference. It is important, then, to increase our mutual love every day, striving to overcome the barriers that still exist between Christians, in the knowledge that true inner unity does exist among people who follow the Lord. We must collaborate as much as possible, working together on outstanding questions and, above all, aware that we need the Lord's help on this journey. He must still help us a lot because without Him, alone, without 'abiding in Him', we can do nothing".

VIS

More Marriage Support Needed From The Church

2011-01-19T06:07:00.000-08:00

California Healthy Marriages Coalition (CHMC) has released an unprecedented in-depth study, The State of California's Unions -- In the Pews and the Public Square. This is the first-ever report that looks at Californians' views on marriage and divorce matters and compares them based on their self-described levels of religious activity.

Commissioned by CHMC, the report revealed findings that faith leaders may find alarming:

32% of "Regular" church-goers agree that "marriage is too risky" due to the high chances of divorce;
20% of married "Frequent" church-goes have "discussed the idea of divorce" with their spouse.

The report also found good news for clergy members. The large majority of church goers -- whether "Frequent," "Regular," "Occasional," or "Rare" -- believe that religious organizations should offer pre-marital education, marriage enrichment programs, and help to couples experiencing difficulties in their marriage.

"This report makes it real clear. People need help in their marriages and families, want help with their relationships, and they are looking to churches and houses of worship to provide that help. As a former pastor, I know how hard it is to try to help couples without having the tools and skills to address their needs. At CHMC we have a plethora of resources to help church leaders meet this growing demand," says K. Jason Krafsky, CHMC Director of Communications and Marketing. Krafsky reports that his organization has developed a how-to kit for pastors interested in launching a marriage building ministry. CHMC also trains leaders in a variety of skills based marriage and relationship education programs.

The Pews and Public Squares report provides findings on topics such as "Faith Habits of Couples," "Does Attending Religious Services Affect How People Rate Their Own Marriage?" and "Do the Church and Unchurched Find Common Ground on Marriage?" The study provides information that CHMC believes will help faith leaders speak more accurately to the topic of marriage and divorce, develop strategic plans for relationship related programming, and expand their expertise in serving their community's families.

For the past five years, CHMC has taught proven relationship-building skills to more than 62,000 Californians through Marriage and Relationship Education classes for all ages and stages. A statewide clearinghouse of Marriage and Relationship Education classes and The State of California's Unions -- In the Pews and the Public Square report are available at www.CaMarriage.com.

Julie Sallee Partin, Media Relations, California Healthy Marriage Coalition

Roe Vs. Wade: Day Of Infamy

2011-01-18T05:11:00.000-08:00

January 22, 1973 is another day besides December 7, 1941, that shall live in infamy in American history. On this day, 38 years ago, the Supreme Court decriminalized the sin and crime of abortion. Tragically, they struck down every law in America that protected preborn children from those who would arbitrarily harm them in the sanctity of their mother's womb. With a stroke of the pen, the safest place for a child waiting to be born, instantly became the most dangerous. For nearly sixty million American children, the womb, which God created to nurture life became the tomb in which they died.

Roe vs. Wade is not only a bad legal decision that codified evil into law, but stands as a tribute to the basest aspects of our fallen human nature. It enhances the life of the strong at the expense of the weak. It protects large people as they victimize little people. With impunity, it allows parents to do the unspeakable to their own offspring. In the name of law, Roe vs. Wade established the foulest injustice in American history.

Roe vs. Wade not only violates God's Law, "Thou Shalt Not Murder," but also betrays our national covenant which states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

For 38 years and counting, America has refused to uphold our first and foremost fundamental right, which is the right to life. No other rights as Americans are secure, if this right is denied. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press are of no consequence to a dead baby.

Roe vs. Wade is a national tragedy that far exceeds the abominable practice of slavery. It should remind every American that we are failing once again to live up to our own creed. As a result, millions of little American citizens waiting to be born are finding to their horror that the "American Dream" has turned into a deadly nightmare.

Moreover, Roe vs. Wade raises a question that must be urgently answered in these tumultuous times. Can a nation that denies life and freedom to its most vulnerable citizens be worthy of life and freedom themselves?

Lastly, Roe vs. Wade is above all an urgent call to our blood-stained nation to repent of this national sin. Keep in mind that national sin brings national calamity. The many woes suffered by our nation today can be attributed to this spiritual reality. Therefore, to secure a future and a hope, the American holocaust must end. It is my sincere prayer that abortion not only become illegal once again, but like slavery before it, may it become unthinkable in the United States of America.

Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas

ACLU Ignores Threats To Womens's Health

2011-01-17T12:54:00.000-08:00

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula, interim president of Human Life International (HLI), today blasted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for what he called their "flagrant disregard for women's health, and for the constitution." He was referring to aJanuary 12 statement wherein the ACLU defended the inclusion of contraception in federally-mandated health coverage, and the ACLU criticized the US Catholic bishops for asking for contraception to be precluded from coverage.

First, the letter from counsel of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) made an argument based entirely on objective information available to every reasonable person. It was clearly not a 'religious argument' as the ACLU states," said Monsignor Barreiro. "Thus, it must be the position of the ACLU that anything that comes from a religious entity is de facto a religious argument, even if it uses no religious premises, and thus is not welcome in the public square. This is utterly unconstitutional as a grave offense to the first amendment, and if accepted as reasoning by the federal government, represents an acceptance of religious bigotry."

"Second," continued Monsignor Barreiro, "the ACLU is calling for a Group-1 carcinogen (WHO: Estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives) to be prescribed to unsuspecting women, and paid for by the government. And they do so, ironically, in calling contraception 'a matter of health and individual conscience.' A matter of health? If the ACLU cared about women's health, they would not be promoting a known cancer-causing agent as a basic offering in government-mandated healthcare coverage. This fact, along with the growing body of evidence showing that oral contraceptives are having a serious and negative impact on the environment, in addition to multiple negative social effects, should lead the ACLU to join the USCCB in questioning its inclusion in federal health care coverage.

"We reject bigotry in all its forms, just as we reject all threats to human life and dignity. The ACLU's argument betrays the former, and their promotion of oral contraception is obviously an example of the latter: as it is a clear threat to human life and dignity," said Monsignor Barreiro.

Human Life International: Pro-Life Missionaries to the World -- Founded in 1981, HLI is the world's largest international pro-life organization and has affiliates and associates in over 100 countries on six continents. www.hli.org

Cnw

Dr. Alveda King - Uncle Martin, The Social Conservative

2011-01-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

Dr. Alveda King, full-time Director of African American Outreach for Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said today that advice columns written by her uncle for Ebony magazine in 1957-58 reveal a man who today would be regarded as a social conservative.

"ID

n advising men and women on questions of personal behavior 50 years ago, Uncle Martin sounded no different than a conservative Christian preacher does now," said Dr. King. "He was pro-life, pro-ab Dr

stinence before marriage, and based his views on the unchanging Word of the Bible. Today, Planned Parenthood would condemn Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as part of the 'religious right.'"

In advice columns written for the African American-oriented magazine, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told a young man who had impregnated his girlfriend and refused to marry her, resulting in a "crime," that he had made a "mistake." He urged another reader to abstain from premarital sex, noting that such activity was contributing "to the present breakdown of the family."

"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man of peace, justice, and most of all a man of God," added Dr. King. "Were he alive today, he would be working to secure peace and justice for those in the womb and healing for a nation that is still pained by over 50 million missing lives."

The National Black Pro-Life Union is an organization founded to serve as a clearing house to coordinate the flow of communications among all African American pro-life organizations and individuals in order to better network and combine resources. We realize that if we are to be successful, it is necessary to share information and/or resources as well as "who gets the credit." We acknowledge that the real credit for any good thing always goes to GOD–not man. Day Gardner, President, 202-834-0844,www.nationalblackprolifeunion.com

Dr. King heads African American Outreach for Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visitwww.priestsforlife.org.

CNW

Apology Needed For Catholic Scientists

2011-01-17T07:24:00.000-08:00

Recent writings commenting on Dignitas Personae regarding the use of aborted fetal and embryonic cells by researchers are under fire by pro-life group, Children of God for Life. Executive Director, Debi Vinnedge who has praised the 2008 document approved by Pope Benedict XVI for its precise teachings on immoral research, says the writer owes Catholic scientists an apology.

The problem began with a brief in December 2010, May Researchers Use "Biological Material" Unjustly Obtained? (see culture-of-life.org//content/view/684/111/) in which Senior Fellow William E. May opined on Sections 34 and 35 of the Church directive.

Mr. May contended that Dignitas Personae provides "exceptions" allowing researchers to use "illicitly obtained biological materials". However, a careful reading of the Church instruction states the complete opposite.

A second article appeared in ZENIT January 12, 2011 as a question that was answered by Mr. May, titled Using Vaccines Obtained From Intentionally Aborted Human Embryos – Further Clarification Needed for Parents, Researchers. www.zenit.org/article-31437?l=english

"Mr. May uses the same concluding arguments in both articles, citing Dignitas Personae, yet the two are completely different situations," stated Ms. Vinnedge. "And in each one, he is misstating the facts."

In both publications May cites from the writings by Christian Brugger, who opines that Dignitas Personae and the Pontifical Academy for Life's, Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Fetuses do not provide sufficient guidelines for researchers using aborted fetal or embryonic cell lines.

In three of its eight pages, that document expounded on their use by researchers, physicians and parents, concluding it was illicit for researchers. Parents, on the other hand, who have no voice in the decision to use aborted fetal cell lines in vaccine production, might have proportionate reasons to do so.

Incredibly, May states these cell lines could "provide great benefit to unborn humans," thus concluding it is morally licit for researchers to use them under Dignitas Personae's "exceptions."

"There are no "exceptions" for researchers, as moral options exist," noted Vinnedge. "It's unfortunate Mr. May thinks otherwise, because many Catholic scientists are taking the Church teachings to heart and turning to moral research."

Vinnedge has written an eight page response to May's article titled, Twisting the Truth on Dignitas Personae, www.cogforlife.org/dp.pdf citing the unambiguous proof of the Church teaching in both documents.

Christian Newswire

Pope John Paul II To Be Beatified May 1

2011-01-14T07:09:00.000-08:00

(VIS) - On 1 May, the second Sunday of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, Benedict XVI will preside at the rite of beatification for John Paul II in the Vatican.

According to a note released by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, "today 14 January, Benedict XVI, during an audience granted to Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, authorised the dicastery to promulgate the decree of the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla). This concludes the process which precedes the rite of beatification.

"It is well known that, by pontifical dispensation, his cause began before the end of the five-year period which the current norms stipulate must pass following the death of a Servant of God. This provision was solicited by the great fame of sanctity which Pope John Paul II enjoyed during his life, in his death and after his death. In all other ways, the normal canonical dispositions concerning causes of beatification and canonisation were observed in full.

"Between June 2005 and April 2007 the principal diocesan investigation was held in Rome, accompanied by secondary investigations in various other dioceses, on his life, virtues, fame of sanctity and miracles. The juridical validity of these canonical processes was recognised by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints with a decree of 4 May 2007. In June 2009, having examined the relative 'Positio', nine of the dicastery's theological consultors expressed their positive judgement concerning the heroic nature of the virtues of the Servant of God. The following November, in keeping with the usual procedure, the 'Positio' was submitted for the judgement of the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who gave their approval.

"On 19 December 2009, Benedict XVI authorised the promulgation of the decree on John Paul II's heroic virtues.

"With a view to the beatification of the Venerable Servant of God, the postulator of the cause invited the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to examine the recovery from Parkinson's disease of Sr. Marie Simon Pierre Normand, a religious of the 'Institut des Petites Soeurs des Maternites Catholiques'.

"As is customary, the voluminous acts of the regularly-instituted canonical investigation, along with detailed reports from medical and legal experts, were submitted for scientific examination by the medical consultors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on 21 October 2010. The experts of the congregation, having studied the depositions and the entire documentation with their customary scrupulousness, expressed their agreement concerning the scientifically inexplicable nature of the healing. On 14 December the theological consultors, having examined the conclusions reached by the medical experts, undertook a theological evaluation of the case and unanimously recognised the unicity, antecedence and choral nature of the invocation made to Servant of God John Paul II, whose intercession was effective in this prodigious healing.

"Finally, on 11 January 2011 the ordinary session of the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints took place. They expressed their unanimous approval, believing the recovery of Sr. Marie Simon Pierre to be miraculous, having been achieved by God in a scientifically inexplicable manner following the intercession of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, trustingly invoked both by Sr. Simon herself and by many other faithful".

Planned Parenthood Withdraws Suit Against Operation Rescue

2011-01-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Christian Newswire -- Planned Parenthood has filed a motion to dismiss in a law suit against Operation Rescue's Cheryl Sullenger that was an attempt to block the Iowa Board of Medicine from releasing public information about four of their employees.

The documents, comprised of medical license applications that are a matter of public record in all states, were released by the Iowa Board of Medicine to Sullenger last week, three months after her initial request. At least two of tC

he "doctors" are involved in Planned Parenthood's webcam abortion pill distribution scheme, known as telemed abortions.

"While all the documents were heavily redacted - more so than we usually see with these kinds of records - we are grateful to our legal team, including Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society and Iowa attorney Mike Holzworth for working so hard to ensure that Planned Parenthood did not wrongfully conceal information that the public has a right to know. This is a victory for everyone because it helps keep the government accountable to the people."

In addition, Iowa attorney Patrick Smith represented the Citizen's Information Center and another requester, both from Massachusetts, which had made similar, independent requests. Both of those suits have been dismissed as well.

"Based on conversations with Kent Nebel of the Iowa Board of Medicine, I believe that he improperly tipped off Planned Parenthood to the requests in order to allow Planned Parenthood time to file the suits," said Sullenger. "Mr. Nebel told me personally that he was instructed by the Attorney General's office to inform Planned Parenthood of the public records requests. There is nothing we can see in Iowa law that would mandate such notification."

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is currently under an ethics investigation for his part in blocking independent investigations into alleged criminal abortions conducted by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland through their webcam abortion scheme.

"It looks to us like Planned Parenthood still has a lot to hide. They were so afraid of the discovery phase in the law suits that they apparently decided it was better to allow the Iowa Board of Medicine to release the public information rather than allow us to ask them questions they did not want to answer," said Sullenger. "We are still very concerned about the cozy relationships that exist between the Iowa Attorney General's office, the Iowa Board of Medicine, and Planned Parenthood."

Attorneys for Operation Rescue are considering further legal action to ensure that politics are not being placed above the public welfare in Iowa.

How To Save A Life

2011-01-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

Why is ending abortion such an important issue and cause? Because the course of humanity and how we view the future of our nation and upcoming generations depends on it. Abortion is evil. It is the murder of an innocent life. It is violent. There are two things that die as a result of abortion: an innocent baby and the conscience of the perpetrator. It breeds violence, immorality, and apathy. If we can put a price on an innocent baby, what can we expect in society and the very way that we look at the humanity of a person?

Small Victories Ministries shows the humanity of unborn children to mothers and fathers contemplating abortion through our Window to the Womb Ultrasound Van embedded outside the Hope abortion Clinic in Granite City, Illinois. We are a frontlines pro-life ministry that has pioneered the ultrasound movement outside abortion mills in our nation.

For 18 ½ years Small Victories Ministry has been offering pregnant abortion-minded mothers options other than abortion, giving women a real choice, trying to save their precious babies, and lifting up the name of Jesus. Since January 2000, over 3800 babies have been saved from this abortion mill, and from these mothers 39 babies have been adopted by Christian couples. We help over 800 girls a year and see approx 20-30 abortion clients a day, currently four days a week.

The Hope abortion Clinic is the largest abortion mill in the Midwest. They used to perform between 10,000 and 13,000 abortions a year. Currently, the average number of abortions performed has dropped to approximately 4,000. Over 30 employees have been fired or retired. Lawsuits have caused this abortion mill to bleed. We have rejoiced with several employee conversions.

We are literally the last line of defense for these little unborn babies and their mothers. As our brother's keeper, we must go to where babies are dying. Our peaceful presence outside abortion mills "pricks a mother's conscience." Many of our saves have confirmed that "the presence of loving people" changed their mind; not angry screaming, but compassion and love has turned the hearts of mothers to their babies.

View the fruits of our labors at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIGwItuNhrI

For more information go to www.smallvictoriesusa.com.

Marriage

2011-01-12T05:24:00.000-08:00

Both the Church calendar and the liturgy in these days remind us constantly of marriage, in particular through the feast of the Holy Family that shows how the Lord was received and grew in a family as part of his human nature. We also see in the Epiphany of the Lord the bringing together of three great events that manifest the presence of the Lord: the adoration of the Wise Kings, the Baptism of the Lord and the transformation of water into wine at the wedding of Cana.

After life itself, the greatest natural gift of the Lord to mankind is marriage, which is the permanent and faithful union of a man and woman. Marriage has two purposes: generating and educating the children that they might receive from the Lord, and the mutual loving support of the spouses. As such, marriage is the natural basis of the family, and is fundamental to the well-being of all of society, not just those who are religious. It is for this reason that the preservation of the unique meaning of marriage is not a special or limited interest, but serves the good of all members of society.

Marriage was established by the Lord after the creation of the first woman, but before the Fall. When the Lord presented Eve to Adam, he accepted her, stating: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen 2:23). Interestingly enough the book of Genesis presents immediately afterwards the text that is the biblical ground for the indissolubility of marriage:"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Jesus Christ quoted this text to demonstrate that marriage can not be dissolved (Mt. 19: 4-6), explaining that the Jewish understanding of marriage that permitted divorce was against the original intent of the Creator (Mk. 10: 2-9).

God has willed to give the union of man and woman a special participation in his work of creation. Indeed, he blessed the man and the woman with the words "Be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28). Therefore, in the Creator's plan, sexual complementarity and fruitfulness belong to the very nature of marriage. As the liturgy of the Church states in the Nuptial Blessing, marriage is a "blessing which alone was not taken away in the punishment for original sin or in the doom of the Flood."

In the wedding at Cana, where Christ manifested his powers for the first time, marriage was elevated to the dignity of a sacrament. But here also we have the biblical grounds of the doctrine of the intercessory powers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, because Christ anticipated the time of His public manifestation due to her petition, transforming water in wine. Through the presence of Christ in this wedding, a natural gift was transformed into a sacrament, an efficacious sign of grace.

Marriage has been under attack at least since the introduction of civil divorce. Society in an arbitrary way has tried to nullify the gift of marriage trying to destroy its permanent character, which is an essential aspect of the nature of marriage. It is part of the nature of things that a man and a woman should wish to enter into a permanent union, but society erodes this natural good desire, inscribing in its laws that really marriage is not permanent. If it can be dissolved by different causes or worse just by the manifestation of the will of either spouse, how can we call it permanent? With this devaluing of marriage, our "civilized societies" are returning to the barbaric institution of repudiation. We have to remember that this view of marriage, with easy divorce, is not substantially different from mere cohabitation, which can be dissolved by any of the members whenever they wish.

On the slippery slope that leads to an anti-natural society, divorce was the first social sin against life and family, because any attack against the family, which is the natural cradle of life, is also an attack against life. Legal divorce brings about a mindset in many couples that their "marriage" will be maintained until it is comfortable for them, so as a consequence of this grave error they are not ready to make the necessary efforts to solve the difficulties of understanding and communication that marriage life might cause. Instead of trying to solve their difficulties they walk away, legally breaking their marriage. This is like solving the problems caused by a deadly disease through euthanasia.

There is ample evidence of the spiritual and social damage that divorce causes to men and women, and even worse, to children. The children of divorced parents grow without the support of a normally structured family; a family that not only nurtures them, but provides the example of the family that they will create when it is their turn. Through all of this we see clearly that the Church should intensify her efforts to carefully form the couples before they enter into marriage.

In our days, different societies have been legalizing the "marriage" between persons of the same sex, which is clearly against the will of God and the form of natural marriage, which I discussed in my Spirit & Life of October 22^nd. Once the permanence of marriage is removed in law, the question of who (or what or how many) one can marry is up for grabs. If the meaning of marriage really is arbitrary, what boundaries at all can one place on it? How does one define it? Should we be surprised that the promotion of divorce on demand has led to the abomination of homosexual unions?

These old and new attacks against marriage should strengthen our determination to defend marriage as one of the most basic gifts that the Lord has given us. The fact that divorce has been a part of American society for many years should not lessen our commitment to abolish it because it is against the will of God and against the good of society. We have to insist that we cannot have a healthy society with divorce. In the same way we have to resist the new attack against marriage which is the legalization of the union of two persons of the same sex. There is no doubt that the Lord will come to our assistance in the integral defense of marriage.

Human Life International

Reckless Reporting In Arizona Shooting

2011-01-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

In the wake of the Arizona assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, which also left several others dead, some journalists are attempting to place blame for the shooting spree on conservatives like Sarah Palin and on conservative talk radio.

Jared Loughner appeared in court on Monday to face charges that he tried to assassinate the U.S. congresswoman and that he killed six others. It was the nation's first look at the 22-year-old loner who on Saturday was wrestled to the ground by several bystanders after the initial volley of gunfire.

Many in the mainstream media have been quick to equate Loughner's motives to "conservative rhetoric" -- and more specifically, to tea party favorite Sarah Palin and a "cross hairs" graphic created by the former Alaska governor's political action committee in 2010, which targeted Democrats for political defeat.

Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center (MRC), says any attempt to connect the shooting to Palin, to the tea party movement, or to conservatives in general is shameful.

"This has been a very bad first 48 hours of coverage. Very reckless, very evidence-challenged," he shares. "And there should really be a full round of media apologies to go along with the newscasts right now."

After the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009, President Barack Obama was quick to caution those who would associate the shooter, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, with Islam. But Graham says there seems to be a double standard in regards to applying the same restraint with the Arizona shooting.

"And now, within minutes [of the story breaking] CNN put on some cartoonist to say that this shooting was inevitable because of 'conservative rage,'" offers Graham. "There is far too much recklessness in our so-called news media that doesn't wait for evidence."

ABC's Jake Tapper was one of the lone mainstream journalists who reported of Jared Loughner: "The shooter's motives remain unclear. One acquaintance from 2007 described him as liberal."

Bishop Olmsted Addresses AZ Legislature Opening Session

2011-01-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

In light of the tragic shootings this weekend, Arizona’s 50^th Legislative Session convened this afternoon in a subdued and somber fashion.

Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix gave the opening prayer at the Legislature today and prayed that such senseless violence never occurs again in Arizona. He also specifically prayed for Judge John Roll and all who died in this attack as well as for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and all who were wounded, as well as all their loved ones and all who care for them.

Additionally, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Diocese of Tucson is returning today from Jerusalem to comfort the people in his diocese and offer his prayers.

The prayers from Bishop Kicanas and Bishop Olmsted can both be found online atwww.azcatholicconference.org.

Judge Refuses to Block New AZ Abortion Restrictions

2010-10-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

From Arizona Right to Life

10/28/10 E-lert

Late Wednesday a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of allowing abortion restrictions to take effect Nov. 1st.

Donald Daughton, the Maricopa County judge, ruled that Planned Parenthood waited too long to seek an injunction from a new law that will prohibit anyone other than a doctor from performing various medical procedures before and after an abortion.

The state approved these new rules in April, but Planned Parenthood did not seek the injunction until October 14th, only a few weeks before the November 1st enactment date.

This current legal battle is an extension of another court ruling given last year where Daughton ruled in favor of halting a law requiring that only a doctor could perform an abortion. Daughton found in that case that there were sufficient legal questions to warrant a trial and put a hold on enacting the legislation until a judge could issue a decision on its legality. That case is still pending.

Assistant Attorney General Carrie Brennan, defending the State of Arizona in this case, chose not to challenge the merits of the claim, but simply stated that Planned Parenthood waited too long to seek the injunction.

Several important changes will go into effect as a result of this ruling they include:

1. A doctor must estimate the gestational age of the pre-born baby

2. A doctor must perform a physical examination on the woman to determine if she is fit enough for surgery

3. A doctor is the only one who can perform the surgery

4. A doctor with admitting privileges at an accredited hospital must be present at the hospital in case of emergency.

5. A doctor must remain on the premises until all patients are stable and ready to be discharged.

To read the full statute that will go into effect November 1st Click Here

To read Judge Daughton's statement denying Planned Parenthood's motion to halt these common sense practices Click Here.

"Experience is a hard teacher...

2010-10-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

...She gives the test first, and the lessons afterwards".

Whoever coined this profound statement must have been sitting in on Saturday's Legislative Session on the Manhattan Declaration here in Phoenix. From the Mass to the final words spoken prophetically by Princeton Professor Robert George one could feel the gravity of every anti-life/anti marriage initiative that has taken place since President Barack Obama took the oath of office. Our culture faces a momentous challenge and just like Abraham Lincoln stated in his famous Gettysburg Address, we too, "are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war." This war, seems to be over the very institutions that this great country was founded".

All politics is local.
Arriving on the campus of the Phoenix Diocese, attendees on their way to the 8am Mass at St. Mary's Basilica were confronted by 100 or so protestors representing No Longer Silent, a group of christian clerics who are at odds with the Church's teaching on homosexuality and marriage. They claim that "Conservative political and Christian rhetoric condemning homosexuals has monopolized public perception of the stance of religious persons on this issue and further state that the Manhattan Declaration declares war on LGBT and women's rights.”

Circus Maximus
To emphasize their position of tolerance, they shouted at attendees to "not believe the lies in the Manhattan Declaration" and carried signs that purported the church's intolerance and exclusion of LGBT people. They trespassed onto the diocesan property and impeded the attendees while cabling the gates of the diocese and locking arms to prevent entrance to the building courtyard. Thankfully, the local police were able to peacefully lead the protestors away from the venue and remove the cable to allow the morning to continue.

And continue it did.
How does one effectively synthesize the words of Bishop Olmsted, Ron Johnson, Mike Phelan, Alan Sears, Marjorie Dannensfelder and Robert George? I don't know, but I'm going to try...

Our Bishop expanded on the Gospel passage about "not worrying about how or what our defense might be" but relying upon the Holy Spirit who will teach us what we need to do and say; to have faith and not be afraid. He reminded us that Jesus did not reprimand His followers with admonitions of "Oh, ye of little love or Oh, ye of little hope". Rather, he admonished them for their lack of faith. In our age, we, too, are challenged by the words of our Lord to have faith. Without faith, we can have neither love nor hope. However from the foundational virtue of faith, both hope and love flow. The faith of our founders was tested and purified. It brought forth the great fruit of a free nation united in faith in God and embracing institutions which would solidify it for future generations: marriage and family. It is now our turn to to be tested and strengthened as gold in a furnace. We are not to be afraid; rather, we are to be people of strong faith to carry out the work that others began.

Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference, said the goal of the seminar was “to encourage people of faith to be well versed about our core values and to emphasize collaboration with other Christians, especially in the public square.” He reminded us of the sad reality that 45% of Catholics do not believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist - an astonishing statistic indeed. He elaborated on the Pope's remarks that an alarming number of the faithful are becoming increasingly marginalized in society. Ron exhorted all Christians to embrace, learn and live their faith as this is an inherent act of protecting our religious freedoms that are under deliberate and vicious attack.

Mike Phelan, Phoenix Diocesan Director of Marriage and Respect Life, elaborated on the efforts of the Covenant of Love Project and the freshly revised policies governing marriage preparation. The enhanced policy emphasizes that couples must receive “personal preparation for marriage, which disposes the spouses to the holiness and duties of their new state.” the new diocesan policy, instituted on January 1 of this year highlighted the teachings of John Paul IIs Theology of the Body, Natural Family planning and an expanded 9 month curriculum for engaged couples. Impressive early statistics affirm the NFP method as an effective way for Catholics to plan the size and spacing of their families. In striking contrast to the 50% divorce rate in the general culture, the divorce rate of couples practicing NFP is at 4%. It seems clear that these couples are experiencing a paradigm shift; they are learning to trust their spouse, their design and their Designer.

Alan Sears, President of Alliance Defense Fund, reminded us that the definition of marriage between one man and one woman is non-negotiable. Marriage either means this or it means nothing at all. Alan and his team of top attorneys are on the front lines every day facing challenge after challenge to those who would sooner redefine marriage into nonexistence. I was surprised to learn that in the average state, roughly 1,100 laws are directly impacted by our current definition of marriage; this is not to mention our country's influence on other nations. One can but imagine the legal, moral, social and psychological pandora's box this will open if we consider the end game of marriage for any and all. Polygamy and polyamory are just the beginnings. Commenting on Vermont's Civil Union law, Alan compared this to feeding a hungry tiger for breakfast and negotiating with him about whether or not he'll eat you for dinner. We simply must not be naive enough to believe that this is just about wanting gay marriage. Those who wish to redefine marriage desire that marriage should not exist. For this, we are all called to stand and act.

Marjorie Dannesfelder, President of the Susan B. Anthony List: "There is a dearth of special needs children in our society". I have never heard this statement before and it deserves our attention. What we don't have a shortage of are an increasing number of triple and quadruple baby strollers in town. Have you noticed this? Multiple births are on the uptick but down's babies are scarce. This is a bad sign. From the right to life comes every and all other rights. What kind of society have we become when it becomes okay to destroy the most vulnerable among us? Marjorie reminded us of the words of the late anti-Nazi activist Deitrich Bonhoeffer, "Silence in the face of evil is evil itself". She challenged us to be modern day Bonhoeffers and stand up to evil in our midst. She also reminded us that on November 2 we shall not forget those who sold out to evil and acted in poor conscience against those who trusted them (see Stupak is as Stupak does).

Have you ever researched the ethics codes that govern the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists? Robbie George has. And just like me, he can't get over the reference of the word "healthcare" as it relates to abortion. Robert George, Princeton Professor, philosopher and co-author/signer of Manhattan Declaration was on hand to discuss a recent ethics refutation that he debated with ACOG on limitations that they wanted to place on doctor's rights to conscientiously refuse to perform abortions. Yes, that's right, they said "limitations". The ethics doctors wish to stifle the consciences of pro-life doctors who, in their estimation would be complicit in committing grievous sin by destroying the life of another human being. The ethics docs want this right limited. Actually, they want the pro-life docs to go away, plain and simple. (Sort of how Obamacare was voted into office by executive order rather than by legitimate political process). Dr. George emphasized the point that doctors are to be about the business of science, not about the business of moral philosophy. How in the world have we arrived at the notion that pregnancy is somehow a state of disease? Dis-ease, yes, for some, but disease?? George advanced the notion that a sort of "professional cleansing" not unlike ethnic cleansing may be the next chapter in the Obamacare lexicon if we close our eyes to the opinions and matters of these ethics boards. For it is not a matter of if a morality will be advanced into our legal and ethical codes - clearly morality has already been inserted there. Rather, it will be a matter over whose morality will be advanced.

As he neared his conclusion, George reemphasized the license with with this current president has acted in the realm of so-called reproductive freedoms...remember the first things that the president did after he took office? He abrogated the conscience protections that George W. Bush had so strenuously fought for. This current president has NEVER supported any restrictions on abortion and he has referred to the bearing of children in one famous lecture as a punishment.

Human life is sacred. It is best protected by God who gave that privilege to men and women under the bonds of holy matrimony. Want to fight poverty? Build healthy marriages. Want to build a culture of life? Stop killing the preborn. Want to make a difference? Go read the Manhattan Declaration and sign it. Want your voice to be heard? Vote on Nov 2.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. (Gettysburg Address)

Karen Williams

Catholic Edition Contributor

The Searing Truth

2010-06-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

The Searing Truth:
Church, Science, Families, People and their Moral Conflicts with Medical Science
by Fr. Peter Rossa

Playing with Biological Fire: The media and messages about life
Fourteen years ago I sat in a dark office vault located within the walls of another vault. 300 Airmen, from differing Intelligence Specialties served as one unit in keeping the peace. We were as secure in our vaulted room within a vaulted room as possible. James Bond wouldn’t have been able to access our work space without tripping an alarm. Our job, my job, was to plan the destruction of the world in the name of freedom—literally. The Strategic Air Command’s motto was “Peace is our Profession” but in reality, the strong-armed threat of nuclear war was the means utilized to obtain and maintain this peace.

Little did I know that one day I’d look back on those “peaceful” days within the darkened secure vault with a whole new vision, a whole new sense of security, and a whole new definition of freedom. Desert Shield and Desert Storm became doorways leading us who lived with the dark specter of conflict hanging over our shoulders to new life: The looming specter of darkness-- doing my job for real—not just planning for war but executing it ultimately forced me to consider fundamental questions regarding the meaning and purpose of life. What was I doing, and did what I do really matter or make a difference?

In that darkened vault we arrogantly debated and attempted to solve the world’s problems to pass the time. Often we’d nonchalantly flip sides of an issue arguing the other side with no real conviction or purpose just to see if we could do it. We were so casual and yet such intense people while competing.

As happens in debate, our verbal sparring often became more about beating our opponent than about pursuing truth. Truth was often a casualty in our pursuit for victory.

Desert Storm provided the fulcrum where the world of hypothesis and dreams found itself profoundly confronted with the reality of carnage and death. Our daily jesting, teasing, and occasional ribbing now became weighted by the reality of the life and death decisions being made.

My life, as with many others, was changed. Forever changed over a brief few days.

I now sit in a light-filled office with individuals and families who are confronting weighty personal and societal issues. The questions they ask are often the same as those we
debated in that darkened vault.

However, as a priest, I do so now filled with the light of faith and hope rooted in Jesus Christ. My pursuit of truth and conclusions are no longer solely determined by the power of the argument or the ability to persuade because “Truth” is not an idea nor a thing to be manipulated.

“Truth” is a person—Jesus Christ. “Truth” is no longer a casualty of loose and aimless discourse; it is the cause and reason for my life.

Truth also is the reason that I appeal to your conscience today, in Christ’s name, seeking your new or renewed commitment to restoring the proper dignity, respect and honor for every human person.

My appeal is personal, but I am not alone. My appeal is an appeal fed and nurtured through my reflections on Pope John Paul II’s profound and noble vision of humanity, and our relationship with God as portrayed in his Theology of the Body, Donum Vitae, Evangelium Vitae, Sacred Scripture and other collected works.

I pray that you continue reading. with an open mind and an open heart; the message contained herein serves as a core teaching of our Catholic faith. It is “the Gospel of Life.”

So why am I writing this article now? Have you ever had that nagging, pulling sense that you are about to do something you would rather not? Or, have you chosen to put off something important because you have other things that seem equally or more pressing?

I have been in that mood for several months. Things seem so crazy today; it seems as if people have lost their ability to think clearly and maybe even lost their minds in the process. I am deeply concerned about the lack of healthy and honest discourse in our country and around the world.

This article is a revision of an article that I wrote back in 2006. Much of what I wrote back then still remains valid today. In case you missed it, this is an article about the growing “culture of death” verses the nobility of human life and our call to build a “culture of life.”

For the media, some members of the scientific community, much of our changing American lifestyle, Good has become Evil, and Evil has become Good.

Let me take you back to spring 2006 when a series regarding life issues ran in The Arizona Republic. May 30, 2006, the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend, Jodie Snyder wrote an article (in fact she had written a series of articles published that day) dealing with in vitro fertilization. In one front page article, The Arizona Republic boldly informed us of “The High Price of Women’s Eggs.”

Then on June 15—this time at the bottom of the front page—AP reporter Carla K. Johnson wrote about “Flocking to U.S. to pick baby’s sex.” Two weeks later, on June 30, this time in the middle of the main section of The Arizona Republic, a Washington Post article titled “Senate to challenge Bush over stem-cell research” appeared. Hardly coincidental.

Back then, a seemingly coordinated relentless assault on the “Culture of Life” was occurring and going largely unnoticed.

Then July 1, 2006, New York Times writer Elizabeth Rosenthal published a cynical report on news from the Vatican. The headline read, “Vatican aide asks for cell-work penalty.” Still standing in the long shadows cast by our remembrance of Memorial Day and just as we were about to celebrate our independence and freedom as a nation, The Republic ran a story from the New York Times concerned with the Church’s efforts to enforce ecclesial penalties for Catholics conducting scientific research on embryonic stem-cells and other medical professionals involved with in vitro fertilization.

I was struck by the irony; as if the assault on human life wasn’t enough; the Republic was running a condemnatory story on the Vatican’s attempt to provide guidance and
admonishment to fellow catholics who were scandalizing the Church by compromising their faith at the altar of scientific reasoning.

Since then, local, national and international articles pop up weekly —if not daily—regarding embryonic stem-cells. Whether we recognize it or not, we truly are facing a global issue.

Here in the U.S. we often hear about these “issues” because of a cycle of get- out-the-vote politics and Congressional debate on bills allowing the use of federal funds supporting embryonic stem-cell research

The extent of local, national and international coverage portrays a very real and a very pressing subject.

Obviously, The Arizona Republic and other news outlets believe its readers want to hear about scientific developments regarding fertilization medicine; reporting on scientific developments in fertility medicine is a good thing because it affects so many people, but news outlets must be careful not to slant the story as so often happens in The Republic.

I take umbrage with the media’s blasé and distorted presentation of the issues. I believe journalists have a fiduciary responsibility to thoroughly research material and then present the facts as news and not as a one-sided advocacy plea (unless, of course, the article appears on the opinion page). Perhaps the “Republic,” and the other journalists, were caught up in the fascinating possibilities and apparent hope offered by fertility medicine; many people are because the promises and possibilities, which appear good, are so alluring.

In fairness, I admit that many times reporters raise some troubling issues. But, as presented, these issues seem to be little more than an after thought.

In the case of Ms. Snyder, perhaps her concerns were greater than she was unable to address in her columns due to lack of space, time or research. News print and television are for profit organizations after all; getting the story to print is essential in our 24 hour news cycle. Reporting the news is, generally speaking, a business and therefore profit is the bottom line.

But for us, as the body of Christ, the salvation of souls is the bottom line.

Regardless, all of us should be capable of realizing life and death issues are not simply a matter of science and scientific advancement— they are far more complex.

The moral reflections and implications on our actions that should be taking place are often overlooked or lost in the hope offered by science. The power of the scientific method is very alluring and increasingly becoming the measure of all that is true and good.

The same is true with fertility medicine and embryonic stem-cell research.

Emotions often run high because of the pain and suffering associated with infertility; this suffering is intensified by a married couples’ natural desire for children. These high emotions, such as suffering, combined with other real-life issues, such as false perceptions and stigmas, and our increasing willingness to wear our political beliefs on our sleeves make “life issues” a sensitive topic that is usually explosive; especially in politics.

During a debate over embryonic stem- cell research on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Arlen Specter (R-PA) recently—and I add, recklessly— accused the Catholic Church of
standing in the way of and impeding scientific progress. He is not alone; many others echo this false belief. His statements revealed the ignorance many people have regarding the Catholic Church’s beliefs about human life, they also reveal his lack of knowledge on Church History, and his unfamiliarity with Pope John Paul II’s teachings on faith and reason- on science and technology.

While science pushes moralists and ethicists to stretch their reasoning, the moralists and the ethicists provide a healthy check and balance to scientific research. When done well, this balance protects real people from the Frankensteins and Kevorkians of today. Faith and reason, science and morality, are meant to work in unison. They need one another and are interdependent on one another. Faith and reason are not meant to be at war with each other.

An ‘either/or’ situation does not exist, according to the principles laid out by Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor: The Splendor of Truth and Fides et Ratio: On Faith and Reason. According to the Pope’s noble vision of humanity, when working in unison faith and reason represent the best of morality, ethics and scientific research which ultimately truly do support, safeguard and advance the development of our nation, culture and people.

In Vitro fertilization seems to be a very compassionate alternative for many couples facing infertility. Embryonic stem cell research seems promising in many ways. Therapeutic cloning appears so beneficial on the surface. But are they really? Or, are there other consequences and unseen moral dilemmas involved with developing modern medicine and technology—issues not fully reported in the media?

The Church and life issues in the media
While the blessings of in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem-cell research and cloning are espoused in the media, the flip side almost always is overlooked by secular news outlets.

First, what is in vitro fertilization? In vitro fertilization is the creation of a human embryo from a woman’s ovum and a man’s sperm through scientific intervention outside of the uterus.

But, this is not just an issue of a single ovum or a single sperm; multiple ova and hundreds of sperm are involved to create multiple humans, hidden in the form of embryos (the actual number varies). Typically, between three and five embryos are then implanted in a woman’s womb.

Once the process is deemed successful, doctors commonly pursue “selective reduction” and terminate some of the human embryos to enhance the survival and successful birth of one or two children. In short, “selective reduction” aborts children's lives; children are created by doctors who are agents of creation and dealers of death in the name of medicine.

If, however, this process of implantation fails it is repeated, further compounding the moral gravity because embryonic children are repeatedly created and destroyed thus violating the child's right as a human person. When doctors and scientists using this technology fail to acknowledge the presence of the human person in the embryo, the embryo is reduced to mere biological material making its destruction permissible in their eyes (eyes of the scientist). On the other hand, if they (the scientists) recognize this presence (as human), then they have no moral grounds with which to justify destruction of the person.

“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end.” (Donum Vitae #5) Every embryonic child deserves our total respect. “God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, under any circumstance, claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.” (DV#5)

As Catholics we are all involved in the struggle against the Culture of Death. The hope offered by in vitro clearly has introduced a new element into medical science—it pits the desires of men and women to possess a child against the rights of their other embryonic children to survive.

“Often overlooked in the hope offered by science are the moral reflections and implications of our decisions and actions.”

We should neither advocate, participate in, nor facilitate in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem-cell research or human cloning. Period!

By fostering, encouraging or supporting them, we formally cooperate in an intrinsically evil action; if we participate in embryonic stem-cell research or in vitro fertilization we incur the penalty of excommunication. The penalty of excommunication is automatic. We cannot afford to play with biological fire.

Our call is to defend the rights of the unborn, the faceless and the powerless human embryo. Commenting on the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shall not kill,” the new United States Catholic Catechism for Adults reminds us: “...We are called to create the culture
of life and work against the culture of death.”

Scientists and medical researchers shy away from the question, “What does it mean to be human?” Why? Likely because “being human” cannot be empirically measured. Some advocates of in vitro and others are willing to acknowledge that the embryo is of a human genus, but do not believe it is a “person” because it has yet to develop.

“Applied biology and medicine work together for the integral good of human life when they come to the aid of a person stricken by illness and infirmity, and when they respect his or her dignity as a creature of God. No biologist or doctor can reasonably claim, by virtue of his scientific competence, to be able to decide about people’s origin and
destiny.” (DV#4)

To my surprise, scientists are not alone. Even some clergy have asked me, “At what stage of development does an embryo become a human person?” I have a difficult time understanding this question, because both logic and reality bear out that if left to develop naturally, the human embryo has no other choice but to continue its development as a human person. It’s not as if the laws of nature or the natural law will allow it to become a frog. We cannot separate our humanity from our personhood or our body from our soul.

Others are desperately afraid that if the embryo is recognized as a human person, their political or judicial philosophy will be compromised; maybe they will be out of a job or perhaps their research will be terminated because the “embryo” once declared a human person will have “equal rights” under the Constitution.

Sadly, some people will be forced to confront their rolls in the taking of another human’s life. All involved will need help in seeking reconciliation and healing. Should science be concerned with morality? Absolutely.

Dream babies
Couples struggling with fertility can now have the child of their dreams. While this appears like a really good and altruistic thing to do, it is fraught with complications. Do couples have a right to children? The Church says “no” in Donum Vitae: Instruction on Respect for Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation. Why? Children are a gift; not property. The pain of infertility is a heavy burden for some married couples. Donum Vitae encourages the development of fertility medicine that seeks to treat and cure the causes of infertility, not the circumvention of the natural law or the laws of nature. It encourages couples and scientists to be steward’s of Gods gifts and not masters and manipulators — science and medicine are meant to enhance and heal, not to dominate our cooperation in creation.

I have spoken with women who have a strong maternal desire to have children yet are not married, and are struggling to find the “right” man to marry. As their biological clocks tick, they feel increasingly compelled to consider “other alternatives.” (See page 3.) Women are not alone in their desires; many men also desire children and have not met that “perfect” woman.”

In vitro fertilization makes it possible for women and men to fulfill their maternal and paternal desires; but at what expense? Do children have a right to be conceived within a loving marital relationship between one man and one woman?

In Donum Vitae and Canon Law, the Church definitively says yes— Children do have the right to be conceived within the marital union of husband and wife. To do otherwise makes us masters and manipulators of God’s gifts; not stewards and cooperators in the life of grace.

Not only is In vitro fertilization a manipulation of God’s gifts, but it is also big business. Fertility clinics charge enormous fees. The technology brings both financial costs and opportunity for industry. Indeed, the costs force many couples to take out loans to pay the fees required to have children.

In Britain, for instance, couples seeking in vitro actually can get a government- subsidized financial discount by donating excess embryonic children for scientific research. But what happens when the remaining human embryos are not used? They are placed in a deep freeze. These embryonic children are placed in cryobanks for an indeterminate length of time, for a storage fee, of course. Then what happens to those human embryos if the couple can no longer bring children into this world? One option utilized is adopting embryonic children. Otherwise they are kept in cryogenic freeze until someone becomes concerned or sees an opportunity.

What if the couple wants to keep their children in the cryogenic freeze until a reasonable solution can be found, but they experience financial hardship and cannot afford the storage fees? Do the children become property of the cryogenic companies? Property of the banks and credit unions? Wards of the state? Subjects of state or federally sponsored scientific research?

These unanticipated after effects of in vitro become problematic very quickly and not just for us as Catholics. When Catholics avail themselves of in vitro technologies, what are they to do next?

One Sunday morning I was approached by a married couple who wanted me to meet their beautiful twins. The couple was elated that after many attempts to conceive they
finally had received twin gifts from God. Still, they were troubled. After a few minutes they revealed that their twins were conceived through multiple attempts at in vitro
fertilization; they loved both children and beheld them with pride and joy.

Not until after their children were born did the couple discover that every human embryo is a child according to the Church. They now faced terrible new dilemmas; their first dilemma was that “selective reduction” was utilized so that their twins would survive-- an abortion had occurred. And, without knowing, they incurred excommunication. Their second dilemma was that the wife no longer could carry children to term; yet they had 15 embryos in a cryobank. They didn’t know what to do and asked me for advice. Their strong desire for children led them down an unexpected slippery slope. They felt trapped. They are not alone in their quandary: In 2002, more than 400,000 embryonic children were being stored in the cryobanks in the United States, according to a Rand Corporation study.

The couple I spoke with that Sunday also mentioned that they had suffered severe financial difficulties because of the extreme cost of the multiple in vitro procedures but wouldn’t relent on their need to pay the storage fees as they couldn’t abandon their embryonic children. They were experiencing severe financial difficulties due to the debt they incurred. They expressed concern that if they declared bankruptcy or were unable to pay the storage fees, they wouldn’t be able to live with themselves; they might have to cease paying the storage fees and lose what remaining control they had over the rest of the frozen human embryos.

Physical, economic, spiritual and moral torture is what they were experiencing. If they had known this they probably would not have undergone the “treatment.”

The link is more than casual.

In vitro fertilization, embryonic stem-cell research and human or therapeutic cloning are directly linked.

Already, we have seen fertility clinics offering their “excess” embryos for medical research. Where do you think the embryos used to acquire these embryonic stem-cells are coming from? Have you read recent articles about human or therapeutic cloning?

Often, the embryos used for cloning come from the same sources used in embryonic stem-cell research. The cryobanks are being paid to store the remaining embryonic children created through In vitro fertilization.

Cryobanks have a large reserve of embryos thanks to parents who no longer want the embryos, who have abandoned them, who can no longer afford the storage fees or who are unable to carry them to term.

These cryobanks and fertility clinics make money from both ends of the deal—from couples seeking a solution to their infertility and now from researchers who experiment on embryos later.

Let’s not forget that most couples can’t afford the process of in vitro fertilization, especially repeat procedures. Thus, they do what every “good” American does—they take out a loan or a second mortgage; which means the banks and mortgage companies also are profiting though indirectly. Some states, like California, see the financial opportunity in the development of new biotechnologies and industry, and also subsidize the “Culture of Death” for the sake of the state’s economy. (In California alone, the amount is $3.1 billion of taxpayer funds.) But at what expense? Will your state or our nation be next to subsidize the death of so many?

The reality is that the researchers, fertility clinics and cryobanks now want federal research money, and legal validation of their efforts. They are well funded and well organized; there are plenty of Political Action Committees (PACS) that are currently lining the halls of congress for federal subsidies to foster this sick violation of human life. The bottom line: It’s big business!

Eugenics
“Eugenics,” a June 15, 2006, Arizona Republic story reveals that the age of designer babies is here. Having a child isn’t enough. Now people request children with certain hair or eye colors. Some ask that the parents of the embryos have certain IQs, education and economic backgrounds, as well as health histories.

But what happens if the screening process fails and a child is born with a hereditary disease or illness? It’s not like you can “return” the child and exchange him or her for a new one. Can these companies and doctors be sued for malpractice? The answer is yes. The legal term is “wrongful birth suits.” Are we and our courts talking about a child or defective property?

In the September 2006 issue of More Magazine, Louise Farr asks, “Whose egg is it, anyway?” In this instance, the status of embryos according to state divorce laws is being argued in a Texas court case: Roman v. Roman. The Romans are going through a divorce and Texas laws treat human embryos as community property. However, federal divorce laws protect the embryo as a human person, not community property. The Romans want the courts to determine who has rights to the embryos. Perhaps a better question is are the embryos property to be owned or children to be cherished? Talk about unforeseen issues.

Imagine the potential coverage of this case on Court TV, CNN or Fox News. The question of the embryo as person or property. Would the media be willing to venture into so charged an issue? Would Hollywood dare to wrestle with the question “what does it mean to be human?” Could Roman v. Roman be the next Roe v. Wade decision for our courts to decide.

Another example—this one explored in the Aug. 12, 2006, East Valley Tribune—involves multiple children created via in vitro fertilization using a common male donor, #3066. The dilemma is that this male donor was a genetic carrier of autism, a trait that apparently has been passed on to his progeny. Imagine the disappointment the parents experienced when they realized that their designer child wasn’t as advertised. It is a sick situation to imagine actually; but to have to live through it? The poor child.

Should we and our scientists be concerned about the morality of scientific experimentation and research? Absolutely. The advocates of in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem-cell research and cloning — whether human or therapeutic — are playing with fire.

So how do we get out of this quagmire? The leaders of the Catholic Church and others in our state, nation and world are working feverishly to stem the tide that has reduced human beings to mere biological material and property. While lives are at stake, it seems to me that “re-personalizing” the human embryos and emphasizing the embryos’ civil rights creates the best defense against the growing culture of death.

Righting Wrongs: A Catholic response to the culture of death
So what else does the Catholic Church have to say about these fertility issues? Are there some other alternatives available to couples struggling with infertility? Let’s take a look.

At this point, you may be feeling a little downtrodden, overwhelmed, shocked or even elated as pieces of the in vitro picture come into focus. Your feelings are not uncommon. I shared the same feelings as I wrote, read, researched, prayed and wrote some more.

Actually, it’s sad that the reality of what is happening can be so overwhelming and even depressing. Our culture and our mores are changing so fast—almost as fast as science itself. The temptation is to say that we are hopeless because we feel helpless. But we can’t succumb to that temptation. So what are we to do as Catholics? How are we to respond?

First, we need to recognize that alternatives to in vitro fertilization do exist. Morally acceptable options include adoption, the use of Natural Family Planning techniques to enhance the likelihood of becoming pregnant and the hope brought through NaPro Technology (see The Catholic World Report, April 2005.) The scope of these options is too vast to consider here; but we still haven’t fully dealt with the issue at hand.

So, what did I say to the couple I met that Sunday morning? This is perhaps the most sincere, though imperfect, response I can give to emphasize the real face of faith-based decision making.

You might be surprised that people often raise deep or personal issues in a public place like outside church doors after we’ve celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass— topics they normally would discuss only in the privacy of their own homes or in an office. I wasn’t prepared for the question let alone the answer. Prayer—really hard and really fast—is what came naturally.

A Shepherds Advice
I admitted to the couple that I wasn’t certain what they should do, let alone whether I should be telling them what or how to do it. But, they insisted I give them an answer.

So I took the plunge, I said these are some quick thoughts and initial impressions I believe may be permissible but are still problematic. After a brief consideration here are the points I discussed with them:

The embryonic children are alive but in a sort of “arrested development” or suspended animation—for lack of a better description.

I told them that we, as Catholics, do not support in vitro technologies nor can we facilitate or participate in them. The means in which the children are being stored is truly extraordinary, I told them, but could we really consider pulling the children out of the deep freeze and allow them to die? Is this similar to removing someone from life support?

Another possible though very, very problematic solution would be if you chose to allow others to adopt the embryos, I said, they may very well grow and live to be a healthy man or woman. But, by doing so you would, at the least, be implicitly endorsing or supporting in vitro which we cannot do as Catholics; we would be formally cooperating in another intrinsically evil action and thus compounding the gravity of our sins.

If you remove the embryos from the “deep freeze” they will die naturally; but, they are not currently dying, they are not ill, their organs are not shutting down. So there is a real difference, in my opinion, between someone who is dying and is on life-support verses the embryos in a cryogenic freeze. Each seem morally licit but very, very problematic to me.

Then the couple asked the question I most feared: “What would you do?”

I told them I’d have to think about it and asked them if they could give me some time to do a little research. Fortunately they said that would be great. So I did what every priest should do...I met with a confrere. He’d never had a question like that in his many years of priesthood and had no idea how to answer the couple. So I called another senior priest I respected. He too had never faced such a question and had no answer. So I attempted to find a moral theologian in the diocese. At the time we did not have a single priest with an advanced degree in moral theology. Thank God we do today.

“Now what?” I asked myself. I called the seminary and explained the situation to my moral theology instructor. I was shocked to learn that he never had encountered the question. He promised to do some research and get back to me. I was relieved—at least the burden of providing an answer was now off of my shoulders. Later that week, he called back and said he’d spoken with two moral theologians considered to be soundly in line with the Catholic Church on issues of morality. I was sure that these two moral theologians would have the answer. My former instructor said that they both came up with what they believed were morally licit but problematic solutions though they differed. One said, “It would be morally licit to allow the adoption but problematic because of the connection and implied support to the in vitro process.” The other said he believed, “It would be morally licit to allow the embryo to die naturally in the Petri dish but problematic because the embryo was really in a state of arrested development and not dying.” According to my instructor, they both said, “This is so new that Rome is just beginning to study the issue.”

Well, that helped me a lot...right! Actually it did. At least I was able to respond, knowing that I’d done my very best to give the couple learned and correct information for consideration. I spoke with the couple a week later.

After I shared the information, they asked, “Now what should we do?” They repeated their request, “What would you do?”

I told them the decision was really theirs to make. You are the parents of the children and thus the decision truly rests with you. They grimaced. Begging me for an answer they asked again, “What would you do?” Such is the powerful relationship we have as priestly shepherds. They truly valued my response.

I did what I said I’d never do: I answered them. “Never in my life could I imagine a situation that truly fit the definition of choosing the lesser of two evils until these last couple of weeks. I think I’d choose to allow the embryos to be adopted for the sake of the children. But the decision is still yours. Things are not sinful because they have bad consequences they have bad consequences because they are sinful. It’s not your fault you had never heard the Church’s teachings about human embryos and in vitro fertilization; it’s our fault as priests that we haven’t been more vocal or taught about it from the pulpit. Unfortunately, as parents, you now
face a decision that is amazingly difficult.”

They said, “You’re right, but we could’ve asked before we went ahead. We wanted children so badly that we just couldn’t envision anything else...let alone these consequences.”

Subsequent to the original publishing of this article, there has been a third approach to the dilemma regarding the embryonic children created through IVF: do nothing at all. The logic and reasoning is actually quite simple though still every bit heart-wrenching: by not participating in embryonic adoption there is no implicit cooperation that occurs through adoption. Doing no more harm avoids the scandal resulting from the necessary formal and material cooperation required for the birth of cryogenically frozen children.

So what happens if the embryonic children are not adopted and brought to term? The
embryonic children will basically die from cryogenic freezer burn. How long will this take? Who knows exactly.

I would also like to add that when I provided the options to the couple, I was unaware of the “selective reduction” that took place during IVF; had I known I would not have recommended the adoption of the embryos.

Interestingly, Rome has remained silent on the issue of adopting the embryonic children; this silence is reflected in Dignitas Personae. My guess is that the formal and material cooperation required to bring a cryogenically frozen human embryo to term prevents Rome, and us, from endorsing this practice if the intent is to bring the embryo to term.

If however, parents who have participated in IVF or someone else chooses to adopt the embryonic children and leave them in their current cryogenic state without further action then I believe that would be permissible- especially if the embryonic children have been abandoned by their parents for whatever reason. This third option is still heart-wrenching given the certain death of the embryonic child without the opportunity for be born. It would be needlessly reckless to say that the cryogenically frozen embryo is less alive due to their cryogenic state; thus, I find it more appropriate to call the frozen embryo’s state of life as “arrested development.” The method of their creation is truly a quagmire; they are still alive even though cryogenically frozen; if they weren’t they would not be able to die over time.

In the end, the decision to undertake IVF rests with parents for now; whether their actions are in accord with the moral teachings of the Church and the natural law is another issue.

In this case, the decision ultimately did rest with them. To this day I do not know what they decided. Thank God for the pontificate of Pope John Paul II who firmly and decisively declared to the world and to the Church that the Roman Catholic Church has a vested interest in protecting the lives of every human from the moment of conception to their natural death. The Church has a vested interest in protecting the unborn, the young, the elderly and the infirm for two primary reasons:

One: The Catholic Church believes that every embryo is a human being, an individual human person, at the moment of creation. At the moment of conception a soul is infused by God into that corporeal mass of tissue; we are body-soul composites that are unique and with an individual destiny. We are made in God’s image and likeness not just our parents!

Two: Children are a gift of God, received and experienced through the marital embrace, intended to be united with our loving God from the moment of conception for all eternity. Every human person has an infinite value not because of the value you or I place on each other but because of the value God has for all humans. Because they are a gift we
have no absolute right to them.

“By his incarnation the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every human being” “This saving event reveals to humanity not only the boundless love of God who ‘so loved the world that he gave his only Son,’ (Jn 3:16) but also the incomparable value of every human person.” (EV#2)

In other words, the Church is involved in defending “the incomparable value of every human person” because God was, is, and always will be involved in our lives as Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Jesus was, is, and always will be the ultimate defender of life and those who have been abandoned by society or have no voice.

Jesus is the staunch defender of the faceless, nameless and voiceless people. John Paul II is not alone in defending the Culture of Life from the secular, faceless and ignoble vision proclaimed by the Culture of Death. The Gospel of Life is “the fruit of the cooperation of the episcopate of every country of the world...and...is therefore meant to be a precise and vigorous reaffirmation of the value of human life and its inviolability, and at the same time a pressing appeal addressed to each and every person, in the name of God: respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness.” (EV#5)

Pope John Paul II reminds us: “The Gospel of Life is at the heart of Jesus’ message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as ‘good news’ to the people of every age and culture.” (EV#1) The Gospel of Life is the good news calling man “to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimension of his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God.” (EV#2)

© 2010 Fr. Peter Rossa,
Scottsdale, AZ May not be reprinted
without permission
Second Edition, June 17, 2010