Madrid Rally for Marriage, Family, and Life Gets HUGE Crowd

Spain's socialist government which has legally recognized same-sex marriage and has removed restrictions on abortion is not without its detractors. Almost 2 million people gathered yesterday to send a message of love for the family.

Pope Benedict spoke to the crowd by video link about how a family built on "an indissoluble union between a man and a woman, is the privileged place in which human life is welcomed and protected."

Bishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Bilbao spoke in person shortly after and stressed that the essence of marriage does not change with political conditions or with passing generations.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55661

UN University Desires to Revisit UN Negotiations on Cloning

From 2002 - 2005, the UN held some hotly contested debates on cloning and closed the sessions with a non-binding statement that prohibited any human cloning - for reproductive or therapeutic research. Now, the UN's university in Tokyo has submitted a report that warns of the need for a legally binding ban of reproductive cloning only - due to the possibility of raising cloned human beings in countries where the research is not prohibited.
The UNU wants to reach a compromise that will allow for therapeutic cloning where human embryos are created, used, and then destroyed at some point and the report speaks of respecting "ethical diversity".
In Missouri last year, the pretense of a ban on cloning was raised to essentially ban reproductive cloning, but protect therapeutic cloning for research. The effort narrowly passed and the fear that reproductive cloning was a greater immediate threat may have played a part.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55632

Three Die as Christian Churches & Other Buildings are Burned in India this Christmas

Hindu extremists began by pulling down Christmas decorations off of houses and church buildings and eventually "carried out at least 20 assaults on Christian institutions in Orissa. The wave of violence led to the destruction of 18 churches and village chapels, 4 convents, 8 hostels run by Church groups, and 15 shops belonging to Christian vendors. " The article states that three died, but does not go into further detail on the loss of life. http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55578

Jamie Lynn, sister of Britney Spears, in undesirable situation chooses life

Although she regrets having premarital sex, and encourages others to wait, she has said she will take responsibility for her actions. Jamie Lynn, who has become pregnant at 16, is going to not have her child killed, but is going to try to do the best she can to provide care for the child along with the help of others. We can be thankful to God she has decided to not make a difficult situation worse. We can applaud her for this and pray for her, the child, and the others around her. To read more about this situation where good came from difficulty click below.

Britney Spears' 16-Year-Old Sister Jamie Lynn Decides Against Abortionwww.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=26247

Filipino Churches Patrolled by Muslim Citizens - Enabling Masses to be Celebrated

On the island of Mindanao, local Muslim citizens have answered the call of a village chief, Sukarno Utto. The charge they are carrying out is to protect Christians during Advent by walking in patrol groups every night, for Filipino tradition calls for daily Masses to begin at 4 am.

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11093&geo=5&size=A

Indonesian Churches Influenced into Closing by Islamic Pressure

The Catholic bishops of Indonesia spoke out yesterday and have issued a new report on a Muslim extremist plan to close churches. Indonesia has lost 108 churches in the last 3 years to external coercive influence. The country is 3% Catholic and 85% Muslim with the world's largest Muslim population of 220 million.

Indonesia's constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the bishops would like to remind the government of their obligation to defend against extremist activity.

Prison Litigation Reform Act May Require Reform

The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) was passed to stop trivial lawsuits from prisoners and has largely been effective. However, in some cases religious practice has been trampled without redress and prison rapes have been difficult or impossible to report and/or receive a trial. There are two bills that currently seek to reform PRLA.

Caution: this article mentions graphic details of prison crimes such as rape.

4 Key Elements in a World "fit for children": Family Rights, Education, Eradication of Poverty, Better Health Care

Cardinal Migliore, one of the Holy See's permanent observers to the UN, discussed the Vatican's hopes for children at a follow-up discussion to the 2002 special session on children. He affirmed the fundamental principle of rights of children born and unborn, stressed the areas that require more effort in fighting AIDs, and described sanitation as one of the basic human needs that is most often overlooked or brushed aside.


http://www.zenit.org/article-21313?l=english

USCCB Official Praises Legislators Casey and Davis for Introducing Bills to Assist Pregnant Women

DiedreMcQuade, Director of Planning and Information in the USCCB Pro-Life Office, refers to the senate measure as a "common- ground initiative" to lower the number of abortions in the U.S. through resources and information. McQuade mentions several categories of women that this bill is geared to assist: women who are financially weak, women suffering domestic violence, women studying in college, and those whose insurance fails to provide for prenatal care.

Note: The article discusses codifying SCHIP to try and provide assistance to the child in the womb. This may be necessary to procure again. However, in earlier entries on SCHIP, the articles reviewed indicated that SCHIP already provided this aid. New additions to SCHIP cover contraception, abortion, and sterilization. KSJ will post more on this topic as time permits.
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2007/07-206.shtml

New stem cell technique determined without killing humans

"The new technique, developed by US and Japanese researchers, reprograms skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells."

Read more from the article below:

Ethical stem cell technique confirmedwww.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=26139

UN Organization Seeks to Introduce New Sexual Orientation "Rights" in Part by Restricting Language

CWNews relates,
"The UNESCO guidelines, set forth for UN documents on the topics of HIV and AIDS, is designed to “provide guidance towards using uniform, correct, gender-sensitive, non-discriminatory and culturally-appropriate language that promotes universal human rights,” and to rid UN discourse of “problematic terminology.” According to UNESCO, terms such as “risky sex,” “promiscuous,” and “prostitute” are discriminatory and should be replaced with “unprotected sex,” “having multiple partners,” and “commercial sex worker."

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had a budget of 544 million dollars over the period of 2002-2003. The U.S. withdrew in 1984, but rejoined in 2003 and is the 10th largest bilateral donor.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55205

Pope calls Catholics and Baptists to unity for the sake of Christ

Hopefully Catholics and Baptists, as mentioned in the article linked below, can work towards unity among all Christians, and we can better serve Christ. For through a united witness to Christ we can better work towards bringing about justice in the world and the good news of salvation.

Here is the article of the Pope calling to unity Catholics and Baptists for the sake of Christ.

Pope calls Catholics and Baptists to Common Witness www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=26130

Pope Benedict to NGO's: Promote Catholic Social Doctrine to Further Human Rights

A few days after the U.N. voted to pay 11 million dollars to the radically pro-abortion CEDAW committee, Pope Benedict spoke to non-governmental organizations (NGO's) and instructed them that the international discussions are often ruled by relativistic thinking. This faulty logic produces, "certain self-centered lifestyles; a lack of concern for the economic and social needs of the poorer nations; contempt for humanitarian law, and a selective defense of human rights."

The answer, he said, is the promote, "the great truths about man's innate dignity and the rights which are derived from that dignity" and these are contained in Catholic social teaching.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55092

Abortionist under investigation in Kansas

Abortionist George Tiller will in fact be investigated by the grand jury in Kansas. He now faces 19 charges for allegedly executing illegal late term abortions.

Grand Jury in Kansas Can Proceed against Abortionistwww.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=26067

Salt Lake City Bishop Speaks Out on Immigration

Bishop Wester, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, chastizes the politics of scapegoating legal and illegal immigrants in the article below.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_7611163

Inappropriate Childrens Book backed by Planned Parenthood

This is a concern. Just thought I would pass this article along. God bless.

'Perfectly Normal?' Planned Parenthood assaults childrenwww.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=26047

UN Passes Large Sum of Money to Pro-Abortion Women's Rights Committee

The U.S. was the only country to vote against this measure. The "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women" or CEDAW committee receiving the funding has assisted in legalizing abortion in sixty countries through a process that forces sovereign governments to meet the approval of radical non-governmental organizations such as International Women's Rights Watch.
Read the story here:
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55065