Kenrick Social Justice

Shahbaz Bhatti - Catholic Voice in Pakistan Politics - Killed

2011-03-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

Haunting Video of Shahbaz Bhatti interview before he was murdered.

Unmarried Pregnant Women Get Help from S. Korean Bishops

2011-02-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

From Catholic Culture News:

Unmarried pregnant women in South Korea-- a nation with one of the highest abortion rates in the world-- will be able to receive free maternity care in Catholic hospitals under a new initiative launched by the bishops’ pro-life activities committee. To encourage these women not to abort their children, parishes and dioceses will also provide shelter and financial assistance.

“The Catholic Church teaches that human life begins from fertilization,” said Bishop Gabriel Chang Bong-hun of Cheongju. “Abortions and destruction of human embryos are grave crimes that destroy life.”

Story at CatholicCulture.org

U.S. Judge Rules Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research Policy

2010-08-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Monday that the current policy under President Obama allowing the use of federal funds in research involving the destruction of embryos is contrary to the Dickey-Wicker Amendment. The judge issued an injunction against further federal funding for such research.

Get the rest from National Review

This is a Spiritual Fight against the evil one

2010-05-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

“Our human law should nearer the natural law... should nearer God’s law. Our Lady is the 5 Star General of the Church Militant...,” was what Fr. Euteneuer said in a statement regarding secular models when fighting the issue of abortion and Our Lady’s role in the fight. Fr. Thomas Euteneuer is president of Human Life International, the largest pro-life, pro-family organization in the world, and recently sat down for an interview with Inside the Vatican Magazine, to speak about the struggle against abortion.

In his reference to a statement that Archbishop Burke said at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in May 2009, father reminds all catholics as well as men and women of good will, that we must never tire of fighting to restore laws to what God had in mind for all mankind from the beginning - justice, goodness, and truth. Father, an exorcist, believes that the fight against the destruction of life is a battle that can only be won with the help of Our Lady and by the Spirit because it is a battle so engrained in society that only by transforming the soul of each human person (who contains the seed of natural law as being created in the image and likeness of God) will laws be changed to combat the ‘combination of lies and language’ of the evil one which have ‘distorted the fundamental concepts of right and wrong’ leading to systematic atheism and mass murder.

Towards the conclusion of the interview father emphasized to all that “we are all missionaries of life in our society, and if we renounce our responsibility to do that, we will have to stand before the judgement seat of God one day, and account for that.”

click here to READ THE ARTICLE.....

Italian Baby Lives For Almost 2 Days After Abortion

2010-04-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

A priest at Cosenza hospital found a baby lying in a sheet with it's umbilical cord still attached 20 hours after an abortion procedure. The child was still breathing and so was brought to the neonatal intensive care unit where it died almost two days after the botched abortion. Charges may be pending for infanticide indicating that the law may require doctors to try and save a child that survives an abortion meant to kill it only an instant before birth.

Article from the Telegraph

The Culture of Death and Its Leaders are Anathema!

2010-04-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

Kevorkian is back. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the infamous physician who assisted more than 130 people to their deaths, was released from prison after 9 years behind bars followed by 2 years of parole which has been completed. He currently lives in Michigan. Thanks be to God he cannot practice medicine in any state thus far and those with some notion of morality and a basic understanding of the ethics involved in the medical field would be surprised as to the amount of support he has gained - not only here in the US but worldwide - for his atrocious behavior and the heinous practices he had committed and continues to advocate in the medical field.

In a recent interview on CNN, Kevorkian stated: “I didn’t do it to end the life but to end the suffering the patient was going through. What’s a doctor to do, turn his back?” Of course, Kevorkian insinuates that doctors who would not perform assisted patient suicides lacks courage in his comment that “they are only concerned with money and the bottom line.” His conviction is that someone like him and those who assisted him with the physician assisted suicides are the courageous ones. “Doctors play God all the time,” he continued in the interview questioning. “Anytime you interfere with any natural process you’re playing God. God determines what happens naturally. Patients want to live as long as possible and not suffer so they call a doctor to help them end the suffering.”

In their February 2010 letter regarding the recent healthcare legislation enacted by the Obama administration, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo (Committee on Pro-Life Activities), Bishop William Murphy (Committee on Justice and Human Development), and Bishop John Wester (Committee on Migration) all strongly urged congressional leaders of both the democratic and republican camps to commit themselves to enact genuine healthcare reform that protects life, dignity, conscience, and healthcare for all. The brief but decisive letter went on to state: “The Catholic bishops....as pastors and teachers, [we] believe that genuine healthcare reform must life and dignity from conception to natural death, not threaten them, especially for the voiceless and vulnerable.” Although the letter was not specifically in regards to the death practices of physicians like Kevorkian, the issue is not moot because of conscience clauses in medical facility policies and federal funding to hospitals, such as those in Oregon, whereby such practices are condoned.

“Is there a God?,” this question being put to Kevorkian towards the end of the interview. His response, “I don’t know. I’m a scientist. It’s my natural right to do whatever I want with my body as long as it doesn’t affect anybody else or any others property, and as long as I give myself permission to do it. That’s in the Constitution, in the ninth amendment, whi

ch is ignored.”

Different ways of ending peoples’ lives: some way to allow the person to hit the switch and start the intravenous solution that I would mix and put in the pump [as was in the first case of assisted suicide with a quad patient of Kevorkian’s], then there came gas because since he was not allowed by authorities to do the mixture anymore, followed by the invention of a device he would put over the patients heads with a gas. In his final case he actually injected the patient so that he could be charged so as to go to court with the intent of having the case go before the Supreme Court so as to try and not only get the publicity and worldwide support for life-ending practices, but also to hasten decision that would ultimately lead to them being placed on the law books.

“The law has forced me to do this in the most undignified way,” he said as he elaborated that no family are present, no other medical caregivers are able to help because they would be at risk of legal charges. “They don’t care about the patient but the letter of the law,” he stated - they, I would surmise to say, meaning anyone who does not support his heinous practices. “I would do it again if I knew for certain that I wouldn’t go to jail.”

Although Kevorkian cannot continue with physician assisted deaths, he continues to give advice on how to end one’s life and he hopes that the law will stand out of the picture and that religion would stop pushing against him on the issue so that he can continue his death practicing methods.

Kevorkian is profiled in the HBO movie You Don’t Know Jack, which aired 24 April 2010, and in light of the movie, as well as the Death with Dignity Act passed in Oregon legislature and the Washington Death with Dignity Act that went into effect just a year ago, terminally ill patients (and, in some cases, their family members) are deciding more and more in favor of receiving some sort of death assistance; by the letter of the law, by prescriptions, and by some form of participation in favor of death by their physician(s). Oregon released a report in the spring of 2009, depicting the data by bar graph of those requesting some form of assisted suicide since the passing of the Death with Dignity policy which can be found via the link provided below.

Click here - Death with Dignity Act data: 2009

All Ontario Grade Schools (Catholics too) to Get Sex-Ed

2010-04-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

A new sex-ed initiative in Ontario will mandate for all grade schools. Sixth grade teachers must inform their students about masturbation and seventh graders will be instructed on the subjects of oral and anal sex. First graders will begin learning how to identify by name the different sexual organs. The government says parents are free to remove their children from the classroom if they choose.

More at Yahoo News

The Ten Commandments: Our Way to Freedom and Life

2010-04-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

In a homily delivered at a Mass the morning of 16 April, for the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the Holy Father said that in modern times we have seen a theoretical premise according to which human being would be, “free, autonomous, and nothing else.” Not only does this mean a freedom from every responsibility that we have as members of one common human race - models of morality, justice, compassion, charity - but also freedom from the duty of obedience to God. The Holy Father remarked that this, “Is a lie... because human being does not exist on its own, nor does it exist for itself.”

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church, in part I titled, “God’s Liberating Action In the History of Israel,” explains that God’s gratuitous presence is seen “as the origin of what exists, as the presence that guarantees to men and to women organized in a society the basic conditions of life, placing at their disposal the goods that are necessary... On the other hand, he appears as the measure of what should be, as the presence that challenges human action - both at the personal and at the social levels - regarding the use of those very goods in relation to other people.” We should acknowledge all that we receive from God as coming from Him and, once acknowledged, we are called to be thankful for his gratuitousness (of which he has no obligation to us in any way) and manage the gifts received in a way praiseworthy of God and of neighbor.

Social Justice is a concept based on a socially just world. Its basis lies in concepts of human rights and equality, economic and political equality, and a common respect deserving of every human being, each receiving his equal due (that is, the Golden Rule). But, social justice is more than just equal due and concepts of equality. It is a participation in God and His divine attributes of Goodness, Truth, Oneness. Furthermore, when speaking about equality in general, especially in the political realm with a focus on economics, paramount emphasis must be and remain on the human person and the dignity therein. As a dear friend of mine pointed out, ‘laws and policies of

the state must uphold and defend dignity’ because the human person is a paragon of equality by means of participation in God. We must, therefore, take care in promoting certain political ideologies that assert a certain special type of equality among all members of society, particularly in areas of economics. This is because when promoting these sorts of ideologies there begins to take root, more times than not, a type of governance and society in which conflicts arise between members that, ultimately, lead to a distortion or abolition not only in a belief in God and universal truths including (and not limited to) respect for human life/dignity, but also members of society identifying the self via materialistic and individualistic notions. In the end and above all such notions the challenge is not that certain inequalities exist, but rather that our participation in the divine attributes help us to see ourselves reflected in God’s own image whereby we adhere more fully to His eternal ordinances that promote faith in God, hope for eternal life, and charity for oneself and towards each other.

We exist for God and nothing more. Pope Benedict XVI, in his homiletic remarks regarding human existence, promotes thoughts of God’s gratuitous presence in the Old Testament as manifested in the freeing of the Israelites from their captivity to Pharaoh in Egypt. “The gratuitousness of this historically efficacious divine action,” section 22 of The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church goes on to tell us, “is constantly accompanied by the commitment to the covenant proposed by God and accepted by Israel,” the covenant being the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Ex.19-20). It is the Ten Commandments that imply our involvement in and consequences of the Natural Law placed in every human heart by God to respond to His loving initiative by cooperating with his divine plan from the beginning of time: to love, worship, and subject ourselves to Him.

In his homily during the Mass for the Pontifical Biblical Commission the Holy Father also stressed that for Christians, true obedience to God depends on our truly knowing Him, and he warned against the danger of using “obedience to God” as a pretext for following our own human desires.

It is by our turning [back] to the Ten Commandments as the means for truly living in freedom from sin that we truly understand ourselves with the natural law written in our souls, the essential duties we are charged with as the highest of God’s created things, and the fundamental rights of all human persons, most especially the poorest of the poor and the unborn. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church concludes Part I sec. 22 by stating: “In the Gospel, Jesus reminds the rich young man that the Ten Commandments (cf. Mt. 19:18) ‘constitute the indispensable rules of all social life.’ ” In order to overcome the rebellious and disobedient mentality towards God and all things religious in the world today, we must seek God’s love once again as the Israelites of old went to great strides to seek resulting in their initial exodus out of Egypt, as well as God answering their cries for help time and time again whenever they orphaned themselves during their sojourn in the dessert on the way to the Promised Land. It is only through God’s love that we will begin to mend the rupture of unity among ourselves and other creatures we have been given dominion over (cf. Gen 1:26-31). The Ten Commandments will lead us back to God who is our freedom, knowledge, and truth; our means to overcome “all the evils that afflict social relations between people, of all the situations in economic and political life that attach the dignity of the person, [and those] that assail justice and solidarity” (The Compendium of the Social Doctrine, P.I, sec. 27).

The Holy Father concluded his homily during Mass by asking for prayers for true and eternal life, love, and truth.

Thai Archbishop Suspects Hidden Agenda Behind Protests

2010-04-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok has asked for a peaceful resolution in settling the rift between the protesters and the current government that is still legimately running the country. He also alluded to a hidden agenda behind the protesters who have attacked military sites with grenades. He fears the country may be pulled into a civil war.

Full Story at Catholic Culture News

Saudi Youth Risk Prison to Play Music

2010-02-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

The story below details the underground music scene in Saudi Arabia.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585779,00.html

Scientists Interested In Cloning Neanderthals

2010-02-10T17:37:00.000-08:00

As a complete DNA sequence for a neanderthal genome is close to being realized, there are some scientists thinking about cloning a few to better understand them.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/02/10/scientists-clone-neanderthals/?test=latestnews

Reports of Pressure On Sen. Nelson

2009-12-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

Senator Bill Nelson (D, Nebraska) has been a stalwart opponent of abortion funding in any health care reform bill from the senate. Earlier this month an amendment put forward by him and Senator Hatch of Utah was voted down that would have prevented federal funding of abortion in the bill. Although he has refused to vote for any bill that does not have similar protection against federal funding like that of the House's Stupak Amendment, there are reports that he is being pressured by the president with a closing of Offut Air Force Base if he does not comply. Closing of this base would result in a substantial financial blow to Nebraska.

More at The Catholic Key Blog

Embryonic Stem Cell Researchers May Attempt Human Trial

2009-11-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

American Researchers have applied for a license to attempt a trial on human patients with macular degeneration (a cause of vision loss). They hope to begin transplanting "spare" embryonic stem cells, that have been developed to replace tissue in the eye, into their test patients early next year.

Source Article from The Independent

New Book Proposes Changes to United Nations

2009-10-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

"At a United Nations (UN) press conference Wednesday a group of conservative policy experts put forth an agenda for UN reform including alternatives to major UN programs on social issues and methods for making the UN more accountable to member states. The event featured authors of the new book ConUNdrum: The Limits of the United Nations and the Search for Alternatives, published by the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation." - C-FAM News

More at C-FAM

Pakistani Catholics Pray for Conversion of Terrorists

2009-09-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

Some 1,000,000 Pakistani Catholics, part of a community that has been targeted by anti-Christian attacks, gathered at a Marian shrine over the weekend to pray for their persecutors.

Article from Catholic Culture News

President May Get Special Controls Over Internet in Emergencies

2009-08-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

In the case of an emergency involving an "immediate threat to strategic national interests", a new bill being composed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller may give the president "in coordination with relevant industry sectors" the authority to take temporary control over various private networks. There is also mention of periodic mapping of private networks deemed of high-level importance. Critics say the current draft (S.773) of this bill is too vague and does not have any clear limitations or boundaries for the state controls.

Excerpt of Bill S.773
Article at CNET

Bill in progress - may be updated from "Excerpt" Link

Some in UN Want To Teach 5 Yr Olds About Masturbation

2009-08-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

link to article at Foxnews

UN Meeting on Health Leaves Out the Abortion Language

2009-07-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

During a UN Meeting on health in Geneva, delegations from the United States, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Estonia attempted to insert recognition for "reproductive health 'rights', 'sexual and reproductive health services' and 'universal access to family planning'." However, Ireland, Poland, and Malta led a dialogue against these terms intended to promote and protect abortion as a reproductive right.

The ambassador from Malta issued a statement that is mentioned in the C-Fam article below in which he defends the right of unborn children to live from conception, and that life is denied in the practice of abortion.

UN Document

C-Fam article

US Delegation to UN Pushes for Universal Access to Abortion

2009-07-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

Obama's UN team is calling for abortion access under the terms, "sexual and reproductive health services".

Get the rest of the story at Catholic Culture News

Obama Makes June "LGBT Pride Month"

2009-06-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

President Obama has declared that June is now the national month for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender pride.

Story at Catholic News Agency

East Timor Hounded by UN Group to Legalize Abortion

2009-05-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

A UN group connected with CEDAW (Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) is pressuring the small Asian country of East Timor to legalize abortion under the pretext of gender equality.

Story at C-Fam
http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1172/pub_detail.asp

Doctor Publishes Paper On World Health Org's Faulty Maternal Mortality Numbers

2009-05-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Donna Harrison, M.D. published a paper on the World Health Organization altering its data on maternal mortality rates and the United Nations using this data to push wider access to abortions in many countries.

Story from C-Fam

Sweden Okays Abortion Based on Gender of Child

2009-05-12T08:04:00.001-07:00

It is legal in Sweden today to have an abortion for the reason that the sex of the child is not what is desired.
Story

Guest on Oprah's Show Proclaims that Parkinson's Cure is Near

2009-05-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Dr. Oz, a scientist advocating the use of adult stem cells in the cure of Parkinson's Disease, tells Michael J. Fox that the adult stem cell techniques developed in the last year may help yield a cure in the next few years.

Link to "DailyMotion" video

FDA Says Yes To Morning After Pill for 17 year-olds

2009-04-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

"Heeding a March 23 federal court order, the US Food and Drug Administration has permitted the manufacturer of the Plan B ‘morning-after’ pill to make the abortifacient and contraceptive available to 17-year-olds without a prescription."

Story from Catholic Culture News

This action will make it difficult in many cases to catch sex offenders and/or cover up statutory rape.

UN Committee Continues to Push Countries with Restrictive Abortion Policies

2009-02-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

The UN group that oversees the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Descrimation Against Women (CEDAW) continues to pressure countries with significant legal restrictions on abortion. In recent meetings, the group recently probed represantives from Dominica, Armenia, Haiti, Cameroon, Libya, Rwanda, Germany, and Guatemala. The CEDAW document does not list restrictive abortion laws as a form of discrimination against women.

The United States has not formally ratified CEDAW. There is pressure to do so.

CEDAW Document

Story from Catholic Culture News

C-Fam Petitions UN to Recognize Rights of Unborn

2009-02-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

C-Fam is racing to gather 1,000,000 signatures to present the UN with support for the inclusion of the unborn in their historic "Univeral Declaration of Human Rights" - now 60 years old.
The stark absence of the consideration of unborn human life, has encouraged abortion groups such as Mary Stopes Interational to push their own petitions calling for “Global Safe Abortion” and the recognition of a right to an abortion as a universal human right.

C-Fam currently has 400,000 signatures.

They want a million by the end of August 2009.

C-Fam petition

Article on C-Fam petition

Planned Parenthood Downsizing

2009-01-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

Apparently, the economic situation has Planned Parenthood cutting staff by 20%. More in this short article - Crain's New York Business .

Obama Picks Abortion Advocate for Director of Domestic Policy Counsel

2008-11-29T22:08:00.000-08:00

Article from CNA

President Bush may have New Pro-Life Ruling in Works

2008-11-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

Here's the story

Americans United for Life has Petition Against FOCA

2008-11-15T18:10:00.001-08:00

Americans United for Life is a large Pro-Life organization that has been gathering signatures for a petition against the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). According to the AUL website:

FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.
FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.
FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions

Right now the Petition is nearing 150,000 signatures.

In addition to the above listed abortion related issues, FOCA would set a new precedent for federal usurpation of legislative ability from individual states.

Sign the PETITION here
Americans United for Life (AUL) website

Surgeon Charged with Killing Patient for Organs

2008-11-08T07:00:00.001-08:00

Ruben Navarro, a 25 year old terminally ill patient and potential organ donor who had been unconscious, stopped breathing on his own on January 29, 2006. He was put on a respirator, but February 3, Dr. Roozrokh's staff removed the respirator - claiming that this was hospital policy after a patient receives 5 days of life support without signs of recovery. When Ruben continued to live, Dr. Roozrokh is charged with attempting to induce "cardiac death". After reportedly telling his nurses, "Let's just give him some more candy," Dr. Roozrokh had high doses of morphine and Ativan administered to Ruben. Ruben's heart continued to beat, yet his organs were deemed unusable and he died several hours later.

Full story from LifeSite News

Colorado to Vote on Personhood Amendment

2008-10-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

A 21 year old law student in Colorado, Kristi Burton, has helped orchestrate a ballot initiative in Colorado to define personhood as starting at conception. If passed, this bill could help legally justify the rights of the unborn and present a challenge to Roe v. Wade.

story from NPR

Emotional Slideshow Concerning Born Alive Victims of Abortion

2008-10-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

At Da Mihi Animas Blog

This video describes some accounts of infants who do not die in abortion and relates some of the reactions of abortion clinic staff. Presidential candidate Barack Obama opposed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act in 2002.

Pro-Life Lawsuit Won in Detroit

2008-10-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Dr. Monica Miller, a Pro-Life activist, filed a lawsuit against the Detroit Police Department for disruption of their counter-protest to Pro-Choice protests of a Pro-Life pregnancy center in the Detroit area. According to Catholic Online, the police told her "to march in a circle in the same area as pro-abortion demonstrators and that her pro-life poster violated Detroit’s sign ordinance." The Thomas More Law Center handled the legal proceedings for Dr. Miller, and in addition to the city having to pay the legal fees for the Thomas More Law Center, the Detroit police admitted that citizens have a right to protest peacefully on sidewalks.

Get the full story at Catholic Online

www.thomasmore.org

Campaign of Prayer for Conversion of Abortionists

2008-10-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

Seeing the campaign against abortion as primarily a spiritual battle, Human Life International has launched an initiative to convert abortionists away from their cooperation with evil. The plan involves exhorting all faithful Christians to say the St. Michael the Archangel prayer daily and after every Mass.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into Hell, Satan and all the other evil spirits, who wander throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Human Life International http://www.hli.org/st_michael_prayer.html/

story found at http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13931

prayer found at fisheaters (it can be found at a miriad of other places online as well)

Anti-Christian violence continues in India

2008-09-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

Update: New Article

Please pray for the end to violence in India.

Catholic Culture headline

Debate On Whether Brain Death is Suitable for Organ Donation Continues

2008-09-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

The philosophical debate on what determines the point at at which a person is declared dead is ongoing, and impacts the matter of organ donation significantly. As Catholic Culture reports: "If 'brain death' is not to be considered real death, virtually all transplants of vital organs would be morally illicit, since these organs are invariably taken from 'brain dead' donors. (When death is judged by traditional standards, the organs have already deteriorated enough to be unsuitable for transplantation.) The Church has clearly and repeatedly endorsed organ donation-- several reporters noted that Pope Benedict himself carries an organ-donor card-- and transplants are done at countless Catholic hospitals. So the stakes in this debate are very high."

The recent challenge to the use of the brain death definition as the acceptable parameter for collecting organs from a patient has been raised by Lucetta Scaraffia in the magazine, L'Osservatore Romano.
Catholic Culture Article 1

Catholic Culture Article 2

UN Secretary General Invites Cardinal Maradiaga to Discuss Global Poverty

2008-09-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

The UN has set goals to reduce poverty throughout the world to certain percentages by 2015. However, the projections for many countries are far below the planned pace to assist those suffering from destitution. Cardinal Maradiaga, the president of Caritatis Internationalis, submitted that these goals to reduce poverty are important, but revealed that faith-based organizations like Caritatis are not supported in their efforts to assist those in want.

Zenit Source Article

Caritatis in India , in Georgia, Caritatis Sounds off on Aid to Africa

Stem Cells from Wisdom Teeth Now Possible

2008-08-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

This should be another good and ethical alternative to embryonic stem cells.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080822090616.cje0kojr&show_article=1

New Pres. Bush Proprosal May Stop Catholic Employers from Paying for Employees' Contraception

2008-08-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

California passed a law in 2000 to require health insurance plans to cover oral contraceptives for women, as many were already covering viagra for male employees and denying payment for the contraceptives. This legislation forced Catholic Charities and all Catholic hospitals in the state to cover these expenses. Language in the new conscience clause proposed by the Bush administration may curtail this misguided step towards equality.

More from San Fransisco Chronicle

Dept of Health and Human Services Considers Conscience Clause on Abortion

2008-08-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Catholic Exchange reports,
"Abortion advocates are predictably outraged by this development, calling it a “restriction of reproductive rights,” an “act of complicity with the religious right,” among other things. A few of the more astute among them, however, have noticed the deeper threat to their cause, for the new regulations call hormonal contraceptives “abortifacients” — which they are — and talk about pregnancy beginning at conception — which it does. Both positions are anathema to Planned Parenthood and its minions."

get the rest at http://www.catholicexchange.com/2008/08/14/113472/

Obama Has Received Endorsement from Planned Parenthood with 100% Pro-Abortion Rating

2008-07-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Catholic World News Reports

Navanethem “Navi” Pillay: Likely UN Commissioner for Human Rights

2008-07-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Pillay of South Africa is the reported to be the probable pick of Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for this top tier position within the world body. Pillay is one of the founders of Equality Now, an organization that led efforts to ensure abortion access in Poland and Nepal.

CWNews writes, "According to UNHCR definition, the High Commissioner is charged with the task of leading the international human rights movement by acting as a “moral authority” and coordinating and streamlining human rights within the UN system."

White House Tenders "Conscience Clause" on Abortion, Some Abortifacients

2008-07-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

The plan being submitted is designed to protect doctors and nurses who refuse to administer abortions or prescribe abortifacient pills. All recipient health care providers would be required to certify that they will not fire or refuse to hire personnel who morally oppose abortion.

More at Catholic World News

Myanmar to Receive Around 250,000 Condoms from U.N. Population Fund

2008-05-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

The UN News Centre reports:

"The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued a warning that monsoon rains in Myanmar were increasing the risks of an outbreak of disease. WHO says it is working with the Government to set up a surveillance system to monitor possible outbreaks.

Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that hundreds of thousands of people in the remote areas of the Irrawaddy delta still do not have sufficient food to eat."

The report also states that, "more than 100,000 people may have been killed since the storm struck on 2 May."

Enter the UNFPA. In addition to sending kits with provisions for pregnant women to be assisted in delivering - medical equipment for needed blood transfusions, rubber gloves for midwives, the organization is making sure to pack "supplies" to prevent unwanted pregnancies. In other words, this starving and devastated people that has lost thousands of members of its population will receive thousands and thousands of condoms from the UN Population Fund.

UNFPA Myanmar Update
CWNews Article

European Courts to Decide Whether or Not Matthew the Chimp is a Person

2008-05-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

"36-year-old Miss Stibbe and the Vienna-based Association Against Animal Factories have filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg."

The animal sanctuary in Vienna where Matthew is taken care of for 4,000 pounds a month is bankrupt and may be forced to close. Some have offered to help share the expenses if the facility is closed, but only a human may be the recipient of personal gifts in Austria. However, the activists are concerned that if he leaves Austria, he will not be protected legally against animal cruelty.

"Miss Stibbe, who is from Brighton but has lived in Vienna for several years, says she is not trying to get the chimp declared a human, just a person."

The legal team of Matthew and Stibbe press the question of whether chimps are also the "bearer of human rights."

"A spokesman for the court in Strasbourg said: 'Any application regarding this chimpanzee will be considered at a primary level by a magistrate and a lawyer before we decide whether it deserves a full-blown hearing.'"

Unborn children up to 24 weeks are not the "bearers of human rights" under Austrian law. They are not protected legally and may be terminated without parental consent by a mother as young as 14.

ThisisLondon Article

US Supreme Court Upholds Debated Part of Law Against Child Pornography

2008-05-19T15:01:00.001-07:00

The Supreme Court determined that theatrical reproductions of sex involving minors in movies like "Traffic" or "Titanic", classic literature, and emails with text describing grandchildren do not involve a credible threat of being mistakenly prosecuted under the term, "simulated sexual intercourse," currently prohibited in U.S.C.§2252A(a)(3)(B).

Story from AP

Official Supreme Court Document for Decision of U.S. vs. Williams, 06-694

"It is necessary to bear concrete witness to the fact that respect for life is the first form of justice that must be applied," says Pope.

2008-05-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict XVI met with thousands from the Italian Movement for Life in the Hall of Blessing yesterday. He stated that abortion, rather than actually solving any problems, has instead "opened another wound in our societies."

The Movement for Life is proposing several pieces of legislation on the 30th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in Italy. The group, led by Carlo Casini, stands for the right to life at conception, the institution of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and the right of all conceived children to be born and raised in a family with parents.

The pope also reiterated that this year is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During his visit to the UN, the pope drew attention to this fact and urged the world body to recognize that their document is based on natural law.

Harvard Researcher: Money Spent to Fight HIV in Africa is Poorly Managed

2008-05-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Harvard Researchers reported in the university's Science Magazine this week on the matter of HIV prevention in Africa. Malcom Potts, a family planning researcher at University of California, Berkeley, described how most of the money that goes into fighting the HIV epidemic in African countries goes towards condoms and voluntary testing and counseling, and very little towards the more proven methods of male circumcision and education about reducing sexual activity with multiple partners. Male circumcision education programs are effective, because apparently inside the foreskin is contained a large number of "Langerhans cells" that can pick up HIV, whereas circumcised males do not have the same level vulnerability and are about 50% less likely to acquire the disease in the act of sexual intercourse.

As of yet, maybe only 2 or 3% of the overall funding is used to promote male circumcision.

Potts also reports that contrary to the notion that the poverty in Africa is what creates the situation for the disease to spread, he says, "In all the countries where we have demographic and health surveys, it tends to be the upper economic quintiles, both men and interestingly of women, who have the highest prevalence of the disease - it's more urban than rural. So, undoubtedly, you know, poverty makes everything more difficult, but it's not the driving factor. The driving factor is that men use wealth and power to have sex - and it's a pretty universal behavior."

This information was taken from the transcript of a radio interview. More information gleaned from the actual subscription only magazine report is at CWNews. They mention the high success rates of abstinence education in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Ivory Coast.

Cardinal Cipriani: Avoid Getting Concerned About Fabricated Human Rights

2008-05-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

The Cardinal from Peru warned against "human rights" that are founded by international organizations such as the United Nations. True rights and freedom have their origin in the natural law he stated.

CWNews reports, " The cardinal went on to put his listeners on guard against political organizations that push for recognition of new forms of "human rights," including alleged rights to abortion or to define one's own gender preference."

full article

Art Student with Serious Problems Reports Inducing Abortions

2008-04-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

Whether this is a bold lie or an actual case of planning and inducing abortions, the Yale student in the article below needs prayers.

Warning - graphic content

CWNews article

Small Mongolian Town Delayed, but Optimistic about Getting a Church

2008-04-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

The article below relates the work of a fledgling Catholic community in Zuun Mod to legally gain access to have a local Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was officially welcomed into Mongolia in 1991.

Full article

Parliament of European Union Affirms Legal Abortion and Calls All Nations to Legalize

2008-04-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

April 18, 2008 - The Council or Parliament of the EU passed a non-binding resolution that a woman should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. The bill passed 102-69. Proponents of the bill cited the threat of underground abortions, as has been claimed by pro-abortion groups in the U.S. (apparently without evidence). Further, Gisela Wurm claimed that laws restricting abortion are actually in themselves a form of violence against women. The countries stated by CWNews to have strongly dissented are Ireland and Malta. However, there must have been more - for if the Wikipedia article below is accurate in its description of the council - they only have a combined voting power of 10 votes. Poland is another likely country to have voted nay.

article from CWNews

article on EU council from Wikipedia

Rats Get Skin Stem Cell Assistance with Brain Disease

2008-04-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

Reprogrammed skin stem cells helped treat rats with brains conditioned by researchers to simulate Parkinson's Disease. This is a big step towards finding similar treatments for humans, as the cells were able to successfully integrate into the neural system. The use of viruses to carry the new genes into the stem cellsis one danger due to the possibility that this approach could cause cancer. The researchers state that their gene transfer approach is equivalent to the therapeutic cloning research that was carried out last month on mice with Parkinson's at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York (only without the same ethical dilemma). http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN0719560620080407

Catholic Moral Theologian Takes CRS to Task Over Condoms

2008-04-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

Below is an exerpt from a Catholic World News article on Catholic Relief Services.

"In his cover story, "The Church Betrayed?" Grisez discloses that CRS take pains to separate itself from the overt promotion of condoms. CRS policy requires that "written educational material that contains information about condoms must not carry the CRS name or logo." Nevertheles CRS is involved in the distribution of these materials, he notes. Since CRS is affiliated with the US bishops, Grisez calls upon the bishops' conference to investigate the agency's approach. A truly Catholic campaign against AIDS, he argues, should fully embrace the wisdom of the Church teaching in opposing condum use."

The rest of the article is here.

Large Abortion Group Urges UN to Provide Pressure to End Abortion Restrictions

2008-03-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

CRR (the Center for Reproductive Rights) has written a new document asking for support to end restrictions throughout the world and implying that there is a legal obligation based on all the non-binding recommendations that have been signed in the UN. They stress that nations must affirm reproductive rights and legalize abortion. CRR claims they have widespread support among UN bodies that these rights are established in international human rights treaties. CRR's reports is entitled Bringing Rights to Bear.

Samantha Singson from the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) reports:
"For years, CRR has been at the forefront of a what some have called a "stealth strategy" to redefine longstanding human rights like the right to life, the right to privacy, and the right to be free from discrimination, and insert abortion rights into those broad provisions. An integral component of the CRR strategy is to persuade the UN committees that oversee nations’ compliance with their treaty obligations to reinterpret the treaties to include abortion. UN compliance committees contain a large percentage of personnel from pro-abortion groups and have become increasingly active in reinterpreting UN documents and pressuring governments to follow their interpretations. "

CWNews story
For C-Fam report, check the Friday Fax for March 27 (vol 11, #15)

Mark Pritchard of British Parliament Speaks Out Against Repeat Abortions in England

2008-03-26T13:06:00.001-07:00

CWN Article here.

"Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum. Alleluia!" & "Happy Easter!"

2008-03-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter from Kenrick Social Justice...

and the Pope in 63 languages ...

and here's his Easter message.

Iraqi Chaldean Catholic Archbisop Rahho's Body is Found

2008-03-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Rahho of Mosul, Iraq was kidnapped at gunpoint on February 29 and they recovered his body today. His corpse was half buried in Mosul's Al-Entisa district and it appears that he died a week ago. al Qaeda is believed to have been behind the act of terror.

More from Reuters

China Keeping One-Child Policy For At Least 10 More Years

2008-03-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

The policy began in the 1979 has killed some 400,000,000 children - according to this CNN article. Forced sterilizations have also been reported, and as CNN notes there is a gender imbalance in how more boys are allowed to live then girls. Regardless of an aging populace (according to the article - within 7 years, 200 million adults will be over 60 years old), this law will remain in effect for years to come.

According to an older article from the BBC, the fertility rate (the number of children a woman is expected to have in life) in China which was once around 5 is now down to between 1.7 and 1.8 - well below 2.1 - the level necessary for keeping the population stable.

BBC article from Sept 07

Chaldean Bishop in Iraq is Kidnapped

2008-03-03T04:07:00.000-08:00

Get the story from CWNews here.

Qatar Catholic Church will be Dedicated to Mary

2008-03-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

Cardinal Ivan Dias, the prefect for the Congregation of the Evangelization of the Peoples, will preside at the dedication of the first Catholic Church in a country ruled by an Islamic Emir. The land for the church was provided..."by Emir Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who in recent years has become a supporter of inter-religious dialogue, despite keeping Islamic law in place which forbids Muslims to convert to other religions," states the article in the Catholic News Agency website.
The CNA reports further:"Qatar, which has 800,000 inhabitants, established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2003. The pastor of the new parish will be a priest from the Philippines, Father Tomasito Veneracion."

Wikipedia article about Qatar

British Millionaire Faces Life in Jail for Trying to Kill 11-Week Old Unborn Baby With Abortion Pills

2008-02-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

A British millionaire with a pathological fear of becoming a father tried to kill his unborn baby by secretly feeding his wife abortion pills he bought online, The Daily Mail reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333894,00.html

Pope Reiterates Church Stance Against Euthanasia

2008-02-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

Get the story here.

Artist Tragically Kills Herself After Aborting Her Twins

2008-02-24T17:02:00.000-08:00

Story here: http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/02/tragedy-all-around.html

Vietnamese ex-Nuncio Building Debate Widens as Buddhists Make Claim

2008-02-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11877

Rough Draft of Kosovo Constitution Leaves Out Protection for Unborn, Marriage, etc.

2008-02-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

Get the story - http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=56792

Missouri Ballot Measure Language Passes Court Challenge

2008-02-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

Language that clearly and concisely states an intention to ban human cloning from its earlies stages has been fought for and upheld in court. The language should appear on an upcoming ballot, provided the measure gathers enough signatures to make it to that stage.
http://mocureswithoutcloning.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-ballot-summary.html

Check out this side-by-side comparison of the language as written by MoCureswithoutcloning and what Sec. Carnahan put together.

Vietnam Govt Forces Viet Catholics to Wait Longer

2008-02-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

The old offices of the apostolic nuncio have yet to be returned

In 1959, the Papal envoy left Vietnam and the communist government took control of the evacuated nuncio building. On February 1 of this year, in exchange for the removal of a cross and tents from some adjacent property (where a month long prayer vigil and protest was being held), Achbishop Ngo revealed that they were promised the building would be given back. However, the transfer of the offices has yet to happen and Hanoi Catholics are nervous that the government will seek more concessions.

The communists had unsuccessfully attempted to implement a state run church, but the Catholic heirarchy and the will of the faithful have denied it from taking hold.

Their is only one authentically catholic magazine in the country (according to CWN) - Communion - and this is tightly regulated and limited to 100 copies.

More from Catholic World News

First Catholic Church in Qatar

2008-02-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

March 14, 2008 may see the inauguration of St. Mary's, the first Catholic church in Qatar. An Anglican church, a Coptic church, and a Greek Orthodox church are in the planning stages for the same area. There is some contention from the Arabic populace about the construction, but the former chair of the University of Qatar's Islamic law department welcomes the turn of events. Abdul Hamid al-Ansari states that "places of worship for various religions is a fundamental human right guaranteed by Islam".

http://new.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11549

Global Poverty Act?

2008-02-14T18:42:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Senate is attempting to pass the Global Poverty Act, while seemingly charitable and big-hearted, it sounds nicer than it really is. Under a guise of Good Samaritanism, the bill would require our government to spend $845 billion above and beyond what America already spends on global aid! In addition to surrendering more dollars, the U.S. would also be required to surrender some of its own sovereignty over foreign aid by putting it under UN control. The bill would force the U.S. to sign onto the U.N.'s Millennium Declaration, which would commit us to ratifying a series of objectionable treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (SPREADS ABORTION, Prostitution, etc., seems to promote discrimination actually), the International Criminal Court Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol (global warming), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and so on. Considering the magnitude of the legislation, one would think that the Senate would proceed with caution. Not so! In an effort to fast-track the bill, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has yet to hold a single hearing. Instead, S. 2433 is scheduled for a vote in the Committee as early as today. Currently, the bill has just seven sponsors, who include Senators Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Richard Durbin, (D-Ill.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). Contact your senators and tell them to oppose S. 2433!

Spreading abortion, prostitution, global warming and such does not help!! My two illustrious senators are backing it I see. Email from FRC.

More Information:

S. 2433: Global Poverty Act of 2007

Call your Senators Today!

Clonehuskers?

2008-02-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

Nebraskans,

The Nebraska legislature could soon consider a bill that would make Nebraska the new cloning capital. LB 606 was supposedly crafted by state Sen. Steve Lathrop (D) as a "compromise" with an outright cloning ban that recently died in the state's Judiciary Committee. As part of the push to pass the bill, Nebraskans will be told that the legislation "bans human cloning" and prevents state dollars from paying for the inhuman practice. Although it is true that residents would not have to foot the bill for cloning or embryo destruction, there is no sugar-coating the fact that the state would ultimately pay by making the Nebraska policy like that of California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey--one that approves of privately financed cloning-to-kill. Under Lathrop's bill, scientists can make all the human clones they want for experimentation, so long as they don't let them live! Unfortunately, leaders rejected a real ban on human cloning, LB 700, authored by state Sen. Mark Christensen (R), which would have completely prohibited the production of cloned human embryos in Nebraska. Instead, residents will be presented with a deceptive "compromise" and asked to accept human cloning in their state. If Sen. Lathrop wants a true compromise, he'll remove Section 3, which approves privately funded human cloning, from the bill. The citizens of Nebraska should loudly oppose the fake cloning ban and demand that their Senators remove Section 3--or reject the bill entirely and reintroduce LB 700, a bona fide ban on human cloning. They don't need CLONEhuskers in the Cornhusker state! If you live in Nebraska, contact Speaker Mike Flood at 402-471-2929 or through e-mail at mflood@leg.ne.gov and urge him to stop LB 606. - From Family Research Council email.

Additional Information:
LifeNews

Nebraska Right to Life

Missourians Against Human Cloning Report Stances of Governor Candidates

2008-02-12T15:00:00.000-08:00

Read the Article below
Article on Missourians Against Human Cloning Blog

Candidate(s) Who Oppose Human Cloning
Sarah Steelman
Kenny Hulsof

Candidate(s) in Support of Human Cloning
Jay Nixon

Another Take on the Canterbury Sharia Story

2008-02-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

This article from Philocalia Republic was linked off of NewAdvent.org. Austin Ivereigh writes that legislation that does not allow religions to opt out at certain points creates problems like some of the anti-discrimination measures in the UK. These policies have made it illegal for an adoption agency (like Catholic Charities) to refuse people suffering some same sex attraction as prospective parents. These agencies then may have to close or continue solely as privately funded organizations.

English Church Leader Suggests That Parts of Islamic Shari'a Law Should be Implemented for the Muslims in England

2008-02-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, says allowing the Muslims to go by religious law rather than civil law on matters of marriage and divorce is "unavoidable". He believes this will help allow for a peaceful coexistence of Britain's diverse society. The Muslims should then be able to appeal decisions from Shari'a law in British courts.
CWNews Article here
Telegraph Article here

Some items that Wikipedia mentions on Shari'a law

- The man who is not currently a fornicator can only marry a woman who is not currently a fornicatress or a chaste woman from the people of the Book.
-The woman can only marry a Muslim man.
-The woman who is not currently a fornicatress can only marry a man who is not currently a fornicator.
-The fornicator can only marry a fornicatress -- and vice versa.
-The guardian may choose a suitable partner for a virgin girl, but the girl is free to contest and has the right to say 'no'.
-The guardian cannot marry the divorced woman or the widow if she didn't ask to be married.

English Scientists Determined to Take the Father Out of Procreation Entirely

2008-02-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

This article was spotted off Jimmy Akin's blog. If they receive permission, Newcastle scientists are about to begin manipulating bone marrow stem cells from women with chemicals and vitamins till they mutate into sperm cells with the donating female's DNA. Thus, two women suffering from same sex attraction would be able to have children sharing both of their characteristics.

"Early-stage sperm cells have already been produced from male bone marrow."

The article underlines that the ethical concerns associated with embryonic stem cells are avoided because they are interested in adult stem cells.

English Scientists Make A 3-Parent Embryo

2008-02-07T11:37:00.001-08:00

Researchers in Newcastle, England implanted genetic material from a human mother and father into a second human female's egg-cell that had been left over from in vitro fertilization treatments. Apparently, if a mother is a carrier for certain genetic defects using another mother's egg-cell exterior might keep the baby from inheriting the defect of the mother.

The researchers let their experiment (the embryo) develop for a few days and then destroyed it.

More on CWNews

A Group of Clinics in Italy Will Strive to Save Babies that Survive Abortions

2008-02-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

Italy is thinking of liberalizing their abortion policy and meanwhile some doctors our fighting for the legal rights of any babies that survive an attempted abortion and "directors of obstetrics and gynecology clinics at four universities in Rome have signed a declaration expressing their commitment to use all means to save babies who survive an abortion."

Article from CNA

State of Union Address: Bush Calls Congress to Ban Unethical Buying, Selling, Patenting, or Cloning of Human Life

2008-01-28T20:01:00.000-08:00

"On matters of science and life, we must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries. In November, we witnessed a landmark achievement when scientists discovered a way to reprogram adult skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells. This breakthrough has the potential to move us beyond the divisive debates of the past by extending the frontiers of medicine without the destruction of human life. So we are expanding funding for this type of ethical medical research. And as we explore promising avenues of research, we must also ensure that all life is treated with the dignity it deserves. So I call on the Congress to pass legislation that bans unethical practices such as the buying, selling, patenting, or cloning of human life."

full text of President's speech

CWN: Watch Out for New Embryonic Breakthrough Spin

2008-01-12T21:05:00.001-08:00

CWN has just reported on a biotech firm making a claim that it can extract stem cells from an embryo without damaging the embryo. But apparently, the reality of the story does not match up right with the headline.

CWN source article

Huge Rally for Family in Spain Gets Stern Words from Deputy Prime Minister

2008-01-10T20:35:00.000-08:00

In the wake of a rally in Madrid (earlier KSJ article) with almost 2 million participants, Maria Fernandez de la Vega, the deputy prime minister of Spain claims the Catholic hierarchy in her country is "falsifying the truth" concerning the socialist government's policies on the family. She also states that the Church has an disproportionate conception of their authority with the secular state.

More from the CWN source article

Kirkuk Churches are Bombed, as Intimidation Campaign Continues Against Iraq's Catholics

2008-01-09T21:01:00.001-08:00

Three churches were struck this afternoon in Kirkuk, Iraq. These are the first reported attacks on Christian churches in the area. The bombings come just one day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had stated that Christian churches would be given adequate protection .

Read more from my CWN Source Article.

Pro-Life Groups May Put New Pre-Abortion Patient Screening on Missouri's Nov Ballot

2008-01-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

According to the article linked below, the measure would require that any abortion provider thoroughly check each patient's background and lifestyle to ensure they are not coerced into the
procedure.

The article claims further that the abortionist would not be able to perform a nonemergency abortion unless "the imminent death or serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman" would follow. In other words, a nonemergency abortion would have to be/or be near an emergency - and this is where the pro-choice groups are calling this a ban for all practical purposes.

90,000 signatures are needed to get the initiative on the ballot, and this should be attainable.

The measure could help people in the future like Paula Talley. The article disclosed that she was forced into having an abortion ten years ago because of economic hardship and fears of her family's reaction.
Baltimore Sun Source Article

Christians Kidnapped by Taliban in Pakistan

2008-01-07T12:59:00.001-08:00

The same Taliban group under Baitullah Mehsud that is thought to be behind the Bhutto assasination less than two weeks ago has taken five Christians captive. They demand the release of six terrorist commanders in custody of law enforcement in exchange for the Christians.

Chinese Communist Party Members Lose Jobs for Having More than One Child

2008-01-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

More here from Breitbart.com

Iraqi Catholic Churches Bombed

2008-01-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

Chaldean Catholic Churches and other institutions including an orphanage and two convents were bombed in Baghdad and Mosul yesterday (Epiphany Sunday). Thankfully, no one was killed. Terrorists have threatened Iraq with a series of bombing attacks in an effort to drive the Christians out of the country.

CWN source article

Italian Cardinal and Several Parliament Leaders Push for Moratorium on Abortion

2008-01-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

Get the CWN article here:
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55753

UN Population Fund Report Stresses Need for Contraception; Bemoans Religious Uptick in Cities

2008-01-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

UNFPA's annual report has been released which explains the growing need to add to their budget for contraception. The group pressures countries to spend money on reproductive health services, but adds that millions of pregnancies are still unwanted. The report expresses their interest in expanding their influence with adolescents.
Catholic World News (CWN) reports that only some 51 of the 389 million dollar budget the UNFPA receives actually goes to population and development programs. The majority goes to reproductive health programs. CWN goes on to mention that the UNFPA has been charged by US and British with assisting China's mandatory abortion program. The NY Times has asserted UNFPA involvement in a Peru program involving coerced sterilization.

CWN reports that the US withdrew it's annual contribution to the UNFPA several years ago and it has not been granted again.

CWN source article on UNFPA and their latest report

CWNews Writes of 21 Men and Women who Died for the Faith in 2007

2008-01-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55689

We do wish everyone a happy new year, but here's to those who gave up their lives in the last.

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

2007-12-31T08:43:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-21T20:40:00.001-08:00

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

2007-12-21T20:21:00.001-08:00

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

2007-12-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-08T21:46:00.000-08:00

"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