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.