Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has decided to skip a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in order to rest for his final individual race in the FINA World Championships.
CNA had reported that Michael Phelps would be among the approximately 100 swimmers to be met by Pope Benedict on Saturday at the pontiff’s summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.
According to the Associated Press, Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman said the athlete will be resting after three races Friday and will have the final of the 100-meter butterfly on Saturday night.
The libs really don't want anyone to read the bill. That's why they've been trying to rush it through.
Catholics United (dissenters), a group known for backing Democratic initiatives, issued a statement yesterday accusing a television ad campaign launched by the Family Research Council (FRC) of misinforming the U.S. public about the health care reform bill. FRC responded today to the allegations by saying that Catholics United is the one ignoring the facts.
Catholics United stated yesterday that “The Family Research Council's efforts are part of a broader ‘Stop the Abortion Mandate’ campaign that is using abortion scare tactics to turn pro-life voters against health reform.” Yeah...how dare they tell people what's really in the bill?
“In FRC Action's ad, entitled ‘After a Government Takeover,’ actors ... claim that current health care proposals would deny funding for essential treatments while providing public funding for abortions,” Catholics United said.
These two cases are from the UK, but this is going to become more of an issue here in the US if we get nationalized healthcare rationing. It will start with counseling seniors every 5 years on 'end of life' issues (convincing them that they should die).
In a case that is being hailed as a victory for proponents of assisted suicide, Britain's Law Lords have ruled that the public prosecutors must "clarify" current law on the issue. The House of Lords judicial committee ruled yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for England and Wales must issue "guidance" on when and in what circumstances the law making it a criminal offense to assist suicide will be prosecuted.
We're fortunate that this young lady was alive long enough to change her mind about ending her life:
A fourteen year-old British girl who fought last Fall for her ‘right to die,’ has changed her mind and chosen to continue her treatments, including a heart transplant.
In November 2008, Hannah Jones made headlines when medics took the then 13-year old girl to court after she refused a heart transplant, which was weakened by her treatment for leukemia. It was a decision her parents supported.
“Obviously we want to have Hannah with us as long as possible, but we are not going to force her to do something that she doesn’t want to do at this time,” her father, Andrew Jones told The Daily Mail.
At the time Hannah explained that her treatments were getting to be too exhausting and difficult. “I don’t like to be like this but I live with it,” she said.
A House of Representatives committee, late Thursday, approved a phony “compromise” amendment to the health care legislation it is considering. The amendment, sponsored by an abortion advocate, gave the impression that it would stop tax-funded abortions in the health care bill but, in reality, would allow it.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been considering its version of the House government-run health care plan, H.R. 3200.
Rep. Lois Capps, a California Democrat, proposed an amendment that she claimed was a "compromise" between pro-life advocates and abortion proponents.
The amendment explicitly permits the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, pro-abortion advocate Kathleen Sebelius, to include abortion in the services offered by public option and requires abortion coverage in the government health plan if the Hyde amendment is ever reversed.
Ignatius, by nation a Spaniard, was born of a noble family at Loyola, in Cantabria. At first he attended the court of the Catholic king, and later on embraced a military career. Having been wounded at the siege of Pampeluna, he chanced in his illness to read some pious books, which kindled in his soul a wonderful eagerness to follow in the footsteps of Christ and the saints. He went to Montserrat, and hung up his arms before the altar of the Blessed Virgin; he then watched the whole night in prayer, and thus entered upon his knighthood in the army of Christ. Next he retired to Manresa, dressed as he was in sackcloth, for he had a short time before given his costly garments to a beggar. Here he stayed for a year, and during that time he lived on bread and water, given to him in alms; he fasted every day except Sunday, subdued his flesh with a sharp chain and a hair-shirt, slept on the ground, and scourged himself with iron disciplines. God favored and refreshed him with such wonderful spiritual lights, that afterwards he was wont to say that even if the Sacred Scriptures did not exist, he would be ready to die for the faith, on account of those revelations alone which the Lord had made to him at Manresa. It was at this time that he, a man without education, composed that admirable book of the Spiritual Exercises. However, in order to make himself more fit for gaining souls, he determined to procure the advantages of education, and began by studying grammar among children. Meanwhile he relaxed nothing of his zeal for the salvation of others, and it is marvelous what sufferings and insults he patiently endured in every place, undergoing the hardest trials, even imprisonment and beatings almost to death. But he ever desired to suffer far more for the glory of his Lord. At Paris he was joined by nine companions from that University, men of different nations, who had taken their degrees in Arts and Theology; and there at Montmartre he laid the first foundations of the order, which he was later on to institute at Rome. He added to the three usual vows a fourth concerning missions, thus binding it closely to the Apostolic See. Paul III first welcomed and approved the Society, as did later other Pontiffs and the Council of Trent. Ignatius sent St. Francis Xavier to preach the Gospel in the Indies, and dispersed others of his children to spread the Christian faith in other parts of the world, thus declaring war against paganism, superstition, and heresy. This war he carried on with such success that it has always been the universal opinion, confirmed by the word of pontiffs, that God raised up Ignatius and the Society founded by him to oppose Luther and the heretics of his time, as formerly he had raised up other holy men to oppose other heretics.
He made the restoration of piety among Catholics his first care. He increased the beauty of the sacred buildings, the giving of catechetical instructions, the frequency of sermons and of the sacraments. He everywhere opened schools for the education of youth in piety and letters. He founded at Rome the German College, refuges for women of evil life, and for young girls who were in danger, houses for orphans and catechumens of both sexes, and many other pious works. He devoted himself unweariedly to gaining souls to God. Once he was heard saying that if he were given his choice he would rather live uncertain of attaining the Beatific Vision, and in the meanwhile devote himself to the service of God and the salvation of his neighbor, than die at once certain of eternal glory. His power over the demons was wonderful. St. Philip Neri and others saw his countenance shining with heavenly light. At length in the sixty-fifth year of his age he passed to the embrace of his Lord, whose greater glory he had ever preached and ever sought in all things. He was celebrated for miracles and for his great services to the Church, and Gregory XV enrolled him amongst the saints; while Pius XI, in response to the prayers of the episcopate, declared him heavenly patron of all Spiritual Exercises.
Swimming fans around the world recently saw Michael Phelps lose to Paul Biedermann in the 400-meter freestyle only to watch him come back and beat his own world record in the 200-meter butterfly. On Saturday, Phelps will enter into an entirely different arena when he is received in an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
CNA has learned that Michael Phelps will be present when Pope Benedict meets with 100 swimmers at Castel Gandolfo on Saturday.
One word: Why? I agree that we need some reform of healthcare, but I'd rather have no reform than to have reform that tremendously expands abortion by paying for it with our taxes.
Three major Catholic organizations have issued a video and an action alert urging constituents to tell their legislators to immediately enact health care legislation, despite the vast abortion expansion embedded in the bills currently under consideration.
"Please call and e-mail your Representative in the next 24 hours expressing your support for Congress to enact health care reform now," the groups urge in an alert released last week. The page hosted by St. Vincent De Paul offers contact information and email forms for congressional offices.
"Saint Vincent de Paul is partnering with Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Health Association to amplify our collective voice to let Congress know that health care reform can not wait," it continues.
The call to action echoes those of President Obama, who has been aggressively pushing through a health care plan in Congress that pro-lifers have strongly condemned as containing "the biggest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade."
The issues of female ordination and homosexual clergy are causing significant divisions within the Anglican church. A vivid example of why we need to resist the dissenter groups (Voice of the 'Faithful' , Call to Action, Catholics in Alliance) that are trying to do the same in the Catholic Church
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head cleric in the Church of England, has responded to the Episcopal Church’s decision to allow the ordination of homosexual bishops. Saying that a change in Anglican teaching, if necessary, would require broader agreement, he proposed a “two-track” church structure which recognizes “two ways of being Anglican.”
On July 14, the Episcopal Church’s General Convention voted to approve homosexual bishops. It was seen as a rejection of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s and the Anglican Communion’s call for a moratorium on the practice.
Writing in a July 27 document titled “Communion, Covenant and our Anglican Future,” Archbishop Williams said the wording of the resolution showed that it did not want to “cut its moorings from other parts of the Anglican family.” The two most controversial resolutions, he said, do not have the “automatic effect” of overturning the moratoria on homosexual clergy.
An Anglican cathedral is trying to accommodate those of its faithful who do not accept female clergy by allowing parishioners to decide whether to accept communion bread blessed by its female canon or by a male priest. Blackburn Cathedral in Lancashire recently installed Rev. Sue Penfold as a residential canon. Cathedral canon Andrew Hindley explained the decision to This Is Lancashire, saying it was agreed by all the clergy that it was the best way to handle what they called a “mixed economy.”
The congregation can choose whether to receive communion bread blessed by Rev. Penfold or bread blessed by a male priest at the main cathedral service on Sundays at 10:30 a.m.
In the fifth century, Ravenna, not Rome, was the capital of the Roman Empire in the West, and Ravenna itself became a metropolitan see. St. Peter Chrysologus was one of the most distinguished archbishops of that see.
Peter was born in Imola about the year 400 and studied under Cornelius, bishop of that city, who ordained him deacon. In 433, the archbishop of Ravenna died, and when a successor had been chosen by the clergy and people of Ravenna, they asked Bishop Cornelius to obtain confirmation of their choice from Pope Sixtus III. On his trip to Rome, Cornelius took his deacon, Peter, as his companion; upon seeing Peter, the pope chose him for the see of Ravenna instead of the one selected by the clergy and people of Ravenna.
Peter was consecrated and was accepted somewhat grudgingly at first by both the clergy and the people. Peter, however, soon became the favorite of Emperor Valentinian III, who resided at Ravenna and was also highly regarded by Pope St. Leo the Great, the successor of Pope Sixtus.
There were still traces of paganism in Peter's diocese, and his first effort was to establish the Catholic faith everywhere, rooting out abuses and carrying on a campaign of preaching and special care of the poor. Many of his sermons still survive, and it is on the basis of these that he came to be known as "the golden word."
In his concern for the unity of the Church, Peter Chrysologus opposed the teaching of Eutyches, condemned in the East, who asked for his support. Peter also received St. Germanus of Auxerre to his diocese and officiated at his funeral.
Knowing that his own death was near, Peter returned to his own city of Imola and after urging great care in the choice of his successor he died at Imola about the year 450 and was buried in the church of St. Cassian. In 1729, Pope Benedict XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church. — The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens
Familiar is his dictum: "If you jest with the devil, you cannot rejoice with Christ." Some of his sermons are read in the Breviary. Ravenna, his episcopal city, still harbors treasures of ancient Christian liturgical art dating to his day.
For some reason, pro-aborts get really upset when we report this information. I can't imagine why. Since they are, of course, 'for women', I would think they'd want women to have this information.
A new study done on women in Turkey who had abortions finds a 66 percent increased risk of contracting breast cancer as a result. The study is the latest to confirm that abortions cause significant adverse medical risks for women who have them, in addition to killing unborn children.
The results also found that, while induced abrotion causes increased breast cancer risks for women, having a spontaneuous abortion, or miscarriage, does not.
Dr. Vahit Ozmen and his colleagues at the Istanbul Medical Faculty at Istanbul University and Magee-Women's hospital in Pittsburgh conducted the new retrospective study.
They published their findings in the April 2009 issue of the World Journal of Surgical Oncology and examined women who, between January 2000 and December 2006, were admitted to clinics of Istanbul Medical Faculty for examination.
The researchers said that their findings showed abortion was "significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk."
"Breast cancer risk was found to be increased in women with ... induced abortion (95% confidence interval)" and an age above 35 years-old at the time of a first live birth. "However, decreased breast cancer risk was associated with ... presence of spontaneous abortion."
Several pro-life members of the House of Representatives held a press conference today to keep up the pressure on getting abortion out of the health care restructuring plan Congress is considering. Their effort come as one top abortion advocate says keeping abortion in is essential to the debate. What? More double speak: give them abortion so you can debate what you just gave them? Does that make any sense? No, it doesn't make any more sense than abortion itself.
The government-run health care plan Congressional Democrats are crafting is a bailout for the abortion industry -- that was the essence of the message at the press conference.
Held in the House triangle of the Capitol Building, Republican Reps. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, Mike Pence of Indiana, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, Trent Franks of Arizona, and Doug Lamborn of Colorado, participated.
They said the plan, which President Barack Obama favors and wants sent to him immediately, would require taxpayer-funding of abortions and insurance mandates unless amendments are adopted to make it abortion neutral.
“History has demonstrated that unless abortion is explicitly excluded in the bill, administrative agencies and the courts will mandate it,” Pitts said. “Abortion will be determined to be an essential benefit. Pro-life Americans will be forced to pay for plans that pay for abortion.”
Martha was born of noble and wealthy parents, but she is still more illustrious for the hospitality she gave to Christ our Lord. After His Ascension into heaven, she was seized by the Jews, together with her brother and sister, Marcella her handmaid, and Maximin, one of the seventy two disciples of our Lord, who had baptized the whole family, and many other Christians. They were put on board a ship without sails or oars, and left helpless on the open sea, exposed to certain shipwreck. But God guided the ship, and they all arrived safely at Marseilles. This miracle, together with their preaching, brought the people of Marseilles, of Aix, and of the neighborhood to believe in Christ. Lazarus was made Bishop of Marseilles and Maximin of Aix. Magdalen, who was accustomed to devote herself to prayer and to sit at our Lord's feet, in order to enjoy the better part which she had chosen, that is, contemplation of the joys of heaven, retired into a deserted cave on a very high mountain. There she lived for thirty years, separated from all human intercourse; and every day she was carried to heaven by the angels to hear their songs of praise.
But Martha, after having won the love and admiration of the people of Marseilles by the sanctity of her life and her wonderful charity, withdrew in the company of several virtuous women to a spot remote from men, where she lived for a long time, greatly renowned for her piety and prudence. She foretold her death long before it occurred; and at length, famous for miracles, she passed to our Lord on the fourth of the Kalends of August. Her body which lies at Tarascon is held in great veneration.
The Senate Judiciary Committee today voted 13-6 to support the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
While all 12 Democrats voted in favor of the pro-abortion judge, only Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) supported the nominee out of 7 GOP committee members.
"I think this woman has done a splendid job," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of Sotomayor. "She has shown a dedication to the law."
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch said that, while he began the confirmation process with the hope that he could vote for Sotomayor, ultimately "her speeches and articles described a troubling approach to judging that her hearing testimony did not resolve."
"In some of her most important cases, she gave short shrift to fundamental constitutional rights," he said.
Sotomayor now awaits confirmation by the full Senate, which will probably vote in the week of August 3, when it is expected to uphold the Judiciary Committee's decision.
Excellent news! This means less babies killed, and less women injured.
Abortionist and activist Rebecca Gomperts told Dutch news media yesterday that her abortion ship is being permanently docked due to changes in the abortion laws in the Netherlands.
Women on Waves had been successful in its main purpose, Gomperts said, which had been to promote the use of the abortion pill RU-486 in countries where it is outlawed. However, the Dutch government has now restricted the distribution of the pills to recognised abortion facilities, which do not include her abortion ship.
A spokesman for the Netherlands health authorities also said that Gomperts's organization, Women on Waves (WoW), may be facing prosecution for illegal distribution of abortifacient drugs from a rented yacht moored off the Spanish coast in 2008. "WoW is only licensed to distribute abortion pills from its floating clinic. As WoW did not request the license be transferred to a yacht, they were breaking the law," said the spokesman.
Beware the two words 'common ground'. That is just double-speak for 'I don't care what you believe, I'm going to do what I want while pretending to compromise'. But there is no compromise on abortion; you either think its ok to kill babies or you don't. And let's be honest; Barry's administration has NO interest in reducing abortion.
Pro-life and Catholic leaders have come out swinging against a bill offered by two pro-abortion House Democrats that deceptively proposes "common ground" on abortion, promoting policies to "reduce the need for abortion" that pro-life leaders say would actually lead to its increase.
The "Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act" (S.1032, H.R.2035) was introduced by Democrat Congressmen Tim Ryan and Rosa DeLauro this week. First introduced in 2006, the bill purports to "reduce the need for abortion" by increasing funds for the Title X Family Planning Program, which funds Planned Parenthood, and set aside grants for explicit sex education.
A Catholic who once held a pro-life record, Ryan has more recently begun voting in favor of abortion, including a recent vote supporting taxpayer funding for abortion in Washington, D.C. According to executive director Kristen Day of Democrats for Life, Ryan was recently fired from the group's advisory board due to his increasingly pro-abortion voting record.
Nonetheless, Ryan has been inaccurately touted as a pro-life sponsor to the bill, adding to its credibility as a compromise measure. A press release connected to the legislation quoted Rev. Joel Hunter, an "antiabortion-rights evangelical pastor" on the White House Faith-Based Advisory Council, who praised the bill as "a prototype for how we can approach things in the future." "When you realize you need someone who's been an adversary to help you advance your own projects, that's a big deal," said Hunter.
Pro-life advocates, however, have issued a sharp rebuttal to the "pro-life" tag attached to Ryan and his legislation. I think it is revolting when pro-aborts try to paint themselves as 'pro-life'.
Saint Irenaeus was born in the year 120; he was of the Greek tongue, and probably a native of Asia Minor. His parents, who were Christians, placed him while still young under the care of the great Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. It was in this holy school that he learned the sacred science which later made him a great ornament of the Church and the terror of her enemies. Saint Polycarp cultivated his rising genius and formed his mind to piety by his precepts and example, and the zealous young scholar was careful to reap all advantages offered him by the solicitude of such a master. Such was his veneration for his tutor’s sanctity that he observed all the acts and virtues he saw in that holy man, the better to copy his example and learn his spirit. He listened to his instructions with an insatiable ardor, and so deeply did he engrave them in his heart that the impressions remained vivid even in his old age. In order to confound the heresies of his age, this Doctor of the Church acquainted himself with the conceits of the pagan philosophers, and thereby became qualified to trace every error to its sources and set it in its full light. By his writings he was already known to Tertullian, Theodoret and Saint Epiphanus, who speak of him as a luminous torch of truth in the darkness of those times. After Irenaeus had spent a number of years in combat against the eastern gnostics and philosophers of error, Saint Polycarp determined to send him to Gaul, where many of the heretics of Asia Minor had already migrated to pursue the Catholic religion, which was beginning to find roots there. With a company of about forty Christians, the valiant soldier of Christ ascended the Rhone to Lyons to rejoin and aid Saint Pothinus, its bishop. Saint Pothinus was already advanced in age, and his church’s neophytes could not always distinguish truth from the gnostic aberrations. Saint Pothinus received the apostles with joy and soon ordained Saint Irenaeus.
A hundred times he exposed himself to martyrdom by his zeal, acting as the right arm of the aging bishop, but God was reserving that crown for him twenty-five years later. When Saint Pothinus had glorified God by his splendid martyr’s death in the year 177, Ireneus was chosen to be the second bishop of Lyons. The persecutors imagined that Christianity had been stifled in Lyons, and they ceased their pursuits for a time.
This great Doctor of the Church wrote many important works, of which the most famous is his Adversus Haereses, Against the Heresies, in explanation of the Faith. By his preaching, Saint Irenaeus in a short time converted almost the whole country to the Faith; the Christians of Lyons became models by their candor, their estrangement from all ambition, their poverty, chastity and temperance, and in this way confounded many adversaries of their religion. Saint Irenaeus continued to imitate what he had seen done by his beloved master, Saint Polycarp, himself the disciple and imitator of Saint John the Apostle. One can readily imagine the excellence of the administration and the breadth of charity reigning in the Church of Lyons.
Finally he suffered martyrdom there, with many others, in the year 202, under the Emperor Septimus Severus, after eighty years spent in the service of the Lord. The imperial decrees renewing the persecutions arrived at Lyons at the time of the celebration of Severus’ tenth year of reign; the pagans found amid the celebrations an opportunity to take vengeance on the Christians, who refused to participate in the debaucheries which accompanied these feastings. Assassins armed with daggers, stones and knives filled the city with blood, and thousands of Christians won, with their bishop, the crown they had always admired as the greatest glory God could grant His servants.
Pope Benedict XVI has approved the defrocking of Fr. Tomislav Vladic, a priest leading the claims that the Virgin Mary has been appearing in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje. The priest has reportedly decided to leave the priesthood and his religious order.
The action follows an investigation into concerns surrounding the alleged apparitions, the Mail Online reports.
When the apparitions allegedly began in 1981, Fr. Vlasic was named as the "creator" of the phenomenon by the local Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, Pavao Zanic.
During a dispute with the bishop and the Vatican, the priest had predicted that the Virgin Mary would appear in Bosnia.
Months later, six local children said they had seen the Virgin on a nearby hillside. Fr. Vlasic soon announced he had become "spiritual advisor" to the alleged visionaries. The children now claim that the Virgin Mary has visited them 40,000 times over the last 28 years.
The libs don't want to admit it, but abstinence does work; but they'd rather encourage teens to be sexually active as young as possible.
The U.S. House of Representatives Friday voted to eliminate $99 million in grant funds that would have bolstered abstinence education in the U.S. The House's decision to cut the funds and to approve a new grant towards contraceptive-promoting sex education had been sought by President Obama in his budget recommendations earlier this year.
House lawmakers voted 264-153 to approve the annual health and education spending bill that cut funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education. Also according to the Obama recommendations, Congress in late June chose not to renew the smaller abstinence-education funding initiative known as Title V.
Instead, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor money will be directed to a new $114 million initiative to promote contraceptives and explicit sex education.
What happened to the conscience protections that Barry said he supported?
Catherina Lorena Cenzon-DeCarlo-- a nurse and the niece of a Philippine bishop-- has filed suit against Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York after she was allegedly ordered to take part in an abortion despite her longstanding conscientious objections.
“Because it was included in the requirements of her nursing duties as an assistant on the case, Mount Sinai forced Mrs. DeCarlo to watch the doctor remove the bloody arms and legs of the child from its mother’s body by with forceps, and then after the surgery, to view the bloody body parts in the specimen cup, put saline in the cup, and take it to the specimen area,” the suit alleges. “Ms. Carpo [her nursing supervisor] said that if Mrs. DeCarlo did not participate in the case, Mrs. DeCarlo would be brought up on charges of ‘insubordination and patient abandonment.’”
St. Panteleon is the patron saint of bachelors and physicians. A lifelong layperson and single person, he was the physician to the emperor Maximian. At one point, he had abandoned his faith, but he eventually returned to the Church, giving his fortune to the poor and treating them medically without charge. Some of his cures were accomplished by prayer.
Other physicians eventually denounced him to the anti-Christian authorities. At his trial, he offered a contest between himself and the pagan priests. He challenged the pagan priests to heal a paralyzed man with their prayers, but they were unable. Pantaleon cured the man by simply mentioning the name of Jesus. As a result, many of those who witnessed the miracle converted.
The authorities remained resolute in trying to get him to denounce his faith with bribes, threat and torture, but they did not succeed. He was then nailed to a tree and beheaded in c.305.
Early on, Pretty Boy Floyd is pursued, shot and killed by an FBI agent, Melvin Purvis(Christian Bale). This gets Purvis noticed, and he is assigned to capture John Dillinger, who is on a bank-robbing spree. There are also a couple other well-known gangsters in the story such as Baby Face Nelson and Frank Nitti.
The two hardest parts to watch both pertain to Dillinger's girlfriend Billie Frechette. When they first meet, Dillinger basically tells her she is now his woman. She does eventually fall in love with him, and the other hard part is a cop slapping her around to get her to talk.
Overall. a very good movie. The story is well-told, and there is lots of action. Johnny Depp is especially good in the lead roll.
Content Warnings: A couple of scenes where people got shot were more gory than they needed to be. There was a scene with Dillinger and his girlfriend in bed, and a scene with her in the tub, both of which were suggestive, but neither of which showed nudity.
Abortion is a very serious issue. It is not an appropriate topic for an animated series that attracts young viewers.
News Corp. paid Seth MacFarlane the ultimate compliment when it made him Twentieth Century Fox TV's $100 million crown jewel. But the "Family Guy" creator wasn't exactly returning the favor at Comic-Con..
At the series' panel Saturday, MacFarlane continued his show's tradition of jibing its host studio and network.
MacFarlane revealed he's producing a controversial episode about abortion for the upcoming season. But he and others on the panel said that Fox was unlikely to air the episode.
"Twentieth Century Fox, as always, allowed us to produce the episode and then said, 'You know what? We're scared to f--king death of this,'" MacFarlane said.
The episode will probably be available on DVD, he added.
A Fox spokesperson said that no decision has yet been made on the matter.
When asked for further comment, MacFarlane emailed a statement: "Clearly my sarcasm doesn’t come across in print. I completely support whatever decision Fox makes. We were allowed to take a crack at this controversial story and that’s enough for me.”
In Spain, he is called El Senor Santiago, the patron saint of horsemen and soldiers, and his great shrine at Santiago de Compostela in that country has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries. He is one of those that Jesus called Boanerges, "son of thunder," the brother of John the Evangelist and the son of Zebedee the fisherman from Galilee. St. James the Greater and his brother John were apparently partners with those other two brothers, Peter and Andrew, and lived in Bethsaida, on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. How and where James first met Jesus, we do not know; but there is an old legend that makes Salome, his mother, a sister of Mary, and if this were the case, he would have known Jesus from childhood.
Along with Peter and his brother John, James was part of the inner circle of Jesus, who witnessed the Transfiguration, were witnesses to certain of His miracles, like the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and accompanied Him to the Garden of Gethsemani. Like his brother, he was active in the work of evangelization after the death of Jesus, and one legend, very unlikely, even has him going to Spain after Jesus' resurrection.
His prominence and his presence in Jerusalem must have been well known, for scarcely a dozen years after the Resurrection, he became involved in the political maneuverings of the day and was arrested and executed by King Herod Agrippa. This was followed by the arrest of Peter also, so his death must have been part of a purge of Christian leaders by Agrippa, who saw the new Christian movement as a threat to Judaism.
Jesus had foretold this kind of fate when He prophesied that James and his brother John would "drink of the same chalice" of suffering as Himself. The two brothers had asked to be seated at the right of Jesus and at His left in His kingdom, and Jesus told them that they would be with Him in a far different way than they expected.
James's death is the only biblical record we have of the death of one of the Apostles, and he was the first of that chosen band to give his life for his Master.
If you disagree with giving Planned Parenthood more tax money, please be aware that it will get even more from nationalized healthcare.
After unexpectedly passing the House Rules committee late yesterday, an amendment introduced by Rep. Mike Pence to strip Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer funding under Health and Human Services "family planning" (or Title X) funds, has failed.
The House of Representatives rejected the Pence Amendment to defund Planned Parenthood by a vote of 183 to 247.
The Labor/Health and Human Services appropriations bill contains $317.5 million for the Title X Family Planning program (a $10 million or 3% increase over 2008 levels), which is a major source of funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates. Planned Parenthood is the recipient of approximately 23% of Title X Family Planning funds.
In 2008, Planned Parenthood provided nearly 290,000 abortions, accounting for approximately one in five abortions nationwide. The organization has recently come under fire for failing to report cases of statutory rape and for encouraging teen girls to lie to clinic workers in order to evade parental notification and consent laws.
I. Thou shalt have no God in America, except for me. For we are no longer a Christian nation and, after all, I am the chosen One. (And like God, I do not have a birth certificate.)
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, unless it is my face carved on Mt. Rushmore.
III. Thou shalt not utter my middle name in vain (or in public). Only I can say Barack Hussein Obama.
IV. Remember tax day, April 15th, to keep it holy.
V. Honour thy father and thy mother until they are too old and sick to care for. They will cost our public-funded health-care system too much money.
VI. Thou shalt not kill, unless you have an unwanted, unborn baby. For it would be an abomination to punish your daughter with a baby.
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery if you are conservative or a Republican. Liberals and Democrats are hereby forgiven for all of their infidelity and immorality, but the careers of conservatives will be forever destroyed.
VIII. Thou shalt not steal, until you've been elected to public office. Only then is it acceptable to take money from hard-working, successful citizens and give it to those who do not work, illegal immigrants, or those who do not have the motivation to better their own lives.
IX. Thou shalt not discriminate against thy neighbor unless they are conservative, Caucasian, or Christian.
X. Thou shalt not covet because it is simply unnecessary. I will place such a heavy tax burden on those that have achieved the American Dream that, by the end of my term as President, nobody will have any wealth or material goods left for you to covet.
Can anyone tell us why Barry, Rahm and Pelosi are in such a hurry to ram Obamacare through ?
Despite a move by Senate leaders to postpone any vote on a health care bill that could promote abortion funding and coverage until September, the House will likely vote next week. The measure it will consider probably won't have any limits on abortion that pro-life groups are requesting.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told NPR today that the House will likely vote on its government-run health plan before it breaks for its August recess.
After meeting with pro-abortion House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Emanuel told NPR, "their intention is to go next week and she is working toward that goal."Yeah, Pelosi has really beat up on anyone opposed to this train-wreck of a bill.
Congress "can use the summer months to basically work out and iron out differences," he said. Hey Rahm, we only have a week left in July. "Having a deadline focuses the mind," he said.
Without abortion limits, a group of 40 pro-life Democrats are focused on defeating the bill. Combined with Republicans they would possibly have enough votes to stop either the rules for debate or the bill itself on the House floor.
An amendment introduced to strip Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer funding has passed the Rules Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, and is up for a vote on the House floor Friday, reports Jim Sedlak of the American Life League.Why should PP get any tax money?
U.S. House Representative Mike Pence (R-Ind.) submitted, as part of the Health and Human Services appropriations bill, an amendment to render Planned Parenthood ineligible to receive Title X funds for "family planning" services.
The Pence Amendment states: "None of the funds made available under this Act shall be available to Planned Parenthood for any purpose under Title X of the Public Health Services Act."
American Life League president Jim Sedlak announced the breaking news during the "Stop the Abortion Mandate" webcast Thursday evening dedicated to fighting the vast expansion of abortion hidden in President Obama's healthcare bill.
Sedlak said the amendment's success in the Rules Committee "has to be an act of God," and strongly urged pro-lifers to deluge their representatives with calls and emails asking them to support the Pence amendment.
Joseph Makhlouf was born in 1828 at Beqa-Kafra, Lebanon. His peasant family lived a strong faith, were attentive to the Divine Liturgy, and had a great devotion to the Mother of God.
At the age of 23, Charbel (the name he chose when entering Novitiate) left his closely knit family to enter the Lebanese-Maronite Monastery called Notre-Dame de Mayfouk. Following studies and profession at St. Cyprian de Kfifane Monastery, he was ordained in 1859.
For the next seven years, Charbel lived in the mountainous community of Anaya. After that he spent the next twenty-three years in complete solitude at Sts. Peter and Paul Hermitage near Anaya. He died there on Christmas Eve, 1898.
Charbel had a reputation for his austerity, penances, obedience, and chastity. At times, Charbel was gifted with levitations during prayer, and he had great devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament.
In all things, Charbel maintained perfect serenity. He was beatified in 1965 by Pope Paul VI and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1977.
On May 8, 1828 in a mountain village of Beka'kafra, the highest village in the near-east, Charbel was born to a poor Maronite family. From childhood his life revealed a calling to "bear fruit as a noble Cedar of Lebanon". Charbel "grew in age and wisdom before God and men." At 23 years old he entered the monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouk (north of Byblos) where he became a novice. After two years of novitiate, in 1853, he was sent to St. Maron monastery where he pronounced the monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Charbel was then transferred to the monastery of Kfeifan where he studied philosophy and theology. His ordination to the priesthood took place in 1859, after which he was sent back to St. Maron monastery. His teachers provided him with good education and nurtured within him a deep love for monastic life.
During his 19 years at St. Maron monastery, Charbel performed his priestly ministry and his monastic duties in an edifying way. He totally dedicated himself to Christ with undivided heart to live in silence before Nameless One. In 1875 Charbel was granted permission to live as a hermit nearby the monastery at St. Peter and Paul hermitage. His 23 years of solitary life were lived in a spirit of total abandonment to God.
Charbel's companions in the hermitage were the Sons of God, as encountered in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, and the Blessed Mother. The Eucharist became the center of his life. He consumed the Bread of his Life and was consumed by it. Though this hermit did not have a place in the world, the world had a great place in his heart. Through prayer and penance he offered himself as a sacrifice so that the world would return to God. It is in this light that one sees the importance of the following Eucharistic prayer in his life:
"Father of Truth, behold Your Son a sacrifice pleasing to You, accept this offering of Him who died for me..." On December 16, 1898 while reciting the "Father of Truth" prayer at the Holy Liturgy Charbel suffered a stroke. He died on Christmas Eve at the age of 70. Through faith this hermit received the Word of God and through love he continued the Ministry of Incarnation.
On the evening of his funeral, his superior wrote: "Because of what he will do after his death, I need not talk about his behavior". A few months after his death a bright light was seen surrounding his tomb. The superiors opened it to find his body still intact. Since that day a blood-like liquid flows from his body. Experts and doctors are unable to give medical explanations for the incorruptibility and flexibility. In the years 1950 and 1952 his tomb was opened and his body still had the appearance of a living one.
The spirit of Charbel still lives in many people. His miracles include numerous healings of the body and of the spirit. Thomas Merton, the American Hermit, wrote in his journal: "Charbel lived as a hermit in Lebanon—he was a Maronite. He died. Everyone forgot about him. Fifty years later, his body was discovered incorrupt and in short time he worked over 600 miracles. He is my new companion. My road has taken a new turning. It seems to me that I have been asleep for 9 years—and before that I was dead."
At the closing of the Second Vatican Council, on December 5, 1965 Charbel was beatified by Pope Paul VI who said:
"...a hermit of the Lebanese mountain is inscribed in the number of the blessed...a new eminent member of monastic sanctity is enriching, by his example and his intercession, the entire Christian people... May he make us understand, in a world largely fascinated by wealth and comfort, the paramount value of poverty, penance, and asceticism, to liberate the soul in its ascent to God..."
On October 9, 1977 during the World Synod of Bishops, Pope Paul VI canonized Blessed Charbel among the ranks of the Saints.
We have too many Bishops who are too timid to deny communion to pro-abort 'Catholic' politicians. I wish more of them were like Cardinal Llovera, who not only does the right thing, but explains why it is both neecessary and compassionate to do so.
A high level Vatican official has reminded US bishops of their responsibilities to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, including the possibility of withholding Communion. Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, the head of the Vatican's liturgical office, told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview today that the guiding principle for bishops considering withholding Communion from pro-abortion politicians in their dioceses should be "caritas in veritate" or "charity in truth."
Canizares explained that according to Catholic teaching those who insist upon receiving Communion in a state of serious sin are in grave spiritual danger and emphasized that the withholding of Communion is meant for the person's spiritual salvation.
He said, "I think that the strongest words are found in St. Paul: one who goes to the Eucharist and is not properly prepared, duly prepared, 'he eats his own condemnation'. This is the strongest thing that we can say and what is the most truthful statement."
The Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments, in an exclusive interview with LSN, said that it is the duty of bishops and priests to instruct Catholic politicians who refuse to accept the Church's teachings on life, to help them understand the "gravity" of what they are doing.
The leading pro-life Democrat in the House of Representatives says a total of 40 Democratic lawmakers would vote to oppose a health care bill on the House floor unless it explicitly included language banning taxpayer-funded abortion and insurance mandates on abortion.
Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan congressman, has been one of the leaders in making the government-run health bill the House is considering abortion free.
This afternoon, Stupak said he is "optimistic" that the House Energy and Commerce Committee will adopt pro-life amendments to the health care bill that would make it abortion free. The panel could vote as soon as Thursday on the amendments.
Should the committee reject the amendments, Stupak tells CBS News that he thinks three dozen Democrats will walk and repeatedly vote against the bill or rules for debate on it.
Most of you are aware of how bad FOCA would be if passed. What you might not be aware of is that to get around the opposition, the Obama administration is implementing, in "healthcare reform", the largest abortion expansion since Roe v. Wade. Please try to attend this webcast tonight, 7/23. If you are not able to at that time, if you register at the site below (free), you will be able to listen to the audio later.
In addition to wreaking the economy, here's what the healthcare bill would do:
Impose one of the cornerstones of the "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA) by stealth
Force taxpayers to fund a huge abortion industry bailout -- something the majority of Americans oppose, and certainly cannot afford in these tough economic times
Mandate that virtually every American be forced into a health plan that includes abortion coverage
Require honorable medical providers to violate their consciences and perform abortions -- or risk losing their jobs
Here's what you can do:
Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. If you give them your zip code, they can give you the name of your Representative and Senators if you don't know them, and they can transfer you to their office. Let them know that you oppose healthcare that rations healthcare and promotes abortion.
Bridget was born in Sweden of noble and pious parents, and led a most holy life. While she was yet unborn, her mother was saved from shipwreck for her sake. At ten years of age, Bridget heard a sermon on the Passion of our Lord; and the next night she saw Jesus on the cross, covered with fresh blood, and speaking to her about his Passion. Thenceforward meditation on that subject affected her to such a degree, that she could never think of our Lord's sufferings without tears. She was given in marriage to Ulfo prince of Nericia; and won him, by example and persuasion, to a life of piety. She devoted herself with maternal love to the education of her children. She was most zealous in serving the poor, especially the sick; and set apart a house for their reception, where she would often wash and kiss their feet. Together with her husband, she went on pilgrimage to Compostella, to visit the tomb of the apostle St. James. On their return journey, Ulfo fell dangerously ill at Arras; but St. Dionysius, appearing to Bridget at night, foretold the restoration of her husband's health, and other future events.
Ulfo became a Cistercian monk, but died soon afterwards. Whereupon Bridget, having heard the voice of Christ calling her in a dream, embraced a more austere manner of life. Many secrets were then revealed to her by God. She founded the monastery of Vadstena under the rule of our Savior, which was given her by our Lord himself. At his command, she went to Rome, where she kindled the love of God in very many hearts. She made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; but on her return to Rome she was attacked by fever, and suffered severely from sickness during a whole year. On the day she had foretold, she passed to heaven, laden with merits. Her body was translated to her monastery of Vadstena; and becoming illustrious for miracles, she was enrolled among the saints by Boniface IX.
What a bunch of meaningless double-talk. There is no common ground when it comes to abortion; you either think killing babies is okay, or you don't. And in this case, it doesn't make a difference, because no one in Barry's administration is interested in reducing or eliminating abortion.
Dr. Miguel Diaz, President Obama's nominee to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, spoke at his confirmation hearing this morning in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In his remarks, Diaz pledged to "embrace President Obama and Secretary Clinton's diplomatic vision of leading through active listening and learning from others to seek common ground."
Before delivering his remarks, Diaz was introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who described him as "a faithful Catholic (faithful Catholics don't support abortion, Amy)...a gifted theologian...a respected scholar...a natural teacher...and a dedicated bridge-builder." According to the Minnesota Post, Klobuchar added, "He knows and loves America, and he knows and loves the Catholic Church."
After a second introduction by freshman Senator Al Franken, Diaz began his testimony by saying, "As a Cuban American, my identity has been shaped by two cultures. I strongly believe that this has made me more open to others." Drawing on this experience, he said he would use it to "build bridges between different communities on behalf of our country."
As was annouced in June, Bishop George Lucas will be installed today as Bisop of Omaha, NB. The Diocese website states the time as 2:00 p.m., which is Central Time. If you would like to listen to or watch the installation, it will be streamed live on the website.
The feast of St. Mary Magdalene is considered one of the most mystical of feasts, and it is said that of all the songs of the saints, that of Mary Magdalene is the sweetest and strongest because her love was so great. That love was praised by Jesus Himself who said that because much was forgiven her, she loved much. Where she is buried, no one knows. Legend has her dying in Provence, France, in a cavern where she spent her last days, and her body resting in the chapel of St. Maximin in the Maritime Alps. Another has her buried in Ephesus where she went with St. John after the Resurrection. This latter view is more likely, and St. Willibald, the English pilgrim to the Holy Land in the eighth century, was shown her tomb there. She was the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus, His most ardent and loving follower. She had stood with Mary at the foot of the Cross on that brutal Good Friday afternoon and had been by the side of Mary during these difficult hours. On Easter morning, she went with the other women to the tomb and it was there, in the garden near the tomb, that Jesus appeared to her. It was she who brought the news of the Resurrection to the Apostles, and Peter and John raced to the tomb to see what had happened.
She was from Magadala, a small fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Tiberias. She was known to be a "great sinner," a woman of the streets who heard Jesus speak of the mercy and forgiveness of God and changed her life completely. Her matter-of-fact witness to the Resurrection moved Peter and John to go and see for themselves: "I have seen the Lord and these things he said to me." Jesus had chosen her to bring the news to them and she simply told them what had happened.
She has always been the example of great love and great forgiveness, one of those close to Jesus who grasped the truth of God's love for human beings and spent her life bearing witness to that love.
You might have expected that a public video-sharing video site would be supportive of free speech, but this is not the first time that YouTube has pulled a video that exposes Planned Parenthood's lies. The popular video sharing web site YouTube has again censored a video exposing Planned Parenthood hiding a potential case of sexual abuse of a teenager. The video also shows the Planned Parenthood employee telling a woman posing as a teenager how she can evade the state's parental consent abortion law.
The undercover video, taken by Lila Rose of Live Action, shows a staffer at a Birmingham, Alabama Planned Parenthood abortion center telling a woman who appears to be a victim of statutory rape that "we bend the rules."
The video has triggered an investigation by the state Attorney General's Office into the nation's largest abortion business.
Rose tells LifeNews.com that YouTube is engaging in censorship that "appears politically motivated."
She indicated YouTube offered no prior warning or specific explanation for removing the video, which she says contains no apparent violations of YouTube's "community guidelines."
What a sad story, for two reasons: First, it shows how someone in the Democratic party, who does realize that an unborn baby is a life, has to sell out to the pro-aborts to advance within the party (isn't it hard to believe that Ted Kennedy was once pro-life?) Secondly, it shows how the pro-aborts are blurring the lines between being pro-life and pro-abort.
Though U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH)’s pro-life credibility has been described as ‘crumbled’ by a leading Democratic pro-life group, some supporters of “common ground” efforts to reduce abortion are still introducing him as a pro-life politician.
Kristen Day, President of Democrats for Life of America (DFLA), wrote in a July 16 essay on Catholic Online that pro-life Democrats have been “proud” of Rep. Ryan, who has in the past served on DFLA’s national advisory board.
However, she wrote, Rep. Ryan’s formerly pro-life record has become “more and more pro-abortion,” possibly because of his aspirations to statewide office in Ohio.
“After his last vote in favor of taxpayer funded abortions, his credibility as a pro-life legislator has crumbled with the national pro-life community,” Day added.
Rep. Ryan recently voted against a proposal to consider the Tiahart-Davis Amendment, which would have preserved a federal funding ban on abortions in the District of Columbia.
His name was Julius Caesar, and he was born at Brindisi in the kingdom of Naples in 1559. Educated in Venice at the College of St. Mark, he entered the Capuchins and was given the name Lawrence. Finishing his studies at the University of Padua, he showed a flair for languages, mastering Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish, and French, and showed an extraordinary knowledge of the text of the Bible. While still a deacon, St. Lawrence of Brindisi became known as an excellent preacher and after his ordination startled the whole of northern Italy with his amazing sermons. Sent into Germany by the pope to establish Capuchin houses, he became chaplain to Emperor Rudolf II and had a remarkable influence on the Christian soldiers fighting the Muslims when they were threatening Hungary in 1601. Through his efforts, the Catholic League was formed to give solidarity to the Catholic cause in Europe. Sent by the emperor to persuade Philip III of Spain to join the League, he established a Capuchin friary in Madrid. He also brought peace between Spain and the kingdom of Savoy.
His compassion for the poor, the needy, and the sick was legendary. Elected minister-general of his order in 1602, he made the Capuchins a major force in the Catholic Restoration, visiting every friary in the thirty-four provinces of the order and directing the work of nine thousand friars. He himself was a dominant figure in carrying out the work of the Council of Trent and was described by Pope Benedict XV as having earned "a truly distinguished place among the most outstanding men ever raised up by Divine Providence to assist the Church in time of distress."
In 1619, he undertook a journey to see King Philip III of Spain on behalf of the oppressed people of Naples who were ruled by a tyrannical governor. Lawrence reached Lisbon where the king was residing, and it was there that his last illness overtook him. His body was carried back to Spain and buried in the church of the Poor Clares at Villafranca del Bierzo.
Lawrence was canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII in 1959.
I'll say this for the record: Abortion WILL be covered in ObamaCare.There is no way it won't be.
A top Obama administration official said in an interview on Sunday that he is not ruling out taxpayer funding or coverage for abortions in a national health care restructuring bill. The the Obama administration is considering funding abortions is prompting major abortion battles in the House and Senate.
Peter Orszag, the head of the Office of Budget and Management, talked with Fox News Sunday about abortion funding.
The Obama budget chief would not rule out funding abortions but said he doesn't have an answer right now about whether abortion funding will or won't be included. It will be.
An excellent clarification by Bishop D'Arcy. I hope it spreads to other Diocese. I have often wondered exactly what goes through the mind of a priest when he relegates the tabernacle, which contains the Body of Christ, to a less significant place. In the worst cases, sometimes you can't even find the tabernacle in a church.
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend John M. D’Arcy has issued new norms on the placement of the tabernacle in churches, aiming to end controversy on the topic.
The bishop described the new norms and the reasons for them in a July 19 letter posted on the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend website and addressed to priests, deacons, religious, and all the faithful.
“The presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is at the center of our faith and of the devotional life of our Catholic people,” his letter began.
Saying tabernacle placement has become “a source of controversy,” he said the Eucharist should always be “a means of unity and communion, and never of division.”
“The place of the tabernacle in our church should reflect our faith in the real presence of Christ, and should always be guided by church documents,” Bishop D’Arcy continued.
In his experience, people have always desired the tabernacle to be “central and visible” and find it “confusing” when it is not.
The norms state that the tabernacle should be “prominently located in the sanctuary
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has decided to skip a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in order to rest for his final individual race in the FINA World Championships.
