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Monday, April 30, 2012
Pepsi Stops Using Aborted Fetal Cell Lines to Test Flavors
I am certainly glad to read this news, but I don't understand how this practice ever began. Why would anyone use aborted cells to test flavors to begin with?
After months of pro-life protests and opposition, PepsiCo has indicated it will no longer contract with biotech firm Senomyx Inc., which uses cells from a baby killed in an abortion to conduct flavor testing.
The second largest beverage company in the world contracted with the firm in a $30 million deal in August 2010 and once Debi Vinnedge of the pro-life group Children of God for Life uncovered the connection, numerous pro-life groups, including LifeNews, joined together to promote a boycott of Pepsi until it ends the Senomyx contract.
Vinnedge informed LifeNews today of Pepsi’s decision and hailed it as a major breakthrough and achievement by thousands of concerned consumers who have been writing and boycotting PepsiCo beverages since last May.
In a letter to her group, PepsiCo’s VP of Global Public Policy, Paul Boykas stated that “Senomyx will not use HEK cells or any other tissues or cell lines derived from human embryos or fetuses for research performed on behalf of PepsiCo.”
“We took the matter very seriously,” stated Mr. Boykas. “We have an official Statement on Responsible Research and we intend to live by that policy.”
Mitt Romney Calls on President Obama to Protect Chen Guancheng
What a dilemma for Barry and Hilary...ironically, two of the most most pro-abort people on earth. The pro-aborts typically defend abortion as "choice" or "reproductive rights", but how do they defend forcibly aborting a woman's child? Sadly, it wasn't much of a dilemma for CINO Biden who bypassed the issue with "I won’t ‘second-guess’ China’s one-child policy"
Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney called on President Barack Obama today to provide any diplomatic protection possible for Chinese forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng, who escaped house arrest this past week. Mitt is right....we should protect Chen, who has fought for human rights in China. Shouldn't a country that stands for freedom defend that?
Chen, a blind attorney, has been in captivity at his home after spending years in prison after he was convicted in trumped-up charges engineered by family planning and community Party officials for retaliation against his exposing a massive brutal campaign in his home county involving the victimization of thousands in forced abortions and sterilizations.
In a daring rescue attempt, human rights campaigners helped Chen escape his home confinement and took him to an undisclosed location in Beijing — reportedly the U.S embassy — but the Obama administration has given no indication of whether it will provide Chen with political asylum or other diplomatic protection. Leading pro-life campaigners and human rights groups are concerned that if Chen is not protected, Chinese officials may illegally detain him and send him back to prison, home detention or may take his life.
Romney called on the Obama administration today to ensure that doesn’t happen.
“My concern at this moment is for the safety of Chen Guangcheng and his family,” he said. “My hope is that U.S. officials will take every measure to ensure that Chen and his family members are protected from further persecution.”
Saturday, April 28, 2012
St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Mary de Montfort
The Saints of the Day for April 28 are St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Mary de Montfort.
St. Peter Chanel
On April 18, 1841, a band of native warriors entered the hut of Father Peter Chanel on the island of Futuna in the New Hebrides islands near New Zealand. They clubbed the missionary to death and cut up his body with hatchets. Two years later, the whole island was Catholic.
St. Peter Chanel's death bears witness to the ancient axiom that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians." He is the first martyr from Oceania, that part of the world spread over the south Pacific, and he came there as the fulfillment of a dream he had had as a boy.
Peter was born in 1803 in the diocese of Belley, France. At the age of seven, he was a shepherd boy, but the local parish priest, recognizing something unusual in the boy, convinced his parents to let him study, in a little school the priest had started. From there Peter went on to the seminary, where it was said of him: "He had a heart of gold with the simple faith of a child, and he led the life of an angel."
He was ordained a priest and assigned to a parish at Crozet. In three years he had transformed the parish. In 1831, he joined the newly founded Society of Mary, since he had long dreamed of being a missionary; but for five years he was assigned to teach at the seminary in Belley. Finally, in 1836, his dream was realized, and he was sent with other Marists to the islands of the Pacific. He had to suffer great hardships, disappointments, frustration, and almost complete failure as well as the opposition of the local chieftain. The work seemed hopeless: only a few had been baptized, and the chieftain continued to be suspicious and hostile. Then, when the chief's son asked for baptism, the chief was so angry that he sent warriors to kill the missionary.
Peter's violent death brought about the conversion of the island, and the people of Futuna remain Catholic to this day. Peter Chanel was beatified in 1889 and canonized in 1954.
St. Louis Mary de Montfort
Louis's life is inseparable from his efforts to promote genuine devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus and mother of the church. Totus tuus (completely yours) was Louis's personal motto; Karol Wojtyla chose it as his episcopal motto. Born in the Breton village of Montfort, close to Rennes (France), as an adult Louis identified himself by the place of his baptism instead of his family name, Grignion. After being educated by the Jesuits and the Sulpicians, he was ordained as a diocesan priest in 1700.
Soon he began preaching parish missions throughout western France. His years of ministering to the poor prompted him to travel and live very simply, sometimes getting him into trouble with church authorities. In his preaching, which attracted thousands of people back to the faith, Father Louis recommended frequent, even daily, Holy Communion (not the custom then!) and imitation of the Virgin Mary's ongoing acceptance of God's will for her life.
Louis founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary (for priests and brothers) and the Daughters of Wisdom, who cared especially for the sick. His book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, has become a classic explanation of Marian devotion.
Louis died in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, where a basilica has been erected in his honor. He was canonized in 1947.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Blind forced-abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng escapes house arrest
Chen has fought forced abortions in China for years and has been persecuted a lot for it. I hope he is safe, and his family is safe.
Blind forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng has “disappeared” from his lengthy house arrest under the Chinese government, according to a source who contacted human rights group Women’s Rights Without Frontiers. Another Chinese human rights group reported Friday that Chen is “100% safe” and has possibly found refuge in the U.S. Embassy.
Yaxue Cao, a key Chinese human rights activist who has been advocating on behalf of Guangcheng, told WRWF that she spoke with Chen’s nephew, Chen Kegui. Kegui’s mother overheard guards saying that Chen Guangcheng had “disappeared” from his home, where he had been under strict house arrest Neither villagers nor family members know where he is. Yaxue Cao posted the recording of her conversation with Chen Kegui here.
He Peirong just told WRWF that she helped Chen escape to an undisclosed location outside of Shandong. She said that his health is stable, but she fears he is in danger. She also stated that the fate of Chen’s wife, mother, daughter and son may be in jeopardy. Eyewitnesses reported Guangcheng and his family looked seriously ill in February.
Santorum Campaign Manager to Help Romney Reach Pro-Lifers
The former campaign manager for the Republican presidential campaign of Rick Santorum has signed on to serve in an important role in the campaign of Mitt Romney.
Mike Biundo has been added to the Romney team as the deputy national director for coalitions — meaning he will work to reach pro-life voters and coalesce them around Romney’s attempt to defeat pro-abortion President Barack Obama.
The Union Leader newspaper in New Hampshire provides more details:
“Mike Biundo ran an outstanding campaign for Senator Santorum,” said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. “We are excited that he has agreed to bring his considerable skills and abilities to our team.”
Biundo, a long time political strategist in New Hampshire, rose quickly in the Santorum campaign to become the former Pennsylvania senator’s national campaign manager. Focusing on grassroots organizing skills honed in campaigns ranging from Pat Buchanan to Rep. Frank Guinta, he guided the campaign as Santorum rose to become Romney’s chief challenger for the nomination.
When Santorum dropped out of the race on April 10, the Romney camp moved quickly to recruit him.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Michelle Obama: Contraception = 'Preventive Care'
What a way to trivialize having a baby. She acts like pregnancy is a disease.
First Lady Michelle Obama boasted at a campaign event in Omaha, Neb. on Tuesday that "we made history" when the president's health care proposal was enacted and the administration issued a regulation mandating that insurance companies provide women with free contraceptives.
"Two years ago, we made history together by finally passing health reform," said Mrs. Obama. "And because we passed this law, insurance companies will now have to cover basic preventive care--things like prenatal care, mammograms, contraception--at no extra cost." Sorry Michelle, it's not free...the insurance companies will pass on those costs to consumers through increased premiums. The rest is paid by taxes, so no, it is not free.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized the "preventive services" regulation in January and it will take effect for most employers on Aug. 1. The regulation mandates that nearly all health insurance plans in the United States must provide women with sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives (including those that can induce abortions) without any fees or co-pay.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and many Catholic leaders in the United States have voiced strong opposition to the mandate because they say it would force Catholics--whose church teaches that sterilization, contraception and abortion are wrong--to act against their consciences and the teachings of their faith. Yeah...you do remember the 1st amendment, don't you Barry?
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Wikipedia May Redefine Term “Pro-Life” in Every Abortion Entry
I've never viewed Wikipedia as a reliable source of information because anyone could update it, and now it is clear how the pro-aborts exploit that design to push abortion.
Yesterday, official discussion ended in Wikipedia’s effort to possibly redefine the abortion debate according to its contributors’ worldviews.
Wikipedia, which ranks 6th in the United States and globally as the most accessed website, is not known for its accuracy nor impartiality. From reporting people dead before their death (Ted Kennedy, Miley Cirus, Sinbad) to defaming the famous (Bill Gates, Rush Limbaugh, Fuzzy Zoeller) to contributors posing as authoritative figures and then being debunked (supposed professor of religion exposed as 24 year old college dropout) the online encyclopedia is a constant source of controversy.
Wikipedia’s bias toward abortion is nothing new. Conservapedia (which itself reveals bias and incomplete information) lists a handful of examples that only scratch the surface of Wiki’s glaringly evident pro-abortion advocacy. A more recent example of the absurdity of contributor-bias is Wikipedia’s Maafa 21 entry. It asserts that the film “has been praised by pro-life activists and condemned by historical scholars, pro-choice activists, and other writers…”
Apparently, pro-life activists are not historical scholars, or medical professionals, or professors, or other types of educators…just nebulous “activists”.
The article then avoids any of the actual substance of the thoroughly researched documentary and instead relies upon mostly unattributed assertions or feelings about Planned Parenthood. Most noticeably, however, is the ratio of Support versus Criticism in the entry with 5 sentences supporting the documentary and 20 criticizing it. Nowhere in any of the criticism is any actual assertion proven wrong in Maafa 21.
Newt Gingrich to End Campaign Soon, Likely Endorse Romney
I wish Newt had run a better campaign, but he's doing the right thing by uniting behind Romney.
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will likely leave the campaign for the GOP nomination to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama next week after Mitt Romney has all by sewn up the nomination.
Senior campaign officials told various news outlets today that Gingrich plans to suspend his campaign next Tuesday, May 1, and will likely endorse Romney, the Massachusetts governor who has received endorsements from several pro-life groups as he seeks to take on Obama this November. Gingrich huddled with senior advisers following the five primaries Romney won on Tuesday night and his victories made it impossible for Gingrich to secure the 1,144 delegates needed for the Republican nomination.
Gingrich held out hope that he might amass enough delegates to force Romney to a battle at the Republican convention this summer, but Rick Santorum’s decision to end his presidential campaign made it all but certain Romney would lock up the nomination. With Gingrich exiting the race, the lone opponent left for Romney is Ron Paul, who also has no delegate path to the nomination and expected to end his own bid eventually.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Guest Post: Protecting Your Kids from Media Violence
I am pleased to present a guest post by Ms. Emily Kirchner. I hope she will be a regular contributor to this blog.
Protecting Your Kids from Media
Violence
Media violence has a very wide scope—ranging from violent films and video
games to TV shows with adult themes. If we are to consider all the things that
children are exposed to, this may even include cartoons. Even if they are
seemingly cute, these cartoon characters could threaten the values of children
if the show contains inappropriate content.
Everything kids see and hear affects their lives—and media is a major influence—which
is why it’s important that parents step up and intervene. According to Pope Benedict XVI, media has
become more influential in the development of children than the church and the
home. Because of this, it’s necessary to train children on the proper use of
technology. It’s the parents’ responsibility to educate their children and make
sure that they have a strong foundation in ethics and values.
Good parenting, together with the following
tips will help you protect your children from the effects of media violence.Step In
Know the video games your children play and make sure they are just right for their age. Do your research and read reviews before getting them any type of game and don’t rely solely on colorful, kid-friendly graphics.
Find out the ratings of the programs your kids are watching. For example, if a movie is rated G (General Audiences), you can rest assured that the material is suitable for children. If it’s PG (Parental Guidance), then watch it with them so that if they have questions, someone is there to answer them.
Enforce Discipline
Discipline your kids by setting the amount of time they spend with video games and television. Give them a schedule when they can watch TV or play video games. You can use this as a positive reinforcement when they get their homework done or get a good score for an exam.
Part of this discipline is preventing them from being tempted. Don’t put a TV inside their bedroom because it might be harder to control their watching habits if they can access it anytime.
Be on Your Guard
Change the channel when an inappropriate content comes on, but be sure to tell your kids why you’re doing so. When violent episodes are being shown, tell them the reason they shouldn’t imitate the characters and why such behavior isn’t good in solving problems.
Know What’s Appropriate for Their Age
1 to 4 years – Keep these kids away from cartoons that show fighting because these young children will imitate whatever they see.
5 to 7 years – Keep them away from materials that show death and serious injury resulting from violence.
8 to 10 years – These kids can probably watch sword fighting and gunplay by their favorite action heroes but you should still keep them away from gore.
11 to 12 years – Duels, battles and historical action are okay but keep them away from graphic violence, bloody scenes and sexual situations.
13 to 17 years – These kids can probably handle anger, bombings, shootings, disfigurement or death from accidents and gang fighting. But always remind them that the violence they see causes people to suffer and get hurt. Limit their exposure to such violence in TV and in video games.
Since we can’t keep our eyes on our children 24/7, always be ready for a talk to make sure that the values you have instilled in them are not compromised. Guidance and dialogue are the keys to protecting your kids from media violence.
Bio:
Emily Kirchner is a freelance writer for Discount Catholic
Products, an online retailer of Bibles, rosary beads, and various Catholic gifts. A mother to twin daughters, she exercises great caution when it
comes to any form of media that the girls are exposed to.
Miami archbishop laments pressures against religious liberty
I think many people don't see the impact the HHS Mandate will have on our religious freedom.
Efforts to restrict religious liberty break with American traditions and seek to “delegitimize” the Catholic Church’s participation in public debate, said Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami.
“America's ‘first freedom,’ the freedom of religion, is under great stress if not under outright assault – and not just for Catholics,” Archbishop Wenski wrote in the Miami Herald April 23.
He said the Health and Human Services mandate requiring insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause abortion represents “an unprecedented intrusion by the federal government.”
The mandate not only forces religious institutions to “facilitate and fund” products and procedures “contrary to their own moral teaching,” he noted, but also defines which institutions are religious enough to meet an exemption.
Archbishop Wenski said the fundamental issue in the mandate debate is “whether religious people and institutions may be forced by the government to provide coverage for contraception or sterilization, even if that violates their religious beliefs.”
“The Church cannot not oppose this unjust (and we believe unconstitutional) mandate,” he said.
Notre Dame professors demand removal of bishop who blasted Obama’s HHS mandate
Are they serious?
They had no problem with letting the most pro-abort president in history speak at "supposed to be" Catholic Notre Dame and giving him an honorary degree, but they attack a Bishop who is trying to defend our religious freedom? Unreal.
After an IRS complaint from an secularist group and other criticism, Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky is now facing a petition by Notre Dame faculty to have him removed from the Catholic university’s board of fellows.
The action comes in response to a strongly worded homily denouncing President Obama’s HHS mandate, in which the bishop said that in his attacks on freedom of religion the president “seems intent on following a similar path” as past totalitarian dictators such as Hitler and Stalin.
Bishop Daniel Jenky
After the remarks created a stir, drawing praise from pro-life advocates and denunciations from secularist groups and the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, the Diocese of Peoria emphasized that the bishop did not claim Obama’s infringements on religious freedom are comparable to that of Hitler or Stalin. Instead, they said, his comments were merely offered as “historical context … to prevent a repetition of historical attacks upon the Catholic Church and other religions.”
Denver priest ‘pulls out the big guns’ on Planned Parenthood: says Mass on the street outside clinic
I love this priest :)...I wish we had more like him!
Prayerbooks, rosaries, and pro-life pamphlets are a common sight outside Planned Parenthood’s massive facility in downtown Denver, but this year, local organizers of this spring’s Forty Days for Life campaign decided that one last piece was missing to bring the light of Christ to the country’s second largest abortion facility: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The idea to celebrate the Catholic Mass in front of Planned Parenthood came from Fr. Joseph Hearty, Assistant Pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in nearby Littleton, who felt that it was time to “pull out the big guns.” It was, he told LifeSiteNews, an inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
“If we can pray the rosary, why not offer the Mass, why not use the Mass and the Eucharist as a means of fighting this tragedy,” he said. “Why not use the most powerful means that we have?”
Monday, April 23, 2012
St. George
The Saint of the Day for April 23 is St. George.
St. George is venerated by the Eastern Church among her "great martyrs" and "standard-bearers." He belonged to the Roman army; he was arrested and, probably, beheaded under Diocletian, c. 304. He is the patron of England, since 800. St. George is one of the "Fourteen Holy Helpers."
Many legends are attached to Saint George. The most famous is the one in The Golden Legend. There was a dragon that lived in a lake near Silena, Libya. Not even armies could defeat this creature, and he terrorized flocks and the people. St. George was passing through and upon hearing about a princess was about to be eaten, he went to battle against the serpent, and killed it with one blow with his lance. Then with his great preaching, George converted the people. He distributed his reward to the poor, then left the area.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Melinda Gates Promotes Abortion at Mtg, Attacks Catholics
Poor Melinda thinks you can actually pick and choose the teachings you will follow. To be truly Catholic is to accept Catholic teachings as a whole.
Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a Catholic, is telling governments to dismiss the controversial link between contraception and population control and explicitly rejects Catholic social teaching along the way. Her rhetoric is part of her multi-billion dollar foundation’s new “NoControversy” campaign to reinforce universal access to birth control as a priority in the developing world.
Speaking at a TedxChange conference in Berlin, Germany, Gates argued that contraception has been mistakenly associated with population control, abortion, forced sterilization, and mortal sin and insisted they are “side issues” that “have attached themselves to the core idea that men and women should be able to decide when to have a child.”
Yet even Gates herself admitted that for years population control and contraception have become synonymous in the developing world, with countries like India “adopt[ing] unfortunate incentives [and] coercive methods as part of their family planning programs” in the 1960s and indigenous women in Peru being “anesthetized and sterilized without their knowledge” as recently as the 1990s.
Gates was particularly critical of the Catholic Church. She singled out
Catholic social teaching as an obstacle to access to contraception
throughout the world, stating that “as a practicing Catholic,” sorry Melinda, 'practicing' means actually following the teachings. and “in
the tradition of the great Catholic scholars,” it is “important to
question received teachings,” in particular “the one saying that birth
control is a sin.”
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The Election of Pope Benedict XVI
Today is the 7th anniversary of the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. Habemus Papem!
Who Will Romney Pick for VP?
I think Rick would be a good Veep
While many pro-life organizations have coalesced around Mitt Romney as the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, some prominent pro-life, pro-family politicians have said they want to see who he chooses for vice president before pledging their support.
Most significant among these is former rival Rick Santorum, who dropped out of the race last Tuesday. Monday night, he held a half-hour conference call with 4,000 participants, which ended without an endorsement.
A prominent Catholic political organization is following his lead.
“Governor Romney’s choice of a running mate will be a decisive moment in his candidacy – it will signal the kind of appointments a President Romney would make to his cabinet and the Supreme Court,” said Catholic Advocate Chairman Deal Hudson in a statement e-mailed to LifeSiteNews.com.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
In hard-hitting document Vatican launches clean-up of feminist nuns in United States
It's about time!
The Catholic Church definitely needs to clean house and get rid of these dissenters.
Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has launched a 5-year reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States representing more than 80 percent of the 57,000 women religious (nuns) in the country.
Based on a 2008 investigation into the nuns, the Vatican evaluation was candid, noting, “The current doctrinal and pastoral situation of the LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern.”
The CDF doctrinal assessment, released today, criticized positions espoused at LCWR annual assemblies and in its literature as well as the absence of support from LCWR for Church teaching on pro-life issues, women’s ordination and homosexuality.
Leaders in the LCWR participate in a "transfer of leadership" ceremony.
The CDF said that the documentation “reveals that, while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States.”
Media Covers for Jon Stewart's Vile Attack on Christians
This is revolting...there would be media outrage if it were any other faith, but attacking Christians and Catholics is acceptable to them.
On the April 16 episode of “The Daily Show,” they showed a picture of a naked woman with her legs spread and a nativity scene ornament placed in between. Stewart said, “Maybe women could protect their reproductive organs from unwanted medical intrusions with vagina mangers.” The segment was done to mock Fox News for allegedly not covering stories on the so-called war on women.
Reuters did a story on Monday’s edition of “The Daily Show” but never mentioned the vagina manger scene segment; it was picked up by the chicagotribune.com, msnbc.com, and Yahoo! Movies. Also reporting on this episode, but never citing the obscene segment were the following: the blog site of the latimes.com; gawker.com; huffingtonpost.com; theatlanticwire.com; talkingpointsmemo.com; thewrap.com; NBC-TV New York; and NBC-TV Chicago. Only mediaite.com and dailykos.com mentioned the offensive part.
The cover-up is revealing. This episode of “The Daily Show” was done to protest Fox’s alleged indifference to the “war on women,” and in doing so Stewart not only made a vulgar attack on Christians, he objectified women.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Sandra Fluke Speaks at Georgetown, Press Banned From Event
What the...?
Why would "supposed to be Catholic" Georgetown University let Sandra Fluke address a Catholic University audience on contraception?...which is directly opposed to Catholic Teachings?
Edwin Mora of CNSNews.com reports that feminist celebrity Sandra Fluke spoke at a Georgetown event moderated by liberal professor Judith Feder — who ran for Congress twice as a Democrat in Virginia against Congressman Frank Wolf. The event was closed to “outside press” and the public.
Mora asked the Archdiocese of Washington and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to comment on this feminist hootenanny at a Catholic college as the debate rages about contraceptives and religious liberty and Obamacare, and both declined to comment. Mora began:
Georgetown University, a Catholic institution run by the Jesuit order, invited Sandra Fluke to talk to undergraduate students at its main campus on Monday on the subject of contraception.
The event–billed as “A Conversation with Sandra Fluke on Contraception Access”–was closed to “outside press” and to the public. I'm not surprised they tried to keep it secret...they know very well that they are wrong.
Obama taking ‘similar path’ as Hitler and Stalin: Illinois bishop
This election should be the easiest choice we've had in decades.
Socialism vs. freedom...it's a no-brainer.
I find it absolutely amazing that there's even a possibility that Barry could be re-elected.
In a stunning homily on the weekend, an Illinois bishop slammed President Obama for his “radical pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda” and said Catholics must line up against that agenda at the ballot box in November or else lose all her dearly-held institutions.
“This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries—only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down,” said Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria at a gathering of Catholic men on Saturday.
“Because no Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the intrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb,” he continued.
The bishop warned that with the Obama administration’s mandate for forcing religious employers to fund contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs, America is on a path leading to the state of past dictatorships when Christians were forced to “huddle and hide,” such as Bismarck’s Kulturkampf, Hitler’s Nazis, and Stalin’s Communists.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Dr. Phil Show: “Mercy Kill” People with Disabilities
Very disappointing to hear Dr. Phil give such a one-sided presentation of the issue.
This week on the popular Dr. Phil Show, a mother named Annette Corriveau was featured. She’s special because she wants the right to be able to kill her children.
That’s right. She is the mother of two severely disabled adult children, and she feels that the moral thing to do would be to kill them by lethal injection, to end their “suffering.” Her children were diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome, causing them to lose motor function and be institutionalized. They cannot speak, and they have to be fed through feeding tubes. Any more information on their condition wasn’t made clear – probably because, as Annette admitted, she visits her children only once every two months. The people who actually work with her children every day, and see them on a regular basis, and could therefore give a better idea of what their lives are like, were not interviewed for the show. We had only Annette’s point of view, which is that – according to her – if her children could choose, they would choose suicide.
She admits that she doesn’t know if they are in pain. She doesn’t know if they’re deaf or blind. She doesn’t know if they recognize her or not, and she doesn’t know what actions and activities, if any, are comforting to them. She doesn’t know if they are able to communicate in any way. She says that they’ve never left the facility they’re in over the past twenty years, but she also doesn’t disclose if she’s done anything to try to take her children out on trips – although considering that she visits them only once every two months, my guess would be no.
Yet she feels that, because she is their mother, she should be allowed to end their lives – because she doesn’t think their quality of life is worth living for. NO ONE has the right to decide who's life is "worth living"...that's what Hitler tried. EVERYONE has the right to live!
Also invited on the show? Attorney Geoffrey Fleiger, who defended the infamous Dr. Jack Kevorkian. As we all know, Dr. Kevorkian performed assisted suicides for his patients, and the argument being made is that this is the same thing: helping people put themselves out of their own misery.
The most disturbing part of all? Dr. Phil offered a weak rebuttal to her argument, but he still went on calling this an act of mercy to her children. He then polled the audience to see how many of them agreed with this mother.
Almost every single member of the audience did.
The woman crying at the end of that video was the one person speaking out for those children. She was given all of a minute, tops, to make her case for why murdering people with severe disabilities is abhorrent and wrong.
Music Review: "Blessings Peace and Harmony" Monks of the Desert
Release Date: April 24.
You may have heard the expression that "singing is praying twice", and that is most true with chant, as that is singing, or chanting , parts of the Mass.
My favorite chants are the Kyrie's.
As the title indicates, this CD will truly bring you blessings, peace and harmony. It will also bring you closer to God.
It is very soothing and calming, especially during stressful times.
An excellent collection of chant!
on Amazon
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
St.Peter Gonzalez
The Saint of the Day for April 14 is St.Peter Gonzalez.
Public humiliation led Peter Gonzalez to a true conversion experience and set him on the road to sainthood.
Peter was born into a noble family in Castile, Spain, in 1190, and he became a priest as a step to high office. One Christmas Day, during a grand entrance into the city before all the townspeople, the young priest was thrown off of his horse and onto a dung-heap.
Embarrassed and knowing that his parishioners thought he was a fake, Peter withdrew from the world for a period of prayer and meditation. During this time, he had a conversion and spent the rest of his life making up for his lost youth. He joined the Dominicans and shunned those who tried to convince him to return to his old ways, saying: "If you love me, follow me! If you cannot follow me, forget me!"
He served as the confessor and court chaplain to King Saint Ferdinand III of Castile, and reformed court life. He also worked for the crusade against the Moors, went into the battlefields, and worked for humane treatment of Moorish prisoners.
Fearing that the honors and easy life offered by the king’s court would lead him to return to his previous ways, he left the court and evangelized to shepherds and sailors.
He died in 1246 and was canonized in 1741.
Friday, April 13, 2012
University forces Vanderbilt Catholic group to change its name
What Irony...
In a follow-up to my earlier post about Vanderbilt, a 'supposed to be Catholic' University tells a group who refuses to violate Catholic principles to stop using its name.
Forced to leave campus for reasons of conscience, Vanderbilt University's Catholic student organization has now been ordered by the university to change its name.
“The name that's important is the name of Jesus Christ. I don't think they can take that name from us,” said Father John Sims Baker, chaplain of the group that has been told to stop calling itself Vanderbilt Catholic.
“Technically and legally, if we wanted to push the issue, I doubt that the university could keep us from that,” Fr. Baker told CNA on April 12.
He indicated that the group could also switch to a name incorporating the phrase “at Vanderbilt,” which would “certainly” be acceptable.
University spokesperson Beth Fortune told Fox News that students groups “who choose not to comply with the university’s nondiscrimination policy” thereby “forfeit the privileges associated with registered student organization status and that includes the use of the Vanderbilt name.”
Vanderbilt Catholic is leaving the campus over a dispute with the administration’s “non-discrimination” policy, a rule that Fr. Baker has criticized as a form of religious discrimination in itself. Of course it is...the group is Catholic by definition...they shouldn't be forced to accept non-Catholics as leaders of the group.
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