Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate: Obama Catholics Blast Bill Donohue, Blame Conservatives for Failing to End Abortion [UPDATED]
see previous posts on Obama's strong pro-life advocacy (NOT):
Caricatures of Humans
Day Gardner Responds
Obama IS Not KING
MAD WORLD
A Messianic Experience?
Obama VS Life
Cold Persons
5/10/08
Lebanon Struggles On
What do North Americans know or care about the struggles of Lebanon? How has the perception of that struggle changed ovr the last 10, 20, 30 years? Why?
There are a lot of significant events to take interest in around the world, nearly all of which I am totally unqualified to comment upon. However, since I visited Lebanon as a Catholic pilgrim in Feb. 2006 during a window of stability, I am interested.( We were one of THREE pilgrim groups in 30 years, a particular mission of Fr. Augustine Aoun to show Lebanon as the holy land of the bible.)
REAL BISHOP
Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Kansas, shepherds his flock:
"Because the governor (Kathleen Sebelius)has now rejected his pleas and her public stand constitutes a scandal to the faithful, the archbishop said that he has now directed her to refrain from receiving Communion." (CWN)
LISBON TREATY
I wish someone would take an interest in this.
Conrad Black does an excellent summary of why we should be paying attention:
"The treaty of Lisbon — which would substantially amend the legal underpinnings of the European Union — establishes the priority of European legislation over that of formerly sovereign national parliaments; gives new impetus to a common European foreign and security policy; and takes a giant step toward Eurointegration, which most Europeans don’t want."
'Most Europeans' are right!
Conrad Black does an excellent summary of why we should be paying attention:
"The treaty of Lisbon — which would substantially amend the legal underpinnings of the European Union — establishes the priority of European legislation over that of formerly sovereign national parliaments; gives new impetus to a common European foreign and security policy; and takes a giant step toward Eurointegration, which most Europeans don’t want."
'Most Europeans' are right!
5/9/08
Economic Collapse linked to Moral Decay
An essay by Stephen Gray gives us something to think about:
“History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.”(Douglas MacArthur)
Oh, but if only we WOULD learn from history! I think I'll choose... um...Spiritual Awakening!
"My mind withdrew its thoughts from experience, extracting itself from the contradictory throng of sensuous images, that it might find out what that light was wherein it was bathed... And thus, with the flash of one hurried glance, it attained to the vision of That Which Is."
(Saint Augustine)
Rally?
Terry O'Neill has posted a review of MSM coverage of yesterday's March For LIfe in Ottawa and across the country (Canada). Not surprisingly, it was practically impossible to find any.
And people go to university to learn this?
And people go to university to learn this?
Phillipines-For Life
I thought this website was very professional and informative. This seems to be a very active pro-life organization !
March For Life
Pictures of MY SON & WIFE, MY MOM & DAD, and others in front of the legislature in Halifax.
Big Blue Wave has the latest updates on the 2008 March for Life today.
Peter Ryan comments on the Fredricton March for Life. (Peter has his Right-to-Life office in the building BESIDE the Morgentaler Clinic!)
5/6/08
Funeral For the Unborn
On Sat. May 3, Bishop John Quinn held a funeral for 25 aborted babies, recovered from behind a dumpster. Fr. Frank Pavone writes:
"This is no ordinary funeral. There are still too many of our fellow citizens who don’t even acknowledge that the people who will be buried this Saturday are people at all. To mourn their deaths publicly, therefore, is not just to honor them, but to sound a wake-up call to our nation that we are living amidst the biggest holocaust of all time. That is why I have called upon my brother priests nationwide to bring to the attention of their congregations this weekend that children are being buried who were brutally, legally killed, and that the killing has to end."
Bishop Quinn happens to be our Bishop, in the Cayman Islands, as we are under the 'administration' of the Diocese of Detroit - and I can't express how grateful I am for this good shepherd.
It Was Bush...Again!
Looking for news on Myanmar,I happened upon a fellow who bests Al Gore at the 'blame game'- although its a pretty close race!
*LANGUAGE ALERT*
God Bless America!
*LANGUAGE ALERT*
God Bless America!
5/5/08
Caritas Helping in Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar, MAY 5, 2008 (Zenit.org)
- The aid agency Caritas Internationalis is at work in Myanmar, where the death toll is nearing 4,000 after Saturday's pounding from Tropical Cyclone Nargis.
Caritas is coordinating relief efforts for its 162 national members and working with staff in the region. But they said communications to Myanmar have been severely affected and a clear picture of the devastation is yet to emerge.
Caritas Internationalis Emergency Response Team Leader Dolores Halpin-Bachmann said, "There is an urgent need for access to aid workers to the affected areas so that we can assess the damage, start to provide food, shelter, clean water and medical assistance.
"We've only been receiving sketchy reports, but they're enough to make us concerned about the humanitarian situation. Nagris hit a major city with a population of 5 million people. In that environment, we know how important it is for people to get access to clean water to stop the spread of disease.
"Caritas knows from experience that the first few days are crucial to saving lives. Following the Asia Tsunami in 2004, hundreds of thousands of lives were saved because of the rapid and effective response of the humanitarian community in the early phase of the emergency. The government must do all it can to help aid workers respond."
The death toll could reach 10,000 as there are still thousands of people unaccounted for./
- The aid agency Caritas Internationalis is at work in Myanmar, where the death toll is nearing 4,000 after Saturday's pounding from Tropical Cyclone Nargis.
Caritas is coordinating relief efforts for its 162 national members and working with staff in the region. But they said communications to Myanmar have been severely affected and a clear picture of the devastation is yet to emerge.
Caritas Internationalis Emergency Response Team Leader Dolores Halpin-Bachmann said, "There is an urgent need for access to aid workers to the affected areas so that we can assess the damage, start to provide food, shelter, clean water and medical assistance.
"We've only been receiving sketchy reports, but they're enough to make us concerned about the humanitarian situation. Nagris hit a major city with a population of 5 million people. In that environment, we know how important it is for people to get access to clean water to stop the spread of disease.
"Caritas knows from experience that the first few days are crucial to saving lives. Following the Asia Tsunami in 2004, hundreds of thousands of lives were saved because of the rapid and effective response of the humanitarian community in the early phase of the emergency. The government must do all it can to help aid workers respond."
The death toll could reach 10,000 as there are still thousands of people unaccounted for./
I Swear !
" The San Damaso Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace will be filled on Tuesday evening with close to 100 of the Pope’s Swiss Guards decked out in their 16th century black, red, and yellow dress uniforms. The occasion for the guards’ en masse appearance is the oath swearing ceremony of 33 new recruits for the papal guard." more...
Pro-Life Bill Passes House
"The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Senate-approved genetic discrimination ban that now heads to President Bush for his signature. The bill bars employers and health insurers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of their own or their family members’ genetic information." more...
Watch Out - Here Comes the Backlash!
Now, here's a group of highschool kids I can admire. They are standing up for their right to receive an education free of propaganda!:
"On April 25, adult homosexual activists with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) held their annual “Day of Silence” (DOS) propaganda push. During DOS, teachers and students in roughly three thousand middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country are cynically used as culture war pawns in an effort to legitimize conventionally immoral, objectively deviant and demonstrably high-risk sexual behaviors.
Kids and teachers are encouraged on DOS to disrupt the school day by refusing to speak in class as a show of support to students who self-identify as “GLBT” (No, GLBT has nothing to do with bacon, lettuce and tomato; it’s liberalese for “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender”)...
... this year, something extraordinary happened on the way to the brainwashing. Kids at schools all over the country stood tall and said, “Enough is enough!” Untold thousands of students participated in a peaceful, pro-family counter effort called the “Day of Silence Walkout.”
In unyielding defense of God’s design for natural human sexuality, marriage and family, these gutsy kids stayed home from school on DOS (with their parents’ permission) and let school officials know why. Some of them even participated in peaceful prayer rallies outside school in support of sexual morality and purity.
The DOS Walkout was an overwhelming success and far exceeded the expectations of the dozens of participating pro-family organizations, such as Concerned Women for America (CWA)."
Kids with some moral fortitude. HURRAH!
"On April 25, adult homosexual activists with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) held their annual “Day of Silence” (DOS) propaganda push. During DOS, teachers and students in roughly three thousand middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country are cynically used as culture war pawns in an effort to legitimize conventionally immoral, objectively deviant and demonstrably high-risk sexual behaviors.
Kids and teachers are encouraged on DOS to disrupt the school day by refusing to speak in class as a show of support to students who self-identify as “GLBT” (No, GLBT has nothing to do with bacon, lettuce and tomato; it’s liberalese for “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender”)...
... this year, something extraordinary happened on the way to the brainwashing. Kids at schools all over the country stood tall and said, “Enough is enough!” Untold thousands of students participated in a peaceful, pro-family counter effort called the “Day of Silence Walkout.”
In unyielding defense of God’s design for natural human sexuality, marriage and family, these gutsy kids stayed home from school on DOS (with their parents’ permission) and let school officials know why. Some of them even participated in peaceful prayer rallies outside school in support of sexual morality and purity.
The DOS Walkout was an overwhelming success and far exceeded the expectations of the dozens of participating pro-family organizations, such as Concerned Women for America (CWA)."
Kids with some moral fortitude. HURRAH!
5/3/08
SUPPORT FREEDOM FIRST
Yes! Send the money where it will have the MOST effect!
Canadians First -> Conservative Party Members -far,far, second !!
David Warren in the Ottawa Citizen:
"...The notion that "freedom of speech is an American concept" -- I am quoting Dean Steacy, principal "mediator" (i.e. thought-crime investigator) for the Canadian Human Rights Commission -- is proving sadly true in the limited sense that most of the money donated to the various legal defence funds has come, via Internet, from outraged citizens of the U.S.
Our Conservative government's cowardly failure to intervene in defence of free press and speech by, for example, immediately withdrawing the egregious Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Code, gives another indication of Canadian sleepiness. (This is the section which empowers the "human rights" commissions to go trawling for political incorrectitude on the Internet.)
In light of which, perhaps the most effective way to support our own beleaguered journalists is for people who have given money to the Conservative party in the past, to make all future donations to the legal defence funds instead, until Prime Minister Harper and company get the message. Don't forget to send the Conservative party a note explaining what you have done, and why..."
Canadians First -> Conservative Party Members -far,far, second !!
David Warren in the Ottawa Citizen:
"...The notion that "freedom of speech is an American concept" -- I am quoting Dean Steacy, principal "mediator" (i.e. thought-crime investigator) for the Canadian Human Rights Commission -- is proving sadly true in the limited sense that most of the money donated to the various legal defence funds has come, via Internet, from outraged citizens of the U.S.
Our Conservative government's cowardly failure to intervene in defence of free press and speech by, for example, immediately withdrawing the egregious Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Code, gives another indication of Canadian sleepiness. (This is the section which empowers the "human rights" commissions to go trawling for political incorrectitude on the Internet.)
In light of which, perhaps the most effective way to support our own beleaguered journalists is for people who have given money to the Conservative party in the past, to make all future donations to the legal defence funds instead, until Prime Minister Harper and company get the message. Don't forget to send the Conservative party a note explaining what you have done, and why..."
not united with Christ
Why do people , who are obviously NOT Christian, insist on being part of the Christian community? Why do they say 'we are old-fashioned and out of touch to believe in Christ' and then remain? What makes them think that they, out of millions currently, and over 2000+ years - they have it right? Mental illness?
Charles Lewis relates this story of a Rev. who doesn't wish to be, presiding over a Christian church she wishes wasn't, and how the United Church of Canada is too far gone to protest:
"...Ms. Vosper does not believe in the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the miracles and the sacrament of baptism. Nor does she believe in the creeds, the presence of Christ in communion or that Jesus was the Son of God.
In 'With or Without God', her book that was formally launched this week, she writes that Jesus was a "Middle Eastern peasant with a few charismatic gifts and a great posthumous marketing team."
I read a novel at Christmas called 'Father Elijah' by Michael O'Brien . It was apocalyptic, and the villain talked the same game as Ms. Vosper...
Saving Souls, One Book at a time
According to Phil Lawler at CWN, Judie Brown's new book "Saving Those Damn Catholics" is a keeper:
"...Saving Those Damned Catholics examines the pro-life struggle in the United States, and more specifically on the treasonous behavior of many Catholics who have failed to condemn abortion or, far worse, actually promoted the slaughter of the unborn. Thousands of unborn lives are being lost each week, she reminds us, and hundreds of Catholic politicians are risking damnation by supporting the butchery ..."
I can think of a Cardinal who might get a copy in the mail...
"...Saving Those Damned Catholics examines the pro-life struggle in the United States, and more specifically on the treasonous behavior of many Catholics who have failed to condemn abortion or, far worse, actually promoted the slaughter of the unborn. Thousands of unborn lives are being lost each week, she reminds us, and hundreds of Catholic politicians are risking damnation by supporting the butchery ..."
I can think of a Cardinal who might get a copy in the mail...
March For Life
Lifesite News reports that Alveda King will be speaking at the March for Life, May 8.Some regional 'Marches' will be happening this weekend.
Canadians Bishops have exhorted all Catholics to join in the 'March'.
Get on your sneakers and start Marching For Life!
Funny Catholics (Wha?!)
Thanks to 'Big Blue Wave' for showing me this very funny site. I always like a little 'snort' with my tea!
My favourite post, of course, is 'Babies':
"...It is speculated by many non-Catholics that a Catholic family’s Catholicity is qualified and quantified according to the number of babies had by said Catholic family. When discussing Catholic families with other Catholics it is more often than not, with some jest, remarked that a Catholic family with 4 or more babies is a ‘good catholic family.’ Though this is the American public view of Catholics with many babies, more is required in order to be a good Catholic family than having lots of babies. Such as: raising the babies in the Catholic faith, going to Sunday mass, taking advantage of the sacraments, being the primary educators for the babies, and teaching the babies to pray and pray regularly.
It must be noted that Catholic families are not baby factories. Nor are Catholic families baby making machines. Further, there are no rooms or houses where Catholic wives are chained to beds perpetually pregnant and popping out babies like a queen bee. Nothing can be further from the truth..."
Oh Honey! Bring the key...
5/1/08
Turkey Debates Free Speech - HELLO CANADA!!
According to AlJazeera Turkey is debating a reform of laws which have been used to prosecute journalists:
"...Turkish legislators are debating a proposal to soften a law restricting freedom of speech that has been used to prosecute several writers.
A vote on the proposed amendment to Article 301 of Turkey's penal code, which bars insults to the Turkish identity or the country's institutions, is expected on Tuesday or early Wednesday.
The ruling party, which proposed the change, has a majority in the 550-seat parliament and the amendment is expected to pass.
Turkey says close to 7,000 people have been prosecuted under that law and its precursor since 2003, including Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel prize winner..."
There are some similarities between the Canadian HRC's and the Turkish anti-speech laws. Like who gets targeted.
Any bets on who will see 'reform' first?
Catholic Carnival # 170
Catholic Carnival #170 is chock-full of goodies this week! Have a look, and check out 'Books, Reviews. and More' while you're there!
Canadian Anglicans Struggle to Find Way Home
One of Canada's best known Anglican theologians, J.I.Packer, has moved on:
"...On April 23, Dr. Packer handed in his clergy licence to Canadian Canadian Bishop Michael Ingham , the bishop of New Westminster, who had already declared him and ten other clergy to be guilty of "abandoning" their ministry. Dr. Packer told a meeting of the Anglican Network this week that he could no longer serve in ministry under Bishop Ingham.
He told a conference of 400 orthodox Anglicans this week, "It seems to me that in a situation where arguably, elected bishops become heretical, what is the divine answer to that, there must be possibility for realignment for the faithful where heresy, doctrinal and moral is approved."
It takes a lot of courage to persevere the way the Anglican Essentials group has . They have a lot to lose as individuals and as believers in a faithful Anglican Communion.
They also have a lot to gain.
4/30/08
How Short is YOUR Kilt?
An interesting comments page is up at 'Dawn Eden' .
Dawn is a well known author of books about chastity, and popular speaker to groups of young adults. Last week she did a speaking tour of highschools in Ontario.
YIKES! Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School (did I say CATHOLIC?!!) does not seem to have appreciated being 'forced' to sit and listen ONE WHOLE HOUR to some American lady talking about chastity.
Apparantly the students felt the mere subject matter indicated that she was judging them as 'unchaste'. (Not the word the student commenters used!)
There is a disturbing lack of reason and an incredible degree of self-absorption exhibited by these 'students'. Not at all what one would expect from an authentic Catholic education.
So tell me, is it the school or the parents? (or just a bad day!?)
4/29/08
New Tourist Destinations - Pakistan and Iran?
Straight from Bangladesh :
"A twenty-three day sojourn from Dhaka to London is quite on the cards within this year... The whole exercise will be facilitated under a proposed scheme sponsored by the United Nations, where Pakistan and Iran will link up their railway lines in the coming months to join the Indian subcontinent’s railway route to that of Europe for the first time."
This is the editorial page. Apparantly the editors can anticipate only good results.
They are also excited about .." a linking up of Myanmar and Thailand to the east ... to the extreme reaches of Asia and then Russia, Poland, Holland and London..."
Does anyone else see an obvious 'fly in the ointment?'
"A twenty-three day sojourn from Dhaka to London is quite on the cards within this year... The whole exercise will be facilitated under a proposed scheme sponsored by the United Nations, where Pakistan and Iran will link up their railway lines in the coming months to join the Indian subcontinent’s railway route to that of Europe for the first time."
This is the editorial page. Apparantly the editors can anticipate only good results.
They are also excited about .." a linking up of Myanmar and Thailand to the east ... to the extreme reaches of Asia and then Russia, Poland, Holland and London..."
Does anyone else see an obvious 'fly in the ointment?'
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