chastity reVisited

Respect Life Month in Connecticut

2011-11-01T15:08:00.001-04:00

Respect Life Month in Connecticut was a busy one this October. Especially notewothy were the youth at Trinity Catholic Middle School, St. Mary's Youth Group in Norwalk, and the young people participating in the Life Chains in Connecticut. We are proud of our youth who are not afraid to stand for life!

Freedom of religion on the line! Write now!

2011-09-30T19:09:00.001-04:00

Bishops nationwide are urging their parishioners and concerned citizens to write before midnight tonight to prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from providing 100% coverage for contraception and sterilization services as part of Obamacare. Contraception would include the emergency contraception, such as Ella, pictured left. Emergency contraception can act as an abortifacient, should the woman be fertile, prohibiting implantation of a fertilized egg, thus aborting the embryo.

Objections of conscience are being accepted until 11:59 p.m. Friday. There are several methods to communicate to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, by form letter or email, or contacting you congresspeople.

Visit this site to send your emails or pre-written forms now.

It's about religious liberty first, contraception second!

2011-09-27T20:17:00.001-04:00

Federal challenge to religious liberty: Bishops speak out against violation of religious freedom

Of course Catholics believe that contraception, abortion and sterilization is wrong. But that's beside the point. Although we will be forced to fund these services- as preventative services- we need first to speak up about this violation of our First Amendment rights. It is secondary what we believe- the primary focus is that we are forced to give up what we believe.

Catholics can use this as an educational tool AFTER we make it clear that this "interim final rule" is unconstitutional.

Send a form letter to HHS by clicking here.
Send a form letter to your Congresspeople by clicking here.
Email Kathleen Sebelius- our Catholic head of HHS by clicking here.

Do it now- you have until Friday afternoon and then comments are closed!

A evening of chant and polyphony at St. Mary's in Norwalk

2011-07-26T23:38:00.006-04:00

What do preteens and teenagers do on a hot Friday summer night? Go to the movies? Hit the pool? Well these kids went to church to sing in a concert of Gregorian chant and polyphony, as a fundraiser for their trip to Spain for World Youth Day!

What made it especially amazing, was for artistic reasons, the air conditioner was turned off, to allow the purity of sound to make its way through the church. These kids barely flinched, and the Sisters in full habit never wiped a bead of sweat!

All this was miraculous in itself, but wait until you hear the music-absolutely heavenly. All the favorites: Ave Verum Corpus of Byrd, Jesu dulcis memoria by Palestrina, all the favorite Marian chants, and a special treat, Ave Maris Stella with alternating versets by Grigny played by David J. Hughes, organist and conductor. The organ at St. Mary's sounds great opened all the way, and, dare I say- it rocked!

Have you ever heard applause or seen a standing ovation in a church? Well, the answer should be "no", but I doubt it. Pastor, Father Greg Markey, told the audience that he and Hughes have an agreement that there will never be applause during Mass (Deo gratias). And Hughes, for all his toil and labors (which he loves), never receives applause. The audience, made up of many parishioners, saved it all for this performance!

Check out the article, and videos that are included. Sit back and enjoy!
http://exm.nr/nliaDo

The 43rd anniversary of Humanae Vitae

2011-07-25T17:09:00.002-04:00

Today, July 25, the Feast of St. James, is also the anniversary of the much misunderstood encyclical Humanae Vitae, or "On the Regulation of Birth" by Pope Paul VI. Where do you stand with this dry, yet landmark encyclical? This brief article reveals some of the prophecies of the encyclical, if birth control was to become the norm. Did you know that it all began in Connecticut with the Griswold v. Connecticut decision?

As we all know, those prophecies came true, and it seems impossible to turn back the clock. But what does move ahead is research. Janet Smith, in her newest "Contraception:Why Not" talk, she reveals the research of anthropologist Lionel Tiger, on the behavior of male monkeys when subject to contracepted female monkeys. Interesting study, and it explains a lot.

This week is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, a time to pray for an increase in chastity, within and outside of marriage. On the threshold of New York's decision to redefine marriage, and more states to follow suit, we need to pray more than ever.

This anniversary day, and this NFP Week, is a time to pray for all those who courageously embrace chastity, as a single, married, celibate, or same sex attraction. It is also a day to pray for those who don't.

Miserere nobis.

Listen to this group of young singers on their way to World Youth Day

2011-07-20T14:41:00.005-04:00

Ever heard anything like it?

Read more about this talented and dedicated group- http://bit.ly/nj9L9r

Purchase CD, reserve tickets for the concert- www.chantwith.us

Sisters of Life and Connecticut student singing group bound for Madrid

2011-07-19T23:31:00.000-04:00

Norwalk student singing group bound for Madrid

The Sisters of Life Schola have teamed up with St. Mary's Student Schola of Norwalk, Connecticut to sing at the English-speaking Masses of World Youth Day this August in Madrid. What is so special about this group? For starters, they sing only Gregorian chant and polyphony. The WYD English-speaking Masses will include all the Propers, chanted by the Student Schola, and the Ordinary and other motets in polyphony with the Sisters of Life. A benefit concert will be performed at St. Mary Church in Norwalk, CT with the proceeds going to fund the trip for the students and their chaperones. The Schola has also recorded as CD, which will be available for purchase at the concert, or online by visiting their website: www.chantwith.us .

As if singing at World Youth Day wasn't enough, the Schola will also travel to Toledo, where they will sing for the Primate of all Spain, Archbishop Braulio Rodriguez Plaza, at one of the greatest Gothic structures in Europe, the Toledo Cathedral. The roster of activities will not conclude until the Schola has sung a Traditional Latin Mass at the Monasterio de la Encarnacion in Avila, where St. Teresa was received into the Carmelite order, and Juventutem, the Traditional Latin Mass counterpart to World Youth Day.

Help this extraordinary group get to Spain, to bring the beauty of Gregorian chant and polyphony, the true music of the Church, to the participants at World Youth Day. The youth there may never pray the Holy Mass the same way again! Donate here: http://chantwith.us/donate/
Read more here: Norwalk student singing group bound for Madrid.

Have we helped Fr. Corapi, or hurt him?

2011-07-06T00:19:00.004-04:00

The following comment was posted on Facebook, as a reaction to the July 5 report on the press release from the Rev. Gerard Sheehan, SOLT Regional Priest Servant:

Why continue to perpetuate negativity about Fr. Corapi? Its (sic) out there where everyone can read it, leave it there, on the outside. Offering prayer for him and perpetuating the viciousness is two faced.

Is the blogging world being viciously two-faced? Plenty of blame has gone around the internet and blogosphere, from Fr. Corapi's former Bishop, in the SOLT press release, from various Facebook and blog commentators, and of course, from the Black Sheepdog himself. Bloggers have pulled back, realizing their comments were harsh and judgmental. But, is it "perpetuating negativity" for Fr. Corapi's SOLT to release a statement that details the investigative findings?

From the very first, Fr. Corapi made dramatic statements of his own, which "perpetuated negativity" against his superiors, along with a refusal to obey. Corapi supporters followed, hoped and prayed, convinced of his innocence. This is natural, we presume innocence until proven guilty. But did supporters think critically, realizing the danger their souls were in by ignoring the authority of a bishop, and grumbling, "perpetuating negativity" of their own?

Back in March, Fr. Z wrote a very thoughtful piece, "Priests, holiness, and avoiding spiritual peril," in which he wrote,

Turning priests or bishops into idealized icons of holiness is fraught with spiritual peril. Admire the admirable, of course. But we need a necessary corrective in our admiration, namely, that the sole Holy One of God is Jesus Christ, the only perfect High Priest and actual minister of all graces which Holy Church’s ministers have the honor to mediate.

The current situation calls for our discretion. To continue to promote Fr. Corapi's talks, when he has been ordered by his superiors to refrain from speaking publicly can also be spiritually perilous for the faithful. If blind admiration continues to empower an errant priest to continue in his error, do these actions help to reconcile a priest with the Church, or the disillusioned faithful back to faith?

And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not: and you, being once converted, confirm your brethren. Luke 22:31

At this point, we need to pray for our priests, pray for each other, and keep our eyes open.

Other commentary:
http://www.patheos.com/community/theanchoress/2011/07/05/solt-and-corapi/
http://markshea.blogspot.com/2011/07/mercy-and-forgiveness-for-fr-corapi-and.html
http://theologyofthebody.blogspot.com/2011/07/fr-corapi-is-not-fit-for-priestly.html

Fr. Corapi is not fit for priestly ministry, SOLT declares

2011-07-05T13:11:00.014-04:00

There are many saddened Catholics today, as a press release is issued by Rev. Gerard Sheehan, of the Society of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity (SOLT), Fr. Corapi's community. SOLT claims that Fr. Corapi, while inspiring countless numbers of Christians (whom Fr. Corapi now calls his "fans"), is now misleading them. The blunt press release continues with a very detailed account of Fr. Corapi's dealings, and detailed explanation of the investigation findings.

Rev. Sheehan states: "While SOLT does not typically comment publicly on personnel matters, it recognizes that Father John Corapi, through his ministry, has inspired thousands of faithful Catholics, many of whom continue to express their support of him. SOLT also recognizes that Father Corapi is now misleading these individuals through his false statements and characterizations. It is for these Catholics that SOLT, by means of this announcement, seeks to set the record straight."

It calls for Fr. Corapi to surrender his possessions, who "holds legal title to over $1 million in real estate, numerous luxury vehicles, motorcycles, an ATV, a boat dock, and several motor boats, which is a serious violation of his promise of poverty as a perpetually professed member of the society," and return to the community. Unfortunately, Fr. Corapi resigned from the community in June, with the issuance of his first statement as the "Black Sheepdog."

The final blow states: "SOLT’s prior direction to Fr. John Corapi not to engage in any preaching or teaching, the celebration of the sacraments or other public ministry continues. Catholics should understand that SOLT does not consider Fr. John Corapi as fit for ministry."

Many bloggers, and plain old observers, knew something was not quite right, when Fr. Corapi came out publicly endorsing his "brand." Claiming his innocence, but still giving information in dribs and drabs, left the faithful confused and unclear. This press release makes many things clear. His many "fans" will await his statement.

Gerard Nadal, MD, in his blog post, calls this update of events "nothing short of tragic," and invites the faithful to continue in a Divine Mercy Novena for Fr. Corapi. The faithful continues to receive signs that our priests, who are always in need of our prayers, need our prayers now more than ever. The more of a celebrity status, the more vulnerable the priest can be to attack by forces which lead them into temptation. Remember, that each Thursday is the commemoration of the priesthood, and to offer your Holy Communions especially on that day for our priests.

St. John Vianney, pray for our priests!

Read the entire press release here.

Is it surprising that the Pope tweets?

2011-06-30T15:14:00.005-04:00

I checked my iPhone on Tuesday afternoon, and caught the breaking news that the Pope sent his first tweet. The next three tweets were insulting and offensive. Is that to be expected? An 80-something year old Pontiff is on an iPad. I think it's great! Yeah, the video revealed he isn't too familiar with the iPad, and maybe he doesn't even use a computer, and may never again. I, for one, hope I get another tweet from @PopeBenedictXVI ! As one of his 10,000+ followers, I would love to see a tweet every once in a while.

There were some very clever popular tweets about Papa Bene that made me chuckle.

My tweet lord: Pope joins Twitter and launches new Vatican website
Pope Benedict sends very first Papal tweet. With over 1 billion followers-look out Lady Gaga.
The Pope joins Twitter (and on an iPad, no less.)
UPDATE: Pope Benedict's first tweet announced that he was now the mayor of the Popemobile on FourSquare.
The Pope sent his first tweet "Praise be our Lord". Um someone should tell him he needs to put @lord if he wants him to see it.
The Pope's on Twitter, which really just raises the question of what his Klout score is
Can the Pope tweet infallibly?
The Pope used an Ipad to send his first tweet, because Steve Jobs needed a self esteem boost.

And my fav:

The Pope just sent his first Tweet. It came from an iPad. He also plays Angry Birds on it but only uses the Cardinals.

Let's not forget, it was Pope Blessed John Paul II who first commissioned the Church to "put out into the deep of the net" in 2002. Nevertheless, history has been made- and as one of his 10,000+ followers, I would love to see a tweet every once in a while, not just to launch a new website!

Will you follow @PopeBenedictXVI?

Another type of Eucharistic flash mob

2011-06-28T22:20:00.003-04:00

Thomas Peters, the American Papist, recently posted another flash mob video that took place in England by Franciscan Friars. Bringing Jesus into the public square can be a powerful experience, may have a powerful impact on believers, and may bring about a conversion in non-believers, or those away from the Church. While moving, it raises concerns about the treatment of the Blessed Sacrament, for instance, when the Friar stuffs the monstrance, with Jesus in it, into a duffel bag and walks away with the duffel swinging at his side.

Fr. Z also posted the English flash mob, and a lengthy discussion ensued. Fr. Z created a poll about this video, and posed some questions about this kind of evangelization.

While many were comments were positive, there were also many reservations. Some comments included:

" I don’t think that one should expose the presence without at least some ability to attempt to protect it from insult. "

"I find the concept of putting Jesus into a gym bag and walking off with Him disturbing. "

"I think a more formally organized event, like a Eucharistic procession, could have the same evangelical effect of witness while better safeguarding the dignity of the Blessed Sacrament. "

"An example of what could have gone wrong is when that young woman came and grabbed the friar’s shoulder at the end… it looked as if she was thanking him, but it could have been otherwise…"

Finally, a priest named Fr. Basil summed it up:

First off, the music at the beginning is what so many people here complain about when it’s played at an Ordinary Form Mass. Why is it acceptable here?

Next, there is the impropriety of simply pulling the Holy Mysteries out of a bag and exposing them to the gaze of all and sundry, including the uninstructed and unbelievers and inattentive. Was the possibility of a mentally ill person or hater of God attacking the priest and desecrating the Holy Gifts ever considered?

The message about Jesus throughout the Bible was good, but it would have been just as effective–and more closely following the examples of the ancient evangelists and missionaries–had he simply held up a large, beautiful Crucifix...

A poster on Fr. Z's blog named Birgit offered the video above as a more reverent way to bring Jesus to the streets. It's presented by Grassroots Films, an independent inspirational motion picture film company founded in 2001.

In one parish in Norwalk, CT, the Corpus Christi procession was meant to do this, bring Jesus reverently out into an urban area, pausing in the parking lot of a bank, where an altar was set up and Tantum Ergo was sung. Then the procession continued.

Many people were touched by the Franciscan Friar video, the readings and the simplicity of the devotion. To bring Jesus to the people, to witness to the power of the Blessed Sacrament, and pray for the conversion of our neighborhoods, and the world, is charitable. Is it the most reverent way it can be done?

While the Grassroots film is a professionally produced video, and the UK video is not as slick, which do you prefer, and why?

NFP Week Diocese of Bridgeport

2011-06-23T08:57:00.001-04:00

St. Aloysius, patron of Catholic youth

2011-06-21T20:54:00.002-04:00

St. Aloysius Gonzaga's outstanding quality was his radiant purity and the Church praises this perfect innocence with the words, "Thou has made him little less than the angels." He was baptized in the womb, because his life was in danger, and he made a vow of chastity at the age of nine. When he was sixteen he joined the Society of Jesus and died at the age of twenty-three in 1591 as a result of his devoted nursing of the plague-stricken.

Aloysius, born Luigi Gonzaga, grew up in 16th century Italy, in a time not unlike today, an indulgent time period, with syphilis one of the major diseases of the time. Luigi was determined to become a saint, and performed self-inflicted penances, such as getting up in the middle of the night to kneel on the floor of his bedroom, or whip himself with a belt, and fasting three days a week. He did many of penances to preserve his purity, such as avoiding looking at directly at women.

Although his father expected Luigi to be a soldier, the saint was drawn to the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and became a Jesuit. Once in his order, he received direction to get more sleep, and eat more, so austere were his penances.

When the plague struck, the Jesuits served the sick, which was an extreme sacrifice for Aloysius, who had a kidney disorder from childhood. Nursing the victims of the plague, carrying them to their quarters on his back, washing and dressing them, Aloysius eventually caught the disease. Before he died, he asked his confessor if it was possible to avoid Purgatory. His extreme penances and strong will may have benefited him in that regard.

Aloysius' purity and selflessness makes him a powerful patron for Catholic youth, especially teens. His image is frequently pictured with the crucifix, a lily, and a skull, for his devotion to the Cross of Christ, his purity, and his serving the sick.

St. Aloysius, pray for us!

Fr. Hardon's talk on St. Aloysius.

Requiescat in pacem, Fr. Richard Hogan

2011-06-15T18:08:00.003-04:00

Fr. Hogan with Adrienne Keogler of Fairfield County CCL

The pro-life community mourns the untimely passing of one of her most dedicated servants- Fr. Richard Hogan who passed away on June 14, 2011 due to complications from diabetes. Most recently, Fr. Hogan worked with the Couple to Couple League to update the Natural Family Planning program for couples and teachers. Fr. Hogan was one of the first to bring Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body into study and popularity, writing books and giving talks on the subject over more than 25 years.

Sharing his knowledge and love for Theology of the Body and its teachings, Fr. Hogan served on the CCL Board of Directors for four years, and his booklets, "Is NFP Good", and "The Human Body...a sign of dignity and gift" are used in the training of CCL teaching couples. Fr. Hogan is featured in CCL's classes, on DVD, presenting talks as part of the pastoral portion of NFP instruction. Bishop William Lori invited Fr. Hogan to speak on Theology of the Body in the Diocese of Bridgeport's 2004 conference, Human Love in the Divine Plan, where he shared his knowledge and love generously.

Being one of the first to explore and publish on TOB, Fr.Hogan later hosted a TOB program on EWTN, and also answered questions on the NFP Forum on the EWTN website.

Serving full time at Priests for Life, Fr. Hogan was the only priest beside Fr. Pavone who was given permission to serve full time there, which he did for five years. "With the passing of Father Hogan, it is my prayer that we will continue to see more priests and deacons seek and receive permission to minister to the unborn on a full-time basis. Moreover, we renew the call for lay people to devote themselves full-time to the pro-life cause," Father Pavone said.

Fr. Hogan's influence will continue to touch the pro-life community and NFP couples for many years. CCL teachers have been touched by Fr. Hogan. "He will be so missed..." says Pamela, "yet live on through our classes."

He will be greatly missed. Fr. Hogan, pray for us!

Read more
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=41779
http://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/3673-priests-for-life-mourns-passing-of-fr-richard-hogan
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Couple-to-Couple-League-Natural-Family-Planning/211105765697
http://www.nfpoutreach.org/hogan.htm

Natural Family Planning Awareness Week begins July 24

2011-06-08T19:41:00.003-04:00

NFP Awareness Week is July 24-30 this year. NFP Week highlights the anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical of Pope Paul VI focusing on human sexuality, conjugal love, and responsible parenthood, and the Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Blessed Mother.

During NFP week, tell someone why NFP is a physically and spiritually healthy way to marital love. Evangelize your pastor, and ask for an NFP Class to be held in your parish. Involve your pro-life ministry in educating their members about the life-giving gift of NFP.

And celebrate the renewal of your marriage vows! ;-)

Rogation Days would have been a good idea!

2011-06-01T20:59:00.003-04:00

I'm sure you have prayed for the victims of the recent horrible natural disasters that have plagued Haiti, Japan, Joplin, MO, and other parts of the U.S., and around the world. A tornado watch was in effect for the NY tristate area, including Fairfield County until 8 p.m. Wednesday. A tornado did hit Springfield Massachusetts, about 60 miles from here. That's a little too close to home! Thankfully, there are no fatalities reported, but there are casualties and some significant tree and property damage.

In the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, the days leading up to Ascension Thursday are designated to pray for the blessing of crops and also for safety from natural disasters. Fr. Z writes about it here.

The name "Rogation" comes from the Latin "rogare", to ask. Rogation Days originated in the the fifth century, when a Diocese in France was experiencing earthquakes and "other calamities", and was then later introduced into the Church's general observance by Pope Leo III.

The Litany of the Saints, psalms, and Mass is celebrated, along with a procession. A fast and/or penances may also be observed by the faithful.

I'll be saying the Litany tonight when I pray for those people in Springfield; and a prayer of thanksgiving that Fairfield County was spared.

UN Wants Billions for STD Vaccination Scheme

2011-05-05T22:43:00.003-04:00

NEW YORK, May 5 (C-FAM) The UN is about to ask governments to fund the vaccination of every girl in the world against the sexually transmitted disease HPV, human papillomavirus. The controversial campaign could cost as much as $300 per person, totaling billions.

Dignitaries who launched the campaign at the UN in mid-April included a prominent African first lady, leaders from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the American Cancer Society, and the contraceptives manufacturer PATH.

UNFPA and PATH want donor nations to buy the vaccine at $14 per shot. Three shots are required over a period of six months, totaling $42, and the treatment is only good for five years. Seven treatments would be required to cover each woman’s reproductive lifetime.
Advocates warned the assembly that the idea would be contentious. Casting the campaign as an effort to eradicate cervical cancer rather than a massive vaccination program against a sexually transmitted disease will help steer clear of political resistance, they said.
One advocate advised the dignitaries that when they are asked why children should be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease, the UN should use the precedent of infant vaccinations against Hepatitis B.
When American local governments tried to mandate inoculation of school girls against HPV several years ago, popular outcry quashed the initiatives.
While none of the UN speakers addressed the issue, cervical cancer is caused by HPV infection, which is spread through sexual contact. The panel lamented a dramatic increase in the cancer in the developing world, but were less clear on the reasons for its rise, sidestepping issues of sexual behavior and focusing instead on gaining political will to fund the vaccination program.
Of the half million new cases of cervical cancer each year, more than half of the patients die, usually because they did not know they had the disease until it had reached advanced stages.
UNFPA deputy executive director Purnima Mane said UNFPA would spearhead the campaign. If approved by UN member states, UNFPA stands to receive a significant boost in funding, given the fact that there are billions of women and girls who would require the $42 treatment every five years.

The funding would reverse a decline in donations for international population programs, which have fallen from a high in 2008 due to the global economic downturn and plummeting global fertility rates. The Obama administration had to marginally cut UNFPA funding for 2011 during budget battles with U.S. lawmakers, but promised to increase it to $50 million in 2012. PATH likewise received $50 million, about a fifth of its funding, from the U.S. government in 2009.

Critics are concerned that the vaccination scheme will subsume the fight against cancer into the already well-funded reproductive rights agenda at the UN. They warn that because UNFPA aggressively promotes “sexual rights” for minors, the effort will not address sexual behavior or parental rights regarding medical decisions and could lead to an increase of the disease rather than its cure.

UN member states will deliberate the issue September 19th and 20th at the UN High Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases.

All generations will call him Blessed John Paul!

2011-05-01T08:16:00.001-04:00

The closing of Pope Benedict's homily for Blessed Pope John Paul II's beatification on Divine Mercy Sunday:

Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a “rock”, as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Eucharist.
Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. Amen.

For those with concerns about JPII's Beatification

2011-04-28T21:13:00.004-04:00

George Weigel has answered some very pointed questions regarding the beatification of John Paul II. He addresses, among other topics, the priest sex scandals, appointment of Cardinals and Bishops, and John Paul II's relationship with Fr. Maciel in this question and answer format article. While some still may not be convinced, it can't be denied the universal influence on vocations, priest and seminary reform, on the pro-life movement, on sexuality, on personal holiness of individuals, the list goes on.

The investigative process produced a massive, four-volume study that offers far more detail into the life and accomplishments of Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II, than the American electorate was offered about the life and accomplishments of Barack Obama, or the British electorate was offered about the lives and accomplishments of David Cameron and Nick Clegg. The people complaining about a “rush” are typically “progressive” Catholics who never had much use for John Paul II because he didn’t turn Catholicism into another liberal Protestant denomination; or ultra-traditionalists who lament the fact that he didn’t restore the French monarchy, impose the Tridentine Mass in Latin on the entire Church, and burn dozens of German theologians in the Campo dei Fiori; or ill-informed journalists who can’t stop playing “gotcha” with the Catholic Church. Their criticisms are not taken seriously by serious people.

While not overly in-depth, it's a good starting point.

http://catholicexchange.com/2011/04/25/151944/

State level votes for the funding of Planned Parenthood

2011-04-20T13:16:00.005-04:00

Do you know what Planned Parenthood is doing in your state? For my state, Connecticut, I am trying to find out. It reports performing 11,012 abortions annually. While a staggering amount in itself, I believe they contract out even more. There are four CT PP clinics that actually perform abortions, New Haven, Stamford, Norwich, and West Hartford. But there are far more non-PP clinics that perform abortions, including hospitals. Planned Parenthood can keep claiming they are keeping abortion safe, legal, and rare, but they will give them the abortion pill, RU-486 and send them home, or send them to a closer clinic for a surgical abortion. They can hide their numbers much easier that way.

According to Peter Wolfgang of the Family Institute of Connecticut, Connecticut's Planned Parenthood clinics receive $2.5 million annually directly from the federal government, for the same services paid by our Connecticut tax dollars! Planned Parenthood of Southern New England has had an average operating surplus of $1.5 million every year since 2008. And Gov. Malloy has done nothing to cut its funding, but will raise taxes for Connecticut taxpayers.

Take action by clicking here.

Neat little PP fact widget- and time to contact your SENATORS at the state level

2011-04-13T23:37:00.005-04:00

This may be old news- but Live Action has a cool widget that tick off Planned Parenthood factoids. I just got it to work on my blogger page to the right. Get the code here .

http://exposeplannedparenthood.net/

On the same page you can find the email form to notify your senators to defund Planned Parenthood.

Dems say government shutdown throws women and children under the bus

2011-04-08T19:30:00.002-04:00

Harry Reid is claiming that the Republicans are taking away women's cholesterol screenings and other necessary services. Planned Parenthood provides cholesterol screenings now? They don't even provide the mammograms everyone claims they provide! Hat tip to Jill Stanek.

Who is really making this an issue? Reid was trying to increase Title X funding which is specifically for family planning services, and now he's falsely claiming that he will not abandon women and children because of the stubbornness of the Republicans. The democrats are fighting for Planned Parenthood because they are in Obama's back pocket- remember FOCA?

Can you tell the difference?

2011-04-02T13:04:00.003-04:00

Yes, this is a controversial subject--liturgical music. Everyone has an opinion. But there are actual Church documents that direct us in the choice of music for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Do you feel the music at your church directs your thoughts Heavenward? Does it take you out of this world, or drag God down into yours? More than that, does it fully glorify God?

Can you tell the difference?? from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

InsideCatholic.com | Benign Neglect or Calculated Malignity?

2011-03-20T18:21:00.006-04:00

by Anthony Esolen

Why, I wonder, do boys these days get no love? What have they done to deserve their treatment at our hands? Recently, a boy competing for his high school in the Iowa state wrestling tournament chose to forfeit his initial match rather than wrestle against a girl. He spoke about his decision with an admirable reserve and good sense, saying that wrestling could be a violent sport, and that in this case he had to follow his conscience and his faith. He believed, in other words, exactly what in almost any other circumstances he would be taught as an absolute rule, and that is that a man is not to raise his hand in anger against a woman, and that he is not to touch a woman who is not his wife in the way that wrestling makes necessary -- grabbing under the legs, pressing chest to chest, and worse.And there are other considerations, harder to talk about, but ones that should have occurred to sensible people -- should have, that is, if there were the slightest thought for the feelings of the boy in question. The boy would have been peculiarly vulnerable. The wrestling suit is skin tight. What if he should be aroused? What if he should hesitate to use certain holds, out of embarrassment -- an embarrassment, I might add, which is natural and to be respected? Nor is the girl in exactly the same situation. She can only win, and he can only lose. If she loses and he wins, well, that is only what is "supposed" to happen, given that even before they grow tall and broad shouldered, boys are still usually stronger than girls. But if she wins, her name will be on all the sports pages across the state, as well as his.

Read more here
http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/benign-neglect-or-calculated-malignity.html

John Paul II on Unions

2011-03-12T23:53:00.003-05:00

Laborem exercens
1981 09 14
20. Importance of Unions

All these rights, together with the need for the workers themselves to secure them, give rise to yet another right: the right of association, that is to form associations for the purpose of defending the vital interests of those employed in the various professions. These associations are called labour or trade unions. The vital interests of the workers are to a certain extent common for all of them; at the same time however each type of work, each profession, has its own specific character which should find a particular reflection in these organizations.

In a sense, unions go back to the mediaeval guilds of artisans, insofar as those organizations brought together people belonging to the same craft and thus on the basis of their work. However, unions differ from the guilds on this essential point: the modern unions grew up from the struggle of the workers-workers in general but especially the industrial workers-to protect their just rights vis-a-vis the entrepreneurs and the owners of the means of production. Their task is to defend the existential interests of workers in all sectors in which their rights are concerned. The experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life, especially in modern industrialized societies. Obviously, this does not mean that only industrial workers can set up associations of this type. Representatives of every profession can use them to ensure their own rights. Thus there are unions of agricultural workers and of white-collar workers; there are also employers' associations. All, as has been said above, are further divided into groups or subgroups according to particular professional specializations.

Catholic social teaching does not hold that unions are no more than a reflection of the "class" structure of society and that they are a mouthpiece for a class struggle which inevitably governs social life. They are indeed a mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice, for the just rights of working people in accordance with their individual professions. However, this struggle should be seen as a normal endeavour "for" the just good: in the present case, for the good which corresponds to the needs and merits of working people associated by profession; but it is not a struggle "against" others. Even if in controversial questions the struggle takes on a character of opposition towards others, this is because it aims at the good of social justice, not for the sake of "struggle" or in order to eliminate the opponent. It is characteristic of work that it first and foremost unites people. In this consists its social power: the power to build a community. In the final analysis, both those who work and those who manage the means of production or who own them must in some way be united in this community. In the light of this fundamental structure of all work-in the light of the fact that, in the final analysis, labour and capital are indispensable components of the process of production in any social system-it is clear that, even if it is because of their work needs that people unite to secure their rights, their union remains a constructive factor of social order and solidarity, and it is impossible to ignore it.

Just efforts to secure the rights of workers who are united by the same profession should always take into account the limitations imposed by the general economic situation of the country. Union demands cannot be turned into a kind of group or class "egoism", although they can and should also aim at correcting-with a view to the common good of the whole of society- everything defective in the system of ownership of the means of production or in the way these are managed. Social and socioeconomic life is certainly like a system of "connected vessels", and every social activity directed towards safeguarding the rights of particular groups should adapt itself to this system.

In this sense, union activity undoubtedly enters the field of politics, understood as prudent concern for the common good. However, the role of unions is not to "play politics" in the sense that the expression is commonly understood today. Unions do not have the character of political parties struggling for power; they should not be subjected to the decision of political parties or have too close links with them. In fact, in such a situation they easily lose contact with their specific role, which is to secure the just rights of workers within the £ramework of the common good of the whole of society; instead they become an instrument used for other purposes.

Speaking of the protection of the just rights of workers according to their individual professions, we must of course always keep in mind that which determines the subjective character of work in each profession, but at the same time, indeed before all else, we must keep in mind that which conditions the specific dignity of the subject of the work. The activity of union organizations opens up many possibilities in this respect, including their efforts to instruct and educate the workers and to foster their selfeducation. Praise is due to the work of the schools, what are known as workers' or people's universities and the training programmes and courses which have developed and are still developing this field of activity. It is always to be hoped that, thanks to the work of their unions, workers will not only have more, but above all be more: in other words, that they will realize their humanity more fully in every respect.

One method used by unions in pursuing the just rights of their members is the strike or work stoppage, as a kind of ultimatum to the competent bodies, especially the employers. This method is recognized by Catholic social teaching as legitimate in the proper conditions and within just limits. In this connection workers should be assured the right to strike, without being subjected to personal penal sanctions for taking part in a strike. While admitting that it is a legitimate means, we must at the same time emphasize that a strike remains, in a sense, an extreme means. It must not be abused; it must not be abused especially for "political" purposes. Furthermore it must never be forgotten that, when essential community services are in question, they must in every case be ensured, if necessary by means of appropriate legislation. Abuse of the strike weapon can lead to the paralysis of the whole of socioeconomic life, and this is contrary to the requirements of the common good of society, which also corresponds to the properly understood nature of work itself.

Critical Mass

2011-03-10T10:20:00.001-05:00

This may sound a tad drastic, but aren't your kids souls worth considering this?

Are you concerned about "Net Neutrality?" You should be!

2010-12-16T20:53:00.002-05:00

At first glance, net neutrality seems like a good thing, a way to keep rates from going up, and keep internet providers from overcharging for downloading, surfing, viewing videos, and so on. But if it were that simple, maybe there would be more transparency in what Obama and the FCC are planning: to introduce these net neutrality rules on December 20 and approve them immediately. No one but the FCC can see the contents of these rules.

What is hidden, is what the Huffington Post's Joseph A. Palermo commissioned to Obama last year: to use the FCC to "lock in this advantage" and guarantee ""progressive social change." By making the internet a Title II entity, and providing internet for everyone, governmental regulations come right along with it.

The internet will then be state controlled media, akin to the Fairness Doctrine that looms for radio broadcasting that disagree with the State. The mainstream media already belongs to the State, next will come radio and internet.

Say goodbye to the First Amendment as we know it!

Do you see changes coming down the pike? Is net neutrality and a state controlled internet a threat to First Amendment rights?

More on the Fairness Doctrine:
http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/2010/08/net-neutrality-what-it-really-means.html
On Title II:
http://precursorblog.com/content/the-multi-billion-dollar-impact-fcc-title-ii-broadband-google-entire-internet-ecosystem
Sign a petition:
http://www.grassfire.com/141/petition.asp

Ditch Palin- let's get Santorum in there!

2010-12-14T15:15:00.001-05:00

This is a man NOT after JFK's own heart- especially when it comes to faith informing politics. And that is a good thing. Kennedy worked hard to ease the mind of the country that the Pope would not dictate his policy. Santorum believes it goes deeper than that.

“Kennedy chose not just to dispel fear, he chose to expel faith. The idea of strict or absolute separation of church and state is not and never was the American model. It’s a model used in countries like France and until recently Turkey, but it found little support in America until it was introduced into the public discourse by Justice Hugo Black in the case of Everson v. The Board of Education in 1947.”

Kennedy made enough of an impact with his philosophy, that atheists everywhere applauded him. Santorum is a far cry from the "Kennedy ethic." Santorum realizes that Kennedy used the very protections meant to guard religion from government interventions to numb the public from religion.

“The American experience has demonstrated a healthy union of faith and reason,” Santorum said. We have learned that faith for its own sake, apart from the pursuit of truth is only a sentiment, and that reason for its own sake withers into rationalism. … If I have faith only in myself, I belong to a very small religion.”

Read more here. A very eloquent, strong and faith filled speech. And not even one "you betcha!"

Do you think Santorum is electable? Would he get the GOP nomination?

Juan Diego and OLG convert millions- Feast day Dec. 12

2010-12-10T16:37:00.001-05:00

Juan Diego's fiat allowed millions of Aztecs to be converted from their practice of human sacrifice and polygamy to Catholicism. Ten million were converted in ten years! There weren't enough priests to perform the baptisms!

An Aztec Skull Rack (tzompantli in Nahuatl-Aztec language), displayed the heads of sacrificed human victims. In one ritual, 80,000 men were sacrificed to Quetzlcoatl, their supreme god.

The Aztec people were brilliant, yet cruel, with their tens of thousands of sacrifices to their gods. Listen to audio homily with some description of Aztec sacrifice and the conversion of Aztecs on account of Juan Diego.

Juan Diego was raised to sainthood in 2002, without even one miracle attributed to him. Millions of conversions is miracle enough, but on the day of his canonization, God granted the miracle to a fatherless boy.

Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego, pray for us!

Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Aztec

2010-12-09T15:46:00.002-05:00

"One who speaks like an eagle," is the Aztec name for Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, the Aztec turned Catholic hermit, who heard the call of the beautiful Lady of the hill of Tepeyac that cold winter in 1531. His response resulted in over eight million Mexicans converting to Catholicism in seven years. Juan Diego, pray for us!
Read more...http://www.examiner.com/catholic-in-hartford/catholic-church-recognizes-juan-diego-cuauhtlatoatzin-aztec

Living Rosary Wednesday Dec. 8

2010-12-04T08:59:00.004-05:00

Jean Bellagambe
St. Anne conceiving the Virgin Mary

Join Revelation12 Music Ministry for an evening of prayer, scripture and song, as we venerate the Immaculate Conception, our Blessed Mother.

Wednesday Dec. 8 @ 7 p.m.

St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church
17 Granville Ave. Danbury, CT

Christmas-friendly shopping

2010-11-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

Are you a big Black Friday shopper?

If you absolutely must join the frenzy today, keep in mind the American Family Association's acknowledgement of Christmas-friendly stores. Those are the ones that use Christmas in their advertising and on their products. Then there are those who marginalize Christmas, and those who do not recognize it. Surprisingly, the AFA found a pretty nice sized list of stores to patronize. They will be adding stores during the season. You can actually report stores to add to any of the categories.

Read more about the war on Christmas here.

More condom clarifications from Pope Benedict

2010-11-24T19:03:00.002-05:00

Why are people still so confused? And outraged?

Forget about the condom and open your mind. Read here.

The condom is not a contraceptive in the case of the prostitute, male or female. If they are all in the occasion of sin, what difference does the condom actually make?

Outside of the marriage act, sex is fornication, and in any form, is sinful. Does adding a condom to a sinful act make it more sinful or less?

If it shows concern for another, it may actual be a step toward unselfishness. Baby steps.

Condoms, however, cannot offer security in any potentially lethal situation.

What offers security?
You know the answer.

But the Pope says I can have the condom!

2010-11-23T17:48:00.002-05:00

Is there even ONE mainstream media source that has NOT said that Pope Benedict has okayed condoms?

What's your favorite overlooked quote of this whole farce? How about "the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality..." Read more here...

With all this fixation, I don't think I want to hear the word "condom" for a good long time!

But just once more....This is from AMP blog

The Pope did not say condoms were OK!

2010-11-20T18:28:00.004-05:00

Janet Smith explains it well.

I won't do it justice- but from an NFP standpoint, all I can say is: if a homosexual (with or without AIDS) is having anal sex, isn't he already in grave sin? For that matter, is the condom even contraception?

If he had AIDS, what would make it worse would be infecting his partner. This would be a grave evil.

Another good explanation is here (my article)
and commentary from Lisa Graas.
And Jimmy Akin.
And Fr. Z.

What do you think of the CCHD?

2010-11-19T23:04:00.002-05:00

The more I learn about the CCHD, the anti-poverty fundraising arm of the USCCB, the more questions open up. There are many layers to this dilemma, starting with Saul Alinsky's influence on priests involved in the CHD, the CHD's funding of questionable community organizing groups, (not to perform the corporal works of mercy), the excess of money that has been circulating, well beyond the earmarked amount, and much of it coming from our contributions.

Read this article before you decide to give to this weekend's second collection.

Connecticut death penalty sentence and Divine Mercy

2010-11-08T22:53:00.005-05:00

The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.
--Pope John Paul II, January 27, 1999, St. Louis, Missouri

Victim Jennifer Hawke-Petit's father, Rev. Richard Hawke feels differently than John Paul II, Pope Benedict and the Catechism of the Catholic Church about the death penalty. Governor Jodi Rell, also not Catholic, feels that some crimes can only be answered with the death penalty.

Rev. Hawke's position is understandable. Even Pope Benedict has stated "While the Church exhorts civil authorities . . . to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible . . . to have recourse to capital punishment." With a crime so monstrous as the Cheshire home invasion, it's hard not to hope for the harshest retribution for the perpetrators, and to think of them, not as people, but monsters.

But the Church does look at criminals as people. John Paul II, in Evangelium Vitae, asserts: "great care must be taken to respect every life, even that of criminals and unjust aggressors" because of the God-created value and dignity of every life, even the lives of those who do not, themselves, value life.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2267 ...the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent."

John Paul II's World Day of Peace message of 2001 focused on forgiveness: "No peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness: I shall not tire of repeating this warning to those who, for one reason or another, nourish feelings of hatred, a desire for revenge or the will to destroy."

Nothing mirrors forgiveness and mercy more beautifully than the story of Joe Walker of Texas, whose 40 year-old daughter was brutally murdered in a home she was selling as a real estate agent. The Divine Mercy Chaplet, which Walker prayed daily, instructed him that he must forgive his daughter's killer.

From the moment his daughter's killer was named, Walker prayed for him. "People want revenge, but revenge never works. Yes, it was just a totally senseless, random act. But everyone deserves every bit of their life so they can have a chance to repent and go to heaven. I believe that totally, completely." Belief in the Divine Mercy allowed Walker to forgive.

Let us be a people of the New Testament, not rendering an eye for an eye, but granting mercy and forgiveness. In the words of John Paul II: "In these troubled times, may the whole human family find true and lasting peace, born of the marriage of justice and mercy!"

Catholic Headlines

2010-11-07T09:31:00.010-05:00

Lot of Catholicism in the news today! I like the AP report on the Pope in Spain, it had lots of pro-life language.

"the life of children (must) be defended as sacred and inviolable from the moment of their conception."

"...church policies [that] consider homosexual acts 'intrinsically disordered.'

"...families are built on the 'indissoluble love of a man and a woman' who should be provided with financial and social benefits from governments."

"Intrinsically disordered" is a good description-it says it like it is, and condemns the act, not the person.

Read about the dedication of the new Basilica during the Pope's visit. Great description of the ritual.

Other news, Poland builds a statue of Jesus bigger than Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer!
Awesome!

Laus tibi Christe!

Marco Rubio, the 'Catholic' senator-elect from Florida, attends and 'donates thousands' to a hardline Protestant church

2010-11-04T12:33:00.004-04:00

Now here's a disappointing development! I wonder if any Catholic Floridians voted for him strictly because they thought he was Catholic? Then again, in the era of Pelosi, Biden and so many other Catholycs, it's hard to ignore that many politicians wear their Catholicism like a designer label; to gain status and votes where needed.

Know your nominees!

Marco Rubio, the 'Catholic' senator-elect from Florida, attends and 'donates thousands' to a hardline Protestant church

What did Connecticut gain this election?

2010-11-04T11:23:00.003-04:00

While the nation's voters voiced their opinions on Obama by placing more Republicans in the House since the 1940s, and voting in key Republican senators, Connecticut maintained the status quo, speaking their liberal stance loudly.

With the governorship still on the fence, and a recount looming, Connecticut voted in a completely Democratic executive branch, 20 out of 32 senate seats, and 76 out of 115 assembly seats, with Bridgeport and other recounts still trickling in. Hopeful conservatives looked to Massachusetts and Scott Brown as their example, hoping to send a Republican senator to Washington this time around, but it was not to be. All five representatives, some of the most pro-death in Congress, and Dick Blumenthal, another NARAL favorite, easily dominated at the polls.

Connecticut remains solidly blue. But there is good news. Pro-life, pro-family candidates did make gains in Connecticut.

Endorsed pro-family state senate candidates won 50% of their contests, and pro-family representative candidates won 58% of their contests. Pro-life, pro-family candidates dominate the Republican class of freshman legislators, and won the vast majority of open and contested seats, reports the Family Institute of Connecticut's Action Committee.

Even though gubernatorial candidate Foley never responded to the FIC's questionnaires on pro-life and pro-family issues, his running mate for Lieutenant Governor, Danbury's Mayor Boughton, is a solid pro-life, pro-family advocate, and helped to bring some Connecticut pro-lifers to his side. But Foley was his own worst enemy, and failed the "throw-us-a-bone test" that could have given him the lead he needed to win the election outright, says Peter Wolfgang of the FIC.

With 75% of the freshman legislators being solidly pro-family, and no pro-family seats lost, it seems that Connecticut's conservatives may be chipping away at the solid blue foundation.

"If there is one lesson to be learned from the 2010 election, it is that the GOP needs pro-family backing to run competitively and gain seats," says Wolfgang. "If the top of the ticket had embraced social conservatives, the GOP might have prevented one-party rule in Hartford. Without us, it will be consigned to permanent minority-party status."

All we can hope for is a little purple.

Connecticut is not turning RED, but the US is looking Redder

2010-11-02T20:46:00.002-04:00

It's not over til it's over.

In Connecticut, it's a tight race for Senator, but Blumenthal is prevailing.

It looks like Christine O'Donnell ruined the chances for a Republican Senator in Delaware.

Republicans are projected to win the majority in the House.

And the best consolation prize-

BYE BYE PELOSI!

More pro-life, pro-family endorsements for Connecticut

2010-11-01T21:04:00.000-04:00

Latest FIC Action Committee Endorsements

State Senate

1. Rob Gonzales, (R-3) – East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington, & South Windsor.

2. Sen. Tony Guglielmo, (R-35) – Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington, Hampton, Pomfret, Stafford, Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, and Woodstock.

State House of Representatives

1. Dennis Brenner, (R-9) – East Hartford, Glastonbury, and Manchester.

2. Dan Carter, (R-2) – Bethel, Danbury, and Redding.

3. Rep. Chris Coutu, (R-47) – Canterbury, Scotland, Sprague, and Norwich.

4. Rep. David Labriola, (R-58) – Naugatuck, Oxford, and Southbury.

5. Rep. Arthur O’Neill, (R-69) – Bridgewater, Roxbury, Southbury, and Washington.

6. Rep. John Piscopo, (R-76) – Burlington, Hawinton, Litchfield, and Thomaston

7. Tim Plungis, (R-41) – Groton.

8. Rep. Rosa Rebimbas, (R-70) – Naugatuck.

^*In the 73^rd District, both Democrat Jeff Berger and Petitioning Candidate Frank Caiazzo are pro-family

FIC ACTION COMMITTEE PAST ENDORSEMENTS
State Constitutional Office
1. Mark Boughton, (R-Danbury) – Lieutenant Governor. (267) 362-9671.
2. Martha Dean, (R-Avon) – Attorney General. (860) 818-6071.
3. Jeff Wright, (R-Newington) – State Treasurer. (202) 251-9094.
State Senate
1. Stewart “Chip” Beckett, (R-4) – Bolton, Glastonbury, Manchester, Marlborough. (860)
659-0848.
2. Milton Johnson, (R-23) – Bridgeport, Stratford. (203) 908-5739.
3. Sen. Rob Kane, (R-32) – Watertown, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury, Oxford,
Roxbury, Seymour, Southbury, Thomaston, Woodbury. (203) 217-1333.
4. Artie Kassimis, (R-25) – Norwalk, Darien. (203) 246-2226.
5. Sen. John A. Kissel, (R-7) – Enfield, East Granby, Granby, Suffield, Somers, Windsor
Locks, Windsor. (860) 745-0668.
6. Bob Kolenberg, (R-27) – Stamford, Darien. (203) 554-4887.
7. Joe Markley, (R-16) – Cheshire, Southington, Waterbury, Wolcott. (860) 426-8222.
8. Sen. Michael McLachlan, (R-24) – Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman. (203) 297-4715.
9. Neil Nichols, (R-33) – Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East
Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland, Westbrook. (860) 767-0249.
10. David Pia, (R-22) – Bridgeport, Monroe, Trumbull. (203) 520-7924.
11. Tamath Rossi, (R-17) – Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Hamden, Naugatuck,
Woodbridge. (203) 910-5998.
12. Leonard Suzio, (R-13) – Cheshire, Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown. (203) 600-5116.
13. Jason Welch, (R-31) – Bristol, Harwinton, Plainville, Plymouth. (860) 331-5353.
14. Sen. Kevin Witkos, (R-8) Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby, Hartland,
Harwinton, New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury, Torrington. (860) 653-3985.
State House of Representatives
1. Timothy J. Ackert, (R-8) – Columbia, Coventry, Vernon. (860) 742-5287.
2. Al Adinolfi, (R-103) – Cheshire, Hamden, Wallingford. (203) 272-9701.
3. David Aldorando, (D-75) – Waterbury. (203) 759-7600.
4. Rep. Jeffrey Berger, (D-73) – Waterbury. (203) 558-3805.
5. Kathryn Brown, (R-89) – Bethany, Cheshire, Prospect. (203) 668-2003
6. Rep. Fred Camillo (R-151) Greenwich. (203) 536-5659.
7. Rep. Vincent Candelora, (R-86) – East Haven, North Branford, Wallingford. (203) 481-

8. Rep. Anthony D'Amelio, (R-71) – Middlebury, Waterbury. (203) 574-3434.
9. Rep. John Frey, (R-111) – Ridgefield. (203) 438-0161.
10. Rep. Mary Fritz, (D-90) – Cheshire, Wallingford. (203) 269-1169.
11. Ethan Goldman, (R-18) – West Hartford. (860) 233-4863.
12. Rep. Marilyn Giuliano, (R-23) – Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Westbrook (860) 395-
1107
13. James Griffin, (R-26) – New Britain. (860) 223-3098.
14. Rep. Antonio Guerrera, (D-29) – Newington, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield. (860) 513-1406.
15. Rusty Haigh, (R-81) – Southington. (860) 681-1131.
16. Denise Hall, (R-19) – Avon, Farmington, West Hartford. (860) 521-7654.
17. Robert Jenski, (R-51) – Killingly, Putnam, Thompson. (860) 963-7554.
18. Malvi Lennon, (R-61) – East Granby, Suffield, Windsor. (860) 219-0053.
19. Andrew Lockwood (R-39) – New London. (860) 444-2843
20. Dennis Mahoney (R-147) – New Canaan, Stamford. (203) 968-1269.
21. Lawrence Miller (R-122) – Shelton, Stratford. (203) 377-1523.
22. Linda Monaco (R-99) – East Haven. (203) 871-9325
23. Rep. Bruce Morris (D-140) – Norwalk. (203) 354-0352.
24. Ken Nelson Jr., (R-59) – Enfield. (860) 745-4649.
25. Rep. Selim Noujaim, (R-74) – Waterbury. (230) 591-9190.
26. Rep. Jason Perillo, (R-113) – Shelton. (203) 513-2153.
27. Allan Pronovost, (R-84) – Meriden. (860) 235-0426.
28. Earle Roberts, (R-34) – East Hampton & Middletown. (860) 346-0068.
29. John A. Rodolico (R-42) – Ledyard, Montville, Preston. (860) 464-2653.
30. Rep. T.R. Rowe, (R-123) – Trumbull. (203) 375-9314.
31. Kieran Ryan, (R-146) – Stamford. (203) 536-0482.
32. Rep. Margaret “Peggy” Sayers, (D-60) – Windsor, Windsor Locks. (860) 623-3868.
33. William Simanski, (R-62) – Barkhamsted, East Granby, Granby, New Hartford. (860) 653-
0686.
34. Tom Sirard, (R-58) – Enfield. (860) 745-4649.
35. Michael Struzik, (R-44) – Killingly, Plainfield, Sterling. (860) 779-0818.
36. Rep. Sean Williams, (R-68) – Watertown, Woodbury.
†In the 80th District, both Republican Rob Sampson and Democrat John “Corky” Mazurek
scored 100% on our candidate questionnaire. Although FIC Action Committee has made no
endorsement in that district, we want pro-family voters

Feast of the Kingship of Christ

2010-10-31T21:24:00.004-04:00

"It is a dogma of faith that Jesus Christ was given to man, not only as our Redeemer, but also as a law-giver, to whom obedience is due. It would be a grave error... to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power. When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony." Quas Primas 1925 Pope Pius XI

Today, churches using the 1962 Missal, celebrate the Feast of the Kingship of Christ. Being the last Sunday before Election Day, this feast could not come at a better time.

Pope Pius XI declared this a feast in 1925 to respond to the growing secularism of the day.

Where are we now in 2010? Have individuals and families put Christ as the King of their lives? In their homes? At work? At the polls?

If this were true, our nation, with it's 68 million Catholics would have a pro-life President, pro-life legislature and pro-family values. The largest religion in the US is Catholicism, yet where is the Catholic conscience and allegiance to Christ as King when it comes to voting Catholic values?

Consecrate your family and the entire world to Christ the King. And vote for life on Tuesday.

Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before you. We are yours, and yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with you, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to your Most Sacred Heart. Many indeed have never known you; many, too, despising your precepts, have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to your Sacred Heart. Be King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken you, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you; grant that they may quickly return to their Father's house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and the unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one Shepherd. Grant, O Lord, to your Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give tranquility of order to all nations; make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor for ever. Amen.

Connecticut has good candidates if you know where to look

2010-10-30T19:41:00.002-04:00

It should be an interesting day on Tuesday! But unless you look closely, the choices seem nebulous this time around, especially for Connecticut. What about Linda McMahon? She is "personally" opposed to abortion, you know the drill. Her bio declares her Catholic, CINO. But compared to Blumenthal, she's a saint!

NARAL Pro-Choice America endorsed Blumenthal hands down for his championing of women's "reproductive choice" in Connecticut. Blumenthal courted that vote, and unabashedly claims, "I will always stand up and protect a woman's right to choose."

Blogger Juan O'Callahan minces no words about Blumenthal:

Catholics, hopefully, will not vote for pro-abortion Attorney General Dick Blumenthal. (Blumenthal overrode his own state’s Department of Public Health decision and personally authorized the state’s taxpayer public funding of abortions under the children’s healthcare program Husky B.) Blumenthal would undoubtedly fight to preserve Obamacare intact, probably expanding its abortion-permissiveness roles, and even promoting reinstatement of the currently banned late term D&X Partial Birth Abortion method.

And remember the stunt he pulled when Bush pushed through the conscience clause right before he left office? Blumenthal sued the Department of HHS over it.

Another NARAL endorsement who needs to go is Chris Murphy. Murphy, along with his fellow congressmen (DeLauro, Himes, Courtney, Larson, Dodd and Lieberman), voted 100% pro-abortion across the board. None of them were ever even absent for a vote. They've got some debts to pay, I guess. If we want pro-life representation for Connecticut, we need to vote out all these Representatives!

The only good thing about Blumenthal running is that he'll lose his seat as AG. Candidate for AG Martha Dean is "the most intellectually substantive candidate running for state office in Connecticut, Martha is pro-family and can articulate our values," according to Peter Wolfgang of the Family Institute of Connecticut.

Visit this link for more info on pro-life choices for Connecticut.

Family Institute of Connecticut 2010 Election Endorsements

2010-10-28T11:39:00.001-04:00

These are the latest endorsements of the Family Institute of Connecticut Action Committee.
You can also view a candidate survey to read how they have weighed in on the issues.
http://www.ctcatholic.org/documents/Surveyresults2010.pdf

State Senate
1. Milton Johnson, (R-23) – Bridgeport, Stratford. (203) 908-5739.
2. Sen. Rob Kane, (R-32) – Watertown, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury, Oxford, Roxbury,
Seymour, Southbury, Thomaston, Woodbury. (203) 217-1333.
3. Artie Kassimis, (R-25) – Norwalk, Darien. (203) 246-2226.
4. John A. Kissel, (R-7) – Enfield, East Granby, Granby, Suffield, Somers, Windsor Locks, Windsor.
(860) 745-0668.
5. Joe Markley, (R-16) – Cheshire, Southington, Waterbury, Wolcott. (860) 426-8222.
6. Sen. Michael McLachlan, (R-24) – Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman. (203) 297-4715.
7. Neil Nichols, (R-33) – Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton,
Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland, Westbrook. (860) 767-0249.
8. David Pia, (R-22) – Bridgeport, Monroe, Trumbull. (203) 520-7924.
9. Tamatha Rossi, (R-17) – Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Hamden, Naugatuck,
Woodbridge. (203) 910-5998.
10. Leonard Suzio, (R-13) – Cheshire, Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown. (203) 600-5116.
11. Jason Welch, (R-31) – Bristol, Harwinton, Plainville, Plymouth. (860) 331-5353.
12. Sen. Kevin Witkos, (R-8) Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby, Hartland, Harwinton,
New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury, Torrington. (860) 653-3985.

State House of Representatives
1. Timothy J. Ackert, (R-8) – Columbia, Coventry, Vernon. (860) 742-5287.
2. Al Adinolfi, (R-103) – Cheshire, Hamden, Wallingford. (203) 272-9701.
3. David Aldorando, (D-75) – Waterbury. (203) 759-7600.
4. Rep. Jeffrey Berger, (D-73) – Waterbury. (203) 558-3805.
5. Kathryn Brown, (R-89) – Bethany, Cheshire, Prospect. (203) 668-2003
6. Rep. Fred Camillo (R-151) Greenwich. (203) 536-5659.
7. Rep. Vincent Candelora, (R-86) – East Haven, North Branford, Wallingford. (203) 481-4463.
8. Rep. Anthony D'Amelio, (R-71) – Middlebury, Waterbury. (203) 574-3434.
9. Rep. John Frey, (R-111) – Ridgefield. (203) 438-0161.
10. Rep. Mary Fritz, (D-90) – Cheshire, Wallingford. (203) 269-1169.
11. Ethan Goldman, (R-18) – West Hartford. (860) 233-4863.
12. Rep. Marilyn Giuliano, (R-23) – Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Westbrook (860) 395-1107
13. James Griffin, (R-26) – New Britain. (860) 223-3098.
14. Rep. Antonio Guerrera, (D-29) – Newington, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield. (860) 513-1406.
15. Denise Hall, (R-19) – Avon, Farmington, West Hartford. (860) 521-7654.
16. Robert Jenski, (R-51) – Killingly, Putnam, Thompson. (860) 963-7554.
17. Malvi Lennon, (R-61) – East Granby, Suffield, Windsor. (860) 219-0053.
18. Andrew Lockwood (R-39) – New London. (860) 444-2843
19. Dennis Mahoney (R-147) – New Canaan, Stamford. (203) 968-1269.
20. Lawrence Miller (R-122) – Shelton, Stratford. (203) 377-1523.
21. Linda Monaco (R-99) – East Haven. (203) 871-9325
22. Rep. Bruce Morris (D-140) – Norwalk. (203) 354-0352.
23. Rep. Selim Noujaim, (R-74) – Waterbury. (230) 591-9190.
24. Rep. Jason Perillo, (R-113) – Shelton. (203) 513-2153.
25. Allan Pronovost, (R-84) – Meriden. (860) 235-0426.
26. Earle Roberts, (R-34) – East Hampton & Middletown. (860) 346-0068.
27. John A. Rodolico (R-42) – Ledyard, Montville, Preston. (860) 464-2653.
28. Rep. T.R. Rowe, (R-123) – Trumbull. (203) 375-9314.
29. Rep. Margaret “Peggy” Sayers, (D-60) – Windsor, Windsor Locks. (860) 623-3868.
30. William Simanski, (R-62) – Barkhamsted, East Granby, Granby, New Hartford. (860) 653-0686.
31. Michael Struzik, (R-44) – Killingly, Plainfield, Sterling. (860) 779-0818.
32. Rep. Sean Williams, (R-68) – Watertown, Woodbury.

Paid for by FIC Action Committee. Lawrence Taffner, Treasurer.
Approved by FIC Action Committee.

Bringing faith into the voting booth: A Catholic Voter's Guide

2010-10-28T10:15:00.010-04:00

In 1960, then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy sought to quell fears that his faith would dictate his policies should he be elected president.

Speaking to an audience of unconvinced Protestant ministers, he said: “I believe in an America … where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be a Catholic) how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote. … I believe in an America … where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches, or any other ecclesiastical source.”

Is JFK’s statement, questionable in its validity for a Catholic president of the United States, a guideline for the Catholic voter? Are Catholics are obliged to take their faith into the voting booth?

Bishop William Lori, of the Diocese of Bridgeport, in his recently published Pastoral Letter, “Let Freedom Ring”, http://www.bridgeportdiocese.com/folder_bridgedocs/let-freedom-ring.pdf, addressed the issues of religious freedom and the Catholic vote in Connecticut. Appealing to the Catholic voting conscience, he instructs: “We are free not merely to do what we like but rather to do what we ought. God created us free so that we could embrace the truth in love and to do good for ourselves, our families and loved ones, and the larger society. Freedom and truth go together, as Pope John Paul II reminded us, just as freedom and responsibility also go together.”

What makes a Catholic voter Catholic? Is it church attendance? A Baptismal certificate? A Confirmation name? Many Catholics possess these things, but fewer have the necessary element: an informed conscience.

Truth in the 21^st century means something different to each person. It goes something like this: “my truth may not be your truth.” This is a conscience that has moved away from natural law. “The natural Law,” Bishop Lori says, “is that sense of right and wrong, etched in the human heart by the Creator.” The natural law, Lori states, while not specifically Catholic, is “a sound framework for entering more vigorously into debates over cultural and legal challenges.” He advises Catholics to familiarize themselves with natural law tradition so Catholics are equipped to face the hard questions and issues with a prayerful Catholic understanding. A Catholic’s responsibility includes seeking the truth that is for the good of the larger society.

These questions are increasingly more urgent as technology and science continue to evolve. Venerable John Paul II, repeatedly reaffirmed that lawmakers have a “grave and clear obligation to oppose” any law that attacks human life. For lawmakers, as for every Catholic, it is problematic to promote such laws or to vote for them.

What are the issues that attack human life? Tim Staples, of Catholic Answers, a Catholic evangelization organization from California, categorizes those life issues into “Five Non-Negotiable Issues” facing the Catholic voter today. These are some hot button issues that have polarized our society. However, Staples explains, “These are things that are intrinsically immoral, and no Catholic, be they a politician or a Catholic who is voting for a politician, can ever support in any way.”

The Five Non Negotiable Issues are: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and same-sex “marriage”. All of these issues attack human life on some level. These issues are the ones where the call to examine and contemplate natural law are needed to honestly form the Catholic conscience.

Abortion is a direct and intentional killing of a human being, and is therefore, homicide. The Catholic Church and many other Christian denominations are in agreement that abortion deprives an innocent human being of its basic right to life. For more on when life begins, visit here. http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/fetal_homicide_laws/

Euthanasia is also a form of homicide. The Church teaches that suicide or taking the life of another person, even disguised as a merciful act, is no one’s right but God’s (Dt 32:39). Compassion is false if its modus operandi is intrinsically evil. For more on Euthanasia visit here-http://catholiceducation.org/articles/euthanasia/eu0006.html

Embryonic stem cell research is another misplaced form of compassion at the expense of human life. The human embryo is also human life, and deserves dignity and rights under the law. The United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) condemns embryonic stem cell research as an assault on human life, asserting that "science does not have to kill in order to cure." This is especially true, since the field of adult stem cell research is a valid and effective scientific field of research. For more on the Embryonic Stem Cell debate visit here-http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/eight-questions-about-the-stem-cell-debate.html

Human Cloning is a dual life issue because the act of “conception” occurs through technology, rather than through the marital act. Additionally, human cloning ends up being a form of homicide, through the destruction of rejected or unsuccessful clones. For more on human cloning visit here: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=2968&CFID=55796463&CFTOKEN=73462741

Same sex “marriage” is a difficult issue to understand as Catholics, being such a popular issue of the day. Reiterating Catholic teaching, Bishop Lori says, “Sacramental marriage is ordered toward the procreation and education of children.” The institution of traditional marriage is crucial to the continuation of the human race.

But not only Catholics understand it as a life issue. Gandhi had clear opinions on sexual intercourse outside of procreation. In 1930, he said “If mutual consent makes a sexual act moral, whether within marriage or without, and, by parity of reasoning, even between members of the same sex, the whole basis of sexual morality is gone and nothing but misery and defect awaits the youth of the country… There is hope for a decent life only so long as the sexual act is definitely related to the conception of precious life.”

For more on traditional marriage visit here-
http://www.catholicvote.org/index.php?/site/issues_details/marriage_and_family/

The Family Institute of Connecticut (FIC), a Hartford-based organization, works to encourage and strengthen the family as the foundation of society, an endeavor which advances the Catholic Church’s view of the family as the “primary and fundamental cell of society.” FIC strives to promote sound ethical and moral values in Connecticut culture and government, with a lobbying arm, a political action arm, and an education and research arm. While not exclusively Catholic, FIC’s director, Peter Wolfgang, works to educate and form the Christian conscience to aid Catholics and all people of faith to make right decisions in the voting booth.

“In spite of all the opposition we face in this bluest of states,” says Wolfgang, “our influence is remarkable and continues to grow. We are excited about our success [with] … issues concerning the traditional family, the sanctity of life, and faith issues in Connecticut. We have made tremendous strides in defending religious liberty, promoting strong pro-family legislators, and lobbying on behalf of our cherished values.”

Wolfgang and Bishop Lori have defended religious freedom side-by-side in “the bluest of states” where, over the past three years, the freedom to exercise religion, especially the Catholic faith, have been under constant attack. To equip voters to make informed choices, the FIC has published candidates’ stances as they relate to the "five non-negotiables". Find the information here: http://www.ctfamily.org/FIC%20Action%20Committee%20Endorsements%202010.pdf and http://www.ctcatholic.org/documents/Surveyresults2010.pdf

While there are “five non-negotiables”, the Church has clear teachings on many key issues that face society and the world today. Evangelium Vitae attempts a small but formidable list of violations of the right to life, human dignity and the integrity of the person. Among them, respect for every life, including criminals and unjust aggressors, murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or wilful self-destruction, mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others like them are infamies indeed.

What is the remedy? Bishop Lori instructs, being intellectually, morally, and spiritually equipped as citizens and believers, with well-formed and informed consciences, “we need to bring into the public square a keen awareness of our rights to assert and bear witness to that moral truth which protects human dignity and makes for a just and peaceful society.”

Among Catholic voters, there is work to be done. Bishop Lori impels Catholics to take steps to know what the Church actually believes and teaches, not just what late-night comedians ridicule. Archbishop Fulton Sheen once commented "There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church.” This is true even among Catholics.

“It is our glory and our responsibility as citizens to conscientiously exercise our right to vote. We need to ask our candidates where they stand on the issues … illumined by the Church’s social teaching,” says Lori. Armed with the knowledge of our faith, the issues of the day and how they relate to Catholic social teaching, Catholics can bring a culture of life back to the “bluest of states”, and instruct and inform family, friends and colleagues what the Church really teaches.

Venerable John Paul II says, “The Gospel of life is not for believers alone: it is for everyone. Although faith provides special light and strength, this question arises in every human conscience which seeks the truth and which cares about the future of humanity.”

And who knows, maybe a Catholic politician or two will have a new understanding of what it means to be a Catholic in office and at the polls.

Linda Gaboardi is a mom of three, music teacher, writer and lecturer on women’s health. Along with her husband Kevin, Linda is a certified Natural Family Planning instructor through the Couple to Couple League International, www.ccli.org, where she instructs couples to monitor fertility naturally, without medication or hormones. Contact Linda at nfp4life@snet.net .

For more information, visit these links:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html

http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/benedict-xvi-tightens-up-the-churchs-social-teaching.html

http://www.catholicvote.org/index.php?/issues/

http://catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0027.html

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=2968&CFID=55796463&CFTOKEN=73462741

http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/indianadeathpenalty.htm

http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/the-future-of-the-catholic-voter-an-insidecatholic-symposium.html

http://www.cuf.org/FamilyResources/conscienceformation.asp

http://www.ctcatholic.org/index.php

Two men of science, two very different paths to fertility

2010-10-14T10:04:00.004-04:00

Most of us don’t think of people suffering professionally because of their faith, but it still happens.

Dr. Josef Roetzer, who died earlier this month, was an example. Roetzer is the Austrian doctor who improved fertility awareness science in the 1950s. His work led to the development of the sympto-thermal method of natural family planning.

Roetzer studied human fertility, recording observations from more than 300,000 cycles. Roetzer discovered that by combining temperature in formation with mucus observations, periods of fertility and infertility could be identified with extreme accuracy. His work was revolutionary, but it was shunned by the establishment, which was dominated by the pharmaceutical industry.

Austrian Bishop Klaus Kung reportedly said that Roetzer “suffered many a setback in his work” due to his Catholic faith.

The Austrian bishops funded Roetzer from 1966 to 1974 so he could continue his research. In 1986, he founded the Institute for Natural Family Planning, which today is run by his daughter, Elisabeth. At the age of 91, Josef Roetzer died on Oct. 4.

Read more...

Concupiscence in the West-Schindler Debate

2010-10-13T15:40:00.002-04:00

Janet E. Smith continues to respond to criticisms of Christopher West by Alice Von Hildebrand, David Schindler and Dawn Eden. West is the Theology of the Body expert under recent scrutiny due to a NightLine interview in August 2009.

Janet Smith is well qualified to respond on West's behalf.

Janet Smith holds the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. She is the author of numerous books on the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae. She is serving a third term as a consultor to the Pontifical Council on the Family. She received an honorary doctorate in Christian Ethics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, an honorary doctorate from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary and the Veritas Award from the St. Thomas Aquinas Institute at Ave Maria University.

She has appeared on the Geraldo show, Fox Morning News, CNN International, CNN Newsroom and has done many shows for various series on EWTN.

Over a million copies of her talk, Contraception: Why Not have been distributed. An updated version of Contraception: Why Not and a series of talks "Sexual Common Sense" are available through www.mycatholicfaith.org.

The West-Schindler debate has morphed into a Delaney-Smith debate of sorts, where an article on the Schindler-West debate by David Delaney, Catholic blogger, has been responded to by Smith. And on it goes.

Connecticut's Pro-Life, Pro-Family Candidate List

2010-10-13T13:05:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, November 2, 2010 one of the most important elections in Connecticut 's history will occur. The pro-family cause stands on the cusp of victories the likes of which we have not seen in our state in over twenty years. But anything can happen in this wildly unpredictable year.

For the first time in decades, there are serious pro-life candidates for high office in Connecticut . Some of them have been embraced by their party establishment, while others had to triumph over party apparatchiks who repeatedly sought to undermine them.

Also for the first time ever, we are seeing an evolution in Connecticut 's "pro-choice Republican." These are candidates who we do not endorse that, nevertheless, reached out to us and expressed their support for incremental restrictions on abortion. That is a far cry from the days of Nancy Johnson Republicans—extremist pro-abortion Republicans who never gave an inch.

The following is a list of endorsements made by the FIC Action Committee. More endorsements may be made. Many factors went into our endorsements, including candidate questionnaires, voting record, viability, and leadership on key pro-family issues. We are endorsing candidates for General Assembly and State Constitutional Office in 2010. Because FIC Action Committee is a State PAC, we cannot endorse candidates for Federal office. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE DISTRIBUTE THIS LIST TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND VOTE ON NOVEMBER 2ND!

State Constitutional Office
1. Mark Boughton, (R-Danbury) – Lieutenant Governor. (267) 362-9671.
2. Martha Dean, (R-Avon) – Attorney General. (860) 818-6071.
3. Jeff Wright, (R-Newington) – State Treasurer. (202) 251-9094.

State Senate

1. Milton Johnson, (R-23) – Bridgeport , Stratford . (203) 908-5739.
2. Sen. Rob Kane, (R-32) – Watertown , Bethlehem , Bridgewater , Middlebury, Oxford , Roxbury, Seymour , Southbury, Thomaston, Woodbury. (203) 217-1333.
3. Artie Kassimis, (R-25) – Norwalk , Darien . (203) 246-2226.
4. Bob Kolenberg, (R-27) – Stamford , Darien . (203) 329-2962.
5. Joe Markley, (R-16) – Cheshire , Southington , Waterbury , Wolcott. (860) 426-8222.
6. Sen. Michael McLachlan, (R-24) – Danbury , New Fairfield , Sherman . (203) 297-4715.
7. Neil Nichols, (R-33) – Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland, Westbrook. (860) 767-0249.
8. David Pia, (R-22) – Bridgeport , Monroe , Trumbull . (203) 520-7924.
9. Leonard Suzio, (R-13) – Cheshire , Meriden , Middlefield, Middletown . (203) 600-5116.
10. Jason Welch, (R-31) – Bristol , Harwinton, Plainville , Plymouth . (860) 331-5353.
11. Sen. Kevin Witkos, (R-8) Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton , Colebrook, Granby , Hartland, Harwinton, New Hartford , Norfolk , Simsbury , Torrington . (860) 653-3985.

State House of Representatives
1. Timothy J. Ackert, (R-8) – Columbia , Coventry , Vernon . (860) 742-5287.
2. Al Adinolfi, (R-103) – Cheshire , Hamden , Wallingford . (203) 272-9701.
3. Rep. Jeffrey Berger, (D-73) – Waterbury . (203) 558-3805.
4. Kathryn Brown, (R-89) – Bethany , Cheshire , Prospect. (203) 668-2003
5. Rep. Fred Camillo (R-151) Greenwich . (203) 536-5659.
6. Rep. Vincent Candelora, (R-86) – East Haven, North Branford, Wallingford . (203) 481-4463.
7. Rep. Anthony D'Amelio, (R-71) – Middlebury, Waterbury . (203) 574-3434.
8. Rep. John Frey, (R-111) – Ridgefield . (203) 438-0161.
9. Rep. Mary Fritz, (D-90) – Cheshire , Wallingford . (203) 269-1169.
10. Ethan Goldman, (R-18) – West Hartford . (860) 233-4863.
11. Rep. Marilyn Giuliano, (R-23) – Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Westbrook (860) 395-1107
12. Rep. Antonio Guerrera, (D-29) – Newington , Rocky Hill, Wethersfield . (860) 513-1406.
13. Denise Hall, (R-19) – Avon, Farmington , West Hartford . (860) 521-7654.
14. Malvi Lennon, (R-61) – East Granby, Suffield, Windsor . (860) 219-0053.
15. Andrew Lockwood (R-39) – New London . (860) 444-2843
16. Dennis Mahoney (R-122) – New Canaan, Stamford . (203) 968-1269.
17. Lawrence Miller (R-122) – Shelton , Stratford . (203) 377-1523.
18. Linda Monaco (R-99) – East Haven . (203) 871-9325
19. Rep. Bruce Morris (D-140) – Norwalk . (203) 354-0352.
20. Rep. Selim Noujaim, (R-74) – Waterbury . (230) 591-9190.
21. Rep. Jason Perillo, (R-113) – Shelton . (203) 513-2153.
22. Earle Roberts, (R-34) – East Hampton & Middletown . (860) 346-0068.
23. John A. Rodolico (R-42) – Ledyard, Montville , Preston . (860) 464-2653.
24. Rep. T.R. Rowe, (R-123) – Trumbull . (203) 375-9314.
25. Rep. Margaret “Peggy” Sayers, (D-60) – Windsor, Windsor Locks. (860) 623-3868.
26. William Simanski, (R-62) – Barkhamsted, East Granby, Granby , New Hartford . (860) 653-0686.
27. Michael Struzik, (R-44) – Killingly, Plainfield , Sterling . (860) 779-0818.
28. Rep. Sean Williams, (R-68) – Watertown , Woodbury.

Paid for by FIC Action Committee.
Lawrence Taffner, Treasurer.
Approved by FIC Action Committee.

Janet Smith Speaks on Christoper West

2010-10-06T11:15:00.004-04:00

More TOB "experts" are openly critiquing Christopher West following his interview on Nightline last year. The backlash has been strong enough, with dissension coming from heavy hitters like Alice von Hildebrand, and some others. However, Archbishop Chaput, Janet Smith, Cardinal Rigali and others have come to West's defense.

Recently, Dawn Eden of blogger and book fame, has decided she will also throw in her two cents and has written a fairly extensive paper on the faults of Christopher West. Catholic News Agency has now openly published it, as if she doesn't have enough networking resources.

My humble and lowly two cents: fraternal correction need not be a public flogging. Christopher West is a man who has been a faithful disciple of the Holy Spirit. Over zealousness is not a crime, and it is unlikely that his discourses have led people to sin. His talks have changed the lives of everyone I know who has come in contact with them. NO EXCEPTIONS. Yeah, my circle may be small, but they are faithful. This teaching has changed more hearts and opened up Catholic sexuality like no other teaching. We attribute it all to Venerable John Paul II, and his messenger, Christopher West.

Janet Smith says:

I have known Christopher West for over a decade. As I remember, at our first meeting, when he was still a graduate student, he approached me to chastise me a bit for failing to respond to some criticisms one of his professors had made of me!

It is a bit ironic that over a decade later, I find myself occupied with responding to criticisms made of him. It was some years later that I met him again as he had become a speaker on the "circuit". I saw immediately that he was a powerful speaker in love with the truth and with his audience. His love for both is truly touching. At first he made me somewhat uncomfortable with his language but over time I have become very comfortable with him.

Engaging Dawn Eden’s Thesis1

There she goes again- Ortho Evra continues to kill

2010-09-23T11:17:00.005-04:00

A Killer Named Ella

2010-09-21T18:54:00.007-04:00

Every NFP couple out there knows that they can potentially get pregnant on Friday from sex they had on Monday. They understand that sperm can survive for as long as five days in a fertile environment. They may have enjoyed their romantic encounter at home by candlelight, but the miracle of new life happened in the produce aisle while Mom was choosing potatoes.

Read the article-- http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=37847

Where's the Outrage?

2010-09-08T11:42:00.006-04:00

The burning of the Quran will be held as planned. Hilary Clinton condemned the action calling it a "disrespectful, disgraceful act."

Since 2007, when a Minnesota professor decided to call the Holy Eucharist a "freakin' cracker" and proceeded to solicit Eucharists to be sent to him in the mail, and drove a nail through One and threw It in the garbage, widespread outrages have been committed against the Holy Eucharist. These have been chronicled on YouTube.

In 2009, according to a Wikipedia article, two Muslim reporters from Al-Islam participated in a Catholic Mass and received Holy Communion, which they then spat out and photographed. The resulting photo was then published in their May 2009 edition. Ultimately an apology was issued, but not from the reporters.

http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=44069

This Minnesotan professor never apologized, and neither did the university. Nor did the St. Cloud bishop comment.

Seems a bit imbalanced, but then again, when someone desecrates the Eucharist, lives aren't threatened. Only souls, and not just of those physically committing the crimes.

Vatican Time Warp

2010-06-15T23:04:00.003-04:00

Just when I begin to get sucked into the mainstream media's take on the clergy scandals, along comes George Weigel-again- to wake me up. Time Magazine appears authoritative on the subject, but if anybody knows the inside workings of the Vatican, it certainly is Weigel. And he sets the record straight on the faults of Time Magazine- and most every other secular article on what the Catholic Church, and the Pope is. It's just too bad the people who read Time may not ever read George Weigel's rebuttals.

Weigel says:

The Time story may serve a useful purpose, however, in that it encapsulates, within ten pages, many of the things the world media continue to get wrong about the Catholic Church, the Vatican, and the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Here are a few of the more significant misunderstandings within Time’s cover story, although Time is hardly alone in
circulating these fictions...

He goes on to name what the media (yes, even Glen Beck) get wrong time after Time.

Vatican Time Warp - George Weigel - National Review Online

Rewriting the Rules of Masculinity

2010-06-07T23:10:00.004-04:00

Forgotten Father's Day: Abortion Has Negative Impact for Men, Relationships

"Induced abortion reinforces defective problem solving on the part of the male by encouraging detachment, desertion, and irresponsibility.... Abortion rewrites the rules of masculinity. While a male is expected to be strong, abortion makes him feel weak. A male is expected to be responsible, yet abortion encourages him to act without concern for the innocent and to destroy any identifiable and undesirable outcomes of his sexual decision making and/or attachments.... Whether or not the male was involved in the abortion decision, his inability to function in a socially prescribed manner (i.e., to protect and provide) leaves him wounded and confused."

Sound familiar? How many husbands and fathers find it difficult to take the role of the strong provider in the family? How many wives, and subsequently children, suffer the consequences of this impotent role in their family? The attitudes of these hollow men lead to role confusion in the family, force the women to take the role that is designated for the male, and destroys the hierarchy that God created for the family; for man and women, and their children.

"Typical male grief responses include remaining silent and grieving alone. In the silence, a male can harbor guilt and doubts about his ability to protect himself and those he loves.... Some become depressed and/or anxious, others compulsive, controlling, demanding and directing. Still others become enraged, and failure in any relationship can trigger repressed hostility from their disenfranchised grief.... [The act of running from the grief process] fosters denial and forces a male to become a "fugitive" from life, loving, and healing. A guilt-ridden, tormented male does not easily love or accept love."

A woman may wonder why her husband is so detached, especially in the act of being an active father to their current children.

"If a past abortion is kept secret in subsequent relationships, this secret may have a destructive effect on the new couple's relationship and their family unit. Secrets signify a lack of trust, which acted upon, becomes distrust. Unable to share a secret pain, the secret keeper is unable to experience the full acceptance and love of family members who are being kept "in the dark." The secret thus exerts a constant hold over the couple and the family; it is an obstacle to more complete intimacy."

How many men are walking wounded? How many families suffer the consequences of the past actions of these men? The healing process is a long and painful road; and the man may never again find his past purity- but to reach out is to begin. May God reach these men so that they can then reach out to begin to be healed.

Learn more: Read about the latest study on abortion's impact on men's relationships.
http://www.theunchoice.com/News/RelationshipsWomenMen.htm

Homecoming: Healing From Abuse

2010-06-03T15:53:00.004-04:00

This moving essay describes the journey of a Catholic who suffered abuse in childhood. Instead of turning his back on the one place where he could find healing and peace, grace urged him forward. How refreshing to see a truly faithful Catholic long for Jesus, and realize that if he turns his back on the Church, he turns his back on the One who can ease his suffering, and receive healing through His Sacraments.

Living Rosary

2010-05-24T11:36:00.003-04:00

Revelation12 Music Minstry is so blessed to be back at St. Anthony's again!
Directions:
17 Granville Avenue Danbury, CT 06810
203-744-3372

Justice for the Abused?

2010-05-21T14:38:00.002-04:00

by Michael Brendan Dougherty

Sitting in the pew for Mass at St. Mary's in Norwalk, Connecticut, I was offended. After the deacon chanted "Ite Missa est," our pastor took to the lectern to inform us that Connecticut was considering a revision of their laws that would retroactively eliminate the statute of limitations for prosecuting sexual abuse of minors, currently 30 years, the longest in the nation. Our priest was going to ask us to vigorously oppose the law.

"Let justice be done!" I thought of shouting back at him. I'm sick of the Church hiding these creeps under their mitres. And I was not alone: Andrew Sullivan and Kim Stagliano of the Huffington Post were both horrified upon hearing that the bishops in Connecticut oppose this law. But as I later discovered, the Church in Connecticut is right to oppose this bill. It discriminates against the Church and does little for the great bulk of victims of pedophilia.

When the bill, HB-5473, was approved by the judiciary committee, its sponsor, representative Beth Bye, said, "Today was a victory for the victims of child sexual abuse in Connecticut . . . . I think it was a spirited debate, and in the end, given the very serious nature of these crimes, legislators voted on the side of allowing the victims to have access to the courts."

This is a lie. Most victims of sexual assault during childhood in Connecticut will not have access to the courts, because their tormentors were public school teachers who are exempt from the new law. Connecticut law simply forbids childhood sexual abuse claims against foster care facilities, juvenile detention facilities, public schools, and other government entities.

In the past 18 years, only three Catholic priests in Connecticut are alleged to have committed sexual abuse against a minor. In this same time span, 112 Connecticut school teachers have lost their license because of sexual misconduct with students.

Even in the past year, nine foster parents in Connecticut have been charged with sexual abuse. Foster parents receive a stipend from the state. But their victims cannot sue the state that placed them in their abusers hands.

There are currently no figures for abuse in Connecticut's juvenile detention facilities, but a U.S. Department of Justice study issued in January found that just over one in ten youth (2,370 teenagers) in state juvenile facilities nationwide reported an incident of sexual victimization during the previous year.

Notably, all three of the legal experts giving testimony in support of the bill are currently involved in litigation against the Catholic Church. And the Church is the largest non-public institution in the state.

The legislation was tailored to deal with the notorious case of Dr. George Reardon, a physician at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, who abused hundreds of children from the 1960s through the 1990s. Reardon died in 1998, but in 2007 more than 50,000 slides and 100 movie reels of children were discovered in his former home.

Connecticut's legislature is developing a strange habit of attacking the Catholic Church. Last year the state senate attempted to pass HB-1098, which would have restructured the boards of each Catholic parish, depriving the bishop and pastors of any administrative, financial, or legal power over their parishes. It would have mandated that Catholic parishes govern themselves like Congregationalists. The bill's own language applied only to the Catholic Church. Bill 1098's sponsors were two senators who also supported an effort to legalize same-sex marriage in Connecticut, which the Church had vigorously opposed that year. The current effort has stalled in a legislature coping with a desperate financial crisis. But Rep. Michael Lawlor hopes to reintroduce the bill lifting the statute of limitations next year under a new governor.

Ironically, the basis of Connecticut's exemption for state employees, a principle called "sovereign immunity," finds original legal roots in a Catholic source: a letter of Pope Gelasius I, Duo Sunt, aiming to settle relations between Church and State in the fifth century. Perhaps Connecticut should be reminded of an older Christian principle: "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye."

Remembering an NFP Champion | Register Exclusives | NCRegister.com

2010-05-19T17:43:00.004-04:00

By James Graves

Family and friends honored Dr. Richard Wetzel, 52, author of two Sexual Wisdom books that champion the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexuality, at funeral Mass yesterday in Costa Mesa, Calif.Wetzel had been battling stage-4 metastatic kidney cancer for three years. He died May 8.

J.T. Finn, founder of Pro-Life America, memorialized, “Richard had a burning passion for Christ, for families, for our country and for our youth. He was truly a great Catholic gentleman … a man of faith, a man of courage, a man of conviction and dedication.”

Wetzel grew up in southern California. He came from a Catholic family, but by the time he headed off to medical school, he had broken with the Catholic Church, believing its teachings on human sexuality to be outdated and unrealistic.

He married his wife, Dominique, in 1985, and settled in Huntington Beach, Calif., about an hour’s drive south of Los Angeles. He began working as a family physician.

Dominique informed him during their engagement that she would not be using artificial birth control but natural family planning. Wetzel reluctantly agreed, believing she would soon change her mind. But it was he who would change his mind: “A few years into my marriage and using NFP, I came to realize that something good was going on.”

In fact, he came to believe that contraception was harmful to a couple’s relationship and led to many evils, such as abortion. By 1989, he refused to prescribe contraceptives to his patients. He began studying the Catholic faith intensively and was particularly impressed with Pope John Paul II’s encyclicals Veritatis Splendor and Evangelium Vitae. It wasn’t long before he wanted to share his newfound knowledge with others.

As Dominique recalled, “Richard has always wanted to save the world. He was a dreamer. He even thought about becoming a missionary.”

In his medical practice, Wetzel saw the harm sexual immorality had on his patients, not just in terms of disease, but in the effect it had on their relationships with others. He went to work on his first book challenging the popular culture’s perspective on sex, Sexual Wisdom: A Guide for Parents, Young Adults, Educators, and Physicians, which was self-published in 1998. The book presented 17 misconceptions about sex that are held by many in society, and then presented arguments to dispel the myths.

His 17 misconceptions began with Misconception No. 1: “People, especially men, have specific, genital, sexual needs.”

Using natural law and commonsense arguments, Dr. Wetzel argued that sex should be an enhancement of a love relationship between a married couple, not the fulfillment of one partner’s “sexual needs.” The couple’s focus should be on the relationship, not sex. He opined, “We must ask whether genital, sexual activity is part of a relationship or an end in itself.”

Sex, he continued, should “enrich and validate a balanced, healthy relationship.”

His final misconception, which would ultimately lead to his second book, was: “Sex education should be ‘values free.’” He lamented that much of the sex education in American schools was contraceptive-based and destroyed the modesty of more naive students.

Although he didn’t use religious-based arguments or quote Scripture, he received the endorsement of many prominent religious figures. Bishop John Myers, who was then bishop of Peoria, Ill., commented, “I believe that this book will be of assistance not only to parents but also to all of those who concern themselves with the proper sexual formation of young people today.”

Wetzel took special care when it was time to teach his own children about sex, and turned his lesson plan into a second book, Sexual Wisdom for Catholic Adolescents, a home-based, comprehensive course for older teens (age 16 and up). Unlike the first book, this one was from a distinctly Catholic perspective, including quotes from Scripture and prayers before lessons.

Never intended as a money-making venture, the entire book can be downloaded for free at his website. Copies can be ordered at cost through the website.

In 2007, Wetzel was diagnosed with kidney cancer — an aggressive form, in fact, which quickly kills most who have it. He had a tremendous will to live and sought treatments that, remarkably, prolonged his life for three years. “It’s been a gift that we’ve had him for the last three years,” Dominique said.
Wetzel’s personal piety grew in his final years, and he developed a devotion to the Blessed Mother. Dominique remembers how on a trip to a Lourdes grotto in South Bend, Ind., he insisted the family shiver outdoors in the snow while they prayed the Rosary.

He also came to realize the value of sufferings offered to God. He offered his sufferings not only for his family, Dominique said, “but also that the Church’s message of chastity may be promoted throughout the world.”

Baby boy survives for two days after abortion failure | Metro.co.uk

2010-04-29T10:55:00.001-04:00

The 22-week baby later died in an intensive care unit two days after the original abortion.

The case has caused controversy across the devoutly Roman Catholic country, with many questioning the legality of abortion.

The mother had opted for a termination after initial scans suggested that her baby would be born disabled.
The infant however survived the operation, carried out on Saturday at the Rossano Calabria hospital, before being left by doctors to die.

20 hours after the operation Father Antonion Martello, the hospital chaplain, discovered the boy was alive after praying by his body.

He found the baby, wrapped in a sheet with his umbilical cord still attached, was still moving.
The alarm was immediately raised and doctors organised for the boy to be taken to a specialist neo-natal unit at a nearby hospital. The boy died on Monday morning, some two days after the original termination.
The Italian government is considering an inquiry, while police are investigating the case for homicide, as the law in Italy states that doctors are obligated to assist children that survive a termination.
Eugenia Roccella, the under-secretary of state in the health department, stated: 'The minister of health will send inspectors to the hospital in Rossano Calabro to investigate what actually happened, and to see if the Law 194, which prohibits abortion when there is a possibility of the foetus living separately from the mother, and permits it only when the continuation of the pregnancy would result in life-threatening danger to the mother.'

She added that if initial reports were correct, 'this would be a case of deliberate abandonment of a seriously premature neonate, possibly also with some form of disability, an act contrary to any sense of human compassion but also of any accepted professional medical practice.'

She added: 'We must remember that a baby, once born, is an Italian citizen equal to all the others, and is entitled to all fundamental rights, including the right to health and therefore to be given full support.'
A spokesman for the British-based ProLife Alliance said: 'There cannot be anybody in the world who is not horrified by a story like this.'

What Went Wrong

2010-04-09T14:43:00.002-04:00

By George Weigel NEWSWEEK

Published Apr 3, 2010
From the magazine issue dated Apr 12, 2010

Throughout what U.S. Catholics called the "Long Lent" of 2002, when every week seemed to bring revelations of clerical sexual abuse and its mishandling by the church's bishops, some observers suggested that this crisis was the byproduct of some distinctive features of Catholic life: a celibate priesthood, a church governed by male bishops, a demanding sexual ethic. "Modernize" the church by changing all that, they argued, and these horrible problems would abate, even disappear.

Sexual abuse is indeed horrible, but there is no empirical evidence that it is a uniquely, predominantly, or even strikingly Catholic problem. The sexual abuse of the young is a global plague. In the United States, some 40 to 60 percent of such abuse takes place within families—often at the hands of live-in boyfriends or the second (or third, or fourth) husband of a child's mother; those cases have nothing to do with celibacy. The case of a married Wilmington, Dela., pediatrician charged with 471 counts of sexual abuse in February has nothing to do with celibacy. Neither did the 290,000 cases of sexual abuse in American public schools between 1991 and 2000, estimated by Charol Shakeshaft of Virginia Commonwealth University. And given the significant level of abuse problems in Christian denominations with married clergy, it's hard to accept the notion that marriage is somehow a barrier against sexually abusive clergy. (Indeed, the idea of reducing marriage to an abuse-prevention program ought to be repulsive.) Sexual abusers throughout the world are overwhelmingly noncelibates.

Too many of the church's bishops failed to grasp the drastic measures required to address the sexual abuse of the young—that's obvious, and has been admitted by the bishops of the United States and two popes. Yet it is hard to see what these failures had to do with gender. Like others, many bishops had a misplaced faith in the power of psychiatrists and psychologists to "fix" sexual predators, thinking these men could be "cured" and quietly returned to ministry without damaging the church's reputation. In his recent scathing letter to the Catholic Church in Ireland, Pope Benedict XVI denounced bishops who were more concerned with protecting the church's image than with protecting vulnerable young people. It's a critique that was applicable decades ago in the United States—but the same criticism can be made of teachers-union leaders and state legislators today who ignore or try to bury reports of sexual abuse in America's public schools.

So, yes, aspects of clerical culture in the U.S. and elsewhere contributed to the problem, but that same deplorable circle-the-wagons instinct has warped the response to this plague in other sectors of society. The difference is that the Catholic Church in America has taken more rigorous action since 2002 to protect the young people in its care than any other similarly situated institution, to the point where the church is likely America's safest environment for young people.

There may be a grain of truth in the suggestion that women's perspectives on these issues would have helped mitigate the Catholic crisis of clerical sexual abuse and episcopal misgovernance: in the past the male clerical culture of Catholicism seems to have blunted in some Catholic clergy a natural and instinctive revulsion at the sexual abuse of the young—a revulsion, it is suggested, that a woman would immediately feel and act upon. But the sad, further truth is that there are no gender guarantees when it comes to sexual abuse: the physical and sexual abuse of young Irish girls in "Magdalene Asylums" decades ago was committed by religious sisters.

Nevertheless, it should also be noted that the U.S. church's handling of abuse and misgovernance since 2002 has been immensely strengthened by the insight and professional expertise of many women—just as we also ought to recognize that laywomen, single and married, are usually the teachers who make today's Catholic schools safe and successful. Moreover, women are the great majority of the volunteers and paid staff who make Catholic parishes both safe and vital. The notion that women don't have anything to do with how the Catholic Church operates confuses the Catholic Church with the higher altitudes of "the Vatican," and ignores how Catholic life is actually lived in America and Europe.

As for doctrine: what ought to be obvious about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is that these grave sins and crimes were acts of infidelity, denials of the truths the church teaches. A priest who takes seriously the vows of his ordination is not a sexual abuser or predator. And if a bishop takes seriously his ordination oath to shepherd the Lord's flock, he will always put the safety of the Master's little ones ahead of concerns about public scandal. Catholic Lite is not the answer to what has essentially been a crisis of fidelity.

Since 2002, with strong support from then-cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (and from him still as Benedict XVI), the Catholic Church in America has developed and enforced policies and procedures to ensure the safety of the young that offer an important model for the world church. There were only six credible reports of sexual abuse of the young in the U.S. church last year. And while that is six too many in a church that ought to hold itself to the highest standards, it is nonetheless remarkable in a community of 68 million people.

What is essential throughout the world, however, is that the church become more Catholic, not less. John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" proposed an understanding of faithful and fruitful human love as an icon of God's inner life. That vision is far nobler, far more compelling, and far more humane than the sex-as-contact-sport teaching of the sexual revolution, the principal victims of which seem to be vulnerable young people. Those who are genuinely committed to the protection of the young might ponder whether Catholicism really needs to become Catholic Lite—or whether the Augean stables of present-day culture need a radical cleansing.

Weigel, distinguished senior fellow of Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center, is the author of The Courage To Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of The Church (Basic Books).

Find this article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/235885
© 2010

Toyota 52 Deaths, Gardasil 49. Toyota Recalled.

2010-04-06T19:00:00.003-04:00

Barbara Hollingsworth
Washington Examiner
March 30, 2010

Cervical cancer accounts for less than 1 percent of all cancer deaths, so it was somewhat surprising when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked approval of Gardasil, a Merck vaccine targeting the human papilloma virus that causes the disease, in 2006.

As of Jan. 31, 2010, 49 unexplained deaths following Gardasil injections have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (http://vaers.hhs.gov/index). By contrast, 52 deaths are attributed to unintended acceleration in Toyotas, which triggered a $2 billion recall.

No recall for Gardasil, which is required for sixth-grade girls in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and many other states. Parents can opt out, but few know the true risks.

That was the certainly the case for Mary Davison of Frederick, Md., whose three daughters had the second of a three-shot vaccination regimen in January 2008. Her two younger girls had no reactions, but 20-year-old Mary Katherine felt sick and dizzy.

A subsequent magnetic resonance imaging scan showed that the Hood College student had a major stroke, and she spent almost two months in rehab before she could walk again. However, it wasn’t until the family’s primary care physician refused to schedule Mary Katherine’s third injection that her mom “finally put two and two together,” she told the Washington Examiner.

A month later, Lisa Ericzon of Alexandria Bay, N.Y., found her 17-year-old daughter Jessica dead on the bathroom floor just 40 hours after her third Gardasil injection. The coroner listed the cause as “undetermined natural causes.”

Jessica had pain and dizziness following her second Gardasil shot. “At the time, we didn’t think about any connection with the vaccination,” Ericzon told me. “But later, when I got on the Internet, I found all of the side effects Jessica complained about and three other women told me their daughters had also died within days of being vaccinated.”

One of those women was Emily Tarsell, of Sparks, Md., whose 21-year-old daughter Christina died 18 days after receiving her final Gardasil injection and experiencing fatigue, dizziness, and a pounding heartbeat. “We had no clue that these were all symptoms of something,” her mother said. Neither an autopsy or toxicology screen could determine the cause of death.

An October 2008 CDC report said 28 million girls and women who received Gardasil had no more adverse medical outcomes than those who hadn’t gotten the shots. But in February 2009, the National Vaccine Information Center (www.nvic.org) used CDC’s own data to contradict the government’s findings: Gardasil was associated “with at least four times as many death and cardiac arrest reports” as a similar vaccine, and “seemed to be associated with an unusually high number of reports of atypical collapse. …”

The August 2009 Journal of the American Medical Association reported that 89 percent of adverse Gardasil reactions submitted to VAERS had “insufficient identifying information to permit clinical follow-up or review.”

Merck denies any of the deaths are related to its vaccine, and the parents involved can’t prove they were. A Merck spokeswoman would only refer me to the VAERS Web site.

“CDC is still saying this is a safe vaccine. With Pap smears, there was no medical reason for fast-tracking FDA approval. They made it sound like it was some kind of pandemic,” Tarsell added. “No one ever calls you, no one ever follows up.”

Indeed, two months after Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., asked CDC to contact Tarsell, she has yet to hear from them. The feds “totally ignored us,” echoed Ericzon.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Time-for-the-truth-about-Gardasil-89466882.html#ixzz0jlLLAefF

Gay Cover Up

2010-04-05T16:02:00.001-04:00

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on two news stories released today by the Associated Press:

One of the AP stories on priestly sexual abuse admits that "The overwhelming majority of the victims were adolescents. That means very few guilty priests were pedophiles, a term mental health professionals reserve for those who target pre-pubescent children." Fine. But then it says something which is positively remarkable: "Even though about 80 percent of victims were boys, the John Jay researchers and other experts on sex offenders say it does not mean the perpetrators were gay." So what would they be? Heterosexual?

The AP article relied on the extraordinary remark by Margaret Smith, a professor who worked on the John Jay study. She said that while Donohue "quoted the study's data correctly," I nonetheless "drew an unwarranted conclusion." What? That most of the molesters have been gay? Here is what she said: "The majority of the abusive acts were homosexual in nature. That participation in homosexual acts is not the same as sexual identity as a gay man." So if two men sodomize each other, no one really knows if this qualifies as gay sex. Now I must admit that when I was studying for my doctorate in sociology at NYU, they never taught me such logic.

Both AP stories say the reason why there were so many male victims is because the priests did not have access to girls as altar servers. Nonsense. There have been girl altar servers in some U.S. dioceses since 1983, and almost everywhere since 1994. The statistics actually show that the more priests have access to girls, the less likely it is for girls to be abused.

Here's the tally. As reported in 2004, between 1950 and 2002, 81 percent of the victims were male; in 2005, it stayed the same; in 2006, it dropped to 80 percent; in 2007, it climbed to 82 percent; in 2008, it jumped to 84 percent; and in 2009, it stayed at 84 percent.

In other words, even though priests have less access to males, homosexual priests are molesting them at a higher rate. It's time to end the gay cover-up once and for all.

New York Times' Irresponsible Reporting

2010-03-31T13:44:00.003-04:00

Concerning the Archdiocese of Milwaukee sex abuse reporting.

The former judicial vicar of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee at the time of the trial, Fr. Thomas Brundage, has made a statement regarding the inaccuracy of the NYT's reporting.

According to his statement, he was “liberally and often inaccurately quoted in the New York Times and in more than 100 other newspapers and on-line periodicals.”

Fr. Brundage continues:

“As I have found that the reporting on this issue has been inaccurate and poor in terms of the facts, I am also writing out of a sense of duty to the truth,” he continued. “The fact that I presided over this trial and have never once been contacted by any news organization for comment speaks for itself."

Bart Stupak’s abortion misstep - chicagotribune.com

2010-03-24T18:43:00.004-04:00

Etymology: Eponym for Rep. Bart Stupak.

Function: verb

1: In a legislative process, to obstruct passage of a proposed law on the basis of a moral principle (i.e. protecting the unborn), accumulating power in the process, then at a key moment surrendering in exchange for a fig leaf, the size of which varies according to the degree of emasculation of said legislator and/or as a reflection of just how stupid people are presumed to be. (Slang: backstabber.)

Poor Bart Stupak. The man tried to be a hero for the unborn, and then, when all the power of the moment was in his frail human hands, he dropped the baby.

Now, in the wake of his decision to vote "yes" for a health care bill that expands public funding for abortion, he is vilified and will be forever remembered as the guy who Stupaked health care reform and the pro-life movement.

Of all the disappointed activists, Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org and creator of StandWithStupak.com, was perhaps the most demonstrative in his support of pro-life Democrats. He even created a video with a remake of the final battle scene from "Braveheart."

A helmeted British Barack Obama says, "Our cavalry will ride them down like grass. … Full attack!" Whereupon, Stupak, eyeglasses incongruously perched on his blue-painted face, commands his pitchfork army, "Steady. … Hold, hold, hold."

Alas, Stupak couldn't hold.

Read the article

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How Men are Harmed by Abortion

2010-03-04T14:43:00.007-05:00

By Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk

An important but often unacknowledged angle of the abortion debate involves the serious effects that legalized abortion has on men.

A recent scandal surrounding John Edwards, former North Carolina Senator and U.S. presidential candidate, brought this issue into plain view. Mr. Edwards publicly acknowledged an extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter in the summer of 2008, a few months after pulling out of the presidential race. Even after admitting to the affair, however, he continued to deny having fathered Ms. Hunter’s daughter, Quinn, until January of 2010 when he finally admitted that he was, in fact, her father.

A former aide to Mr. Edwards has just published a tell-all book describing how Mr. Edwards tried to coerce Ms. Hunter to get an abortion. Commentator Jill Stanek analyzed the situation this way: “Fortunately, Hunter resisted this all too typical coercive attempt by a sexually exploitative and irresponsible man to abort his own baby. Of course Edwards is a pro-abort, which as we see is incredibly self-serving for men. Edwards was ready to sacrifice his own baby for political and personal expediency.”

Mr. Edward’s extramarital activities remind us how legalized abortion has the clear and pronounced effect of supporting sexual infidelity, providing “cover” and encouraging men to become less responsible and accountable for their personal choices. It enables men to justify and get away with sexual license.

Abortion hurts men in other, more direct ways as well. The fact that upwards of 3000 abortions occur each day in the U.S. implies the obvious corollary that about 3000 men lose a son or daughter each day to abortion. Some of these men may have encouraged or pressured their partners to abort; others may have strongly resisted; still others may not have known they were fathers until afterwards.

What is not widely acknowledged is that men can and do suffer emotionally and spiritually from their loss. It seems fair to say that men are not often encouraged to acknowledge their emotions around this issue -- whether relief, grief, anger, or resentment.

As post-abortion healing ministries like Rachel’s Vineyard have expanded in recent years, many women along with their husbands or male partners have come to seek help in dealing with the negative effects of their abortion. A growing number of men have found themselves regretting their involvement in an abortion, and various websites now include testimonies from men who have lost a child this way (cf. rachelsvineyard.org or priestsforlife.org).

Many of the testimonies are poignant, raw and searingly honest. Phil McCombs, a Washington Post Staff writer shared his own post-abortive struggles in a 1995 article in the Post:

‘‘I feel like a murderer, which isn’t to say that I blame anyone else, or think anyone else is a murderer. It’s just the way I feel and all the rationalizations in the world haven’t changed this. I still grieve for little Thomas. It is an ocean of grief. From somewhere in the distant past I remember the phrase from Shakespeare, the multitudinous seas, “incarnadine.” When I go up to the river on vacation this summer, he won’t be going boating with me on the lovely old wooden runabout that I can’t really afford to put in the water but can’t bring myself to discard, either. He won’t be lying on the grass by the tent at night looking at the starry sky and saying, “What’s that one called, Dad?” Because there was no room on the Earth for Thomas.’’

Another anonymous father wrote a letter, excerpted here, to his deceased son as part of his own journey towards healing and peace:

‘‘My Dear John Peter -- This past weekend I did something I should have done a very long time ago. I confessed to your death by abortion. John, you would today be a young man of twenty, vibrant and alive... Tears come again John, as they did Saturday night... In the fall, John, when the leaves fall from the trees I shall think of you, for you too fell from life. In the cold of winter, John, the snow shall remind me of you: for like the snow you were and are white and pure. In the spring, John, I shall think of you: for the birth of spring shall remind me that you, too should have been born into this world. John, I shall think of you in the summer: I shall imagine your laughter. I shall see you as you might have been, a little boy running and playing, scraping your knees from a fall. I shall miss, John, all that I might have gained from your life. My Little One, John Peter, I can only now ask you to forgive me as Jesus and God have done. May you rest in the arms of God -- Dad’’

The deep emotional scarring of both men and women that follows in the wake of legalized abortion should be a growing concern for all of us, and should challenge us to craft a more just society where every man, woman and child is unconditionally protected, respected, welcomed and loved.

This article is reprinted with permission of the author, Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. Father Pacholczyk writes a monthly column, Making Sense out of Bioethics, which appears in newspapers in the US, Canada and Australia. See: http://www.ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=249

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA, and serves as the Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. See http://www.ncbcenter.org/

More resources:
Silent No More
www.afterabortion.org
www.dads.org

Coakley takes the heat off Sarah Palin

2010-01-17T08:19:00.001-05:00

Why would I put Palin and Coakley in the same sentence? Not because they have any political similarity- only because now Conservatives have someone to demonize- although it’s not difficult. Martha Coakley, Ted Kennedy’s party replacement thought she had it all sewn up, but the polls tell the real truth. Republican candidate Scott Brown is ahead by four percentage points as of January 15, and turning out to be a popular candidate among Independents and disillusioned Democrats, who may just determine this Massachusetts US Senate race.

Coakley is doing a great job of demonizing herself- and the fact speak loudest. Just recently, in an interview with radio host Ken Pittman, when discussing conscience clause rights for health care workers, she declared that devout Catholics “should probably not work in emergency rooms” if they oppose Plan B for rape victims. In one blow, she may have just alienated 39% of her state’s population.

Even more disturbing is her track record as Attorney General. In 2005, Coakley failed to adequately prosecute a rapist who sexually abused his own niece with a hot curling iron. Released without bail, the rapist turned out to be the son of a prominent union member and contributor to her campaign.

The facts also seem to escape Martha on a convenient basis. When asked about the assault on a reporter attempting to interview her concerning her Afghanistan remarks, she claims not to have seen anything, and thus could not comment. But YouTube doesn’t lie- the image reveals her clearly observing the incident provoked by her own bodyguard. And what about the mistakenly overlooked $200,000 in assets she failed to report to the IRS last year? Another convenient oversight.

This race may turn out to be a tortoise and the hare fairy tale, as her opponent Scott Brown pounds the pavement and woos possible constituents. Commenting on Brown’s willingness to stand in the cold and shake hands with voters, she says: “…standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?’’

Her stand-offishness and willingness to snub voters is even plainer when she blunders that Boston Red Sox retired pitcher, who endorses opponent Brown, is a Yankee fan. The press made fun of Palin who said she can see Russia from her back yard. Coakley can’t even see people in her own state. It doesn't take bad press to convict Coakley. Unlike with Palin and the reporters, you can’t make this stuff up. The Democrats deserve to lose this seat, by endorsing such a clueless candidate.

MUCUS and MOTHER TERESA

2009-11-09T23:24:00.003-05:00

This blogpost was written by Dorothy Vining, a writer and pro-life advocate in my town. She came to our NFP "Upgrade" Class for CCL members. Her blog is Musings at 85.

By Dorothy Vining

I’m 86, I just got back from a Natural Family Planning course, and here I am, all excited all over again! I am, perhaps, not in the usual NFP demographic, but I never cease to be amazed at the wonders of the human body and I’ve been writing about the efficacy of NFP for years now.

I am also totally amazed that supposedly intelligent people, all green and natural, with their filtered water, their organic veggies, and their free ranging chickens, are willing to pollute their one and only body rather than – God forbid – abstain from sex every now and then. There is just no end to the variety of non-biological carcinogenic steroids that they are willing to ingest, insert, or apply as rings, things, pills and patches, rather than learn to understand their bodies and behave rationally.

Quite conveniently I have come across an old article of mine with a September, 1993, quote from the British Medical Journal authored by Dr. R.E.J. Ryder, Department of Endocrinology, Dudley Road Hospital in Birmingham, England. In it Dr. Ryder says that the Catholic church offers and approves a method of birth control which is “cheap, effective, without side-effects…and may be the family planning method of choice for the Third World.” His article provoked “unprecedented debate” in Great Britain and there was “enormous resistance” to its publication.

Dr. Ryder repeated the well-known facts that a woman’s egg has a lifespan of about 24 hours and is fertilizable for only part of that time. The sperm, however, may remain viable from four to seven days. “Thus a woman is potentially fertile for no more than six to eight days of her cycle, probably less in most cases.” Hormonal studies as well as ultrasound studies have confirmed that the clinical observations of changes in cervical mucus and body temperature as taught in Natural Family Planning can accurately identify the time of ovulation. He cited a World Health Organization study of 869 women of proven fertility in five centers (Auckland, Bangalore, Dublin, Manila, and San Miguel, El Salvador) showing that regardless of culture and education 93% of the women – even those who were illiterate — could recognize the mucus symptoms. “The probability of conception from intercourse outside the period of fertility defined by cervical mucus observation was 0.0004.”

Another study of 19,843 poor women of Calcutta found a failure rate for Natural Family Planning similar to that of the combined contraceptive pill (less than 2%). In closing his article Dr. Ryder wrote: “There is no doubt that it would be more efficient for the ongoing world debate on overpopulation, resources, environment, poverty and health to be conducted against a background of truth rather than fallacy. It is therefore important that the misconception that Catholicism is synonymous with ineffective birth control is laid to rest.”

One has only to Google any contraceptive medication to learn about their myriad complications and side-effects and realize they are all harmful to normal female functioning. (Dr. Herbert Ratner has called it chemical warfare against women!) A woman on the Pill can be a paying customer for 30 years. Doctor, pharmacist, and drug company all profit all that time. Unfortunately, nature has no lobby.

I went to this NFP meeting because I had heard that nowadays the NFP people have a new “one rule” which makes it easier to determine a woman’s fertile and infertile periods. Yes, there are still charts to keep (at least until you are well acquainted with how your particular body functions), temperatures to take, and mucus and cervical signs to record. The new rule is more about looking at the whole picture rather than any particular bodily indicator. For particulars, two resource sites might be helpful.

I was particularly intrigued by the wonders of cervical mucus. Who would have known? It turns out that there are various kinds of cervical mucus at various times during a woman’s cycle, some dense and unwelcoming, but there is a “slippery and stretchy mucus,” resembling raw egg white, in which the sperm can live for 2 to 3 days while waiting for a fertilized egg to arrive. Microscopically, it forms string-like channels and provides transport (‘swimming lanes’) for sperm cells. It produces a “wet, lubricative sensation at the vulva.”

I have read that the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s order) have been able to teach effective natural birth control in India relying primarily on the mucus factor. As I recall, the instruction went something like this: Moisture makes babies grow; dryness prevents growth. (I don’t remember the exact words, but you get the idea.) There has been no more ardent advocate for natural family planning than Mother Teresa.

Who would think I would one day write a blog post on the marvels of mucus? Swimming channels for sperm in women’s cervical mucus! How much more accommodating could we get?

Surely, we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Gardasil- what we knew all along!

2009-10-14T23:32:00.011-04:00

Merck Researcher Admits: Gardasil Guards Against Almost Nothing
by Joan Robinson and Steven W. Mosher

On the morning of 2 October 2009, one of us (Joan) joined an audience of mostly health professionals and listened as Dr. Diane Harper, the leading international developer of the HPV vaccines, gave a sales pitch for Gardasil. Gardasil, as you may know, is the new vaccine that is supposed to confer protection against four strains of the sexually transmitted Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

Dr. Harper came to the 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination to prove to us the real benefits of Gardasil. Sadly, her own presentation left me (Joan) and others filled with doubts. By her own admission, Gardasil has the doctors surrounding me glaring at a poor promise of efficacy as a vaccine married to a high risk of life-threatening side effects.
Gardasil, Dr. Harper explained, is promoted by Merck, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, as a “safe and effective” prevention measure against cervical cancer. The theory behind the vaccine is that, as HPV may cause cervical cancer, conferring a greater immunity of some strains of HPV might reduce the incidence of this form of cancer. In pursuit of this goal, tens of millions of American girls have been vaccinated to date.

As I sat scribbling down Merck’s claims, I wondered why such mass vaccination campaigns were necessary. After all, as Dr. Harper explained, 70% of HPV infections resolve themselves without treatment in one year. After two years, this rate climbs to 90%. Of the remaining 10% of HPV infections, only half coincide with the development of cervical cancer.

Dr. Harper further undercut the case for mass vaccination campaigns in the U.S. when she pointed out that “4 out of 5 women with cervical cancer are in developing countries.” (Harper serves as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) for HPV vaccination in the developing world.) Indeed, she surprised her audience by stating that the incidence of cervical cancer in the U.S. is so low that “if we get the vaccine and continue PAP screening, we will not lower the rate of cervical cancer in the US.”

If this is the case, I thought, then why vaccinate at all? From the murmurs of the doctors in the audience, it was apparent that the same thought had occurred to them.

In the U.S. the cervical cancer rate is 8 per 100,000 women.1 Moreover, it is one of the most treatable forms of cancer. The current death rate from cervical cancer is between 1.6 to 3.7 deaths per 100,000 cases of the disease.2 The American Cancer Society (ACS) notes that “between 1955 and 1992, the cervical cancer death rate declined by 74%” and adds that “the death rate from cervical cancer continues to decline by nearly 4% each year.”3

At this point, I began to wriggle around in my seat, uncomfortably wondering, is the vaccine really effective? Using data from trials funded by Merck, Dr. Harper cheerfully continued to demolish the case for the vaccine that she was ostensibly there to promote. She informed us that “with the use of Gardasil, there will be no decrease in cervical cancer until at least 70% of the population is vaccinated, and in that case, the decrease will be very minimal. The highest amount of minimal decrease will appear in 60 years.”

It is hard to imagine a less compelling case for Gardasil. First of all, it is highly unlikely that 70% or more of the female population will continue to get routine Gardasil shots and boosters, along with annual PAP smears. And even if it did, according to Dr. Harper, “after 60 years, the vaccination will [only] have prevented 70% of incidences” of cervical cancer.

But rates of death from cervical cancer are already declining. Let’s do the math. If the 4% annual decline in cervical cancer death continues, in 60 years there will have been a 91.4% decline in cervical cancer death just from current cancer monitoring and treatment. Comparing this rate of decline to Gardasil’s projected “very minimal” reduction in the rate of cervical cancer of only 70 % of incidences in 60 years, it is hard to resist the conclusion that Gardasil does almost nothing for the health of American women.

Despite these dismal projections, Gardasil continues to be widely and aggressively promoted among pre-teen girls. The CDC reports that, by 1 June 2009, over 26 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed in the U.S.4 With hopes of soon tapping the adolescent male demographic, Merck, the pharmaceutical manufacturer of the vaccine, and certain Merck-funded U.S. medical organizations are targeting girls between the ages of 9 and 13.5 As CBS news reports, “Gardasil, launched in 2006 for girls and young women, quickly became one of Merck's top-selling vaccines, thanks to aggressive marketing and attempts to get states to require girls to get the vaccine as a requirement for school attendance.”6

Just as I began, in my own mind, to question ethics of mass vaccinations of prepubescent girls, Dr. Harper dropped another bombshell. “There have been no efficacy trials in girls under 15 years,” she told us.

Merck did study a small group of girls under 16 who had been vaccinated, but did not follow them long enough to conclude sufficient presence of effective HPV antibodies.

If I wasn’t skeptical enough already, I really started scratching my head when Dr. Harper explained, “if you vaccinate a child, she won’t keep immunity in puberty and you do nothing to prevent cervical cancer.” But it turned out that she wasn’t arguing for postponing Gardasil vaccination until later puberty, as I first thought. Rather, Dr. Harper only emphasized to the doctors in the audience the need for Gardasil booster shots, because it is still unknown how long the vaccine immunity lasts. More booster shots mean more money for Merck, obviously.

I left Dr. Harper’s lecture convinced that Gardasil did little to stop cervical cancer, and determined to answer another question that she had largely ducked: Is this vaccine safe?
Here’s what my research turned up. To date, 15,037 girls have officially reported adverse side effects from Gardasil to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). These adverse effects include Guilliane Barre, lupus, seizures, paralysis, blood clots, brain inflammation and many others. The CDC acknowledges that there have been 44 reported deaths.7

Dr. Harper, who seems to specialize in dropping bombshells, dropped another in an interview with ABC News when she admitted that “The rate of serious adverse events is greater than the incidence rate of cervical cancer.”8 This being the case, one might want to take one’s chances with cancer, especially because the side effects of the vaccine are immediate, while the possibility of developing cancer is years in the future.

In the clinical studies alone, 23 girls died after receiving either Gardasil or the Aluminum control injection. 15 of the 13,686 girls who received Gardasil died, while 8 died among the 11,004 who received the Aluminum shot. There was only one death among the group that had a saline placebo. What this means is that 1 out of every 912 girls in the Gardasil clinical studies died. (9, see page 8.) The cervical cancer death rate is 1 out of every 40,000 women per year.10
The numbers of deaths and adverse effects are undoubtedly underestimates. Dr. Harper’s comments to ABC News concur with the National Vaccine Information Center’s claim that “though nearly 70 percent of all Gardasil reaction reports were filed by Merck, a whopping 89 percent of the reports Merck did file were so incomplete there was not enough information for health officials to do a proper follow-up and review.”11 On average, less than 10 percent—perhaps even less than 1 percent—of serious vaccine adverse events are ever reported, according to the American Journal of Public Health.12

Given the severity and frequency of Gardasil adverse reactions, I definitely wasn’t the only one in Dr. Harper’s audience who winced when she dismissed most Gardasil side effects as “easily just needle phobia.”

Due to the young age of the trial participants and the short duration of the studies, the effects of Gardasil on female fecundity have not been studied. I did discover, in my post-conference reading, that Polysorbate 80, an ingredient in the vaccine (13, see page 12), has been observed in a European clinical study to cause infertility in rats.14 Is this an additional concern? Time will tell.

I do not wish to give the impression that Dr. Harper presented, even inadvertently, a consistently negative view of her own vaccine. She did tout certain “real benefits,” chief among them that “the vaccine will reduce the number of follow-up tests after abnormal PAP smears,” and thereby reduce the “relationship tension,” “stress and anxiety” of abnormal or false HPV positive results.

To me, however, this seems a rather slim promise, especially when weighed against the deaths and side effects caused by the Gardasil campaign. Should millions of girls in the United States, many as young as 9, be put at risk, so that sexually active adults can have less “relationship tension” about false positive Hepatitis results? Is the current rate of death, sterility and serious immune dysfunction from Gardasil worth the potential that in 60 years a minimal amount of a cervical disease (that is already decreasing on its own) may perhaps be reduced?

But what I really wanted to know is why Merck is so eagerly marketing such a dangerous and ineffective vaccine? Aren’t there other ways they could make a profit? While Merck’s behavior is probably adequately explained by the profit motive, what about those in the Health and Human Services bureaucracy who apparently see Gardasil as medicine’s gift to women? What motivates them?

I (Steve) think that they see Gardasil as what one might call a “wedge” drug. For them, the success of this public vaccination campaign has less to do with stopping cervical cancer, than it does with opening the door to other vaccination campaigns for other sexually transmitted diseases, and perhaps even including pregnancy itself. For if they can overcome the objections of parents and religious organizations to vaccinating pre-pubescent—and not sexually active—girls against one form of STD, then it will make it easier for them to embark on similar programs in the future.

After all, the proponents of sexual liberation are determined not to let mere disease—or even death—stand in the way of their pleasures. They believe that there must be technological solutions to the diseases that have arisen from their relentless promotion of promiscuity. After all, the alternative is too horrible to contemplate: They might have to learn to control their appetites. And they might have to teach abstinence.

Steven W. Mosher is the President of the Population Research Institute.
Joan Robinson is an Assistant Editor at the Population Research Institute.

Support this movie before we have to support OBAMACARE

2009-09-10T09:46:00.009-04:00

Please visit the Blood Money Film website and register your support of this film. If the creators of the film can show there is support for seeing this film in theaters they will find a distributor willing to take a chance on this controversial topic. So please tell your friends, family, and your church and help build public support.

It needs to be released now, before OBAMACARE can do its damage!

Join Obama's Martha's Vineyard Pro-Life Vacation Protest!

2009-08-25T22:12:00.002-04:00

The health care bills in Congress could result in the greatest expansion of abortion funding since the 1970's—and President Obama refuses to admit it. It's time to call him on it.

You, and Family Institute of Connecticut members are invited to Woods Hole, MA for a press conference this Thursday, August 27 at 9:45 in the morning, and then over to Martha's Vineyard by Ferry to join a protest against the President's Abortion Mandate.

We will join pro-life activist Chris Slattery in helping to expose a pro-life message against our Abortion insurance Mandate President during his Martha's Vineyard Vacation stay this Thursday. There will be no civil disobedience, and no arrests planned.

This protest will get media attention with the message that pro-life Americans will not tolerate an abortion mandate in health care reform.

Start time is Thursday, August 27 at 9:45am and end time is Friday, August 28 at 5:00pm. Where: Martha's Vineyard Starting at Mainland Ferry & then on Island

To RSVP call Chris Slattery at 914-224-5773 or for more details Facebook users should follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=136771202016&mid=fd167bG4369ecf6Gbede2eG7

And please click here to support Connecticut's leading pro-life organization: The Family Institute of Connecticut!

Only 27% of the nation's voters strongly approve of the job Obama is doing

2009-08-24T13:33:00.009-04:00

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Just when it appears pro-abortion President Barack Obama has finally reached rock bottom in his approval ratings descent, he falls even lower. With the Obama administration not only pushing a pro-abortion health care bill but accusing pro-life groups of lying to the American people about it, Obama loses more and more support. The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll for Sunday shows just 27% of the nation's voters strongly approve of the job Obama is doing as president. That contrasts with the 41 percent who strongly disapprove. Rasmussen tracks the views of voters who have the strongest feelings one way or another, calling it the Presidential Approval Index, and this rating of -14 is the lowest Obama has seen since he took over the White House in January. Some of the decline has come from within Obama's own party as only 49% of Democrats offer such a positive assessment of the president at this time. At the other end of the spectrum, today’s total for the Strongly Disapprove answer matches the highest level yet recorded. The 41% mark was reached just once before and that came one week ago today. Seventy percent of Republicans now Strongly Disapprove along with 49% of those not affiliated with either major party. Overall, using a more conventional analysis, only 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance while 51% now disapprove.

Health Care Reform is an extension of Roe v. Wade- and worse

2009-08-20T12:13:00.002-04:00

Protected sex doesn't protect mental status

2009-08-05T13:49:00.005-04:00

More proof that sex was meant by God to procreate and bond as husband and wife. Barriers are needed in a culture of promiscuity. Barriers are bad within marriage. To protect against pregnancy, the result of the marital act, barriers are necessary. Research proves what we already know as true.

By Hilary White

PAISLEY, Scotland, August 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Research from Scotland finding that heterosexual sex without using condoms is more likely to make people happy than "safe sex" with condoms, has stirred controversy among "sexual health" campaigners. The lead researcher wrote of the survey respondents, "The more often they have sex without condoms, the better their mental health."

In the study, titled, "Condom Use for Penile-Vaginal Intercourse is Associated with Immature Psychological Defense Mechanisms," Professor Stuart Brody of the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley gave questionnaires to 111 Portuguese men and 99 women asking questions about their sex lives and their state of mind over a period of one month. The findings are to be published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour.

The study's abstract gives the purpose as the examination of a hypothesis put forward by Sigmund Freud, "that use of immature psychological defense mechanisms correlates directly with frequency of condom use during PVI, but inversely with frequency of PVI [penile-vaginal intercourse] without condoms."

The survey found that "frequency of PVI with condoms correlated directly with use of immature defenses," according to a standard test of psychological reactions. It also found that "immature defenses" were associated with masturbation in both sexes. In general, the study concluded that condom use during PVI is associated with "psychological immaturity and predisposition to poorer mental health," including depression and suicidal tendencies.

Brody wrote, "The more often they have sex without condoms, the better their mental health." His findings suggest that condom use negates the mental health benefits of what he called "evolutionarily relevant sex." He theorized that there is a direct biochemical response in natural heterosexual relations that is blocked by condoms.

Brody wrote in the study, "Possible explanations for the interference of condoms with the health benefits of PVI include blocking of antidepressant and immunological agents in semen and genital secretions, reduced sexual satisfaction and intimacy, and psychopathology-prone persons who are more psychologically immature and/or heterosocially anxious being more likely to use condoms for PVI."

In an interview with the UK's Independent newspaper, Brody responded to criticisms from sex-campaigners at the Family Planning Association that his findings, if they were acted upon, would result in increases in sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies.

"I have an interest in the best possible science," he said. "I don't want to let anything get in the way, whether its political correctness, or religion. I have deliberately not used the term 'heterosexual sex'," he said.

"Evolution is not politically correct, so of the very broad range of potential sexual behaviour, there is actually only one that is consistently associated with better physical and mental health and that is the one sexual behaviour that would be favoured by evolution. That is not accidental."

In 2007, Brody angered homosexualist activists in the UK when he published research that found intercourse between men and women is the only form of sexual behaviour that improves "psychological and physiological function." He found that levels of prolactin, the hormone that provides the body with sexual gratification, were 400 percent higher among male and female couples who had heterosexual intercourse than those engaging in other forms of sex.

Peter Tatchell, one of Britain's leading homosexualist spokesmen, called the research "unscientific and extreme" and said it contradicted other studies by the US sex researchers Masters and Johnson. Tatchell said, "Brody's is an extreme and disparaging stance to adopt and he seems to have an ideological agenda to promote conventional heterosexual intercourse."

Brody responded at the time, "The radical left wants sex research done, but only if the results are politically acceptable to them."

Brody's previous work has also criticized the disinformation commonly promulgated in the media about the transmission of AIDS among the general population and warned that political correctness has seriously muddied the issues.

His 1997 book "Sex at Risk: Lifetime number of partners, frequency of intercourse and low AIDS risk of vaginal intercourse," concluded that "ideological knowledge" about AIDS, that asserts that heterosexuals are at equal risk of contracting the disease as active homosexuals, is more prevalent in society than evidence-based scientific knowledge gained from objective research. One reviewer called the book a "succinct indictment of people who have conflated politics and science in setting AIDS policy over the past 15 years."

Catholics Don't Do Crystals

2009-08-01T18:43:00.009-04:00

How to Use ‘Alternative Health Practices’ Without Endangering Your Soul

Are you familiar with Catholic Church communities who offer Reiki healing, yoga and other modern sprituality practices? It's easily convincing, when your church community offers classes and sessions using these New Age remedies. You may practice some of these spiritual healing arts. But this article touches on the precarious position of mixing Catholic Christian religious beliefs with these ancient (and new) healing arts, and cautions you to discern spirits.

BY JUDY ROBERTS
National Catholic Register

Growing up in a family that ran a health-food business, Charlene Williams learned to eat well and heal naturally.

Today the mother of four and grandmother of four raises some of her own vegetables and fruits, shops at farmers markets, and cooks from scratch. She also eats whole grains, avoids processed foods and relies on vitamin and mineral supplements, herbs, herbal teas, and home remedies like fresh-squeezed lemon and molasses in hot water for colds and sore throats.
In addition, she goes to a chiropractor and recently saw a naturopathic doctor and bioenergetics practitioner for help with stress and lack of energy.

But, as a Catholic, Williams is careful to avoid the New Age ideas and practices widely peddled in the subculture that has grown up around natural foods and alternative health care — whether it’s the crystals and books on transcendental meditation displayed in some health-food stores, Reiki treatments offered by certain massage therapists or yoga classes at the local gym.
Williams, whose grandparents started Dietrich’s Natural Foods in their home in Toledo, Ohio, in the 1930s, told the Register she doubts consumers interested in healthy living back then would have encountered the unorthodox spiritual offerings ubiquitous in the industry today.
“As the New Age became more common in our society, I started to see in various health-food stores more things like incense and crystals,” she says. “That kind of stuff was not around when I was a kid.”

Reading about the New Age from a Catholic perspective in books like Randy England’s The Unicorn in the Sanctuary (Tan, 1990) alerted Williams to New Age and Eastern religious practices within and outside the natural-healing movement, helping her discern what is and isn’t healthy for the eternal soul.

Many times, she says, “It sounds like it’s all good, [but] the problem is that the spiritual part isn’t in line with Catholicism.”

Truer words have seldom been spoken. For, although there is much to commend in many natural-healing approaches, any practice or belief that draws from a newfangled spiritual source should raise red flags for Catholics.

Eternity vs. Oblivion
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine recently issued guidelines for evaluating Reiki, an alternative healing technique that attempts to correct imbalances in “life energy” through the placement of the practitioner’s hands on certain parts of the body. The bishops point out that the central elements of the worldview suggested by Reiki theory belong neither to the Christian faith nor to natural science.
Given this, they conclude, Catholics who trust in Reiki are entering the realm of superstition, which “corrupts one’s worship of God by turning one’s religious feeling and practice in a false direction.”

Similarly, Father Mitch Pacwa, Eternal Word Television Network host and author of Catholics and the New Age: How Good People Are Being Drawn into Jungian Psychology, the Enneagram, and the Age of Aquarius (Servant, 1992), cautions that yoga, regarded by some as merely a form of exercise or relaxation, is in fact a religious practice with a spiritual goal: making the personality cease to exist. “That is incompatible with Christian goals,” Father Pacwa says. “As a Catholic,” he adds, “my goal is not simply to have this state of mind. My goal is union with Christ.”

During the 1970s, Father Pacwa says, he tried practicing something called “Christian yoga” that involved meditating on the words of Christ while assuming various yoga positions. But, he recalls, “The problem still remained. I was trying to attain a certain state of consciousness rather than personal union with Christ. I was not really connecting with Christ.”

Father Pacwa says to be wary of practitioners who claim to be able to balance or align chakras, energy centers along the spinal column according to kundalini yoga. Through meditation, kundalini yoga tries to awaken “the sleeping kundalini serpent” at the base of the spine to increase enlightenment.

Practitioners who say they work with chakras, Father Pacwa explains, may be mixing and matching different Asian philosophies. Besides failing to respect the integrity of and differences between each philosophy, he says, they could be wading into dangerous territory. “If you start opening up the chakras and don’t know what you are doing,” he says, “you are opening up yourself to grave danger, madness and even death. That’s according to practitioners of kundalini yoga. It’s not my interpretation.”

On the other hand, Father Pacwa says, he considers reflexology, which involves applying pressure to the feet and hands, a harmless (if questionably effective) nonmedical therapy.
His concern about alternative healing practices and methods in general is that their medical claims are often unsubstantiated — and they are sometimes used as a shill to draw people into New Age spirituality.

For example, he says, when a method does not work, a practitioner may propose a spiritual solution like past-life regression or the application of crystals to channel the universe’s energy.
“This nonsense,” he says, “will take your soul to the other side. It’s entering enemy territory.”

God’s Good Earth
Rebecca Otto of Leipsic, Ohio, a registered nurse and mother of six whose family’s health regimen includes chiropractic care, vitamin supplements and visits to a naturopathic doctor, says she is very much aware of the need to avoid anything that could become a portal into areas of spiritual warfare.

“There are good and bad spirits, and we don’t want to put ourselves in those areas,” she says, adding that she would refrain from involvement in yoga, Reiki, acupuncture and crystals, for example. “All I’ve had to hear is a few knowledgeable people on this,” she says. “There are a few areas I don’t feel it’s worth risking my soul to venture into.”

Although Otto acknowledges that there are times modern medicine is needed, her experience has shown that some alternative forms of healing work.

One of her sons, for instance, suffered from allergies to the point that he needed breathing treatments every spring and fall. The naturopathic doctor who evaluated him recommended several lifestyle changes and gave the boy a mixture of drops to take along with natural herbs. Her son improved so much, Otto says, that he only needs an occasional breathing treatment.
“God created nature, and he has given us ways to help other than [traditional] medicine,” she says.

Maryann Marshall of Lawrenceville, Ga., an herbalist who teaches online classes and has organized a Catholic herbalists group on the Internet, says she has discovered that much of natural healing was actually advanced by monks during the Middle Ages.
“The monasteries kept medicine alive through the Middle Ages,” she says. “They kept civilization alive, including medicine — and medicine was herbology. The monks had amazing herb gardens and vegetable gardens, too.”

Marshall received much of her knowledge about herbs from her Polish immigrant grandfather and, over the last 30 years, has added to what he taught her through her own research. In the process, she has often run into New Age material, something she finds both “distracting and distressing.”

As a result, she has learned not to proceed without some kind of spiritual grounding. She always prays to the Holy Spirit before doing any reading or studying and also consults a priest who is her spiritual director.

There’s lots to benefit from in natural foods and remedies, she says, but “you need a very, very, very firm foundation in the Catholic faith.”

Rasmussen Poll: Americans Opposed to Nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court

2009-07-15T13:22:00.002-04:00

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll shows a plurality of Americans are opposed to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, who has been linked to pro-abortion groups, to the Supreme Court. A new Rasmussen national telephone poll finds 38 percent of voters support Sotomayor while 44 percent oppose her nomination.

That's a five-point increase in opposition from two weeks ago when 37% were in favor of her confirmation and 39% were opposed.

Forty-five percent have a favorable opinion of her, including 20% very favorable while 46 percent view her unfavorably, with 25% very unfavorable. These numbers also have remained largely the same since her nomination was announced, Rasmussen noted.

However, the survey also showed Sotomayor helped her case after giving her opening statement during the first day of the hearing on her nomination.

Looking at the results of the poll from Monday night alone (the poll also included Sunday) 42 percent of voters favored Sotomayor’s confirmation to the high court, while 44 percent were opposed.

Sotomayor Evades Questions About Board Membership on Pro-Abortion Group

2009-07-15T13:17:00.003-04:00

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor evaded questions Tuesday afternoon from a senator who wanted to know more about the pro-abortion mission of a Hispanic group she served on the board of directors for during the 1980s.

Her comments followed remarks she gave earlier in the day saying the Roe v. Wade abortion case allowing virtually unlimited abortions any time during pregnancy is "settled law."

Sotomayor was a member of the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1980 to 1992.

The New York Times notes that Sotomayor "was an involved and ardent supporter of their various legal efforts."

The group has come under fire for filing numerous amicus briefs with the Supreme Court each advocating an unlimited right to abortion throughout pregnancy and paid for at taxpayer expense.

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The State of Connecticut Persecution of the Catholic Church

2009-06-01T13:36:00.002-04:00

Your Church could be next!

State of Connecticut really wants the Catholic Church in the worst way. As you may already know, Bishop Lori is filing a civil suit against the state. The State claims that our Constitutional First Amendment rights to assembly, speech and religion were not rights at all, but actually ‘lobbying”! And thus, the Church violated the law by lobbying without a license! Now we are subject to civil penalties.

Bishop Lori said: "Never did I imagine that our activities defending ourselves from a government attack on our right of religious self-governance would be met with another government action subjecting our Church to an ‘evaluation’ for those activities!" You can read the Diocese's statement here.

If you would like to contact your senators and reps, go here . If you don’t know your rep or senator go here.

Janet Smith weighs in on Christopher West's Nightline Interview

2009-05-28T10:41:00.005-04:00

Smith says:

I want to add my voice to those who are enthusiastic about the West/Theology of the Body phenomenon. I think it is important to keep in mind, as Akin does, who West’s audience is. It is largely the sexually wounded and confused who have been shaped by our promiscuous and licentious culture. People need to think long and hard about the appropriate pedagogy for that group. Yet, as West himself knows, his approach is not for everyone. An analogy that pushes the envelope may be "offensive" to one person and may be just the hook that draws another person
in. West has adopted a style that appeals to a large segment of that population—and even to some who are “pure and innocent.”

Read the rest--

Finally! someone who can get off their high horse and articulate this reasonably!

Spreading John Paul II's Theology of the Body

2009-05-21T22:04:00.003-04:00

By Christopher West

You may have heard that ABC News’ Nightline featured TOB and an interview with me on a recent broadcast. If you haven’t seen the piece, you can view it here. The story provided unprecedented national media exposure and the response on ABC.com was almost unanimously positive (see comments here). We at the TOB Institute hope and believe that, as a result of the coverage, many viewers will take a deeper look at what the Church actually teaches about the glory and dignity God has bestowed on us by creating us in his image as male and female.

While this is good news to be thankful for, the ABC coverage did create some misunderstandings (see clarification here). In addition, we at the Institute received constructive advice on how we might better communicate when speaking to the secular media. As I have often said, finding the right language, images, and anecdotes to communicate the riches of the TOB is a process of trial and error – all the more so when dealing with the secular media. All of us involved in teaching and promoting John Paul II’s TOB must realize that the Father prunes every branch that bears fruit "so that it bears more fruit" (Jn 15:2). As fallen human beings, we’re like tarnished gold. The Father wants all of his children to shine, but removing the tarnish of our fallen humanity demands friction. "This is the way; [we must] walk in it" (Is 30:21).

Despite ABC’s approach and some misunderstandings it caused, so many of you have expressed your gratitude to the Institute for speaking to a national media outlet about TOB, and in doing so, taking up John Paul II’s call to play a role in the New Evangelization. The ABC coverage, and the predominantly positive feedback that we at the Institute received in response to it, has provided us a unique opportunity to reflect on our organization’s mission, which is "to educate and train men and women to understand, live and promote the Theology of the Body." We believe in this mission passionately because we have seen how the TOB has brought countless individuals closer to Christ and the Church. This is a crucial point for all Catholics to consider as we seek to engage others in a culture that has not only rejected the Church’s teaching, but typically turns a deaf ear when the Church shares her voice: Aren’t we all called to reach out to those around us – to share the Church’s teaching whenever we have the opportunity to do so, so that others may be brought to Christ? How can we do this in a way that actually engages the culture so that it won’t "turn a deaf ear"?

In the days and months ahead, I encourage you to think about how you might spread this glorious message. It may be through a conversation with a friend or family member, in your classroom, at your parish, or in dialogue with others online. Whether it’s reaching out to one person, hundreds or thousands, Christ calls us to spread the Good News. The Institute staff is eager to assist you in this endeavor, so please feel free to call on them if you think they can help. With this in mind, please know that in addition to the work we do in speaking to Catholic, Christian and secular media, we at the Institute will continue to do our best to fulfill our mission, through our educational programs offered on site in parishes and dioceses across the country, through our clergy training program, and through our growing line-up of week-long Certification courses offered throughout the year here in Pennsylvania (see schedule).

Natural Family Planning's Most Recent Effectiveness Study

2009-05-14T18:19:00.005-04:00

My son texted me from his freshman health class at Danbury High today. He quoted me the "effectiveness" of NFP according to his health teacher's handout. From Guttmacher no doubt.

The following is the best research to date.

The most recent research from 2007 is found in the scholarly journal Human Reproduction by Drs. Petra Frank-Herrmann and J. Heil, entitled, The Effectiveness of a Fertility Awareness Based Method to Avoid Pregnancy in Relation to a Couple’s Sexual Behaviour during the Fertile Time: a Prospective Longitudinal Study. Human Reproduction, pp.1-10, 2007.

http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/dem003v1

This study reports both perfect use and typical use unintended pregnancies with an effectiveness rate of 99.6% and 92.5% respectively.

But my son's health teacher will take the 'effectiveness' study from the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood. Or at least their handouts are informed by Guttmacher. Not only is it biased, it is a 14 year old study which defined 'periodic abstinence' as the rhythm and other 'calendar' methods. These methods are obsolete, and have been discouraged in favor of the most recent methods, and simply have not been formally taught for over 30 years.

And this week, a rep from PP will visit their class. Maybe I should volunteer my services for the other side of the debate.

Is anybody else overwhelmed?

2009-04-30T11:34:00.003-04:00

I can't take it. Bill 899 just overwhelmingly passed in Connecticut, tomorrow is the Day of Silence at my son's high school, Sibelius is head of HHS, and Obama is on the "warpath". I don't even know where to begin. Help!

Courage Philippines: This Way Out

2009-04-16T22:49:00.002-04:00

Testimony - Frank Worthen

"Born Anew to a Living Hope"

My pastor took me into his office and said, "Frank, you are a homosexual." Being only thirteen, I needed him to explain same-sex attraction. He did. Then he added that homosexuals were different from other people.

I'd been called different before! When my mother took me to kindergarten, my teacher told her, "Your boy is very different from the other boys." And she was right; I'd detached from my family's constant arguing by hiding in the attic and creating my own fantasy world. In response to my patterns of isolation, my peers called me names (which I later learned meant "homosexual").

When I was ten, I began taking piano lessons. My piano teacher knew the Lord in a powerful way. She was ecstatic when, three years later, I accepted Him. She took me to her church, where I began to study organ.

My father died that year. The pastor took an interest in me, assuming the "father" role in my life. He was everything I looked for in a father! But in my heart, I hoped he was wrong about me being a homosexual. Certainly, I was different; I had no friends, I wasn't into sports, and I devoted a lot of time to music. Still, I hoped that I was just late in developing opposite-sex attractions.

When I turned eighteen, I met a young lady. We went together for about a year. It was very exciting to think, Thank God, I'm normal! I love this woman and I want to marry her. So I proposed. She answered, "There are only two things that I love: horses and other women." Crushed, I returned to my pastor, who told me that I'd been attracted to my girlfriend's masculinity. He reasoned, "I've been telling you for years that you are a homosexual." I left the church that day, making the decision to accept my homosexuality. Since "God's man" had convinced me that I was homosexual, I hoped that God would accept me.

I entered the gay lifestyle at that time. By accepting my homosexuality, I believed I'd found where I belonged. The male homosexual lifestyle, however, is built on youth. And so, by the time I was 40, it was pretty much over for me. The only steady lover I could find wasn't even really homosexual—he just stayed with me for the money! But even then, we both cheated on each other. It was very depressing.

The business I owned required me to travel around the world a great deal. During one of my trips, the manager of my biggest store hired a "hippie" boy. Though I didn't want Michael there at all, the manager promised to keep him out of the customers' sight if I'd let him work in the stock room. I agreed, reluctantly.

Returning from another trip, I was startled to see Michael with short hair, properly washed, and working at the front counter. He was efficient, the customers loved him, and he smiled all the time. Finally, after a week of watching him, I asked, "What in the world happened to you?"
He answered, "I accepted the Lord." I wondered if Michael's Christianity would last. During the following year, his life kept getting brighter and brighter. I began to wonder if God could change me the way He had changed Michael. But I told myself, "No. God has never changed a homosexual person." I vacillated between hope and despair.

One day, the Lord spoke to me, saying, "Today I want you back." I knew, without a doubt, that this was the voice of God. I ran to the store and located Michael, gasping, "I've just heard from God, I don't know what to do." I was beside myself. Michael responded that he had the keys to his church, and suggested that we go over there to pray.

Michael had me kneel on the altar's marble steps as he led me through a 20 minute sinner's prayer! Because he knew nothing about homosexual activity, he had me confessing all kinds of things I'd never done. But I wanted everything God had for me, so I thought, "If I have to do this to change, I'll confess anything!" When the prayer ended, the Lord's Spirit came alive in my heart. I came out of the church a changed person!

When I went to Michael's church, the people expressed love for me. Later I learned that they'd spent two years praying for "Michael's gay boss." And for the next year and a half, people from that church came to see me every day! That accountability kept me from going back to the homosexual lifestyle.

At Michael's suggestion, I made a testimony tape to reach out to people who were trapped in the homosexual lifestyle. I decided to advertise the tape in the worst sex paper in town. The ad read: "Do you want out of homosexuality? Send for a Brother Frank tape on a Christ-centered way out of homosexuality." During the first year of its run, my ad brought in 60 people who wanted out of homosexuality! Men in my own church sought me out for counseling on leaving homosexuality. After a while, I started meeting with these men on Saturdays.

Eventually, the Lord put me in contact with a pastor who needed help in counseling homosexuals. Since he was a writer, he and I produced a book called "The Third Sex?" (the first Christian book on homosexuality). Going all over the English-speaking world, that book generated an average of 200 letters a month.

Though I'd had no intention of leaving my business, the Lord impressed me with the need to enter ministry full-time. Thus, Love In Action began with weekly support group meetings.
After a little time had passed, I received a distraught phone call from Barbara Johnson, a woman in Los Angeles. Barbara's son had entered the homosexual lifestyle, but the ex-gay ministry there didn't offer ministry to parents. This was the first time I'd ever heard of any ex-gay ministry besides Love In Action! Intrigued, I hopped on a plane the next morning and went down to see them.

When I met with the Director and the staff of Exit Ministry in Anaheim, California, we wondered if any other ex-gay ministries existed. I was very impressed with the organization of Exit Ministry. I asked them to train my staff at a meeting the following year. They agreed. After I left, the staff began calling churches around the country and found a number of ex-gay ministries. In the middle of 1976 we had our first conference. It was far more than I expected, sixty people representing twelve ministries attended. About the third day of the conference we knew this was not just a one time event, but would be a continuing thing: Exodus was born.
My busy life satisfied me. I enjoyed my work and loved my church. I felt secure and complete, able to settle into a life of comfortable celibacy. After five years, I sensed I was ready for marriage, but was unwilling to make the time commitment involved. I often worked in the office from morning to midnight. How could I give a wife proper attention? I saw no compelling reason to seek marriage.

Around the tenth year of celibacy, however, I began to grow uncomfortable with the single life. Intensely lonely, I began to pray for a mate. During this time, the Love in Action team held a seminar in Eugene, Oregon. I noticed the lady who sponsored the event across the room rapidly talking with a group of people. I thought, "What a hyper lady! I don't think I want to get involved with her!" So I kept my distance. I felt quite sure I never wanted to meet her!
A year and a half later, I visited Los Angeles with the director of Exodus' London ministry. We were on our way to Disneyland and had stopped by Barbara Johnson's house to pick up some passes. Barbara told me that she was obligated to take this woman to Disneyland, but that she just didn't have the time. Essentially, I would be doing her a favor if I could take this woman with us.

I was not happy at the prospect, but there is not much I wouldn't do for Barbara. So I agreed to take this woman along. She introduced us to Anita whom I had no idea I had ever met before. (Actually Barbara introduced me to her the day before at a conference I did, but I met so many people I didn't remember her.) Sometime during the day at Disneyland it came out that Anita had sponsored a conference in Eugene, Oregon where I was the conference speaker. I then remember that I had carefully avoided her, she was so hyper. The day at Disneyland proved to be the most fun I had enjoyed in years. Anita was light hearted and the life of the party. I thoroughly enjoyed her company and dreaded to see the day come to a close.

The next day, Chris and I returned to San Rafael and I became immersed in the day-to-day pressures of the ministry. The memory of that relaxing day faded until Barbara called to say that Anita had apparently liked me. Excitedly, I thought, "A woman really 'likes' me! Guess I did something right!" But calmly, I told Barbara that I couldn't remember having a better day. I asked her to tell Anita that I liked her very much also.

A month or so later, Barbara called again. This time she said that she and four other women were coming north to visit me. Since my late hours at the Love in Action office had never given me reason to furnish my home, I frantically prepared my condominium so that they would have a comfortable stay. Later Barbara called to say only three were coming, then again, only two, lastly that it would be only Anita. I panicked, how would that sound? "Director of Ex-gay Ministry Hosts Single Woman in Newly Furnished Apartment!"

Lori Thorkelson, a lady on Love In Action's staff, came to my rescue by agreeing to stay with Anita in my guest room. As a result of that week, Lori built a firm friendship with Anita and she was invaluable in helping me keep my romantic relationship on an even course. (Later, when I went to Europe for three months, I left a stack of cards for Lori to send Anita every few days, so Anita would know I was thinking of her.)

For Anita, it had been love at first sight (for the ministry that is). She became completely enamored with Love in Action. She loved all the staff and the work we were doing. She wanted to be part of it all. She cried all the way to the train station. It would take time for Anita's love for me to match her love for LIA.

Late one night Anita called me and wanted to see me. I suggested that she get in her car and drive to San Luis Obispo, the half-way point between Los Angeles and San Francisco. She was a little surprised that I was so impulsive, but she wasn't willing to act on the spur of the moment. So we agreed to meet there in a few days. This rendezvous inaugurated a series of long drives to our half-way point (about a 500 mile round trip for each of us).

During these times, we had many meaningful talks about marriage. I was already fifty-five, which made me uncertain that I could consummate our marriage. We decided that a life together was far better than our long-distance relationship. We would have each other, and that would be enough. (As it turned out, my worries were needless.)

Our marriage has been far better than our greatest expectations. The honeymoon continues!

Will Condoms Really Stop AIDS in Africa?

2009-03-19T15:09:00.007-04:00

by BRIAN SAINT-PAUL

We're told by the mass media that condom distribution is the solution to the AIDS crisis in Africa and that the Catholic Church is standing in the way of that effort. The research, however, contradicts that view.

If you've watched any of the mainstream news coverage of the Catholic Church in the past month, you've heard several charges repeated over and over: The Church needs to ordain women to address the vocation shortage... the Church needs to change its attitude on contraception and abortion to better accommodate modern realities... the Church needs to moderate its stance on homosexual behavior to be more inclusive... the Church needs to drop its claim to contain the fullness of salvation, since it hinders ecumenism.
Chances are, you're already well equipped to address these objections. But there's one charge that seems to throw Catholics for a loop.

It goes something like this:

By maintaining its ban on condom use, the Catholic Church is contributing to the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Condoms have been demonstrated to prevent infection 90% of the time. If the Vatican cared more about people's lives than a rigid doctrine that most Catholics reject, they'd make an exception to allow condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Such a move would do more for "life" than would maintaining a position that allows millions to die as a result of unprotected sex.

Sounds convincing at first, doesn't it? So convincing, in fact, that most Catholics have trouble addressing it.

One approach, of course, would be to explain the Catholic moral/theological position on why contraception is inherently evil. But while absolutely true, that approach isn't terribly convincing to a non-Catholic, let alone a non-Christian. After all, logic and philosophy are easily dismissed as abstractions when human life is involved.

But the debate over condoms in Africa need never get to that point. In fact, the whole matter can be settled without ever bringing in moral theology. You see, the fatal flaw in the pro-condom argument is both simple and devastating: Condoms aren't working to stem AIDS in Africa.

Take for example a March 2004 article in the medical journal, Studies in Family Planning (cited by the Zenit News Agency, June 26, 2004). Titled "Condom Promotion for AIDS Prevention in the Developing World: Is It Working?," the piece was a meta-review of the scientific literature on the question.

The results shocked condom advocates. In the article, researchers Sanny Chen and Norman Hearst noted that, "In many sub-Saharan African countries, high HIV transmission rates have continued despite high rates of condom use." In fact, they continued, "No clear examples have emerged yet of a country that has turned back a generalized epidemic primarily by means of condom distribution."

No surprise, then, that Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa — the nations with the highest levels of condom availability — continue to have the highest rates of HIV prevalence ("The White House Initiative to Combat AIDS: Learning from Uganda," Joseph Loconte, Executive Summary Backgrounder).

How could this be? After all, we're told that condoms are 90% effective.

And that's precisely the problem.

This claim — so prevalent in condom-promotion literature — is actually a tremendous strike against using condoms to reduce AIDS. Think of it: Assuming that the 90% figure is accurate (a highly contested point), that means that 10% of the time, condoms don't offer protection against transmission.

That's one out of ten.

If you and I were to go skydiving, and I told you, "Don't worry... the parachutes work 90% of the time," how comfortable would you be making that jump?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You see, the pro-condom lobby's exaggerations over the effectiveness of its product is actually making the problem worse, for one simple reason: Condoms provide a false sense of security to those who use them.

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Now, of course, the fact that a condom fails to "work" doesn't mean the person will automatically contract HIV/AIDS. Nevertheless, this is hardly the solution to the crisis.

You see, the pro-condom lobby's exaggerations over the effectiveness of its product is actually making the problem worse, for one simple reason: Condoms provide a false sense of security to those who use them. Being convinced of their effectiveness and feeling invulnerable, users will simply continue — or actually increase — their high-risk behavior. In this way, the claimed 90% effectiveness rate plummets in proportion to the increase in self-destructive behavior. This phenomenon is borne out in the countries that focus on condom distribution to fight the disease.

But while condoms clearly won't solve the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa (or anywhere else), there is an approach that will: abstinence. Indeed, in African nations — where HIV/AIDS is transmitted almost exclusively through sexual contact — abstinence is the obvious solution.

And better yet, it has been proven effective.

Uganda at one time had the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. Starting in the mid to late 1980s, their government instituted a program to teach abstinence before marriage and fidelity to one's partner afterwards. They only reluctantly advised condoms for high risk groups (like prostitutes) whom they knew would not accept the other two approaches.

Billboards, radio announcements, print ads, and school programs all promoted the virtues of abstinence and fidelity to prevent HIV/AIDS.

The results were astonishing.

In 1991, the prevalence rate of HIV was 15%. By 2001, it had dropped to 5%. It was the biggest HIV infection reduction in world history.

Among pregnant women, the drop was even more dramatic (as reported by CNS News, January 13, 2003). In 1991, 21.2% of expecting mothers tested positive for HIV. By 2001, the number had plummeted to 6.2%. Compare this with the 2001 numbers from Kenya (15%), Zimbabwe (32%), and Botswana (38%). All three countries focus on condom distribution, and all three countries continue to see their rates rise.

But wait, the condom advocates object. The Ugandan "miracle" is simply the result of more widespread condom use.

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"You cannot show that more condoms have led to less AIDS in Africa.... I look at the data and I see that what might be called a more liberal response to AIDS — more and more millions or billions of condoms — has simply not worked, especially in parts of the world with the highest infection rate, Africa and the Caribbean."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not so, says Dr. Edward C. Green, an anthropologist at the Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Green was a strong proponent of condom distribution to stem HIV/AIDS... that is, until the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) hired him to study the reasons behind the success in Uganda.

The results of his research left him little doubt. "Reduction in the number of sexual partners was probably the single most important behavioral change that resulted in prevalence decline," he noted. "Abstinence was probably the second most important change" (testimony before the Subcommittee on African Affairs, as reported by Joseph Loconte).

"It is a very indicting statement about the effectiveness of condoms," he told Citizen Magazine. "You cannot show that more condoms have led to less AIDS in Africa.... I look at the data and I see that what might be called a more liberal response to AIDS — more and more millions or billions of condoms — has simply not worked, especially in parts of the world with the highest infection rate, Africa and the Caribbean."

Unfortunately, not everyone was pleased with Dr. Green's conclusions. USAID shelved his study and enlisted a well-known condom advocate and employee of ETR Associates (an organization dedicated to "safe-sex" education) to write a new one. Apparently, USAID wasn't concerned with the apparent conflict of interest.

This is especially tragic, as the effectiveness of abstinence and fidelity education has been demonstrated by numerous research groups. As Loconte notes, evidence for the success of Uganda's approach has come from "USAID, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Harvard Center for Population and Developmental Studies, the Ugandan government, and numerous independent studies published in medical journals."

Yet we're still told condom distribution is the solution to the AIDS crisis in Africa. And the Catholic Church is an easy media bogeyman, standing in the way of that effort.
Ironically enough, Uganda's successful approach is very close to that recommended by the Church. The only exception, of course, is the African country's concession to giving condoms to prostitutes. But if the people of that nation — and indeed, of the world at large — took seriously the Catholic notion of the dignity of women and the nature of sexual intercourse, that last point would be addressed as well.

But what about allowing condoms for faithful married couples, where one partner is HIV/AIDS positive? Isn't that reasonable?

Actually, it's not reasonable at all. Love requires sacrifice. And a person who claims to love another would never knowingly put his beloved in danger. But that's precisely what this approach does.

Imagine if I get drunk one night and drive my wife around town. That's not a loving act. And it doesn't suddenly become loving just because I tell her to put on her seatbelt. When an HIV/AIDS positive person has sex with someone who's free of the disease, he puts that person at grave risk. That's not love... that's selfishness.

In a marital situation where one spouse is HIV/AIDS positive and the other negative, the loving thing to do is to abstain from sex. In those cases, love must be shown in other ways, like the self-sacrifice that abstinence requires.

It's not easy, but real love rarely is.

I'll talk to you next week,

Brian

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Brian Saint-Paul. "Will Condoms Really Stop AIDS In Africa?" Crisis E-Letter (May 19, 2005).

This article is reprinted with permission from the Morley Institute a non-profit education organization. To subscribe to Crisis magazine call 1-800-852-9962.

Further Reading The “Social Vaccine”
The AIDS Pandemic: Saving the Next Generation Latex and Life Doubts About Condoms: Science Questioning Their Efficacy in Halting HIV/AIDS
Will Condoms Really Stop AIDS In Africa?

THE AUTHOR

Brian Saint-Paul is the editor of Crisis Magazine. http://www.insidecatholic.com/

Copyright © 2005 Crisis

Pro-lifers get all over Guttmacher (OneNewsNow.com)

2009-03-04T09:13:00.002-05:00

The Guttmacher Institute has completed a study that suggests Planned Parenthood needs more money. The American Life League, in response, calls the study a "well-timed and self-serving sales pitch" for the abortion provider.

The Guttmacher Institute is a research arm of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion-provider in the U.S. According to the study -- entitled "Next Steps for America's Family Planning Program" -- the national family planning program annually prevents almost two-million "unintended pregnancies" that statistically would otherwise result in 860,000 "unintended births," 810,000 abortions, and 270,000 miscarriages.

The lead author of the study argues that every dollar spent on "family planning" saves taxpayers $4 in costs associated with unintended births to mothers eligible for Medicaid-funded natal care. "The national family planning program is smart government at its best," states Rachel Benson Gold.

Judie Brown, co-founder of American Life League, says she is amused by the latest Guttmacher study because they play Congress like a violin.

"They always have some new finding that supports their request for more and more taxpayer dollars," says the long-time pro-life activist. "And they are literally parroting what Nancy Pelosi already said when she made that horrible gaffe and suggested that millions of dollars had to be poured into 'family planning' if we are to ever stop the financial crisis in America. It was outrageous when she said it -- and their report is equally as outrageous." (See related story)

Planned Parenthood made a $114 million profit in 2006-2007, so the agency's coffers are loaded. Brown says that money could be put to good use.

"In fact, we're issuing a public statement in which we're asking Planned Parenthood to donate $114 million for programs that would empower the poor...instead of sterilizing them," she notes.

Brown hopes the public will take the Guttmacher Institute study with a grain of salt. And that's exactly what Joseph Scheidler is doing. Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League, says the Guttmacher Institute apparently thinks that people -- particularly those in the lower-income brackets -- are the greatest drain on the nation's resources.

"Even in difficult economic times, the United States is a land of opportunity for people of all income levels," he says in a press release. "It is not appropriate for government to be in the business of providing birth control, which only serves to promote risky, irresponsible behavior."

Scheidler adds that Guttmacher's particular application of "family planning" to the poor "smacks of racism."

Pastor Calls for Faithful to Receive Body of Christ on the Tongue Only

2009-02-08T00:25:00.006-05:00

Published in Fairfield County Catholic by Father Greg J. Markey Pastor, Saint Mary Parish Norwalk

The beginning of each year is often a time of “New Year Resolutions,” and a wonderful resolution for 2009 would be to start exercising the option of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue in Mass. Let me explain why. This past summer, Catholics were horrified when a professor at the University of Minnesota willfully desecrated the Eucharist. On the Internet, Professor Paul Zachary Myers invited anyone to obtain for him a consecrated Host from a Catholic Church so that he could desecrate It. A man read about the request and took a Host from the London Oratory, videotaping himself taking It from the Mass. He then sent the Host to Professor Myers and posted the video on the Internet. Professor Myers proceeded to drive a rusty nail through the Host in order to show the “absurdity” of the Catholic belief in the True Presence, and posted photos of the event on his website. Unfortunately, the event set off a series of copycat crimes, and these desecrations are all over the Internet.

I have offered Mass in reparation for this sacrilege, and I know that many good Catholics have also done forms of prayer and penance in order to console the wounded heart of Our Lord. Last year, here at Saint Mary’s, we found a Host under one of the pews in the church. I know from other priests that this happens every once in a while in other parishes as well. These incidents remind us that it would certainly be more difficult for people to take the Host improperly if everyone were receiving Holy Communion on the tongue. As the Catholic Church teaches, “If there is a risk of profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful” (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 92).

Many people born prior to the Second Vatican Councilwill remember when everyone received Holy Communion on the tongue and kneeling. This has been the long-held practice for thousands of years (although during certain periods of the early Church it did allow Communion in the hand). While many think that it was Vatican II that called for this change, it is important to note: Vatican II never called for Communion in the hand. Communion in the hand was the result of disobedience which forced the hand of the Church (no pun intended!).

Furthermore, if one does receive Communion on the hand, there is always the danger that particles may remain in the hand. The Council of Trent infallibly teaches that Our Blessed Lord is truly present, even in the particles (Chapter VIII, Canon 3).

For this reason, the priest always purifies his hands of particles at the end of Mass, and uses a corporal (a small white cloth meant to catch the corpus, or body, of Our Lord). This past year, Pope Benedict XVI asked that, from now on, all who receive Holy Communion from him must receive It on the tongue and while kneeling. I am sure that, by insisting on this ancient practice, the pope is trying to foster a deeper respect for the Eucharist as well. While both practices are permitted in most dioceses, I encourage parishioners to give prayerful consideration to following Pope Benedict’s lead by receiving Holy Communion on the tongue in the New Year.

Closing the Cafeteria to US Catholics- Where to Start?

2009-02-02T14:49:00.004-05:00

BY Tim Drake

July 6-12, 2003 Issue Posted 7/6/03 at 12:00 PM

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame students are required to take theology courses. Nevertheless, it's nearly impossible for students and their parents to know which Notre Dame theology faculty teach with the Church and which do not.

Brian MacMichael found out the hard way. He said one theology course was enough to make him wonder whether he had made a mistake when he transferred to the school from the University of Florida.

MANDATUM SECRECY

Investigative series

“The course was on the sacraments,” MacMichael explained, “and when the professor taught on the Eucharist she taught that Christ was equally as present in the community presence as in the Eucharist.”

When MacMichael cited Pope Paul VI's 1965 encyclical Mysterium Fidei(On the Holy Eucharist) to demonstrate that Christ is uniquely present in the Eucharist, he was disregarded.

“She held her ground, reiterating that Christ was just as present in the assembly during Mass,” he recounted.

“I was worried that perhaps this was what the entire theology department was like,” MacMichael said.

But doesn't the entire theology department have the canon law-required mandatums from the bishop certifying that they teach with the Church? No one there will say.

When the Register called to ask which professors at Notre Dame had canon-law mandatums to teach theology, neither theology department chair John Cavadini, university president Father Edward Malloy nor Bishop John D'Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese responded.

Leon Dixon of Muncie, Ind., is a 1966 Notre Dame graduate. He recalls his father, a 1948 graduate of the law school, complaining about the loss of Catholic values at Notre Dame. Dixon's daughter, Elesia, just completed her freshman year at the university.

“My daughter's freshman religion teacher was an agnostic,” said Dixon. “I can get an agnostic religion instructor anywhere in the world for a boatload less money. If Notre Dame holds itself out, as it attempts to do, as a Catholic university, then it needs to be with the Pope.”

Dixon said that he has written to the bishop regarding his concerns about the mandatum.

“This sort of omertà is a Catholic problem,” he said. “If Mr. [Gov. Frank] Keating had to resign because he felt the American bishops were acting like a mafia, on the intellectual side [Notre Dame] has a problem that will not be solved by the muzzling of internal Catholic intellectuals or of Notre Dame graduates whose real-world accomplishments and learning dwarf those of the faculty. It exposes their lies regarding’ academic freedom.’”

During his meeting with the U.S. cardinals last year, Pope John Paul II said parents “must know that bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality, a truth as essential to the renewal of the priesthood and the episcopate as it is to the renewal of marriage and family life.”

The Register is investigating Catholic colleges and universities featured in U.S. News & World Report's college guide, asking: Are parents allowed to know whether those who teach theology even intend to teach in communion with the Church? Or has the opposite happened — is the canon-law man-datum being used to protect dissenters?

Since 1983, canon law has required that a theologian teaching in a Catholic university receive a mandatum from the local bishop, showing his intention to teach with the Church. The requirement was highlighted in a footnote in Pope John Paul II's 1990 apostolic constitution on higher education, Ex Corde Ecclesiae(From the Heart of the Church). U.S. bishops began requiring the mandatum in 2001.

But parents say universities won't say who has a mandatum.

The Gamut

Do theology professors have mandatums at Notre Dame?

Responses from theology faculty, said Michael Garvey, assistant director of news and information, would be predictable.

“Father Richard McBrien will say that it's impossible to have any free thought if you implement it,” Garvey said, “and Father Edward O'Connor will say that it's impossible to have any free thought if you do not implement it.”

Indeed, the views of some of Notre Dame's theology faculty are well known.

Father McBrien declared in the Jesuits' America magazine, “I shall not seek a mandate because the requirement of a mandate compromises the academic integrity of the faculty and the university.”

Another theology faculty member, Lawrence Cunningham, has been quoted as saying he “resented” the fact that Catholics should have to take an oath of fidelity to their faith.

“Notre Dame has, for all practical purposes, decided to evade the mandate,” Father O'Connor said via e-mail.

The University of Notre Dame is ranked 19th among national doctoral universities by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges 2003. Overall, the proportion of Catholics on Notre Dame's tenured and tenure-track faculty has fallen to about 55%.

Parents’ Rights

A recent University of California-Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute survey suggested Catholic colleges, far from instilling the faith in students, are just as likely to cause students to lose their faith. That scares parents who don't want to pay for a Catholic education only to see their child taught that the faith isn't true.

That's the concern of Ken and Anne Marie Schroeder of Cincinnati, who want to find a college for their four children.

Their daughter Julie visited Notre Dame in June. While Julie liked the school, her mother was not quite so sure about it.

“We care about the mandatum and the Catholicity of the college,” Anne Marie Schroeder said.

A high school senior, Julie is interested in possibly studying biology and genetics. “I would really like to know that Catholic values are being instilled in these areas of study,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder said the mandatum has been on her mind at each of the four colleges her daughter has visited.

“You want to know that your child is being taught the truth,” she said. “It would be great if the man-datum information was published or somehow made available. At least I would know what we were going into.”

David Hoppe, a Notre Dame alum, saw his daughter Katie graduate from the school in May. His son Geoff is currently a sophomore. Non-Catholic professors taught both of his children's freshman theology courses.

“One of the great regrets that I have, as an alumnus, is that the theology department is clearly the weakest department in the university,” said David Hoppe, of Burke, Va., who graduated from Notre Dame in 1973. “That should not be. It would be difficult to attend Notre Dame and receive a theology degree and believe that you had learned the Catholic faith.”

“I would have thought that it would be important to have a core curriculum course at a Catholic university taught by a Catholic,” Hoppe said. “It's not the strongest recommendation one can give a Catholic university when one says to stay away from its theology department.”

Still, Hoppe thinks Notre Dame has much to offer.

“You can still find good professors who inculcate the Catholic faith in the subjects they teach,” he said. “Students have the opportunity to attend daily Mass in their dorms. It's still a place where it is easy to live and grow in your faith. Notre Dame still has a religious grounding that many of the major Catholic universities have lost.”

One of the few professors who has written publicly about the man-datum is Notre Dame law professor emeritus Charles Rice.

Rice, writing for the Observer, the daily newspaper at Notre Dame, said: “It is fair to say that if Notre Dame will not ensure that its required courses in theology are faithful to the Church's magisterium, those courses (and required philosophy courses) should no longer be required. If the professors want to do their own thing, let them and the university abandon any claim that it is the’ Catholic’ thing and let the students decide whether to take such courses.”

See the full series of articles here:
Mandatum — Part I
Mandatum — Part II: Georgetown
Mandatum — Part III: Notre Dame
Mandatum — Part IV: Loyola
Mandatum — Part V: Benedictine College Embraces Mandatum
Mandatum — Part VI: Right to Truth, Right to Know: DeSales Is Proud of the Mandatum
Mandatum — Part VII: Taking an oath: Franciscan University of Steubenville

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Obama needs some lessons from Uganda

2009-01-29T20:12:00.003-05:00

Let's talk pragmatic! If Obama really wants to be pragmatic, he should take a few lessons from Janet Museveni of Uganda.

HIV/AIDS decreased 30% through her abstinence-only education initiative. If Obama truly wants abortions to decrease, he would agree to this grassroots campaign of educating the youth of America in the health benefits of abstinence. Why did HIV/AIDS decrease? In part, because pre-marital sex decreased. In 1994 the USAID report states, 60% of teenage Ugandan men age 13-16 were sexually active. In 2001, 5% of that age group reported sexual activity. In the US, not only would sexually transmitted diseases decrease, also a decrease in unwanted pregnancies and the abortions they result in would be the by-product. But if STDs decrease, then Merck drug company would have no reason to market Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccination (cervical cancer is proven a direct result of contracting the STD called Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV).

And then, there's always the money from the pro-abortion groups to whom Obama is heavily indebted. How would he pay back NARAL (National Abortion Rights League)and Planned Parenthood for all those campaign contributions?

CT Attorney Blumenthal Sues Department of HHS over Bush's Conscience Clause

2009-01-16T15:33:00.004-05:00

Is Attorney General of CT, Richard Blumenthal single-handedly trying to close every Catholic hospital in Connecticut? He is discriminating against people of faith by not allowing them to practice that faith. Women’s health is NOT at risk here: fertility and pregnancy DO NOT require medicine: they are not illnesses. To claim that a doctor who refuses abortion based on conscience endangers women is a smoke screen. Women can then seek a doctor who will perform one! Blumenthal's scare tactics are a shield for his personal prejudice against the unborn and the politics he plays to pander to pro-death groups such as Planned Parenthood. We need an attorney general who knows his facts: in 5% of pregnancy cases or less, the true physical health (due to cancer, diabetes, hypertension, or epilepsy) of the mother is at risk, and no doctor with a conscience clause would allow a woman to die when in need of care.

The people who are truly in danger are those who receive care from these quality Catholic hospitals, hospitals that could be forced to close due to his discriminatory lawsuit. Half of all US doctors are in support of the conscience clause.

It looks like 12 other states will jump on Blumenthal's pro-death bandwagon: Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah and Vermont.

Blumenthal needs to fight for all the people of Connecticut, and listen to all voices in this debate-not just his special interests.

Over 600,000 Signatures- Keep up the Good Work!

2009-01-11T09:49:00.005-05:00

If this were a petition initiated by Planned Parenthood, there would be MILLIONS of signatures. The pro-life voice needs to be strongly heard! Sign the petition so the country will know.

The Novena starts today!

When the Church was silent, the unborn were silenced.

2008-11-09T02:04:00.001-05:00

For 35 years, collective Christian faiths have been silent on abortion. The Catholic hierarchy especially has sided with Democrats on social issues. Hardly a whisper was ever heard from the pulpits on moral issues. Many failed to help form the moral conscience of their parishioners, which allowed the innocent to be sacrificed, silenced forever.

read more | digg story

McCain vs Obama- my NYTimes comment

2008-10-30T12:01:00.001-04:00

Here is what is important to this McCain/Palin supporter-
John McCain and Sarah Palin are PRO-LIFE. When Barack Obama was voting AGAINST the Infant's Born Alive Protection ACT, which would save babies who survived botched abortions, McCain was casting his 100% PRO-LIFE vote! A nation that would kill its own children will never be propserous or peaceful! If Barack Obama cares about the welfare of people of color, have him shut down the abortion clinics which are found in the majority of poor, black neighborhoods. Abortion clinics target the obliteration of the poor minorities.

As for foreign policy and a nation at war: put me in the hands of an experienced and no-nonsense leader who I can envision as COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. He's been there- he's spilled his blood for this country, while Obama was attending school in INDONESIA!

And please DO NOT compare Obama to JFK- JFK (as flawed as he was) coined the phrase "ask not what this country can do for you..." Obama has turned that phrase on its head!
Look beyond the grouchy and aging exterior as opposed to being conned by a youthful "disarming smile" , as one Obama supporter put it. The same mindset that would cast aside the unborn, would put a graying McCain on a shelf.

Fortitude and self-sacrifice is what I see in McCain. 21st -century commercialism is what I see in Obama.

What is the Practical Impact of FOCA?

2008-10-20T17:24:00.003-04:00

FOCA (or "Freedom of Choice Act") is a bill co-sponored by Barack Obama,
which would make partial birth abortion legal again, and force taxpayers to
pay for abortions. It is the first bill Barack Obama pedged to sign when (and
if) he becomes president.

In elevating abortion to a fundamental right, FOCA poses an undeniable and irreparable danger to common-sense laws supported by a majority of Americans. Among the federal and state laws that FOCA would nullify are:
Informed consent laws
Waiting periods
Parental consent and notification laws
Health and safety regulations for abortion clinics
Requirements that licensed physicians perform abortions
Bans on partial-birth abortion
Bans on abortion after viability. FOCA’s apparent attempt to limit post-viability abortions is illusory. Under FOCA, post-viability abortions are expressly permitted to protect the woman’s “health.” Within the context of abortion, “health” has been interpreted so broadly that FOCA would not actually proscribe any abortion before or after viability.
Limits on public funding for elective abortions (thus, making American taxpayers fund a procedure that many find morally objectionable)
Limits on the use of public facilities (such has public hospitals and medical schools at state universities) for abortions
Legal protections for individual healthcare providers who decline to participate in abortions
Legal protections for Catholic and other religiously-affiliated hospitals who, while providing care to millions of poor and uninsured Americans, refuse to allow abortions within their facilities
Notably, pro-abortion groups do not deny FOCA’s draconian impact. For example, Planned Parenthood has explained, “FOCA will supersede anti-choice laws that restrict the right to choose, including laws that prohibit the public funding of abortions for poor women or counseling and referrals for abortions. Additionally, FOCA will prohibit onerous restrictions on a woman's right to choose, such as mandated delays and targeted and medically unnecessary regulations.”

Thus, under FOCA (as introduced and supported by Senator Obama and other pro-abortion members of Congress), a 12-year old girl could have a late-term abortion performed on her by an under-qualified non-physician without her parents’ knowledge. The parents would have no opportunity to speak with the abortion provider about their daughter’s medical history, and they would have no opportunity to make arrangements for her follow-up care.

Clearly FOCA will not make abortion safe or rare -- on the contrary, it will actively promote abortion and do nothing to ensure its safety.