Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With billions in taxpayer dollars at stake, the Obama administration has taken a "passive" approach to identifying potential fraud involving the president's health care law, nonpartisan congressional investigators say in a report due out Wednesday....
WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others.""Even as Americans rema...
WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others."
"Even as Americans remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.
"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU
He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.
The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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WASHINGTON-The Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, February 1, on behalf of USCCB, the Texas Catholic Conference and several Christian partners in support of a Texas law mandating health and safety standards protecting women who undergo abortions. Other groups joining the brief include the National Association of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The case is Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court."There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."The brief noted that some abortion clinics have decla...
"There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."
The brief noted that some abortion clinics have declared the standards too strict, although the standards are similar to those issued by the abortion industry. It added that abortion providers "should not be allowed to rely upon their own failure to comply with health and safety laws" as a reason to strike such laws down. The brief said the providers' resistance to such regulations is not in the best interests of women's health and safety. It also noted that over 40 years of precedent, including the Court's 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, reaffirms that states may regulate abortion to protect maternal life and health.
Full text of the brief is available online: www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/Whole-Woman-s-Health-v-Hellerstedt.pdf
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Keywords: General Counsel, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Texas law abortion, amicus curia, National Association of Evangelicals, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, U.S. Supreme Court
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Bismarck, N.D., Feb 24, 2016 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Priests will be available for confession throughout a special 24-hour period in the Diocese of Bismarck to help celebrate the Year of Mercy.Bismarck’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit will host “24 Hours of Mercy” on March 4-5. There will be Eucharistic adoration, as well as two priests at the cathedral each hour to hear confessions.The event will begin at 5 p.m. Friday and end at 5 p.m. Saturday.Fr. Nick Schneider, director of the diocese’s Office of Worship, discussed the event.“Confession is a great gift from God, through which he gives us the assurance of mercy,” he said Feb. 8. “It’s a chance to receive this great gift of mercy together with many others over the course of a day.”The event will also allow pilgrims to pass through the cathedral’s Holy Door of Mercy, which provides a plenary indulgence for those who are properly disposed.The event is intended to be par...
Bismarck, N.D., Feb 24, 2016 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Priests will be available for confession throughout a special 24-hour period in the Diocese of Bismarck to help celebrate the Year of Mercy.
Bismarck’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit will host “24 Hours of Mercy” on March 4-5. There will be Eucharistic adoration, as well as two priests at the cathedral each hour to hear confessions.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. Friday and end at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Fr. Nick Schneider, director of the diocese’s Office of Worship, discussed the event.
“Confession is a great gift from God, through which he gives us the assurance of mercy,” he said Feb. 8. “It’s a chance to receive this great gift of mercy together with many others over the course of a day.”
The event will also allow pilgrims to pass through the cathedral’s Holy Door of Mercy, which provides a plenary indulgence for those who are properly disposed.
The event is intended to be part of the Catholic Church’s Year of Mercy, declared by Pope Francis.
Sonia Mullally, the Bismarck diocese’s communications director, told CNA the cathedral's rector, Monsignor Thomas Richter, was named a Missionary of Mercy. These are priests who will have the faculties to absolve sins otherwise reserved to the Holy See.
Msgr. Richter was commissioned by Pope Francis in Rome on Ash Wednesday.
Mullally pointed to Bishop David Kagan’s Jan. 1 letter discussing the Year of Mercy.
“My daily prayer for all of us is that we truly and fully experience this year of God’s bountiful mercy and that we allow Him to transform us and our daily lives so much so that we become His apostles of mercy to others,” the bishop said. “Every day as we hear the news, it becomes so clear that without Him and His mercy darkness advances, but with Him and His mercy light destroys the darkness of war, hatred, jealousy and division.”
“Please keep and observe this Jubilee of Mercy; and when this year closes, may all of us continue to beg of Him for His mercy, and show mercy to others,” Bishop Kagan added.
Linked to the Year of Mercy, the Bismarck diocese will be hosting its 2016 THIRST Eucharistic Conference Oct. 28-30.
The first conference, held in 2013, drew more than 7,000 people.
The 2016 conference schedule has not been finalized. As of Jan. 28 speakers include Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem; Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Fr. Scott Traynor, Leah Darrow, and Dr. Ray Guarendi.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Pop star Madonna made surprise visits to two Manila shelters for orphans and street children, taking selfies with kids a day before the start of her two-night concert stint in the Philippine capital....
CHICAGO (AP) -- Availability is tight for a $10 Airbnb rental in Chicago designed to look like a Vincent Van Gogh masterpiece....
NUSSEIRAT REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip (AP) -- The clothes were faded and worn out, and came from an unlikely place: Israel. But that didn't bother the Palestinian women rummaging through piles of tattered jeans, shirts, jackets and baby clothing at the weekly flea market in a refugee camp in central Gaza....
TRACH, Cambodia (AP) -- It's been a busy morning for Cletus, Meynard, Victoria and others of their furry band. Tiny noses and long whiskers twitching, they've scurried and sniffed their way across 775 square meters (8,300 square feet) of fields to eliminate a scourge that has killed thousands of Cambodians: land mines....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea's description of South Korea's president as an "old, insane bitch" destined for violent death may take the rivals' hateful propaganda battle to a new level of hostility, which is saying something for neighbors with such a long, bloody history of hating each other's guts....
KENNER, La. (AP) -- A deadly storm system that spawned tornadoes in Gulf Coast states Tuesday night was expected to bring severe weather to the Carolinas by Wednesday afternoon....
