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 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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Catholic News 2
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...
Aboard the papal plane, Feb 18, 2016 / 10:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his inflight news conference en route from Juarez to Rome, Pope Francis responded to recent criticism from Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, who called the Pope “political” and has threatened to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel,” the Pope said Feb. 18.Pope Francis was asked to respond to comments from Donald Trump, who had referred to the Pope as a “pawn” for the Mexican government. Trump says that he will build a wall along the border of the United States and Mexico to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the U.S. The Pope spoke to journalists on his return flight from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez to Rome. He paid an official Feb. 12-17 visit to the country, which climaxed with the celebratio...
Aboard the papal plane, Feb 18, 2016 / 10:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his inflight news conference en route from Juarez to Rome, Pope Francis responded to recent criticism from Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, who called the Pope “political” and has threatened to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel,” the Pope said Feb. 18.
Pope Francis was asked to respond to comments from Donald Trump, who had referred to the Pope as a “pawn” for the Mexican government. Trump says that he will build a wall along the border of the United States and Mexico to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the U.S.
The Pope spoke to journalists on his return flight from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez to Rome. He paid an official Feb. 12-17 visit to the country, which climaxed with the celebration of Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border Mass in Juarez City.
Immigration is a theme close to Francis' heart. A son of Italian immigrants, the Argentine pontiff frequently speaks out asking world leaders to overcome an attitude of indifference and to welcome incoming migrants with dignity and respect.
The Pope also touched on the issue in his speech to U.S. Congress last September, telling lawmakers not to be “fearful of foreigners,” and reminding them of the many positive contributions immigrants make to the life of society. He also pointed out that many of them are descendants of immigrants themselves.
However, in a Feb. 11 interview with Fox Business Network, Donald Trump criticized the Pope’s sympathy toward immigrants, as well as his decision to celebrate a Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I think the Pope is a very political person, I think he doesn't understand the problems our country has,” he said.
Trump said the Pope doesn’t understand the “danger” of having an open border with Mexico, and suggested that Mexico’s leaders seduced the Pope into the Mass in order to keep the border the way it is, “because they're making a fortune and we're losing.”
In addition to his comments about Pope Francis, Trump has repeatedly made offensive remarks toward immigrants, and has threatened not only to build a wall along the border, but to make Mexico pay for it when he does.
In a June 28 interview with CNN, Trump suggested that should he be elected, he would build a 2,500km (1,553 ft.) wall along the U.S.-Mexican border because, in his opinion, “a wall is needed in certain areas.”
He said that Mexico “makes a fortune” off the U.S., and that a wall “is a tiny little peanut compared to that. I would do something very severe unless they contributed or gave us the money to build the wall.”
In his comments to journalists onboard the papal plane, Pope Francis jested, saying he is grateful to have been called a politician, since Aristotle defined the human person as “animal politicus,” meaning, “a political animal.”
“At least I am a human person,” he said, adding that as for being a pawn of the Mexican government, he’ll leave that “up to your judgment and that of the people.”
While he can’t tell anyone who vote for, Francis said that what he can say is that “this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.” The Pope said that we have to see if Trump really said things the way he did, but that in the meantime he’s willing to give him “the benefit of the doubt.”
On Wednesday Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi responded to Trump’s criticism of the Pope’s sympathy toward immigrants, calling the presidential candidate’s remarks “very strange” and suggesting that he get more perspective.
“The pope always talks about migration problems all around the world, of the duties we have to solve these problems in a humane manner, of hosting those who come from other countries in search of a life of dignity and peace,” Lombardi said.
He noted that Pope Francis frequently makes similar remarks to leaders across Europe, which is something Trump would know “if he came to Europe.”
Washington D.C., Feb 18, 2016 / 02:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a 2-1 decision delivered Feb. 18, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) in its challenge to the federal contraception mandate.“We are disappointed in the Court’s refusal to protect our religious freedom,” EWTN chairman and CEO Michael Warsaw said.“We simply want to continue to practice the same faith we preach to the world every day,” he said in a Feb. 18 statement. “We are prayerful and hopeful that, if necessary, the Supreme Court will correct this critical error.”EWTN Global Catholic Network was founded by Mother Angelica, a Franciscan nun. Its purpose is to share the Catholic faith across the globe. Reaching over 250 million homes in 144 different countries, it is the largest religious media network in the world and is among hundreds of organizations to challenge the Department of Health and Human Services mandate....
Washington D.C., Feb 18, 2016 / 02:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a 2-1 decision delivered Feb. 18, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) in its challenge to the federal contraception mandate.
“We are disappointed in the Court’s refusal to protect our religious freedom,” EWTN chairman and CEO Michael Warsaw said.
“We simply want to continue to practice the same faith we preach to the world every day,” he said in a Feb. 18 statement. “We are prayerful and hopeful that, if necessary, the Supreme Court will correct this critical error.”
EWTN Global Catholic Network was founded by Mother Angelica, a Franciscan nun. Its purpose is to share the Catholic faith across the globe. Reaching over 250 million homes in 144 different countries, it is the largest religious media network in the world and is among hundreds of organizations to challenge the Department of Health and Human Services mandate.
The mandate requires employers to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.
Employers who fail to comply with the mandate face crippling penalties. Many Catholic and non-Catholic organizations have filed lawsuits against the mandate, saying it violates religious freedom and compels them to act against their religious and moral beliefs.
In its decision, the federal court said, “We accept the plaintiffs’ sincere belief . . . that the accommodation puts them to a choice between honoring their religious beliefs and facing significant penalties. We nonetheless conclude that the accommodation imposes no substantial burden.”
The dissenting opinion in the case argued that the majority ruling “runs roughshod over the sincerely held religious objections of Eternal Word Television Network,” and threatens core religious freedom legislation.
Directly after delivering its ruling, the court placed its effects on hold until the Supreme Court rules on the mandate later this year. This protects EWTN from accumulating fines while waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision.
Lori Windham, senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead attorney on the case, said that the federal court’s decision “is wrong.”
“Rather than provide these drugs and devices through its own exchanges, our government wants to punish EWTN for practicing its faith,” she said.
“This 2-1 decision is not the end. The government's unconstitutional mandate has lost repeatedly at the Supreme Court, and we believe it will lose again.”
On Nov. 6, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear several remaining legal challenges to the mandate, including plaintiffs like Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh and the Little Sisters of the Poor.
For failing to comply with the mandate, EWTN said it could face fines of $35,000 per day, about $12.7 million per year. Its amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief charged that the government aims to force EWTN into “complicity with wrongdoing.”
In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, a closely-held private company whose Christian owners objected to parts of the mandate. Its ruling on the non-profit challenges to the mandate is expect this summer.
Jeff Green could give the Clippers a better shot in the West and Markieff Morris might strengthen a Wizards playoff push in the East....
Jeff Green could give the Clippers a better shot in the West and Markieff Morris might strengthen a Wizards playoff push in the East....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's plans for a history-making trip to Cuba drew hopeful cheers in Havana on Thursday but equally emphatic condemnation from many U.S. lawmakers and Republican presidential candidates, who accused the president of rewarding a "dictatorial regime."...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's plans for a history-making trip to Cuba drew hopeful cheers in Havana on Thursday but equally emphatic condemnation from many U.S. lawmakers and Republican presidential candidates, who accused the president of rewarding a "dictatorial regime."...
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) -- Pope Francis has suggested women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception, saying "avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil" in light of the global epidemic....
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) -- Pope Francis has suggested women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception, saying "avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil" in light of the global epidemic....
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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MEDIA CONTACT
Don Clemmer
O: 202-541-3206
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...
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 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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"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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(Vatican Radio) Tensions over migrants are overshadowing a European Union summit amid mounting fears that the Union will fall apart as countries struggle to coordinate Europe's biggest refugee crisis since World War Two. The European Union's top migration official already said that Austria's plan to cap asylum-seeker numbers is unlawful after Vienna and four Balkan countries announced new controversial ways to control the number of asylum seekers, further increasing pressure on Greece where many refugees arrive. Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: In a letter, the European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos said "Austria has a legal obligation to accept any asylum application that is made on its territory or at its border." The leaked letter to Austria's interior minister said imposing a ceiling on asylum-seekers "would be plainly incompatible with Austria's obligations" under EU and international law....
(Vatican Radio) Tensions over migrants are overshadowing a European Union summit amid mounting fears that the Union will fall apart as countries struggle to coordinate Europe's biggest refugee crisis since World War Two.
The European Union's top migration official already said that Austria's plan to cap asylum-seeker numbers is unlawful after Vienna and four Balkan countries announced new controversial ways to control the number of asylum seekers, further increasing pressure on Greece where many refugees arrive.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
In a letter, the European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos said "Austria has a legal obligation to accept any asylum application that is made on its territory or at its border."
The leaked letter to Austria's interior minister said imposing a ceiling on asylum-seekers "would be plainly incompatible with Austria's obligations" under EU and international law.
Austria plans to accept just 3200 asylum seekers a day, far less than the number of refugees expected to try to reach the West.
And, without consultation with Brussels, Austria and the police chiefs of the countries on the notorious Balkan migrant route
announced a new way asylum seekers will be transiting the region: Croatia said Thursday that Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Austria have agreed that the main screening of the migrants fleeing war and poverty would take place in Macedonia on the border with Greece.
EXPORTING RAZOR WIRE
Hungary already exported razor wire, produced by inmates, to Macedonia for fences. Those who pass the control will be transported under police escort all the way to the Austrian border.
However the European Commission, the EU's executive, is concerned about these developments, explained Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
"As a Commission we don't like national border controls. I don't follow this general trend for more and more national border controls. This is happening because we are lacking a European approach," he told reporters.
"So I will today as always advocate a European approach. And as far as Austria is concerned I have to say that I don't like that decision and we are questioning if this decision is in like with European law. This is under examination for the time
being and I will have a friendly discussion with the Austrian chancellor...", Juncker added.
So far, hundreds of thousands of refugees transported to the borders of each of the Balkan countries where they were separately screened and given temporary asylum documents before continuing their journey.
Vatican City, Feb 18, 2016 / 10:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On his return flight from Mexico, Pope Francis strongly rejected abortion as a response to the fears surrounding the Zika virus outbreak. “Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime. It is to throw someone out in order to save another. That’s what the Mafia does. It is a crime, an absolute evil,” the Pope said Feb. 18.A journalist had asked the Pope about authorities’ proposals to respond to the Zika virus infection through abortion or “avoiding pregnancy.”“Don’t confuse the evil of avoiding pregnancy by itself, with abortion. Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem, it is a medical problem. You kill one person to save another, in the best case scenario. Or to live comfortably, no?”The Pope responded to questions from journalists on the return flight from Mexico. He had visited the country from Feb. 12-17.The pontiff expanded on the evil...
Vatican City, Feb 18, 2016 / 10:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On his return flight from Mexico, Pope Francis strongly rejected abortion as a response to the fears surrounding the Zika virus outbreak.
“Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime. It is to throw someone out in order to save another. That’s what the Mafia does. It is a crime, an absolute evil,” the Pope said Feb. 18.
A journalist had asked the Pope about authorities’ proposals to respond to the Zika virus infection through abortion or “avoiding pregnancy.”
“Don’t confuse the evil of avoiding pregnancy by itself, with abortion. Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem, it is a medical problem. You kill one person to save another, in the best case scenario. Or to live comfortably, no?”
The Pope responded to questions from journalists on the return flight from Mexico. He had visited the country from Feb. 12-17.
The pontiff expanded on the evil of abortion.
“It’s against the Hippocratic oaths doctors must take. It is an evil in and of itself, but it is not a religious evil in the beginning, no, it’s a human evil. Then obviously, as with every human evil, each killing is condemned,” he said.
The Pope’s comments addressed a question from the journalist Paloma García Ovejero of the Spanish radio network Cadena COPE. She had noted the concern in Latin American and European countries regarding the Zika virus.
“The greatest risk would be for pregnant women. There is anguish,” the journalist said. “Some authorities have proposed abortion, or else to avoid pregnancy. As regards avoiding pregnancy, on this issue, can the Church take into consideration the concept of ‘the lesser of two evils’?”
There is a major outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in Brazil and Latin America. The virus infection in pregnant women may be linked to birth defects in unborn babies such as microcephaly. Some pro-abortion groups have used this possible link as a justification to push for an expansion of legislated abortion.
Pope Francis in his response also addressed avoiding pregnancy. He discussed it “in terms of the conflict between the Fifth and Sixth Commandment.”
In the Catholic numbering, the Fifth Commandment bars killing while the Sixth Commandment bars adultery. The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses elective contraception in a marital union under the Sixth Commandment.
“Paul VI, a great man, in a difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of rape,” Pope Francis said. He added that avoiding pregnancy is “not an absolute evil.”
“In certain cases, as in this one, such as the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear.”
The case he referenced took place in the early 1960s, when the Vatican granted a dispensation to religious sisters living in the Belgian Congo who were in grave danger of rape to use oral contraceptives.
The logic behind the decision was that while birth control is normally immoral because it attempts to separate the unitive and procreative aspects of the sexual act, the nuns were trying to resist the act altogether. Because rape is an act of violent aggression rather than a freely chosen act, the contraception was part of a legitimate attempt at self-defense.
Normally, if a married couple faces a serious reason to avoid pregnancy, the Church teaches that they may do so through Natural Family Planning, a process that involves identifying a woman’s fertile periods and abstaining from sexual activity during those times.
The Pope also called for stronger work to combat the mosquitos and the Zika virus they spread.
“I would also urge doctors to do their utmost to find vaccines against these two mosquitoes that carry this disease. This needs to be worked on.”
