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 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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(Vatican Radio)  The emblem of the ‘Federico Gomez’ Children’s Hospital in Mexico City, where Pope Francis spends Sunday afternoon, relates to Aztec culture. The Aztecs took great care of their children, it seems.

Likewise all these centuries later the 2700 strong staff of the hospital take great care of the little patients there. Children with cancer, genetic malformation or neurological disorders.

Doctor José Alberto Garcia Aranda is Director of the structure and has worked there for 45 years. He’s a charismatic figure who as you’ll hear in a moment, believes everybody in the hospital counts.

Veronica Scarisbrick, who is in Mexico City with Pope Francis, spoke to him ahead of the visit and he expressed his joy explaining how two little children will ring a bell in the presence of the Pope, among whom seven year old Luz Elena, to signal their recovery.

Listen to the full interview:

The pope will be greeted at the hospital by twenty-five children and the nation’s ‘Primera Dama’, Angélica Rivera. It will represent a moment of joy in what for the children and their families is a harsh reality.

One of the problems Doctor Garcia adds, is where to lodge the families who accompany their little loved ones. They are very poor so are obliged to sleep in the streets outside the hospital.

Mexico City lies at over 2.000 feet above sea level so the temperature drops dramatically at night.  And then the hospital borders with a dangerous neighbourhood which doesn’t help. Curiously, its name is ‘Buenos Aires’.

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(Vatican Radio)  Police in Greece on Sunday arrested three men on terrorism charges, two of whom are a British citizens, on the main border crossing to Turkey carrying a large weapons cache.

Listen to John Carr's report:

The police in northern Greece have arrested three men suspected of being jihadis after large stocks of weapons and ammunition were found in their caravan trailers.

The vehicles were parked near the waterfront of Alexandroupolis, near the Turkish border.  Both were found to contain hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and scores of assault rifles.

Two of the arrested men are reported to be British citizens of Iraqi extraction, and the third a Kurd.

Greece’s antiterrorism police are investigating whether the weaponry was destined for the Islamic State or for the Kurdish insurgency. 

Greece has been on the alert since last autumn when one of the perpetrators of the Paris massacres of 13 November was found to have entered the country disguised as a Syrian refugee.

Sunday’s arrests fuel suspicion that northern Greece could become a conduit for potential western-origin jihadis to get to the Middle East via Istanbul.

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(Vatican Radio)  The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama have agreed to intensify joint diplomatic efforts and military cooperation to implement a ceasefire as well as aid deliveries in Syria, while they also discussed ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

Russian President Putin’s office said that his American counterpart Obama initiated the phone call as both leaders are concerned about Syria and fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine.

In a statement the Kremlin said that Putin asked Obama to help create a united international front against global terrorism.

Russian President Putin reportedly said that closer contacts were needed between U.S. and Russian military officials to successfully counter the Islamic State group and other terrorist networks operating in Syria and other countries.

However the West has expressed concern that Russian air strikes in Syria mainly target rebel groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and that many civilians have been killed as a result.

Russia denies

Moscow has denied the accusations and warned that plans to send international ground forces to Syria could lead to World War Three.

The Kremlin also said that Putin told Obama that he hopes authorities in Ukraine will "promptly fulfill their obligations" under what is known as the Minsk peace process to help end the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kiev and Russia-backed separatists.

He spoke shortly after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told a security conference in Munich that Moscow has failed to implement its obligations under the peace deal, including the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine and handing over to Kiev complete control over Ukraine's borders.

At the same gathering Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sharply criticized his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, saying the security of Europe and the world are at stake in Ukraine. "Mr. Putin, [Foreign Minister] Mr. Lavrov [Prime Minister] Mr. Medvedev, this is your aggression in Ukraine," he said.

"And we do not give you any tiny opportunity to provide here...Kremlin style propaganda [aimed at] poisoning the opinion of the European people," Poroshenko added. "The only thing which need to be done is remove your troops from Ukrainian territory both from Donbass [region] and Crimea [peninsula]," he explained.

Poroshenko stressed that Russia should "return control" to Kiev over Ukraine's borders, "release all hostages" because "we don't want tensions, no escalation, no war in this region. So this is completely your responsibility."

Moscow claims it is not sending troops and weapons to pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, though the NATO military alliance claims to have evidence of Russian military movements in the region.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said over the weekend that the East-West tensions have turned into a new Cold War. It was not immediately whether Sunday's phone call between Obama and Putin has contributed to warmer relations between the two powers.

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(Vatican Radio) Following Mass on Sunday, Pope Francis led the people gathered at Ecatepec in the traditional Angelus prayer. 

During his address, the Holy Father invited the people to remember, and be thankful for, God's blessings. 

Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis' prepared remarks for his Angelus address: 

Angelus
Centro de Estudios de Ecatepec

Sunday 14 February 2016

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the first reading of this Sunday, Moses offers a directive to the people. At harvest time, a the time of abundance and first fruits, do not forget your beginnings. Thanksgiving is something which is born and grows among a people capable of remembering. It is rooted in the past, and through good and bad times, it shapes the present. In those moments when we can offer thanks to God for the earth giving us its fruits and thereby helping us make bread, Moses invites his people to remember by enumerating the difficult situations through which it has passed (cf. Deut 26:5-11).

On this festive day we can celebrate how good the Lord has been to us. Let us give thanks for this opportunity to be together, to present to our Good Father the first fruits of our children, our grandchildren, of our dreams and our plans; the first fruits of our cultures, our languages and traditions, the first fruits of our concerns… How much each one of you has suffered to reach this moment, how much you have “walked” to make this day a day of feasting, a time of thanksgiving. How much others have walked, who have not arrived here and yet because of them we have been able to keep going.  Today, at the invitation of Moses, as a people we want to remember, we want to be the people that keeps alive the memory of God who passes among his People, in their midst. We look upon our children knowing that they will inherit not only a land, a culture and a tradition, but also the living fruits of faith which recalls the certainty of God’s passing through this land. It is a certainty of closeness and solidarity, a certainty which helps us lift up our heads and ardently hope for the dawn.

I too join you in this remembrance, in this living memory of God’s passing through your lives. As I look upon your children I cannot but make my own the words which Blessed Pope Paul VI addressed to the Mexican people:

“A Christian cannot but show solidarity… to solve the situation of those who have not yet received the bread of culture or the opportunity of an honourable job… he cannot remain insensitive while the new generations have not found the way to bring into reality their legitimate aspirations”. He continued offering this invitation to “always be on the front line of all efforts… to improve the situation of those who suffer need”, to see in every man a brother and, in every brother Christ” (Radio Message on the 75 Anniversary of the Crowning of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 October 1970).

I invite you once again today to be on the front line, to be first in all the initiatives which help make this blessed land of Mexico a land of opportunities, where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream, no need to be exploited in order to work, no need to make the despair and poverty of many the opportunism of a few, a land that will not have to mourn men and women, young people and children who are destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death.

This land is filled with the perfume of la Guadalupana who has always gone before us in love. Let us say to her:

Blessed Virgin, “help us to bear radiant witness to communion, service, ardent and generous faith, justice and love of the poor, that the joy of the Gospel may reach to the ends of the earth, illuminating even the fringes of our world. (EG 288).

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(Vatican Radio) On Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass for the First Sunday of Lent in the Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec, warning inhabitants of one of Mexico's most dangerous neighborhoods not to dialogue with the devil. Veronica Scarisbrick is in Mexico with the Pope, and sends us this report.

Listen to the report:

Stunning, gaudy flowered carpets with bold geometrical Aztec designs and an altar covered by an empty white arch for the Holy Mass of Pope Francis in Ecatepec. All in the middle of nowhere: a field bulldozed down for the occasion, which can hold up to 400,000 people.

And close to the altar the image of the Mother of all Mexicans, Our Lady of Guadalupe decorated with white roses. And when he arrived, Pope Francis incensed the image framed by the rays of the sun.

White roses take on a symbolic meaning here as they are linked to the Apparitions of the ‘Morenita’ – as she’s known here – to Juan Diego in the 16th century. That explains, by the way, why Saint Juan Diego is the Patron Saint of florists.

And all the while the sun shone over the forgotten people of ‘Ecatepec’.

Not forgotten though by Pope Francis. He elected them as his chosen people on one of his five days in the nation and for his Holy Mass on this first Sunday of Lent.

I say forgotten because they are those who live in the peripheries north east of Mexico City, one of Mexico’s ‘barrio bravos’ -- an expression meaning a lawless neighbourhood where organized crime, pollution and poverty reign...

Significantly, the responsorial psalm was sung by a woman here in Ecatepec, a place where women are targeted in a special way, beautifully sung.

And in his homily Pope Francis spoke of a ‘society of the few, for the few’ and highlighted how Lent was a time to unmask three great temptations that wear down and fracture the image God wanted from us. Wealth: so the seizing hold of goods that are for all; vanity: so the relentless exclusion of those ‘who are not like me’; and pride: so putting oneself on a higher level than one truly is.

And to the people of the lawless neighbourhood of Ecatepec, speaking off the cuff Pope Francis said, “You don’t dialogue with the devil.”

The crowds listened in awe, the chill that had got into their bones during the night (many had slept here) seemed to dispel.

Francis had warmed the hearts of these forgotten people here in the middle of nowhere.

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(Vatican Radio) On Monday Pope Francis flies south west to Chiapas landing in this most southern Mexican state's capital city, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, before making his way to San Cristóbal de las Casas. He’ll be returning there in the evening to meet with families before returning to Mexico City.

Listen to Veronica Scarisbrick's report:

Cristobal de las Casas is a tourist haunt which lies along the border with Guatemala. A border traditionally poorly guarded and a place of entry into Mexico for migrants from Central America.

But the reason tourists come here is to visit some of the most striking archaeological sites in Mexico, 'Mayan' ruins in misty jungles.

And it’s that word ‘Mayan’ that brings the Pope here. Chiapas is home to one of the largest indigenous populations in the country with twelve federally recognized ethnicities. Among them ‘Chamulans’, a subset of the ‘Tzotzil Mayas’ who make up a third of Chiapa’s nearly one million indigenous people.

Much of the state’s history is centered on the subjugation of these peoples with occasional rebellions. The last of these rebellions was the 1994 Zapatista uprising, which succeeded in obtaining new rights for indigenous people.

And Pope Francis is coming to celebrate Holy Mass in  a stadium at San Cristobal de las Casas. The celebration will include three indigenous languages, ‘tseltal’, ‘ch’ol’ and ‘tsotil’.

It’s here that from 1959 to 1999 Bishop Samuel Ruiz learnt these Mayan languages in an effort to communicate with the indigenous people and from here he rode his mule into the hills travelling to remote areas where they lived in dire poverty. It is here that he gave value to local traditions, education, social justice and care of ‘Mother Earth’.

It was also here that ‘the Bishop of the Poor’ or ‘Tata’, father as they called him in the Mayan languages is now buried at the heart of the Cathedral Pope Francis will visit after Holy Mass.

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