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NEW YORK (AP) -- More than one million Syrians are trapped in besieged areas, a new report says in a challenge to the United Nations, which estimates just half that amount and has been accused by some aid groups of underplaying a crisis....
DIXVILLE, N.H. (AP) -- Bernie Sanders and John Kasich picked up the most votes as the first ballots of the first-in-the-nation primary were cast early Tuesday....
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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Vatican City, Feb 8, 2016 / 02:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis sent his condolences to those affected by a deadly earthquake which struck the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan on Saturday, causing a building collapse that has killed dozens of people.“The Holy Father was saddened to learn of the suffering caused by the deadly earthquake which struck in Tainan, leaving many people dead or seriously injured,” reads Sunday's telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.Nearly 40 people are confirmed dead after the quake which toppled an apartment block in Taiwan, although officials say the death toll could reach more than 100, Reuters reports.Victims continue to be pulled out of the wreckage of a 17 story building which collapsed from the 6.4 magnitude earthquake, which struck 4 a.m. on Feb. 6, according to Reuters.Pope Francis extended his “prayerful condolences to the families of the deceased and injured,” and the “resc...
Vatican City, Feb 8, 2016 / 02:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis sent his condolences to those affected by a deadly earthquake which struck the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan on Saturday, causing a building collapse that has killed dozens of people.
“The Holy Father was saddened to learn of the suffering caused by the deadly earthquake which struck in Tainan, leaving many people dead or seriously injured,” reads Sunday's telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Nearly 40 people are confirmed dead after the quake which toppled an apartment block in Taiwan, although officials say the death toll could reach more than 100, Reuters reports.
Victims continue to be pulled out of the wreckage of a 17 story building which collapsed from the 6.4 magnitude earthquake, which struck 4 a.m. on Feb. 6, according to Reuters.
Pope Francis extended his “prayerful condolences to the families of the deceased and injured,” and the “rescue personnel and the civil authorities,” the telegram reads.
“His Holiness, commending the souls of the departed to the tender mercy of God, invokes abundant divine blessings of consolation and strength upon those who mourn and upon all who have been affected by this tragedy.”
Indianapolis, Ind., Feb 8, 2016 / 03:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An Indiana anti-discrimination bill failed in the state senate because it would have proved disastrous for religious freedom, one legal expert has said.Indiana’s Senate Bill 344 died “because it was a threat to freedom of religion and conscience,” said Roger Severino, director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Society at the Heritage Foundation.“Because when you elevate sexual orientation and gender identity to the same status as race, mainstream religious beliefs about sexual identity are then labeled as bigoted,” he said.The broad anti-discrimination bill, introduced in the state senate in January, prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or active duty military service in areas like housing, employment and education. Republicans in the state senate killed the bill last week, citing strong disapproval from citizens on both sides of the debate.According to Severino, the...
Indianapolis, Ind., Feb 8, 2016 / 03:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An Indiana anti-discrimination bill failed in the state senate because it would have proved disastrous for religious freedom, one legal expert has said.
Indiana’s Senate Bill 344 died “because it was a threat to freedom of religion and conscience,” said Roger Severino, director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Society at the Heritage Foundation.
“Because when you elevate sexual orientation and gender identity to the same status as race, mainstream religious beliefs about sexual identity are then labeled as bigoted,” he said.
The broad anti-discrimination bill, introduced in the state senate in January, prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or active duty military service in areas like housing, employment and education. Republicans in the state senate killed the bill last week, citing strong disapproval from citizens on both sides of the debate.
According to Severino, the bill would have elevated sexual orientation to a protected class under the state’s civil rights law, like race. He said that anti-discrimination bills with a focus on sexual orientation and gender identity end up discriminating against the faith of business owners.
“Those would be the victims of these laws, and religious liberty and freedom of conscience would be the losers.”
Businesses could face discrimination lawsuits for many infractions, explained Heritage’s Ryan T. Anderson and Dr. Robert George of Princeton University in an article for The Public Discourse. If business owners said they could not serve a same-sex wedding because of their religious beliefs, they could face a lawsuit.
The bill did carve out a religious liberty exemption for churches, religious non-profits, and businesses with fewer than five employees, but it was too narrow to satisfy religious freedom advocates in the state.
Even with a religious freedom exemption, the bill would have subjected business owners to anti-discrimination lawsuits if they refused service to host a same-sex wedding out of conscience, according to Severino.
Such legal cases have happened elsewhere. In Washington state, a court ordered florist Baronnelle Stutzman to pay a massive fine when she declined to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding because she could not in good conscience do so.
“One of the most surprising things about the Indiana proposal is that if it had passed, it would have repealed the state Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” Severino said. “And it just shows you how dangerous it is to go down this road where the idea of specifically limiting peoples’ religious freedoms was up for debate.”
Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act came under fire last year when it was proposed in the state legislature.
It largely mirrored the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That 1993 law prohibits the state from putting a “substantial burden” on a person’s religious freedom, unless the state can prove that its actions serve a “compelling governmental interest” and are the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
Severino backed the federal law.
“RFRA is vital because it fills in gaps that otherwise might not be protected in law, and allows people of many different religious views, including minority views, to get protection from government coercion,” he said.
The 2015 Indiana bill was a response to cases across the country where business owners – like bakers and florists -- were being fined for declining to serve same-sex weddings out of conscientious objection.
Backlash against the bill was severe. Conventions, conferences, and events scheduled to be held in the state were canceled. The NCAA threatened to move the men’s basketball championship, scheduled in Indianapolis.
There were “wild hypotheticals” being tossed around, Severino said. A pizzeria that told a reporter it would decline to serve a same-sex wedding was forced to close temporarily due to intense and outraged protests. There were rumors that the pizzeria refused all service to customers identifying as gay and lesbian.
Those rumors were proved untrue, but they “presumed the worst in people” and were “detached from reality,” Severino said. “By and large, Americans are a very tolerant people, and live and let live.”
Last year, facing political and business pressure, the legislature watered down the religious freedom bill. It amended the bill so that it wouldn’t apply to laws protecting sexual orientation and gender-identity – laws like S.B. 344.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Alexandre Meneghini, ReutersBy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ukrainian Catholic leaders gave a verycautious welcome to news that Pope Francis would meet in Cuba with RussianOrthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow."I do not expect that the meeting of Pope Francis withPatriarch Kirill, planned for Feb. 12, will bring any particular changes.Although it is good that the meeting will take place," said UkrainianArchbishop Sviatoslav Shevchukof Kiev-Halych, the major archbishop of the church."I am pleased," the archbishop said, that "weare no longer considered an obstacle and aren't being used to justify one'sunwillingness to engage in such dialogue."Although both St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVIexpressed hopes for a meeting with the Moscow patriarch, the Russian Orthodoxinsisted the activity of the Ukrainian Catholics and of Latin-rite Catholics inRussia amounted to "proselytism" and was an obstacle to such ameeting.Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokol...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Alexandre Meneghini, Reuters
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ukrainian Catholic leaders gave a very cautious welcome to news that Pope Francis would meet in Cuba with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
"I do not expect that the meeting of Pope Francis with Patriarch Kirill, planned for Feb. 12, will bring any particular changes. Although it is good that the meeting will take place," said Ukrainian Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, the major archbishop of the church.
"I am pleased," the archbishop said, that "we are no longer considered an obstacle and aren't being used to justify one's unwillingness to engage in such dialogue."
Although both St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI expressed hopes for a meeting with the Moscow patriarch, the Russian Orthodox insisted the activity of the Ukrainian Catholics and of Latin-rite Catholics in Russia amounted to "proselytism" and was an obstacle to such a meeting.
Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, director of foreign relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, told reporters Feb. 5 that the presence and activity of the Ukrainian Catholics were still an obstacle to fully normal church relations; he insisted that Patriarch Kirill agreed to meet the pope because finding a common way to help persecuted Christians in the Middle East is a more pressing matter.
Pope Francis, in an interview published Feb. 8 in an Italian paper, when asked about the meeting, said, "Bridges. They must be constructed step by step until you are able to shake the hand of the person on the other side."
"Bridges last and promote peace," the pope told the newspaper Corriere della Sera. Walls not only divide people, but they must be defended, which takes energy. "For this reason, they need to be taken down, not built. Anyway, they are destined to fall, one after another. Think of the Berlin Wall. It seemed eternal and yet, poof, in a day it fell."
Pope Francis insisted he did little to make the meeting happen. "I just said that I wanted to meet and embrace my Orthodox brothers. Just that. Then there were two years of secret negotiations, conducted well by great bishops," he said.
Dominican Father Hyacinthe Destivelle, the official of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity who did much of the work on the Vatican side to prepare the meeting, told Vatican Radio it was the culmination of much work, but also is a "point of departure in our relations to the degree that from now on we can have a normal relationship based on trust."
The two years of negotiations to set up the meeting were accompanied by another complicating factor: The Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and the ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine, which naturally create further tensions between Ukrainian Catholics and Russian Orthodox.
"It is likely that during the meeting of the pope with the patriarch they will also speak of the present situation in Ukraine," Archbishop Shevchuk said in his statement. "I hope that His Holiness Pope Francis, who always raises his voice in defense of the wronged, will be a voice for Ukrainians, who are engaged in a battle for the unity and integrity of their land."
Father Peter Galadza, acting director of the Sheptytsky Institute at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario, issued a statement Feb. 5 expressing his hope that the pope not only would raise the issue of Russian aggression against Ukraine, but also the support some Russian Orthodox leaders have given to "the notion of a 'Russian World'" or "Russkiy Mir," which sees the entire former Soviet Union as an area needing the special protection of Russia. Father Galadza said the notion "has hampered inter-ethnic harmony and understanding" and "evokes the Russification policies of the USSR."
Father Destivelle, who is helping draft a joint statement for the pope and patriarch to sign, said it is likely to focus on "areas for collaboration and dialogue, which do not have a theological character but are important for the churches to draw closer together," including joint efforts on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East, protecting the family and the role of Christians in secularized societies.
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