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-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-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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Washington D.C., Feb 3, 2016 / 06:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- If abortion clinics fail to meet established safety standards, the solution is not to lower those standards, said Catholic leaders in a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court.The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of General Counsel filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Feb. 1 on behalf of the national bishops’ conference and the Texas Catholic Conference. Abortion clinics’ “failure to comply with health and safety laws” should not be a reason to strike down the laws, the brief said.“There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health. When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise.”The brief commented on the Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt case set to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in early March.The case ...
Washington D.C., Feb 3, 2016 / 06:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- If abortion clinics fail to meet established safety standards, the solution is not to lower those standards, said Catholic leaders in a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of General Counsel filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Feb. 1 on behalf of the national bishops’ conference and the Texas Catholic Conference.
Abortion clinics’ “failure to comply with health and safety laws” should not be a reason to strike down the laws, the brief said.
“There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health. When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise.”
The brief commented on the Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt case set to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in early March.
The case involves a Texas law passed in 2013, which requires abortion clinics to meet the same safety and health standards as ambulatory surgical centers. The law drew a filibuster from then-State Sen. Wendy Davis (D), who became the focus of national publicity from pro-abortion rights organizations.
After the law was passed, the number of abortion clinics in the state fell by more than half.
Abortion advocates say the standards are too strict and will shut down most abortion clinics in the state.
However, supporters of the law argue that regulations are necessary given recent abuses found at abortion clinics. These include failures to ensure a sterile environment, to prevent conditions that attract rodents, and to prevent failures to maintain equipment like a cardiac defibrillator.
In 2013, Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter after babies were killed after birth at his clinic. A police raid of his clinic had revealed horrific sanitary conditions.
The Feb. 1 brief also argued that the admitting privileges requirement ensures that physicians are competent. It helps ensure that physicians provide continuous care in the event of complications and not abandon their patients, the document said.
In addition, it cited the 1993 Supreme Court decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which allows for regulation of abortion to protect the life and health of women.
Other partners to 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.
In June 2015, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the admitting privileges requirement in the Texas law, which had been struck down by a lower federal court. A decision by the Supreme Court is expected in the case later this year.
IMAGE: Nancy WiechecBy Chaz MuthWASHINGTON(CNS) -- There is an extensive history of Catholic missions in the U.S.Thoughthe original 13 British colonies in what is now the U.S. largely had Protestantpopulations, Catholic missionaries helped shape the economic, political andreligious values as other parts of the territory were settled.Religiousorders began to establish missions in Spanish Florida as early as the 16thcentury as a way of attracting members of Native American tribes toCatholicism.Dominicansfounded missions in other parts of the South, the Jesuits began setting up theirsin the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley regions in the 17th century, andFranciscans began building theirs in California in the 18th century.NorthAmerican missionaries came into full focus last year when Pope Franciscanonized St. Junipero Serra, the SpanishFranciscan who established nine of California's 21 missions.Many Catholic scholars consider St. Juniperoand other North American missionaries -- such ...
IMAGE: Nancy Wiechec
By Chaz Muth
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- There is an extensive history of Catholic missions in the U.S.
Though the original 13 British colonies in what is now the U.S. largely had Protestant populations, Catholic missionaries helped shape the economic, political and religious values as other parts of the territory were settled.
Religious orders began to establish missions in Spanish Florida as early as the 16th century as a way of attracting members of Native American tribes to Catholicism.
Dominicans founded missions in other parts of the South, the Jesuits began setting up theirs in the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley regions in the 17th century, and Franciscans began building theirs in California in the 18th century.
North American missionaries came into full focus last year when Pope Francis canonized St. Junipero Serra, the Spanish Franciscan who established nine of California's 21 missions.
Many Catholic scholars consider St. Junipero and other North American missionaries -- such as Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette -- to be founding fathers in U.S. history, nearly as much as George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
"While our nation state did emerge in a particular place, our continent has a complex and deep history, one that is as Hispanic and Catholic as it is Anglo and Protestant," said Steven Hackel, a professor at the University of California Riverside and author of "Junipero Serra: California's Founding Father."
Like the U.S. Catholic home mission dioceses in the 21st century, the primary responsibility of the early American missionaries was to bring their religion to the inhabitants of the land.
By the time the Jesuits began to make their settlements in the Great Lakes region, they believed that humanity was all one and that the original revelation was God had been delivered to everyone on earth, but somehow the message had gotten lost, muddled or confused by many, said Tracy Leavelle, an associate professor at Jesuit-run Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and author of "The Catholic Calumet: Colonial Conversions in French and Indian North America."
"So they looked for what they called 'natural religion' in native peoples, the vestiges of that original revelation," Leavelle told Catholic News Service. "They thought that was something they could work with. So, they were bringing them back to God after they had been lost. I mean, that was their view of what they were doing."
Cities, rivers and mountains throughout California can trace their names to St. Junipero, the missionaries and the missions, many of which are still active churches.
San Gabriel Mission is considered the mother church of Los Angeles, home of the largest Catholic archdiocese in the country in terms of Catholic population.
Not only did the missionaries in these missions bring new religious practices to the native population, they also introduced them to agricultural, economic and political practices, Hackel said.
When Pope Francis canonized St. Junipero last September, he said a missionary's life is exciting and brings joy and that sharing the Gospel is the way to keep experiencing the joy it brings and keeps the heart "from growing numb from being anesthetized."
Catholics in the U.S. and other parts of the world are indebted to St. Junipero and thousands of other witnesses who lived their faith and passed it on, the pope said during the canonization Mass in Washington.
The pope acknowledged that some people objected to his sainthood cause because of questions about how then-Father Serra had treated the native peoples of California and about the impact Spanish colonization had on the aboriginals throughout the Americas.
Some groups objected to the canonization because they said the missionaries eradicated the culture of the indigenous people they encountered.
"Mission is never the fruit of a perfectly planned program or a well-organized manual," Pope Francis said. "Mission is always the fruit of a life which knows what it is to be found and healed, encountered and forgiven."
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Follow Chaz Muth on Twitter: @Chazmaniandevyl.
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IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God doesn't want to condemn anyone;he wants to save every person in the entire world, Pope Francis said."The problem is letting him enter one's heart" totransform one's life, the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter'sSquare Feb. 3."This is the heart of God, the heart of a father wholoves his children and wants them to live rightly and justly and, therefore, tolive in fullness and be happy," he said.The pope continued a series of talks dedicated to divinemercy, looking specifically at how divine mercy and divine justice go hand inhand."It might seem that they are two things thatcontradict each other," he said, but they don't because "it is preciselyGod's mercy that brings true justice to fruition."God's justice is different from the human administration oflegal justice, which is "retributive, that imposes a penalty on the guilty,"the pope said."This path still does not lead to true justicebecause it doesn...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God doesn't want to condemn anyone; he wants to save every person in the entire world, Pope Francis said.
"The problem is letting him enter one's heart" to transform one's life, the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square Feb. 3.
"This is the heart of God, the heart of a father who loves his children and wants them to live rightly and justly and, therefore, to live in fullness and be happy," he said.
The pope continued a series of talks dedicated to divine mercy, looking specifically at how divine mercy and divine justice go hand in hand.
"It might seem that they are two things that contradict each other," he said, but they don't because "it is precisely God's mercy that brings true justice to fruition."
God's justice is different from the human administration of legal justice, which is "retributive, that imposes a penalty on the guilty," the pope said.
"This path still does not lead to true justice because it doesn't actually conquer evil but simply contains it," the pope said. "Rather, it is only by responding to (evil) with the good that evil truly can be overcome."
The Bible shows that true justice bypasses a court system, he said. The one who is wronged goes directly to the one who is guilty "in order to invite him to conversion, to help him to understand that he is doing wrong, to appeal to his conscience."
Through this act of persuasion, the one guilty of wrongdoing "can open himself to the forgiveness that the injured party is offering him. And this is beautiful," the pope said.
This is the way that families try to work out their conflicts, he said. The one who has been offended "loves the culprit and wants to salvage the relationship that binds them, not cut off this relationship," he said.
But it is not an easy path to take, he added. "It requires that the person who was wronged be ready to forgive and desire the salvation of and what's best for the one who has wronged him."
These reciprocal acts of forgiveness and conversion are the only way true justice can triumph, the pope said, because "if the guilty one recognizes the evil committed and stops doing it, then the evil is no more and the one who was unjust becomes just."
"This is how God acts with us sinners," he said. God constantly offers forgiveness and helps people recognize their sin in order to set them free.
That is because "God doesn't seek our condemnation, but our salvation. God doesn't want to condemn anybody," not even those whom many think deserve it like Pontius Pilate or Judas, he said. "The Lord of mercy wants to save everybody."
God's immense heart "goes beyond our small concept of justice" and opens up people's horizons to his limitless mercy, he said.
This is the kind of paternal heart people want to encounter in the confessional, the pope said.
While the priest may seek to help the penitent understand the evil committed, "we all go to the confessional to find a father, a father who helps us change our life, a father who gives us the strength to go on, a father who forgives us in the name of God."
That is why the sacrament of penance or reconciliation is such a big responsibility for the priest, the pope said, because the people "who come to you are just looking for a father" and the priest in the confessional is there "in the place of the father who brings justice with his mercy."
At the end of the audience, the pope greeted members of "American Circus," an Italian troupe who, wearing bright red, white and blue outfits, performed a routine featuring cheerleading, acrobatics and juggling.
The pope was especially impressed with the juggler who bounced small rubber balls -- including with the bottom of his feet -- at lighting speed. "The one that was in the front was great, wasn't he?" the pope commented to Archbishop Georg Ganswein, prefect of the papal household who was sitting next to the pope at the general audience.
Speaking to the performers directly, the pope told them, "you create beauty and beauty always brings us closer to God."
He also recognized the hard work and training that goes into their craft and said they are a wonderful example "for all of us."
"The seduction of an easy life, to end up with good results without effort, this is a temptation," he said.
But with their talent and the hard work they put in behind the scenes, "you offer us a witness that life without constant exertion is a mediocre life," he told them. "I thank you so much for your example."
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
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