Catholic News 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The investigation of a daring California jail break has led to the arrests of five people, with more expected soon, but the three inmates who escaped remain at large, the Orange County sheriff said Wednesday....
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- The release of new figures apparently finding fewer cases of microcephaly in Brazil than first feared is adding force to calls for more research into the link between the rare birth defect and the spreading Zika virus....
BURNS, Ore. (AP) -- A day after eight members of an armed anti-government group were arrested, their jailed leader on Wednesday urged a handful of remaining militants to abandon the Oregon wildlife refuge they have occupied for more than three weeks and where they are now surrounded by federal agents....
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.
---
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
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT
Don Clemmer
O: 202-541-3206
Washington D.C., Jan 27, 2016 / 05:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Planned Parenthood investigators indicted by a Houston grand jury on Monday were not breaking the law as they are undercover journalists, maintains the lawyer for the lead investigator, David Daleiden.Daleiden’s use of a false identification, linked to his undercover report on Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston, is “standard undercover technique” and is allowed under Texas law, Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society told CNA.Daleiden, the project lead for the “citizen journalist” team Center for Medical Progress, and his fellow worker Sandra Merritt, were indicted Jan. 25 by a grand jury for “tampering with a government record.” Additionally, Daleiden was indicted for the purchase or sale of human organs, a misdemeanor charge.Last summer, the Center for Medical Progress had released a series of videos of secretly-taped conversations with Planned Parenthood officials as part...
Washington D.C., Jan 27, 2016 / 05:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Planned Parenthood investigators indicted by a Houston grand jury on Monday were not breaking the law as they are undercover journalists, maintains the lawyer for the lead investigator, David Daleiden.
Daleiden’s use of a false identification, linked to his undercover report on Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston, is “standard undercover technique” and is allowed under Texas law, Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society told CNA.
Daleiden, the project lead for the “citizen journalist” team Center for Medical Progress, and his fellow worker Sandra Merritt, were indicted Jan. 25 by a grand jury for “tampering with a government record.” Additionally, Daleiden was indicted for the purchase or sale of human organs, a misdemeanor charge.
Last summer, the Center for Medical Progress had released a series of videos of secretly-taped conversations with Planned Parenthood officials as part of its investigative report “Human Capital.” The report focused on Planned Parenthood’s role in its clinics offering fetal tissue of aborted babies to harvesters for compensation.
Planned Parenthood, Daleiden charged, was illegally profiting from the sale of fetal tissue of aborted babies.
Federal law generally prohibits the sale of human organs but does allow for the transfer of fetal tissue for medical research with compensation, provided the compensation is not “valuable consideration” but is “reasonable,” to cover expenses such as operating and shipping costs.
Following the release of the videos, Planned Parenthood has been investigated on the state and federal level, but so far there have been no official conclusions of wrongdoing.
To investigate Planned Parenthood, members of the Center for Medical Progress set up a false company Biomax and posed as company representatives seeking to partner with Planned Parenthood clinics to harvest fetal tissue. They discussed various amounts of compensation for the tissue.
Daleiden and Merritt secretly taped their conversation with the research director at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Melissa Farrell, while posing as tissue harvesters. They would have had to use identification to gain access to the clinic, and allegedly used California drivers licenses with their false names.
Texas law prohibits the use of a governmental record “with knowledge of its falsity” or any “false alteration” of a governmental record. It clarifies that it is a misdemeanor “unless the actor's intent is to defraud or harm another, in which event the offense is a state jail felony” and “a felony of the second degree.”
Thus, by charging them with a second-degree felony, the Houston grand jury determined that Daleiden and Merritt operated with the intent “to defraud or harm” Planned Parenthood.
However, this tampering statute was intended for serious crimes like identity theft, Breen maintained. It is not intended to prohibit the use of false identification for undercover journalism – which is what the two investigators was doing.
An attorney for Planned Parenthood in Houston, Josh Schaffer, told the Washington Post that the Center for Medical Progress “edited the tapes to be taken out of context,” although the organization posted a full video of the report over five hours long.
What is clear, Breen maintained, is that Daleiden and his fellow investigators “have rock-solid evidence” that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast is changing its abortion procedures to better obtain fetal tissue, and is altering its accounting practices.
The allegations relate to what Farrell at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast told Daleiden and Merritt about the cost of obtaining and dissecting fetal tissue for harvesters. Farrell floated the possibility of altering the abortion procedure to increase the possibility of extracting “intact” fetal tissue.
“If we alter our process, and we are able to obtain intact fetal cadavers, we can make it part of the budget that any dissections are this, and splitting the specimens into different shipments is this. It’s all just a matter of line items,” she said.
Daleiden was also indicted for the purchase or sale of human organs. A person violates Texas law when “he or she knowingly or intentionally offers to buy, offers to sell, acquires, receives, sells, or otherwise transfers any human organ for valuable consideration.”
Schaffer, Planned Parenthood’s attorney, also told the Washington Post that Daleiden made an offer via e-mail to purchase fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood for $1,600.
However, Daleiden clearly did not have the intent to purchase fetal tissue because he did not have the resources to “buy, store, or process baby body parts,” Breen said.
In contrast, Planned Parenthood clearly had the money and the means to violate that statute, he told CNA, and had built relationships “to sell baby body parts for profit.”
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jay Rommel Labra, EPABy Simone OrendainCEBU, Philippines (CNS) -- TwoAsian church leaders urged participants in the 51st International EucharisticCongress to follow the example of Pope Francis, working to reach people on theperiphery.The pope's envoy to thecongress, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, told reporters Jan. 27 that theEucharist should compel people to share with the less fortunate. He said thatwas why he declared a third world war on poverty days before, while celebratingthe opening Mass for the Jan. 24-31 congress."We prepare missiles ofcharity and missiles of sharing," said the cardinal. "There are manypoor people, not because things are not sufficient, resources are notsufficient, not because food is not sufficient, but because of poordistribution."Cardinal Bo said the church, all religions and thegovernment should have a system under which resources are shared between the richand the poor.At the congress aimedat deepening the understanding of t...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jay Rommel Labra, EPA
By Simone Orendain
CEBU, Philippines (CNS) -- Two Asian church leaders urged participants in the 51st International Eucharistic Congress to follow the example of Pope Francis, working to reach people on the periphery.
The pope's envoy to the congress, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, told reporters Jan. 27 that the Eucharist should compel people to share with the less fortunate. He said that was why he declared a third world war on poverty days before, while celebrating the opening Mass for the Jan. 24-31 congress.
"We prepare missiles of charity and missiles of sharing," said the cardinal. "There are many poor people, not because things are not sufficient, resources are not sufficient, not because food is not sufficient, but because of poor distribution."
Cardinal Bo said the church, all religions and the government should have a system under which resources are shared between the rich and the poor.
At the congress aimed at deepening the understanding of the Eucharist, Cardinal Bo said the "main message" that has repeatedly resonated with him is "the Eucharist being the sharing of our bread and sharing of our resources."
Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu added, "We have seen images of the Holy Father really doing this ... Reaching out to the prisoners, to the poor. And expect, for instance, certain revisions in the Curia that would even manifest this love for people. Even the declaration of the Year of Mercy is also one way of making us aware that at the heart of Christianity should be the spirit of sharing love."
Cardinal Bo added that in meetings with "many Christian leaders" of other denominations and also leaders of other religions, they have told him that in the world there is no other leader like Pope Francis.
"So if their churches as well as their governments and all the leaders in the world were to follow the example of Pope Francis, that could be a solution: going to the peripheries," said the cardinal.
During the briefing, Cardinal Bo also said his country has only 800,000 Catholics, even though the faith has been there for 500 years. He said the Philippine church has been helping Myanmar's Catholics in communication efforts for evangelization.
He also said in his report to the pope after the Congress, he would remember "the warmest welcome I have received, second, the good Filipino food and, third, the Filipino smiles."
Cardinal Bo said the main message would be, "in spite of all the natural disasters, the only thing that remains mainly with the Filipinos is the faith of the people: faith in the church, faith in the Eucharist and their faith in the Lord."
- - -
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.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said it was altering membership rules in response to an outcry over the diversity of its voters and nominees, another uproar has erupted around Hollywood. Many academy members are protesting that the new measures unjustly scapegoat older academy members and imply they're racist....
PARIS (AP) -- France has asked its European Union partners to consider new sanctions on Iran for its recent missile tests, officials have told The Associated Press, even as Paris welcomed the president of the Islamic Republic, which is flush with funds from the lifting of other sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and his aides have said a lot of nice things about Bernie Sanders, but not this one: He's ready to be president....
BURNS, Oregon (AP) -- A member of an armed anti-government group who was killed in a traffic stop in Oregon vowed a few weeks ago that he would die before spending his life behind bars....
