Catholic News 2
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon's governor expressed frustration with federal authorities' handling of the continuing occupation of a national wildlife refuge in southeastern Oregon by an armed group and said it's time to end it....
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnam's ruling Communist Party Thursday opened an eight-day congress to name the country's new set of leaders, who will determine the pace of critical economic reforms, the fight against corruption and relations with key trading allies, China and the United States....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration will announce as early as Thursday its plan to introduce new visa requirements for European travelers who are dual nationals of Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria, or who have visited any of these countries in the last five years....
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A day after doctors reported high levels of lead in Flint children, Gov. Rick Snyder's top aide told him the "real responsibility" for the city's water issues rested with local government officials, emails released Wednesday showed....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Asian stocks snapped a losing streak in global markets Thursday after Wall Street trimmed losses and oil paused after a steep fall, but analysts said sentiment was fragile and more losses could be in store....
 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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Vatican City, Jan 20, 2016 / 04:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While advancements in technology are mostly positive, they can also negatively affect the poor and the environment and risk letting “soulless machines” take the place of people, Pope Francis warned.“In the face of profound and epochal changes, world leaders are challenged to ensure that the coming 'fourth industrial revolution,' the result of robotics and scientific and technological innovations, does not lead to the destruction of the human person,” the Pope has said.He cautioned against allowing human beings to be “replaced by a soulless machine,” and warned that if technology gets too far out of our hands, the planet could slowly turn into “an empty garden for the enjoyment of a chosen few.”“There is a need to create new models of doing business which, while promoting the development of advanced technologies, are also capable of using them to create dignified work...
Vatican City, Jan 20, 2016 / 04:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While advancements in technology are mostly positive, they can also negatively affect the poor and the environment and risk letting “soulless machines” take the place of people, Pope Francis warned.
“In the face of profound and epochal changes, world leaders are challenged to ensure that the coming 'fourth industrial revolution,' the result of robotics and scientific and technological innovations, does not lead to the destruction of the human person,” the Pope has said.
He cautioned against allowing human beings to be “replaced by a soulless machine,” and warned that if technology gets too far out of our hands, the planet could slowly turn into “an empty garden for the enjoyment of a chosen few.”
“There is a need to create new models of doing business which, while promoting the development of advanced technologies, are also capable of using them to create dignified work for all, to uphold and consolidate social rights, and to protect the environment,” he said.
“Man must guide technological development, without letting himself be dominated by it!”
Pope Francis made his comments in a message addressed to Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and president of the World Economic Forum, on the first day of the organization's annual meeting.
A Swiss nonprofit organization based in Geneva, the forum holds a meeting every year in Davos-Klosters to discuss how to improve the state of the world by engaging global leaders in the business, political and academic fields to collaborate in global, regional and industry agendas.
Following the theme “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” the forum this year runs from Jan. 20-23.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, read the Pope's message aloud on the first day of the meeting.
In his message, Francis noted that the rise of the “so-called fourth industrial revolution” has been accompanied by a “drastic reduction” in the number of jobs available.
He referred to a recent study conducted by the International Labor Organization, which indicates that hundreds of millions of people are currently affected by unemployment.
“The financialization and technologization of national and global economies have produced far-reaching changes in the field of labor,” the Pope said, adding that the lack of opportunity for “useful and dignified employment,” coupled with a decline in social security, are causing “a disturbing rise” in both poverty and inequality throughout the world.
Francis stressed the need to create new ways of doing business that both promote technological advancements, and safeguard the dignity of the human person.
Pope Francis urged them not to forget the poor, saying that this concern is “the primary challenge before you as leaders in the business world.”
“We must never allow the culture of prosperity to deaden us, to make us incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people's pain, and sensing the need to help them, as though all this were someone else's responsibility and not our own,” he said.
To weep for other people's pain doesn't just mean sharing in their sufferings, he said, but primarily requires that we realize our own actions are frequently a cause of injustice and inequality.
Once we realize this, “we become more fully human, since responsibility for our brothers and sisters is an essential part of our common humanity.”
Francis told attendees that in opening their hearts and minds to the poor, “you will give free rein to your economic and technical talents, and discover the happiness of a full life, which consumerism of itself cannot provide.”
He encouraged them to take present opportunities when it comes to governing the processes currently underway, building “inclusive societies” founded on respect for the human person, tolerance, compassion and mercy.
“I urge you, then, to take up anew your conversation on how to build the future of the planet, our common home, and I ask you to make a united effort to pursue a sustainable and integral development.”
The Pope said that business is “a noble vocation,” especially when it promotes the creation of jobs as “an essential part of its service to the common good.”
Business therefore has a great responsibility in helping to overcome the “complex crisis of society and the environment,” as well as the scourge of poverty.
Doing this, he said, will make it possible to improve the poor living conditions that millions of people are subjected to, and will bridge “the social gap which gives rise to numerous injustices and erodes fundamental values of society, including equality, justice and solidarity.”
Francis closed his message by expressing his hope that the meeting would become a platform from which to advocate for the defense and protection of creation, as well as the achievement of a progress that is “healthier, more human, more social, more integral.”
He also voiced his hope that participants would give special attention to the environmental goals and efforts to eradicate poverty outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the recent Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Denver, Colo., Jan 20, 2016 / 04:47 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- One year after a similar effort was defeated, the Colorado legislature will revisit proposals to legalize assisted suicide, with opponents warning against creating incentives for people to kill themselves.“If this legislation becomes law, it will place the lives of the vulnerable in the hands of an insurance and health care industry whose profit-driven culture would incentivize doctors to prescribe death,” Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila said in a video.“These bills are not good for us, because they make it easier for people with bad intentions to prey upon the disabled.”The archbishop added an even stronger warning: “The moral aspects of this debate are very clear: God has taught us not to kill. And that includes killing ourselves.”House Bill 1054 – along with a companion Senate bill – in the 2016 Colorado legislature would legalize assisted suicide in the name of “aid-in-dyin...
Denver, Colo., Jan 20, 2016 / 04:47 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- One year after a similar effort was defeated, the Colorado legislature will revisit proposals to legalize assisted suicide, with opponents warning against creating incentives for people to kill themselves.
“If this legislation becomes law, it will place the lives of the vulnerable in the hands of an insurance and health care industry whose profit-driven culture would incentivize doctors to prescribe death,” Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila said in a video.
“These bills are not good for us, because they make it easier for people with bad intentions to prey upon the disabled.”
The archbishop added an even stronger warning: “The moral aspects of this debate are very clear: God has taught us not to kill. And that includes killing ourselves.”
House Bill 1054 – along with a companion Senate bill – in the 2016 Colorado legislature would legalize assisted suicide in the name of “aid-in-dying.” The House bill, titled the Colorado End-of-life Options Act, will be a subject of a Feb. 4 hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.
The legislation would allow a Colorado resident who is terminally ill to request an “aid-in-dying” prescription from his or her attending doctor in order “to hasten the individual’s death.” The doctor may write the prescription if at least two health care providers say the individual is capable of making an informed decision.
The bill includes a form request for medication “to end my life in a humane and dignified manner.”
If passed into law, the legislation would grants immunity to participants in assisted suicide from civil and criminal liability and from professional discipline. The bill says that actions in accord with the act will not constitute suicide, assisted suicide, mercy killing, homicide or elder abuse. The bill would make it a felony to coerce someone or exert “undue influence” to secure an aid-in-dying request.
In February 2015 a bill with similar goals, the Colorado Death with Dignity Act, failed in a bipartisan committee vote of 8-5.
The bill has drawn substantial opposition from disability advocates.
The Colorado Catholic Conference said the 2016 proposal to allow assisted suicide would “corrupt the medical profession” and violate medical ethics that require physicians “to serve life and never to kill.”
“The voiceless or marginalized in our society - the poor, the frail elderly, and racial minorities would be the first to feel pressure to die,” the conference said Jan. 19. It charged that the legislation would “demean the lives of vulnerable patients and expose them to exploitation by those who feel they are better off dead.”
Archbishop Aquila said Colorado is “filled with kind, friendly, caring people. The state is “not a place where doctors would be allowed to kill one of their patients.”
He said the bills would be bad for the future of medicine.
“Doctors, nurses and pharmacists would face pressure from those who want them to act against their training: ‘do no harm,’” the archbishop said. He added that such pressure on medical professionals has happened in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legalized.
“Fight against House Bill 1054 and Senate Bill 25 for the sake of the integrity of Colorado and its people,” he said. “I encourage you to make your voice heard.”
The House bill is sponsored by Reps. Lois Court and Joann Ginal. Its Senate counterpart is sponsored by Sen. Michael Merrifield.
The Colorado Catholic Conference and other assisted suicide opponents are asking Coloradans to contact their representatives and members of the House Judiciary Committee to voice their opposition to the bill.
“May God bless all of us as we defend Colorado and its most vulnerable people,” Archbishop Aquila said in the video.
The archbishop’s video and more information on the bills are available at the Archdiocese of Denver’s website at http://archden.org/life.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The current version of the SAT college entrance exam has its final run this weekend, when hundreds of thousands of students nationwide will sit, squirm or stress through the nearly four-hour reading, writing and math test. A new revamped version debuts in March....
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) -- Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press confirm what church leaders and Middle East preservationists had feared: The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a field of rubble, yet another victim of the Islamic State group's relentless destruction of heritage sites it considers heretical....
