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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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Washington D.C., Jan 19, 2016 / 04:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on an immigration enforcement case will affect many immigrants in the U.S., and the Los Angeles archbishop says the court should rule on the side of humanity.

“I cannot speak to the constitutional questions in this case. I speak as a pastor. And as a pastor, I know that the situation is unjust and intolerable for millions of people who are forced to live in the shadows of our great country,” Archbishop Jose Gomez said Jan. 19.

“People do not cease to be our brothers and sisters because they have an irregular immigration status. No matter how they got here, no matter how frustrated we are with our government, we cannot lose sight of their humanity – without losing our own.”

The Supreme Court will rule on the State of Texas’ challenge to President Obama’s immigration program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. Under the program, as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants who are the parents of citizens or lawful permanent residents could apply for work permits and avoid deportation.

The program was set up on the president’s own initiative without congressional approval.

The State of Texas, acting on behalf of 26 states, challenged the program’s constitutionality and has won every legal challenge so far, the Associated Press reports. In November the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the states.

Texas had asked the Supreme Court not to hear the case. However, the court’s justices have added their own questions to the case about whether the president had violated his obligations to enforce the nation’s laws, the New York Times reports.

U.S. solicitor general Donald Verrilli Jr. said ending the program would force millions of people “to continue to work off the books, without the option of lawful employment to provide for their families.”

He said the program will discourage illegal hiring that depresses wages for American workers.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case shows that it recognizes the importance of the constitutional concept of the separation of powers.

The Obama administration had challenged Texas’ legal standing to challenge the program. However, lower courts have said Texas has standing because it would be responsible for subsidizing costs like drivers licenses and work permits for 500,000 people if the program stands.

Arguments in the case will take place in April. The Supreme Court will rule on the case in June.

An estimated 11 million people are in the United States illegally.

Archbishop Gomez said the Supreme Court may be “our last best hope to restore humanity to our immigration policy,” given lawmakers’ inaction.

“Every day in our parishes and schools and neighborhoods, we see the rising human toll of our failure to enact comprehensive immigration reform, especially on families and children,” he said. The president’s executive actions are a temporary solution, but one that provides “a measure of mercy.”

The Obama administration’s enforcement actions have focused on criminals, people who are threats to national security or public safety, and people who have recently entered the country.

Under President Obama, a record high 409,000 people were deported in 2012. However, in the last fiscal year about 235,000 people were deported, the smallest number since 2006.

Archbishop Gomez said that many of those deported are parents forced to leave behind their spouses and children.

“Millions more are living in constant fear that they too might be rounded up for deportation, that one day without warning they won’t be coming home for dinner and may never see their families again,” he said.

 

 

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New York City, N.Y., Jan 19, 2016 / 04:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A new United Nations report has tried to count the civilian toll of continuing conflict in Iraq, largely at the hands of Islamic State militants, and the numbers are "staggering."

“Even the obscene casualty figures fail to accurately reflect exactly how terribly civilians are suffering in Iraq,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Jan. 19.

“The figures capture those who were killed or maimed by overt violence, but countless others have died from the lack of access to basic food, water or medical care.”

He said the report showed the sufferings of Iraqi civilians and “starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape when they flee to Europe and other regions.”

“This is the horror they face in their homelands.”

Between January 2014 and October 2015, at least 18,802 civilians were killed in Iraq. About half of them died in Baghdad province. Another 36,000 were injured.

The deadliest tactic against civilians has been the use of improvised explosive devices, both in vehicles and in the vests of suicide bombers.

Another 3.2 million people were internally displaced in the 21-month time period measured by the report. The displaced include about 1 million school-aged children.

The figures were recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“The violence suffered by civilians in Iraq remains staggering,” the report said.

The report noted the Islamic State group’s continued “systemic and widespread violence and abuses” and its systematic persecution of different ethnic and religious communities.

“These acts may, in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide,” the report continued.

The Islamic State has controlled Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, since June 2014. It has imposed a rigid version of Islamic law in territory it controls, but its rule also features arbitrary violence.

The U.N. estimates that the group holds about 3,500 slaves. The slaves are mainly women and children of the Yazidi religion. Some of the women are killed for trying to escape or for refusing sexual relations with Islamic State fighters.

The report said that 800 to 900 children in Mosul have been abducted and put through Islamic State religious and military training. There have been accounts of child soldiers who were killed for fleeing fighting on the front lines of Iraq’s Anbar province.

Islamic State courts have sentenced their opponents to punishments including death, stoning, or amputation. Those targeted included people affiliated with the government, doctors, lawyers, journalists, and tribal and religious leaders.

The report said actual casualties could be “much higher than reported” due to difficulties in verifying incidents. This is true particularly of Anbar province, in Iraq's west, much of which is controlled by the Islamic State.

The Islamic State group has targeted ancient sites, churches, mosques, shrines, and tombs it considers to be un-Islamic.

U.N. agencies have also received reports of human rights violations and abuses by pro-government forces. These include unlawful killings, abductions, movement restrictions, and forced evictions. Military airstrikes, shelling and other operations have killed civilians and damaged their property.

At least 2,365 civilians were killed by unknown perpetrators in 2015 from May 1 to October 31.

The U.N. report noted new discoveries of mass graves. Many of the mass graves are recent, while some date to the time of Saddam Hussein.

Jan Kubis, the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Iraq, especially denounced the Islamic State group’s treatment of civilians.

“I strongly reiterate my call to all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians from the effects of violence,” he said.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz

By Liz O'Connor

LEVITTOWN, Pa. (CNS) -- The Knights of Columbus has announced an initiative designed to bring the Knights into closer cooperation with parishes.

Changes were noted in an address delivered by Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson in November to a San Antonio meeting of state deputies and reprinted in the December issue of Columbia, the Knights' magazine. "We will use our resources of time, talent and money to strengthen parish-based and parish-sponsored programs," he wrote.

According to Anderson, the 1.9 million-member Catholic fraternal group, organized into over 15,000 councils operating in the United States and a number of other countries, will continue its focus on spirituality, charity, unity, brotherhood and patriotism. But it will strive to bring its activities into greater identification with parishes under the supervision of parish pastors, avoiding duplication or any perception of competition.

Among the changes involved, the Knights will not build or acquire any new council halls. This change, where parish rather than separate facilities are used for meetings and activities, has already allowed the formation of councils that would not have been able to afford a building, and will avoid members having to devote too much time and effort to support the building by renting it for unrelated activities.

In another significant change, by the end of this year, the Knights of Columbus will no longer sponsor Scout groups. Instead, the group will work to support parish youth ministry programs, including parish-based Catholic Scouting.

The Knights, Anderson wrote, should strive to integrate the activities of their Squires Circles -- affiliated groups of boys and young men ages 10 to 18 -- with those of the parish youth ministry. He said councils and assemblies in the U.S. and Canada that do not currently have Squires groups should not begin new ones but instead should support existing parish-based youth ministry programs.

The Knights, Anderson wrote, are devoted to building up the family as the domestic church and to evangelizing family life, a work that can be done most effectively by working in and with the parish.

Andrew T. Walther, vice president for communications and strategic planning of the Supreme Council, noted in an interview with Catholic News Service that it is important to remember that the Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 in a parish by a parish priest -- Father Michael McGivney, recently declared venerable, whose sainthood cause has taken its first steps. In re-emphasizing its focus on the parish, Walther said, the organization is going back to its roots.

"Most of our councils are based in parishes," Walther said, and Knights traditionally put themselves at the service of the parish. The group "really wants to focus in a very specific way on what we're doing in the parish," which includes prayer and the sacramental life, charitable works, and taking a holistic approach to being united with the parish. Different parishes have different priorities, and the Knights of Columbus can be flexible to help with different needs, he noted.

Walther said the change in sponsorship of Scout groups is not intended to diminish the Knights' commitment to Catholic Scouting, but to bring it back to focus in the parish.

Asked whether the lack of a council hall would lessen the fellowship aspect of the Knights' interaction with each other, Walther said he didn't think that would be a problem. Members in current parish-based councils find ways to get together and experience fraternity, he said. "I don't think you need a separate building. I don't think you lose fraternity, and you gain a lot of unity with the parish."

The current initiative is designed to promote "the involvement of families within the parish. The parish is our home, and we should be working first and foremost through our parish." Making the parish and interaction with the parish the top priority is, he said, a re-assertion of the model on which the Knights were founded.

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