in this issue:
abortion: SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS
bush: CONDOMS OK
catholic bishops: AYMOND / BURKE I / BURKE II / CHAPUT
catholic politicians: PETITION
congress: MILITARY HOSPITALS / POST-ABORTION DEPRESSION / TITLE X AND MORE
dark side: SACRILEGE
heroes: FATHER TOM EUTENEUER
human embryonic stem cell research: ALZHEIMER’S FACT / DECEIVERS IN CONGRESS
lifeline: A THOUGHT
pro-life physician network: HELP WANTED
reflection for prayer: IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD
abortion
SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS: An ad hoc committee is asking the federal government to hold hearings on the real needs of sexual assault victims, which do not include abortion.
(Reading: “Women who’ve been pregnant through sexual assault plead for public hearings,” Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant by Sexual Assault news release, 6/23/04)
bush
CONDOMS OK: President Bush voiced his support for a strategy aimed at reducing the incidence of AIDS in African countries. The strategy includes the use of condoms.
(Reading: “Bush approves condom use for AIDS prevention,” Newsmax, 6/25/04)
catholic bishops
AYMOND: “Anyone who seriously disagrees with the teachings of the church has chosen for their own personal reasons not to be in communion with the church,” wrote Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin. “The real question, it seems to me, is ‘should a person who is not in communion with the teachings of the church present himself or herself for Holy Communion?’ That question makes a great deal more sense than placing the bishop, priest or extraordinary minister of holy Communion in the position of refusing the Body and Blood of Christ to someone or having to make a public spectacle of the situation.
“In such a situation, the minister of Communion should first speak privately to the person and exhort them not to present themselves because of scandal. If the person persists and protests, then it could be cause to give them a blessing instead of Communion. All of this needs to be done in a spirit of charity.”
(Reading: “New document emphasizes the Eucharist,” Austin Catholic Spirit, 6/11/04)
BURKE I: “There has been a general failure in the church to teach effectively the truth about the holy Eucharist and what is required to approach the sacrament worthily,” wrote Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis.
(Reading: “Catholic politicians and bishops,” America magazine, 7/5/04)
BURKE II: “We always have to remember that it’s objectively wrong to vote for a pro-choice politician,” said Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis. “People could be in ignorance of how serious this is. But once they understand and know this and then willingly do it, vote for a pro-choice candidate, they need to confess that.”
(Reading: “Pro-choice Catholics told to confess,” Associated Press, 6/26/04)
CHAPUT: The Denver Post asked Archbishop Charles Chaput, “Would you ever take the steps necessary under canon law to deny Communion to someone, or is that a situation you would rather avoid?” He responded, “Nobody would ever want that situation to become necessary. Neither can it ever be ruled out.”
(Reading: “Crisis of the cloth,” Denver Post, 6/13/04)
catholic politicians
PETITION: Canon lawyer Marc Balestrieri has filed heresy charges against Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a pro-abortion Catholic. Balestrieri said that by receiving Communion, Kerry had brought “most serious scandal to the American public.” The attorney said, “my goal is his repentance, not excommunication.” (Action: Details on how to join the petition are posted on Balestrieri’s web site.
(Reading: “Kerry cited in Catholic heresy case,” Washington Times, 7/1/04; “Denunciation of U.S. Senator John F. Kerry for heresy,” Marc Balestrieri, 6/14/04)
congress
MILITARY HOSPITALS: Under current law, abortions cannot be performed in military hospitals except in the cases of rape, incest and life of the mother. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is offering an amendment that could permit all abortions in military hospitals.
(Reading: “Abortion ban at military hospitals faces repeal,” Knights of Columbus, 6/7/04)
POST-ABORTION DEPRESSION: Introduced by Rep. Joseph Pitts in the House, the Post Abortion Depression Research and Care Act has the support of Rachel’s Vineyard and Silent No More.
(Reading: “Post-abortion syndrome eyed,” Family News in Focus, 6/22/04)
TITLE X AND MORE: Ten senators and 112 House members are co-sponsoring bills that would double funding for the federal Title X population control program and put more money into sex education and so-called emergency contraception programs. American Life League’s STOPP International notes the “omnibus bill steamrolls several bad ideas from Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion entities into one big promiscuity-promoting nightmare.”
(Reading: “$1.2 billion bill subsidized promiscuity, perpetuates immorality, promotes abortion,” STOPP International news release, 6/29/04)
heroes
FATHER TOM EUTENEUER: In a letter to “Catholic” U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the president of Human Life International writes, “All those who dare call themselves Catholic while shamelessly advocating the death of Christ’s ‘least brethren’ will not have the Supreme Court to appeal to on the Day of Judgment.”
(Reading: “Rev. Euteneuer’s letter to 48 apostate Catholics,” Human Life International, 5/28/04)
human embryonic stem cell research
ALZHEIMER’S FACT: Researchers agree that advances in the treatment of Alzheimer’s will not be because of human embryonic stem cell research, but because of “efforts to attack the buildup of clumps of protein called amyloid in the brain, and methods of spotting the disease early.”
(Reading: “Alzheimer research veers from stem,” CBS News, 6/11/04)
DECEIVERS IN CONGRESS: Claiming that “Stem-cell research is not a political issue, it’s a health and science issue,” U.S. Rep Mike Castle (D-Del.) introduced a bill in Congress that would open to flood gates to all human embryonic stem cell research. The bill plays into the compromise President Bush made in 2001 by allowing “federal money to fund research only on embryos created for fertility treatment that were not used and those that may be discarded. The bill does not provide funding for stem cells taken from embryos that have been discarded as a result of abortions.”
COMMENT: There is no recognition that in order to take stem cells from human embryos, the individual human beings must be killed. There is no recognition of the moral and ethical differences between human embryonic stem cell research and adult stem cell research.
(Reading: “Castle introduces stem cell legislation,” Wilmington News Journal, 6/24/04)
dark side
SACRILEGE: The notorious anti-Church organization Catholics for a Free Choice is distributing material in Latin America resembling a Catholic prayer card. The card has the image of Mary with the caption, “Dear Mary of Guadalupe, we thank you because your love is greater, because you listen to us without judging, because you know our heart and you respect the intimacy of our decisions.” Magaly Llaguno of Vida Humana Internacional said Catholics for a Free Choice is doing its utmost “to promote abortion in pro-life Latin America.”
(Reading: “‘Catholics for a Free Choice’ commits sacrilege against Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Vida Humana Internacional news release, 7/1/04)
lifeline
A THOUGHT: The church is prayer-conditioned.
pro-life physician network
HELP WANTED: Doctors, join the nationwide campaign for ethical vaccines by becoming part of the pro-life physicians network. To learn more, see Children of God for Life.
reflection for prayer
IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD: Lukewarmness destroys the strength and endurance of the faith, and is the soulmate, in both a personal and a collective way, of compromise and of a spirit of comfort-seeking.
(Reading: “In conversation with God,” Vol. 3, p. 546)