in this issue:
hot button issues: NUNS GIVE TO EMILY’S LIST
activism: CLEVELAND BROWNS
catholic bishops: BRANDT / LORENZO BARRAGAN / MEDINA / SCHMITT
culture of death: CALIFORNIA
euthanasia: SCHIAVO EXIT PROTOCOL / VATICAN
lifelines: A THOUGHT
pharmacists: MORAL?
politics: USCCB QUESTIONNAIRE
stem cell research: ETHICAL SOURCE / FLIP AND FLOP
postscript: MARK YOUR CALENDAR
reflection for prayer: ST. LEO THE GREAT
hot button issues
NUNS GIVE TO EMILY’S LIST: Emily’s List is a group that raises money for female political candidates who support a 100% pro-abortion agenda. Among the group’s contributors are the Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters in Michigan. One of the sisters says the $200 contribution was designed to help women whom they agree with on economic issues, education, children and the environment. A spokesman for Cardinal Adam Maida says the Archdiocese of Detroit will “address what happened with the appropriate pastoral response.”
(Reading: “Nuns give to pro-abortion group,” World Net Daily, 9/7/04; “Catholic nuns’ support of abortion group affront to Church, faithful,” American Life League news release, 9/9/04)
activism
CLEVELAND BROWNS: Dan Coyne alerts us to the fact that the Cleveland Browns football team donated $30,000 to Community Shares, a group that funds local abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland and Preterm. Preterm claims to offer “safe and gentle” surgical abortions.
(Reading: “Browns victory makes Community Shares a winner,” Community Shares news release, 8/22/04)
(Contact: Cleveland Browns)
catholic bishops
BRANDT: Bishop Lawrence Brandt of Greensburg, Pa., writes that he will not deny Communion to pro-abortion Catholics because the decision to receive Holy Communion rest with individuals. “It should not be imposed on the bishop, on the priest, on the deacon, or on the Eucharistic minister,” he wrote. “That is passing the buck.”
(Reading: “Integrity and the public arena,” Diocese of Greensburg, 8/10/04)
LORENZO BARRAGAN: According to the head of the Pontifical Council for Health and Pastoral Care, those who promote abortion have no place in the Catholic Church. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan spoke at a pastoral health care conference, telling attendees, “The Fifth Commandment says, thou shall not kill. Abortion kills, therefore it is murder, and the worst part is that it’s the mother who kills her own, defenseless child. Abortion is when someone intentionally and knowingly does it. Natural miscarriages occur, of course; that is normal. Our Lord is not dumb,”
(Reading: “Vatican cardinal says promoters of abortion have no place in the Church,” Catholic News Agency, 8/27/04)
MEDINA: Cardinal Jorge Medina, a former Vatican official, told Chileans, “The devil is very present, and he uses lies and euphemisms to deceive. He calls abortion the termination of pregnancy and children burdens.”
(Reading: “The devil uses euphemisms, warns Chilean cardinal,” Catholic News Agency, 8/27/04)
SCHMITT: Bishop Bernard Schmitt of Charleston-Wheeling told the media he would have denied permission for one of his priests to give the invocation at a political rally for John Kerry had he known that the priest had been invited. Bishop Schmitt said, “a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit a legislator to vote for an individual law which attacks innocent human life or to vote against a law aimed at protecting innocent human life. It is morally inconsistent to claim to be personally opposed to abortion but to take no concrete legislative step to protect the sanctity of human life.”
(Reading: “Catholic bishop says he would have denied permission for priest’s invocation at Democrat convention if he had been informed beforehand,” LifeSiteNews.com, 8/31/04; “Op-Ed from Most Rev. Bernard W. Schmitt,” Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston)
culture of death
CALIFORNIA: A newborn baby was found in a garbage bin, inside a garbage bag with a second bag tied around his neck. The baby is estimated to have been born approximately one hour prior to the discovery. A passerby heard the child’s cries and saved the little boy, who was then taken to a hospital. Hospital personnel reported the baby was in good health.
(Reading: “Baby found abandoned in a trash bag,” KTLA-TV, 8/31/04)
euthanasia
SCHIAVO EXIT PROTOCOL: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wrote to Judge George Greer, expressing his total dismay about the continuing case: “It has come to my attention that Mrs. Schiavo has contracted a life-threatening illness and that she may be denied appropriate treatment,” the governor wrote. “If true, this indicates a decision by her caregivers to initiate an ‘exit protocol’ that may include withholding treatment from Mrs. Schiavo until her death, which would render this court’s ultimate decision moot.”
(Reading: “Federal court grants hearing in Schiavo case: husband orders wife removed from hospital despite severe illness,” World Net Daily, 8/30/04)
VATICAN: In a recent article, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, vice-president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said: “We must repeat with the utmost firmness that nothing and no one can give permission to kill an innocent human being, whether he be a fetus, an embryo, a child, an adult, an old person or a sick person in incurable agony. No one can claim such homicidal responsibility for himself or for another person. No authority can legitimately impose or permit it. This is a violation of divine law, an offense at the dignity of the human person, a crime against a life and an attack against humanity.”
(Reading: “The Vatican reaffirms its total rejection of euthanasia,” Agence France-Presse, 9/2/04)
lifelines
A THOUGHT: Lukewarmness paralyses the exercise of the virtues, whereas love gives it wings.
(Reading: “In conversation with God,” Volume 4, page 577)
pharmacists
MORAL? Drug Topics’ pharmacist/editorialist attacked those pharmacists who conscientiously object to filling prescriptions for deadly chemicals, claiming that a religious belief “should never get in the way of a healthcare practitioner’s primary role — offering compassionate care for the sick and dying.” In response to the tirade, pharmacist Steve Timmerman sent a well thought-out letter to the editor, which was not published.
(Reading: “Moral decisions are never easy,” Drug Topics, 8/23/04)
(Contact: To see the Timmerman response and others like it, request a copy of Pharmacists for Life’s PharmFacts E-News for 9/4/04 by )
politics
USCCB QUESTIONNAIRE: An unofficial version of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ actual multi-issue, seamless garment candidate questionnaire is now posted online. A note along with the posting on the Catholic Citizens of Illinois web site reads, “Until the USCCB gets serious about insisting that Catholic moral theology be followed by politicians, people in the pews won’t take it seriously either.”
stem cell research
ETHICAL SOURCE: An Italian boy has been cured of a potentially lethal form of anemia by a new type of stem cell therapy that uses stem cells from the placenta of both of this boy’s recently born twin brothers.
(Reading: “Italian boy cured by cells from twin baby brothers,” Reuters, 9/6/04)
FLIP AND FLOP: According to the Washington Post, senators Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) are defending President Bush’s policy on human embryonic stem cell research, although both want the White House to loosen restrictions. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) also wants to expand the research. Lott and Smith, in turn, blasted Kerry for “demagoguing” the issue.
(Reading: “2 GOP senators defend Bush on stem cell research,” Washington Post, 8/13/04)
postscript
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: American Life League is commemorating 25 years of fighting for the babies. ALL’s board of directors and advisory board are planning a dinner with the theme, “American Life League’s silver anniversary tribute to Judie Brown – her work and times.” The event will take place on Saturday, April 16, 2005 at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, Va. (next to Reagan National Airport). More details will be forthcoming. If you have any questions, please e-mail: .
reflection for prayer
ST. LEO THE GREAT: Love of the world cannot be reconciled with love of God, and the man who does not separate himself from the children of this generation cannot join the company of the sons of God. But those who keep God ever in their hearts, and are anxious to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace [cf. Ephesians 4:3], never dissent from the eternal law as they speak the prayer of faith: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
(Reading: Sermon on the beatitudes by St. Leo the Great, Liturgy of the Hours, Vol. 4, p. 226)