causa nostrae laetitiae

Senate votes to go forward with vote on healtcare bill

2009-11-22T14:43:00.000-05:00

Here's how your senator voted:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00349&msource=c4alerts
Senator Lieberman said he would filibuster this bill, yet he voted for it to go forward to a vote in the Senate.
I don't get it.

Sign the Manhattan Declaration

2009-11-21T17:39:00.001-05:00

Here is the text of the declaration:
Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life

2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Original signers include Archbishop Chaput, Dr James Dobson, Dr Wiliam Donohue, and Dr Peter Kreeft.
See the website here. to sign and learn more.

New reason not to support the CCHD collection this Sunday; George Soros

2009-11-20T16:15:00.002-05:00

Comparison of New Missal and the one we use now

2009-11-20T16:13:00.000-05:00

The new translation has more dignified language. I like it, but it will take me a long time to learn those new creeds and the Gloria.
Also I am confused:
I remember saying this when I was a First Holy Communicant in 1969. " Lord, I am not worthy

that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

Can someone out there tell me, was there an English translation similar to this new version, in the 1970's which was replaced by the one in use now?

Also, the response "and with your spirit" resembles the Spanish "Y con tu espiritu". Is the English language Missal the only one undergoing a revision?
Read the information on the USCCB website.

Don't make the same mistake in the Senate

2009-11-19T16:41:00.000-05:00

Senator Reid releases health care bill with abortion and public option

2009-11-19T15:28:00.001-05:00

That is why a pro-life amendment is a waste of time. It took only a week for Congress to come up with a prodeath health care bill, now over 2,000 pages.
Americans United for Life says,
"The principle behind both the Hyde Amendment and the Stupak-Pitts Amendment is that taxpayer dollars do not pay for abortions or subsidize insurance plans that cover abortions. In the new Senate bill, the abortion language revealed on pages 116 through 124 in Senator Reid's new health care bill will:

Require a plan that covers abortion in every insurance market.

Allow the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to require coverage of any and all abortions throughout the public option program. "

Create new tax-funded subsidies to purchase private health plans that will cover abortion.Read the news release from Americans United for Life.

Former Senator Santorum blames overemphasis on diversity for Ft Hood Masscre

2009-11-19T09:56:00.001-05:00

"The Fort Hood massacre is now forcing us to consider whether the military's commitment to "diversity" as job one prevented military officials and the Department of Defense from "connecting the dots" when it came to the accused shooter.

You remember that concept, right? "Connecting the dots" was all the rage right after 9/11. Just eight years later, however, we're all wondering how the military brass failed to notice the many red flags surrounding Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, including his vocal opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, his Islamic proselytizing, and his ties to radical Islamists.

Could a perverse and overriding commitment to "diversity" have something to do with this deadly failure?"
Former Senator Rick Santorum in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Of course this has to be the assumption of the great majority of the American people. But do they have the courage to whisper it in the public square where those who are not politically correct are swiftly punished for stating the obvious?
That this terrorist should have been discharged from the Army keeping him from emotionally damaging soldiers returning from the battlefield to defend this nation, is obvious. That he presented a clear and present danger not only to the soliders whom he treated as a psychiatrist, but to women whom he disdained, and to his fellow soldiers at Ft Hood is also obvious.
What is also becoming clear through the silence of Obama on human rights abuses in China and Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to give Constitutional rights to foreign terrorists who abhor the very freedom it stands for, that political correctness is endangering the lives of all Americans.
We are not at war with terror anymore, terrorists are just ordinary citizens, and repressive Chinese communists are our friends because they buy our debt. This type of doublespeak is reminiscent of the novel 1984. If not, please read the summary here. It is a prophetic book for our time.

Do the parallels between this book and our society frighten you as much as they frighten me?

Read Santorum's entire Op Ed in the Philadelphi Inquirer.

Pope Benedict acknowleges the power of new media

2009-11-19T09:41:00.000-05:00

"A genuine revolution is taking place in the realm of social communications of which the Church is ever more responsibly conscious. . . . . These technologies make speech and penetrating communications possible, with a capacity to share ideas and opinions; to facilitate acquiring information and news in a personal way that is accessible to all." Pope Benedict XVI
Of course ours is the responsiability to use our blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts for the speading of the good news of the Kingdom of God and not for gossip, slander, or even to waste a precious opportunity to win souls for Christ, as the darkness of the Culture of Death closes in around us.
Use the media for Christ before the Obama Adminstration takes away our free speech, and we are restricted to handing out pamphlets in dark rooms, like the Chinese who are blocked from seeing this blog. Did Obama speak out for freedom speech during his visit to China? NO. He didn't even meet with the people, only with a roomful of Communist apparatchiks. He has already declared war on Rush Limbagh, Fox News, and those of us with the presumption to question Obamacare.
If we don't speak out, we deserve to lose our freedoms.
Read the entire story here.

Pope;be generous with the poor

2009-11-17T12:59:00.002-05:00

Pope Benedict XVI today told a special summit of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that “opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions.”“Sufficient food is produced on a global scale to satisfy both current demands and those in the foreseeable future,” the pope said. What’s missing, the pope said, is instead “a network of economic institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and water.”

In particular, Benedict insisted “there is no cause-and-effect relationship between population growth and hunger” – an indirect reply to critics of the church’s ban on contraception, which is sometimes blamed for impeding efforts to limit population growth.
The pontiff asserted that “food and access to water” [are] “universal rights of all human beings, without distinction or discrimination.” Those rights, the pope argued, take on meaning as part of a network of rights “beginning with the primary one, the right to life.”

Read John Allen Jr's entire article in the National Catholic Reporter.

How fitting that on the feast day of St Elizabeth of Hungary, whose charity to the poor led her in-laws to throw her and her children out of the castle upon the death of the king, we should be discussing the poor. St Elizabeth lived among the poor she had faithfully seved until she was restored to the castle, and gave most of her goods to the poor. She remained humble, refusing to wear her crown in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and prostrating herself to Our Lord's Eucharistic Presence.
Many of the commenters on the above article criticized the Vatican and US bishops for their lifestyles instead of soul searching on their own extravagant lifestyles. There is hardly a soul in North America and Europe who couldn't cut back somewhere on their budget to give to the poor, myself included. That is where true change begins, poverty will never be ended by a government program. They just give us an excuse not to sacrifice, and say we've done our part.
But one import point to note from the article; the Holy Father specifically stated that world hunger cannot be blamed on population growth, but a failure to deliver the world's abundant food. I would add that sometimes its' political structures which block food from reaching the poor. Remember the 28 million Chinese peasants who starved in 1977 during Mao's Cultural Revolution? Remember when the great "We are the World" effort to feed the starving in Ethiopia led to the food rotting on the docks as hostile government forces blockaded efforts at delivery to the needy?

The overpopulation movement is now buoyed by support financial and moral from the Obama Administration, Steven W. Mosher of the Population Research Institue, addresses this in his weekly briefing below:
The Overpopulation Movement Struggles to Stay Relevant
by Colin Mason

Like aging sixties radicals seeking to relive their glory days, the fear mongers at the Optimum Population Trust (OPT) are still trying to scare us with the specter of overpopulation. The trouble is, the world has moved on, even if they haven't. The latest move by the British group—a major move to push contraception as the solution to global warming—has received a less than warm welcome from the global community.

This couldn't have been what OPT expected when it tried to capitalize on the obsession of leftist politicians with global warming. But their press release, put out in September of this year, struck many as more than a little self-serving. Perhaps it was that it hailed contraception as, of all things, “the latest in green technology.” Or perhaps it was the OPT funded the very study by the London School of Economics that it later hyped in its press release. Then there was the study itself, which made the rather strange claim that, “considered purely as a method of reducing future CO2 emissions, family planning is more cost-effective than leading low-carbon technologies.”

The report concluded by claiming that “the population issue must now be added into the negotiations for the Copenhagen climate change summit in December.” Although the authors stopped short of asserting, as Al Gore did, that babies cause global warming, they came close. Readers are left with the impression that fewer breathing humans equal a greener, healthier planet. We've never heard that one before.
A visit to OPT's prehistoric web site is like a trip back in time. “By reversing population growth,” OPT says, “we'd be taking another green step towards environmental survival for all.” There is no mention that Europe is dying.

The site even has a “Stop At Two” pledge, where environmental devotees can make a promise to reverse population growth. One wonders whether any of OPT's aging membership are still young enough to reproduce.

The intriguing thing about OPT's most recent pitch for mass population control—disguised as a scientific study—is the reaction it garnered among the public. One might expect at least some denizens of the Left to enthusiastically second its program, or at least nod approvingly.

Instead, the reaction was muted and, well, uncomfortable.
Austen Ivereigh of America Magazine, for instance, encountered OPT at London's “Battle of Ideas” festival in early November. Ivereigh reminds us that “doom-mongers always ignore the elasticity of economic productivity,” and contends that “the ecological crisis will be solved by meeting the needs of the poor, not chasing them off the planet.”
Even Ellie Lee, a self-proclaimed member of the pro-choice movement, takes issue with the “moral imperative” laid down by the OPT. “Campaign groups such as the Optimum Population Trust,” she writes on the Times Online, “seek to persuade us that we should plan, found and grow our families according to a moral imperative far more pressing than what we may feel is right for us.”
Lee is (rightly) miffed at the idea that OPT sees itself as a referee on who can have children, and when. “This is the attempt to manipulate the feelings and decisions of women all over the world,” she writes, “as they negotiate their way through the profoundly important process of making decisions about when to start a family.”
Brendan O'Neill, writing for Spiked!, thinks likewise. He describes an invitation-only OPT conference that he attended earlier this year, quipping that the affair was “hideously white.” There is something “unavoidably spooky,” he notes, about people who spend all their time “fretting about overpopulation.”

“You can bet,” he continues, “that when these well-to-do worriers about the human plague on the planet talk about burdensome people causing 'congestion, overcrowding and loss of green space' . . . they aren't talking about themselves, or their friends, or their neighbors, or their mistresses; they're talking about 'them'. You know 'them'! The breeders, the not-sufficiently-educated, the dwellers of teeming cities, not only in Africa and Asia but in Europe and America too.”

This apt observation shines a harsh light on the innate “creep factor” of organizations like OPT. Their members, when viewed en masse, look less like crusading saviors of the earth, and more like angry, bigoted, pampered ideologues. Their creed has not aged well.

Regrettably, gatherings of these types of crazy people are not limited to country clubs and richly-catered seminars. Population obsession is alive and well in men like John P. Holdren, President Obama's “Science Czar.” PRI has reported on Holdren's extremism in the past, and suffice it to say he has shown evidence of being yet another of these “well-to-do worriers.” Unfortunately, he now has the President's ear, as well.

However, culturally, population control is beginning to make the Western public uncomfortable. While many still believe the world to be overrun with humans, the proposed “solutions” to this so-called “problem” are even more unthinkable. Men like John P. Holdren, and the leaders at OPT, would do well to remember this.

As far as population control goes, in the words of a sixties song, the times, they are a-changin'.
Colin Mason is the Director of Media Production at Population Research Institute.

Yet, despite this recent unpopularity of "Stop at two" programs, the Obamacare program has language which suggests that this will be part of universal health care, along with abortion, and birth control.

UPDATE 11/20 The United Nations is on the same outdated page as Obama. They are pushing for limited population growth as part of a green initiative, according to Piero Tozzi at CFAM. Read the article here.

CT State Rep Chris Coutu applauds Catholic power

2009-11-16T12:45:00.001-05:00

Amid complaints in Maine and DC about the Catholic Church's supposed 'interference' in politics, by their support of God's teachings on life and marriage, it's refreshing to hear one of our elected representatives praise Catholics who stood up to the outrageous efforts of the CT Legislature to kick Catholic pastors out of leadership of their own churches.

I cover his comments in my latest article in the Hartford Catholic Examiner.

Here comes Sarah!

2009-11-14T13:24:00.001-05:00

Jammy Wearing Fool has a great piece on the left's visceral reaction to the phenomenal success of Sarah Palin's book.

I have one thing to say; Sour Grapes!

It comes out on November 17. She'll be on Oprah the day before. The queen of talk shows meets the queen of politics.

Don't miss it!

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

2009-11-14T03:59:00.001-05:00

It seems that our president was not interested in praising President Ronald Reagan, PM Margaret Thatcher or Pope John Paul II for their historic work to "tear down that wall" freeing thousands from communism. The National Catholic Register blog says this about it, "

There’s no question about the role that Pope John Paul II played in the collapse of the wall and communism in general. President Ronald Reagan talked about it. George Weigel wrote about it. Professor Nick Hayes has written about it. And Lech Walesa said something on it.

“The truth is that 50% of the fall of the wall belongs to John Paul II, 30% to Solidarity and Lech Walesa and only 20% to the rest of the world. That was the truth then and is the truth now,” said Walesa."

He was only interested in using the Brandenburg Gate as a symbol for his presidential campagin. In his videotaped remarks for the celebration, he lauded himself as part of the dream of twenty years ago. Having a president who doesn't get excited about the biggest advance of the freedom of thousands in the past twenty years, yet who wants to apologize for Nagasaki and Hiroshima, this is an advance?
I did a paper in high school about the A bomb drop durnig WWII and concluded that tens of thousands of lives both American and Japanese were saved by dropping not one, but two bombs. If the Japanese emperor weren't a hard headed fanatic, it would only have taken one bomb. That proves that the Japanese would have fought to the last man if Americans invaded Japan. As soon as we conquered them, we rebuilt them, and have been their allies ever since.
America is the beacon of freedom for the world, yet Obama can't stop apologizing for imagined sins. He needs a history lesson.
Read the entire story at the NC Register blog.

Lands End is now saying Merry Christmas

2009-11-14T03:45:00.001-05:00

I sent an email to Lands End, one of my favorite companies, because they have never mentioned Christmas in their December catalogues. I was acting as part of Citizen Actions plan "come celebrate Christmas with us", shown on this video. I was pleased to receive this cooperative response below in two days. Lands End will continue to have my business. Well done, you are listening to your customers. By the way, if you want to say Happy Hanukah too, that's fine with me. Just dont' forget to say "Merry Christmas".

Dear Ms. Velasquez:

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your concerns. We appreciate your honest feedback.

I am very sorry that we have disappointed you. The use of the word Christmas, along with supporting visuals, can be found throughout our December catalog which will be in home November 23-25. I will advise our e-mail team that you would also like to see the use of Christmas in the e-mail newsletters that are sent.

We love serving a customer base that celebrates a variety of traditions. We’ve never prohibited the use of Christmas in our catalogs or marketing efforts. As in past seasons, we are committed to making our catalogs festive, inclusive and family-oriented, while respecting that our customers celebrate many customs.

We are always interested in listening to our customers and keeping track of what you like and dislike. Your thoughts and requests are an integral part of our decision-making process.

Please accept our sincere apologies. We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention. It is our hope that someday we will once again have an opportunity to serve you.

Merry Christmas,

Sheila Wardell
Customer Communications

Here is the American Family Association's Naughty and Nice list of retailers in terms of how they treat the word Christmas in their stores.

Fr Tad on euthanasia

2009-11-13T16:09:00.000-05:00

In May of this year, we suddenly discovered that my mother, age 74 had terminal cancer. We experienced some of what that Fr Tad discusses in this article in The Pilot about palliative care vs euthanasia. Relieving pain may shorten the life of a dying person, and make them addicted, but it is NOT euthanasia. Fr Tad says,
" Pain management is a serious, if not central obligation for health care professionals and for all who care for the dying. Although we may never choose directly to cause death by using high doses of pain medication, such medicines may be given to dying persons, even if the successively higher doses required for effective pain remediation may indirectly end up shortening their life. Good hospice or palliative care diligently seeks to provide effective, but not excessive, pain medication."
My father often found the Palliative Care Team in a Catholic hospital woefully ignorant about Church teaching on end of life issues. For example, they called Terri Shindler Schiavo "Brain dead" and thought that her dehydration murder was merciful. Mercy had no place in her death; it was horribly painful.
We have much to learn about enf of life issues, but the question is, are we interested?
Will it be too late when Obamacare comes in and anwers those questions for us?
Is that what we want, keep enjoying our TV shows and live for today lifestyles and not being bothered to think and read up on these issues, leaving them to a hospital when the time comes?
Not a good idea. Someday it may be you that is cut off without recourse.
I was asked by a non-believing relative; "Isn't death what Catholics look forward to? I mean, why the fuss, if you go there a little sooner?" The answer I gave was we want to go when God sends us and not a minute sooner. We all have a job to do on earth, even if some of it is suffering in a hospice. My mother offered up her suffering for this person as she died in the last four months of her life. Two days after her death, he baptized his young children. That time Mom had to suffer, and she did offer it for him, was part of her mission for her life. We had no right to shorten her life intentionally and deprive her of this magnificent act of sacrifice.
Life is precious to its last moments.
I described Mom's happy death in my column at Catholic Mom.com. If you love someone who is terminally ill, give them the dignity of a happy death. It will be your last act of love for them.

Catholic Church under fire from homosexual activists all down the East Coast

2009-11-12T21:43:00.002-05:00

Not only is the Catholic Church under fire in Maine for opposing same sex marriage, in Rhode Island fordefining what it means to be Catholic, but also in DC if it refuses to acknowlege same sex unions.

It's starting to cost to be a Catholic, and it doesn't show signs of improving any time soon. When the homosexual activists lose in the ballot box, they take to the courts. They have big money to impose their intolerance on the rest of us. Not even the needs of the poor move them, they will have their relationships recognized. What they don't realize is that no matter what laws they pass, God's opinion of sin has not changed and can't be legislated. Thankfully the Catholic Church is saying this loud and clear.

from the Family Research Council.
"The D.C. City Council took one step closer to allowing same sex "marriages" in the District of Columbia on Tuesday when they voted the legislation out of the Committee on Public Safety & Judiciary. The panel refused to include protections for religious organizations--putting at risk the numerous churches in the region that provide goods and services to the needy who would have to decide between their faith or compliance with the city's commands. One of the largest area provider of relief services, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, took a stand yesterday, just as their counterparts in Massachusetts's had done in that state, and refused to back down to the D.C. Council's bullying tactics. The Catholic Church provides a wide range of direct services for those in need in our nation's capitol, including physical and mental health care, legal care, immigration, employment services, counseling, shelter, education, adoption, foster care and services for the developmentally disabled. During the committee proceedings many of the council members were openly mocking religious concerns and one councilman, David Catania, told those gathered that if people of faith refuse to comply with his demands, the city will find someone else to take over everything they do. That will be very difficult for the city to do for they will quickly find, without faith there is little good works. It is very telling of the priorities of these politicians who would put the desires of the homosexual community over the needs of the poor. "

Come celebrate Christmas with us!

2009-11-11T21:14:00.001-05:00

Bishop Tobin calls Senator Patrick Kennedy to repentance

2009-11-10T13:43:00.002-05:00

I have nothing to add to the ending of this magnificent, pastoral attempt to bring an errant sheep into the fold. He is a true shepherd with a heart for souls.
Bravo, Bishop Tobin!

"Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so."

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J. Tobin

Bishop of Providence

Read his entire column in the Rhode Island Catholic.

Back to back alley abortions?

2009-11-10T13:04:00.001-05:00

One of the most compelling arguments in favor of legalizing abortion back in the seventies was the sham statistic made up by Betty Friedan and Dr Berard Nathanson of 5,000 women a year killed by 'back alley abortions'. Nathanson admitted to fabricating this number in his book, "The Hand of God". What is ironic is that the same doctors operating under the same dangerous conditions are now considered 'safe and legal' abortionists, often with very little government oversight.

From Operation Rescue
An abortionist who admits to having committed illegal, back alley abortions prior to Roe v. Wade has announced plans to open a new late-term abortion clinic in Dallas last month. Curtis Boyd, 72, told a pro-abortion Internet site that he was committing illegal abortions on January 22, 1973, when the Roe v. Wade decision was announced.

"This is a case where an illegal back alley abortion hack simply hung the 'open' sign out on the front door and kept on with his grisly business," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Now, at 72 years old, he wants to do the more dangerous late-term abortions. This is a recipe for disaster if I ever saw one."

Boyd shocked America by confessing to a Dallas television reporter that he believes that abortion is killing.
"Am I killing?" Boyd said. "Yes, I am. I know that."
Boyd is a backslidden ordained Baptist minister who now identifies with the apostate Unitarian Universalist "Church" whose doctrine is antithetical to orthodox Christianity.
"It was ironic that during the recent debate on abortion funding in the proposed health care system that several abortion supporters in the House rose to say that without taxpayer funding of abortion, we would return to the days of back alley abortions. Unfortunately, we never left those days," said Newman.

"Some of the same quacks, including Boyd, that were doing illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade are still operating. Little has changed. Women continue to be maimed and killed in our nation's abortion clinics. Just ask the families of Laura Hope Smith or Christin Gilbert, who were killed recently during so-called legal abortions. The only real solution is to grant the legal protections of personhood to the pre-born and close down the killing centers for good."

Democrats Won't Commit to Keeping Stupak Amendment to Stop Abortion Funding

2009-11-08T19:12:00.000-05:00

Democrats Won't Commit to Keeping Stupak Amendment to Stop Abortion Funding
You just can't trust Democrats when it comes to abortion; they are too in debt to the likes of Planned Parenthood. This looked like a victory but most likely it was only a tactic of the left. Jesus warned us to be wise as the people of this world are wise, looks like pro-lifers were snookered!

Mike Huckabee interviews Abby Johnson, repentant abortionist

2009-11-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

Abby was the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood in College Station Texas where 40 Days for Life originated and has operated six prayer vigils. Pray does change hearts!

New York Times responds to Archbishop Dolan

2009-11-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

Clark Hoyt responds to the good Archbishop with a tone of WASPy condescension; 'tut tut now, my good man, what's all the fuss about?' tone which attempts to cover a multidude of errors. I will point them out.
First he attempts to play the victim for Paul Vitello and Maureen Dowd. They never meant to insult the Archbishop, they are merely doing their jobs. Paul Vitello's mention of the Archbishop's blog was friendly and so was his treatment of Orthodox Jewish Rabbis caught abusing minors. He merely contrasted the gentle treatment given that community with the lambasting the Catholic Church received over similar incidents.

Laurie Goldstein's piece about a 25 year old story of a Fransiscan who fathered a child was front page, above the fold news. Since when did the misbehavior of another clergyman merit such coverage? Or anying postive about the Catholic clergy get such a spotlight? The Archbishop says, "However, one still has to wonder why a quarter-century old story of a sin by a priest is now suddenly more pressing and newsworthy than the war in Afghanistan, health care, and starvation–genocide in Sudan. No other cleric from religions other than Catholic ever seems to merit such attention. "
Oh, and Mr Hoyt, Archbishops merit more respect than having their Op-Ed pieces demoted to a mere letter to the editor. I have seen my letters evicerated to completely distort their original intent, since they were pro-life and well written, I took it as a compliment, that my point was too well taken and therefore had to be obscured. No doubt the wise Archbishop anticipated as much and declined. Good for him.

Mr Hoyt makes a point that since the Catholic Church represents the beliefs of one quarter of the US population and controls the lives of many with its hospitals and schools, it deserves more scrutiny than, say, public schools. Come again? Is that why there is no coverage equal to the Catholic Church sex scandal on the shattering report of Hofstra University Professor Carol Shakeshaft's on the wide prevalence of unreported sexual abuse of minors in American public schools? You ignored the unbiased report by a non-Catholic university professor which proved that a child is 100 times more likely to be sexually abused in a public school than by a Catholic priest. Who is spiking big stories while printing trivia which gives the Church a black eye, Mr Hoyt?

If you want to allow Maureen Dowd to let loose a bitterly sarcastic diatribe against the Church, bringing up long disproved rumors about Pope Benedict and the Nazis, then why not allow an equally vociferous writer, like Dr Bill Donohue, to defend his Church? Certainly the Times welcomes diaglogue from both sides, right?
I'll await your invitation of Dr Donohue, recipient of the Pius XI award from the Society of Catholic Social Scientists for " his "contributions toward the building of a true Catholic social science." Dr Donohue would be happy to provide the Times with a counterbalance for the excess of negativity in it's pages. I dare say he could increase your readership which is in steep decline.

It's because the Times is used to being the leader of the anti-Catholic liberal press, and is still reeling from the cold hard fact that blogs are more widely read than your greying pages. This is evidenced by the fact that though you say the Op-Ed pages are not to be used for a response to an article by the Archbishop, you see fit to write an editorial in response to a blog post. The New Media is here to stay and will continue to give the antiquated outlets of anti-Catholicism a run for it's money, Mr Hoyt.

Read the entire editorial here.

Stupak amendment passes!

2009-11-07T22:29:00.003-05:00

The amendment prohibiting use of federal funds for abortion in the health care bill has passed. This is only one battle, but a crucial one.
However the health care bill passed by only 5 votes. Gerardo Rivera said that the Stupak Amendment may be stripped from the bill in markup. Kristen Hawkins of Students for Life said that Planned Parenthood has already announced that it will try and strip the amendment from the bill in committee.

Still more praying, and calling needed. This time to tell your representative what you think about his vote, and then on to your Senator.
Operation Rescue's Troy Newman has a statement on tonight's votes.
"Washington, DC - The House version of the health care reform legislation narrowly passed with the vote of 220-215 late Saturday evening, but it was done without provisions for the funding of abortions.

The Stupak-Pitts amendment, which will deny tax funding for abortions, handily passed with a vote of 240-194. Abortion funding had threatened to derail the entire House bill on health care with pro-life Democrats strongly opposed to Pelosi's scheme to force taxpayers to foot the bill for abortions.

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman issues the following statement on today's votes:

"Today, the voices of 71% of the American people who oppose taxpayer funded abortions were heard loud and clear. We thank each one who took the time to raise their voices in opposition to the Obama-Pelosi-Carhart effort to force taxpayers to fund the shedding of innocent blood through abortion.
"There is still a long way to go to prevent government subsidized health care from paying for abortions. Now the ball is in the Senate's court, and we pray that the common sense displayed in the House on the matter of abortion funding will also prevail in the Senate.

"We will continue to stand on behalf of the voiceless and oppose any efforts to restore abortion funding in any future version of health care legislation. But for tonight, we celebrate this day's pro-life victory defunding abortion, which will save lives and prevent the immoral and fiscally irresponsible bailout of the abortion cartel."

Trailer for Disney's "A Christmas Carol"

2009-11-06T19:18:00.001-05:00

Abortion mill in Flordida closed after 40 Days for Life!

2009-11-06T10:53:00.002-05:00

from David Bereit
"For at least 25 years, there's been an abortion
facility at 6700 North 9th Avenue in Pensacola,
Florida. But last Friday -- Day 38 of the fall
40 Days for Life campaign -- as people prayed
outside, the clinic CLOSED ITS DOORS and shut down!

The local 40 Days for Life team didn't even realize
it at the time. Ernie Cyr, the Pensacola coordinator,
heard reports that law enforcement officers went into
the clinic on Friday to serve some legal papers, but
no one really knew what was going on.

Then on Monday, a simple legal notice appeared in the
fine-print section of the local newspaper: "As of
October 30th, 2009, The Community Health Center of
Pensacola will be terminating its practice."

Ernie's two-word response? "Praise God!"

A local TV news team did some digging, and last night
their top story reported what they discovered. The
clinic operated a lab, and that lab required a state
license. The owners had a license at one time, but
the news report documented that it expired 413 days
ago. And that's something state investigators became
aware of only recently.

The clinic was given a choice: pay a huge fine or
close down. The fine is $1,000 a day -- for each of
the 413 days the lab was without a license -- which
came to a whopping $413,000!

The clinic could not come up with the money ... and
was left with only one choice: CLOSE.

State officials told WEAR-TV that they had offered
the abortion facility a reduced fine as part of a
settlement agreement -- but they never received a
response. The abortion center staff would not talk
with the TV reporters for comment, but the legal
notice in the newspaper certainly suggests that the
closure is permanent.

Call your representatives to vote "no" on health care reform

2009-11-05T13:16:00.004-05:00

Abortion funding is in every version of the health care bill, and according to the USCCB, that makes them ALL unacceptable to Catholics. This blog post at the National Catholic Register Blog clarifies the history of abortion funding in the bills, but do not be deceived, it is in there, and if we don't stop this bill we will all be paying for abortions.
This webcast audio from Stop the Abortion Mandate.com gives further clarity to those of you who, like me are confused by the multiple bills offered by various senators.
You can click here to use an easy tool to email all of your representatives to tell them you want them to vote NO on the health care bill, because of abortion funding. The vote is expected on Saturday evening.
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!