Today, it is clear that Ireland does not have the political or media outlets to oppose the liberal agenda currently unleashed on the Irish people. […]
Washington D.C., May 29, 2018 / 04:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. government will host its first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom this summer, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced May 29.
“Religious freedom was vital to America’s beginning. Defending it is critical to our future,” Pompeo said at the announcement, which coincided with the release of the State Department’s annual report on the state of international religious freedom in 200 countries and territories.
“Our Founders understood religious freedom not as the state’s creation, but as the gift of God to every person and a fundamental right for a flourishing society. We’re committed to promoting religious freedom around the world, both now and in the future,” he continued.
The ministerial meeting of government and religious leaders, rights advocates, and civil society leaders will take place in Washington on July 25-26. It will be the first ministerial that Pompeo will host as Secretary of State, which he said is “very intentional.”
Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback also spoke at the State Department’s report release on May 29.
“For far too many, the state of religious freedom is dire,” said Ambassador Brownback, who highlighted religious freedom violations in China, Burma, Turkey, Eritrea, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan that are documented in detail in the State Department report.
According to the State Department, hundreds of thousands of Uighur Muslims in China have been forcibly sent to re-education centers. New religious regulations that went into effect in 2018 have increased the Chinese government’s surveillance and monitoring of both Muslim and Christian minorities.
The report also documents the arrest of hundreds of Christians in Eritrea, where the government reportedly coerced numerous individuals into renouncing their faith.
“Saudi Arabia does not recognize the right of non-Muslims to practice their religion in public and imprisons, lashes, and fines individuals for apostasy, blasphemy, and insulting the state’s interpretation of Islam,” said Brownback.
“We also remain very concerned about religious freedom or the lack thereof in Pakistan, where some 50 individuals are serving life sentences for blasphemy, according to civil society reports. Seventeen are awaiting execution,” he continued.
In the annual religious freedom report, the State Department documents instances of religious persecution without comment or analysis. The report is a reference tool used by policy makers and civil society leaders to understand what occured within the last year in each country.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary since the enactment of the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998 — the passage of which created the ambassador-at-large for religious freedom position that Brownback now holds.
Ambassador Brownback said that it remains important for Americans to be informed and engaged in confronting these religious freedom violations.
“We all have a stake in this fight. One person’s bondage is another person’s burden to break. We’re all people with beautiful and undeniable human dignity. Our lives are sacred. Our right to choose the road our conscience takes is inalienable.”
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chair of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, welcomed the report and the announcement of the ministerial meeting.
“Religious freedom is under siege globally, challenging U.S. interests. It is no coincidence that the worst violators of religious freedom globally are also the biggest threats to our nation—those who wish to do Americans the most harm, and those who most want to tear down the pillars of democratic societies,” Smith said in a statement.
“Thus, a robust religious freedom diplomacy not only reflects American values, but advances U.S. national security interests. It seems the Administration understands these facts, I look forward to working with them on this critical issue.”
Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is the author of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016, which added to the original International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
The 2016 legislation gave additional tools to the State Department to promote religious freedom abroad. It expands religious freedom training for diplomats, ensures that the ambassador-at large for religious freedom can report directly to the Secretary of State, and allows for the naming of non-state actors who violate religious freedom.
“Getting the facts right on the global state of religious freedom is essential for the shaping of U.S. policy and priorities, and that is why the State Department’s annual report is so important,” Smith said in his May 29 statement.
Washington D.C., May 29, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Supreme Court will not hear Planned Parenthood’s challenge to a 2015 law in Arkansas that requires doctors administering abortion pills to have contracts with physicians with hospital admitting privileges.
The court on Tuesday denied certiorari to Planned Parenthood of Arkansas & Eastern Oklahoma v. Jegley, a suit filed shortly after the law was passed.
The law states that any physician who “gives, sells, dispenses, administers, or otherwise provides or prescribes the abortion-inducing drug” would have to have contracts with another physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital. Proponents of the law argue that it is necessary to ensure that women who may experience a complication from their abortion are able to receive medical care.
This order means the law will stand as is, and two Planned Parenthood locations in the state announced May 29 that they will no longer be performing chemical abortions.
Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, said that Arkansas was “shamefully responsible for being the first state to ban medication abortion” and that the law was dangerous.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Arkansas is now shamefully responsible for being the first state to ban medication abortion. This dangerous law immediately ends access to safe, legal abortion at all but 1 health center. If that’s not an undue burden, what is? <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#SCOTUS</a></p>— Dawn Laguens (@dawnlaguens) <a href=”https://twitter.com/dawnlaguens/status/1001473199270490112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Planned Parenthood has said that they will continue fighting the Arkansas law, despite the Supreme Court’s decision.
The Supreme Court’s order was praised by prominent pro-life leaders, who lauded the move as one that would protect women’s health.
“Planned Parenthood’s efforts to remove even the most minimal protections for women and babies continue to reveal the fact that their top priority is profit, not healthcare,” said March for Life President Jeanne Mancini.
“We are grateful to see the Supreme Court refuse to engage this case which would weaken health regulations for women seeking chemical abortion.”
Steven Aden, chief legal officer and general counsel with Americans United For Life, said that Planned Parenthood was acting as an “abortion extremist” in their suit against the Arkansas law, and that the Supreme Court made the right call to not review the case.
“Thankfully, the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the Jegley case has signaled that federal courts still have to follow basic legal procedures, even in abortion cases, in deciding Constitutional cases,” Aden told CNA.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said that “I have fully defended this law at every turn and applaud the Supreme Court’s decision against Planned Parenthood today. Protecting the health and well-being of women and the unborn will always be a priority. We are a pro-life state and always will be as long as I am attorney general.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, commented: “Today’s action by the High Court represents a judicious course of action that will result in the trial court being forced to conduct a more searching analysis before striking down a duly enacted legislative measure designed to protect women.”
The law is set to go into effect in July, unless there is another emergency order granted that would block its implementation.
Washington D.C., May 29, 2018 / 03:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A federal government proposal to remove Title X funding from programs and facilities that perform abortions has drawn considerable media attention, raising questions of whether such a move would impact women’s access to health care.
On May 18, President Donald Trump formally announced that his administration is proposing a new rule that would prevent Title X family planning funds from going to clinics that perform or promote abortions.
The move was lauded by pro-life advocates, while pro-abortion groups called it an attack on women that would be devastating to the availability of women’s healthcare.
Planned Parenthood, the largest performer of abortions in the U.S., would be eligible for continued Title X funding if it stopped doing abortions, or if separated – both physically and financially – its abortion facilities from the rest of its operations.
Outgoing Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards rejected the idea of the organization cutting ties with abortion during a meeting with White House personnel last year.
Planned Parenthood blasted the new proposal as “an attempt to take away women’s basic rights” and a move “would block patients from healthcare.”
But is this really the case?
Last year, according to its annual report, Planned Parenthood received over $543 million in taxpayer dollars. About $60 million of that funding comes from Title X. The remainder is from other government grants, including Medicaid payments for services.
The 13,000 federally qualified health centers outnumber Planned Parenthood’s 650 facilities by a ratio of 20 to 1.
However, government funding makes up only 37 percent of Planned Parenthood’s revenue. The organization also fundraises, and has claimed that the threat of defunding has increased its contributions from private donors. Planned Parenthood reported $98.5 million in excess revenue last year.
Over the last decade, Planned Parenthood’s government funding increased significantly: in 2006, the organization received $336.7 million in government money. While its public funding increased, however, the organization saw fewer patients and provided fewer overall services during that time frame. Prenatal care and cancer screenings offered from 2006-2016 decreased, while the number of abortions increased by more than 10 percent.
For this reason, and because many alternatives to Planned Parenthood exist for women’s health care, it is unlikely that women would be negatively affected the new proposal, said Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director who now works as a pro-life advocate.
“There over 13,000 federally qualified Health Centers that serve entire families and offer many more services than Planned Parenthood offers, not including abortion,” Johnson told CNA.
“Planned Parenthood is trying to scare women with their rhetoric, when in reality, women will have more options with greater affordability, instead of resorting to the abortion industry, where money is put above all other goals.”
The 13,000 federally qualified health centers outnumber Planned Parenthood’s 650 facilities by a ratio of 20 to 1. They do not perform abortions, but provide other medical care, and could be eligible for an increase in funding under the new Trump administration rule.
Given that these facilities provide more types of medical care than Planned Parenthood facilities, and are far more widespread throughout the nation, the changes to Title X are a smart move for women, Johnson said.
“Our government is wisely choosing to remove tax dollars from the nation’s largest abortion provider and redirect them to actual healthcare providers who seek to serve the same demographic of Americans,” she told CNA.
In recent years, Planned Parenthood has been mired in controversy.
While federal law prohibits federal funding from being used directly for abortions, a report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute and Alliance Defending Freedom suggested that, according to federal and state audits, taxpayer dollars were funding abortion-related expenses in several states.
Furthermore, a 2015 report from Alliance Defending Freedom said that Planned Parenthood clinics in several states had failed to report suspected cases of sexual abuse of minors, as they are required by law to do.
Undercover video reporting in recent years has also appeared to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the transfer of aborted fetal tissue for money, a practice that violates federal law.
The organization has also drawn criticism for repeatedly claiming to offer mammograms, a statement that fact-checkers have repeatedly rejected.
Planned Parenthood claims that abortions account for only three percent of the total services they provide, although fact-checkers – at the Washington Post among others – have taken issue with that claim, pointing out that Planned Parenthood counts each small procedure like a pregnancy test or a pap smear as a service provided, but abortion accounts for much greater cost and revenue for the organization.
Sligo, Ireland, May 29, 2018 / 03:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Republic of Ireland moved to legalize abortion over the weekend, one bishop has said that practicing Catholics who voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment should consider going to confession… […]
Vatican City, May 29, 2018 / 01:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A month after the death of UK toddler Alfie Evans, the Vatican’s Bambino Gesu children’s hospital issued a new charter on the “rights of the incurable child,” outlining basic rights for both parents and children.
Among other things, the charter says children with terminal diseases have the right to second opinions and better diagnostic and palliative care, as well as the right to better experimental treatments and to be moved across international borders.
The charter was presented May 29 as part of a seminar course titled “Are there incurable children?” It took place a month after the April 28 death of Alfie Evans, a gravely ill toddler who passed away just before his second birthday after being removed from life support during an intense legal battle over his treatment.
Consisting of 10 articles, the hospital’s new charter draws on previous national and international charters for the rights of hospitalized children, and affirms that proper medical care does not involve just looking for a cure, but also includes palliative care, as well as spiritual and psychological support for the family.
A summary of the charter posted to Bambino Gesu’s website refers to the case of Alfie Evans, as well as that of British infant Charlie Gard, who died at 11 months old in 2017 after a similar legal battle over his treatment and transfer.
Both children suffered from either unidentified or rare degenerative diseases and were denied the right both to further experimental treatment and international transfer, despite the fact that doctors outside of the UK were willing to provide experimental treatments.
In both cases, Bambino Gesu offered to take the children and provide for their palliative care, and in both cases the request to transfer was denied by British courts and hospitals, despite the fact that in Evans’ case, the child was granted Italian citizenship.
Article 5 of the new charter says children “have the right to use experimental diagnostic-therapeutic protocols approved by ethics committees that avail themselves of specific pediatric skills,” and that risk factors must naturally be reduced as much as possible.
The charter notes that in the cases of Evans and Gard, the most controversial point was the decision of hospitals and judges not to authorize the transfer of the children abroad, despite their parents’ wishes.
To this end, it notes in the charter that European citizens have the right to receive care in every country that is part of the European Union, choosing whichever healthcare facility they wish for either planned or unplanned care.
Also highlighted is the child’s right to take advantage of cross-border healthcare. In article 6, the charter stresses that the right of the family to “the choice of a doctor, medical team and healthcare facility of their trust, even if they move to a country other than their own” must be respected by the facility where the child is hospitalized.
In article 7, which touches on palliative care, the charter also emphasizes that whenever possible, the child has the right “to stay in their own home for their health needs, even complex ones.”
Likewise, the child also has a right “to receive adequate pain treatment, both physical and psychological.” Symptoms and suffering, the document says, “must be possibly prevented and always alleviated.”
Palliative care, the charter emphasizes, “must be integrated early in treatment planning as a complement to curative and rehabilitative measures.”
Scalia points out that underneath the “living constitution” idea lies a fallacy: that societies always evolve toward more freedom, and therefore constitutions must evolve with […]
La Paz, Bolivia, May 29, 2018 / 12:25 pm (CNA).- In a statement Tuesday, Bolivian bishop and Cardinal-elect Toribio Ticona strongly denounced rumors that he has a wife and children.
“As a result of the false accusation which is being spread in the media regarding my private life, it is my duty to declare and emphatically make clear that its content does not correspond to the truth,” Bishop Ticona said in a statement released by the Bolivian Bishops’ Conference.
The bishop said he interprets the rumors as an attack not only against himself, but against Pope Francis, who recently chose him to be elevated to the position of cardinal.
“If these accusations persist, I will have no problem filing a libel lawsuit against those promoting or propagating this,” he said.
Ticona said that similar rumors surfaced in 2011, but “ended up being simple calumny.”
“Personally, I am happy that these accusations should come out at this time, in order to definitively close the case,” he added.
Earlier this week, the blog Adelante la Fe reported that “It is a well-known fact that while (Ticona) was serving his office in Corocoro, he was living (as husband and wife) with a lady in Oruro’s chancery. She and her children are proud to be called wife and children of the Patacamaya bishop, as Bishop Toribio Ticona is also known.”
However, in a May 29 article in Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, journalist Franca Giansoldati reported that the Vatican has carried out “deep investigations” of the claims, which found that “nothing is true” regarding the rumors.
The Vatican has not yet responded publicly to the claims.
Earlier this month, Pope Francis announced that he would be holding a June consistory to create 14 new cardinals who express the “universality” of the Church. Francis made particular note of his election of Bishop Ticona along with two other bishops, saying that they “have distinguished themselves for their service to the Church.”
Ticona, 81, is Bishop Emeritus of the Cora Cora Prelature in Bolivia, and has been described as a charismatic figure and an advocate for the poor.
Upon being named a cardinal by Pope Francis, Ticona said it was “a great surprise” and that he thanked God for the honor.
Ticona was born to a poor Bolivian family in 1937, and worked as a shoe shiner, newspaper vendor and a mayor. Influenced heavily by the Belgian priests at his home parish, Ticona entered San Cristóbal seminary in 1960 and on January 29, 1967 was ordained a priest.
He was named Auxiliary Bishop of Potosí in 1986, and in 1992 was made the Prelature of Cora Cora in La Paz.
After learning of his election as a cardinal, the Bolivian Bishops’ Conference said that “Bishop Toribio embodies the vocation of a humble priest who serves. Our Church joins in giving thanks to the Lord for this gift.”
Vatican City, May 29, 2018 / 10:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In September Pope Francis will visit the neighborhood and parish connected with a Sicilian priest killed by the Mafia in 1993, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of the “First Martyr of the Mafia.”
After quietly fighting the Mafia through the education of young people, Bl. Giuseppe “Pino” Puglisi was assassinated by hitmen on Sept. 15, 1993, his 53rd birthday.
Pope Francis will fly Sept. 15 to Piazza Armerina where he will greet authorities and the local bishop and meet with the faithful.
Transferring to Palermo by helicopter, he will celebrate Mass in memory of Puglisi and visit the Mission of Hope and Charity to eat lunch with guests of the mission and a group of prisoners and immigrants.
Francis will also make private stops at Bl. Puglisi’s home and parish, San Gaetano, in the Brancaccio neighborhood of Palermo. He will then meet with priests, religious, and seminarians and later with youth, before returning to Rome.
Puglisi was born Sept. 15, 1937 to a modest, working-class family in Palermo. He entered the seminary at the age of 16 and was ordained a priest in 1960 at the age of 22.
Throughout his priesthood, he was known for being outspoken against injustices – including communism, the Mafia, and problems within the Church.
He was also passionately involved in youth ministry and in promoting vocations. In 1990, Puglisi was transferred to the parish of San Gaetano, in a mob-ridden neighborhood. His approach was the same: to win over the youth and be a pastor to his flock.
“Father Puglisi was not a typical anti-Mafia priest. He did not organize rallies or make public condemnation of Mafia,” Archbishop Michele Pennisi of Monreale told the National Catholic Register in 2013. “[The] Mafia does not see that kind of priest as dangerous.”
Puglisi was considered more dangerous “because he educated young people,” Archbishop Pennisi said. He would convince youth not to steal or quit school, and encouraged them away from the Mafia, who would often use children to help them traffic drugs and other illicit materials.
Puglisi preached against the Mafia, ignored their threats, banned them from leading religious processions and even stealthily gave clues to the authorities about their latest activities in his homilies. Consequently, his life was threatened by the mob numerous times, unbeknownst even to those closest to him until after his death.
He would also urge parishioners to give the police leads on the Mafia’s criminal activity, his frequent catchphrase: “And what if somebody did something?”
On September 15, 1993, having received numerous warnings and death threats, Fr. Puglisi was shot in the neck at point-blank range by hitmen under the direction of local Mafia bosses, Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano.
Although he was taken to the hospital, Puglisi was unable to be revived and died of his injuries.
“This is a Mafia crime,” Lorenzo Matassa, an investigating magistrate with broad anti-Mafia experience, told the New York Times in 1993. “Cosa Nostra could not stand that priest’s teaching the kids in the neighborhood about an anti-Mafia culture.”
One of Puglisi’s hitmen, Salvatore Grigoli, later confessed, revealing that the martyr’s final words were “I’ve been expecting you.”
His martyrdom further galvanized the Catholic Church in Sicily to act and speak out against the mob and five years after his death four Mafia members received life sentences for their involvement in the murder.
Declared a martyr by Benedict XVI in 2012 and beatified in 2013, he is buried in the cemetery of Sant’Orsola in Palermo.
Pope Francis spoke about Puglisi the day after his beatification during his Angelus address, calling him a “martyr” and an “exemplary priest.”
By teaching boys about the Gospel of Christ, Puglisi saved them from the “criminal underworld,” which retaliated by killing him, Francis said. Though in fact, it was Puglisi “who won, with the Risen Christ.”
Francis criticized the Mafia for its exploitation of men, women, and children through prostitution, social pressure, and forced jobs. “Let us pray to the Lord to convert the heart of these people,” he said. “They cannot do this! They cannot make slaves of us, brothers and sisters!”
“We must pray that these members of the Mafia be converted to God and let us praise God for the luminous witness borne by Fr. Giuseppe Puglisi.”
In a global village and a global Church where ethnic identities are dissolving, cultural Catholicism is also disintegrating. […]
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