Vatican City, Apr 9, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The Vatican updated Tuesday the complementary norms of the constitution governing personal ordinariates, a structure by which Anglicans may enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.
The complement… […]
Jalandhar, India, Apr 9, 2019 / 05:04 pm (CNA).- Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur, India has been charged with raping a nun nine times over a two-year period and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, local authorities announced today.
The … […]
Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2019 / 04:28 pm (CNA).- With 2019 well underway, states across the country have seen an increase in bills related to abortion, as pro-life advocates seek more success and abortion rights backers fear Supreme Court decisions.
&l… […]
Jakarta, Indonesia, Apr 9, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Buddhist woman who was convicted of blasphemy for complaining about the volume of a local mosque’s call to worship.
The court’s ruling was made March 27, and posted to its website April 8.
The woman, Meliana, is of Chinese descent and lives in Tanjung Balai, about 110 miles southeast of Medan. She said in 2016 that an adhan was “too loud” and hurt her ears, according to The Jakarta Post. She made the comment in a private conversation to her neighbor, Kasini, but her words were subsequently twisted to seem like an objection to the adhan itself and spread on social media.
Anti-Chinese violence flared in Tanjung Balai after Meliana’s comments were shared on social media, with her property and several Buddhist temples being set aflame.
She was convicted of blasphemy, and sentenced in August 2018 to 18 months in prison. She had lost an appeal with the North Sumatra High Court before turning to the Supreme Court.
Meliana’s lawyer, Ranto Sibarani, said he was surprised her conviction was upheld because he considered there wasn’t enough evidence of blasphemy.
“The evidence was only a statement signed by residents. It’s strange that a statement signed by other people could be used as evidence of religious blasphemy,” Sibarani told The Jakarta Post. He said the statement letter used as evidence in the court was written six months after the incident.
He told Al Jazeera: “There is no evidence that she committed blasphemy. This hoax spread in the course of a week and ruined a woman’s life in the process. Today’s decision is very dangerous because in the future it means that people can spread false information which will lead to wrongful convictions under the blasphemy law.”
Sibarani intends to file a judicial review of the case.
Two prominent Islamic organizations in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, have reportedly criticized Meliana’s conviction, saying a complaint over the volume of adhans should not be considered blasphemy.
Meliana was charged with blasphemy only after the local chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council issued an opinion saying she had insulted Islam. The Islamic Defenders Front has supported her conviction.
Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority nation in population. Alongside the 87 percent of its population who are Muslim, 10 percent of the population is Christian, and 2 percent are Hindu. Discrimination and attacks on religious minorities occur not infrequently
The constitution of the country officially invokes “belief in the One and Only God” and guarantees religious freedom, but strict blasphemy laws embedded in its criminal code have been criticized by national and international human rights groups. Almost all blasphemy cases in Indonesia have ended in convictions.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian and the former governor of Jakarta, completed a two-year sentence in January on a conviction of insulting the Quran.
Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2019 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- The U.S. bishops have urged support for legislation to limit abortion on the same day as abortion survivor Melissa Ohden appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Ohden testified before the committee Tuesday during hearings on the Pain-Capable Child Protection Act, telling senators that “abortion doesn’t spare a child from suffering, it causes suffering.”
“I have lived every day since discovering the truth about my survival at the age of 14 knowing that, sadly, children just like me are being subjected to similarly horrific, painful abortion procedures that lead to their death,” she said.
The bill would prohibit abortion after the 20th week of a pregnancy, at which point there is broad consensus that unborn babies are capable of feeling pain.
Ohden survived a saline-infusion abortion when she was at 31 weeks’ gestation. She said her birthmother, who was a teenager, was pressured into having an abortion she did not want.
Five days after being injected with the saline solution, Ohden’s mother gave birth to her. She weighed only 2 pounds and 14 ounces.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s pro-life comittee, said that the bill highlights the “shameful reality that the United States is one of only seven nations worldwide that allows the barbaric practice of late-term abortion, when a child likely feels pain and might even live outside the womb with appropriate medical assistance.”
The legislation was introduced by committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has sponsored similar legislation each year since 2013.
“I don’t believe abortion five months into the pregnancy makes us a better nation. America’s at her best when she’s standing up for the least among us,” said Graham during the hearing.
During her own opening remarks, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) accused Graham of trying to play politics with women’s health, and that the bill itself is unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court has made clear, repeatedly, that laws banning abortion before viability are unconstitutional,” Feinstein said, noting that similar state-level bans at 20 weeks have been struck down.
Ohden offered the senators a graphic account of how saline abortions like the one she survived are intended to kill the unborn child.
“As the toxic salt solution of the saline infusion abortion was injected into the amniotic fluid surrounding me in the womb, attempting to scald and poison me to death, I wonder how long it took for the pain to set in,” she said.
“If you read about it online or in medical journals, you will find children like me called the ‘red skinned,’ or ‘candy-apple babies,’ because that toxic solution would turn the skin bright red, as it peeled it away and moved internally into the organs.”
Ohden said that her medical records state that “a saline infusion for an abortion was done, but was unsuccessful,” meaning that she was born alive. A nurse noticed her breathing, she explained, and brought her to the neonatal intensive care unit. Only then was any effort made to reduce the amount of pain she was in.
“I can only imagine how my pain finally began to subside as medical treatment was provided to me,” she said.
Due to the effects of the abortion and premature birth, Ohden had numerous medical issues, including jaundice, seizures, and respiratory issues. She has since recovered, and says her life is “a set of many miracles.”
Ohden, the founder of the Abortion Survivors Network, said she has connected with 281 abortion survivors. She suspects there are many more abortion survivors, as proper statistics on aboriton survival are not kept.
“Every child deserves better than to suffer the pain of an abortion,” she said.
Archbishop Naumann said in a statement circulated by the U.S. Bishops Conference Tuesday that such procedures are dangerous to the woman, and noted that the vast majority of Americans are opposed to late-term abortions.
“It is time for Congress to pass this bill,” he said.
“I also pray that consideration of this bill moves our country closer to recognizing all unborn babies as legal persons worthy of our love and respect,” said Naumann.
The other six countries that permit late-term abortion are Canada, China, Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam.
We stand at a pivotal point in the great moral debate over abortion in our country—not because new arguments have emerged, but rather because laws so breathtaking in their barbarism have been passed, and a […]
Vatican City, Apr 9, 2019 / 12:59 pm (CNA).- The leaders of the newest country in the world will meet this week in the smallest country in the world.
Vatican City will host the leaders of war-torn South Sudan for a spiritual retreat April 10-11, with … […]
San Francisco, Calif., Apr 9, 2019 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- Asylum seekers crossing the southern border may no longer have to return to Mexico while their cases are heard after a federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s Migrant Protection Protocols.
Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled April 9 that Homeland Security’s new protocols, announced in December 2018, did not adequately protect the safety of asylum applicants.
Shortly after the Migrant Protection Protocols were announced, the American Civil Liberties Union and immigration advocacy organizations filed a suit on behalf of 11 people seeking asylum in the United States from Central America.
The suit alleged that preventing the asylum seekers from staying in the United States is a violation of international law regarding humanitarian protections.
The protocols would have kept those seeking asylum in the United States in Mexico while their cases were being decided. Asylum seekers were to remain in Tijuana, near the border with the United States, and would be bussed to San Diego for court appearances.
The policy was intended to prevent asylum seekers from missing court appearances in favor of remaining in the United States illegally.
“Aliens trying to game the system to get into our country illegally will no longer be able to disappear into the United States, where many skip their court dates,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in December.
“Instead, they will wait for an immigration court decision while they are in Mexico. ‘Catch and release’ will be replaced with ‘catch and return,'” she said.
Nielsen resigned from the Department of Homeland Security on April 7, but remains in post until Wednesday. Her replacement has not yet been announced. Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, will serve as acting secretary.
Seeborg said that the policy did not properly ensure the safety of asylum applicants while their cases were being decided. The decision does not have immediate effect and the administration has until Friday afternoon to decide if they will appeal.
In November 2018, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration issued a joint statement with the presidents of Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Legal Immigration Network stating they concern at the Trump administration’s policy about asylum-seekers.
“While our teaching acknowledges the right of each nation to regulate its borders, we find this action deeply concerning,” said the statement.
“It will restrict and slow access to protection for hundreds of children and families fleeing violence in Central America, potentially leaving them in unsafe conditions in Mexico or in indefinite detention situations at the U.S./Mexico border. We reiterate that it is not a crime to seek asylum and this right to seek refuge is codified in our laws and in our values.”
The signatories said they hoped the administration would “seek other solutions” to improve the integrity of the immigration system, as well as protect children and families.
“The Catholic Church will continue to serve, accompany and assist all those who flee persecution, regardless of where they seek such protection and where they are from,” they said.
San Diego, Calif., Apr 9, 2019 / 10:37 am (CNA).- Hoping to curb incidents of after-Mass road rage, a Catholic church in San Diego has posted signs throughout the parking lot reminding parishioners of the graces they have received during Mass.
On Thur… […]
Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2019 / 09:45 am (CNA).- The release and success of the pro-life film Unplanned is being credited with an uptick in women seeking information on reversing chemical abortions.
The Options Line, run by Heartbeat International&rsqu… […]
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