Sydney, Australia, May 30, 2018 / 11:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Australian Catholic bishops confirmed Wednesday that they will participate in a national compensation program for survivors of child sexual abuse, pending the program’s approval by … […]
Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 08:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The teaching of the Catholic Church on the impossibility of ordaining women to the priesthood, now or in the future, is clear – and to sow confusion by suggesting otherwise is a serious matt… […]
Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 03:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that confirmation is the sacrament in which Catholics are marked with a seal that solidifies their belonging to Christ through the Holy Spirit, who he said is God’s invisible gift to each person who receives the sacrament.
Referring to how candidates for confirmation are told to “receive the seal of the Holy Spirit given to you as a gift,” Pope Francis said May 30 that the Holy Spirit “is the invisible gift bestowed” on candidates, and the holy oil they are anointed with, called “chrism,” is the “visible seal” of this gift.
“In the image of Christ who bears on himself the seal of the Father, Christians are also marked with a seal that says to whom they belong,” he said, adding that “it is God himself who confirms us in Christ and who has given us the anointing, he has impressed us with a seal and has given us the deposit of the Spirit in our hearts.”
Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience, which this week focused on the sacrament of confirmation as a part of the process of Christian initiation in the Catholic Church.
Confirmation, he said, “shines in the light of baptism” and is fulfilled in the reception of the Eucharist.
He noted how candidates, at one point during the confirmation Mass, are asked to renew the promises made by their parents and godparents at their baptism. With confirmation, “now it is they themselves who profess faith in the Church, ready to respond ‘I believe’ to the questions asked by the bishop.”
The coming of the Holy Spirit requires that hearts be gathered in prayer, he said, noting that this is why after a moment of silence among the congregation, the bishop extends his hands toward the candidates and “asks God to infuse in them the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.”
While the Holy Spirit is the biggest gift given during the sacrament, he brings a variety of others with him, Francis said, and listed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit spoken of by the prophet Isaiah and the fruits of the Holy Spirit referred to by St. Paul.
The seven gifts mentioned by Isaiah – wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, fear of the Lord and piety – are bestowed in a special way on candidates during the sacrament of confirmation and are the virtues “poured out onto the Messiah in order to fulfill his mission,” Francis said.
Likewise, he noted that in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians the apostle referred to the fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – which represent both the uniqueness and unity of the Holy Spirit.
“The one Spirit distributes the many gifts which enrich the one Church: he is the author of diversity, but at the same time the creator of unity,” the pope said, adding that while different people receive different gifts, “at the same time there is harmony and unity” among them all.
Francis then turned to the moment when the bishop lays his hands on the heads of the candidates, saying this gesture is biblical, having been spoken about in the Acts of the Apostles, and is how the Holy Spirit is communicated to the person receiving the sacrament.
This gesture is done “to better express the outpouring of the Spirit who pervades those who receive it,” he said, noting that soon after the laying on of hands, the candidates are anointed with holy oil, called “chrism.”
Used in both Eastern and Latin rites during the sacrament, the oil is “a therapeutic and cosmetic substance, which enters the wounds of the medical body in the tissue and perfumes the limbs,” he said.
This, he said, is the reason why oil was adopted as a liturgical and biblical symbol to express the action of the Holy Spirit, “who consecrates and permeates the baptized, embellishing them with gifts.”
After receiving the anointing with oil in the sign of the cross, the candidates receive an “indelible spiritual sign,” which is “the character that more perfectly configures them to Christ and gives them the grace of spreading its ‘good smell’ among men.”
Pope Francis concluded his address saying the Holy Spirit is “an undeserved gift to be welcomed with gratitude, making room for his inexhaustible creativity.”
The Spirit, he said, is a gift “to be preserved with care, to be indulged with docility, allowing oneself to be molded like wax by its fiery charity in order to reflect Jesus Christ in today’s world.”
Northampton, England, May 30, 2018 / 12:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As an investigation into the life of Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton nears a close, admirers of the English writer voiced hope that his sainthood cause could soon be opened.
“Che… […]
Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 12:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis’ announcement of a consistory to create new cardinals will also have consequences for the offices of the Roman Curia.
Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, Substitute for General … […]
Rome, Italy, May 29, 2018 / 10:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Gerhard Müller reflected recently on the rise of gender ideology, saying it flourished in the vacuum left by the collapse of fascism and Soviet communism as a “new religion”.
“Marxism and fascism, anti-Christian ideology, fell. Capitalism is in crisis. There was room for true philosophy, for theology, for Christian religion. But people preferred to invent a new religion, which believes in the human being rather than God,” the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith told CNA May 25.
The cardinal spoke before the presentation of the Italian edition of Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay, by Daniel Mattson.
“People cannot be classified according to their sexual orientation,” Cardinal Müller said. “We do not have human beings who are more special than others. Man must be described according to his persona and the fact that he is created in the image and likeness to God and his vocation to eternal life.”
This character fits “every human being.”
Speaking about pastoral care for homosexuals, the cardinal noted that “the Church has always had respect toward every human person, beyond any categorization.”
He also emphasized that “in gender ideology you can count dozens of genders, while human being is created as man and woman: this is our nature, and the God cretor’s will is expressed in this nature.”
Cardinal Müller underscored that people “must resist those who organize as an ideological group and want to change all the society, imposing their thought on every people.”
That is “an imposition of a unique thought,” as ideological groups “attack all those who do not think their way, they insult, they even destroy the human dignity of people who think differently from them.”
He said these people “are a lobby, an organization with their own interests.”
Cardinal Müller praised Mattson for not labeling himself as gay, but as “Son of God.”
“We can talk about anything in the secret of confession and with pastoral care, but no man can identify himself with a category that does not exist in reality,” Cardinal Müller said.
He also stressed that this construction comes from Marxist thought, because “the Marxist rationale claims that mind does not recognize reality, but it builds reality: when the communist party says that 2+2 is 5, everybody must believe it.”
Gender ideology and pastoral care for homosexual people are among the most discussed topics in the Catholic Church.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued in 1986 a Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, which said, “We encourage the Bishops to provide pastoral care in full accord with the teaching of the Church for homosexual persons of their dioceses.”
“No authentic pastoral programme will include organizations in which homosexual persons associate with each other without clearly stating that homosexual activity is immoral. A truly pastoral approach will appreciate the need for homosexual persons to avoid the near occasions of sin,” it added.
And Benedict XVI discussed gender ideology in his final Christmas Greetings to the Roman Curia, on Dec. 21, 2012.
In the speech, he said that “the profound falsehood of (gender) theory and of the anthropological revolution contained within it is obvious. People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being. They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves.”
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… […]
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