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CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2020 / 09:47 pm (CNA).- Voters in Colorado rejected a ballot measure that would have banned abortion in the state after 22 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases where a mother’s life is threatened.

Proposition 115 failed 59%-41%, with 81.5% of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.

If the ballot measure had passed, doctors would have faced a three-year license suspension for performing or attempting to perform an abortion of an unborn child beyond 22 weeks of gestation. Women would not have been charged for seeking or obtaining an illegal abortion.

Colorado has no laws regulating late-term abortion, making it one of just seven states in the country where abortions can take place up until birth. Each year, about 200 to 300 babies are aborted after 21-weeks gestation in the state.

More than 150,000 Coloradans signed a petition to put Proposition 115 on the ballot. Kristen Day, president of the Democrats for Life of America, told CNA that 19,000 Democrats signed the petition.

“Even Democrats oppose late-term abortion. 82% of Democrats and 77% of independents and 94% of Republicans oppose third trimester abortions,” she said. “It’s a very mainstream position.”

Opponents of the measure had a significant cash advantage in the weeks before the election.

As of mid-October, about $276,000 in monetary and other contributions have gone to groups supporting the proposition, according to records from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver was the largest donor, giving about $50,000 to support the campaign, followed by several donors who have given $10,000 to $12,000 apiece.

Foes of the measure had given over $5.7 million in cash and other contributions, mainly to the group Abortion Access for All. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains had given over $1.15 million, the D.C.-based North Fund had given $1 million, and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund had given over $500,000. Cobalt Advocates, formerly known as NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, had given over $438,000 and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America had given $400,000.

More than 130 medical professionals and scientists in Colorado signed a letter in support of Proposition 115, stressing that babies born at 22 weeks are often able to survive, with some medical centers in the U.S. having a 70% survival rate for premature babies born at this age.

“With advances in medical science, it has become obvious that the fetus is much more than ‘just pregnancy tissue’, as some would claim. There can be no equivocation that the fetus is a living, learning and actively participating human being,” the signers of the letter said. “Every one of these lives has inherent value and dignity. They deserve to be embraced and protected by the citizens of Colorado, as equal members of our society.”

The Catholic bishops of Colorado spoke out repeatedly in favor of the ballot measure.

In a September 27 letter, Archbishop Samuel Aquila and Bishop Jorge Rodriguez called on Hispanics in the Archdiocese of Denver to uphold the values of life, children, and family that are so prominent in their culture.

“Let us not allow propaganda, social media and the promoters of the Culture of Death destroy that richness of our faith and our Hispanic tradition: We are and will be a people for Life,” the bishops said.

“Rest assured that your ‘Yes’ to Proposition 115 will have innumerable consequences for the lives of many children who, within their mother’s womb, count on you for life,” they said.

Praying outside a late-term abortion clinic in Boulder in September, Archbishop Aquila emphasized the importance of the pro-life community offering resources and support as alternatives to abortion-minded women.

He said he hopes the Church can show women facing difficult pregnancies “that there are many other options, and that there are people who will walk with them, who will accompany them, who will help them to carry the child to term and well beyond.”

In 1984, Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment banning public funding of abortions except to prevent the death of the mother. In 1998, they passed an initiative requiring parental consent and a waiting period for minors who seek abortions.

Other abortion-related measures have not succeeded in the state. The 2008 and 2010 Colorado ballots included two slightly different personhood initiatives, which tried to define a person under state law to include every human being from the moment of fertilization or “from the beginning of biological development,” respectively. The 2008 proposal won under 27% approval from voters, while the 2010 proposal received under 30% of votes.

[…]

CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2020 / 09:05 pm (CNA).- Democrats will retain control of the House of Representatives, NBC News and Bloomberg projected late Tuesday night. Democrats have pledged to push for federal funding of abortion if they retained control of the… […]

CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2020 / 08:47 pm (CNA).-  

Louisiana voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment, authored by a pro-life Democrat, to prevent Louisiana’s courts from finding a “right to abortion,” or to public abortio… […]

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 3, 2020 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- While the Democratic Party’s official platform for the 2020 election includes support for taxpayer-funded abortion on demand throughout a pregnancy, a number of Democratic candidates at th… […]

Denver Newsroom, Nov 3, 2020 / 03:49 pm (CNA).- There are many ways – some more conventional than others – that cremated remains, kept in urns or in other containers, find their way to the Catholic cemetery overseen by Richard Peterson in Seattle, Washington.

Sometimes, an urn is left on the steps of a parish by an anonymous person. Other times, remains are unwittingly passed from one family to another during estate sales.

“We’ve had situations where people have purchased contents of storage units that have gone up for auction…and they received cremated remains,” he said.

“We don’t even know if they were Catholic, but we were burying them at no charge in the Catholic cemeteries because those people were human beings and their lives were worth something and they need to be memorialized, at least buried properly,” Peterson said.

More typically, a family will keep the urn of a loved one in their homes, due to a difficulty in saying goodbye, or because of the high costs of a burial, or because they were not aware that the Catholic Church requires their burial or interment. But keeping remains in the home is always a temporary thing, Peterson noted.

“At some point in time, somebody’s going to have to deal with those cremated remains that are in an urn on the mantle. Is that when the house gets sold? Is that when grandma dies?” he said.

Furthermore, cremated remains are often treated in a way that does not show proper reverence to the body or respect for the Catholic belief in the resurrection, he said.

“Scattering or keeping them at home or subdividing cremated remains, or turning them into jewelry, or any of these things really don’t remind us that…our bodies are sacred and they should point us to deeper participation in the dying and rising of Jesus himself. That’s really our focus, is our Lord.”

This is why many Catholic cemeteries in dioceses throughout the United States began offering free interment of cremated remains, said Peterson, who is the president of Associated Catholic Cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Seattle.

“It’s something you find in any diocese or I say I would say almost every diocese in the country in one form or another,” he said.

“It’s always been our practice here in the Archdiocese of Seattle, and I would say every other Catholic cemetery that I’m aware of, to not refuse members of our community because of their inability to pay. This is what we do. It’s a work of mercy.”

For centuries, the Catholic Church forbade the practice of cremation of human remains altogether. In 1963, the Church issued new guidance allowing Catholics to have their remains cremated, as long as it was not done in order to deny Church teaching on the resurrection of the body, and as long as the remains were also given proper funeral rites and burial or interment. However, the Church still considers burying the bodies of the dead to be the preferred practice.

Peterson said that while most Catholic cemeteries have always helped the poor bury their dead, some started more official programs and advertisements of their free interment services starting in 2016, when the Vatican issued the document “To Rise with Christ.” The document clarified cremation guidelines and reminded Catholics that ashes may not be scattered or otherwise kept from burial or interment, despite widespread “new ideas contrary to the Church’s faith.”

“By burying the bodies of the faithful, the Church confirms her faith in the resurrection of the body, and intends to show the great dignity of the human body as an integral part of the human person whose body forms part of their identity. She cannot, therefore, condone attitudes or permit rites that involve erroneous ideas about death, such as considering death as the definitive annihilation of the person, or the moment of fusion with Mother Nature or the universe, or as a stage in the cycle of regeneration, or as the definitive liberation from the ‘prison’ of the body,” the Vatican stated in the document.

“Furthermore, burial in a cemetery or another sacred place adequately corresponds to the piety and respect owed to the bodies of the faithful departed who through Baptism have become temples of the Holy Spirit and in which ‘as instruments and vessels the Spirit has carried out so many good works,’” the document added.

The offer of free interment also ensures a proper resting place for the remains even if a family is unable to afford burial fees, said Gary Schaaf, executive director of Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services in Northern Colorado.

A typical Catholic funeral and burial can cost a family around $5,000 or more, Schaaf said. Even for more minimal services, such as a simple cremation and interment, families can expect around $2,000 worth of expenses.

Some families in need will qualify for state assistance with funeral costs, Schaaf said, but ultimately the burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy, and the Catholic Church does not want anyone left without an option for a proper burial.

“That’s part of our Catholic mission and ministry,” he said.

These free interments take place on a monthly basis at Mount Olivet Cemetery, the largest Catholic cemetery in Denver, which is also home to the nation’s oldest Catholic mortuary. Schaaf said that Catholics from nearby parishes will often come to pray at these services, and the families of the deceased are invited to attend as well. So far, he said, the cemetery has taken in about 700 otherwise unburied or unclaimed cremated remains.

He added that prior to the 2016 Vatican document, free interments had been taking place at Mount Olivet on a case-by-case basis. For example, he said, they have been contacted by mortuaries that have gone out of business and had unclaimed cremated remains in their care, which were then taken in my Mount Olivet.

“We’ve tried to get the word out, even more so in the last couple of years, to parishes that, again, if somebody has cremated remains at home, if finances are an issue, we will lay them to rest for free,” he said.

The mission of Schaaf’s ministry is to “fill the void of loss with faith,” he said, and proper burials of remains can provide a healthy way for families to cope with death.

“We see that you can’t avoid these things, that eventually they have to be dealt with,” he said of cremated remains that are unburied for years.

“And by dealing with them through the optic of faith, it’s very healthy, and it’s also very spiritually sound as well,” he added.

“There’s a story from our sister cemeteries in California where there was a man who had been homeless for a couple of years, and he was carrying his wife’s cremated remains around in a shopping cart,” Schaaf said.

“And he just didn’t know what to do. Imagine the anxiety of not knowing what to do with that and just the enormous pressure. One, you’re lonely, you’re homeless. Maybe your priority in life was taking care of your spouse, and now they pass away. It’s just tragic on a multitude of levels,” he said.

“And so I know that that gentleman, our ability to lay his loved one in sacred space and then in essence help him fill the void of loss with faith…was profound.”

The interment does not take away the wound of loss, Schaaf added, “but it does allow that wound to heal. And wounds, in a sense, they heal sometimes with scar tissue, and scar tissue often is stronger than regular tissue.”

Besides free interment for cremated remains, Schaaf said Mt. Olivet Cemetery also provides burials for about 99% of the homeless and indigent population of the Denver area, as well as free burials for any baby that died in the womb.

Schaaf said there are usually between 25 and 50 babies they bury for free every month. There is a deacon who makes little caskets for the babies, and each one is given a memorial service. The babies are also buried with blankets that are homemade – often they are hand-crocheted, or made out of old wedding dresses.

“It’s profound. It is the Catholic Church walking the walk,” Schaaf said.

Throughout the month of November, the Church remembers and prays for the dead. This year in particular, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Vatican has extended the possibility to obtain plenary indulgences for souls in Purgatory throughout the month.

Peterson encouraged Catholics to remember to pray for the dead this month, and he encouraged anyone with unburied remains to seek their proper burial. Often, he said, the burial itself can be a moment of a renewal in faith for the family.

“Here in the Archdiocese of Seattle, I’m just talking about the general population, we’re in a very unchurched, humanistic part of our country,” he said, “and I think [burials] are ways that people can find an opportunity to grow a bit in their faith, grow a bit in their relationship with God and be comforted that their loved one is being taken care of now and forever and remembered in prayer.”

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Washington D.C., Nov 3, 2020 / 10:30 am (CNA).-  

Catholic and political leaders paid tribute to the late EWTN News president Andrew Walther on Monday and Tuesday. Walther, who died Nov. 1, was remembered as a communications strategist, an advocate for persecuted Christians, a faithful Catholic, and a husband and father.

Walther died on All Saints’ Day, from complications related to leukemia. He had become EWTN News president and chief operating officer earlier this year.

After Walther’s death, EWTN CEO and board chairman Michael Warsaw said that “Andrew Walther’s death is a source of great sadness for all of us at EWTN and for me personally. Although Andrew had only been in his role as President and Chief Operating Officer of EWTN News since June, he had already accomplished so much. He had also been a friend and collaborator for many years before joining the Network. His death is a great loss for all who knew him, for EWTN and for the Church.”

Jeanette DeMelo, editor-in-chief of the National Catholic Register, also remembered Walther’s work at EWTN News.

“In a year that has thrown us all extraordinary challenges, and in which he personally carried the burden of the illness that would take his life, Andrew remained calm and steady — even joyful — at the helm,” De Melo said.

“In less than five months with EWTN News his impact was wide, and his leadership will be greatly missed.”

Before he joined EWTN News, Walther was vice president for communications and strategic planning at the Knights of Columbus, where he had begun working in 2005. There he was instrumental in organizing the distribution of millions of dollars in aid to persecuted Christians, especially in Syria and Iraq.

In the Iraqi Christian town of Karamles, the Knights helped Christian genocide survivors resettle and rebuild.

Archbishop Bashar Warda of the Chaldean Catholic archdiocese of Erbil praised Walther’s work on behalf of Iraqi Christian survivors of the ISIS genocide.

“The persecuted Christians of the world had no greater friend than Andrew,” Archbishop Warda told CNA in a statement. “His knowledge and wisdom guided us in so many ways over these past five years.”

The White House also issued a statement of condolence for Walther on Monday.

“Our prayers go out to Andrew Walther’s loved ones and the entire EWTN family,” Sarah Matthews, White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement to CNA.

“He leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of service to the Catholic Church and defending persecuted religious minorities throughout the world. May he rest in peace.”

Advocates for persecuted Christians said Walther’s role in the region was estimable.

Father Benedict Kiely, founder of an organization dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians in the Middle East, recalled that Walther made a concrete difference in difficult and complex situations.

“His influence in Iraq was astonishing,” said Father Kiely, a priest of the personal ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. “He truly had a passion for the persecuted and used all his considerable skills to raise the issue and provide support.”

Walther played a central role in moving U.S. policy in favor of protecting Christians in the Middle East, said Nina Shea, an expert on religious freedom at the Hudson Institute.

Walther organized a media awareness campaign, and directed a critical fact-finding report to prove that Christians had been targeted by ISIS for genocide in Iraq and Syria.

Kathryn Jean Lopez, director of the Center for Religion, Culture, and Civil Society at the National Review Institute, praised Walther’s wisdom and prudence in working with both the Church and the U.S. government for the common good.

Praising Walther’s “knowledge and experience and connections,” Lopez added that “honestly no one but God could ever know the extent of his interventions.”

“He was a problem solver, he was always seeing things many steps ahead. He had a wisdom about him that always seemed to me of the Holy Spirit.”

Robert Nicholson is executive director of the Philos Project, which advocates on behalf of Christians in the Near East. Nicholson said that despite Walther’s accomplishments in helping preserve Christianity in the region, he never sought the spotlight.

“Some leaders like to shout their achievements from the housetops, but that wasn’t Andrew,” Nicholson told CNA in a statement. “He was the guy working behind the scenes to build coalitions, catalyze other leaders, and find practical means for pursuing lofty ends.”

Catholic leaders agreed that Walther’s role was critical in helping preserve a Christian presence in the Middle East.

“There is nobody who worked harder and with more hope and perseverance on our behalf,” Archbishop Warda said.

“We may never know how many Christians are living safer, better lives in the Near East today because of this one man,” Nicholson said.

Lopez noted that “if Christianity survives in Iraq and Syria — the cradle of Christianity — it will be in no small part because of his efforts.”

The National Catholic Register contributed to this story.

[…]

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 3, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- As the polls open for in-person voting for Tuesday’s general election, campaigners on both sides of the party divide are looking to turn out the critical Catholic vote, with the candidates… […]

New Haven, Conn., Nov 3, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- The beatification of Blessed Michael McGivney was a much smaller affair than many had hoped. But despite the pandemic, people still came from across the country and across the world to honor the founder of the Knights of Columbus.

The beatification of McGivney on Saturday was celebrated with a weekend of events. In addition to the Mass of beatification at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 31, there was a “McGivney Festival” at the priest’s former parish in New Haven on Friday, featuring Mass, adoration, a panel discussion, a Eucharistic procession around Yale University’s campus, and testimony about McGivney’s life. 

Emily Lomnitzer attended the McGivney Festival. She told CNA that while a student at the Catholic University of America, she learned about McGivney, and that the event was a big moment for her and her friends, telling CNA they were “really into venerable, now-Blessed McGivney.”

“I’ve known about him for a long time. We never thought he would get beatified, so this is a really big deal,” she said. “I didn’t know about him growing up, I learned about him at [The Catholic University of America], and it’s really nice to see that he’s being recognized.” 

She said that she thinks McGivney will serve as a great inspiration to young priests and seminarians, as he was “an example of someone who did a lot of great work at the beginning of their ministry.” 

“Even not living a terribly long life, he was able to do such good things, even from a very young age,” she said.  

McGivney, a Connecticut native, spent his entire priestly ministry in what is now the Archdiocese of Hartford. Future priests of the archdiocese played an important role in the weekend, including  Colin Lane, a seminarian in first theology year, who was one of the altar servers at the beatification Mass. 

Lane told CNA that knowing his archdiocese produced a blessed was an “incredible joy,” and that while in high school, he had attended St. Mary’s–McGivney’s former parish. 

“Being around Fr. McGivney, being around his tomb–to be there last night at the vespers, and to be here [at the beatification Mass], it’s really quite surreal,” he said. 

“Somebody who ministered in our parishes, in New Haven and in Thomaston, who walked many of the same paths that our priests do today, is being raised to the altar of ‘blessed,’ it really is a great inspiration and a great encouragement,” said Lane. 

He added that McGivney’s beatification was a reminder to him and the other seminarians that “holiness is possible, even amongst priests of the archdiocese, even in the state of Connecticut, there’s someone who lived a holy life.” 

McGivney’s beatification shows that “The little, daily acts of a parish priest can lead one down the path to sanctity,” Lane said.  

Julie Buonasera, a member of Frassati New Haven, a young adult group at St. Mary’s Church, was a volunteer at the McGivney Festival. She said that she did not know much about McGivney before his beatification, although her grandfather was a fourth-degree Knight. 

She said the day was “beautiful,” and that she “felt a lot of grace.” 

“Just the beauty of being here together with peers and young adults from around the state and beyond is awesome,” she said. 

Unlike other pilgrims, Nathan Schaechle, 20, did not have too much of a choice in attending the beatification. His brother, Mikey, 5, was the reason why the beatification was happening in the first place – being the recipient of a miracle attributed to McGivney’s intercession. 

Schachle told CNA that when his mother was told her pregnancy with his brother Mikey had “no hope” he had “kind of just resigned [himself] to what felt like the inevitable.” 

“It was like, ‘hey, he’s gonna die,’ and then all of a sudden he’s ready to be born,” said Schacle. His brother Mikey was delivered prematurely via emergency c-section after doctors realized that there was an issue with the placenta. 

The gravity of the situation was not apparent to the then-teenage Nathan. 

Nathan told CNA that at the time his brother was born, he was mostly upset that his mother’s emergency delivery meant that he was unable to attend the Diocese of Nashville’s diaconate ordination Mass like he had planned. 

“I really didn’t realize the magnitude of what had happened until it was approved [by the Vatican],” he said.

He was aware that the Vatican was investigating the circumstances leading up to his brother’s birth, and that his parents had been involved in a diocesan tribunal that had progressed to the promoter of McGiney’s cause in New Haven. But he did not know that his brother’s recovery had been a confirmed miracle until it was announced by Pope Francis. 

“We found out with the rest of the world that [the miracle] had been approved,” he said. Nathan told CNA that he woke up early the morning the pope approved the miracle to “probably about 20 texts” on his phone. 

“The human moment for me was that, ‘wow, our name’s been on the pope’s desk,’” he said. “And really, I don’t think it’s completely sunk in yet, even now. It’s just kind of been a blur since then.” 

The Tennessee resident described the experience in New Haven as “very cold” (temperatures for the weekend hovered in the mid-40s), “very surreal,” and “a little bit frightening.” 

Nathan said his family is “not really attention-seeking people, but this is what God wants for us.”

“He wants to glorify Himself in the world through it, and He wants others to come to Him through us,” he said. “So we’re doing the best we can in that respect.”

[…]

CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2020 / 12:52 am (CNA).- Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, has called on Catholics to support adoptive families, while recognizing the important work of faith-based adoption agencies during National Adoption Month.

&ldqu… […]

CNA Staff, Nov 2, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Citing the need for more chances to go to Mass to celebrate the birth of Christ, Christmas Vigil Masses in the Diocese of Pittsburgh this year may begin as early as 2 p.m. Christmas Eve.

The Masses are traditi… […]