US

Juneau, Alaska, Jul 29, 2019 / 03:41 pm (CNA).- Recent budget cuts resulting from the governor’s budget vetoes are having a “direct negative impact” on the homeless, poor, and vulnerable in Alaska, the state’s bishops said Thursday.

“Our Catholic social services agencies, along with other faith-based denominations and private nonprofits, can barely keep up with the current needs of people who live on the margins,” the July 25 statement reads.

“Across Alaska, thousands of low-income families now face new struggles through funding cuts to agencies that operate food pantries, shelter programs, and early childhood education. The millions of dollars cut statewide to homeless services will force the most vulnerable onto the streets. Cuts to senior housing grants and to the senior benefits program adversely affect our elders,” it adds.

The statement, published by the Alaska Catholic Conference, was signed by Bishop Andrew Bellisario, C.M, of Juneau and Apostolic Administrator of Anchorage; Bishop Chad Zielinsk of Fairbanks; and Bishop Roger L. Schwietz, OMI, Archbishop Emeritus of Anchorage.

It follows budget cuts made this month by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

According to Anchorage Daily News, the governor cut $444 million from a proposed $8.7 billion state operating budget. The cuts will affect multiple education initiatives and Medicaid services, including adult dental coverage. A senior benefits program which paid cash to elders in need was cut from the budget, and millions were cut from services that aid the poor, blind, special-needs, or homeless populations, Anchorage Daily News reported.

The cuts were part of a plan to rebalance the budget without raising taxes or cutting the Permanent Fund dividend, an annual payout to permanent citizens of Alaska, funded by oil revenues.

The cuts will end daytime shelter at multiple Catholic homeless shelters and will drastically reduce the number of beds available, the bishops said.

“In Anchorage, Brother Francis Shelter will be forced to reduce its capacity from 240 beds to 100. Where will the other 140+ homeless go? The Shelter has now closed during the day to cut costs, forcing more people to wander the streets,” the bishops said.

“Clare House, which provides shelter to 90 at-risk women with children and to expectant mothers, 24/7, will be forced to reduce services to nighttime only. Where will these moms and their children go? Currently the shelter also provides day-care for their children allowing these women to work.”

The bishops also expressed their concerns for the livelihoods of the employees at these shelters, who face layoffs after the budget cuts. Anchorage Daily News reported that 14 people could be laid off from the Brother Francis shelter alone due to the cuts.

“We need to support these dedicated servants of the poor, not penalize them by laying them off from their jobs. After all, they work on our behalf. They assist those who are clinging to the last rung of the ladder in our society, many of whom, without assistance, have only to look forward to destitution and despair,” the bishops said.

“As the Catholic Bishops of Alaska, we are called to advocate and defend or speak against government policies and programs that directly affect the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable,” they said.

“We call upon all our elected officials to restore funds to agencies and services that provide for the needs of our children, our elders, the poor, the vulnerable, and the homeless. We ask Alaskans to reach out and contact their elected officials in support of restoring funds for services to the poor and vulnerable in our State,” the bishops added.

“We will continue to do our part to fund our agencies as best we can with our resources, our time and our talent, together with all those willing to support us. We will continue to collaborate with our local and state governments because we realize it is all of us, working together, who contribute to the solution of taking care of the most vulnerable in our State.”

Dunleavy’s vetoes met with strong opposition, and the Alaska House of Representatives voted July 29 to restore some of the vetoed funding.

In a 31-7 vote, the House voted to restore funds for college scholarships and infrastructure projects, among other things. The funds will come from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve.

The House bill will now go to Dunleavy.

[…]

Washington D.C., Jul 29, 2019 / 03:16 pm (CNA).- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have issued new guidelines with restrictions for scientists seeking federal grants to use tissue from aborted babies for research.

The NIH said in a July 26 notic… […]

Baltimore, Md., Jul 29, 2019 / 11:35 am (CNA).- Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore issued a statement Saturday rebutting a tweet from President Donald Trump that claimed that the city is infested with both crime and rats.

“It saddens me to … […]

Washington D.C., Jul 26, 2019 / 05:05 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church’s teachings on economics and government have a tendency to frustrate anyone committed to a political ideology. The Church has condemned both unrestrained capitalism, as well as communism, socialism, and totalitarianism.

But a column recently published in America Magazine, entitled “The Catholic Case for Communism”, by Dean Dettloff, has resurrected questions about whether it is permissible for a Catholic to be a communist.

“Christianity and communism have obviously had a complicated relationship,” Detloff wrote, arguing that even though “communist states and movements have indeed persecuted religious people at different moments in history,” Christians have been “passionately represented” in communist movements.

“These Christians, like their atheist comrades, are communists not because they misunderstand the final goals of communism but [sic] because they authentically understand the communist ambition of a classless society,” he wrote.

Kristina Olney, director of government relations at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said that description is an unreasonable way of presenting the situation.

“It is just simply false,” she said. “The fact is, that every time what [communists] will point to is that the ideas just haven’t being implemented correctly, not the fact that the results are a direct product of the ideology itself,” explained Olney.

Olney believes that communism’s very nature makes it impossible for a Catholic to be a communist.

“There can be no Catholic case for communism, because the dignity of the human person is at the root of the Catholics faith, and communism is an ideology that is anathema to religion,” she said to CNA.

Since modern communism was first developed as a theory in the mid-19th century, popes have condemned the practice and taught the right of private ownership of property. In 1846, Blessed Pius IX wrote that “that infamous doctrine of so-called Communism which is absolutely contrary to the natural law itself” would eventually “utterly destroy the rights, property and possessions of all men, and even society itself.”

His successor, Pope Leo XIII, called communism “the fatal plague which insinuates itself into the very marrow of human society only to bring about its ruin” in his encyclical Quod Apostolici muneris. Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical Divini Redemptoris, where he also condemned communism. In 1949, Venerable Pius XII issued the Decree Against Communism, which excommunicated all Catholics who professed to be communists.

St. John Paul II made opposition to communism a hallmark of his papacy, and his pastoral visit to his homeland of Poland is credited with jump-starting the Solidarity movement there and the eventual fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

Christians have faced persecution in several countries that transitioned to communist governments.

In 2001, St. John Paul II beatified Nicholas Charnetsky and 24 companions, Byzantine Catholics martyred by communists in Eastern Europe between 1935 and 1973.

The “Red Terror” of the Spanish Civil War saw nearly 7,000 members of the clergy and religious sisters killed for their faith. Nearly 2,000 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War have already been beatified.

Today, the situation for Catholics in communist countries is still difficult.

In China, the Communist Party is involved in the selection of bishops in the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, and the state exercises significant oversight of Church activities.

Olney expressed concern that the situation would continue to worsen under present leadership.

“You have a cult of personality that is reminiscent of the Mao era that is reappearing with Xi Jinping,” said Olney. The government is “forcing people to sing songs in praise of the Communist Party, and putting up communist banners in places of worship.” 

In the U.S., communism and socialism have grown in popularity in recent years. A majority of young people today say they reject capitalism.

A “real sense of disenfranchisement” could be why Americans are embracing socialism and communism, explained Olney, which is a feeling that she empathizes with, but also chalks up to naivete.

“People saying that socialism can be a solution to the problems that they’re facing, but, you know, the fact is, although socialism is gaining in popularity, people can’t describe what it is,” she said.

Olney said she hopes the Church must “speak the truth about and stand for the dignity of the human person,” as these concepts are the root of the Catholic faith.

“I think that the Church needs to speak out against the regimes that are still committing gross violations of human rights and human dignity in the name of communist ideology today,” she added.

 

 

[…]

Denver, Colo., Jul 26, 2019 / 11:38 am (CNA).- Philosophy does not teach its students the Bible. It does not teach one how to minister to a congregation. It does not teach one how to distribute the sacraments.

Despite this, seminarians are required to study between two and four years of philosophy, depending on their diocese and seminary, before they transfer to a major seminary to study exclusively theology, taking up time during which they could study pastoral ministry or theology.

This study, which might seem impractical, is fundamental to seminarians’ understanding their future education and the people with whom they will interact as pastors, according to the Congregation for Catholic Education.

The congregation, in its 2011 decree on the reform of ecclesiastical studies of philosophy, wrote that “philosophy is indispensable for theological formation.”

Modern-day priests are not the first Catholics to have studied philosophy along with theology. A plethora of the saints have done the same, and many of them are renowned philosophers themselves.

St. Thomas Aquinas is an example of these influential theologian-philosophers. They have taken advantage of the advanced logic and specialized vocabulary of philosophy, and used it to clarify and deepen their understanding of theology, Notre Dame Seminary rector Fr. James Wehner believes.

“St. Thomas Aquinas was the best; he bridged both disciplines”, Fr. Wehner said. “He was a philosopher and a theologian, and I think today you can’t study either without studying him – the perfect example of how both were bridged together. “

Philosophy has helped theologians better to understand problems such as the existence of evil, free will, and the existence of the soul, and then to apply their findings to theology, as can be seen through their writings.

Philosophy already dealt with issues such as those, requiring deep thought and logic in order to make conclusions, as seen within their papers, and so the transition from philosophy to theology was smooth, Fr. Harrison Ayre, a priest of the Diocese of Victoria, believes.

These philosopher-priests then brought their logic into the faith, many of their ideas helping to develop dogma, Fr. Ayre said, referring to the ecumenical councils.

The study of philosophy helps theologians better understand the specifics of what ancient theologians mean by their use of philosophical terms, as they often described theological thoughts with philosophical terms capable of capturing the depth necessary in order to discuss theology, Fr. Aye believes.

This is important as many conclusions of the Church were made through ecclesial councils during the early part of the Church during which most scholars relied heavily on philosophy, and the writings stemming from these are not fully understandable without an understanding of the use of terms and ideas during the time of their writing.

Philosophy helped many early theologians better understand their faith through logic and come to natural conclusions rather than resting entirely on faith, and it continues to do so, Fr. Ayre believes.

The Congregation for Catholic Education wrote that “philosophical wisdom forms the summit that reason can reach.”

“Philosophy trains the mind to do the work of theology,” Fr. Wehner explained.

Fr. Ayre recalled: “One of my professors in seminary said that Jesus redeems the whole man, including the man, so use it. We sometimes tend to eschew the reasonableness of faith thinking it’s not important, ‘I just believe and that’s enough.’”

“Now not everyone’s gonna be philosophers, and not everyone’s gonna seek those deep questions of life, but we also ought not to have an attitude that looks negatively at rational thought and life of the Church because it’s these rational things that ultimately are the underpinning of the life of the Church,” he continued.

Catholicism is not fideistic, so in order to be able to understand its teachings reason is necessary, and this is why the Church has so long encouraged the study of philosophy, Fr. Ayre told CNA.

There are some truths the Church believes, inspired by divine revelation, that could not be arrived at through reason alone, but this is why it is important to have a combination of faith and reason, Fr. Wehner believes.

“I think one could make a statement that everything the Catholic Church teaches is ‘reasonable.’ People might not believe the teachings, but one can’t say that they violate reason,” Fr. Wehner continued.

Although not all truths can be reasoned to, they all are reasonable, so reason can help us understand revealed truths, he believes.

“Faith and reason are the two ways which God has allowed has allowed human beings to know the truth,” Fr. Wehner said.

For a priest who will be in charge of teaching congregations about the faith, a deeper understanding past baseless faith-statements is necessary so that he can better explain it and help people understand why, not just what we believe, Fr. Ayre believes.

“That’s going to take shape in homilies, that’s going to take shape in the classroom, that’s going to take shape with a couple who’s preparing to get married,” Fr. Wehner said. “So we’re not all going to be theologians and philosophers, but we have to be trained to understand the mysteries of the faith, the way God chose to reveal them to us.”

Philosophy also helps priests understand their parishioners when they come for help with problems. Having studied philosophy, a priest can better understand the “underpinning of problems”, as Fr. Ayre says.

As counsel is a major part of the priest’s role, it is essential that he is able to enter into these counseling opportunities with understanding and a broader view, Fr. Ayre has found through his priesthood.

“Philosophy actually gives you these critical tools to get to the root of the problem,” Fr. Ayre said. “It gives you those critical and rational tools to be able to do that with people, so it’s very helpful in that regard.”

“It helps you to be able to address the deep concerns in peoples’ lives in a rational way because the faith is not something irrational. It is something rational. And so you want to be able to give a rational basis for that, so philosophy is definitely something incredibly helpful,” he continued.

Fr. Ayre also credits philosophy with helping him understand the beliefs of those who are not Catholic.

“It allows you to be able to understand things from the natural realm much more clearly, to understand opposing positions, and it’s the underpinning of doing theology,” he said. “You can’t really do theology without philosophy.”

[…]

Salem, Ore., Jul 25, 2019 / 04:17 pm (CNA).- New legislation in Oregon shortens an initial waiting period for some persons seeking assisted suicide, allowing them to receive quicker access to life-ending drugs.

Governor Kate Brown signed SB 579 into law July 23. The bill had passed the Senate in May and the House of Representatives in June.

If the terminally ill patient has fewer than 15 days to live, the legislation will bypass a 15-day delay required under the Death with Dignity Act. The waiting period usually takes place between the first verbal request and second written request for assisted suicide.

“By signing this bill, Governor Kate Brown shirked her duty to protect Oregon’s citizens,” Oregon Right to Life executive director Lois Anderson said July 25. “Oregon’s ‘Death with Dignity’ law already lacks important safeguards to protect vulnerable Oregonians. Removing one of the only safeguards that does exist is both unnecessary and incredibly ill-advised.”

The legislation was sponsored by members of the Democratic Party, including Senator Floyd Prozanski, Representative Mitch Greenlick, and Senator Elizabeth Hayward.

During the floor debate last month, Republican Representative Duane Stark expressed concern over the new law. He said it will remove a safeguard designed to ensure the patients confidence in their decision.

“I don’t want to make it any easier for any individual in any circumstance to take their life prematurely,” said Stark, according to the AP.

The bill was also opposed by two Democrat Senators – Peter Courtney and Sara Gelser.

Anderson had applauded their decision, noting that the problem extends beyond the lines of political parties.

“It is dangerous to assume that the political party someone belongs to is universally right or universally wrong,” said Anderson in May. “Senators Peter Courtney and Sara Gelser avoided group-think today and voted with their constituents’ safety in mind.”

“Every person has a right to be valued and treated ethically, especially during their last days of life,” she said. “Persons near death deserve the same protections under the law. Even more, they deserve proper care, compassion and confirmation of their inherent value, not a deadly prescription.”

In 1997 Oregon was the first US state to pass an assisted suicide law, which was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006. Since its enactment, 1,500 people in the sate have died by assisted suicide.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement on medically assisted dying in 2011. It stated that palliative care is better suited for the dignity of the human person.

“Catholics should be leaders in the effort to defend and uphold the principle that each of us has a right to live with dignity through every day of our lives. As disciples of one who is Lord of the living, we need to be messengers of the Gospel of Life,” the statement reads.

“We deserve to grow old in a society that views our cares and needs with a compassion grounded in respect, offering genuine support in our final days. The choices we make together now will decide whether this is the kind of caring society we will leave to future generations. We can help build a world in which love is stronger than death.”

[…]

Washington D.C., Jul 25, 2019 / 03:04 pm (CNA).- A federal judge in California has issued a temporary injunction against the Trump administration’s new rule limiting asylum eligibility on the southern U.S. border.

The injunction will halt the ru… […]

Denver, Colo., Jul 25, 2019 / 02:35 pm (CNA).- NFP, or Natural Family Planning, is an oft misunderstood thing.

So much so that, to kick off NFP Awareness Week, one user joked in the “Catholic NFP TTA” Facebook group on Tuesday that she was celebrating the week with a drinking game.

“Take a shot every time a commenter opines about grave reasons. Another shot for when someone jokes that they’re bad at NFP. What would you take a shot for?” she asked. The joke struck a chord, and other group members chimed in with more than 100 additional comments.

“‘How far is too far when you’re abstaining?’ EVERYONE DRINKS” one commenter proposed. “Take a shot whenever someone claims Marquette is the perfect method for postpartum/everyone. Take another when someone argues with that person,” suggested another.

This post, and its comments, illustrate not that NFP users are proponents of binge drinking, but rather that they are accustomed to being misunderstood – even, sometimes, by their fellow users of NFP – and that they’ve developed a sense of humor about it.

NFP is the umbrella term for a host of natural methods used to plan and space children that rely on charting a woman’s menstrual cycle and related symptoms, including basal (resting) temperature, cervical mucus and hormone levels, among other things. The methods can be used to either achieve or avoid pregnancy, and are considered the only moral method of family planning by the Catholic Church; thus, many NFP users are Catholic.

So when The Outline, a secular, online publication, published last week an NFP article entitled “The Facebook groups where Catholic women shame each other about sex,” women who use NFP were disappointed, but not surprised, they told CNA.

“Women join these groups to find support as they navigate the complicated and sometimes conflicting rules around family planning as Catholics, only to be met with judgment or contempt when they admit they may be struggling,” wrote Mary Meisenzahl, the author of The Outline piece. 

“NFP groups, as you might imagine, are also where women go to police each other’s bodies and sexual lives.”

The article included no interviews with NFP users, instructors or Facebook group administrators, and proffered a handful of posts from only one NFP Facebook group – a secret, private group entitled “NFP: Catholic Style” – as proof that the culture of Catholic NFP is one of shame and judgment.

It concludes with a recommendation that the Catholic Church change its teaching on sexuality and contraception, “as many members of these groups are getting their feelings of shame directly from the church.”

CNA spoke with multiple Catholic women and users of NFP who felt differently.

The only place where NFP is talked about freely

“These Facebook groups, as flawed as they may be, are the only places we may feel safe and open enough to simply talk about all things NFP in respect to our faith,” Virginia Pride, an administrator for “Catholic NFP TTA” Facebook group, told CNA.

“TTA” is an abbreviation in NFP for “Trying To Avoid”, and refers to couples abstaining from sex to avoid a pregnancy during the fertile windows of a woman’s cycle.

Pride told CNA that since the article was published, some women have been afraid to post openly in groups they had previously assumed were friendly to NFP and all that it entails.

“Many women in our groups now are afraid to share information with other members and admins; this in turn affects how much help they receive. Knowing how little support NFP users already receive in the real world, and you have a serious case of isolation on our hands,” Pride said.

“Perhaps Ms. Meisenzahl felt that she is doing Catholic women a favor by attempting to ‘liberate’ us from our own beliefs on sexuality and family planning, by way of intruding our communities for nefarious reasons, and using our stories and experiences without our consent for her biased articles,” Pride added.

“Whatever the case, her blind acceptance of anti-NFP and anti-Catholicism has only furthered the difficulties that Catholic women face, rather than help alleviate the issue,” she said.

A grain of salt and a sense of community

Laura Golden is a registered nurse and mother who lives in northern Minnesota. Golden has practiced the Creighton model of NFP for several years, and is training to become a Creighton NFP instructor. She told CNA that she credits the method for helping her achieve two pregnancies after experiencing difficulties.

While Golden is not an administrator of any NFP Facebook group, she said she is a member of two – one that is Creighton-specific, and the larger, more general Catholic NFP group referenced in Meisenzahl’s article. Golden currently instructs 13 couples in their use of the Creighton model – some Catholic, some not.

Golden said that she relies more on the Creighton-specific Facebook group; each NFP method comes with it’s own “jargon”, she said, and it can be easy to confuse the different terminology.

She also cautions those she instructs to take what is said in the Facebook groups with a grain of salt.

“I tell them, if this is causing you anxiety, then delete it. If you need to turn off the notifications because it’s just too much in your face, do that,” Golden told CNA. She said that for couples trying to achieve pregnancy, these groups can be overwhelming, since waiting each month to find out whether a pregnancy has been achieved can already lead to stress.

However, she added, these groups can also offer an important sense of community to NFP users who live in remote areas, or who do not personally know other NFP users.

“I live in a really small town and there’s probably three couples in our parish that are of childbearing years and are using a fertility method that I’m aware of at least,” Golden said. “So if you’re having an issue, you do feel really isolated because maybe you don’t know anyone else that has that issue or is even using a method that’s remotely familiar to you. And so when you are a part of this group, it does give you a lot of community.”

The article also missed the mark when describing the accuracy of NFP methods, Golden said. It cited a statistic from the Department of Health and Human Services, which states that NFP carries with it about a 25 percent chance of getting pregnant. However, it does not state the efficacy rates of each method of NFP, and it does not list the sympto-hormonal method of NFP (used in the Marquette Method, for example), on its list of method types.

In a study published by the National Institutes of Health, researchers tracked 204 women of childbearing years using the Marquette method of NFP over the course of a year. There were 12 pregnancies total in that year. The study found that the efficacy of the Marquette Method of NFP for avoiding pregnancy was 99.4% effective with “correct use”, and that it was 89.4% effective with “typical use” per 100 users.

To compare, birth control pills are about 93% effective with typical use, while condoms are about 87% effective with typical use, according to the CDC.

The “contraceptive mentality” and “just reasons” to avoid pregnancy

Mikayla Dalton is a Boston Cross Check method instructor and an admin for the Clearblue Monitor Methods (MM) NFP group on Facebook. She told CNA that her group has commenting guidelines that caution users against certain kinds of comments – those disparaging of others, those that attempt to start theological debates, those that are off topic, or those that encourage other users to go against the prescribed protocols of the Marquette Method, among other things.

The group tells members that any comments that go against the guidelines may be deleted, and that users may be muted or blocked if they are found to be hostile to the group. Dalton added that they also include a warning, telling women that while the group is closed, members are only lightly vetted, and that they should proceed with caution sharing personal sexual or intimate information in such a context.

“This warning strikes me as poignant now, after a person joined a group with the intent of surveilling its membership, to report on “the other,” having concealed – or not been upfront about – their identity and purpose in gathering information,” Dalton told CNA.

“Having a woman break the trust people had put in each other in the group, to get some kind of journalistic ‘scoop’ is disheartening. Accusing women of shaming other women… while shaming swathes of women… is ironic,” she added.

One kind of “shaming” comment in NFP groups that Meisenzahl mentioned in her article are those that accuse NFP users of using the methods with a “contraceptive mentality” – in other words, that they are using NFP to avoid having children for selfish or unserious reasons.

The term is incorrectly applied against users of NFP, Dalton said, and when she sees such comments in her group, she and many other members are quick to offer corrections.

“This particular phrase was used by Pope John Paul II in Evangelium vitae to refer specifically to a mentality arising from the use of contraception,” Dalton said, and he uses it in contrast to those who are following God’s plan for marriage and sexuality, under which the use of NFP falls.

Meisenzahl added in her article that: “Humanae vitae refers to ‘serious reasons’ and ‘just causes,’ for avoiding pregnancy, but the preferred translation among the more extreme members of the Facebook group is ‘grave reason.'”

“The Church doesn’t give a list of specific circumstances that are valid for avoiding pregnancy. For some Catholics, this means, as one user put it, ‘God understands your reasons. It’s up to Him to judge. What is in your heart?’, so each couple can make the choice that they feel is right for their specific situation. For others, though, a lack of concrete reasons means an opportunity to police and shame women who are actively trying to avoid children.”

Humanae vitae is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and published in 1968. The document was written to explain Church teaching regarding sexuality, contraception and marriage, and upheld NFP at a time when many within the Church were calling for the Church to change its teaching and accept contraception.

Dr. Janet Smith is a Catholic professor who holds the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and has written and spoken extensively on Humanae vitae. She has written about many different aspects about NFP, including the “contraceptive mentality” and the reasons Catholic couples may legitimately use NFP to avoid pregnancy.

“The best description for the kind of reasons needed is ‘just reasons’ and the best understanding is that the couple needs to take into account their current and foreseeable duties and obligations. Succinctly stated, the reasons must not be selfish,” Smith told CNA.

“Having another child is such a great good on so many levels, to seek to avoid pregnancy cannot be made for trivial reasons and should be made only after careful, prayerful discernment. The Church does identify categories of reasons – the couple should take into account the economic, physical, psychological and social conditions in which they live,” she added. 

Those reasons could include, for example, “experiencing fatigue and anxiety that predictably impedes one’s ability to function at a reasonable level,” Smith noted.

“Decisions made on such a basis should be revisited regularly. People should be very hesitant to criticize the decisions couples make about their family size; the factors that need to be taken into account are not always accessible to outsiders,” she said.

The beauty of NFP

“You Me and NFP: Joy-filled living” is a website founded and run by four Catholic mothers, one of whom is a Marquette Method instructor. The intent for their website, and their social media groups, was to bring a more modern look and approach to the practice of NFP, some of the founders told CNA.

“We were researching NFP resources and they kind of have like a 1980s, 1990s kind of look to it,” Valerie Kelly, one of the founders, told CNA. “And we wanted to really brand it in a modern way while staying with traditional Church teaching. But we are really sharing it and evangelizing with it. We meet people where they are and are taking them where the Lord wants them to be.”

Their website is clean and pretty, with plenty of millennial pink sprinkled with gold accents. It includes written and video testimonials from women who share why they use NFP, a “FAQ” segment on NFP, and instruction in the Marquette Method through Sarah Tramonte, one of the co-founders.

The group has a Facebook page, but comments are closed. The four women, who are also mothers, said they worried about having enough time to regulate comments in the way they would like, so they decided not to allow them.

Their Instagram page does have comments though, and while they get the occasional naysayer or negative comment, it is by and large positive comments from women seeking advice or understanding, they told CNA.

However, they added, sometimes sharing the truth about the Church’s teaching may make people uncomfortable, even when it is done in a loving way.

“It’s never right to speak uncharitably, but it’s always right to charitably speak the truth,” Anneli Schraufnagel, one of the cofounders of You Me and NFP (YMNFP), told CNA.

“So a lot of these conversations that women are having, I think (they) are trying to, as sisters, come to the truth of their Catholic faith because the truth of their Catholic faith ultimately will bring them joy.”

That is something that can be easy to miss for an NFP outsider looking in – that practicing NFP, as a part of the Catholic faith, is something that brings many women and families peace and joy – even if they complain about some nitty gritty details along the way.

“Sometimes the Catholic Church’s teachings are hard, but sometimes hard things bring us happiness,” Schraufnagel said. “And…the ‘why’s’ behind the Catholic teaching, we need to talk about them.”

Besides some of the physical benefits of NFP, which include avoiding putting additional hormones or medical devices in one’s body, the “Why NFP” section of the YMNFP website includes women talking about the “joy” that NFP brings because of the sacrifices it requires, such as periodic abstinence. They also mention feeling at peace because they are able to plan their families according to what they believe is God’s plan for sexuality and marriage.

“I don’t want to sugarcoat NFP and say that it is all sunshine and daisies because it requires sacrifice and sacrifice is never easy!  But the joy that grows out of selfless love, expressed through NFP, is one of the greatest blessings you can give to yourself and to your spouse,” reads one post from Ellen on YMNFP.

“I adore my husband, and by eliminating the pill I’m now so much more able to show him that. We are living, and loving each other, authentically,” reads another quote from Jen, an NFP user.

Couples who practice NFP also experience lower divorce rates, YMNFP notes. According to a study published by the National Institutes of Health, “among the women who ever used NFP only 9.6 percent were currently divorced compared with the 14.4 percent who were currently divorced among the women who never used NFP.” The study noted that the religiosity of the couples who practice NFP may be a contributing factor to the lower divorce rates.

Schraufnagel said the numerous benefits of NFP that she and her cofounders have experienced are the main reasons they started YMNFP.

“That’s a huge aspect of our team at You Me and NFP; we are really passionate because we see how beautiful the Catholic Church’s teachings are and how much joy is brought into our lives because of it, including, our family lives as well. And part of that is our sexuality,” she added.

“So I think it needs to be brought up and talked about in the culture that these truths are beautiful.”

 

[…]

Washington D.C., Jul 25, 2019 / 10:32 am (CNA).- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke out Thursday against new Department of Homeland Security policies that includes the expedited removal of undocumented migrants who cannot prove to an immigration officer they have lived in the United States for two continuous years.

“This action is yet another escalation of this Administration’s enforcement-only immigration approach, and it will have terrible human consequences,” Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin, Texas, Chair of the of the US bishops’ migration committee, said in a July 25 statement.

The DHS said in a July 19 notice that the new policy is meant to harmonize existing policies that treated migrants arriving by land and by sea differently. Expedited removal has existed in US immigration law since 1996.

Previously, the DHS could designate illegal aliens for expedited removal “within 100 air miles of the border and within 14 days of their date of entry regardless of the alien’s method of arrival.” The new policy allows DHS to expedite the removal of any undocumented immigrant anywhere in the United States, provided they are unable to prove they have been in the country less than two years.

The bishops called the new policy “unjust” and said it will stoke “fear in our communities.”

“The new policy will allow for the deportation of many more individuals without providing them an opportunity to seek legal counsel and have a hearing before an immigration judge,” he argued.

The DHS notice stated that undocumented immigrants can apply for asylum when they are apprehended, potentially delaying an immediate deportation until a credible-fear hearing and a determination is made, NPR reports.

“Even those migrants who have long-standing ties to the U.S. and have been in the country for more than the requisite two years required under the new policy may now be subjected to expedited removal if they are unable to prove such to the satisfaction of an individual immigration officer,” the bishop said.

The DHS is seeking public comment on the new policy.

 

[…]

Washington D.C., Jul 25, 2019 / 09:41 am (CNA).- The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will resume executions after an almost two-decade lapse, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday.

“Under Administrations of both parties, the Depa… […]