CNA Staff, May 18, 2020 / 10:30 am (CNA).- New Mexico has agreed to apply the same reopening criteria to churches as it does to retail businesses, after the governor issued updated safety regulations for the coronavirus pandemic.
“Grea… […]
Denver, Colo., May 17, 2020 / 06:21 am (CNA).- After a pornography tycoon donated millions to an international abortion group, one non-profit youth initiative warned of a dangerous link between the two industries.
Lindsay Fay, a mission team manager for The Culture Project, highlighted the connection between pornography and abortion. She told CNA that while both industries claim to emphasize sexual empowerment and women’s rights, they instead do a great deal of harm to human dignity.
“[In] the pornography industry and the abortion industry, [they promote] … empowerment for women, but it is actually a false form of empowerment. There really is an enslavement to feeling the pressure to end the pregnancy or end a human life,” she said.
Since 1995, Marie Stopes International (MSI) has received over $9 million in donations from Phil Harvey, the CEO of Adam & Eve – a large erotica distributor. The donations to MSI are received in cash and supplies.
Established as a mail-order firm in 1971, Adam & Eve brought in around $72 million dollars last year. The company donates about 25% of its annual profit through Harvey’s charitable foundation, DKT International – a non-profit focusing on abortion and contraceptives.
Harvey is a board member of MSI, which promotes contraception and abortion worldwide. In 2019, MSI was responsible for about 5 million abortions globally.
MSI defended Harvey’s contributions.
“Phil Harvey has spent his life defending sexual and reproductive health and rights, and has played a significant role in expanding access for women across the world. We are proud that he continues to contribute to the organisation,” the group said, according to the Daily Mail.
Fay said it is a cultural misunderstanding that either pornography or abortion is empowering for women. She said both industries rest on a false understanding of sexual liberty and human dignity.
“Both of those industries rest on the [idea] that we can do what we want with our sexuality regardless of the cost. Unfortunately, some of those decisions have led to the ending of human life.”
She pointed to studies showing that pornography increases demand for human sex trafficking. About 30% of all internet traffic is pornography, and about 1 in 3 Americans seek out pornography at least once a month, she added.
“Pornography fuels the demand for sexual exploitation,” she said. “What most people don’t know is that pornography often uses women and children who are forced or coerced to be filmed.”
“The biggest connection between pornography and abortion is human trafficking, which is pretty ironic because almost anyone in our world will be able to look at human trafficking and say this is dehumanizing.”
A 2017 survey by the Family Research Council interviewed 66 women who survived sex trafficking. More than half of the women said they had abortions while being trafficked. One in three reported having more than one abortion.
“When it comes to pornography or when it comes to abortion, those things are seen as no big deal or unrelated or unconnected. But, in this case, pornography demands and fuels human trafficking,” she said.
The Culture Project is a non-profit that promotes sexual integrity and human dignity by sending mission teams to different communities across the country. Trained young adult missionaries speak to young people in classroom settings or witness to individuals outside of abortion facilities. They currently have teams in cities including Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
Fay said the missionaries discuss topics including the damage caused by pornography and how sexual exploitation can lead to abortion.
“Whenever a human person is devalued and not respected, it kind of breeds a culture that accepts things like abortion or other forms of dehumanization,” she said.
“The Culture Project is a movement of young people set out on mission to restore culture. We proclaim the inherent dignity of the human person and the richness of living a life of sexual integrity, inviting our culture to become fully alive.”
Denver Newsroom, May 16, 2020 / 03:00 am (CNA).- An American documentarian says her work is the fruit of a divine calling that began with an encounter with Pope St. John Paul II. She said she hopes her films will help others grow close to Christ.
Her most recent film, a documentary on the life Blessed Solanus Casey, will premiere on the EWTN television network May 26, and is now available online.
Erin Berghouse, president of Ahava Productions, said, shortly after a revival of faith in the late 90s, she felt that God was calling her to pursue a career in music and, later in life, short films.
“Ahava Productions is a film production company that began really out of following a mission that God placed on our hearts,” she told CNA.
“My hope was to create movies that move us closer to Christ and to reflect the beauty of the Catholic Church. [Evangelization] with art, all the different art forms: music [and] the highest quality of visual art.”
Berghouse, who is also a mother of six, rediscovered her faith in 1999 when she saw John Paul II speak in St. Louis. It was through his “Letter to Artists,’ issued in April 1999, that she decided to use music to serve the Church. In 2014, she founded Ahava Productions, which released its first film in 2015.
Ahava’s upcoming documentary on Casey is a perfect example of the inspirational story which brings people close to God, Berghouse said.
A 28-minute documentary on Blessed Solanus Casey, the film will air on EWTN on May 26 and 27. It is narrated by Cardinal James Harvey, an American cardinal and the archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.
The documentary will highlight the stories that led to his beatification, the history of his life, and his impact on the lives of others.
The son of Irish immigrant parents, the Capuchin Franciscan was born in 1870 on a Wisconsin farm, which also became the home of 15 other brothers and sisters. Having witnessed a brutal murder on the railroad in 1891, the 21-year-old evaluated his life and decided to become a priest. He entered Saint Francis De Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Many miraculous healings have been attributed to Casey – both during his life and after – including restoration of sight, healing from alcoholism, and the healing of ichthyosis. He also spent a great deal of time witnessing and providing aid to the sick.
“Father Solanus, what a beautiful priest, what a beautiful role model, what an inspiration. [There are] so many words to describe his amazing impact,” Berghous said.
“[He is] one of the most humble, loving priests,” she added.
Berghouse was first introduced to Casey in 2015 when she was asked to pray to the Capuchin on behalf of a friend. She then attended the beatification ceremony in Detroit’s Ford Field in 2017, an event she said was proof of Casey’s influence on the world. Nearly 70,000 people attended.
She said she felt like the Blessed Mother was calling her to do the film, and that it felt like Casey had spiritually accompanied her during post-production. The more she learned about Casey, the more she loved him, Berghouse said, noting that, through his intercession, the priest taught her how to pray.
“I can say with complete confidence that to learn about him is to love him. Once you learn and love him, you will start to learn his teachings. He had a specific way that he would teach people to pray and to come to God and how we must thank him and do acts of mercy,” she said.
Berghouse said Casey, who lived through the Depression, both World Wars, and contracted serious illnesses himself – is the perfect saint for the coronavirus pandemic.
During the Great Depression, she said, the heads of major automotive companies would request Casey to remember their employees in the intentions of Mass and ask the Capuchin for advice on how to help their workers. She said, during today’s difficult pandemic, people should rely on him again.
“Here we stand today in the midst of the chaos of COVID. He still intercedes for us. He still can lead us to the place where we can find the most confidence and love in God and strength in knowing that what he has planned for us is already something that we should be thankful for,” she said.
Berghouse hopes the documentary will influence its audience to rely on Casey’s intercession, but also be a source of inspiration. She said Casey’s life is a reflection of God’s providence and the hope this brings.
“[We] participate in the call to create a documentary of his life because it was a life that was filled with immense beauty [and] hope. It continues to lead us closer to Christ by what he experienced, what he taught, and what he continues to share, even after he is no longer here,” she said.
“I think what we see in his life is an immense promise of hope and God’s plan for who we are, wherever that is, whatever it is, God has a plan.”
CNA Staff, May 15, 2020 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- Specific guidelines for reopening churches during the coronavirus pandemic were excluded from a set of documents released by the CDC this week, possibly due to religious freedom concerns, according to a report… […]
CNA Staff, May 15, 2020 / 01:30 pm (CNA).- As the House on Friday prepares to vote on another coronavirus relief package, pro-lifers warn that it could be used to fund abortions.
The $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act (H.R. 6800) is scheduled for a vote in the House on Friday.
It provides funding for state and local governments, assistance to hospitals, and direct payments to American families along with funding unemployment insurance. It also sets up a strategic plan for testing for the virus.
However, the White House has already said it will veto the legislation, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has declared it dead on arrival in the chamber, saying that “I don’t think we have felt yet the urgency of acting immediately.’”
Senators have already said that a bill would not pass the chamber before Memorial Day, according to The Hill.
“He [McConnell] wants us to just ‘pause.’ He wants us to just pause. But families know that hunger doesn’t take a pause, not having a job doesn’t take a pause, not being able to pay the rent doesn’t take a pause,” Pelosi said on Thursday.
Pro-life leaders have already pointed out that the stimulus bill fails to put Hyde protections in critical spots—thus allowing for taxpayer funding of abortions. The Hyde Amendment bars federal funding of elective abortions.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said on Thursday that the legislation “is full of giveaways to the abortion lobby.”
“Shame on the Pelosi Democrats for exploiting a national emergency to foist a radical abortion agenda on the American people,” Dannenfelser said.
“Not only does the bill fund abortion and health plans that cover abortion, it includes subsidies to the abortion industry,” she stated.
In the CARES Act, the first stimulus bill that passed Congress in March, Planned Parenthood was left out of emergency small business loans because of a 500-employee limit for non-profits to be eligible for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The current bill amends the regulations to allow for Planned Parenthood to access PPP loans.
Hyde protections are not included in the legislation’s funding of state and local governments, and are not attached to subsidies for COBRA premiums or other coverage for furloughed workers that could include abortion coverage.
Republicans have also criticized the bill for possibly sending direct stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants, mandating blanket release of prison inmates while putting the burden of justifying their continued detention on governments, and freezing any further work requirements for food stamps.
“We urge Congress to continue to put partisan agendas aside and remember that the real heroes across America are working and making sacrifices to save lives, including the lives of the unborn,” Dannenfelser said.
CNA Staff, May 15, 2020 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- The Senate approved a bill on Thursday to sanction Chinese leaders complicit in the persecution of Uyghur Muslims.
The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, authored by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and co-sponsored by… […]
Denver Newsroom, May 15, 2020 / 11:02 am (CNA).- Public health orders to limit the spread of the new coronavirus raise important questions about the U.S. Constitution and religious freedom, and Stanford Law School professor Michael J. McConnell has pro… […]
Denver, Colo., May 15, 2020 / 11:01 am (CNA).- A coalition of volunteers in Colorado hopes to gather enough signatures in the next two weeks on a petition to put a late-term abortion ban on the November ballot – an effort complicated by restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coalition for Women and Children, a Christian group led by Giuliana Day, filed the petition during July 2019 with the Colorado Secretary of State. The initiative would ban abortions in the state after 22 weeks, with an exception to save the life of the mother.
Colorado remains one of the only states where late-term abortion is not, under law, explicitly protected or restricted. As a result, abortions can take place up until birth. Notably, the Boulder Abortion Clinic is one of just a handful of clinics in the U.S. that publicly accept patients seeking late-term abortions from anywhere in the world.
The organization of volunteers supporting the petition – known as Due Date Too Late – was originally tasked with collecting nearly 125,000 signatures within a six-month time limit in order to have the question appear on the ballot in November 2020.
The original deadline to submit the signatures was March 4. When the Colorado Secretary of State’s office counted the 137,624 signatures that the group submitted, it ruled only 114,647 of them valid— about 10,000 too few for the initiative to make it onto the ballot.
Now, the volunteers have two weeks, what is known as a “cure period,” to make up the signature deficit by gathering new signatures and encouraging those whose signatures were ruled invalid to re-sign.
The Archdiocese of Denver is encouraging Catholics to sign the petition.
“Our efforts are really focused on getting new signatures, and then whatever can be ruled valid that was previously invalid is going to be helpful, but we don’t want to count on that. So we want to make sure we get the new ones,” Deacon Geoff Bennett, vice president of parish and community relations for Catholic Charities of Denver, told CNA.
The cure period was originally set to begin April 27, but a district court judge granted Due Date Too Late a delay until May 15 because of the continued restrictions related to the coronavirus.
Governor Jared Polis’ statewide stay-at-home order ended April 26, but the state remains under a “safer-at-home” policy, whereby all are encouraged to stay at home and avoid unnecessary interactions whenever possible, and to comply with social distancing requirements.
Beginning May 15, there will be approximately 100 signing locations throughout the state staffed by over 400 volunteers from Due Date Too Late. Many of the original signers of the petition were Catholic or Evangelical Christian, and as a result most of the signing locations are places of worship.
Because Colorado is a large state and coronavirus restrictions and recommendations vary, the organizers are asking all signature collectors to check on the most current social distancing guidelines with their county, rather than issuing their own guidelines.
The organizers have, however, offered suggestions to volunteers such as offering a new, clean pen to every signer, as well as offering hand sanitizer to each signer.
All public and private gatherings remain limited, by the governor’s order, to no more than ten people.
The organizers used geomapping based on the data they collected about the original signers of the petition to determine the best locations to send volunteers to collect signatures.
The group will be collecting signatures through May 28, since the signatures need to be submitted by May 29. The plan is to collect about 15,000 signatures in the next two weeks.
In an April 24 statement, Due Date Too Late stated that a sample of 40,000 signees showed “broad-based, bipartisan support,” with 40% of those sampled members of the Democratic Party or unaffiliated.
Bennett encouraged anyone who has already signed the petition to check whether their signature was accepted; the Secretary of State rejected many of the signatures, he said, because the signers’ information did not exactly match their voter registration.
There are other potential issues other than voter registration mismatches. For example, the petition circulator may have filled out their affidavit incorrectly, which in some cases invalidated entire packets of signatures.
While signers whose signatures were previously ruled invalid will have the opportunity to re-sign, new signatures are preferable, organizers have told CNA.
If the late-term abortion ban passes in November, it would mark the first time since 1967 that Colorado would impose voter-approved restrictions on abortion.
Lauren Castillo, director of church relations for Students for Life of America and spokesperson for Due Date Too Late, told the press in February that in Colorado in 2019, at least 323 abortions were performed on babies after 21 weeks gestation.
“The vast majority of these late term abortions are done on babies without adverse late-term fetal diagnoses, or serious health risks in the pregnancy, and without life threatening circumstances for the mother,” Castillo said.
“They’re done electively, and are not necessary. And in an emergency situation that would be life threatening to the mother, a c-section is a far safe procedure than a late-term abortion.”
Bennett noted that abortion-rights groups in Colorado touted the fact that for a time during the pandemic, many women from other states were traveling to Colorado to take advantage of the state’s permissive abortion laws.
Abortion clinics in states like Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, which did not introduce any pandemic-related restrictions on abortion, saw increases in patients traveling from other states, such as Texas, to undergo the procedure.
“We want to encourage people to make a stand for life, especially in the environment that we’re in [the pandemic] where we’re so concerned about life,” Bennett said.
Colorado was the first state in the nation to decriminalize abortion. The initial legislation, signed into law April 25, 1967, allowed abortion in certain limited cases: rape, incest, or a prediction of permanent mental or physical disability of either the child or mother. Six years later, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade declared abortion a constitutional right nationwide.
CNA Staff, May 14, 2020 / 06:31 pm (CNA).- The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating health disparities and long-standing social inequalities facing Native and Indigenous communities, the bishops of the United States said this week.
They called on gove… […]
Denver Newsroom, May 14, 2020 / 03:09 pm (CNA).- Although some people have raised objections to wearing masks as the U.S. continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, doing so can be an act of charity for one’s neighbor, a Catholic doctor said.
“The simple reason [to wear a mask] is primarily to protect others, the secondary reason is to protect oneself. Masks are a barrier to the airborne droplets that can carry the virus and infect anyone who breathes them in,” said Dr. Barbara Golder, a physician, lawyer and bioethicist with a background in pathology.
Golder told CNA that wearing a mask while in public is “a small thing to do, and it may well save lives.”
The United States has seen more than 1.3 million confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with more than 82,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Most people who contract the highly contagious virus show mild or no symptoms, but in some cases, it can result in severe complications or death, particularly for those who are elderly or have underlying health conditions.
With much of the country under quarantine restrictions in recent weeks to slow the spread of the virus, the question of when and how to reopen continues to be a source of controversy.
Public health officials have advised wearing masks in public, in order to reduce the risk of unknowingly transmitting the virus through droplets emitted from one’s mouth when speaking, coughing or sneezing. Many individuals who are infected with the virus do not develop symptoms, meaning that even people who do not feel sick could spread the virus to others.
Based on this federal guidance, many local authorities have issued regulations recommending or requiring that people wear masks in public settings.
These regulations have received a mixed response. Some critics argue that the mandatory regulations – and the fines and other punishments that accompany them – in some states are too harsh, infringing upon essential freedoms. Others worry that the use of masks may be ineffective or even harmful, claims which public health experts dispute.
Others have criticized the wearing of masks as a sign of weakness.
R. R. Reno, editor of the Catholic journal First Things, has been outspoken in his criticism of quarantine measures enacted in New York and other parts of the country. In a series of tweets this week – which were later deleted – Reno encouraged people to eschew masks, which he described as caving to a culture of fear.
“Masks=enforced cowardice,” Reno said in one tweet.
“The mask culture if (sic) fear driven,” he said in another, adding, “It’s a regime dominate (sic) by fear of infection and fear of causing of infection. Both are species of cowardice.”
However, Dr. Golder objected to the claim that following the guidance of public health officials is succumbing to fear or weakness.
“It isn’t fear to exercise prudent care for ourselves and others,” she told CNA. “This is a serious situation…When 60% of the population falls into a risk group because of age or an underlying medical condition such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, or lung disease, it’s prudent to try to avoid infection.”
Golder acknowledged that conflicting advice early in the pandemic may be confusing, but explained that federal guidance has changed as scientists have learned more about the new virus and how it is spread.
“We now know that it is communicable by aerosol droplets that are expelled by coughing, sneezing, and even, to a certain extent, by breathing,” she said. “We also know that this happens even in patients who are infected and shedding virus but who do not have symptoms.”
For this reason, masks – along with social distancing – are an important tool in fighting the spread of the disease, she said.
“Wearing a mask limits the possibility of dispersing infective particles in the air, as well as reducing the risk of inhaling them,” she said.
Golder noted that small children, those who have breathing difficulties, and those who are physically unable to put on a mask need not wear one, but added that they may want to significantly limit contact with others.
But for most Americans, she said, “wearing a mask is a way of exercising our care for the other, who could be harmed if we do not.”
Leah Libresco Sargeant, author of “Building the Benedict Option,” echoed the idea that wearing a mask is a way of showing love for one’s neighbors.
“It’s much more a question of care than of fear,” she told CNA.
While masks may be somewhat uncomfortable, they are a small inconvenience that can be embraced out of charity for others, Sargeant suggested.
“Mask wearing is a small, humdrum discipline. It’s harder to romanticize than a big gesture,” she said.
“Think about the difference between going on a big pilgrimage and keeping up a habit of daily prayer, including in times of spiritual dryness. We have to do it out of love—there’s no other way to sustain the dull parts of caring for others.”
Dr. Golder acknowledged there are legitimate concerns about government overreach with some of the mandates surrounding masks and other pandemic limitations.
“[I]t’s absolutely true that there has been some overreach of government officials in imposing restrictions in various places,” she said.
“There is a real possibility of infringement of our constitutional rights and those charged with protecting our rights are hard at work to prevent that,” she added, pointing to court rulings blocking some of these regulations as signs that the American system is working.
But ultimately, Golder said, Catholics may want to consider the question of public health not solely from a perspective of rights, but from the viewpoint of service and friendship to which Christ calls us.
“God as man never once asserted his many ‘rights’ against us, maintaining to the last his role as servant and friend,” she said. “I think that might be the model here—How do I as friend and servant act in the presence of others? Wearing a mask might be a good start these days.”
© Catholic World Report