Fr. Pavone on Tiller

BO At Our Lady's University???

Catholic, pro-life organizations call on Notre Dame to cancel Obama commencement address

South Bend, Ind., Mar 21, 2009 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- On Friday Catholic and pro-life organizations responded to the announcement that the University of Notre Dame, one of the oldest and most prominent Catholic institution of higher education, will have President Barack Obama to deliver a commencement address on May 17.

The University of Notre Dame announced on Friday afternoon that President Barack Obama will be the main speaker and the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the University of Notre Dame’s 164th University Commencement Ceremony at 2 p.m. May 17 (Sunday) in the Joyce Center on campus.

According to the Notre Dame press release, “Mr. Obama will be the ninth U.S. president to be awarded an honorary degree by the University and the sixth to be the Commencement speaker.”

In response to the announcement, the Cardinal Newman Society launched a website, www.NotreDameScandal.com, including an online petition to Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins, CSC.

“It is an outrage and a scandal that ‘Our Lady’s University,’ one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage,” the petition reads.

Less than an hour after the petition was posted, it already counted with the support of high-profile Catholics such as Philip F. Lawler, Director of the Catholic Culture Project, Fr. C. J. McCloskey III, and Thomas N. Peters, blogger for the American Papist.

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This Pope is Becoming a Real Problem - Good!

I take this as a good sign.

Former Prime Minister Alain Juppé (UMP), interviewed Wednesday by France Culture concerning the words of Benedict XVI denouncing condoms, said that "this pope is becoming a real problem" because he is living “in a situation of total autism."

“This Pope is becoming a real problem”

If the world were too comfortable with the message of the church and the Pope, we would be in trouble.

I'm Finished With This Guy

Remember in My Cousin Vinny when Vinny was done cross examining the one witness he ends by saying, 'I'm finished with this guy' or something along those lines? Thats a pretty accurate description of how I feel about Senator Brownback right now.

Brownback issued a joint statement with fellow senator from Kansas, Pat Roberts, congratulating the Governor.

"It's an honor for the State of Kansas to have an elected official appointed to the president's cabinet," stated the senators. "We are hopeful Governor Sebelius will be a voice for Kansas and rural America at the Department. We look forward to working with her on issues important to the state including a National Cancer Institute Designation at the University of Kansas Cancer Center."

ALL's Judie Brown on Sen. Brownback: "I'll never use 'pro-life' to describe him again"

I had been a fan of Senator Brownback, I supported his (short) run in the primary, and always appreciated his strong pro-life support. I can't understand why he would kiss up to Sebelius like this, she is extremely pro-abortion and is an ally of Tiller the Killer. I guess political expediency is more important than the lives of unborn children.

40 Days for Life

From Fr. Pavone, bolding mine.

40 Days for Life
For nearly two decades, Priests for Life has been among the leading groups in promoting peaceful, prayerful presence in front of abortion mills, and we continue to call the People of God to come to the places where the killing is taking place, so that their presence and their prayers can awaken the consciences of those who go there. Tomorrow, another 40 Days for Life campaign will begin in many cities, where people will gather at abortion mills during the entire Lenten season. When we show up, moms and dads change their minds about killing their children and the conscience of the community is awakened. Indeed, our biggest problem is not that President Obama is sitting in the White House, but that we are sitting in our own houses. Let’s rise up and end abortion.

Pope Meets with Pelosi

I was talking to Mom yesterday about the Pope meeting with Nancy Pelosi. I was a little upset by the meeting because I know all Nancy really wants in meeting the Pope is to get a nice photo of her doing so. I know the Pope has to be pastoral and meet with people with whom he disagrees with, because how can he influence them if he never meets with them sort of thing, but Pelosi? A photo with him would just enable her to continue her anti-life, and anti-Catholic policies. Mom remarked that if the Pope was smart he would meet with her in some closet, away from the media. That way she can get her meeting, but no photo. Well, it looks like Mom is a smart cookie, I saw an article this morning detailing the meeting sounding very close to that.

Pelosi could not immediately be reached after the 15-minute meeting, which was closed to reporters and photographers. The two met in a small room of a Vatican auditorium after the pope's weekly public audience.

And the Vatican released a statement on what the Pope told Nancy which included

The Vatican released remarks by the pope to Pelosi, saying Benedict spoke of the church's teaching "on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death." That is an expression often used by the pope when expressing opposition to abortion.

Benedict said all Catholics—especially legislators, jurists and political leaders—should work to create "a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

Well now that she's had time to ram through a massive stimulus bill and meet with Pope Benedict, maybe she will find time to meet with her Bishop, which she seems to have put off for several months.


Since there is no photo of this meeting, I'm just adding this one in because I find it funny. It looks like Monsignor Gaenswein is going to catch it in his hand.

Archbishop Chaput on Dos and Don'ts for the Prolife Movement

‘Abortion reduction strategies’ ignore half of the problem, Archbishop Chaput warns

Dos

1. Do become martyrs
2. Keep hope alive
3. Be strategic
4. Use new technologies to spread your message
5. Remember that renewing the culture, not gaining power, is our ultimate goal

Don'ts

1. Don't let yourselves be tricked into an inferiority complex
2. Don't let divisions take root
3. Don’t get trapped by politics -- especially partisan politics
4. Don't create or accept false oppositions
5. Our adversary is an opponent, but never our "enemy"
6. Don't let your adversaries set the agenda

Integrity

From Fr. Euteneuer of Human Life International

Spirit & Life®
Integrity

Dear Spirit and Life readers,

One of my most memorable experiences in Marine Corps boot camp was the lesson of integrity. Certain infractions of the strict code of discipline were considered "integrity violations" such as lying or undermining the chain of command, etc. We all implicitly understood that term to mean the breaking of rules of conduct or ethics that bind men together for the common mission. We did our best to avoid committing any violations of integrity, not merely to avoid penalties, but more so because we sought to form ourselves as honorable, trustworthy men deserving of our uniforms.

Ironically, the country our honorable Marines serve is currently being led by a President who has begun his term of office with an extensive list of "integrity violations," setting new lows for integrity in American history, and on the way to shredding the last bits of moral fiber left in our nation. But this is what we get when we elect a confirmed champion of the culture of death to the highest office of our land.

Count with me a couple of these violations that occurred in the President's first two weeks in office:

Mr. Obama is the first and only President-elect ever to be investigated by the FBI (regarding the Blagojevich scandal); and hasn't his normally-boisterous Chief of Staff been rather quiet lately?

Three of his nominees for high office were caught cheating on their taxes, including - astoundingly - the now-confirmed Secretary of the Treasury who has oversight of the IRS!

Candidate Obama's fervent promises to shun lobbyists from any influence in this administration didn't stop him from picking at least twelve lobbyists for top jobs, including the #2 man at the Defense Department. One blog noted that Obama has hired a lobbyist a day in less than two weeks in office!

The #1 man at the Obama Justice Department helped President Clinton pardon a billionaire financier on the run from tax evasion charges; the #2 man at the Obama Justice Department is an extreme pornography and abortion rights advocate; the #3 man at the Obama Justice Department helped to kill Terri Schiavo. This is Mr. Obama's version of justice?

Our new Secretary of State, even aside from her husband's foreign fundraising conflicts of interest, will put the whole US foreign policy apparatus behind the promotion of abortion around the world. Come to think of it, this is not an integrity violation at all; it is an essential part of the moral code of Obama, Hillary and company. The President's erasure of the Mexico City Policy will fund the international killers to the teeth for a new reign of terror on the unborn worldwide.

I could go on but I won't. One just wonders what the word "shame" means any more.

The icing on the integrity cake, however, is Mr. Obama's recent call to limit the compensation of the CEOs of corporations that receive government bailout monies. There are two good reasons (among many) why this move is disingenuous in the extreme: first is that it actually applies to no one at the moment because all those who have already received government bailouts are exempt. Second, keeping corporate executive salaries down will stimulate nothing except the rapaciousness of the vultures in Congress who want more sectors of American society under their control.

I can think of a number of people whose salaries should really be capped, however, but it would take integrity to call these filthy rich celebrities and sports stars to account for their obscene income in the same period of time in which more than one million Americans lost their jobs:

J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter author) - $300,000,000
Oprah - $275,000,000
Beyoncé and her rapper husband Jay-Z - $162,000,000
Jerry Bruckheimer - $145,000,000
Tiger Woods - $115,000,000
Simon Cowell (American Idol) - $72,000,000
Howard Stern - $70,000,000
David Letterman - $45,000,000
Michael Jordan - $45,000,000
Madonna - $40,000,000
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - $34,000,000

Integrity is clearly not Mr. Obama's strong suit. His lack of experience, superficial judgment, and penchant for empty rhetoric is now on display for all the world to see, and it is embarrassing. The point of the matter, however, is not that America can't survive such a poor performance. Remember that we did survive eight years of the Clinton regime. It's that this man is a product of the culture of death and will entirely radicalize our nation's institutions with other immoral and extreme people who share his views. The blood of fifty million aborted babies has clouded our national judgment, and we have chosen to rule over us not just one man, but thousands of his appointees who will likely drive us into oblivion before we wake up and insist on integrity once again.

Personally, I think a few months in Marine Corp boot camp might serve President Obama very well.

Sincerely,

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

Speakout Illinois

I've posted these photos in previous posts, but now I will put them into context for the day. My Mom took some short videos from the conference which I will mix in.

---

Saturday morning we got up early and made the trip out to Lombard for the 2009 Speakout Illinois Conference. When we arrived at the beautiful Westin Hotel, we joined hundreds of other pro-lifers. After checking in each person received a bag of materials including a Pro-Life Passport. At each table you visited you got a sticker, after filling up all the spots on the passport you turned it in and at the end of the day names would be pulled to win prizes. We walked around to different tables to see the different materials that the groups had available. In my experience Catholic groups are always heavily represented at pro-life events and this was no exception, but also in attendance were other religious groups including Lutherans for Life, Orthodox Christians for Life - Chicago, and others.

As I was walking around collecting stickers and I ended up listening to a representative from Word of Hope the post-abortion healing ministry from Lutherans for Life. She was saying that since Sarah Palin was chosen as John McCain's VP, and sshe was out front with her son Trig, they have received many more calls from women who aborted Down Syndrome children who were suffering.

I finished up my passport and went and sat down at the table. We were way in the back, which accounts for the number of heads you will see in my photos. The first speaker was Fr. Euteneuer of HLI. We saw him in the front getting ready so I went up and asked him to bless a few rosaries for me. He did, and even though he was busy it was still a very nice blessing. I've gotten a lot more rushed ones in the back of churches after mass than the one he did. I felt a little bad about it afterwards because I'm sure he was trying to prepare himself for the talk, but I am glad he did bless them.




Fr. Euteneuer gave his presentation. He spoke mostly about abortion throughout the world. He said that many times people think that either the whole world has abortion, or we're the only ones with abortion. Truly however it is a mixed bag. Most of Africa does not have abortion or abortion on demand. Most of Asia does. Most of Europe. South America is doing pretty good at the moment holding its own against abortion. He also showed the birthrates for the different continents around the world and he highlighted some countries specifically. Its shocking to see in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, how many countries are not only below replacement levels they are far below. Some of the countries do not even have a birthrate of 1.


He also touched on how abortion is often brought into a country with a 3 prong approach. First birth control is brought in, however when some in the older generation resist it, the second step is to bring sex education into the schools and prepare the future generations. The next step is abortion when birth control doesn't work. At the end of his presentation he had this slide, which got a pretty good laugh from the crowd.






After a short break Alveda King came to give her presentation. She spoke about how her mother almost had an abortion when she was pregnant with her. She spoke about how she had two abortions herself, one voluntary and one involuntary, and the effects that those abortions have had on her life and relationships. She played for us a video that is still being edited but is a video letter to President Obama, with the causes that the group she is in is asking for him to enact. She also showed another short video of her explaining abortion, which will soon be up on the priests for life website.

She also spent some of her time taking questions from the audience. The questions ranged from what one woman who has written a book about her experience from abortion could do to get her message out there, to the eugenic nature of Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, and abortion. It seemed to me from the questions that people were asking that many people are worried about where the pro-life movement can go with an Obama presidency.

Dr. King teaches us a new song for the pro-life movement.





After Dr. King finished we had to leave the room for a half hour for the staff to set up for lunch. On my way out I stopped to view the Little Soles display in front.







After we came back for lunch the Henry Hyde Leadership Award was presented to Phyllis Schlafly. She didn't speak very long because she had a flight she needed to catch, but she spoke about what the feminist groups want President Obama to do for them after all the support they gave him.





After her speech, the prizes were called for the passport contest. There was going to be a memorial for the unborn next, but we left. We wanted to go to 5pm mass at church and we needed to go home and get ready to do that. It was a really great experience. Its so easy in the pro-life movement to feel alone, so it was great to be there with 400 other people who are all in it together with you, and have had many of the same experiences as you.

The 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference

I was going to wait until I could spend more time to make a full post on this, but I don't know if I'll have time tomorrow, so I'll post my photos now and pick up with a more detailed post when I have a chance.

I went to the 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference today.

The 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference, "Rekindle the Fire," will be held Saturday, January 31 at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center. Our program will feature talks by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer and Dr. Alveda King, plus the presentation of the Henry Hyde Leadership Award to Phyllis Schlafly. The Master of Ceremonies will be Christian radio personality Sandy Rios. http://speakoutillinois.org/

Fr. Euteneuer of Human Life International





This was from the end of his presentation that made me laugh. :lol:



Dr. Alveda King of King for America and Priests for Life, and niece of Martin Luther King Jr.





Phyllis Schlafly who received the Henry Hyde Leadership Award.

Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad Sacked

Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad Sacked
Posted by Tom McFeely

Thursday, January 29, 2009 9:09 AM

NBC has refused to air CatholicVote.org’s new pro-life ad during its broadcast of this Sunday’s Super Bowl game.

According to a Jan. 29 press release from CatholicVote.org, “After several days of negotiations, an NBC representative in Chicago told CatholicVote.org late yesterday that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving ‘political candidates or issues.’”

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, said in the press release, “There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement. We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC’s parent company GE has done for years. We congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first African-American President. And we simply ask people to imagine the potential of each human life.”

The 30-second ad has no graphic content nor even any direct references to abortion.

It features an ultrasound image of a baby in the womb and images of Barack Obama, along with a narration describing how the president’s mother chose to give birth to him and nurtured him as a single mother after his Kenyan-born father left the family, allowing Obama to grow up to become the nation’s first African-American president.


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What the FOCA?!

What the FOCA?!

I was invited to a facebook group for this last week and I saw someone on campus wearing a shirt yesterday.

Pro-Life on Flickr

A couple years ago I created a pro-life group on Flickr. It sat mostly dormant until just a few days ago. We had just a few members and I was the only one who had posted any pictures. I've had some extra time at school this week so I've gone and searched through flickr for some pictures to invite to the group. It seemed this would be a good time to look with the march just about a week ago.

I've found some really wonderful and great captures. Every year I wish I could go to the march, but I never can. At least this year I can enjoy the photos on flickr and by fellow bloggers and I can feel like I was there.

Bishop Hermann: 'I thought you should know’

Bishop Hermann: 'I thought you should know’

By Bishop Robert J. Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

January 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I was very edified this past Saturday to see the Cathedral almost filled for the Pro-Life Mass. Then to see such a large contingent, on a very cold day, make a pilgrimage to the abortion clinic, praying the Rosary for Life, was truly heartwarming.

At the very moment I am writing this, our new president, Barack Obama, is being sworn into office. We congratulate him, and we pray for him, but we cannot condone his pro-death policies, even while we are happy that so many people feel they have new hope. We must do everything we can to oppose his pro-death-to-children efforts.

Joseph Bottum, in an article entitled "Abortion after Obama," writing in the January 2009 edition of First Things, pages 13-15, tells us, "Now the 2008 election has brought us the presidency of Barack Obama, the most consistent supporter of legalized abortion ever nominated by a majority party."

When asked about making decisions as to when a baby gets human rights, President Obama answered that "is above my pay grade." He also stated that he would not want his daughters "punished with a baby."

He has made it known that, upon taking office, he will remove all federal restrictions on funding embryonic stem-cell research. He also intends to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. Seldom has our nation ever been confronted with such an extreme measure. The Freedom of Choice Act will invalidate for the entire country all restrictions on abortion before viability, including parental notification, waiting periods and partial-birth abortion bans. President Obama has no problem supporting legislation that would even kill a child who survived a botched abortion.

If at this stage our anger is directed at President Obama, our anger is misdirected. Obama is not the enemy. He needs and deserves our prayers, not our condemnation.

As Catholics, we are not guiltless. It seems to me that when President Kennedy compromised Catholic teachings and accommodated political pressures in order to be elected to the highest office in the land, he set the tone for many Catholic leaders to follow and to compromise their Catholic principles to get ahead.

In our Supreme Court and in our Congress, we have a plethora of so-called Catholics who are failing to live their Catholic identity. Over 50 percent of our electorate voted for a president who is one of the most pro-culture-of-death candidates from a major party to run for the highest office of the land.

Yes, we can thank one-half of our Catholics for bailing out on their faith!

After almost 50 years of having 50 percent of Catholics abandoning their Catholic identity, we cannot expect to turn this culture around by short-term political efforts.

In order to bring about a transformation from a culture of death to a culture of life, we have to restore our Catholic identity.

This means that all of us, as Catholics, have to undergo a profound transformation. It means that we have to take a good look at every facet of our Catholic life, including the serious study of life issues, the regular and devout use of our Sacramental system, especially the devout and weekly attendance at Mass, the regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the devout praying of the daily Rosary, and then the faithful, loving and firm witness to lax Catholics about our Catholic beliefs and practices.

We have to live our lives in such a way that we will be unafraid to witness to what we believe and live.

I may courageously say that I am willing to die to end abortion, but am I equally willing to say that I am ready to let my ego get ruffled daily for the same cause? Yet … that is where I need to arrive if I am to be a credible witness.

What a glorious opportunity we all have to make a difference in the pro-life cause. Until we are willing to be politically incorrect in order to be biblically correct, we will never convince anyone that our religion is worth living.

It does not take 100 percent of our Catholics to transform this country. If 75 percent of our Catholics were steeped in Catholic identity, the abortion issue would be over for our entire country. We have many, many evangelicals on our side in the culture of life. Look at how many more of them would flock to our side if we really lived our Catholic teachings! They, too, are looking for changeless principles lived out in practice.

But there is more! Our laxity in living our Catholic life has blinded us into not seeing the role of Satan in the culture of death. Satan is having a heyday in our midst, because he has managed to remain invisible in the culture of death, and our laxity has granted him that luxury. Since we are not steeped in the Word of God as we should be, we do not recognize his darkness in our society. Our first reading from Hebrews tells us, "The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart."

St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood but against the power and principles of darkness. He also tells us that we should not let the sun go down upon our anger so as to give Satan a foothold. These readings are wake-up calls for us all. I bring this up deliberately, because I do not want us to fall into Satan's trap of getting us to hate President Obama or any of the pro-choice Catholic legislators in Congress. Being pro-life means that we engage far more in spiritual warfare than in political warfare.

That Satan is very alive in influencing all of us is his best-kept secret. Becoming steeped in the Word of God and the teachings of the Catholic Church exposes his evil machinations.

President Obama, pro-choice legislators and Planned Parenthood are not our enemies. Our enemies are the invisible forces masked behind these people. Most of them do not have a clue that they are being deceived by our common enemy, the devil. They are used by our common enemy, Satan, and his evil forces, to get us to hate so that we, too, will end up in a culture of death. President Obama and all pro-choice and pro-abortion legislators, as well as members supporting Planned Parenthood (and we have in our own state a national legislator who has received over $900,000 from groups that advocate for abortion rights) — these are not our enemies. They are used by the evil one to get us to hate them in our efforts to be pro-life and thereby ditch our pro-life efforts. We cannot fall for that trap!

We owe all of them prayers and fasting for their conversion. At one point, Gov. Reagan was California's very pro-abortion governor. Yet he became a very pro-life president. He repented and regretted the evil he supported.

We must bravely witness against supporting pro-choice and pro-abortion candidates in political elections, but pray daily for their conversion.

Source

For Chicago Pro-lifers

The 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference Theme Calls Pro-Life Activists to "Rekindle the Fire": 2009 Leadership Award to Phyllis Schlafly
1/1/2009 9:35:00 PM

The 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference, "Rekindle the Fire", will be held Saturday, January 31, 2009, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, 70 Yorktown Shopping Center, Lombard, IL. 60148. Parking is free.

See Conference web site http://speakoutillinois.org for flyers and registration forms. Conference Registration is $50.00 per person if postmarked by January 19, 2008, $60.00 per person thereafter. Phone the Illinois Right to Life Committee for additional information 312/422-9300.

The program will feature talks by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer and Dr. Alveda King, plus a presentation of the "Henry Hyde Leadership Award" to Phyllis Schlafly. Sandy Rios, President of Culture Campaign, and WYLL talk show host will act as Master of Ceremonies.

At 9:30 a.m., Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President, Human Life International www.hli.org will present "The Fight for Life around the World."

At 10:45 a.m., Dr. Alveda King will present "The Pro-Life Movement Needs You."

Dr. King is the director of African American Outreach for Gospel of Life, a branch of Priests for Life http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/ She is the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King and daughter of civil rights activist Rev. A.D. King.

During the luncheon at 12:30 p.m., Phyllis Schlafly, Founder and President of the Eagle Forum http://eagleforum.org/ will be presented with the "Henry Hyde Life Leadership Award." Mrs. Schlafly is a lawyer, author, and is an articulate and successful opponent of the radical feminist movement, appearing in debates on college campuses. Her talk will be entitled, "State of Our Nation."

Teen Speak: presented by Generations for Life. This year's conference program will again feature a concurrent program for high school teens entitled "Reclaiming Our Generation for Life." See: http://speakoutillinois.org/teenspeak.php for flyers and reservations. Registration is $25 per student, including lunch and materials.

- "Social Justice Begins in the Womb-But It Doesn't End with a T-Shirt" will be presented by Bryan Kemper, the Director of Stand True Ministries.

- Dr. Alveda King, will present the talk "Can You Hear Me Now?"

A pro-life essay contest is offered with scholarship prizes for first place $1000 and second prize $500. The theme: "How would you convince a pro-life friend to become more actively involved in the fight against abortion?

A "Memorial for the Unborn" will close the Conference.

LIST OF SPONSORS: http://speakoutillinois.org/sponsors.php

Catholic Citizens of Illinois

Life: Imagine the Potential

Obama Officials Confirm He Will Fund Foreign Abortions Starting Wednesday

Obama Officials Confirm He Will Fund Foreign Abortions Starting Wednesday
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 19, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Officials with the incoming administration of Barack Obama have confirmed that he will indeed overturn a pro-life policy of President Bush on his first day in office. Despite campaigning on the rhetoric of wanting to reduce abortions, Obama will make one his first actions promoting them globally.

Meanwhile, some 77 members of Congress have signed onto a letter asking Obama to back down from doing so.

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Catholic Clergy Absent at Inauguration

We suspect Obama’s omission of a Catholic participant was a whole lot more intentional than that. This year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver also notably excluded an invitation to Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, unlike invitations extended at previous conventions to bishops such as Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles at the DNC in 2000 held in that city.

Why the contemporary reluctance among Democrats to grant Catholic bishops a voice at functions they have organized? Perhaps it’s because they fear that virtually any Catholic bishop they invite will call the nation’s attention to the Democratic Party’s failure to respect the sanctity of life of the unborn, because of the party’s formal commitment to the promotion of abortion rights.

In fact, that’s exactly what Cardinal Mahony did by raising the issue of abortion in both the homily and the invocation that he delivered to the Democrats who assembled in his city in 2000. “O God, we trust that you will keep us ever committed to protect the life and well-being of all people but especially unborn children, the sick and the elderly, those on skid row and those on death row,” Cardinal Mahoney prayed in the invocation.

The U.S. bishops have become even more forceful in the intervening eight years in speaking out about the moral obligation of every American in public life to defend the lives of the unborn. And they specifically called Obama to account on this issue following his election, with their Nov. 12 statement decrying the anti-life Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) that Obama has promised to sign into law as president.

So it’s only reasonable to speculate that Barack Obama — who by general consensus is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever elected to the White House — is not eager to afford one of the Church’s American shepherds another high-profile opportunity to remind him that this obligation to respect the sanctity of the lives of unborn Americans applies very specifically to all of Obama’s actions during his upcoming presidency.

Link

40-Days for Life During Lent

Abortion Opponents Ready to Launch Focused International 40-Day Campaign During Lent

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – From February 25 until April 5, people across North America will join together for 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion. The upcoming campaign is merely the latest effort of the growing and startlingly effective 40 Days for Life movement.

"As America approaches the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling that imposed abortion on our nation, pro- life advocates are launching the next wave of a unique pro-life campaign," said David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life.

Cities interested in hosting campaigns are invited to apply online at http://www.40daysforlife.com/apply. "In addition to U.S. cities from coast to coast, we've also received inquiries from Canada and Australia," said Bereity. Applications will be accepted through Wednesday, January 14.

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Novena (9 days of prayer) to stop FOCA

Novena (9 days of prayer) to stop FOCA

I recieved this message via email and thought it important to share with the greater facebook community...

"Please get as many people as possible to join in this novena beginning Sunday Jan.11. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOVENA TO STOP FOCA If you are opposed to abortion then there is bad news on the horizon.

For those of you who do not know, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is set to be signed if congress passes it on January 21-22 of 2009. The FOCA is the next sick chapter in the book of abortion.
If made a law then all limitations on abortion will be lifted which will result in the following:
1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals will be required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens Bishops vow to close down all Catholic hospitals, more then 30% of all hospitals in the United States .
2) Partial birth abortions would be legal and have no limitations.
3) All U.S. tax payers would be funding abortions.
4) Parental notification will no longer be required.
5) The number of abortions will increase by a minimum of 100,000 annually.

Perhaps most importantly the government will now have control in the issue of abortion. This could result in a future amendment that would force women by law to have abortions in certain situations (rape, down syndrome babies, etc) and could even regulate how many children women are allowed to have. Needless to say this information is disturbing, but sadly true. As Catholics, as Christians, as anyone who is against the needless killing of innocent children, we must stand as one. We must stop this horrific act before it becomes a law. The Plan : To say a novena ( 9 days of prayer ) along with fasting starting on January 11th. For Catholics, the prayer of choice will be the rosary with intentions to stop the FOCA.

For non Catholics I encourage you to pray your strongest prayers with the same intentions, also for nine consecutive days. The hope is that this will branch and blossom as to become a global effort with maximum impact. We have very little time so we all must act fast.
Just do three things:
1) Pass this letter to 5 or more people
2) Do it in three days or less
3) Start the novena on January 11th and pray for nine consecutive days. (please also fast for at least two days during the novena)
Remember that with God all things are possible and the power of prayer is undeniable. If you are against the senseless killing of defenseless children then the time is now to do something about it! -- Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part in ending abortion. Today I commit myself Never to be silent, Never to be passive, Never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement (if the Lord places this on your heart), And never to stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected, And our nation once again becomes A nation with liberty and justice Not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. "