Thursday, 17 May 2012 09:27

Catholic Communication Campaign helps church evangelize in the digital culture
WASHINGTON—Catholics promote the work of the Church in the worlds of digital and social media through the Collection for the Catholic Communication Campaign, which will be held May 20 in many U.S. parishes.
The Catholic Diocese of Wichita contributes to this collection through United Catholic Stewardship.
The CCC is a National Collection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
“The projects funded by the Catholic Communication Campaign help the Church evangelize the digital culture,” said Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, chairman of the bishops’ CCC subcommittee.
“The bishops firmly believe in the importance of supporting good work that allows the Church to keep pace with today’s rapidly changing communications world.”

Thursday, 03 May 2012 10:24

By Christopher M. Riggs
The health-care mandate issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the greatest affront to religious liberty in the history of the United States, according to an attorney with a Washington, D.C., law firm.
“Basically, you have the federal government telling you that you have to violate your conscience or you have to pay a severe fine,” said Emily Hardman, communications director for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
“This is troubling for all people, not just Catholics, not just for people who oppose this, but all Americans should be pretty concerned about this, that the government is actually forcing you to violate your conscience.”
Those who choose not to violate their conscience will be forced to drop their insurance, Hardman said, because there won’t be other insurance options, and they’ll be forced to pay a $2,000 fine per employee.
The lawsuit isn’t about contraception, Hardman said in a telephone interview last week, it’s about the government forcing someone to violate their conscience.
“Since the beginning of this country’s history we have respected the conscience and the right for people to believe or not believe and not be forced,” she said. “George Washington excused the Quakers from war service because they objected to it morally.”
If the federal government can force a nun or a monk to pay for the morning after pill, she said, then there are few protections for people of conscience.
“The First Amendment is very clear, and if it means anything, it means that the government cannot force you to violate your conscience or pay a fine – period,” she said.
Hardmon said if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care, is found unconstitutional, then it’s essentially a victory for EWTN and the universities. If it is found constitutional, the lawsuit goes forward.

Want more info?
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is representing EWTN, Belmont Abbey College, Ave Maria University, and Colorado Christian University. For details about the firm’s lawsuit against the HHS mandate, go to becketfund.org.

Thursday, 03 May 2012 08:55

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Ten years after a historic papal response to clerical sex abuse, the Vatican urged priests to strive for greater holiness in their own lives so that they might effectively minister to others and reverse the tide of atheism.
In its annual letter to priests for 2012, the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy focused on Blessed John Paul II’s 2002 Holy Thursday letter to clergy, in which the late pope responded to the growing revelations and scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests.
The congregation’s letter also gave priests a guideline for examining their consciences concerning everything from how they celebrate Mass to how well they are living a pure, humble and generous life detached from consumerism.
Signed by the congregation’s prefect, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, and secretary, Archbishop Celso Morga Iruzubieta, the letter was dated March 26 and recently published on the congregation’s website.

Thursday, 03 May 2012 08:53

Opponents hope states will resist moves to assisted suicide
BOSTON (CNS) — Opponents of legislation that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in Massachusetts hope the commonwealth will follow Vermont’s lead and kill the measure.
By an 18-11 vote April 12, Vermont senators defeated a proposal to legalize assisted suicide in the state.
“We’re obviously elated that the Senate in Vermont did the right thing, not only to defeat this onerous bill but also to defeat the political shenanigans that were going on to try to get this bill passed. The whole thing was politics at its worst,” said Kristian Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.

Wednesday, 18 April 2012 14:19

Brazil’s Supreme Court OKs abortion for fetuses with malformed brains
SAO PAULO (CNS) — Supreme Court justices in Brazil voted to legalize the abortion of fetuses without brains or those with malformed brains, despite an effort that saw thousands of Brazilians praying outside of the court, urging the justices to protect the life of unborn children.
The voting session, which ended late April 12, showed that the majority of the justices — 8 of 10 — were in favor of allowing women to interrupt a pregnancy if the fetus is found to have a malformed brain.
The Brazilian bishops’ conference issued a statement “deeply regretting” the court’s decision. The document, signed by the conference president, Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, said that “to legalize the abortion of anencephalic fetuses — erroneously diagnosed as brain-dead fetuses — is to discard a fragile and innocent being. Anencephalic fetuses cannot be discarded nor have their fundamental rights stolen.”
The said that by taking this stance, the church relies on “ethical, theological, scientific and legal arguments. Any argument that claims that this is an interference of religion in a secular state is erroneous.”

Thursday, 05 April 2012 12:01

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Even with a new federal proposal that third-party administrators pay the costs of contraceptives for religious employers who object to the coverage, the health reform law’s contraceptive mandate “remains radically flawed,” according to the U.S. bishops.
The bishops made the comments in an internal memo March 29. A copy of it was released to Catholic News Service April 2.
The memo came in response to a rule proposed by the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services in a 32-page document that was published March 21 in the Federal Register. HHS has proposed new ways for religious organizations that have moral objections to providing free contraceptives to their employees to comply with the requirement.
Among the suggestions are having the costs covered by a “third-party administrator” of a health plan or “independent agency” that receive funds from other sources, such as rebates from drug makers.
Before it makes a final decision on the proposed ruling, the Obama administration is seeking public comment until June 19.

Thursday, 05 April 2012 12:01

MEXICO CITY (CNS) — The Mexican Senate narrowly approved a constitutional provision providing “freedom of religion,” days after Pope Benedict XVI completed a visit to the country marked by an outpouring of enthusiasm and affection.
The Senate approved changes to Article 24 of the Mexican Constitution March 29, guaranteeing freedom of religion and making it possible to lift restrictions on religious groups to hold services outside of authorized churches without first seeking government permission. Earlier in the day, the Senate approved changes to Article 40 of the constitution by including the word “secular” as one of the descriptions of the Mexican state.
The Mexican bishops’ conference welcomed the changes, saying in a March 29 statement that with the reforms, “Mexico incorporates the highest levels of respect and promotion of human rights.”
Critics of the measures, including some non-Catholic congregations, questioned why amendments were necessary and warned the changes would allow for the religious education and religious groups owning TV and radio stations — two Catholic Church priorities in Mexico.
“In Mexico, there’s religious freedom. What’s limited is priests’ political expressions,” Sen. Pablo Gomez wrote in the newspaper Milenio. Gomez opposed changing Article 24.
The constitutional changes now must be approved by a majority of Mexico’s 31 state governments.
Pope Benedict visited central Mexico March 23-26.

Thursday, 05 April 2012 12:00

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The church needs to address the alienation often surrounding those living with autism, especially children and young people, by coming to the aid of those affected, said Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski.
The archbishop, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, said those who draw near to people with autism can help break down the barriers of silence and join in them in solidarity and prayer.
The archbishop made his comments in the council’s message for the Fifth World Autism Awareness Day April 2.
“The church sees as impelling the task of placing herself at the side of these people — children and young people in particular — and their families, if not to break down these barriers of silence then at least to share in solidarity and prayer in their journey of suffering,” said the archbishop.
Along with suffering often come frustration and resignation, especially from the families of those affected, said the archbishop. Families experience repercussions and are often “led to be closed up in an isolation that marginalizes and wounds,” he said.
Archbishop Zimowski said he hopes that all people of good will and the church may become “traveling companions” with people suffering from autism and express their awareness, supportiveness and sensitivity to those affected.
He concluded his message by reminding family members that, “they are passionately loved by God,” and they are never alone despite their challenging duties.

Thursday, 15 March 2012 12:20

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Permissive attitudes toward sex, cohabitation before marriage and acceptance of same-sex marriage can damage individuals and are harmful for society, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of U.S. bishops at the Vatican.
“It is in fact increasingly evident that a weakened appreciation of the indissolubility of the marriage covenant, and the widespread rejection of a responsible, mature sexual ethic grounded in the practice of chastity, have led to grave societal problems bearing an immense human and economic cost,” the pope said March 9.
Meeting the bishops of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, who were making their “ad limina” visits to report on the status of their dioceses, the pope said ignorance of or challenges to church teaching on marriage and sexuality were part of the “intellectual and ethical challenges” to evangelization in the United States today.

Thursday, 01 March 2012 13:51

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Seven states have filed suit against the Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that nearly all health insurance plans cover contraceptives free of charge, saying that it violates religious freedom and leaves “countless additional religious freedoms vulnerable to government intrusion.”
Joining the attorneys general of Nebraska, South Carolina, Michigan, Texas, Florida, Ohio and Oklahoma in the lawsuit were a Catholic nun, a lay missionary working with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, Pius X Catholic High School in Lincoln, Neb., and the Omaha-based Catholic Mutual Group, a self-insurance fund that covers more than 125 dioceses or archdioceses and 200 Catholic religious congregations in the U.S. and Canada.
The latest lawsuit was filed as protests against the HHS mandate mounted. More than 4,500 women signed a letter calling on President Barack Obama, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Congress “to allow religious institutions and individuals to continue to witness to their faiths in all their fullness.”
In addition, 18 U.S. senators asked Obama to rescind the mandate, saying that its implementation “will unjustly impact religiously affiliated organizations and individuals.”