Bi-partisan Support for Maintaining Pro-Life Riders

As per a 2/25/09 letter sent to the Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives,
"for many years pro-life measures have been added to the various appropriations bills to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or perform abortion, protect the consciences of health care professionals, and prevent funding for unethical human embryo experiments....Some of these measures have been in place for over thirty years....Members of both parties have expressed strong support for these measures, which reflect the moral concerns of many Americans who do not wish to see their tax dollars used for any organization that provides abortion services. We respectfully request that the pro-life riders be included in any legislation reported out of the Appropriationi Committee....If this Congress intends to rescind these riders, at a minimum the American people deserve a full debate with an up-or-down vote" <http://focusfamaction.edgeboss.net/download/focusfamaction/pdfs/2009-02-25_jordan_shuler_letter.pdf>.

The letter was signed by 180 of your colleagues in the House (157 Republicans and 23 Democrats). Rumors of your own ambition to run for the Senate and the conspicuous absence of your signature give new meaning to the lyrics of the Who's old song. Surely, your "dreams, they aren't as empty as...[your] conscience seems to be."

Saint Patrick's Battalion (2/22/09 submission to the B.C. Courier Times)

The Catholic Church designates March 17th to honor Saint Patrick, who came to Ireland as a bishop, nearly 1600 years ago. As desribed by Anita McSorley, Patrick encountered a “people who still practiced human sacrifice, who warred with each other constantly and who were renowned as the great slave traders of the day.” Introducing Christianity and its concommitant respect for human life, Patrick brought about a dramatic decline in war and murder, as well as an end to the slave trade.

In subsequent centuries, Patrick's respect for human life has continued to inspire Irish heroism. While it may receive minimal coverage in American history books, Teresita Sabin explains that a group of Irish immigrant soldiers actually switched sides during the Mexican-American War: "the murdering of priests, the rape and murder of nuns, the burning of churches, often with women and children trapped inside....by the American troops must have disgusted and enraged them." At that same time, Americans defined "themselves not by what they were but by what they were not....an American was 'not a Negro, not an Indian, not a Mexican and most definitely not an Irish Catholic!'" Whether or not you agree with the action taken by "Saint Patrick's Battalion" (the San Patricios), these Irish Catholics believed that they had to stand with embattled Mexicans, as their adopted homeland was engaging in a vicious war against human life.

Teresita Sabin also tells us that "Anti-Catholic riots broke out in Philadelphia in 1844, leaving the Irish ghetto in ruins and hundreds homeless, as well as two Catholic churches burned to the ground." Just nineteen years later and 140 miles away, Irish immigrant blood flowed freely at Gettysburg, turning the direction of the American Civil War. Saint Patrick's respect for human life was continuing to cultivate abhorence to the practice of human slavery.

Tragically, the mid nineteenth century also witnessed profound cowardice by some Irish. During the "Potato Famine" or "Great Hunger", food was offered to Irish Catholics at the price of denying their religion. As explained by Katherine Nolan, "Some of the protestant charities running the kitchens demanded that people convert from Catholicism before receiving help. Those who did were derided and referred to as ’soupers’" <www.dochara.com/the-irish/food-history/the-irish-potato-famine-1846-1850/>. "Souper" has come to mean a person of Irish descent who sells out his own people and his own beliefs for material comfort.

As a co-sponsor of the rabidly pro-abortion FOCA legislation, Congressman Patrick Murphy is behaving as a modern-day "souper." You can contact Congressman Murphy at his Bristol (414 Mill Street; 215- 826-1963; 215-826-1997, fax) or Washington offices (1609 Longworth HOB; 202-225-4276; 202-225-9511, fax), or via his web site <www.house.gov/formpatrickmurphy/schedule_form.shtml>, to request that he disavow FOCA and embrace a position which cherishes all human life.

REFERENCES

Library of Congress. Co-sponsors of H.R.1964 <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR01964:@@@P>
McSorley, Anita. The Saint Patrick You Never Knew <www.americancatholic.org/messenger/mar1997/feature1.asp>
Mexico honors Irish-American Saint Patrick’s Brigade (San Patricios) <http://mexicotrucker.com/mexico-honors-irish-american-saint-patricks-brigade-san-patricios>
Nolan, Katherine. The Irish Potato Famine 1846-1850 <www.dochara.com/the-irish/food-history/the-irish-potato-famine-1846-1850/>

Northern Fertility

The Dignity of Marriage

re: The Charter for Health Care Workers

Charter For Health Care Workers

View more presentations from atptptjt1.

Highlights from Pope Benedict XVI's 1/29/09 Address to the Roman Rota

"at the distance of 20 years from the Addresses of John Paul II on psychiatry's incapacity in the nullification ofmatrimony,....it seems opportune to ask oneself whether and to what extent these interventions have had an adequate reception in the ecclesiastical tribunals....

"the fact of a problem that continues to be very real is visible to everyone....of which my venerable Predecessor spoke: that of preserving the ecclesial community 'from the scandal of seeing in practice the value of Christian marriage being destroyed by the exaggerated and almost automatic multiplication of declarations of nullity,...on the pretext of some immaturity or psychic weakness....

"recall again...distinctions...between 'psychic maturity which is seen as the goal of human development' and 'canonical maturity which instead, is the basic minimum required for establishing the validity of marriage'....'only incapacity and not difficulty in giving consent and inrealizing a true community of life and love invalidates a marriage'.... the canonistic dimension of normality, that is inspired by an integral vision of the human person 'also includes moderate forms of psychological difficulty'....distinction between the 'minimum capacity sufficient for valid consent' and the idealized capacity 'of full maturity in relation to happy married life'....

"for this incapacity to be recognized, there must be a particular mental anomaly (art. 209 1) that seriously disturbs the use of reason (art. 209 2, n. 1; can. 1095, n. 1), at the time of the celebration of marriage and the use of reason or the critical and elective faculty in regard to grave decisions, particularly in freely choosing a state of life (art. 209 2, n. 2; can. 1095, n. 2) or that puts the contracting party not only under a serious difficulty but even the impossibility of sustaining the actions inherent in the obligations of marriage....

"some fundamental principles that must enlighten lawyers.

"First of all it is necessary to rediscover the positive capacity that in principle every human person has to marry by virtue of his very nature as man or woman. Indeed, we run the risk of falling into a form of anthropological pessimism....one cannot confuse the real difficulties confronting many, especially young people who conclude that marital union is normally unthinkable and impracticable with the true incapacity of consent....What is actually at stake is the truth about marriage and about its intrinsic juridical nature....

" in the reductionist optic that fails to recognize the truth on matrimony, the effective relationship of a true communion of life and love, idealized on a level of pure human well-being, essentially becomes dependentonly on accidental factors, and not, instead, on the exercise of human freedom sustained by grace.

"It is true that this freedom of human nature, 'wounded in the natural powers' and 'inclined to sin' (Catechism of the Catholic Church,n. 405), is limited and imperfect, but not for this reason does it become inauthentic and insufficient....

"some anthropological and 'humanistic' currents aimed at self-realization and egocentric self-transcendence idealize human beings and marriage to such an extent that they then deny the mental capacity of many people, basing this on elements that do not correspond to the essential requirements of the conjugal bond....

"capacity makes reference to a basic minimum so that the couple can give their being as a male or as a female to establish that bond to which the great majority of human beings are called....

"real incapacity...is always an exception tothe natural principle of the capacity necessary"

ERDs Desperately Require Update, re: Nutrition & Hydration

....In spite of Section 120 of the Vatican's 1995 Charter for Health Care Workers <http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/hlthwork/documents/rc_pc_hlthwork_doc_19950101_charter_en.html ...[Terri Schiavo's] situation revealed tremendous theological confusion, in regard to food and water! In addition to the late Holy Father's address of 3/20/04 <www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2004/march/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20040320_congress-fiamc_en.html>, the Vatican's 2007 "Responses to Certain Questions of the USCCB Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration" <www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070801_risposte-usa_en.html> definitively removed any possible cause for confusion:

• "The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented....
• "A patient in a 'permanent vegetative state' is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means."

This past Thursday, I spoke with the USCCB's...Pro Life Activities and ...Doctrine. I expressed dismay that "Ethical & Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, 4th Ed" (ERDs) <www.usccb.org/bishops/directives.shtml> has not been updated & remains posted on the USCCB web site with this section full intact....

• "Some state Catholic conferences, individual bishops, & the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities (formerly an NCCB committee) have addressed the moral issues concerning medically assisted hydration & nutrition....These statements agree that hydration & nutrition are not morally obligatory either when they bring no comfort to a person who is imminently dying or when they cannot be assimilated by a person's body. The USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities' report, in addition, points out the necessary distinctions between questions already resolved by the magisterium & those requiring further reflection, as, for example, the morality of withdrawing medically assisted hydration & nutrition from a person who is in the condition that is recognized by physicians as the 'persistent vegetative state' (PVS)" (from Part 5, "Issues in Care for the Dying", Introduction).

Please join me in asking the USCCB to update the ERDs or, at minimum, to remove this outdated material from the internet.

Re: "On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest"

Many people are at a loss as to why the Bishop's appeal is seeking to raise funds for Father Ronald Cioffi's Office of Social Concerns. Father Cioffi has NEVER denied, refuted, nor rescinded this quote: "You may vote for a person who is pro-choice if you feel you have a moral reason to support the candidate for his stand on other issues."

There are other baffling aspects about this appeal. For example, the Wyeth Corporation is among the WORLD’s top three manufacturers of hormonal contraceptives <http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADF983.pdf>; hormonal contraceptives can act as abortifacients. Obviously, the Diocese would not make corporate appeals to Penthouse, Playboy, or Planned Parenthood. Yet rather than offer moral & spiritual guidance, the appeal tells Wyeth and its employees to: "Please make checks payable to the Diocese of Trenton" <www.bishopsannualappeal.com/matchinggifts.php>!

As per the Vatican's 1997 "On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest", "It is unlawful for the non-ordained faithful to assume titles such as 'pastor', 'chaplain', 'coordinator', 'moderator' or other such similar titles which can confuse their role and that of the Pastor, who is always a Bishop or Priest." Yet, the appeal is specifically promoting lay "chaplains" and "coordinators" <www.bishopsannualappeal.com/index.php>. Please explain.
I believe that it was Pope John Paul II who first warned of a "clericalization of the laity" and a "laicization of the clergy." Both processes diminish our mutual and complementary roles. To be blunt, both of us get "dissed" by counterfeit understandings of our callings.

Failures to understand and appreciate the clergy are legendary. As a lay person, husband, and dad, however, I am especially attuned to failures to appreciate the vocation and sacrament of marriage. I wish that there could be a vastly improved dissemination of the late Pope's beautiful Christifideles Laici.

While its title may be a mouthful & its pages may have collected much dust, the Vatican's 1997 "On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest" is a fabulous document. Some may have shied away from it with the MISTAKEN notion that it downplayed the laity. Quite the contrary! It reminds all of us of the need for "a full recovery of the awareness of the secular nature of the mission of the laity."

Coming from a deep appreciation of the proper, distinct-but-complementary roles of the clergy and laity, the document shows a deep awareness of the need for clarity: "It is unlawful for the non-ordained faithful to assume titles such as 'pastor', 'chaplain', 'coordinator', 'moderator' or other such similar titles which can confuse their role and that of the Pastor, who is always a Bishop or Priest." Its conclusion includes two powerful quotes from Pope John Paul II:

• "the particular gift of each of the Church's members must be wisely and carefully acknowledged, safeguarded, promoted, discerned and co-ordinated, without confusing roles functions or theological and canonical status."
• "It should also be understood that these clarifications and distinctions do not stem from a concern to defend clerical privileges but from the need to be obedient to the will of Christ, and to respect the constitutive form which he indelibly impressed on his Church" <www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/laity/documents/rc_con_interdic_doc_15081997_en.html>.

A dozen years after "On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest", why is the annual appeal promoting lay "chaplains" and "coordinators" <www.bishopsannualappeal.com/index.php>? It almost feels as though Christifideles Laici was never written.

"Faithful Citizenship" & Misrepresentations of Catholic Social Teaching

Catholics Must Choose Candidates Who Oppose Abortion

Trenton Times Scandal Rehashed

An Injustice to Jeff Trently, Perpetrated by the Trenton Diocese?

Rev. Ronald Cioffi & the Trenton Diocese

Recommit to AUTHENTIC Catholic Social Teaching

An Appeal: Give wisely, unequivocally

Nutrition, Hydration, & Always-Obligatory Care

• "Medical Treatment" & Always Morally Obligatory "Medical Care"
• ERDs Desperately Require Update, re: Nutrition & Hydration
• Nutrition & Hydration
• re: "Nutrition & Hydration: the CDF Response in Perspective"
• Isn't Providing Food & Water Part of Hospice?
• What Was Terri Schiavo Doing in a Hospice?
• Official Hospice philosophy conflicts with Catholic teaching, re: nutrition & hydration.

An appeal: Give wisely, unequivocally (Times of Trenton, 2/5/09)

(The unedited submission....)

In an article last summer, the Times quoted Father Ronald Cioffi of the Trenton Diocese's Office of Social Concerns:

• "You may vote for a person who is pro-choice if you feel you have a moral reason to support the candidate for his stand on other issues."

The Vatican 's Archbishop Raymond Burke has bemoaned such misrepresentations:

• "The economic situation, or opposition to the war in Iraq, or whatever it may be, those things don’t rise to the same level as something that is always and everywhere evil, namely the killing of innocent and defenceless human life” <www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09012805.html>.

While Father Cioffi never denied the words attributed to him, his office is designated to be a recipient of Bishop Smith's annual appeal <www.bishopsannualappeal.com/ministriesfunded.php#missions>.

The fact that Father Cioffi is a recipient is just one grave reason for concern about Bishop Smith's appeal. While the Church maintains its opposition to all contraceptives, some "contraceptives" can actually work as abortifacients! In December, the Vatican released an instruction, Dignitas Personae, in which it forcefully & unequivocally reiterated condemnation of these hormonal, so-called "contraceptives", which can act as abortifacients. New Jersey's Wyeth is among the WORLD’s top three manufacturers of hormonal contraceptives <http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADF983.pdf>. Rather than offering moral and spiritual guidance, the appeal has these words for Wyeth and its employees: "Please make checks payable to the Diocese of Trenton." <www.bishopsannualappeal.com/matchinggifts.php>.

Catholics can be faithful and generous, without moral taint on their dollars. Money can easily go to church "poor boxes" or specific charities, known to be faithful to Church teaching.

re: "Emergency (So-Called) Contraception & Dignitas Personae

• Welcome guideline for couples: A 'yes' behind every 'no'"
• Dignitas Personae: A Call to Everyone to Courageously Defend Human Life
• CHAUSA's "Talking Points on Dignitas Personae" (specifically Section 23)
• re: "Vatican issues new document on biotechnology" (NCRcafe.org, 12/12/08)
• Selected excerpts from "Dignitas Personae"
• Re: "Vatican: Use of Morning After Pills 'Fall Within the Sin of Abortion' - Will Catholic Hospitals Now Stop Using them for Rape Victims?"
• re: Connecticut Bishops Statement...
• Rape Victims Deserve All the Facts
• Be Honest about Plan B
• Emergency So-Called Contraception
• An Evaluation: Eugene Diamond MD's "Post-Rape Medications"
• http://bioethicsandmore.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-post.html
• re: "Medical Miracles or Moral Nightmares" (The Catholic Answer, May/June 2009)

Bishop John Smith's annual appeal (2/3/09 letter to the Times of Trenton)

In an article last summer, the Times quoted Father Ronald Cioffi of the Trenton Diocese's Office of Social Concerns:

• "You may vote for a person who is pro-choice if you feel you have a moral reason to support the candidate for his stand on other issues."

The Vatican 's Archbishop Raymond Burke has bemoaned such misrepresentations:

• "The economic situation, or opposition to the war in Iraq, or whatever it may be, those things don’t rise to the same level as something that is always and everywhere evil, namely the killing of innocent and defenceless human life” <www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09012805.html>.

While Father Cioffi never denied the words attributed to him, his office is designated to be a recipient of Bishop Smith's annual appeal <www.bishopsannualappeal.com/ministriesfunded.php#missions>.

There are reasons to be concerned about Bishop Smith's appeal. For example, hormonal contraceptives can be abortifacient; their manufacture and distribution constitute a multi-billion dollar industry. While Wyeth is among the WORLD’s top three manufacturers of such <http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADF983.pdf>, the appeal makes special outreach, free of fraternal correction <www.bishopsannualappeal.com/matchinggifts.php>.

Catholics can be faithful and generous, without moral taint on their dollars. Money can easily go to church "poor boxes" or specific charities, known to be faithful to Church teaching.