Rule for teaching Christmas in public schools

Can a teacher wear Christmas clothing?
Can she teach about the Nativity?
Suprisingly, the answer to both questions is "yes".
Read these twelve rules and see if your child's school is in compliance or if Christmas is being supressed from the Rutherford Institute.

The end of the liberal experiment

Will the Spanish bishops enforce Canon 915?

Perhaps they lwere encouraged by the millions of Spaniards who gathered to support life this summer. Or perhaps it's the Holy Spirit. Or both. Either way, God is moving in Spain.

The announcement from the Spanish bishops comes as the Spanish parliament is considering a law that would make it easier to get an abortion in Spain by allowing 16-year olds to get an abortion without parental consent, among other measures.

In their statement, the bishops endorse the June 17th declaration of the bishops' Permanent Commission, entitled: "On the Proposed Abortion Law: An Assault against the Unborn Transformed into a 'Right.'"

The document states that this transformation of abortion into a right is the "poisoned source of immorality and injustice that corrupts the entire text [of the proposed law]."

Hope the USCCB is watching. Their abortion laws aren't nearly as liberal as ours. We permit minors to get abortions without parental consent in many states, and abortion is legal throughout all nine months.


Read the entire story on Life Site News

Gloal warming an expensive hoax?

The best summary of the Global Warming debacle is at Rasmussen Reports.
 Growing up in New York makes you prone to cynicism, so I would just say "follow the money". Global warming made a fortune for Al Gore and his cronies. Cap and trade legislation threatens to take from the taxpayer and reward Obama cronies who have 'green' industries. These people have a livelihood to lose if global warming is a hoax.
As it certainly appears to be. Faith rather than science. And they criticize intelligent design advocates!

Now, contrast that with the pro-life movement. Who makes money being a pro-lifer?
We have nothing to gain, in fact, under the Obama Administration, we have a lot to lose.

You can judge a movement by one thing: ulterior motives.

Where does your store stand on saying " Christmas"?

Focus on the Family has a list here. You can submit your own ratings as well. Fortunately my husband and I have finished our shopping at the more Christmas friendly stores. No Gap.
NOW we can enjoy Advent in peace.

Religious leaders who have signed the Manhattan Declaration

From Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Evangelical traditions, click here to see their names. Since Thanksgiving Day, over 150,000 Americans have signed the declartion, according to the Christian Post.
Sign it today and take a stand for Christian values in America.

Man assumed to be in vegetative state was fully conscious for 23 years

Of course he was!
Just because someone cannot communicate, it doesn't make them a vegetable (awful word). How many poor souls are in a similar situation and have had family members or medial staff make decisions to end their lives against their will, in their full knowlege. They say the sense of hearing is the last to go in a comatose patient. Talk to your loved ones in a coma, tell them you love them. Pray for them.
That is why if you treat all human life with dignity, you will neve make this tragic mistake.
Read the full story here.
Rush Limbagh mentioned this at the end of his program, saying that the pro-life movement will have a lot of ammunition with this case. But since when does the truth interfere with the opinions of the pro-death crowd?
I delayed posting this, due to Thanksgiving, and predictably, the Culture of Death is closing ranks and denying that he is really 'awake'.

Pray for Uruguay to reject abortion on Sunday

The sad fact is that thanks to Obama rejecting the Mexico City Policy, the US is exerting pressure on Uruguay to approve abortion in this Sunday's election. Read "international population groups"in the quote below. That's our tax dollars at work, in the UNPopulation Fund and Planned Parenthood, pressuring other nations to ignore their consciences.

"Uruguayan affiliates of Human Life International (HLI) have asked for prayers in the lead-up to the country's elections, saying that a win for the conservative National Party will block the push from the left and from international population control groups to legalize abortion. "
Read the entire article on Life Site News.

Pat Buchanan on the Church Militant

Read Pat's stirring article "Is the Church Militant Back?"  at Human Events, and see if you, like me, find yourself cheering at the end. Here is the comment I left: Mr Buchanan is right; for decades of "I'm OK, you're OK" , and "let's just ignore the advance of the Culture of Death" attitude promoted by the American hierarchy, has disheartened those faithful Catholics who see in the True Faith, the solution for the world's problems.
He ends,
" Catholicism is necessarily an adversary faith and culture in an America where a triumphant secularism has captured the heights, from Hollywood to the media, the arts and the academy, and relishes nothing more than insults to and blasphemous mockery of the Church of Rome.

Our new battling bishops may be surprised to find they have a large cheering section among a heretofore silent and sullen faithful who have been desperate to find a few clerical champions. "
My comment was "Finally, the absolute moral bankruptcy of the Obama Administration, aided and abetted by shameful Catholics Pelosi, Kennedy and the CCHD crowd, has caused the braver members of the hierarchy to rise up. Lead on, Archbishop Burke, Bishops Tobin and Wuerhl, the faithful are behind you.

This feels like the Gdansk shipyards, where the joy of fellowship overcame the fear of reprisals from the Communists, and Solidarity, led by our Polish Pope, rode on to victory over Godless Communism. We can do it here in America as well, and reclaim our nation from the Godless. "

Our Lady of Victory, pray for us!"

Harball's Chris Matthews shamelessly berates Bishop Tobin

Here is the  Hardball video of the unbelievably rude behavior of Chris Matthews telling Bishop Tobin he had no moral authority over Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and suggesting he 'reflect' on his behavior. Matthew's arrogance was breathtaking, he gave Bishop Tobin very little time to respond, it wasn't an interview, it was a diatribe; no wonder his ratings are abyssmal!


Now we are going to have to pray hard for Chris' conversion, he has a lot to repent of after this interview. I fear for his soul should he suddenly meet God after treating a good bishop so shamefully and misleading the Catholic public. He has a millstone around his neck, if only he could see it!
Posted using ShareThis
Bill O'Reilly, hardly a model Catholic, was far more fair in his interview, in which he allowed a conversation to take place and even appeared to learn more about his faith. He was fair and balanced. Matthews was clearly agenda driven. No wonder O'Reilly's show is unparalleled. See the article and the O'Reilly Factor video on LifeSiteNews.com.

Nominate your favorite pro-life blog for the ALL pro-life blog award

Here is the press release at Jill Stanek's blog. She is one of the panel  who judges the blogs. I was honored to be awarded the Pro-life Unity Award last year and meet some of my favorite bloggers; Jill Stanek, Barbara Curtis, Thomas Peters, and Jivin' Jehosaphat.
Go here to nominate your favorite pro-life bloggers.

Sign the Manhattan Declaration

Here is the text of the declaration:
Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.


We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life

2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Original signers include Archbishop Chaput, Dr James Dobson, Dr Wiliam Donohue, and Dr Peter Kreeft.
See the website here. to sign and learn more.

New reason not to support the CCHD collection this Sunday; George Soros

Comparison of New Missal and the one we use now

The new translation has more dignified language. I like it, but it will take me a long time to learn those new creeds and the Gloria.
Also I am confused:
I remember saying this when I was a First Holy Communicant in 1969. " Lord, I am not worthy



that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

Can someone out there tell me, was there an English translation similar to this new version, in the 1970's which was replaced by the one in use now?

Also, the response "and with your spirit" resembles the Spanish "Y con tu espiritu". Is the English language Missal the only one undergoing a revision?
Read the information on the USCCB website.

Don't make the same mistake in the Senate

Senator Reid releases health care bill with abortion and public option

That is why a pro-life amendment is a waste of time. It took only a week for Congress to come up with a prodeath health care bill, now over 2,000 pages.
Americans United for Life says,
"The principle behind both the Hyde Amendment and the Stupak-Pitts Amendment is that taxpayer dollars do not pay for abortions or subsidize insurance plans that cover abortions. In the new Senate bill, the abortion language revealed on pages 116 through 124 in Senator Reid's new health care bill will:


Require a plan that covers abortion in every insurance market.


Allow the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to require coverage of any and all abortions throughout the public option program. "

Create new tax-funded subsidies to purchase private health plans that will cover abortion.Read the news release from Americans United for Life.

Former Senator Santorum blames overemphasis on diversity for Ft Hood Masscre

"The Fort Hood massacre is now forcing us to consider whether the military's commitment to "diversity" as job one prevented military officials and the Department of Defense from "connecting the dots" when it came to the accused shooter.

You remember that concept, right? "Connecting the dots" was all the rage right after 9/11. Just eight years later, however, we're all wondering how the military brass failed to notice the many red flags surrounding Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, including his vocal opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, his Islamic proselytizing, and his ties to radical Islamists.


Could a perverse and overriding commitment to "diversity" have something to do with this deadly failure?"
Former Senator Rick Santorum in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Of course this has to be the assumption of the great majority of the American people. But do they have the courage to whisper  it in the public square where those who are not politically correct are swiftly punished for stating the obvious?
That this terrorist should have been discharged from the Army keeping him from emotionally damaging soldiers returning from the battlefield to defend this nation, is obvious. That he presented a clear and present danger not only to the soliders whom he treated as a psychiatrist, but to women whom he disdained, and to his fellow soldiers at Ft Hood is also obvious.
What is also becoming clear through the silence of Obama on human rights abuses in China and Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to give Constitutional rights to foreign terrorists who abhor the very freedom it stands for, that political correctness is endangering the lives of all Americans.
We are not at war with terror anymore, terrorists are just ordinary citizens, and repressive Chinese communists are our friends because they buy our debt. This type of doublespeak is reminiscent of the novel 1984. If not, please read the summary here. It is a prophetic book for our time.

Do the parallels between this book and our society frighten you as much as they frighten me?

Read Santorum's  entire Op Ed in the Philadelphi Inquirer.
 

Pope Benedict acknowleges the power of new media

"A genuine revolution is taking place in the realm of social communications of which the Church is ever more responsibly conscious. . . . . These technologies make speech and penetrating communications possible, with a capacity to share ideas and opinions; to facilitate acquiring information and news in a personal way that is accessible to all." Pope Benedict XVI
Of course ours is the responsiability to use our blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts for the speading of the good news of the Kingdom of God and not for gossip, slander, or even to waste a precious opportunity to win souls for Christ, as the darkness of the Culture of Death closes in around us.
Use the media for Christ before the Obama Adminstration takes away our free speech, and we are restricted to handing out pamphlets in dark rooms, like the Chinese who are blocked from seeing this blog. Did Obama speak out for freedom speech during his visit to China? NO. He didn't even meet with the people, only with a roomful of Communist apparatchiks. He has already declared war on Rush Limbagh, Fox News, and those of us with the presumption to question Obamacare.
If we don't speak out, we deserve to lose our freedoms.
Read the entire story here.

Pope;be generous with the poor

Pope Benedict XVI today told a special summit of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that “opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions.”“Sufficient food is produced on a global scale to satisfy both current demands and those in the foreseeable future,” the pope said. What’s missing, the pope said, is instead “a network of economic institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and water.”

In particular, Benedict insisted “there is no cause-and-effect relationship between population growth and hunger” – an indirect reply to critics of the church’s ban on contraception, which is sometimes blamed for impeding efforts to limit population growth.
The pontiff asserted that “food and access to water” [are] “universal rights of all human beings, without distinction or discrimination.” Those rights, the pope argued, take on meaning as part of a network of rights “beginning with the primary one, the right to life.”

Read John Allen Jr's entire article in the National Catholic Reporter.
 
How fitting that on the feast day of St Elizabeth of Hungary, whose charity to the poor led her in-laws to throw her and her children out of the castle upon the death of the king, we should be discussing the poor. St Elizabeth lived among the poor she had faithfully seved until she was restored to the castle, and gave most of her goods to the poor. She remained humble, refusing to wear her crown in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and prostrating herself to Our Lord's Eucharistic Presence.
Many of the commenters on the above article criticized the Vatican and US bishops for their lifestyles instead of soul searching on their own extravagant lifestyles. There is hardly a soul in North America and Europe who couldn't cut back somewhere on their budget to give to the poor, myself included. That is where true change begins, poverty will never be ended by a government program. They just give us an excuse not to sacrifice, and say we've done our part.
But one import point to note from the article; the Holy Father specifically stated that world hunger cannot be blamed on population growth, but a failure to deliver the world's abundant food. I would add that sometimes its' political structures which block food from reaching the poor. Remember the 28 million Chinese peasants who starved in 1977 during Mao's Cultural Revolution? Remember when the great "We are the World" effort to feed the starving in Ethiopia led to the food rotting on the docks as hostile government forces blockaded efforts at delivery to the needy?

The overpopulation movement is now buoyed by support financial and moral from the Obama Administration, Steven W. Mosher of the Population Research Institue, addresses this in his weekly briefing below:
The Overpopulation Movement Struggles to Stay Relevant
by Colin Mason


Like aging sixties radicals seeking to relive their glory days, the fear mongers at the Optimum Population Trust (OPT) are still trying to scare us with the specter of overpopulation. The trouble is, the world has moved on, even if they haven't. The latest move by the British group—a major move to push contraception as the solution to global warming—has received a less than warm welcome from the global community.


This couldn't have been what OPT expected when it tried to capitalize on the obsession of leftist politicians with global warming. But their press release, put out in September of this year, struck many as more than a little self-serving. Perhaps it was that it hailed contraception as, of all things, “the latest in green technology.” Or perhaps it was the OPT funded the very study by the London School of Economics that it later hyped in its press release. Then there was the study itself, which made the rather strange claim that, “considered purely as a method of reducing future CO2 emissions, family planning is more cost-effective than leading low-carbon technologies.”

The report concluded by claiming that “the population issue must now be added into the negotiations for the Copenhagen climate change summit in December.” Although the authors stopped short of asserting, as Al Gore did, that babies cause global warming, they came close. Readers are left with the impression that fewer breathing humans equal a greener, healthier planet. We've never heard that one before.
A visit to OPT's prehistoric web site is like a trip back in time. “By reversing population growth,” OPT says, “we'd be taking another green step towards environmental survival for all.” There is no mention that Europe is dying.


The site even has a “Stop At Two” pledge, where environmental devotees can make a promise to reverse population growth. One wonders whether any of OPT's aging membership are still young enough to reproduce.

The intriguing thing about OPT's most recent pitch for mass population control—disguised as a scientific study—is the reaction it garnered among the public. One might expect at least some denizens of the Left to enthusiastically second its program, or at least nod approvingly.

Instead, the reaction was muted and, well, uncomfortable.
Austen Ivereigh of America Magazine, for instance, encountered OPT at London's “Battle of Ideas” festival in early November. Ivereigh reminds us that “doom-mongers always ignore the elasticity of economic productivity,” and contends that “the ecological crisis will be solved by meeting the needs of the poor, not chasing them off the planet.”
Even Ellie Lee, a self-proclaimed member of the pro-choice movement, takes issue with the “moral imperative” laid down by the OPT. “Campaign groups such as the Optimum Population Trust,” she writes on the Times Online, “seek to persuade us that we should plan, found and grow our families according to a moral imperative far more pressing than what we may feel is right for us.”
Lee is (rightly) miffed at the idea that OPT sees itself as a referee on who can have children, and when. “This is the attempt to manipulate the feelings and decisions of women all over the world,” she writes, “as they negotiate their way through the profoundly important process of making decisions about when to start a family.”
Brendan O'Neill, writing for Spiked!, thinks likewise. He describes an invitation-only OPT conference that he attended earlier this year, quipping that the affair was “hideously white.” There is something “unavoidably spooky,” he notes, about people who spend all their time “fretting about overpopulation.”


“You can bet,” he continues, “that when these well-to-do worriers about the human plague on the planet talk about burdensome people causing 'congestion, overcrowding and loss of green space' . . . they aren't talking about themselves, or their friends, or their neighbors, or their mistresses; they're talking about 'them'. You know 'them'! The breeders, the not-sufficiently-educated, the dwellers of teeming cities, not only in Africa and Asia but in Europe and America too.”


This apt observation shines a harsh light on the innate “creep factor” of organizations like OPT. Their members, when viewed en masse, look less like crusading saviors of the earth, and more like angry, bigoted, pampered ideologues. Their creed has not aged well.


Regrettably, gatherings of these types of crazy people are not limited to country clubs and richly-catered seminars. Population obsession is alive and well in men like John P. Holdren, President Obama's “Science Czar.” PRI has reported on Holdren's extremism in the past, and suffice it to say he has shown evidence of being yet another of these “well-to-do worriers.” Unfortunately, he now has the President's ear, as well.


However, culturally, population control is beginning to make the Western public uncomfortable. While many still believe the world to be overrun with humans, the proposed “solutions” to this so-called “problem” are even more unthinkable. Men like John P. Holdren, and the leaders at OPT, would do well to remember this.

As far as population control goes, in the words of a sixties song, the times, they are a-changin'.
Colin Mason is the Director of Media Production at Population Research Institute.

Yet, despite this recent unpopularity of "Stop at two" programs, the Obamacare program has language which suggests that this will be part of universal health care, along with abortion, and birth control.

UPDATE 11/20 The United Nations is on the same outdated page as Obama. They are pushing for limited population growth as part of a green initiative, according to Piero Tozzi at CFAM. Read the article here.

CT State Rep Chris Coutu applauds Catholic power

Amid complaints in Maine and DC about the Catholic Church's supposed 'interference' in politics, by their support of God's teachings on  life and marriage, it's refreshing to hear one of our elected representatives praise Catholics who stood up to the outrageous efforts of the CT Legislature to kick Catholic pastors out of leadership of their own churches.

I cover his comments in my latest article in the Hartford Catholic Examiner.

Here comes Sarah!

Jammy Wearing Fool has a great piece on the left's visceral reaction to the phenomenal success of Sarah Palin's book.

I have one thing to say; Sour Grapes!

 It comes out on November 17. She'll be on Oprah the day before. The queen of talk shows meets the queen of politics.

Don't miss it!

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

It seems that our president was not interested in praising President Ronald Reagan, PM Margaret Thatcher or Pope John Paul II for their historic work to "tear down that wall" freeing thousands from communism. The National Catholic Register blog says this about it, "

There’s no question about the role that Pope John Paul II played in the collapse of the wall and communism in general. President Ronald Reagan talked about it. George Weigel wrote about it. Professor Nick Hayes has written about it. And Lech Walesa said something on it.

“The truth is that 50% of the fall of the wall belongs to John Paul II, 30% to Solidarity and Lech Walesa and only 20% to the rest of the world. That was the truth then and is the truth now,” said Walesa."

He was only interested in using the Brandenburg Gate as a symbol for his presidential campagin. In his videotaped remarks for the celebration, he lauded himself as part of the dream of twenty years ago. Having a president who doesn't get excited about the biggest advance of the freedom of thousands in the past twenty years, yet who wants to apologize for Nagasaki and Hiroshima, this is an advance?
I did a paper in high school about the A bomb drop durnig WWII and  concluded that tens of thousands of lives both American and Japanese were saved by dropping not one, but two bombs. If the Japanese emperor weren't a hard headed fanatic, it would only have taken one bomb. That proves that the Japanese would have fought to the last man if Americans invaded Japan. As soon as we conquered them, we rebuilt them, and have been their allies ever since.
America is the beacon of freedom for the world, yet Obama can't stop apologizing for imagined sins. He needs a history lesson.
Read the entire story at the NC Register blog.

Lands End is now saying Merry Christmas

I sent an email to Lands End, one of my favorite companies, because they have never mentioned Christmas in their December catalogues. I was acting as part of Citizen Actions plan "come celebrate Christmas with us", shown on this video. I was pleased to receive this cooperative response below in two days. Lands End will continue to have my business. Well done, you are listening to your customers. By the way, if you want to say Happy Hanukah too, that's fine with me. Just dont' forget to say "Merry Christmas".

Dear Ms. Velasquez:

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your concerns. We appreciate your honest feedback.

I am very sorry that we have disappointed you. The use of the word Christmas, along with supporting visuals, can be found throughout our December catalog which will be in home November 23-25. I will advise our e-mail team that you would also like to see the use of Christmas in the e-mail newsletters that are sent.

We love serving a customer base that celebrates a variety of traditions. We’ve never prohibited the use of Christmas in our catalogs or marketing efforts. As in past seasons, we are committed to making our catalogs festive, inclusive and family-oriented, while respecting that our customers celebrate many customs.

We are always interested in listening to our customers and keeping track of what you like and dislike. Your thoughts and requests are an integral part of our decision-making process.

Please accept our sincere apologies. We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention. It is our hope that someday we will once again have an opportunity to serve you.

Merry Christmas,


Sheila Wardell
Customer Communications

Here is the American Family Association's Naughty and Nice list of retailers in terms of how they treat the word Christmas in their stores.

Fr Tad on euthanasia

In May of this year, we suddenly discovered that my mother, age 74 had terminal cancer. We experienced some of what that Fr Tad discusses in this article in The Pilot about palliative care vs euthanasia. Relieving pain may shorten the life of a dying person, and make them addicted,  but it is NOT euthanasia. Fr Tad says,
" Pain management is a serious, if not central obligation for health care professionals and for all who care for the dying. Although we may never choose directly to cause death by using high doses of pain medication, such medicines may be given to dying persons, even if the successively higher doses required for effective pain remediation may indirectly end up shortening their life. Good hospice or palliative care diligently seeks to provide effective, but not excessive, pain medication."
My father often found the Palliative Care Team in a Catholic hospital woefully ignorant about Church teaching on end of life issues. For example, they called Terri Shindler Schiavo "Brain dead" and thought that her dehydration murder was merciful. Mercy had no place in her death; it was horribly painful.
 We have much to learn about enf of life issues, but the question is, are we interested?
Will it be too late when Obamacare comes in and anwers those questions for us?
Is that what we want, keep enjoying our TV shows and live for today lifestyles and not being bothered to think and read up on these issues, leaving them to a hospital when the time comes?
Not a good idea. Someday it may be you that is cut off without recourse.
I was asked by a non-believing relative; "Isn't death what Catholics look forward to? I mean, why the fuss, if you go there a little sooner?" The answer I gave was we want to go when God sends us and not a minute sooner. We all have a job to do on earth, even if some of it is suffering in a hospice. My mother offered up her suffering for this person as she died in the last four months of her life. Two days after her death, he baptized his young children. That time Mom had to suffer, and she did offer it for him, was part of her mission for her life. We had no right to shorten her life intentionally and deprive her of this magnificent act of sacrifice.
Life is precious to its last moments.
 I described Mom's happy death in my column at Catholic Mom.com. If you love someone who is terminally ill, give them the dignity of a happy death. It will be your last act of love for them.

Catholic Church under fire from homosexual activists all down the East Coast

Not only is the Catholic Church under fire in Maine for opposing same sex marriage, in Rhode Island fordefining what it means to be Catholic, but also in DC if it refuses to acknowlege same sex unions.

It's starting to cost to be a Catholic, and it doesn't show signs of improving any time soon. When the homosexual activists lose in the ballot box, they take to the courts. They have big money to impose their intolerance on the rest of us. Not even the needs of the poor move them, they will have their relationships recognized. What they don't realize is that no matter what laws they pass, God's opinion of sin has not changed and can't be legislated. Thankfully the Catholic Church is saying this loud and clear.

from the Family Research Council.
"The D.C. City Council took one step closer to allowing same sex "marriages" in the District of Columbia on Tuesday when they voted the legislation out of the Committee on Public Safety & Judiciary. The panel refused to include protections for religious organizations--putting at risk the numerous churches in the region that provide goods and services to the needy who would have to decide between their faith or compliance with the city's commands. One of the largest area provider of relief services, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, took a stand yesterday, just as their counterparts in Massachusetts's had done in that state, and refused to back down to the D.C. Council's bullying tactics. The Catholic Church provides a wide range of direct services for those in need in our nation's capitol, including physical and mental health care, legal care, immigration, employment services, counseling, shelter, education, adoption, foster care and services for the developmentally disabled. During the committee proceedings many of the council members were openly mocking religious concerns and one councilman, David Catania, told those gathered that if people of faith refuse to comply with his demands, the city will find someone else to take over everything they do. That will be very difficult for the city to do for they will quickly find, without faith there is little good works. It is very telling of the priorities of these politicians who would put the desires of the homosexual community over the needs of the poor. "

Come celebrate Christmas with us!

Bishop Tobin calls Senator Patrick Kennedy to repentance

I have nothing to add to the ending of this magnificent, pastoral attempt to bring an errant sheep  into the fold. He is a true shepherd with a heart for souls.
Bravo, Bishop Tobin!

"Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so."

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J. Tobin

Bishop of Providence

Read his entire column in the Rhode Island Catholic.

Back to back alley abortions?

One of the most compelling arguments in favor of legalizing abortion back in the seventies was the sham statistic made up by Betty Friedan and Dr Berard Nathanson of 5,000  women a year killed by 'back alley abortions'. Nathanson admitted to fabricating this number in his book, "The Hand of God". What is ironic is that the same doctors operating under the same dangerous conditions are now considered 'safe and legal' abortionists, often with very little government oversight.

From Operation Rescue
An abortionist who admits to having committed illegal, back alley abortions prior to Roe v. Wade has announced plans to open a new late-term abortion clinic in Dallas last month. Curtis Boyd, 72, told a pro-abortion Internet site that he was committing illegal abortions on January 22, 1973, when the Roe v. Wade decision was announced.

"This is a case where an illegal back alley abortion hack simply hung the 'open' sign out on the front door and kept on with his grisly business," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Now, at 72 years old, he wants to do the more dangerous late-term abortions. This is a recipe for disaster if I ever saw one."

Boyd shocked America by confessing to a Dallas television reporter that he believes that abortion is killing.
"Am I killing?" Boyd said. "Yes, I am. I know that."
Boyd is a backslidden ordained Baptist minister who now identifies with the apostate Unitarian Universalist "Church" whose doctrine is antithetical to orthodox Christianity.
"It was ironic that during the recent debate on abortion funding in the proposed health care system that several abortion supporters in the House rose to say that without taxpayer funding of abortion, we would return to the days of back alley abortions. Unfortunately, we never left those days," said Newman.

"Some of the same quacks, including Boyd, that were doing illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade are still operating. Little has changed. Women continue to be maimed and killed in our nation's abortion clinics. Just ask the families of Laura Hope Smith or Christin Gilbert, who were killed recently during so-called legal abortions. The only real solution is to grant the legal protections of personhood to the pre-born and close down the killing centers for good."

Democrats Won't Commit to Keeping Stupak Amendment to Stop Abortion Funding

Democrats Won't Commit to Keeping Stupak Amendment to Stop Abortion Funding
You just can't trust Democrats when it comes to abortion; they are too in debt to the likes of Planned Parenthood. This looked like a victory but most likely it was only a tactic of the left. Jesus warned us to be wise as the people of this world are wise, looks like pro-lifers were snookered!

Mike Huckabee interviews Abby Johnson, repentant abortionist

Abby was the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood in College Station Texas where 40 Days for Life originated and has operated six prayer vigils. Pray does change hearts!

New York Times responds to Archbishop Dolan

Clark Hoyt responds to the good Archbishop with a tone of  WASPy condescension; 'tut tut now, my good man, what's all the fuss about?' tone which attempts to cover a multidude of errors. I will point them out.
First he attempts to play the victim for Paul Vitello and Maureen Dowd. They never meant to insult the Archbishop, they are merely doing their jobs. Paul Vitello's mention of the Archbishop's blog was friendly and so was his treatment of Orthodox Jewish Rabbis caught abusing minors. He merely contrasted the gentle treatment given that community with the lambasting the Catholic Church received over similar incidents.

Laurie Goldstein's piece about a 25 year old story of a  Fransiscan who fathered a child was front page, above the fold news. Since when did the misbehavior of another clergyman merit such coverage? Or anying postive about the Catholic clergy get such a spotlight? The Archbishop says, "However, one still has to wonder why a quarter-century old story of a sin by a priest is now suddenly more pressing and newsworthy than the war in Afghanistan, health care, and starvation–genocide in Sudan. No other cleric from religions other than Catholic ever seems to merit such attention. "
Oh, and Mr Hoyt, Archbishops merit more respect than having their Op-Ed pieces demoted to a mere letter to the editor. I have seen my letters evicerated to completely distort their original intent, since they were pro-life and well written, I took it as a compliment, that my point was too well taken and therefore had to be obscured. No doubt the wise Archbishop anticipated as much and declined. Good for him.

Mr Hoyt makes a point that since the Catholic Church represents the beliefs of one quarter of the US population and controls the lives of many with its hospitals and schools,  it deserves more scrutiny than,  say,  public schools. Come again? Is that why there is no coverage equal to the Catholic Church sex scandal on the shattering report of Hofstra University Professor Carol Shakeshaft's on the wide prevalence of unreported sexual abuse of minors in American public schools? You  ignored the unbiased report by a non-Catholic university professor which proved that a child is 100 times more likely to be sexually abused in a public school than by a Catholic priest. Who is spiking big stories while printing trivia which gives the Church a black eye, Mr Hoyt?

If you want to allow Maureen Dowd to let loose a bitterly sarcastic diatribe against the Church, bringing up long disproved rumors about Pope Benedict and the Nazis,  then why not allow an equally vociferous writer, like Dr Bill Donohue, to defend his Church? Certainly the Times welcomes diaglogue from both sides, right?
I'll await your invitation of Dr Donohue, recipient of the Pius XI award from the Society of Catholic Social Scientists for " his "contributions toward the building of a true Catholic social science." Dr Donohue would be happy to provide the Times with a counterbalance for the excess of negativity in it's pages. I dare say he could increase your readership which is in steep decline.

It's because the Times is used to being the leader of the anti-Catholic liberal press, and is still reeling from the cold hard fact that blogs are more widely read than your greying pages. This is evidenced by the fact that though you say the Op-Ed pages are not to be used for a response to an article by the Archbishop, you see fit to write an editorial in response to a blog post. The New Media is here to stay and will continue to give the antiquated outlets of anti-Catholicism a run for it's money, Mr Hoyt.

Read the entire editorial here.

Stupak amendment passes!

The amendment prohibiting use of federal funds for abortion in the health care bill has passed. This is only one battle, but a crucial one.
However the health care bill passed by only 5 votes. Gerardo Rivera said that the Stupak Amendment may be stripped from the bill in markup. Kristen Hawkins of Students for Life said that Planned Parenthood has already announced that it will try and strip the amendment from the bill in committee.

Still more praying, and calling needed. This time to tell your representative what you think about his vote, and then on to your Senator.
Operation Rescue's Troy Newman has a statement on tonight's votes.
"Washington, DC - The House version of the health care reform legislation narrowly passed with the vote of 220-215 late Saturday evening, but it was done without provisions for the funding of abortions.


The Stupak-Pitts amendment, which will deny tax funding for abortions, handily passed with a vote of 240-194. Abortion funding had threatened to derail the entire House bill on health care with pro-life Democrats strongly opposed to Pelosi's scheme to force taxpayers to foot the bill for abortions.

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman issues the following statement on today's votes:

"Today, the voices of 71% of the American people who oppose taxpayer funded abortions were heard loud and clear. We thank each one who took the time to raise their voices in opposition to the Obama-Pelosi-Carhart effort to force taxpayers to fund the shedding of innocent blood through abortion.
"There is still a long way to go to prevent government subsidized health care from paying for abortions. Now the ball is in the Senate's court, and we pray that the common sense displayed in the House on the matter of abortion funding will also prevail in the Senate.

"We will continue to stand on behalf of the voiceless and oppose any efforts to restore abortion funding in any future version of health care legislation. But for tonight, we celebrate this day's pro-life victory defunding abortion, which will save lives and prevent the immoral and fiscally irresponsible bailout of the abortion cartel."

Trailer for Disney's "A Christmas Carol"

Abortion mill in Flordida closed after 40 Days for Life!

from David Bereit
"For at least 25 years, there's been an abortion
facility at 6700 North 9th Avenue in Pensacola,
Florida. But last Friday -- Day 38 of the fall
40 Days for Life campaign -- as people prayed
outside, the clinic CLOSED ITS DOORS and shut down!

The local 40 Days for Life team didn't even realize
it at the time. Ernie Cyr, the Pensacola coordinator,
heard reports that law enforcement officers went into
the clinic on Friday to serve some legal papers, but
no one really knew what was going on.

Then on Monday, a simple legal notice appeared in the
fine-print section of the local newspaper: "As of
October 30th, 2009, The Community Health Center of
Pensacola will be terminating its practice."

Ernie's two-word response? "Praise God!"

A local TV news team did some digging, and last night
their top story reported what they discovered. The
clinic operated a lab, and that lab required a state
license. The owners had a license at one time, but
the news report documented that it expired 413 days
ago. And that's something state investigators became
aware of only recently.

The clinic was given a choice: pay a huge fine or
close down. The fine is $1,000 a day -- for each of
the 413 days the lab was without a license -- which
came to a whopping $413,000!

The clinic could not come up with the money ... and
was left with only one choice: CLOSE.

State officials told WEAR-TV that they had offered
the abortion facility a reduced fine as part of a
settlement agreement -- but they never received a
response. The abortion center staff would not talk
with the TV reporters for comment, but the legal
notice in the newspaper certainly suggests that the
closure is permanent.

Call your representatives to vote "no" on health care reform

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Remember the Maine victory!

A message from Brian S. Brown from National Organization for Marriage.
"WE DID IT!
By a 53-47 margin, voters in Maine won a decisive and historic victory for marriage by passing Question 1!
But each and everyone of you, who volunteered or donated to Stand for Marriage Maine, who forwarded an e-mail to a friend or neighbor, or who simply prayed fervently for the institution of marriage--today is your victory!
The importance of the win in Maine nationally can not be overstated.
Same-sex marriage activists saw Maine as their best chance to win a direct marriage vote. They thought it would stop the momentum we gained by passing Proposition 8 dead in its tracks--and reverse it.They thought, in their words, it "would break" our movement.
Instead, for the first time in history, the voters of a state have overturned the legislative enactment of same-sex marriage. New York, New Jersey and other states considering redefining marriage will now have to confront this blunt fact:The voters in a deep New England state have now joined 30 other states in directly affirming marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
If we can win in Maine, we can win anywhere.
From the beginning, NOM saw how high the stakes were in Maine. That's why we devoted such resources to the effort. We are the single largest donor to Stand for Marriage Maine. We gave nearly $1.8 million, emptying our bank account because of the serious needs in Maine.

Even so, we were outspent 2-1, given little chance to win in the media, and saw our ads pilloried by Maine's elites. But we kept fighting, kept hope alive, and continued to focus on our message--same-sex marriage has clear consequences. And we won.
In my capacity as an executive committee member of Stand for Marriage Maine, I have had the privilege of getting to know and work with campaign chairman Mark Mutty and Rev. Bob Emrich. Both have been tireless defenders of marriage and deserve our nation's thanks.

Bishop Richard Malone of the Diocese of Portland provided invaluable leadership, inspiring not only the Catholic faithful, but voters across denominational lines. Frank Schubert and Jeff Flint of Schubert Flint Public Affairs, masterfully guided Question 1 to victory.
They are simply the best at what they do, and our movement in Maine and around the country would not have seen these victories without their efforts.
NOM's president, Maggie Gallagher has been willing to fly at the drop of the hat to Maine (or anywhere else for that matter!) to do whatever necessary to protect marriage.

I write all of this quickly this morning, after a late election night watching returns in Portland, Maine. I'm sitting outside an old stone church in downtown Portland. It is a chilly, breezy, day with the sun shining bright, and the Casco Bay bridge in the distance.
An ideal fall day in New England.
An ideal day for marriage in our country.
Thomas Peters has a post on this as well.

No health care bill this year says Dems

The Democratic leadership in Congress has expressed doubts about getting a health care bill passed this year. They are so wedded to the idea of abortion funding, that they would rather the bill pass Obama's deadline than pass without it, even though it looks like a bill without funds for abortion would pass now.
Read the entire story at ABC News

Bishops have Planned Parenthood hopping mad over health care plan

Now THAT is what we want to see, the USCCB at odds with that demon, Planned Parenthood!!
PP President Cecile Richards is lashing out at the bishops because of their recent nationwide campaign against the health care plan's inclusion of abortion funding.
Yet in her ire, she revealed the lie that Obama told the bishops and the Pope, that there is no abortion funding in the bill.
"However, the statement from Richards appears to clash with the earlier denials by President Obama, members of Congress, and Cecile Richards herself, that the proposed health care bill would not bring about federal funding of abortion. In early August, Richards wrote that it was a myth that "taxpayer money would be used to pay for abortions in the public plan." At the same time, however, Richards is now bitterly fighting the U.S. bishops' campaign against the abortion-funding provisions in the bill, despite the fact that the bishops have expressed support for healthcare reform without abortion funding"
Bravo, brave shepherds, when you stand up for the truth of Christ, you'll be known by the enemies you make!
Read the entire story on Life Site News

Atheists target Catholics for good reason

Greg Craven, Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University takes aim at atheists with a bit of humor and salty language; Aussie style.

"The second wearying thing about the new atheism is that it is not new at all. It is so banally derivative of every piece of hate mail ever sent to God that I am amazed Satan has yet to sue for copyright infringement. No old chestnut is too ripe, rotten or sodden, especially when it comes to the Catholics as accredited suppliers of what apparently is the Christian equivalent of methamphetamine."

Catholics are targeted precisely because we stand for the truth which atheists work so hard to ignore. If they really believed in nothing they would casually ignore the Church. But they can't, our faith grates on them, and they must attack, obeying the voice of Screwtape.

Notice how many nasty atheists left comments on the article.

Read the entire article at the Sydney Morning Herald.

American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic!: Update: Dominican sister caught volunteering at abortion clinic censured by congregation

Over at American Papist, Thomas Peters received word that Sr Donna Quinn, OP, the abortion clinic escort was censured. But not harshly.
Read the entire storyAmerican Papist: Not Your Average Catholic!: Update: Dominican sister caught volunteering at abortion clinic censured by congregation"> here.

Planned Parenthood employee converts after seeing ultrasound

USCCB comes out against health care reform bills in Congress

At last, Catholics can unite against the dangerous health care bill about to see a vote in Congress.



According to Cardinal George's inteview with Ray Arroyo on "The World Over" the USCCB's main objection to the bill is that abortion is funded and there are no conscience clauses for medical professionals, not that the government will be running something that 85% of Americans agree works well; insurance company-based healtcare. Raymond said, and I agree that this government takeover of 1/6 of the economy violates the Catholic principal of subsidiarity (all functions of governance should take place on the level closest to the people involved) but that was not an issue mentioned by the bishops, however we appreciate the bishops' clarity on the crucial issue, respect for human life.



Rush Limbagh in an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, said that Obama wants to control our every move; where we live, what we drive, what we eat, where we work. He insists that if the health care bill passes, all these things will be tied into health care and therefore come under government control. It's just a massive power grab. He explained how some of the money from the defecit could be used to insure the 12 million uninsured people in this nation who want insurance, without the trillions which are proposed in the health care reform bill.





This bill, if it fails will be Obama's Waterloo. He can expect to be roundly defeated in the election of 2012. Perhaps by a woman.
If it succeeds, I have done my best to oppose it. Have you? Remember my favorite saying, that all that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.



1.)I attended the only public Town Hall meeting offered in my Congressional District and voiced my concern that abortion funding will be included in the health care bill.





2. )I traveled to Martha's Vineyard with Rev Patrick Mahoney and Chris Slattery during the President's summer vacation to make sure that he heard my opposition was heard. Watch the video on AirMaria.com.



3. )I have written extensively on the health care bill, both on my blog Causa Nostrae Laetitiae, on Catholics Against Obamacare, and on Catholic Vote.com.

4. )I participated in a prayer vigil on the lawn of the Capitol Building with Rev Patrick Mahoney to voice my protest over abortion's inclusion in health care (see photo).



5. )I traveled to Washington to voice my oposition to the bill, with the group Health Care for Gunner. Watch our press conference on the group's website.



6. )While we were lobbing on the Hill, I met my Congressman Joe Courtney from the First Congressional District in CT and asked him to oppose this toxic bill. I got political doublespeak about how he loves the insurance industry. He better, many of his constuents work in the insurance industry in Hartford, where many corporate headquarters are located. The insurance industry will be dismantled under the Public Option.
Congressman Courtney will receive a copy of this post which will also be on Facebook and Twitter. I have over 1,000 readers a day to inform of his support of this pernicious legislation which Catholic bishops oppose.



6.) I visited Senator Lieberman's office with Healthcare for Gunner delegation, including UNC Neonatology Professor Martin McCaffrey, who voiced our concerns that the public option would not inlucde our children. We spoke with Shoshanna, the Senator's health care assistant. A month later, when I read the news that our voices had been heard, I thanked Senator Joe Lieberman for his wise decision to oppose the public option in health care.

Now, as a Catholic, ask yourself what have YOU done to oppose health care plan which threatens to install Planned Parenthood as a part of the government and use your tax dollars to pay for abortions?

Will you have to explain to your children why you remained idle while our liberties were taken away and the unborn were further targeted for extermination?Will you be able to explain to your aged parents why their request for life saving surgeries has been denied by the death panels?Or why my disabled child was denied heart surgery because she doesn't have a high enough quality of life?
Here is a link to the bishops' letter which was supposed to be in all Catholic church bulletins yesterday. The PDF directs the public to this page, >> http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/ which has an easy to use GREEN BUTTON to click and send a note to your congress people. The beauty of this is that the link does the mailing for you automatically.