Catholic College Keeps Pro-Abortion Links Up Despite 15,000 Complaints
August 30, 2010
McKinney, TX (MetroCatholic) — Well over 15,000 students and parents have politely requested that Alverno College, a Catholic college founded by the School Sisters of St. Francis, delete several web site links that channel students to abortion advocacy groups. However, despite the large number of complaints the links remain up and running.
Pro-abortion groups listed include the Center for Reproductive Health, National Organization for Women (NOW), EMILY’s List, and many more.
“You can’t be a true Catholic and at the same time favor abortion,” said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie. “It betrays the very mission of a Catholic institution. So, we’ve decided to intensify our prayers and protest until all the pro-abortion links are gone.”
One of the groups linked to Alverno College’s web site is called Radical Women. This organization bills itself as “a trailblazing socialist feminist organization,” and its web site not only promotes communist ideology and homosexual vice, but also the brutal abortion procedure known as partial birth abortion.
After TFP Student Action started its peaceful protest in June, Alverno College merely removed a few links and posted a disclaimer stating: “The views expressed in these weblinks do not necessarily reflect the views of the Alverno College Research Center for Women and Girls.”
However, according to TFP spokesman John Ritchie, “the disclaimer is just window dressing.”
Two Catholic institutions, Rosemont College and the University of Detroit Mercy, recently took down links to pro-abortion groups that were listed on their web sites. Yet Alverno College has not done so thus far.
TFP Student Action is asking its members to “speak out against this scandal” and sign an online protest addressed to Dr. Mary Meehan, president of Alverno College. The petition is available at: www.tfpstudentaction.org.
Catholic Trio Plays Solider Field Prep Bowl
August 30, 2010
by: Tom Danyluk
For years they played a thing at Soldier Field called the Prep Bowl – public school champs versus Catholic league champs. Chicagoland football wars. The season’s grand finale. In the ’42 game, during the war years, they were raising right hands and swearing players into the service right there on the field.
And in 1937 it was Leo High vs. Austin High and 120,000 swarmed the place and that’s still the all-time record for single-game football attendance. The nearest threat to that total converged during a NFL exhibition in back in 1994, Cowboys versus Oilers and the rowdies of Mexico City. Announced crowd: 112,336.
The Prep title game has long since closed down, but a trio of generous Chicago football men have set up an annual event that honors the tradition of that old playoff. They’ve hosted for six years now, and it’s called The Chicagoland Pre-Season Prep Bowl.
“Three games in one day,” says Jim McHugh, one of the event’s founders. “The whole point is get some of the better teams in the area together – Catholic versus public, ideally – and give them a chance to play in a big venue, a pro stadium. So the kids can look back and say, ‘We had a chance to kick off on the same field that the Chicago Bears play.’”
McHugh has been working the clock at NFL games for 25 years. During the regular season it’s the Bears, then a to-be-determined site for his playoff duty. Last year he worked the Indy-Jets AFC title game, and the year before that it was Seahawks-Packers in the divisional round, in a pretty Lambeau whiteout.
“Snow so thick you couldn’t read the names or the numbers,” says Mchugh. “We had a helluva time keeping things straight for that one.”
McHugh says the Soldier Field thrill is sometimes a bigger deal to the officials assigned to the event than it is to the juniors and seniors out there tearing up the turfs.
“A typical high school game has five officials; we upped it to seven for this event and there are no shortage of volunteers,” he laughs. “They love coming down to work these games.”
The event’s other organizers are Tim LeFevour (GM operations, soldier Field) and Frank Lenti. Lenti was Donovan McNabb’s coach at Mt. Carmel High, and he stresses that another appealing part of this Prep Bowl show is luring back alumni from winning times and letting them work their magic with the crowd.
“The recognition of former championship teams,” Lenti says, “gives the fans the opportunity to see the best of our past, along with the best of our current student athletes.
“It’s a non-profit deal for us,” says McHugh. “The goal is to raise enough dollars to pay the bills, the cost of opening the stadium for a day. The satisfaction when it all comes together, that’s for free.”
2010 Chicagoland Pre-Season Prep Bowl Results
Game 1: Simeon 47, Mt. Carmel 41. Back and forth, a day of sprints to the goal line. Carmel falls one sprint short.
Game 2: Morgan 16, Providence 14. Last play – Providence man whacks a 47-yarder, plenty of distance but wide by a pencil length. “On a high school field, that’s good,” moans a voice in the press box.
Game 3: Notre Dame Niles 19, Fenwick 13. ND storms 65 yards late to steal it. Drama abounds. 30 years ahead, 121,000 will claim to have seen it.
A Blast of Mercy from the Past
August 30, 2010
So, I got a call from a boy that I dated 20 years ago. I don’t know if you can really say that I dated him. We were in the sixth grade and I wasn’t allowed to go on dates at such a young age. He was the boy that sent me the note asking me to “go out with him” that included the big square for “yes” and the little square for “no”. What girl doesn’t dream of getting that note passed to her during math? So, he was my first boyfriend. But shhhhh…. I didn’t tell my Daddy about him because I wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend. This forbidden relationship was quite exciting for me and my envious girlfriends!
Anyhow, we “went out” during 6th grade and part of the summer after. I moved just after starting 7th grade. I am a Navy brat and my Daddy started a new tour in Washington D.C. that school year. I remembered that we broke up during that summer but I didn’t remember why. In fact, I find that I have a hard time remembering a lot of the details of my childhood. Since I moved so much, I was always adjusting. I was always saying good bye and then having to make new friends all over again. I didn’t hang onto people because they were always leaving my life. Because of that, I don’t have the luxury of old friends to talk about the past with so the memories stay alive. Also, there wasn’t a lot of closure in my childhood relationships. If I had a fight with a friend right before I moved, then that was that. There wasn’t opportunity to possibly work things out and have that closure. My closure was that I didn’t have to see that person again, which wasn’t always the healthiest way to go about living life and learning about relationships. And that brings me back to my 6th grade boyfriend.
He found me on Facebook. When I saw his friend request, my first thought was “why does he want to friend me?” That should have been my first subconscious clue into the past. Flattered, I accepted his friend request. Then we started e-mailing back and forth with all the usual “how are you” and “what have you been up to all these years” and it almost seemed as if 20 years had never passed. Then he brought up that infamous summer of ‘89. Even though my memory was failing me, I didn’t have a good feeling about it. When I admitted to him that I didn’t know what he was talking about, he called me…on the phone. Now, before I go any further, let me say that Mike is a really nice man. He and his wife are raising beautiful children in the Catholic faith. He serves in our Armed Forces and dreams of being a math and science teacher when he leaves the service. He is a really great person. So, imagine how embarrassed I was when he very politely told me about the nasty note he received in the mail during the summer of ‘89.
Way back in the olden days, we didn’t have computers or cell phones. At my house, we didn’t even have a cordless phone, which meant that any conversation you had on the phone was overheard by all who wished to be in the kitchen. This probably made it difficult to maintain a forbidden relationship during the summer. Anyhow, I must have decided to send him notes in the mail as a way to communicate. The problem was that he didn’t write me back. He also never tried to risk his own safety by calling me on the phone. Now, you also need to know that I had a team of advisors to coach me through this relationship. Me and my equally-psychotic girlfriends must have been taking notes from the unwritten book of How Boys are Supposed to Behave When They Are Your Boyfriend. And since we didn’t have any attempts at communication from him over the summer, we decided he must be dumped. So I fired off a nasty letter giving him the boot. I am sure this letter was met with great enthusiastic approval from my team of advisors before hitting the post office. After I mailed that letter, Mike and I never really talked again. I saw him at school that fall and I remember being embarrassed. Even though I had gotten approval and admiration from my girlfriends, I knew I probably hurt his feelings. And, like I said earlier, I moved shortly after school started that fall, so moving away from the situation was my closure. I never needed to see Mike again – until he found me on Facebook and called me on my iPhone. How ironic.
Embarrassed is just not a big enough word. Here was a very nice man telling me about my psychotic behavior all those years ago. I must conclude that if he remembers what I did to him 20 years ago, then he must have been impacted by it. I must have hurt his feelings. I apologized many times. After we got off the phone, I started to wonder why he brought this up. The whole situation put me in a very reflective mood. And what do I do when I am reflective? I clean, or organize, or find some project that needs attention. This time I assaulted the garden.
The morning after his call, I found myself elbow deep in dirt, weeds, and dead flowers, all while pondering what I did to this boy all those years ago and wondering why he chose to contact me. I certainly would not want to find me if I were him. He was clearly a braver person than I could ever be. As I was pulling the weeds, I realized that even though I didn’t understand why he called me, he gave this Navy brat a rare opportunity. He gave me a chance to ask for forgiveness. He gave me a chance to pull those weeds I planted 20 years ago and find a little closure. He gave me the gift of mercy.
I have to say that Catholics talk a whole lot more about mercy than my Baptist church ever did. In my Baptist church, you asked for forgiveness when you prayed the prayer to ask Jesus into your heart. Beyond that, we didn’t talk much about asking God to forgive our sins. All of our sins were forgiven in that one prayer. Catholics don’t see it that way. We are encouraged to always examine our conscience. We are encouraged to acknowledge our sins and then take advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation where we ask for forgiveness of those sins. It is a necessary ongoing process that brings us closer to the Lord, each other and heaven.
As an adult convert, the whole idea of confession to a priest was a hard sell for me. I now understand that our lips have to speak our shortcomings and our ears have to hear our shortcomings in order for true acknowledgement to take place. And when we acknowledge that sin and ask for mercy, our ears need to hear that we are forgiven. That is how the Lord lifts the burden from our shoulders and nails it to his cross. And from that cross, love and mercy flow and carry us to His presence. I understand with my head and heart the importance of the sacrament, but that doesn’t make it any easier to wait in that line. It doesn’t make it any easier to look at myself in the mirror and admit who I really am.
Lately, I have been feeling very unworthy of God’s presence. No matter how hard I try to be worthy, I fall far short of the goal. And I have been frustrated by my inability to be the person God calls me to be. This experience with Mike has made me realize that I can’t be who God is calling me to be unless I weed the garden. Just as Mike called me, the Lord is calling me and offering me the opportunity to ask for forgiveness. Even though I don’t deserve it, He is offering me mercy. Weeding the garden will always be a dirty, but necessary, task. I must not let the weeds choke out the flowers God is trying desperately to plant in my heart. I must ask for His mercy and live in His love so the flowers have a chance to blossom for His glory.
Author’s Note: This article was written and published with Mike’s blessing.
Lori is a stay-at-home mom to her two boys and the children she loves on during the day at her home daycare. She loving supports her Husband’s calling as a High School Band Director. Originally from New Orleans, she was raised in the Southern Baptist Church and converted to the Catholic faith while in college. When she has a rare free moment, she publishes her thoughts and musings at www.lorislifeandtimes.blogspot.com and is a volunteer columnist for www.catholicmom.com.
Thomas More College’s Artist-in-Residence to Host Art Show on CatholicTV
August 23, 2010
MERRIMACK, NEW HAMPSHIRE (MetroCatholic)— A new Catholic art show hosted by the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts’ artist-in-residence, David Clayton, will debut on CatholicTV starting September 6th.
Entitled “The Way of Beauty,” this 13-part series will examine Catholic traditions in art and how the styles of these traditions relate directly to the liturgy, theology, and philosophy of the Church.
Beginning September 6th, “The Way of Beauty” will air at the following five times each week on CatholicTV cable outlets (all times Eastern): Tuesdays at 12:00 Midnight; Wednesdays at 12:00 Noon; Thursdays at7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 3:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 6:30 a.m.
A new full-length episode of Way of Beauty will also be added to CatholicTV’s website each week at http://www.CatholicTV.com/catholic-art.
David Clayton launched the Way of Beauty Program at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in 2008 to renew in artists, aspiring artists, and the general public an appreciation for the Catholic traditions in art and architecture. The Way of Beauty Program includes a series of courses offered as part of the core curriculum at Thomas More College, as well as lectures, workshops, and seminars hosted throughout the country.
The Way of Beauty Program has now added a television show to its already impressive array of educational outreach efforts.
“In this television series I explore the Catholic traditions in art, as well as the theological principles behind them,” said Clayton. “Viewers will be led to a greater understanding of the principles of harmony and proportion that are infused in the work of the old Masters.”
“Christian culture, like classical culture before it, was patterned after the cosmic order, whose unifying principles run through every discipline,” continued Clayton. “Literature, art, music, architecture, philosophy—all of creation and, potentially, all human activity—are bound together by this common harmony and receive their fullest meaning in the rhythms and patterns of the Church’s liturgy.”
“The principles of beauty are applicable to all aspects of daily life, including business, the academy—indeed, in all areas of human engagement.” said Clayton. “This is the via pulchritudinis—the way of beauty—that Pope Benedict has spoken of as the most attractive path to God.”
Since coming to Thomas More College in early 2009, Clayton’s Way of Beauty Program has become widely popular. In addition to his TV and teaching commitments, he writes about sacred art for the New Liturgical Movement web site and posts regularly on his own blog, www.TheWayofBeauty.org, where readership has skyrocketed since its release in April 2010.
“I have very much enjoyed working with Catholic TV on the Way of Beauty television program – it has been quite a learning experience for me,” said Clayton. “I am hoping that the series will help to publicize further these important ideas and work toward the renewal of Catholic art and, by extension, the evangelization of culture.”
CatholicTV is a nationally-broadcasted television network streaming a live feed 24 hours a day at CatholicTV.com. Heeding Pope Benedict XVI’s call to greater utilize the power of television and new media, the CatholicTV Network features its cable TV station, Catholic web site, mobile apps and widget. Celebrate Mass online; pray The Rosary; enjoy programs on prayer, the saints, the Scriptures and the Catholic Church on America’s Catholic Television Network.
The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts provides a four-year undergraduate education which develops young people intellectually, ethically, and spiritually in the Catholic tradition and in faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. An education at Thomas More College introduces students to the central questions of Western civilization – and the Church’s response to them. It teaches skills in reasoning, speaking, and writing that will allow its graduates to become faithful leaders according to the individual vocations which God has given them.
Middle East broadcaster plans special coverage to honor Mother Teresa’s birthday
August 18, 2010
Beirut, Lebanon (CNA) — Télé Lumière and Noursat, the only Catholic television and satellite network broadcast from the Middle East, has announced it will air a series of celebrations to honor Blessed Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday. A highlight of its coverage will be the installation of a nearly 10-foot-tall statue of the woman devoted to charity.
The statue will be erected in Sed El Bouchrieh, a city in the Fanar region of Lebanon, where the first Missionaries of Charity convent was established. Since 1979, Mother Teresa’s religious order has had a center in Fanar and another in Becharre.
In 1982 Mother Teresa visited Lebanon and transferred to safety about 50 orphans and disabled people who had been trapped by Israeli bombing.
The Fanar center hosts orphans or children rejected by their families because of their handicaps. It also hosts abandoned women who have no children to care for them.
The statue to be installed is close to 10 feet in height and stands on a on a 6.5-foot high platform. It shows Mother Teresa with a “comforting tender smile” and a “bright healing look,” Télé Lumière and Noursat reports.
Its creator is artist George Aoun, while Armenian engineer Sarkis Ohanian coated the work with bronze.
Télé Lumière and Noursat is preparing a “majestic, official diplomatic and popular festival” for the occasion. The program will air at 6 p.m. Beirut time on Aug. 26.
The Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Matar will celebrate a Mass for the event in St. Takla Church. There will be a procession to the statue’s platform, with participants chanting and singing hymns.
Télé Lumière and Noursat has produced and broadcast several programs about Mother Teresa, including a documentary filmed in Calcutta. For three months it has aired a daily program titled “The Essence of Calcutta.”
“The station considers this as a small recognition from, and a testimony to the ways she touched the lives of the people, all the sisters for all the love, faith and care of all those who are in need, and for being a true example of Jesus’ love,” the broadcaster explained.
EWTN to Air Pope’s Historic U.K. Visit Live
August 17, 2010
IRONDALE, Ala., (MetroCatholic) — EWTN Global Catholic Network will provide live coverage of every public event during Pope Benedict XVI’s historic visit to England and Scotland Sept. 16-19, numerous original productions on the life and works of Cardinal John Henry Newman, who will be beatified by the Pope during his visit, and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.
Coverage will be seen and heard on all nine EWTN Television Networks worldwide, and can be heard in English, Spanish, French and German; on EWTN Radio Network, and at www.ewtn.com through live streaming video. (Find EWTN Television at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder and EWTN Radio at http://www.ewtn.com/radio/amfm.htm or on Sirius Satellite Channel 160.)
Special live coverage will be provided by EWTN News Anchor Raymond Arroyo, who has covered more papal events than anyone in the industry and who obtained the only English language interview in existence today with the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. (Contact EWTN to arrange an interview.)
“To my mind, this visit to the U.K. is to Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy what Pope John Paul II’s visit to Poland was to his,” said “World Over” Host Raymond Arroyo, who will anchor EWTN’s coverage. “Not enough attention is being paid to the historicity of this seismic moment.”
EWTN’s coverage of these events will include exclusive interviews with Deacon John “Jack” Sullivan, who prayed to Newman for healing after watching a series on the saint on EWTN and whose resulting miracle is responsible for Newman’s beatification; Cormack Murphy O’Connor, former Archbishop of Westminster, who worked tirelessly behind-the-scenes to make this papal trip possible; Lord David Alton, a member of Parliament, who will discuss the government’s view of the trip and what Catholics can expect; Westminster’s current Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams, and many others!
You’ll also travel to the Birmingham Oratory and the rooms in which Newman lived and worked; Westminster Hall, where St. Thomas More was condemned to death; the Guild Chapel and much more.
EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 30th year, is available in 160 million television households in 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website www.ewtn.com and publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.
Source: EWTN
CONTACT: Michelle Johnson, Director of Communications, EWTN Global
Catholic Network, +1-205-795-5769 – Office, or +1-205-271-2920 – Fax,
mjohnson@ewtn.com
Web Site: http://www.ewtn.com/
New law requires Catholic diocese to cover contraception under employee insurance
August 13, 2010
Madison, Wis. (CNA) — The Catholic Diocese of Madison is one of three dioceses in Wisconsin required under a new state law to provide coverage for contraception in insurance plans for diocesan employees.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the new law which took effect in January requires all commercial insurance policies with drug benefits to cover prescription contraceptives, with self-insured policies being exempt. When the law was passed, three of the five Wisconsin dioceses – Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay – were affected.
Because the law allows employers to honor their current insurance contracts until they expire, the Diocese of Madison had until Aug. 1 to make a decision. Brent King, spokesman for the Madison Diocese, said that a self-insured plan was not financially possible.
Although the diocese’s commercial insurance policy now covers contraception, employees will be expected to act according to their consciences and not use it, King explained. “If someone were to misuse that freedom in this regard, it could be grounds for termination,” he told the Wisconsin State Journal.
However, he added, such action would only be taken after the employee refused to cooperate after the matter was discussed. “It wouldn’t be the first thing we do,” King said.
Speaking to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, King noted that “Our employees know what church teaching is. And we trust them to use their conscience and do the right thing.”
“Conscience isn’t what I want or think is best in a situation,” he said. “It must always align with the will of God.”
All Diocese of Madison employees are required to sign a document upon being hired to follow the laws of both Wisconsin and the Church. King said that employees would be given “strong pastoral recommendations against” using birth control coverage, but that the diocese will not monitor employees.
Due to medical privacy laws, the diocese would only know if an employee was using the contraception coverage if he or she made it apparent “in an overt and publicly defiant way.”
Judge Walker’s Opinion on Proposition 8
August 10, 2010
PHILADELPHIA (MetroCatholic) — The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) joins reasonable people everywhere who were dismayed that Proposition 8, which defines marriage in California as between a man and a woman, was overturned and declared unconstitutional by a federal judge on Aug 4, 2010. Judge Vaughn Walker’s opinion within which this ruling is made provides an extensive analysis of the issue. The ethicists of the NCBC think, however, that the opinion is irreparably flawed in that it never addresses head-on what constitutes the reality of marriage. Furthermore, the opinion commits itself to a false understanding of unjust discrimination and of the ever important concepts of sexuality and gender.
In opposition to Judge Walker’s opinion, we argue first that marriage is a complementary union ordered to procreation. This is a distinctive reality that can only be realized by heterosexual couples. Marriage refers to this distinctive reality; it cannot refer to relationships that cannot be procreative. Second, we argue that assessing whether a law manifests unjust discrimination requires looking at the reasons or intent behind the law. Every law has certain effects on certain groups and not others, even homicide laws have specific effects only on murderers and not others. That a law has a particular effect only on one group of persons does not itself make for an unjustly discriminatory law. One has to look at the reasons or intent behind the law. Insofar as Prop 8 is informed by what truly constitutes a marriage, it does not specifically target homosexuals. It is therefore, not unjustly discriminatory. Third, we address what seems to be a key argument in the ruling, namely, that changing the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples will change the social meaning of homosexuality and make it more widely acceptable. We think this is the center-piece of the opinion in that it is generated in reply to why domestic partnerships are not sufficient even though they afford a “couple” all of the legal rights and privileges of a marriage. This “social meaning argument” amounts to cognitive engineering; it aims to reorder society and declare that homosexual acts are morally pristine.
Finally, in our commentary on the opinion we address Judge Walker’s misunderstanding of what it is to say that marriage is a complementary union ordered to procreation. The opinion treats the inherent procreative potential of heterosexual intercourse as an accident, as something that is not distinctive, or as something that does not indicate a specific kind of relationship. We believe, given the text of the ruling, that a fundamental misunderstanding of what marriage is, its nature, is what leads to the false conclusions drawn.
The NCBC analysis may be read in full at www.ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=482&storyid1277=120&ncs1277=3
Catholic Coalition’s Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI-10526
August 10, 2010
McKinney, TX (MetroCatholic) — The following letter was sent to Pope Benedict XVI on August 9, 2010. Its contents are open as public information. Media questions to the above.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
The Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City, Italy
Most Holy Father,
As members of the Roman Catholic Church, we are bringing to your attention an issue, one that threatens the mission of the Church in the Archdiocese of Boston in the United States of America.
The spiritual and physical healings of Jesus Christ, Our Founder, as brought to us in the New Testament writings have had an impact in our lives in many positive ways. In our quest to live better lives, the Gospel renditions of these events and of His life here in that earthly stay, are not only edifying in leading our personal lives, but they have formed the core of the approach to health care rendered in Roman Catholic institutions in our area. Caritas Christi, the very name of the Archdiocese’s Health Care System, conveys the religious and philosophical basis for this approach to patients and their needs.
The Caritas Christi Health Care System here in Massachusetts is committed to our Roman Catholic Magisterial position respecting the sanctity of all human life from its biological beginning at fertilization to natural death.
In recent decades bioethical issues have expanded enormously. While they are historically centered on the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973 legalizing abortion through the entire gestational period, there have been other devastating consequences as well. The over 50 million hearts, which have been legally stopped from beating in innocent developing humans since 1973 ranks as the most flagrant and tragic result of this cultural change in our country.
Unfortunately, however, medical and scientific research affecting human life in diverse ways, poses a multitude of new problems, ranging across the entire life spectrum. In-vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, chemical abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are very much on the cultural scene.
It is imperative that “the loving care of Christ”, Caritas Christi, be retained permanently without compromise of any of the principles involved, for those of us who want to avail ourselves and our families of this approach to medical care in the Roman Catholic tradition. Because of a real threat to its very existence, we have undertaken this communication with you.
Under negotiations conducted with a multi-billion dollar venture capital business firm, Cerberus Management L.P., negotiators for the Caritas Christi Health System would allow for the ending of any Catholic identity in these medical facilities, after a century and a half of its presence in Boston and environs. That possibility should never have been allowed.
Specifically, the agreement being negotiated stipulates that for a donation of $25 million dollars, the Catholic identity of these Caritas Christi hospitals would be removed, and they would be secularized. Given the threats to human life across the entire spectrum which we have mentioned, this is anathema. The $25 million dollars can only be likened to 25 pieces of silver.
We, the supporters of the Coalition To Save Catholic Health Care, request that these proceedings with Cerberus cease immediately and permanently. The Coalition opposes all facets of the negotiations, having examined the ethical, moral, religious, and financial aspects of what has been involved in these dealings with Cerberus.
As laity loyal to the Magisterial teachings of the Church, we respectfully are requesting that the disappearance of the historical Roman Catholic approach to patients, both collectively as well as individually, never become a reality in health care in this Archdiocese of Boston.
These proceedings and the acquisition could be completed within months, and we remain available to present any additional information about the proposed transfer.
Prayerfully and with loyalty to the teachings of our Messiah, we ask you from the Chair of Peter to call for the cessation of all negotiations with Cerberus, and to renew our diligent commitment to retain the essence of what we, as laity, have obtained from the true meaning of Caritas Christi.
Caritas Christi must remain in Roman Catholic ownership.
Respectfully and with agape love,
R. T. Neary, Chairman
Coalition To Save Catholic Health Care
Copies: Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Papal Nuncio to the United States of America
Leaders criticize anti-Prop. 8 ruling’s claim that religious beliefs harm homosexuals
August 10, 2010
Washington D.C. (CNA) — The anti-Proposition 8 decision’s claim that religious opinions about the sinfulness of homosexuality harm homosexuals is “outrageous” and could endanger both the place of religion in public life and religious liberty itself, legal experts and Catholic leaders have warned.
Last Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Prop. 8, the 2008 California ballot measure which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. He declared as a “finding of fact” that “Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.”
Under this finding, Walker’s decision cited statements of several religions on homosexual acts and legal recognition of same-sex relationships, including the 2003 Vatican document “Considerations Regarding Proposals To Give Legal Recognition To Unions Between Homosexual Persons.”
That document written by Pope Benedict XVI when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) spokeswoman Mary Ann Walsh criticized the Prop. 8 decision in a Friday column at the Washington Post website’s “On Faith” section.
She said the decision was “irrational” in dismissing marriage between a man and a woman “as if it were some kooky idea.” Judge Walker’s claim about religious beliefs’ harmfulness to homosexuals was “even more irrational.”
“The judge’s placing religion and government at odds amounts to Constitutional irrationality,” Walsh charged. “It is no small irony that his anti-religious position is enshrined in a ruling deemed to oppose bigotry.”
The USCCB spokeswoman claimed that the U.S. Constitution precludes government from weighing in on the acceptability of religious beliefs. She also said that the judge’s ruling wrongly said that the Church views homosexuality as sinful, when in fact the Church sees it as an inclination that is not intrinsically sinful.
“The Catholic Church makes clear that it is homosexual activities it deems sinful, because it holds that all sexual activity belongs within marriage between a man and a woman,” Sr. Walsh explained, adding that the Church “abhors” violence against homosexuals and opposes “all unjust discrimination.”
Kevin “Seamus” Hasson, President of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, spoke about the Prop. 8 ruling in a Monday phone conversation with CNA.
Asked whether the finding of fact about religion’s harmfulness could set a precedent, he explained that findings of fact are “limited to the case” of Prop. 8. He also suggested that it was “not helpful” to criticize as unconstitutional the judge’s statements on the harmfulness of specific religious beliefs.
For Hasson, the ruling was “disappointing but not surprising.” He charged that the judge conducted the case as a “show trial” and further claimed the judge took the “outrageously extreme” view that those who believe in moral traditions are “irrelevant, irrational even.”
Hasson added that he doesn’t believe any other federal cases have ruled religious teachings to be harmful.
“To say categorically that religion is bad is an amazingly arrogant statement,” the Becket Fund head commented, charging that Judge Walker was “an activist judge.”
Hasson particularly criticized the ruling’s “sweeping statements,” such as its contention that male-female marriage is a “leftover” and that gender roles are “an artifact of time gone by.” He predicted that the ruling’s “breathtaking grandiosity” will lead it to its being overruled.
He repeated that the decision was a “breathtaking development” because it advocated that all religious believers and their moral convictions “should be out of the public square.”
“On homosexuality, when life begins, when life ends, whether euthanasia is permissible, questions of sexual propriety, right across the board. Anything that believers hold is categorically excluded,” he continued.
“This is very dangerous precedent,” Hasson commented, pledging that the Becket Fund is prepared to oppose “anybody who attempts to expand Judge Walker’s erroneous opinion into other areas.”
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told CNA in a Monday e-mail that the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality are shared by many world religions and have been the view of most people throughout history.
“But in the mind of Judge Walker, all of this is now suspect. Such arrogance would be hard to top,” Donohue continued.
“In the eyes of the Catholic Church, all sexual unions outside marriage, traditionally understood, are harmful to the best interests of society. And for good reason: they compete, if not undermine, the institutional basis that allows for the establishment of a family.”
CNA asked the Catholic League about the judge’s citation of the CDF document signed by Pope Benedict.
“Listing the Pope’s remarks in a judicial ruling designed to prove the harmfulness of Church teachings on homosexuality is invidious,” Donohue responded.
He charged that the action seeks to “stigmatize the defense of marriage” and tries to make homosexual relations more acceptable.
“In doing so, it opens the door to the demonization of Christianity in the schools,” Donohue continued.
The Catholic League president claimed that the Prop. 8 ruling would “invite greater pressure” on the Catholic Church and other religions to accept “the radical homosexual agenda.”
If this effort is successful, Donohue warned, “not only will the family suffer, the prospects for religious liberty will be endangered as well.”
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