Politics
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Monday January 12, 2004
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Print- Canada's Most-Loved Pro-Life Bishop Retires
- Court Rules Against Bush: No Guardians for Unborn Children
- Gov. Bush Denied Again: No Guardian for Schiavo
- Boston Archbishop Calls on Politicians to Fight for Traditional Marriage with Passion
- Uganda's First Lady Warns Teens against Condom Use
- Presidential Hopeful Governor Howard Dean Said to Misunderstand Origins of Homosexual Behaviour
- LifeSite NewsBytes
Canada's Most-Loved Pro-Life Bishop Retires
TODAY'S HEADLINES
VANCOUVER, January 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Archbishop Adam Exner of Vancouver has retired after reaching the Church's mandatory retirement age of 75. Serving as Bishop of Vancouver since 1991, Archbishop Exner has been, despite his best efforts at anonymity, praised by Catholics throughout Canada as a pro-life leader among his colleagues. The archdiocese of Vancouver has announced that he is to be replaced by Bishop Raymond Roussin of Victoria.
The respect and admiration for Archbishop Exner stems from his faithfulness to church teachings and his courage and clarity in the face of opposition. In the most difficult circumstances - even when many of his brother bishops openly opposed his stances - Archbishop Exner remained true. One of his most trying times as an archbishop was likely the battle over the 2000 March of Women, a march which, while promoting such laudable goals as fighting poverty and the elimination of violence against women, also supported abortion and homosexuality.
With the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), the Catholic Women's League (CWL) and the Catholic Religious Conference backing the march and the Development and Peace organization funding it, Archbishop Exner (along with several other Canadian bishops) nonetheless opposed participation in the march publicly and forcefully. In fact, in an open letter Archbishop Exner said he was withholding funding from Development and Peace for their support of the march. He also asked the CCCB and CWL to reconsider their support noting that, "In conscience, one cannot give unqualified endorsement or be seen as giving such endorsement to a project that has morally objectionable goals mixed in with some good ones." (see the full letter here:
http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/womens_march/exnerstatement.html )
Archbishop Exner issued a Catholic Voter's Catechism in 2000 in which he wrote "the right to life is the most important issue in deciding" one's vote.
( http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/nov/00111702.html )
In 2001 he instituted a diocesan policy banning individual political rallies after a pro-abortion politician used a church hall for a reception.
( http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/mar/01032803.html )
Last year he told Catholic politicians that they could not in good conscience support the Human Reproduction Act bill C-13.
( http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jan/03013001.html )
Just last month, despite the disagreement of the nuns who ran it, he was fighting to keep open a Catholic hospital so that there would be hospital available that respected the sacredness of human life.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/dec/03120306.html
Last September he ordered four Catholic schools to end their participation with a Credit Union since it was actively promoting the homosexual agenda. Protests by homosexual activists got so intense over this measure police advised him to take security precautions.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/sep/03092405.html
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/oct/03100102.html
Messages to Archbishop Exner may be sent through the Chancery office:
Back to TopCourt Rules Against Bush: No Guardians for Unborn Children
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida, January 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Florida court ruled two to one in favour of denying Florida Governor Jeb Bush's appeal that the unborn child of a severely disabled woman be appointed a guardian while the child was still in the womb. The woman, 23 year-old J.D.S., delivered a healthy baby girl in August of 2003. The appeal continued despite the child's birth, because of the ground-breaking nature of the decision.
Under Florida law, a guardian can be appointed for any "person" who cannot make decisions for themselves. The law does not explicitly mention the foetus. The majority judges in this decision wrote that in order to be entitled to a guardian, J.D.S.'s foetus would have to be a person, but under the Roe decision, "'the word 'person'. . . does not include the unborn."
Judge Robert J. Pleus, Jr. dissented strongly against the decision of the other judges, referring throughout his statement to the "unborn child" as opposed to the "foetus", as his opponents did. Pleus wrote that the words foetus and embryo are "confusing, outdated and meaningless. Because the majority concludes that an unborn, viable child is not a 'person' or a 'minor' unless the Legislature says so, I would urge the Legislature to overturn this decision and affirm the fact that an unborn child is a person. Such action would be a clear and unambiguous acknowledgment of human life."
Although a delay in the initial decision allowed for the healthy delivery of baby "S," the original court order was for J.D.S. to undergo an abortion.
Concerned Women for America president Sandy Rios, who supported Bush's appeal said, "It was a terrible thing for this woman to be raped by a person who was assigned to care for her. We certainly consider any sexual assault a terrible crime, but the sadness is only compounded if we also subject this poor girl to a procedure that we know to be harmful to women." She said that to abort the child would only make a tragic situation worse.
Read local coverage at:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/7682238.htm
Gov. Bush Denied Again: No Guardian for Schiavo
CLEARWATER, Florida, January 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Friday, Chief Judge David Demers rejected Gov. Jeb Bush's request that an independent guardian continue to work on brain-damaged Terri Schiavo's behalf. In his ruling, Demers questioned the constitutionality of the law which granted the independent guardian in the first place.
A statement released by the governor's office said that "Terri Schiavo yet again has been denied an independent voice in the proceedings that may very well determine the outcome of her life."
Dr. Jay Wolfson, formerly court-appointed Guardian for Terri Schiavo, the severely disabled Florida woman at the centre of a battle over the right to life versus the 'right to die,' was dismissed from his charge late last year after submitting a nearly 40-page report of his findings in the case to Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Wolfson summarized ten years of litigation in the case and recommended that Terri undergo swallowing tests and therapy.
Gov. Bush wanted an independent guardian to continue working on Terri Schiavo's behalf, because her husband wants her feeding tube removed in order that she be given her "right to die."
A Dutch pro-life expert in the matter told LifeSiteNews.com that a similar case was the primary factor that triggered the easing of euthanasia laws in that country.
Schiavo's parents argue that their daughter deserves an independent guardian, because of her husband Michael's conflict of interest - he is engaged to be married to a woman he already has children with. In 1998, Michael revealed a claim that Terri asked for the "right to die" - eight years after she had already been hospitalized.
Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in October for six days before Gov. Bush and the Florida Legislature stepped in to have the tube reinserted and a guardian appointed.
After viewing the report from Dr. Wolfson, Bush concluded, "As I have said from the beginning, the state must protect every Floridian's right to life, and in so doing, err on the side of life. As Governor, I will continue to do just that. Nothing in Dr. Wolfson's report leads me to believe the stay should be lifted at this time, or that Mrs. Schiavo should be deprived of her right to live."
Meanwhile, Florida Senator Stephen Wise of Jacksonville has introduced Senate Bill 692, which would prohibit courts from ordering withdrawal of food and water from mentally incompetent patients in Florida who have not specified such orders in advance directives.
Read LifeSiteNews.com coverage of Wolfson's report at:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/dec/03120403.html
Boston Archbishop Calls on Politicians to Fight for Traditional Marriage with Passion
Says "our hubris has made us blind to the madness around us"
BOSTON, January 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley celebrated the annual Red Mass yesterday, calling on politicians to fight against the radical redefinition of marriage. The annual event for politicians and lawyers was told "We cannot afford to be asleep at the switch. We cannot afford to run for cover. Today, at this Red Mass, I call on you, our Catholic lawyers and jurists, to live your baptismal commitment. Your baptism and your profession invest you with a great responsibility. Use your wisdom to defend the truth, to defend marriage. Do it with a passion and do what is right."
The Archbishop warned, "The prevalence of divorce and cohabitation in the last decades has done great harm to the institution of marriage, by taking the focus off children. Same-sex marriages will only further the tendency to only see marriage as being for the good of the adult without taking into account the children and their interests."
"We live in an age when our hubris has made us blind to the madness around us, where our courts have undermined the value of life itself and now attempt to dilute the meaning of marriage," O'Malley said. "In diluting the meaning of marriage, we risk diminishing our own humanity."
See the Boston Globe coverage:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/12/catholics_urg...
Uganda's First Lady Warns Teens against Condom Use
KAMPALA, January 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Uganda, the country acknowledged for having waged the most successful anti-AIDS battle in the world, owes most of the success of its program to President Museveni and his wife, First Lady, Janet Museveni. While 'safe-sex' pushers in the West have claimed that Uganda's program has relied on condoms as a essential component, Uganda's First Lady has said differently.
Speaking at the official opening of an annual youth conference in Kampala, she told over 2000 young people, "You do not need sex at your age. Wait until you are married. You can choose to fight AIDS by saying no and be able to stay alive."
She told the teens to ignore those who push condoms noting that companies which promote such products are after money. "Don't give your airtime to anyone talking to you about using condoms," Ms Museveni said. Adding she could "not be apologetic" for objecting to them. Rather she encouraged the young people to practice "God-centered" self-control.
She called on all political leaders to constantly remind youth about abstinence before marriage and faithfulness within marriage. "You do not have to be a member of the movement or the opposition to do this. Always tell our young people not to engage in premarital sex," she said.
See local coverage:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200401080244.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200401080089.html
Presidential Hopeful Governor Howard Dean Said to Misunderstand Origins of Homosexual Behaviour
ENCINO, CA, January 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "Governor Howard Dean's recent comments on homosexuality evidence a lack of understanding about the origins of same-sex attractions and the psychological and physical problems associated with homosexual behaviour," said Dr. A. Dean Byrd today. Dr. Byrd is a Scientific Advisory Committee member of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.
Dr. Byrd's statement comes in the wake of Dr. Dean's widely quoted remarks in the Washington Post that, "From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people....The overwhelming evidence is that there is very significant, substantial genetic component to it."
Dr. Byrd's previously published a report titled "The Innate-Immutable Argument Finds No Basis in Science: In Their Own Words: Gay Activists Speak About Science, Morality, Philosophy." It provides compelling evidence that homosexual attractions result from an interaction of social, biological, and psychological factors-- including temperament, personality traits, sexual abuse, familial factors, as well as treatment by one's peers--and are not due to a person's DNA.
"Dr. Kenneth Zucker, editor of the prestigious Archives of Sexual Behavior, noted in a recent edition of the journal that both sides of this debate agree on one point: that homosexual orientation is more fluid than fixed," Dr. Byrd added.
"But what if people were 'born gay'? Looking at Dean's religious claims, would God have designed them to be that way?" asks Dr. Byrd. "Down Syndrome has a genetic basis to it," he added, "but we do not view this as a positive condition that defines who such people are. Their designer did not intend for them to be that way--and that holds true whether one believes the designer was God, or the impersonal forces of evolution."
"Even if homosexuality did have a determining genetic component, it would remain problematic for the mental health and physical well-being of the person engaged in such behaviour," he concluded.
See the NARTH website at:
http://narth.com/
LifeSite NewsBytes
EWTN's pro-life hero priest Fr. Benedict Groeschel Critically Injured in Car Accident
Catholic World News reported today that "Sources said the elderly priest had broken both legs and both arms as well as several ribs, has intracranial bleeding, and suffered a heart attack, among other injuries. The priest's secretary said it will 'take a miracle' for him to survive".
http://www.ewtn.com/news/index.asp
http://www.cwnews.com/
Girls Expelled For Charging Boys To Watch Them Kissing
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_T...
Stillbirths Now 1 in 200 Pregnancies
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-lab12jan12,1,31082.story
Safe Salmon, Sick Science
"The other agenda here is the crusade, mounted by the David Suzuki Foundation and others, against the farm fish industry. The 36 ppb of PCBs in farm salmon may indeed be 10 times the three ppb of PCBs in wild fish. But as Mr. Santerre put it in an interview yesterday, the level in wild fish is essentially nothing, and '10 times nothing is still nothing.'"
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=c2421896...
Harper Set to Officially Enter Race for Conservative Party Leadership
http://cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/12/harper
U.S. Vice-President Cheney Would Support Gay Marriage Ban
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/7680326.htm
Child Sex Aggression Linked to Pornography
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/92004e.asp
Four million CCTV cameras watch public. UK has the highest level of surveillance
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=480364
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