Monday November 17, 2008

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Italian Nuns Refuse to Kill Eluana Englaro

By Hilary White, Rome Correspondent

MILAN, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The nuns who run the hospice in which Eluana Englaro has been living for 14 years have refused to carry out the court order to remove her food and hydration tube. On Friday, the highest court of appeals of Italy upheld a previous court’s ruling that Eluana Englaro, the young disabled woman who has been in a state of diminished consciousness since being in a car accident in 1992, may be killed by the removal of her food and hydration tube.

In a letter published in yesterday’s Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops Conference, the Misericordine nuns of Lecco said, “Our hope, and that of many like us, is that the death by hunger and thirst of Eluana, and others in her condition, will not be carried out.”

“That is why, once again, we maintain our availability, today and into the future, to continue to serve Eluana. If there are those who consider her dead, let Eluana remain with us who feel she is alive. We don’t ask anything but the silence and the liberty to love and to devote ourselves to those who are weak, poor and little in return.”

At the same time, the Secretary of Welfare, Eugenia Roccella, said in a statement today that there is “no obligation” for government-funded health care facilities to implement the decision of the Court of Cassation that patients can be dehydrated to death.

Legal experts have said that it is possible under Italian law for the sisters to apply for permission from the courts to be appointed Eluana’s legal guardian. Monsignore Ignacio Barreiro, the head of the Rome office of Human Life International told LifeSiteNews.com that such a possibility could be a real glimmer of hope for saving Eluana’s life.

“It’s more than reasonable,” he said, “that someone who wants to keep the person alive should be appointed the guardian, rather than the person who’s ready to kill her. You don’t have to have a doctorate in theology to say that; it’s just common sense.”

Msgr. Barriero, who was an attorney before being ordained to the priesthood, added that it is a basic principle of law that “you cannot have a conflict of interest between the guardian and the person who is under guardianship. The purpose of a guardian is to look after the well being of the person.”

550 delegates of the Movement for Life, meeting in Montecatini for the 28th National Congress of the Centers for Aid to Life, have written to President Giorgio Napolitano to ask him to “enforce his highest moral authority” to allow Eluana Englaro “to continue to be cared for and loved by the Sisters of Lecco.”

Giulio Boscagli, Assessor to the Family and Solidarity in the region of Lombardy in which Eluana lives, agreed with the nuns, saying, “The ruling of the Court of Cassation seems to have lost sight of the reality” that Eluana is not dead but alive, although currently in a “seriously disabled condition.”

The desire of the nuns to care for Eluana as though she is “a daughter,” he said, “is the right path, the path taken by all those who daily take care of people who are in a vegetative state or very seriously disabled.” Boscagli pledged the “closeness and support” of the Regione Lombardia for the nuns.

At the same time, the decision of the Court of Cassation has alerted lawmakers to a legal loophole that could be used to sanction euthanasia. Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said that parliament must “fill the legislative vacuum in place” that has allowed the court to rule against Eluana.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Eluana Englaro to Die by Dehydration after Italian High Court Ruling
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111405.html

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U.K. Prime Minister to Press Ahead on Presumed Consent Organ Donation

By Hilary White

LONDON, November 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite his own task force having said that it will not succeed, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will not give up on a plan that would see every person in the UK automatically registered as an organ donor.

Brown said of the task force and his plan, “While they are not recommending the introduction of a presumed consent system, as I have done, I am not ruling out a further change in the law.” The PM indicated that the government would “revisit” the question at the end of the “next stage” of the campaign.

Brown’s plan is to implement a system of “presumed consent,” meaning that every person in the UK would be considered a potential organ donor unless he or she specifically opted out or relatives objected. Brown maintains that it is only with presumed consent that the problem of the availability of organs for transplants can be solved.

The taskforce, however, said that a presumed consent system would do little to increase the number of transplants. Elisabeth Buggins, chairman of the Organ Donation Taskforce, said the group was concerned that an opt-out system could prevent implementation of an improved public awareness campaign. She also told the BBC there was worry among doctors that the families of patients might feel pressured to donate. She also added that presumed consent would change the donor-recipient dynamic for the worse.

“People who have received an organ said that the concept of a gift — of that organ being freely given by the family, by the donor — is very important to them,” she said.

To bring in presumed consent, the government would need to amend the Human Tissue Act of 2004, a plan that is supported by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Pathologists.

While the task force had little to say about the ethical problems of presumed consent, and nothing to say about the ethical problems that continue to surround organ donation itself, John Smeaton, director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has warned that such a system could directly threaten the lives of Britons.

Smeaton, writing on his blog in January, cited an International Forum on Transplant Ethics that proposed that lethal injections be given to people who are long-term unconscious, in so-called persistent, or permanent, “vegetative states,” and for whom life has been deemed “unworthy of living.” It is argued that such injections could produce better-quality organs than if the person died naturally.

“Donation of anything,” Smeaton wrote, “is customarily based on consent.”

“They are, after all, my organs. However, in an opt-out system, where most people's wishes are unknown, consent is absent and you can't really speak of organ donation any more.”

“An opt-out system,” he said, “also represents a high level of interference by the state in personal life. The dead person's body effectively becomes government property.”

Others have pointed out that the recently passed Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill already brings the concept of presumed consent into British health law. Keith Cardinal O’Brien, Archbishop of Edinburgh, said that Schedule 3 of the bill “enshrines the concept of ‘presumed consent’ in UK law,” meaning that the bill would allow the removal of tissue from mentally incapacitated adults or children, without their specific consent to be used to create cloned human embryos.

In a recent speech the Cardinal compared these provisions of the HFE bill to certain activities of the Nazis. “The proposals in this Bill,” the cardinal famously said, “represent a breach of 50 years of ethical medical research.”

Read related LifeSiteNews.com:

Organ Donation Report Suspends Presumed Consent Scheme but Pro-Life Advocates Warn of Danger
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011707.html

Brown Wants Presumed Consent Organ Donation in Britain by Year's End
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011406.html

UK Government Behaving Like Nazis: Edinburgh Cardinal
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08103002.html

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Diocese Repudiates Statement by Priest Who Said Obama Supporters Should Confess

By Kathleen Gilbert

GREENVILLE, South Carolina, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following an explosion of national media attention, the Charleston diocesan administrator has distanced the diocese from a priest's statement urging Obama supporters in St. Mary's parish to receive absolution before receiving Holy Communion.

"Christ gives us freedom to explore our own conscience and to make our own decisions while adhering to the law of God and the teachings of the faith," wrote Msgr. Laughlin in a statement.  "Therefore, if a person has formed his or her conscience well, he or she should not be denied Communion, nor be told to go to confession before receiving Communion." (The full statement is available at http://www.catholic-doc.org/)

Fr. Jay Scott Newman had published a letter to parishioners two Sundays ago stating that "voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exits constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil." Therefore, he concluded, "Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."  (To see the letter in St. Mary's bulletin, go to: http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/111408_churchbulletin.pdf)

"Father Newman's statements do not adequately reflect the Catholic Church's teachings. Any comments or statements to the contrary are repudiated," wrote Msgr. Laughlin.

After a media flurry that gave the impression that the parish priest was refusing Communion to Catholics who voted for Obama, Fr. Newman immediately published a statement to clarify his teaching (To read the clarification, see: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111708.html). He stated that his letter on the "enormously complex subject" could be easily distorted when taken out of the context of his fidelity to normative Church doctrine. Within this context, he said, "no one could conclude that a vote for Senator Obama is in itself or by itself a mortal sin.

"But from that same teaching, though, we must conclude that a vote for a pro-abortion candidate can be a mortal sin if the intent is to support abortion, that abortion is not merely one issue among other important issues, and that no Catholic should endorse a pro-abortion politician if a plausible pro-life alternative is available."

The priest also condemned the Associated Press for distorting his words to give the impression that he intended to deny communion to parishioners who had voted for Obama. “The AP story was written to create the false impression that I intended to deny Holy Communion to those who voted for Senator Obama,” he said, adding, “I did not.”

Both the original letter and its clarification by Fr. Newman have been removed from St. Mary's parish website.

When LifeSiteNews.com contacted the Charleston diocese, they were told Msgr. Laughlin's statement should not be construed as a softening of the diocese's pro-life advocacy.  According to an assistant to Msgr. Laughlin, Fr. Newman has spoken to Msgr. Laughlin and "is aware that Monsignor did not 'throw him under the bus.'"

During Sunday Mass, about 50 people held signs both supporting and condemning Fr. Newman's teaching outside his church. Their presence reflected the varied reaction to the priest's letter from Catholics, both religious and laity (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111408.html).  While some accused Fr. Newman of crossing the line between religion and politics, others applauded him as an unapologetic witness to Church teaching on life, sin, and worthy reception of Holy Communion.

"Sometimes the question gets a little muddled, but pro-life is pro-life.  Abortion is murder.  It's a very simple issue," one supporter told CBS 7 News.

Sharon Howey, a parishioner at St. Mary's who attended Fr. Newman's most recent homily, said she was struck by "this remarkable man's humility," and noted that Fr. Newman again conceded that his original letter did not convey with enough exactitude the Church's teaching on the reception of Communion.

"Fr. Newman chose to follow a long line of saints down the road of obedience and humility showing the signs of a truly holy man," wrote Howey.  "And in due form, I’m sure his attitude will bear tremendous fruit to the Glory of God."

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Bishops React to Priest who Told Obama-Supporting Catholics to Confess before Receiving Communion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111408.html

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Fr. Newman Responds to Diocesan Concerns about Pro-Abortion Voting Letter

Commentary by Sharon Howey, parishioner at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville, S.C.

GREENVILLE, S.C., November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - “I don’t know about you guys, but I had an interesting week,” began Fr. Jay Scott Newman’s Saturday night homily, after a week of national and international attention gained from last Sunday’s ‘Letter from the Pastor,’ printed in the parish bulletin. In that letter Fr. Newman had said that persons who voted for a pro-abortion politician should not receive Holy Communion until they are reconciled to God, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation. 

Prior to the 5:00 Saturday mass, a group of parishioners had gathered to pray the rosary in support of their beloved Fr. Newman outside the church, with a sign reading “this church is pro-life,” until the priest requested that they go inside to pray.

The congregation laughed at his “interesting week” statement and the clapping quickly turned into a spontaneous standing ovation.  Fr. Newman turned toward the Blessed Sacrament and genuflected.

This was a homily to remember - one on unity and humility that was lived out. (You can listen to it by podcast at http://www.stmarysgvl.org/discipleship/audio-homilies where it should be available by Tuesday.)  Indeed, what stood out most to me was this remarkable man’s humility.

Fr. Newman’s initial Letter did not address the fact that a person needs to “have full knowledge” in order for a sin to be mortal for them. This technicality, as well as the political nature of the address, led the Diocese to intervene and make a statement repudiating Fr. Newman’s letter, while also calling for the protection of unborn life.

In his homily Fr. Newman shared that his ‘Letter from the Pastor’ is written on a deadline and he was writing for his congregation (who, if they were listening the last two months, were fully informed). He never imagined the letter would spark national, and even international debates on the separation of church and state.  He graciously conceded that he did not adequately reflect church teaching on this complex issue and said that he “joyfully submits” to Diocesan input in the matter. 

Fr. Newman quoted from Philippians 2 on preserving unity in humility. “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. ... Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped, rather He emptied Himself.”

Fr. Newman also mentioned his regret that the larger part of his letter, which asked for prayers for Obama, was completely ignored by the media. It is very beautifully stated and I will reproduce it here as it is no longer available online:

“Barack Obama, although we must always and everywhere disagree with him over abortion, has been duly elected the next President of the United States, and after he takes the Oath of Office next January 20th, he will hold legitimate authority in this nation. For this reason, we are obliged by Scriptural precept to pray for him and to cooperate with him whenever conscience does not bind us otherwise. Let us hope and pray that the responsibilities of the presidency and the grace of God will awaken in the conscience of this extraordinarily gifted man an awareness that the unholy slaughter of children in this nation is the greatest threat to the peace and security of the United States and constitutes a clear and present danger to the common good. In the time of President Obama’s service to our country, let us pray for him.”

Listening to Fr. Newman’s gracious words, I was reminded of the conversion of the woman who was Roe in Roe vs. Wade. The thing that always struck me about the conversion story of Norma McCorvey, was that it was Flip Benham’s humility and love that won her over. 

Flip worked next door to the abortion clinic Norma worked at and he yelled out to her one day, “You should be ashamed of yourself. How do you sleep at night?” and he saw in the look in her eyes that he had really hurt her. So the next chance he got, he apologized (not for being pro-life, of course, but for hurting her) and asked, “Will you forgive me?” It was this personal concern for her well-being, not his initial (though true) statements that won her over to the truth.

In his Saturday night homily Fr. Newman chose to follow a long line of saints down the road of obedience and humility, showing the signs of a truly holy man. And in due form, I’m sure his attitude will bear tremendous fruit for the Glory of God.

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Ottawa Archbishop Thanks Canadian Catholics who Promoted Humanae Vitae in the Last 40 Years

By John-Henry Westen
 
TORONTO, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Humanae Vitae conference which took place this Saturday at St. Michael's College in Toronto, attracting an overflow crowd, was a great success according to organizers and participants.  The conference was organized to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life), which reaffirmed Church teaching against contraception in the wake of the advent of the birth control pill.
 
At the time of its publication, Humanae Vitae was rejected by many Catholics, clergy and bishops included.  Even the Canadian bishops' conference at the time issued what is known as The Winnipeg Statement, which was interpreted by most as absolving Catholics should they dissent from the teaching against contraception.
 
"The time at which it appeared," said Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ, speaking of the encyclical during this weekend’s conference, "was one of great discontinuity ... not only in public life but also for the church." 

The Archbishop recalled the Winnipeg Statement and a follow-up statement that sought to clarify it.  "Many felt, and some still feel, that the bishops' first message was confusing and ambiguous, and that the follow up statement was too weak to correct mistaken notions communicated earlier," he said.
 
He added, however, that now was the time for the faithful in Canada to move forward with promoting the teaching rather than looking back to the past. "At this point in the history of the Canadian Church we could look backwards and try to change the past such as the baggage that came with the so-called Winnipeg Statement," said the Archbishop.  "We can't really change that but we can work for a better future by putting our energy to moving ahead, and bringing our healing vision to our culture ...
 
"We need to go back and embrace or re-embrace the prophetic encyclical Humanae Vitae given through the Theology of the Body," he said.  "There is no doubt that we need to do more to promote the teaching of Humanae Vitae," he added.  "Many in our time do not understand the evil of the contraceptive act."
 
The Archbishop urged the faithful "to read the encyclical, to study it and embrace it."  He noted that the "prophetic" encyclical which "time has shown … to be a gift from Christ to men and women everywhere," is "just as important today as it was in 1968."  Prendergast quoted Cardinal Edward Gagnon as saying that Humanae Vitae is "one of the most important documents in the history of the church."  He also prayed "for the conversion of those who are still resisting" the teaching of the encyclical.
 
The archbishop of Canada’s national capital stressed the importance of a new document from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, released this year.  That document, called "Liberating Potential," was released in September and contained nothing but praise for and faithful adherence to Humanae Vitae.  LifeSiteNews.com coverage noted that the new CCCB document contained not a mention of the Winnipeg Statement or a hint of its dissenting slant on contraception (see coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08092909.html).
 
The archbishop urged faithful Catholics to "work for a better future by moving ahead and leaving the past in the Lord's hands."  Concluding, he said, "I want to thank all of you who over the past 40 years have kept the truths of HV before us. I know that God will bless you for your efforts and your suffering and I ask that we all go forward now with the task of building the culture of life and love here in Canada."
 
The conference was sponsored by Campaign Life Coalition, Priests for Life Canada, the Natural Family Planning Association, the Catholic Doctors Guild and LifeSiteNews.com.  Jim Hughes of Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com that he was thrilled with the conference and that the sold-out crowd was very enthusiastic.  "To see that there are bishops willing to speak out on this prophetic document bodes well for the future," said Hughes. 
 
Talks from the conference, including that of Archbishop Prendergast will be available from LifeSiteNews.com shortly.

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Stark Choice: Chinese Woman Must Abort Her Child or Lose Her Home

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

BEIJING, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Muslim Uyghur woman who is more than six months pregnant remains under guard in a hospital in China's northwestern Xinjiang region awaiting a forced abortion by population control authorities who don't want her to have a third child.

Arzigul Tursun fled from her village and went into hiding to avoid the abortion but was subsequently found and taken to the Municipal Watergate Hospital in Yining.

Radio Free Asia reports that Tursun's husband, Nurmemet Tohtasin, said that "police, Party officials and the family planning committee officials, all came and interrogated us, and threatened that if we didn’t find Arzigul and bring her to the village, they would confiscate our house, farmland and all our property.”

Arzigul and Nurmemet already have two daughters at their home in the village of Bulaq. According to the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, Arzigul fled Bulaq when officials first urged her to have an abortion, but she returned after her family received threats of asset seizure.

"We considered our two girls," Nurmemet said in a telephone interview with the Uyghur American Association. "If the house and properties were taken away, how would they live? So my wife came back home and went to the hospital."

An AP report said that physicians have delayed performing the forced abortion because of rapidly developing international interest in the case due to pressure from pro-life and human-rights groups who have expressed concern that Tursun's health could be threatened by the abortion.

U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican and House Ranking Member on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, wrote to China's ambassador to Washington, Zhou Wenzhong, on Thursday to demand that "the nightmare of a forced abortion" not be carried out.

"I appeal to the Chinese Government not to forcibly abort Arzigul, a Uyghur woman now in the custody of China’s population police and awaiting the nightmare of a forced abortion," wrote Rep. Smith.

"The Chinese Government is notorious for this barbaric practice, but to forcibly abort a woman while the world watches in full knowledge of what is going on would make a mockery of its claim that the central government disapproves of the practice, and of the UN Population Fund pretense that it has moderated the Chinese population planners’ cruelty. Human rights groups and the U.S. Government will be watching very carefully to see what happens to Arzigul and her family."

China maintains a one-child-per-family rule on the majority Han Chinese, but allows minorities, including Uyghurs, to have more than one child. If minority couples are urban dwellers, they may have two children, while rural farmers may have three children.

While Tursun is registered as a rural dweller, her husband is registered in an urban area. This initially caused some confusion among population control officials, but they eventually demanded that she submit to the abortion.

Despite official denials, it has been documented that the Chinese Government regularly relies on forced abortion to enforce its one-child population control program.

China's official Tianshan Net states that population control policies in Xinjiang region have prevented the births of some 3.7 million people over the last 30 years.

To contact the U.S. embassy of the People's Republic of China with your concern:
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington DC 20008
Phone: (202) 328-2500
Fax: (202) 588-0032
Email:

See related LSN reports:
China's One-Child Terror Campaign Continues
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07071008.html

Thousands of Chinese Peasants Riot over Brutal Birth Control Campaign
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07052202.html

61 Chinese Women Undergo Forced Abortion in 2 Days at Youjiang Hospital
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07042006.html

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Mormons, Knights of Columbus Face Chilling Threats and More Vandalism for Prop. 8 Support

By Kathleen Gilbert

OLYMPIA, Washington, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Homosexualists are continuing to vent their rage against Mormons for supporting true marriage in California, and are issuing increasingly hostile threats to accompany a steady stream of vandalism.

"The Mormon church (just like most churches) is a cesspool of filth," writes the anarchist homosexualist group Bash Back!, in a statement flaunting the vandalism of an Olympia Mormon stake center over the weekend.  "It is a breeding ground for oppression of all sorts and needs to be confronted, attacked, subverted and destroyed."

The group fumed over the Mormon Church's "disgusting commercials" and "their despicable sermons," saying, "The Church has to pay.”

"The Mormon church teaches us to hate our bodies, not to trust ourselves or our desires," the statement continued.  "This ends up deforming us as healthy sexual and communal beings. This is unacceptable.

"Let this be a warning to the Mormon church, dissolve completely or be destroyed. The choice is yours."

According to the police report, vandals spray painted phrases such as "pro-gay" and "feel no shame in your love" as well as anarchy symbols on the doorposts and back wall of the building. 

The Bash Back! statement acknowledged that the group committed the vandalism "because we are angry at the amount of money and propaganda that the Mormon church pumped into the homophobic Proposition 8 campaign."  Proposition 8 is the California amendment, passed by popular vote on Nov. 4, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.  Mormons were among many religious groups supporting the true marriage ballot measure, joining Catholics, Muslims, orthodox Jews, and evangelical Christians.

At least eight Mormon buildings in Salt Lake City, the religion's headquarters, have also been vandalized with spray-painted epithets criticizing the church's support of Proposition 8.

Envelopes containing white powder were sent to Mormon temples in both Los Angeles and Salt Lake City on Thursday, forcing the buildings to be evacuated before an FBI hazardous material crew determined that the powder was innocuous. 

Anthrax mailed as white powder to lawmakers and media outlets killed five people in 2001 following the World Trade Center attacks, and since then there have been occasional reports of harmless lookalike powders mailed as a hoax.  

A similar envelope, sent from California, arrived on the same day at a mailroom and printing plant at the Knights of Columbus headquarters in New Haven.  Results on the powder's identity have not been confirmed.  The Knights of Columbus have also been targeted for supporting Proposition 8, having raised slightly over 1 million dollars for the "Yes on 8" campaign.

Homosexualist protesters are also boycotting and picketing business owners who supported the proposition, assisted by AntiGayBlacklist.com, where the names of individuals who contributed to Yes on 8 are publicized and subjected to boycotting and other pressures.

The LA Times reports that one restaurant, El Coyote, came under siege by hundreds of protesters because the owner's daughter, Marjorie Christoffersen, had privately contributed $100 to Yes on 8.  The rioting became so out of control at one point that the LA Police Department was forced to quell the disturbance in riot gear.

Christoffersen met with protesters and even broke down in tears, but the picketers were not satisfied, and continued their protest both in front of the store and online, where they deluged the restaurant with bad reviews.

"She had a chance to make nice and blew it. I was almost feeling a tiny bit of sympathy for her. Not no more!!" was one blogger's response.

"No matter your opinion of Proposition 8, we should all agree that it is wrong to intimidate and harass churches, businesses and individuals for participating in the democratic process," Ron Prentice, of ProtectMarriage.com, said in a statement.

"Amidst all this lawlessness, harassment, trampling of civil rights and now domestic terrorism, one thing stands out: the deafening silence of our elected officials,” said campaign co-manager Frank Schubert. 

"Not a single elected leader has spoken out against what is happening. Where is Governor Arnold Schwarzenengger while churches are being attacked? And where is Senator Dianne Feinstein while people are losing their jobs and grandmothers are being bullied by an angry mob?"

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Homosexualists Protest against True Marriage in Over 100 Cities
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111702.html

Update: Nationwide Homosexual Anarchist Organization Behind Attack on MI Church Planning Further Disruptions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111402.html

Video Shows Gay 'Marriage' Backers Terrorizing Cross-Carrying Elderly Woman and Reporter
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111010.html

Anti-Prop. 8 Activists Aim Racial Slurs at California African-Americans - Both Homosexual and Straight
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111212.html

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Vatican American Cardinal: "On November 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake"

Stafford labels president-elect Barack Obama’s anti-life policies as “aggressive, disruptive, and apocalyptic”

By Jonquil Frankham

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – James Francis Cardinal Stafford, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, in a recent lecture at the Catholic University of America (CUA), labeled president-elect Barack Obama’s anti-life policies as “aggressive, disruptive, and apocalyptic,” according to CUA’s The Tower. “On November 4, 2008," said the Cardinal, "America suffered a cultural earthquake.”

The Cardinal’s lecture was entitled “Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul” and dealt largely with the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae (HV) and the president-elect’s policies.

“If 1968 was the year of America’s ‘suicide attempt,’” he said, “2008 is the year of America’s exhaustion … In the intervening 40 years since Humanae Vitae, the United States has been thrown upon ruins.”

“For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal," he continued, comparing the plight of the US Church under Obama to Christ's agony in the garden. "We will know that garden,”

1968 was the year the controversial encyclical by Pope Paul VI was issued, and, according to an article by the Cardinal published in L’Osservatore Romano (LR) on the 40th anniversary of HV, marks the origin of a great division in the Church. The Cardinal wrote in LR on July 25 of this year that the dissent from HV that followed its release has been one of the direst blows to hit the Catholic Church in the last 40 years.

“The summer of 1968 is a record of God's hottest hour ... The memories are not forgotten; they are painful ... They inhabit the whirlwind where God's wrath dwells,” he wrote.

In his address to the CUA, Cardinal Stafford spoke of the large-scale diminishment of respect for human life in the US, saying that Catholics must remember their core values regarding marriage and human dignity. He blamed this diminishment largely on Roe v. Wade and other anti-life decisions of the Supreme Court.

Roe v. Wade’s “scrupulous meanness has had catastrophic effects upon the unity and integrity of the American republic,” said Stafford.

As reported by the Tower, the Cardinal added that marital love is representative of the love between God and man, saying that the use of contraceptives cannot be part of that relationship.

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Homosexualists Protest against True Marriage in Over 100 Cities

By Kathleen Gilbert

US, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Protesters scattered across the U.S. took to the streets on Saturday, calling on the nation to dissolve the authentic definition of marriage in an effort largely organized by JointheImpact (www.jointheimpact.com). 

The organization's website claims that 300 cities joined in the rally, while less enthusiastic estimates put that number somewhere between 80 and 150.

Cities such as Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York saw homosexual protestors chanting, waving homemade signs, and marching around city halls to demand same-sex "marriage."  Protestors also descended upon cities in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where state courts have already introduced same-sex "marriage."  According to media reports the groups ranged in size from a few dozen to several thousand. 

"We brought the world’s attention to the outrage that is Proposition 8," read a statement on JointheImpact.com, referring to California's true marriage amendment.  "We brought the conversation of equality into the living rooms of America and around the world! Today, we took a gigantic step into the next Civil Rights Movement." 

JointheImpact is a relatively new, largely internet-based homosexual movement whose mission, according to the website, is "to encourage the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer) community not to look towards the past and place blame" but to achieve "full equality for ALL."  The group encouraged rally organizers to refrain from violent activity.

Speakers at the rallies insisted that maintaining the true definition of marriage in law is to deny homosexuals their civil rights.  "From Golden Gate Park to Loring Park, we will step together until this battle is won," Minneapolis City Council Member Gary Schiff told a Minnesota crowd, according to the Star Tribune. "We will not forget the tens of thousands of gay couples who had their loves erased in California."

"I want equality. I want to be able to marry who I want to marry, when I want to marry him," Utah rallier Nathan Bohman told the Salt Lake Tribune. 

California cities hosted the biggest rallies, with agitation continuing to run high following the success of Proposition 8 in the November 4 election.  Proposition 8 amended the state constitution to specify that marriage is between a man and a woman, and reversed the decision of the Supreme Cout judges who imposed same-sex "marriage" on California in May. 

California homosexualists have been fighting to overturn Proposition 8 in the state courts, and on Saturday protestors converged in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Palm Springs, and Long Beach.

In Los Angeles, crowds were estimated at between 8,000 to 10,000, making it the largest of the nation's rallies, while falling well short of the projected 40,000. 

Signs reading "No More Mr. Nice Gay" and "I am a victim of H8" bobbed along downtown streets in what the L.A. Times called a "carnival-like atmosphere."

One video of the L.A. rally shows two men dressed as brides, one masked and dancing to drums with a sign that read "America, Marry Me!" 

Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, criticized Saturday's rallies, which demanded that California courts overturn Proposition 8, despite the fact that Prop. 8 marked the second time in eight years that Californian citizens had voted to protect true marriage in the state. 

"By attacking the people's vote to protect marriage in the state constitution, homosexual activists have declared war on our republic and our democratic system," he said.

True marriage advocates have repeatedly pointed out that across the US voters have consistently voted to protect the true definition of marriage, and that homosexual “marriage” only exists in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and existed in California, thanks to the activism of a handful of unelected judges. 

See related LifeSiteNews.com articles:

Update: Nationwide Homosexual Anarchist Organization Behind Attack on MI Church Planning Further Disruptions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111402.html

Pelosi: California Voters Just Didn't Grasp the Meaning of Proposition 8
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111309.html

Same-Sex "Marriage" Supporters Furious at California Loss: Lawsuits Filed Challenging Proposition 8
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08110611.html

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Martin Luther King's Niece: Obama Election Heals "White Guilt" at the Cost of Life and Family

Commentary by Dr. Alveda King

"As for you, O people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: If you insist, go right ahead and worship your idols, but then don't turn around and bring gifts to me. Such desecration of my holy name must stop!” Ezekiel 20:39
 
November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Obama election has changed the face of America. It strikes a blow to white guilt, because hundreds of thousands of white people voted for him to prove that they were not racists. It gives blacks who voted for him hope, because there has never been a black president of America.

And the election of Obama gives a face to abortion.

Like it or not president-elect Barack Obama has promised to do more to advance abortion rights than any other president in America’s history. His no-holds-barred promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) - which should be renamed the No Limits on Abortion Act - is a promise to make abortions more accessible than they have ever been since Roe vs. Wade.
 
Add to this Mr. Obama’s unprecedented support for homosexual rights and anti-procreative marriage legislation, which includes his promise to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and which would unleash a storm of sexual immorality such as America has never seen: then we can see which way the wind is blowing.

Mr. Obama, however, has said one thing that he ought to listen to. He has said that it is time for change we can believe in. That change should start in his own heart. Otherwise, we are all in for a very bumpy ride.
 
So, now, with one fell swoop, America is faced with her greatest fears and highest hopes. These are the worst of times and the best of times, and the question is not what can we do but rather what will we do? Will we bury racist guilt and oppression along with the horrors of abortion and immorality? Or will we pretend that the dirty band-aid offered with this election will be enough to heal the wounds?
 
Now is the time to remind our members of Congress that to give President Elect Obama the gift of FOCA to sign will be a very costly gift. We must demand that our elected representatives defeat FOCA, reminding them that what America needs is a new stream of brave Congress members committed to upholding the Civil Rights of all Americans, from the womb to natural death. In other words, tell your congress members that a vote for FOCA may spell their last session in Congress. A vote to overturn DOMA spells the end of the honeymoon.
 
Now is the time to truly put our idolatry to rest and end greed, racism, murder of the innocents, elitism and oppression in America.

What is idolatry some ask? Idolatry is to sacrifice our babies’ blood in the abortion mills, and then cause their little bodies to pass through the fire of the incinerators that rob them even of a decent burial. Idolatry is to sacrifice the virginity of our sons and daughters on the altars of the lewd music and films and Planned Parenthood’s sexual revolution that entice them into explicit sexual conduct before they reach the marriage bed. Idolatry is to worship the un-mighty and dirty dollar to such a point that we spend everything on ourselves and have nothing left for the least of these. Our powerful elected officials are leading us down a path of destruction. Many of them are lining their pockets while our children are dying.
 
Now is the time to support those in office who are trying to tell the truth. Now is the time to give them more support by electing other officials who will stand up for truth. Now is the time to do what my uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: do what is right because it is right. Now is the time to rise up and be the America that cares for our poor, our huddled masses longing to be free.

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Conservative Convention Delegates Adopt Policy Protecting Pregnant Women from Violent Crime

Also voted to curtail the power of the Human Rights Commissions to prosecute "hate speech"

By Tim Waggoner

WINNIPEG, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – While the 2000 delegates at this weekend’s Conservative Convention in Winnipeg voted on numerous resolutions relating to the party's future, commentators say that the passing of Resolutions P-207 and P-203 in particular indicate that social conservatism is still alive among many delegates of the in-power party.

P-203, which was passed by well over 90% of the delegates, is a resolution to remove authority from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Tribunal to regulate, receive, investigate or adjudicate complaints related to Section 13 (hate messages) of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Critics of this section of the Act have long said that the clause creates the precise equivalent of a "thought crime." Under this section of the Act, Christian ministers have been prosecuted simply for defending traditional Christian teaching on marriage.

Prominent Human Rights Commission critic Ezra Levant said he was “delighted” with the vote. The message is clear, said Levant: “the party's grass-tops activists … support freedom of speech and thought, and now see the Canadian Human Rights Commission for what it is: a violator of rights, not a protector of them.”

Resolution P-207 is similar to former Conservative MP Ken Epp’s Unborn Victims of Crime Bill in that it seeks additional charges for anyone who harms or kills an unborn baby while attacking a pregnant mother.  While P-207 is not binding, it is now official Conservative Party policy to recognize the rights of pregnant women by bringing to justice those who harm an unborn baby against their mother's will.

According to Canada.com, a delegate from the riding in Saskatchewan that proposed the resolution said, "Families who have lost their daughters, wives, sisters ... know there are two victims. They want the law to recognize that."

Although the resolution does indicate a pro-life sentiment among Canadian Conservatives, in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, John Hoff, President of Campaign Life Coalition B.C., reminded pro-life activists to take this resolution for what it really is – one seeking to protect pregnant women and not unborn babies.

"As the President of Campaign Life Coalition of B.C., P-207 is not a resolution I would propose to protect unborn children. As much as I stand up for the lives of pregnant women, this resolution doesn't do anything for unborn children," said Hoff.

Hoff said the resolution is one which he wholeheartedly supports and that it is a great step forward in protecting pregnant women. However, he indicated that pro-life supporters should keep their feet on the ground.

"I don't want pro-lifers to get excited about this because this simple resolution doesn't make the Conservative party pro-life.  It recognizes that women who are pregnant and are harmed or killed will receive more justice," he said.  "If this resolution becomes a bill in the House of Commons I would expect every party to support this, it is common sense."
 
"Who could possible be in favor of violence against pregnant women?"

Behind resolution P-207 is a lengthy history, largely surrounding Epp’s Unborn Victims of Crime Bill, which sought to make it a separate crime to kill or injure an unborn child in an attack on its mother. Epp’s bill, which had passed first and second reading in the House of Commons, was effectively scuppered by the Conservative Party this fall, largely in response to criticism from pro-abortion activists that the bill would “reopen the abortion debate” by giving rights to unborn children.

The Conservative Party in August pulled the rug out from under Epp’s feet when it introduced its own, watered-down version of the bill. Critics of the Conservative bill say that it adds little to current criminal law and fails to recognize the unborn child as a separate victim of violent crime.

Following the vote on P-207 Justice Minister Rob Nicholson reaffirmed Prime-Minister Stephen Harpers' commitment not to re-open the abortion debate.

"The prime minister has indicated on a number of occasions that he will not reopen the (abortion) issue. But in terms of protecting pregnant women against violence, we are prepared to make changes to the Criminal Code," said Nicholson.

Nicholson indicated that the Conservative government would continue to move forward with its own version of Epp’s bill.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Conservative MP Epp Will Not Scrap Unborn Victims Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082614.html

Conservative Party of Canada Kills Unborn Victims of Crime Act with Gutless Alternative
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082510.html

Canada's Abortion Militants Reiterate Condemnation of Unborn Victims of Crime Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080707.html

Pro-Abortion Liberal Introduces Bill to Counter Unborn Victims of Crime Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051510.html

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