Articles for Month: February 2009

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski BRISBANE, February 25, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) – Brisbane’s Catholic Archbishop John Bathersby has been targeted with a bomb threat over his decision to remove dissident priest Fr. Peter Kennedy from St. Mary’s church in South Brisbane. A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane said on Saturday the threat was received at the Archbishop’s office on Friday and confirmed that the Archbishop’s residence in New Farm was the target in the letter. “A letter was received at the Archbishop’s residence threatening a bomb. It mentioned a bomb and it also mentioned St Mary’s church, but that’s now […]

TALLINN, Estonia, February 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In September 2008, the Institute for the Culture of Life, a pro-life group based in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, filed an application to the Chacellor of Justice of the Republic of Estonia, Mr. Indrek Teder, asking him to declare public financing of abortion unconstitutional. The Government of the Republic of Estonia has for years been paying 70% of the cost of each and every elective abortion, spending well over a million US dollars on abortions every year. The application rested upon the 2002 decision of the previous Chancellor of Justice, Mr. Allar Jõks, […]

RENDERING UNTO CAESAR: THE CATHOLIC POLITICAL VOCATION+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.Toronto, 2.23.09 I want to do three things with my time tonight.  First, Father Rosica asked me to talk about some of the themes from my book, Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life.  I’m happy to do that.  Second, I want to talk about some of the lessons we can draw from the recent U.S. election.  And third, I want to talk about the meaning of hope.  As I begin, I need to mention a couple of caveats.  Here’s the first caveat.  […]

Mother tells her story about St. Joseph's Hospital, Looney Australian Parish, Deadly Apnea Test, Archbishop Chaput tells it like it is in Toronto

By John Jalsevac WICHITA, KS, February 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – District Court Judge Clark V. Owens released his decision this afternoon denying the motions filed by late-term abortionist George R. Tiller, which asked the judge to suppress evidence against him and dismiss the 19 pending criminal charges involving illegal late-term abortions. The decision means that Tiller will stand trial to answer to the charges of performing late term abortions. In his decision Judge Owens addressed all the concerns that Tiller’s attorneys brought up over six days of testimony, especially those alleging outrageous governmental conduct involving former Attorney General Phill Kline. […]

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski HONOLULU, February 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Between 6,000 and 8,000 people gathered at the state Capitol on Sunday for a demonstration against proposed legislation that would legalize same-sex civil unions in Hawaii. The protest was organized by the Hawaii Family Forum (HFF) which represents churches from across the state, including the Hawaii Catholic Conference, in anticipation of a vote to be held today by a state Senate committee looking at the issue. Executive Director of the HFF, Dennis Arakaki, said “We are here in the spirit of love, compassion, and grace,” according to AP. “But we […]

By Kathleen Gilbert NOTRE DAME, Indiana, February 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An innovative academic program designed to equip the next generation of pro-life advocates is one of the initiatives in store for the University of Notre Dame’s new Human Life Fund, said Dr. David Solomon in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) yesterday. (See yesterday’s LSN report for background info on the fund: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09022308.html) Professor Solomon, a deeply pro-life philosopher who has been teaching ethics for over forty years, is the founder and head of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. He told LSN that pro-life associates at the university had […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman MADRID, February 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The heads of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care are denouncing plans by the socialist government of Spain to legalize abortion on demand during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, the Secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), remarked on Friday that  “more then one million Spaniards whose lives have been ended in recent years are human beings who can’t defend themselves nor form associations, and who do not vote, so their rights are not taken into account.” […]

By John Jalsevac February 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an address last Saturday to participants in a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life, Pope Benedict XVI warned of the rise of a “new eugenics” that judges the worth of an individual based on his or her genetic makeup, as expressed in factors such as health and beauty. Despite the fact that a condemnation of imposed eugenics was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “there are appearing in our days troubling manifestations of this hateful practice,” observed the pope to participants in the conference, entitled “New Frontiers […]

CORK, Ireland, February 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A professor of mathematics at University College Cork (UCC) has slammed the university’s recent decision to begin embryonic stem cell research. Professor Des McHale, also a well-known author, said that he was “deeply ashamed” that UCC’s governing body had passed the proposal to begin the unethical research and called on students, parents and the general public to make their voices heard against the decision. Professor McHale made his remarks at a packed seminar organized by the pro-life group “Youth Defence in University College Cork.” “I am deeply, deeply ashamed of the situation. Not everyone […]