Kansas Late-Term Abortionist George Tiller Shot and Killed – Pro-Life Groups React

By John Jalsevac WICHITA, KS, May 31, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Witnesses have confirmed that a man that was shot and killed in the lobby at a Wichita church this morning was Kansas late-term abortionist George Tiller. Tiller, 67, was shot just after 10 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th, where he was a congregation member. Police have reportedly apprehended a suspect – a white male who was seen fleeing the scene of the shooting in a blue Taurus. The Kansas abortionist has long been a lightning rod for the abortion debate, partly on account of his emphasis on […]
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LifeSite Special Report – ‘Mainstream’ Porn is More and More about Child Porn

Friday April 21, 2006 ‘Mainstream’ Porn is More and More about Child Porn *Warning* – this article contains references to graphic sexual scenes By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel Concerned Women for America Porn industry panders to predators with ‘teen porn.’ “Karen,” who didn’t want her real name used, was married for 11 years to her second husband before she discovered shocking images on his computer. “Usually girls, but sometimes boys, who are just over 18, but who are marketable because they look like they’re under 18,” said Karen. Her emotions went from confusion and anger to fear for her teenage […]
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Archbishop of Recife Rebuts Criticisms of Vatican Official for Excommunication of Abortion Doctors

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman RECIFE, BRAZIL, May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Archbishop of Recife, Brazil, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho has issued a firm rebuttal to criticisms that have been leveled at him for announcing the excommunication of doctors who performed an abortion on a nine-year-old girl in Recife in March. Although Sobrinho does not mention him by name, his response has been widely interpreted as being directed in part against an article written by Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, and published by the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, following the excommunications. In an interview with the […]
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Keep Abortion Out of Health Care Reform Says Head of USCCB Committee

By Peter J. Smith   WASHINGTON, D.C., May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Since his inauguration President Barack Obama has made clear that achieving universal health care this year is his top priority, prompting a warning from the US Catholic bishops that any proposal for reform must exclude abortion.   “While we support reforming our nation’s health care system, we must also be clear in strongly opposing inclusion of abortion as part of a national health care benefit,” states Bishop William F. Murphy, Chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.   In […]
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Kmiec Debates Obama Abortion Policy with Catholic Lawyer Robert George at CUA

By Patrick Craine and John Jalsevac   WASHINGTON, D.C., May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic University of America (CUA) Law School held a discussion Thursday night at the National Press Club between Catholic law professors Douglas W. Kmiec and Robert P. George.  The topic was “The Obama Administration and the Sanctity of Human Life: Is there a common ground on life issues? What is the right response by 'Pro-Life' Citizens?”    The discussion was moderated by former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon, who made headlines recently after refusing a prestigious award from the University of Notre […]
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Schwarzenegger Tells Jay Leno Prop 8 Will be Overturned

By Patrick Craine May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday as a featured guest during Leno’s final week of the show.  During a brief segment of the interview, Leno asked Gov. Schwarzenegger for his thoughts on the California Supreme Court decision to uphold Proposition 8, reached early this week.   Voted in by a 52% majority in the November 2008 California election, Proposition 8 amended the California constitution to include the clause: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”   Responding […]
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Al Pacino Set to Play “Dr. Death” Jack Kevorkian

By Peter J. Smith   HOLLYWOOD, May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “Say hello to my little friend … Jack Kevorkian.” At least that seems to be the message from Al Pacino, as the Hollywood star, who made famous the above phrase in the gangster film “Scarface,” is getting set to play the man known as “Dr. Death.”   Variety magazine reports that director Barry Levinson has chosen Pacino to play Kevorkian, 81, who killed more than 130 persons through lethal injection administered by what he called his “Mercy Machine,” between 1990 and 1999, when the Michigan justice system put his […]
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Homosexual Boy Named “Prom Queen” at Fairfax High School, L.A.

By Alex Bush   LOS ANGELES, California, May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sergio Garcia, a homosexual student at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, has been named Prom Queen by his fellow students, beating out eight female contenders.   “At one time, prom may have been a big popularity contest where the best-looking guy or girl were crowned king and queen. Things have changed and it's no longer just about who has the most friends or who wears the coolest clothes,” Garcia told his classmates during his acceptance speech.   Garcia's run for prom queen prompted controversy at the school […]
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Coalition of Family Organizations Says Alberta Government Should Enshrine Parental Rights

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski CALGARY, May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A coalition of five family organizations has come out in support of the Alberta government's proposal to enshrine parental rights in Alberta's Human Rights Act. A press release from the coalition, which consists of the Catholic Civil Rights League, REAL Women of Canada, United Families Canada, REAL Women of Canada Alberta Chapter, and United Mothers & Fathers, says that these organizations have long argued that the family is the fundamental unit of society and that parents have the right to choose the kind of education that shall be given their […]
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Desmond Tutu Endorses Homosexual Ministers for Presbyterian Church of Scotland

By Hilary White EDINBURGH, May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Desmond Tutu has endorsed the decision of the Church of Scotland to appoint an openly active homosexual to the ministry. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, known as the Kirk, in a vote on Saturday of 326 to 267 confirmed the appointment of Scott Rennie, an openly active homosexual, as the minister of Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen. On Wednesday, Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Prize-winning Anglican Bishop Emeritus of Cape Town, in his address to the General Assembly, said that he found it amazing that churches are discussing […]
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Ultrasound of Unborn Child Must be Made Available to Women Seeking Abortion: Nebraska Legislature

By Alex Bush LICOLN, Nebraska, May 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an overwhelming vote of 40-5 the Nebraska Legislature has passed a bill, introduced by Senator Tony Fulton, that requires abortionists to make an ultrasound of the unborn child available to a woman seeking an abortion if she requests it.   The bill also mandates that if the woman asks for a detailed medical analysis of the ultrasound, she must be given information detailing the size of the child, any cardiac activity, and information regarding “external members and internal organs, if present and viewable.” Supporters of the bill say that this […]
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Is Sotomayor a “Souter” on Roe v. Wade for the Abortion Movement? All Signs Point to No

By Peter J. Smith   WASHINGTON, D.C., May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A flurry of media coverage in recent days has reported on the unease among some pro-abortion constituencies that Obama’s Supreme Court nominee could turn out to be a “David Souter” for the pro-abortion movement.  Justice Souter was famously nominated by George H.W. Bush in 1990 and highly feted by conservatives as an anti-Roe justice. However, the Supreme Court judge has disappointed conservatives by consistently casting a pro-abortion vote on the Supreme Court ever since.   Sotomayor, a federal judge serving on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, has […]
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Pro-Life Protesters Arrested on ND Campus to Return to South Bend to Face Charges

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dozens of pro-life protesters arrested at the University of Notre Dame on May 17 for protesting President Obama's commencement speech will be heading back to Indiana in coming weeks from all across the country to stand trial.  While Notre Dame had pro-life demonstrators summarily arrested for “criminal trespassing,” witnesses say that pro-Obama demonstrators were given free roam of the campus – a fact that the pro-lifers' attorney says violated the Equal Protection clause. Among those arrested that day was Karen Torres of Virginia, who told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) how, after getting […]
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Pro-Abortion Group Funded by Development and Peace Removes Evidence from Website

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent MEXICO CITY, May 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-abortion organization funded by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) has removed statements from its website expressing enthusiastic support for Mexico City's law permitting abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The statements were originally reported by LifeSiteNews (LSN) in March of this year as part of ongoing coverage of CCODP's support for pro-abortion organizations worldwide (see links following article). The CCODP is an arm of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and claims to oppose the legalization of abortion. […]
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Unhappy with Democracy, Bush v. Gore Rivals Join to Ask Fed Court to Overturn Proposition 8

By Peter J. Smith SAN FRANCISCO, May 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dissatisfied with the recent ruling from the California Supreme Court on Proposition 8, the former rivals in the Bush v. Gore decision have joined together this time to urge a federal appeals court to nullify the Californian citizens' vote to ban same-sex “marriage.” Ted Olson and David Boies, who represented George Bush and Al Gore respectively in the landmark Supreme Court decision that put an end to the cycles of ballot recounts in Florida and effectively settled the 2000 presidential election, are asking a federal appeals court to forbid […]
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Pontifical Academy for Life Member Confirms LSN Development & Peace Reports Accurate

By John-Henry Westen   MONTREAL, May 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Judie Brown, a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, has confirmed the accuracy of the LifeSiteNews.com revelations about the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P).  Brown, Founder and President of American Life League, the largest grassroots pro-life educational organization in the United States released a commentary today commenting on the scandal.  “In order to confirm any concerns we might have, since we knew that the CCODP was accusing LifeSiteNews of reporting false information, we engaged the services of a researcher to independently investigate the reports that have […]
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850 Students Take Part in Ottawa March for Life Youth Conference

by Theresa Gilbert OTTAWA, Ontario, May 28, 2009 (theInterim.com) – The 12th National March for Life took place on May 14, but more than 850 students were still going strong the next day at the Youth Conference organized by Campaign Life Coalition. As the buses unloaded and participant packages were given out, the organizers soon realized they had surpassed their expected number of attendees, making this the largest year yet.  As the students settled in for the day, the first session was introduced: “Canadian Politics: How to Get Life Issues on the Radar Screen.” They were greeted by Conservative MP […]
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Top Notch Pro-Life, Pro-Family Film Festival in Sudbury, Ontario on June 5-7

SUDBURY, ON, May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two years ago members of the Sudbury community came up with an idea of organizing and hosting a film festival that, in their own words, “keeps faith and family in mind, encompassing Films for every age with themes that touch the heart of society.” After two years of hard work, that dream has become a reality. Organizers are now inviting people to attend the first REAL LIFE Film Festival (RLFF) in Sudbury, Ontario, on June 5-7.  The event will take place at Glad Tidings Auditorium, 1101 Regent Street, South, Sudbury on June 5-7, […]
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UN Committee Says Nicaraguan Pro-Life Laws Violate Torture Convention

By Piero A. Tozzi, J.D. NEW YORK, NY, May 28, 2009 (C-FAM)  The United Nations (UN) committee charged with monitoring compliance with the Convention Against Torture has declared that Nicaragua’s full protection of unborn life violates the country's obligations under the Convention. This is the first time this committee has reviewed Nicaragua since the country's government outlawed abortion for any reason three years ago. The torture committee is the fourth UN committee to pressure Nicaragua with respect to its laws protecting unborn life, joining the committees charged with monitoring the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the International […]
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New Approach to Abortion Rights at UN: “Motherhood and Apple Pie”

By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. NEW YORK, NY, May 28,2009 (C-FAM) Abortion rights advocates at the United Nations (UN) are pursuing a new approach – one that avoids mention of abortion, promotes a right to maternal health, and seeks to enforce “reproductive rights” norms among UN member States. The reason for the shift seems to be an increased confidence among activists and UN officials that they have secured or are close to securing a new international right to abortion. According to statements by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others, their confidence has been boosted by […]
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Majority of Americans Oppose Homosexual “Marriage”

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski PRINCETON, NJ, May 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Gallup poll released yesterday says that a majority of Americans continue to oppose giving homosexual unions the same status as natural marriage, and close to half believe that allowing legal same-sex “marriages” would change society for the worse. 57% of respondents to the poll said that “marriages between same-sex couples should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriage,” while only 40% supported homosexual “marriage.” The numbers indicated a rising trend of support for traditional marriage. In a similar poll 53% […]
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Canadian Private Member’s Motion Would Make Internet Counselling for Suicide a Criminal Offense

By Hilary White  OTTAWA, May 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Conservative MP from Kitchener, Ontario has proposed a private member’s motion that would make it a criminal offense to use the internet to counsel a person to commit suicide. The Motion follows the well-publicized case of Nadia Kajouji, the 18 year-old Carleton University student who committed suicide in 2008 after allegedly being coaxed to do so in an internet chat room. M-388, tabled in the House of Commons on May 26th by Kitchener MP Harold Albrecht, proposes that the government should ensure that counseling, aiding or abetting a person to […]
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Pro-Abort Graffiti Sprayed on Spanish Church, Christian Groups Headquarters

By Alex Bush   BARCELONA, Spain, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The headquarters of a Christian group in Spain known as E-Cristans was recently plastered with spray paint reading “Free Abortion.”    The vandalism comes after a similar attack on the brand new church for the parish, San Fransisco de Paula, where vandals spray painted “Abortion = Right not a Crime.”  Both attacks left numerous splotches of paint on the facades of the buildings.   In response to the attack, the parish responded, saying, “Our community has fought hard to have our new church and has never hurt anyone, so […]
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UK Priest Attacked for Saying that Sexual Abuse in Irish Schools Mostly Homosexual

By Alex Bush  UNITED KINGDOM, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Owen, a UK aide to the Archbishop of Cardiff, has come under fire from pro-homosexual groups for stating that most sexual abuse cases committed by clergy are “committed by homosexuals” on BBC1's Big Questions. The priest said that the majority of sexual abuse by clergy affected teenage boys, drawing criticism from other panelists on the show that he is “ill-informed, ignorant, corrupt and dishonest.” The topic of Big Questions was the 2,565 page tome that recently came out describing abuses committed in Irish schools, known as the Ryan Report. […]
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Commentary: Caritas Christi’s Deal with the Devil – Part II

Commentary by Judie Brown See Part I of this two part series. May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The events in the Archdiocese of Boston that brought about the unbelievably bad news regarding the “joint venture” between Caritas Christi Health Care System and the Centene Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, continue to unfold at a fast and furious pace. In view of the public reports that Massachusetts regulators had approved a joint venture between the two entities in early March 2009, public expressions of alarm grew. Concerned Catholics could not help but see that this union would result in Caritas Christi being […]
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United Nations Steps up Pressure on Northern Ireland to Permit More Abortion

By John-Henry Westen   BELFAST, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A second United Nations (UN) committee has insisted that Northern Ireland permit abortion in cases beyond the life-of-the-mother exception under which some 70-80 abortions currently take place annually.  In meetings that ended last week, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called for Britain's liberal abortion law to be extended to Northern Ireland.   This marks the second time in under a year in which the UN has insisted that Northern Ireland reject legal protection for the right to life. Last July, the UN Committee on the Elimination of […]
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Togo Set to Ban Capital Punishment but Recently Legalized Abortion

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski ROME, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Kokou Biossey Koné, Togo's Justice Minister, announced at the Fourth International Congress of Justice Ministers in Rome that Togo will soon be the latest African country to abolish the death penalty. The congress, titled “From the Moratorium to the Abolition of Capital Punishment: No Justice Without Life,” was a meeting sponsored by the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome of more than 35 ministers, government officials and policy advisers from 25 countries. Togo established a moratorium on the death penalty 30 years ago, but only last year tabled a bill to […]
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Largest Canadian Paper: No Coverage of March for Life but Detailed Reports on Jailed US Abortionist

By Tim Waggoner TORONTO, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Like the CBC, the Toronto Star, which is Canada's largest newspaper based in Canada's largest city, failed to report on the over 12,000 Canadians who marched for life at Parliament Hill earlier this May. Instead, the paper's editors gave extra coverage to a US story about a man who was jailed over two years ago for killing an abortionist more than 10 years ago. In 2007, James Kopp was sentenced to life in prison, plus 10 years by a New York federal court for shooting and killing a US abortionist in 1998. The […]
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Oklahoma Bans Gender-Selective Abortions

By Kathleen Gilbert   OKLAHOMA CITY, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry on Thursday signed into law a ban on aborting children based on their gender, making Oklahoma the third state to ban gender-selective abortions.   In addition to “prohibiting the performance of an abortion solely on account of the sex of the unborn child,” House Bill 1595 also requires abortionists to provide the Oklahoma State Department of Health with detailed information on each abortion performed.   Abortionists are to record the mother's age, marital status and education level, as well as the number of prior pregnancies, […]
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New Evangelical Documentary Exposes Abortifacient Qualities of the Birth Control Pill, Promotes NFP

By Alex Bush   May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A documentary called “28 Days on the Pill” has been released that seeks expose the abortifacient properties of the birth control pill.  The documentary explains that many forms of birth control pills contain progestins, which thin the endometrium, the walls of the uterus, which in turn causes it to become inhospitable to a conceived ovum.  This inhospitality may cause a newly conceived human being not to implant in the endometrium and cause an abortion   The documentary instead promotes the use of Natural Family Planning, which is the use of natural […]
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Baby Faith Dies at 93 Days – Doctors Had Pressured Mother to Abort Anencephalic Daughter

By Hilary White MONCTON, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Myah Walker has described the time from her daughter’s birth up until this past Saturday, May 23, as the “best 93 days of my life.” Faith Hope Walker, the baby about whom LifeSiteNews had previously reported, passed away peacefully this weekend in the arms of her mother, a 23 year-old student living in Moncton, New Brunswick. Myah, who maintained a weblog of her daughter’s life, wrote on Saturday, “She looked up at me and opened her beautiful eyes, and I realized what was happening. I told her to go with Jesus. […]
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Commentary: Obama Administration Is Out Of Step with New Pro-Life Majority

Commentary by Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, Operation Rescue May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Five polls taken in May have illustrated several important aspects of the unprecedented public opinion shift toward the pro-life position that could have an impact on the current Supreme Court nomination and the mid-term elections in 2010. In general, the polls show a major change in the way American view abortion and show that the Obama Administration is increasingly out of step with the growing pro-life majority. A Gallup Poll taken on May 7-10 shows that 51% of Americans describe themselves as pro-life compared to only […]
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Commentary: How Europe Can Be Saved

Commentary by Hilary White ROME, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On the Sunday of the Ascension, Pope Benedict XIV, while visiting the ancient town of Cassino south of Rome, told a group of faithful, perhaps without their having noticed it, the secret to saving Europe. Anyone who has learned to be at all functional in the world has learned that there is an ordering of priorities necessary before any task can be undertaken. One makes a little list of things to do. In regard to the saving of Europe, tottering on the brink of demographic, spiritual and cultural extinction, Pope […]
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Nevada Gov. Vetoes Same-Sex Domestic Partnerships Bill: Says Bill Violates Marriage Amendment

By Kathleen Gilbert CARSON CITY, Nevada, May 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As promised, Governor Jim Gibbons of Nevada on Monday vetoed legislation that would have established domestic partnership rights for both homosexual and heterosexual couples.  Proponents are now attempting to gather the necessary congressional votes to overturn the veto. Senate Bill 283 would have established, in the governor's words, “nearly all of the rights, protections, benefits and privileges” of marriage for same-sex couples.  In vetoing the bill Gibbons referred to the 2002 referendum by which Nevada voters amended the state constitution to specify that marriage is between a man and […]
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Thirteenth Mexican State Passes Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment with Overwhelming Majority

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent SAN LUIS POTOSI, MEXICO, May 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Mexican state of San Luis Potosi has passed a pro-life amendment to its constitution by an overwhelming majority of 21-4, with two abstentions, becoming the 13th state in recent months to do so. The amendment reads: “The State of San Luis Potosi recognizes human life as fundamental for all human rights, for which reason it is respected and protected from the moment of its initiation in conception.” Although the amendment will reportedly not affect the existing criminal code, which does not penalize abortion […]
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Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the combined fourth to fifth periodic report of the United Kingdom on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/GRB/5) at its 14th, 15th and 16th meetings, held on 12 and 13 May 2009 (E/C.12/2008/SR.14-16), and adopted, at its 26th and 27th meetings held on 20 and 22 May 2009, respectively, the following concluding observations.   A.  Introduction   The Committee welcomes the submission of the combined fourth to fifth periodic report of the State party, which was generally in conformity with the Committee’s guidelines and contained explicit references to the […]
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Next Archbishop of St. Louis: No Communion for Pro-Abort Politicians

Wednesday May 20, 2009 Next Archbishop of St. Louis: No Communion for Pro-Abort Politicians By Kathleen Gilbert ST. LOUIS, Missouri, May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As he prepares to take the helm of the St. Louis diocese, a position formerly held by Archbishop Raymond Burke before he was transferred to the Vatican, Archbishop-elect Robert Carlson has said he agrees with his predecessor’s take on Church law, specifically that pro-abortion Catholic politicians must be denied Communion if they refuse to repent. The St. Louis Dispatch Sunday interviewed Carlson, the current bishop of Saginaw, MI, who will be installed as St. Louis’ […]
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Letters to the Editor for Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Editor, I would like to commend you on the persistent and constant search for Truth that you demonstrated on the D&P saga. I would also like to congratulate you on the success of promotion of the March For Life in Ottawa, achieving the highest numbers ever and especially achieving (finally, after 10 years) the official support of the CCCB “leadership.” Thanks, Giuseppe Gori Acton, ON _____________________________________________________________ RE: CBC “Engaged in Blatant Media Censorship” Says CLC about Lack of National Coverage for March for Life The fact that secular media deliberately censors pro-life activism from the airwaves is well known.  If […]
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Obama Supreme Court Pick Lacks Abortion History, but Criticized for Judicial Activism, Racism

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Obama today announced his selection of U.S. Appeals Court judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by retiring justice David Souter.  While Sotomayor has no significant background concerning the abortion or same-sex “marriage” debate, some conservatives are gearing up for a battle over her reputation for judicial activism, as well as statements suggesting that her gender and Hispanic background ensure that she will be a superior judge to her white male colleagues. Despite eighteen years' experience on the bench, the nominally Catholic Sotomayor has yet to […]
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New Brunswick Considers Appeal over Public Funding for Morgentaler Abortion Facility

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski FREDERICTON, NB, May 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Brunswick Justice Minister T. J. Burke said the province will consider appealing the recent ruling of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, which said that abortionist Henry Morgentaler has the right to sue the province to pay for abortions at his private facility. “Our office will review the procedural decision made by the court of appeal to determine possible or overriding errors in law and determine whether or not we should appeal,” Burke said. The New Brunswick Court of Appeal dismissed the province's appeal of a Court of Queen's […]
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Canadian Evangelical Leadership Looking to Increase March For Life Attendance

By Alex Bush TORONTO, Ontario, May 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), said in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com that the EFC “will be exploring ways in which we can encourage more participation” for the annual March for Life in the future.  In a recent EFC weekly update Clemenger strongly encouraged Evangelicals to make the trip to Ottawa for this year's March for Life. Clemenger also said that he was impressed with “the number of youth attending from Catholic schools” and with the “positive and upbeat” attitude of those in attendance “despite the weather.” “We are […]
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Commentary: Will the New England Catholic Health Care System Participate in Abortion?

Commentary by Judie Brown May 26,2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pandora's Box: Etymology: from the box, sent by the gods to Pandora, which she was forbidden to open and which loosed a swarm of evils upon humankind when she opened it out of curiosity (1579) Most Americans are familiar with the term “Pandora’s Box’ but that same percentage has no idea what “Caritas Christi” is so this is where my story must begin.  Caritas Christi (CC) was established in 1985 and is New England's largest community-based hospital network and is a comprehensive, integrated health care delivery network providing community-based medicine and tertiary […]
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Novak Fed Up with Vatican Newspaper: “We asked Rome for Bread they Give us Stones”

By Hilary White NEW YORK, May 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent string of “star struck teenage” articles praising US President Barack Obama by the Vatican daily newspaper is scandalizing Catholics around the world, according to a prominent American conservative commentator. Michael Novak, a US Catholic writer, philosopher and diplomat, wrote on the website of the National Review magazine today that the editors of L’Osservatore Romano have failed to grasp either “the full threat Obama poses for the American Catholic conscience” or the “immense scandal” they are causing the Church by praising him. Novak, regarded by many as a “moderate […]
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France Considering Allowing Midwives to Perform Chemical Abortions

By Alex Bush PARIS, France, May 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The government of France is considering passing into law an amendment that would make it legal for midwives to administer RU-486, also known as the “abortion pill.”  According to reports the pro-abortion lobby is pushing for this law to be passed in the wake of a decrease in interest from physicians in becoming abortionists. “The pro-abortion lobby would like to extend to midwives authorization to practice chemical abortion, as practitioners working in the city have not rushed to apply for approval to practice [abortions],” stated a letter to French Senators […]
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L’Osservatore Romano Nods Gently to US Bishops Criticism of Obama

By Hilary White ROME, May 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican’s daily newspaper has given a nod to the heavy international criticism from pro-life Catholics over its spate of articles praising US President Barack Obama. In a slight shift of editorial direction this weekend, L’Osservatore Romano published the comments of Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George calling on Obama to protect the rights of conscience for pro-life physicians. In his May 17th Notre Dame speech, Obama said, “Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care […]
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Bruce Clemenger’s Opening Prayer at the 2009 Canadian March for Life

God, our Father, author of life, sustainer of life, we thank you for every provision. We acknowledge your sovereignty, your righteousness and your justice. We know that our lives are not ours; we recognize that we are but stewards of all we have and all that we share, including our very lives. Forgive us, and be merciful to us, when we have not fulfilled our stewardly task; when we have failed to protect life, when we have not properly cared for the most vulnerable amongst us. We are mindful of the many children in Canada who are waiting for homes […]
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Bishop Donald W. Trautman Statement on Notre Dame Scandal

Friday May 15, 2009 Bishop Donald W. Trautman Statement on Notre Dame Scandal ERIE, Pa. – The Golden Dome of Notre Dame, the long revered symbol of a Catholic university, will be disgraced and dishonored on this coming May 17th, the commencement day of the university. On that day the leaders of the university are giving a platform and honorary degree to an individual who is a relentless advocate of unrestricted abortion: President Obama. On his fourth day in the White House he approved federal funding to perform private abortions in other countries (the overturning of the Mexico City Policy). […]
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Commentary: World’s Elite Make Population Control #1 Priority against Backdrop of Underpopulation Th

Commentary by John-Henry Westen NEW YORK, May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Even though recent demographic study has revealed a great looming threat of demographic winter, the richest of the rich seem to believe that overpopulation is the top priority for their philanthropic endeavors.  John Harlow writes today in The Times about a secret meeting of the global financial elite, convened by Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, at which attendees agreed that curbing the world’s population should be their top priority.  In “Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation,” Harlow recounts that a May 5 meeting took place in Manhattan that included […]
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Christopher West Controversy Fuels Debate about the Problem of Modesty

By Alex Bush and John Jalsevac May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Christopher West, the prolific author and well-known speaker who shot to fame in the Catholic world as a result of his work popularizing Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body,” has come under fire recently for comments made during an interview with ABC’s Nightline. In the interview he told Nightline that there is a “very profound” connection between John Paul II and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and suggested that Christians should “complete what the sexual revolution began.”  The Nightline segment, which aired on May 7 and which highlighted West’s work with […]
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Obama Selects Top NYC Condom Pusher to Head CDC

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Obama earlier this month appointed New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a strong proponent of contraceptive-based HIV prevention, as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The appointment, which Obama announced May 15, does not require Senate confirmation. Frieden, who received degrees in Medicine and Public Health from Columbia University, in 2007 headed up a massive media campaign featuring NYC-brand condoms, tens of millions of which have since been handed out to New Yorkers. The “Get Some NYC Condom” campaign says on its site […]
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Liberal Party of Canada Leader: Party Will Never Open the Door to Limiting Abortion

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski OTTAWA, May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has issued a blunt response to Canadians who emailed him in the lead-up to the 40th anniversary of legalized abortion in Canada, concerning Canada’s abortion laws. In a response sent to several individuals who contacted him for comment on his party’s stand on abortion, Ignatieff stated: “It is the longstanding view of the Liberal Party of Canada that women must have the right to choose, and this party will take no step that limits, or opens the door to limiting, access to safe medical services for […]
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Tony Blair “Not a Good Guide to the Teachings of the Catholic Church”: New Archbishop of Westminster

By Hilary White LONDON, May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The newly installed Archbishop of the Catholic diocese of Westminster, recently told Times columnist Dominic Lawson in an interview that former Prime Minister Tony Blair is not someone worthy of trust on religious matters. Archbishop Vincent Nichols called it “extraordinary” that Blair should have presumed to “lecture” the Pope on moral issues in an interview last month. In April Blair gave an interview to a homosexualist magazine in which he attacked Pope Benedict XIV and the Catholic teaching on homosexuality. Nichols, however, said that Blair’s strong “political instincts,” are “not a […]
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Critics Charge U.K. Equality Bill is About “Ideological Coercion” and Will “Reintroduce Discriminati

By Hilary White LONDON, May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the Labour government’s Equality act works its way through Parliament, critics are becoming increasingly vocal about the bill’s potential to stifle religious expression. A coalition of clergy, including sitting members of the House of Lords, some Labour MPs and leading opposition Conservative MPs have said that the bill is a direct threat to Britain’s ancient heritage of civil liberties and freedoms. The government’s proposed Equality bill is not about protecting the rights of minorities, but about “ideological coercion,” said Charles Moore, a columnist with the Daily Telegraph. Moore compared the […]
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Homosexual Group Challenges Tax-Exempt Status of Catholic Church in Maine for Opposing Same-Sex “Mar

By Kathleen Gilbert AUGUSTA, Maine, May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A homosexualist group is seeking to strip the Catholic Diocese of Portland of its tax-exempt status, after the diocese announced it would gather support for a voter’s referendum on the new same-sex “marriage” law. The California-based Empowering Spirits Foundation filed the challenge Wednesday claiming that the Church’s signature-gathering violates IRS rules forbidding partisan political activity by non-profit organizations.  “By their individuals going on television, stating what they were doing, they’re engaging in lobbying activities which is prohibited by the IRS for tax exempt purposes,” objected Tyler Davis, a spokesperson for […]
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Commentary: Obama Aide – Not Our Goal to Reduce Abortions

Commentary by  Wendy Wright Author’s Note: Because of the Obama speech at Notre Dame and the widespread misunderstanding that this Administration has fostered, others have urged me to make public what the White House official in charge of finding “common ground” stated in our meeting. May 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two days before President Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame, I was at the White House for one of the meetings that he spoke about.  About twenty of us with differing views on abortion were brought in to find “common ground.”  But the most important point that came from the meeting […]
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Commentary: Vatican Press Office Director Fr. Lombardi – Six Strikes but He’s Still not Out

Commentary by Deal Hudson May 25, 2009 (InsideCatholic.com) – On July 11, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rev. Federico Lombardi, S.J., to be the director of the Vatican Press Office. Father Lombardi took over a position held for 22 years by Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a numerary of Opus Dei. It is possible, however, that Father Lombardi may not even make it to the third anniversary of his appointment.  After the Vatican was pelted in the media for its handling of the Bishop Richard Williamson affair and the pope’s comment about condoms in Africa, there were press reports that Father Lombardi […]
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May 23 NewsBytes Commentary

Dear Readers, Here you have in many very brief news clips, a summary of the most significant items that we have not covered in our daily news reports. These are significant and not light reading. However, it is a quick way for you to keep up on all these developments without necessarily having to read the linked full reports. The issues are diverse, but through these clips we give you a crucial big picture. All these reports are actually linked as part of the current, ongoing international struggle related to life, family, faith and freedom. The climate change, extreme environmental […]
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LifeSiteNews Newsbytes 2

Life Issues, Religion, L'Osservatore Romano Controversy, Christopher West Controversy, Homosexuality , Climate Change or Whatever, One Worlders, Miscellaneous
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LifeSiteNews NewsBytes – Obama, Notre Dame/Obama

* Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information. Compiled by Steve Jalsevac OBAMA Obama the DestroyerIf somebody were deliberately trying to undermine the very fabric of these United States, he would first vow not just to change its policies but to completely “change America,” and then would do just about everything Barack Obama already has begun to do as president. https://spectator.org/archives/2009/05/15/obama-the-destroyer  Pravda: “The American Descent Into Marxism is Happening With Breathtaking Speedhttps://www.realclearreligion.com/index_files/f47d8030d31fe05d1213b2f0cd773df3-587.html#unique-entry-id-587 'Extremism' report 'tip of the iceberg'Richard Thompson, […]
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Commentary on May 22 News Reports

Dear Readers, Barack Obama is once again true to form with his radical Justice pick. Oh my, what a wild ride this man is giving us. Take a look at the story on 12 year old Lia's presentation at Canada's National March for Life. This is quite the good news story. Canada's Development and Peace is still at its manipulations. It is getting hard to comprehend how this is still being allowed to go on. This is not just a Canadian story. It is about pro-abortion or so-called “reproductive rights” advocating organizations being funded in many nations. It is in the interest […]
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Letters to the Editor

Re: Obama's First 100 Days: The anti-life plan is now establishedhttps://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09050808.html LSN,  Excellent!  Well done.  It's nice to see what we already know, put in order. James & Mary RosnowChino Hills, CA__________________________________ Wow, that was very informative.  I really appreciate all LifeSiteNews does to provide us unbiased information.  Thank you so much. AngelaTexas________________________________________________________________ Dear Sir, The comparison of Obama to Joshua is not without merit – but the Moses picked was the wrong one. Obamam is joshua to Margaret Sangers' Moses, true prophetess of the culture of death. In his first 100 days Obama has sadly shown himself to be prepared […]
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EU the new Soviet Union: Russian Gulag Survivor

By Hilary White May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A prominent former Soviet dissident says that the European Union is disturbingly similar in its ideological foundations, and its methods, to the Soviet Union. Author and political activist Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky, who spent 12 years in the Russian gulag, is now warning the people of Europe that they are in danger of allowing a new totalitarian superstate to rise. “It is really puzzling to me,” says Bukovsky in the documentary “Britain on the Brink,” “that having just buried one monster, the Soviet Union, another remarkably similar one, the European Union, is being […]
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Kansas Governor Vetoes Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

TOPEKA, Kansas, May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has vetoed the so-called Huelskamp Amendment, a proviso attached to the state budget that would have denied tax money to Planned Parenthood.  The amendment had been in the works since at least last December, when Senator Tim Huelskamp announced the effort to defund Planned Parenthood in the state. The amendment passed easily in both houses earlier this month. Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, denounced the move by Parkinson. “By putting his political agenda above the welfare of the people, he has shown that he is not fit for […]
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Nepal Supreme Court Orders Tax Payer Funding of Abortion.

By Alex Bush May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered the government to provide “safe and affordable abortion services” by creating a fund that will cover the costs of abortions for women who cannot afford them, reports the pro-abortion Centre for Reproductive Rights.  The court also ordered that the government must “educate health providers and the public of the country’s abortion laws.” Abortion was made legal in Nepal in 2002 up until the 12th week of pregnancy, or 18th week in cases of rape, incest, disabilities of the baby, or if the woman’s health is […]
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Countdown: Final Days for Public Comment on New Embryo Research Guidelines

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The public comment period on new draft guidelines for taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research (ESCr) comes to an end 11:00 p.m. E.S.T. Tuesday night.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a campaign urging pro-life Americans to voice opposition to the guidelines before the deadline passes. Following President Obama’s executive order March 9 releasing taxpayer funding for ESCr, the National Institutes of Health drafted guidelines that Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called “a new chapter in divorcing biomedical research from its necessary ethical […]
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California Supreme Court Says Prop. 8 Decision to be Announced Next Week

By Kathleen Gilbert SACRAMENTO, California, May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Supreme Court of California announced today that it would deliver a ruling next Tuesday to uphold or strike down Proposition 8, the state’s true marriage amendment.  Passed by Californians last November, Proposition 8 adds the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman to the state constitution.  Homosexualist groups immediately launched suits challenging the validity of the proposition, arguing that the marriage definition significantly altered the constitution and therefore could not be passed by a voter referendum.  The suits were fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, which heard […]
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Cow Drug Given To 17-Year-Old Girl In Abortion Attempt

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski WILLIAMSBURG, PA, May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Jonathan Imler of Williamsburg was charged Tuesday with attempting to kill the unborn child of a 17-year-old girl by helping two teenage boys put an abortion-inducing cow hormone into her drink. State police arrested Imler, 46, for attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault of an unborn child, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, theft by unlawful taking, and corruption of minors. Police say the girl’s 16-year-old boyfriend, who fathered the child, another 17-year-old boy, and Imler stole a bottle of ProstaMate, a chemical farmers use to bring cows into […]
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Filibuster Could Block Extreme Pro-Abort Obama Justice Pick Dawn Johnsen

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Criticism continues to pour in from pro-life lawmakers over the radical pro-abortion views of Dawn Johnsen, Obama’s pick to head the Office of Legal Counsel, who reportedly does not have enough votes to overcome a Republican filibuster in the Senate.  However, GOP judiciary committee members fear that Obama may move the nomination through while Congress is in recess over Memorial Day, a tactic known as a recess appointment. Johnsen was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February along party lines for the Justice Department slot, where she would act […]
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Request by Louisiana Hospital for Summary Judgment against Pro-Life Nurse “Denied”: State Supreme Co

By Hilary White COVINGTON, Louisiana, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The case of a pro-life nurse in Louisiana will go to trial after four years of legal dispute. Nurse Toni Lemly contests being demoted in 2005 from her job at a Covington hospital for refusing to dispense the abortifacient ‘morning after’ abortion pill, Plan B. With a single-word refusal, “Denied,” the Louisiana State Supreme Court refused to grant a request by the hospital to give a summary judgment against Lemly. In 2005, attorneys with the public interest law firm the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed suit against the St. Tammany Parish Hospital (STPH) […]
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Spain’s “Disastrous” Contraceptive Policies have Resulted in the Oldest European Population

By Hilary White May 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A report by Spain’s Institute for Family Policy says that Spain, with one of the western world’s lowest birth rates and a high average life expectancy, is now the most rapidly aging country in the European Union. The Institute’s head, Eduardo Hertfelder, told media that the government’s “dreadful” contraceptive policies are having a “catastrophic effect.” The report says that the Spanish youth population has dropped from 10 million in 1981 to 6.6 million in 2008. The process of population aging follows Spain’s precipitous drop in birth rates. In 2000, a UN report […]
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British Churches to be Forced to Hire Active Homosexual Youth Workers under Equality Bill

By Hilary White LONDON, May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com ) – British churches will be forced to accept practicing homosexuals or “transsexuals” in positions as youth workers and similar roles, under upcoming equality legislation, the government has said. The Labour government’s Equality Bill will prohibit churches from refusing to hire active homosexuals even if their religion holds such behavior to be sinful, said deputy equalities minister Maria Eagle. The legislation is due to come into force next year, and churches fear that it will force them to act against their religious convictions in a broad range of areas. Eagle indicated at […]
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Commentary on May 21 News Reports

Dear readers, Many important developments today as the editor of the Vatican newspaper solves the puzzle of the paper’s recent praise for Obama and more evidence is provided on the scandalous support of Development and Peace for organizations which support anti-life measures. The Obama/Notre Dame scandal is receiving tremendously thoughtful, on-going scrutiny for the benefit of all. We urge you to read today’s excellent articles that shed more light on what actually took place last Sunday. “Saruman at Notre Dame” refers to what many of us thought as we watched the astonishing, reason-lacking adulation of the Notre Dame crowd to […]
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Canadian Magazine Editor Advises Bishops to Donate to LifeSiteNews for their D&P Work

By Patrick B. Craine  May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In early March LifeSiteNews.com revealed that the Canadian Catholic Bishops’ development arm, Development and Peace, was funding five pro-abortion organizations in Mexico. Further investigations then found that D&P is funding numerous such groups in Mexico, Brazil, Haiti, Nigeria, Benin, Guinea, Togo, Bolivia and East Timor.  Now Fr. Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., editor of Catholic Insight magazine (https://catholicinsight.com), has called on the Canadian bishops to have D&P allocate funds to LifeSiteNews.com for the service LSN has rendered the organization, in holding it accountable to core Catholic values.  In a recent article Fr. […]
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Tension Mounts over Possible Abortion Referral Venture at Boston Catholic Hospitals

By Kathleen Gilbert BRAINTREE, Massachusetts, May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-life and Catholic advocates are voicing concern that Boston Catholic hospitals may soon refer for abortions as part of a joint medical venture it won last week, and which reportedly requires access to “family planning” services including abortion, contraception, and sterilization.  The archdiocesan-owned Caritas Christi Health Care network first raised questions in February after it was revealed that the networks’ hospitals had joined with Centene Corp. to bid on a state-subsidized health insurance contract, called the Commonwealth Family Health Plan.  According to joint statements by Caritas/Centene, the contract requires access […]
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CEDAW Committee Targets East Timor on Abortion

 By Amy De Rosa  NEW YORK, NY, May 21, 2009 (C-FAM) – As pre-session working groups of the committee charged with overseeing compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) meet in advance of the committee’s July session, the small Asian nation of East Timor has come under pressure for its continued criminalization of abortion. East Timor’s new penal code, which will take effect early next month, continues to penalize the practice, including abortion in cases of rape or incest, but with the added proviso that exceptions can be made in cases where […]
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World’s Most Powerful Population Lobby Targets Dominican Pro-Life Reforms

By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. NEW YORK, NY, May 21, 2009 (C-FAM) – The Dominican Republic has come under fire from some of the world’s most powerful abortion advocates, aiming to block a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine legal protection of the country’s unborn. The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), backed by European nations, major foundations and the UN Population Fund, has launched an aggressive campaign to thwart proposed Article 30, which would protect human life “from conception.” The country’s national assembly approved the amendment in a first reading by an overwhelming majority of 167-32 on April 21st, but it […]
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Congressional Committee Approves Proposal for Global Women’s Office, Snubs Pro-Life Amendment

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday approved the creation of a new Office of Global Women’s Issues.  However, the committee voted down efforts by one congressman to ensure that the office would not implement the radical abortion agenda espoused by both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Section 334 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, which would take effect starting in Fiscal Year 2010, establishes an Office of Global Women’s Issues to coordinate efforts “relating to gender integration and women’s empowerment.” Pro-life advocates say they fear that, while […]
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Ontario KofC Resolve to Defend Religious Liberty against Canadian Human Rights Tribunals

May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At their annual general meeting this past weekend, the Ontario State Council of the Knights of Columbus passed a resolution to defend religious liberty in light of the fact that the “Canadian Human Rights tribunals have brought charges which are inconsistent with principles of religious liberty.” “Several cases have been brought before Human Rights Tribunals,” says the resolution, “wherein defendants who have expressed their opinion on public policy matters, based upon their understanding of their faith, have been required to defend themselves, at great expense, for violating ‘hate speech’ laws.” “Religious freedom,” it continues, “encompasses […]
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Cardinal Newman Prez: “Catholics Cannot Retreat after Such a Strong Statement about ND”

By Kathleen Gilbert FRONT ROYAL, Virginia, May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – There is no turning back from what has become a watershed moment in Catholic higher education, says Patrick Reilly, the president of the Cardinal Newman Society, (CNS) about the recent Notre Dame scandal, which triggered an unprecedented groundswell of protest from the American Catholic community. Since the invitation was announced in March, a steady stream of over 80 U.S. bishops and 367,000 petitioners have condemned the University of Notre Dame for hosting President Obama as the commencement speaker and for awarding him an honorary law degree on Sunday.  On […]
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Cardinal Ouellet at Ottawa March for Life: Canada “is at the Lowest Rung of the Ladder”

By Alex Bush May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Primate of the Church of Canada, spoke strongly at the March for Life in Ottawa last week, stating that Canada “is at the lowest rung of the ladder when it comes to the protection of the most fragile human beings.” LifeSiteNews.com has obtained a translated transcript of the Cardinal’s remarks, which is available here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09052108.html “After forty years of exile from the culture of life, we come on Parliament hill to claim the return of the right to life of the human being in gestation in Canada. If our […]
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FOR A NEW CULTURE OF LIFE: Cardinal Ouellet’s Remarks at the 2009 Ottawa March for Life

Dear friends of life and the family, We are living a historical moment in the fight for human rights in our country. After forty years of exile from the culture of life, we come on Parliament hill to claim the return of the right to life of the human being in gestation in Canada. If our country is envied throughout the world in many respects, it is at the lowest rung of the ladder when it comes to the protection of the most fragile human beings, those who are not yet born. We cannot remain silent before this injustice and […]
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Toronto CWL Convention Rallies behind the Pro-Life Cause, March For Life

By Alex Bush May 21, 2009, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Archdiocese of Toronto’s Catholic Women’s League held a convention on May 12th and 13th, with the theme “Women of Peace and Hope,” where the organization promoted a distinct pro-life message. Fr. Damian Ali, spiritual advisor for the Toronto archdiocesan CWL, spoke at a Mass on each day where he called the women of the CWL to be a voice of peace and hope through the protection of the unborn.  He also encouraged members of the CWL to go to the March for Life and defended the true definition of marriage, as […]
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NH House Votes Down Same-Sex “Marriage” Bill over Objections to Religious Liberty Clause

By Kathleen Gilbert MANCHESTER, New Hampshire, May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After legislators amended New Hampshire’s same-sex “marriage” bill to include better protections for religious liberty, the Democrat-ruled House of Representatives unexpectedly voted it down Wednesday. The measure failed by a slim margin, as house legislators voted 188-186 to turn down the new version of a bill they had passed in March.  Hours earlier, the Senate had approved the new bill along party lines by a 14-10 vote. Democrat Governor George Lynch, who has said he opposes same-sex “marriage,” indicated he would accept the bill only if it contained a […]
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Commentary: Saruman at Notre Dame

By Thaddeus J. Kozinski President Obama’s masterful speech was widely applauded—but what did he actually say? “Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves. When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of […]
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Obama’s Own Words Bring Abortion Dialogue to “Screeching Halt,” Says Bishop

By Kathleen Gilbert KANSAS CITY, Missouri, May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Although the University of Notre Dame has defended its invitation of President Obama for the sake of dialogue on abortion, Obama’s own remark Sunday that the opposing views were “irreconcilable” brought dialogue to a “screeching halt,” said Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO. “I think the message of the day was this – that the President of Notre Dame said that they had invited the President of the United States and decided to honor him for the sake of dialogue,” said Bishop Finn in an interview with […]
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“Obama not Pro-Abortion” Says Editor in Chief of Vatican Newspaper

By Hilary White ROME, May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In recent weeks, pro-life Catholics around the world have been mystified and disturbed by the apparent enthusiasm of the Vatican’s daily newspaper for US president Barack Obama in a series of laudatory articles. L’Osservatore Romano’s editor-in-chief, Giovanni Maria Vian cleared up the mystery this week when he explained that he believes Obama – unanimously identified by pro-life advocates as the most pro-abortion president in US history – is not pro-abortion at all. “What I want to stress,” Vian told the Italian political analyst and Vatican observer Paolo Rodari on Tuesday, “is […]
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Western Emperor Excommunicated by Bishop of Milan over Massacre: Fellow Bishops Denounce “Extreme and Unpastoral” Move

By Hilaria Niveus (To read an account of this notorious incident in history, see here.) MEDIOLANUM, May 20, 390 (Ille Curator) – The Catholic bishop of Mediolanum has been accused of “political grandstanding” by some bishops and representatives of other Christian denominations, after he expelled the Western Emperor, Theodosius, from his cathedral on Friday – apparently a response to the recent alleged killing of 7,000 in Thessalonica. Eunomius of Cyzicus, a leader in the Arian school of Christianity, and bishop Palladius of Ratiaria have distanced themselves from Archbishop Ambrose, saying he has engaged in an unnecessary public clash at the […]
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More Excerpts From Significant Articles on Obama Speech at Notre Dame

By Steve Jalsevac May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  It should now be obvious to anyone who has been following the many LifeSiteNews reports on President Obama at Notre Dame that the president’s speech appears to have been one of masterful deceit and manipulation – even if it seemed at the time to be a profound presentation of frank, well reasoned arguments. It is also now clearer than ever that Notre Dame has for some time been in serious open rebellion against its Catholic heritage and obligations. The many reports and commentaries that we have carried indicate, with sadness, that Notre […]
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Transplant Community Should Stop Blaming Others About Public’s Doubts About Organ Donation

Commentary by Wesley Smith May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A poll has come out about the public’s attitudes toward organ donation that allegedly shows us as ignorant and unduly distrustful of the system. I think this requires a closer look. From the story “Lingering Myths Discourage Organ Donation”: “Only 38% of licensed drivers have joined their states’ organ donor registries, with many deterred by long-held misconceptions about how the transplant system works, according to poll results released in April. The survey of 5,100 American adults, conducted on behalf of the organ-donation advocacy group Donate Life America, found that: 50% think […]
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Fr. Pavone Challenges Graduates to “Stop Counting the Cost” in Defending Cause of Life

By Kathleen Gilbert FRONT ROYAL, Virginia, May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two days before leading in prayer a handful of University of Notre Dame graduates protesting President Obama’s commencement speech, Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life delivered a rousing pro-life homily at the baccalaureate Mass of Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia.  Fr. Pavone remarked on the nature of abortion, which he called “the opposite of love,” and President Obama, whom he said has dishonored the presidency by supporting abortion. Fr. Pavone introduced the question of the meaning of love with a meditation on Christ’s statements, “Greater love than […]
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Catholic Couple “Outs” About Their “Silent Abortions” Due to Contraception

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski LINCOLN, Nebraska, May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alton and Juliana Davis chose Sunday, May 17th, the day that President Obama was honored at Notre Dame University, to make a public revelation of their own failure to follow Church teaching on contraception early in their marriage and to acknowledge the probability that they had aborted their first children through so-called “silent abortions,” because of their use of artificial contraception. The Davis’s are co-founders of an apostolate called The Leaven, whose purpose is to defend the Catholic Church’s teaching on the value of human life, and to support […]
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Controversial Obama Faith Advisor Seeks to Dismantle “Heteronormative” Fatherhood

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A member of Obama’s Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships advisory board has stated that one of the main challenges in promoting “responsible fatherhood” in America will be to dismantle a perception that fatherhood is “heteronormative” – i.e., that heterosexuality is the norm. In addition to his role on Obama’s faith advisory board, Knox is the director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual activist group.  “Responsible fatherhood offers us an immense opportunity to speak to a real need in the country,” Knox said in a […]
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Pro-Life Musician/Activist: “1 Minute Biology Lesson” is “Above President Obama’s Pay Grade”

By Alex Bush May 20, 2009, (LifeSiteNews.com) – David MacDonald, a pro-life musician and activist, says that a simple diagram explaining precisely the basic biology of when life begins has become one of his most useful tools in explaining the pro-life position to students at schools that he visits.  Over the last month MacDonald has spoken to over 2,000 students at various schools, to whom he has presented his pro-life testimony. “I was surprised that the majority of students did not know when life begins,” he told LifeSiteNews.com. “It’s a confusion which I’ve seen in teens, adults, and even good intentioned […]
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Omaha Catholic School Disallows 8-Yr-Old Boy to be Dressed/Treated as Girl

By Kathleen Gibert OMAHA, Nebraska, May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic school has turned down re-admittance of an eight-year-old boy whose mother has granted the child’s requests to be dressed and treated as a girl. Rather than continue to attend St. Wenceslaus Catholic school, where the child dressed in a boy’s uniform in previous years, the boy will now attend a public school in girl’s clothes. “She’s been a girl since the beginning, everything about her, the way she dances and skips around and the things she’s attracted to. It’s more than toys and clothes,” the mother told a […]
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EU Demands Second Referendum Date for Ireland on Lisbon Treaty

By Hilary White DUBLIN, May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday, Czech European affairs minister Stefan Fule said that since the member states had agreed to “robust” legal guarantees for Ireland, it was time for the Irish to set a date for another referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish Times reports that Fule wants the Irish to announce the date of a second Lisbon referendum at the June council, provided the necessary “legal guarantees” are in place. The Irish government is reported to be asking EU parliamentarians for guarantees on taxation, neutrality, ethical […]
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Pro-Life Petitions Read To Canadian Parliament

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski OTTAWA, May 20, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) – Petitions containing well over 10,000 names were presented to the House of Commons by pro-life MPs in the week preceding the National March for Life in Ottawa. The petition campaign was launched in anticipation of the march by Canada’s National Pro-Life organization, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), and called for legal protection of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Paul Szabo, MP for Mississauga South, on May 11 told the House, in presenting the petition: “On the week in which the March for Life will take place […]
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EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo Argues against Obama Award on CNN during Notre Dame Speech

By Alex Bush May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo was a guest on CNN Newsroom, anchored by Fredricka Whitfield, during President Obama’s commencement speech, along with Fr. James Martin, S.J.  During the segment Arroyo told Whitfield and Martin that Obama should not have been invited to Notre Dame because the issue is “about someone representing a pro-abortion policy, and vociferous pro-abortion policies being honored at a Catholic institution.” Arroyo pointed out that “the bishops of the United States in 2004 told all of these Catholic institutions and universities, you should not honor those who act in defiance of […]
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Italian Health Ministry Promoting Homosexuality in High Schools

By Hilary White ROME, May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Italy’s national homosexualist activist group, Arcigay, has announced that the Italian Ministry of Labor, Health and Welfare is co-funding a project to promote homosexuality in Italy’s schools. The project, “Interventions to prevent the origins of homophobic bullying” will include a national report on “homophobic bullying” to be conducted by Arcigay, and a series of training seminars for school staff and lectures to young people and students. Materials to be disseminated to schools will include a poster depicting three teenage girls dressed in traditional Catholic school uniforms, with the caption, “She’s gay, […]
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Amnesty International Calls for Nicaragua to Overturn Abortion Restrictions

By Hilary White May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Amnesty International (AI), a group originally founded by Catholics to fight human rights abuses, but that has recently made its support for abortion as a “human right” official, has now called Nicaragua’s ban on abortion a form of “torture.” AI issued a media release on Friday backing a group of UN committees that are pressuring the government of Nicaragua to loosen its abortion laws to allow exceptions for pregnancy due to rape. The United Nations committees on Human Rights, on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, on the Elimination of All Forms of […]
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Congressmen Challenge Obama to Follow Through on Notre Dame Statement, Stop Efforts to Repeal Consci

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – During his commencement address at Notre Dame on Sunday, President Obama said he was in favor of what he termed a “sensible conscience clause” as well as a reduction in abortions. In response two U.S. congressmen yesterday held a press conference and sent a letter to President Obama calling on him to publicly forgo his efforts to rescind the Bush era conscience protection regulation. The Obama administration in February began the process of repealing a conscience regulation instituted by the Department of Health and Human Services under President Bush late last […]
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Canadian MP Tables Bill to Protect “Transgendered” People in Canadian Human Rights Act

By Patrick B. Craine May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On May 15th, NDP MP Bill Siksay of Burnaby-Douglas, BC tabled a private members’ bill that would add “gender identity” and “gender expression” as categories protected against discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act.  The bill also proposes to add these two terms to the Criminal Code to be taken into consideration at sentencing for “hate crimes.” This is the third time Siksay has tabled the bill, after it failed to make it to the House in 2006 and 2007.  The bill is reportedly ordered high enough this time around that […]
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Focus on the Family’s Dobson on Hate Crimes Bill: “Utter Evil” Coming out of Congress

By Alex Bush May 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, stated on his daily radio program, Focus on the Family Daily, that “utter evil” is coming out of the United States Congress.  He made the remark in reference to the recently passed Hate Crimes Bill, H.R.1913, which makes “sexual orientation,” as well as race, religion, class, gender or disability, categories that are protected from “hate crimes.”  Bill H.R.1913 has been criticized by conservative commentators, who say that it could be used to prosecute religious leaders who simply defend traditional moral views on sexuality. Critics have also […]
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Editorial: A False Theology: Obama’s Appeal to Faith Runs Contrary to Christian Faith

Editorial by John-Henry Westen May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Barack Obama’s speech at Notre Dame Sunday held out as a central thesis a false theology of faith; a false theology contradicted by the Bible, by ancient Christian writers and by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. A central point in the President’s speech was “faith” and its supposed inherent “doubt.”  Obama told the students: “Remember, too, that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It’s the belief in things not seen.  It’s beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has […]
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Cardinal Newman, and Notre Dame’s Invitiation

Friday May 8, 2009 Cardinal Newman, and Notre Dame’s Invitiation By Bishop John R. Gaydos For those in our diocese who are alumni of the University of Notre Dame and/or have children attending Notre Dame and for those who have over the years appreciated the iconic status of Notre Dame for us Catholics in the United States, I offer the following reflections to give some perspective to the current controversy swirling around that institution. “The view taken of a university in these discourses is the following: That it is a place of teaching universal knowledge. This implies that its object […]
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Full Text of Letter from Bishop John Yanta to Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins

Thursday May 14, 2009 Full Text of Letter from Bishop John Yanta to Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins Father John Jenkins, CSC, President Notre Dame University Corby Hall Notre Dame, Indiana Dear Father I am writing this letter to you early Good Friday morning, April 10. I am trying to make holy this Holy Week by immersing myself completely into the agony, sufferings and disappointments endured by Jesus my Lord and Redeemer for me and for all mankind. Notre Dame inviting President Obama to its graduation ceremony keeps coming up in my thoughts. From the first moment I heard […]
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Workers Union Refusing to Budge on Anti-Catholic Bias, Head Honchos Throwing Insults

Tuesday June 13, 2006 Workers Union Refusing to Budge on Anti-Catholic Bias, Head Honchos Throwing Insults By John Jalsevac OTTAWA, ON, June 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Members and representatives in the top rungs of the hierarchy of the federal public service union that has refused an employee the right contained in the union’s constitution to divert her dues are refusing to clarify or apologize for offensive remarks they made about the employee in question. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has refused Treasury Board employee Susan Comstock the right contained in their constitution to redirect her dues based upon […]
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LifeSite Special Report – Homofascists March On

Monday May 15, 2006 Homofascists March On By Joseph A. D’Agostino Republished from the Population Research Insitute’s Weekly Briefing – May 6, 2006 When Nazis are talked about today, there is usually no mention of certain of their prominent aspects. Of course, those aspects which don’t fit into the politically correct view of history are those which get no mention. So you rarely hear of the Nazis’ push for eugenic abortion, for euthanasia of the unfit (i.e., the disabled, sick, or dying), or their persecution of the Catholic Church. You are even less likely to hear of the prominent role […]
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Excerpts From Significant Reports on Obama Speech at Notre Dame

By Steve Jalsevac May 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  There was a deluge of news reports and commentary on President Obama’s Notre Dame commencement speech. LifeSiteNews presents below excerpts from some of the most significant alternative reports to the mainstream and liberal Catholic media’s mindless praise of the president’s address. Without reading yesterday and today’s LifeSiteNews reports on the event and the items published below, it would admittedly be difficult for many pro-life Americans to avoid being deceived by the ever so slick president and his worshipping non-Catholic Catholic audience. It was indeed a first class and dangerous performance by the […]
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Commentary: American Life League Pleads With Vatican for Clarity Over Head of Pontifical Academy for

Commentary by Judie Brown Two months have passed since Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, wrote a commentary for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, in which he muddied the waters regarding the situation involving a nine-year-old Brazilian girl whose twins were aborted. Immediately after the archbishop’s commentary appeared, I wrote him a letter because, as a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, I had grave concerns. The text of my letter follows: “Your Excellency, We recently read a spate of media on the case in Brazil involving a nine-year-old girl alleged to be pregnant with […]
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83: Bishops Opposing Obama Honor Continue to Surface Following ND Commencement

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Further reports of U.S. Catholic bishops condemning the Notre Dame scandal are continuing to surface after the school’s commencement exercises Sunday, where President Obama offered the commencement address and received an honorary law degree.  There are now 83 U.S. bishops known to have condemned Notre Dame’s decision to honor the deeply pro-abortion president. “I am surprised and disappointed that Notre Dame University would honor anyone who publicly supports the culture of death that seems to pervade our society,” said Bishop Roger Foys of the diocese of Covington, KY in […]
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Catholic Washington State Governor Calls NARAL Director “An icon in this state”

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski SEATTLE, May 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At a luncheon yesterday at the Seattle Sheraton hotel in honor of National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) Washington director Karen Cooper, state governor Christine Gregoire said to Cooper, “We are blessed to have had you as our great leader.” The governor went on to speak of “those, candidly, not yet born who will benefit from your leadership.” “She is obviously an icon in this state” Gregoire later said of Cooper. Outside, pro-life demonstrators led by Rev. Philip Bloom, pastor of Holy Family Parish in West Seattle, carried signs proclaiming “Adoption is a […]
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Bishops Chaput, Finn Slam Fr. Jenkins Speech at ND Commencement: “Intellectual Vanity”

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 18, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Charles Chaput and Bishop Robert Finn have both lambasted University of Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkin’s address at commencement on Sunday, the same ceremony at which President Obama spoke and was awarded an honorary degree. Chaput dismissed the speech, in which Jenkins praised the U.S. president on numerous counts and criticized those who in their “pride in self and contempt for others” “demonize” the opposition, as “embarassing,” and called the university’s decision to honor Obama “intellectual vanity.” The university’s invitation to the U.S. president to speak at the ceremony […]
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Vatican Attempting to Build Diplomatic Bridges with Obama Coverage in L’Osservatore Romano: Rome HLI

By Hilary White ROME, May 19 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With a series of articles in their daily newspaper, the Vatican is signalling that it is willing to “build bridges” with the Obama administration, a prominent pro-life advocate in Rome has said. In today’s coverage of President Obama’s speech at Notre Dame, the Italian language edition of L’Osservatore Romano called abortion a “delicate issue,” and emphasized the president’s assertion that he is attempting to find “common ground” with those who support the right to life. “The ‘search for common ground’ seems to be the path chosen by the president of the United […]
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Cardinal Arinze Presents Authentic Vision of Catholic Education in Wake of ND Scandal

May 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Sunday, May 10, His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze, former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, delivered the commencement speech and received an honorary doctorate at The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (TMC) in Merrimack, New Hampshire.  During his address, Arinze delivered to the graduates an authentic vision for the mission of Catholic institutions of higher education. “Cardinal Arinze’s words of wisdom ring true in this age of contrasts when more and more Catholic universities are recognizing the priceless value of their Catholic identities, said Patrick Reilly, President of The Cardinal […]
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Pope: The Family Is Essential For Building A Civilization Of Love

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski May 19, 2009 (lifeSiteNews.com) – In a homily at the Mount of the Precipice in Nazareth on Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI affirmed the irreplaceable importance of true marriage and families in achieving a civilization of love. The Holy Father said that, following the example of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, the Holy Family of Nazareth, “we come to appreciate even more fully the sacredness of the family, which in God’s plan is based on the lifelong fidelity of a man and a woman consecrated by the marriage covenant and accepting of God’s gift of new life.” “How […]
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Global Opponents of Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia Gather for International Symposium

May 19, 2009, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, International, (EPC), has announced the organization’s second global symposium on euthanasia and assisted suicide.  Entitled “Never Again,” the symposium is scheduled for May 29 and 30, 2009.  The location is the National Conference Center, Lansdowne, VA., a short distance from Washington, D.C .    EPC is among the world’s leading opponents of assisted suicide and euthanasia.  Alex Schadenberg, the nonprofit’s executive director, says the symposium will bring together experts for analysis of the current state of the movement and strategic planning – all for one purpose: to build a unified, focused […]
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Fr. Frank Pavone Writes “My Day at Notre Dame”

By Father Frank Pavone National Director, Priests for Life SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 18, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – There was an eerie stillness and silence across the Notre Dame campus as my colleagues, a few of the seniors and I walked across the campus very early on the morning of Commencement Day. It was the calm before the storm of what we knew was an historic day. I started with a national Foxnews interview along with Fr. Richard McBrien. We were asked our views of the Commencement. My message was: Everyone can imagine people they would protest speaking at a commencement: […]
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Full Text of Notre Dame President Fr. Jenkins Letter to 2009 Graduates

Wednesday May 13, 2009 Full Text of Notre Dame President Fr. Jenkins Letter to 2009 Graduates University of Notre Dame Office of the President 5/11/2009 Dear Members of the Notre Dame Graduating Class of 2009: This Sunday, as you receive your degrees at Commencement, your joy – and that of your families – will be shared by the faculty staff and administration of the University. We have had the privilege of laboring with each of you to inquire & discover, to teach and to learn, and we will send you off with affectionate and fond hopes for the future. For […]
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Obama’s First 100 Days: The anti-life plan is now established

Friday May 8, 2009 Obama’s First 100 Days: The anti-life plan is now established By Fr. Alphonse de Valk, Editor, Catholic Insight May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic Insight, Canada’s national Catholic magazine of news, analysis and opinion, recently issued a review of U.S. President Barack Obama’s first 50 days in office. It has now updated it to reflect his first 100 days and the revised article is presented below. The anti-life assault begins The election of Barack Obama as president, Catholic Insight stated in a November 3, 2008 press release, would turn out to be a disaster for the […]
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Full Text of Bishop Olmsted’s Letter to Notre Dame President Fr. Jenkins

Thursday March 26, 2009 Full Text of Bishop Olmsted’s Letter to Notre Dame President Fr. Jenkins Dear Fr. Jenkins, I am saddened and heavy of heart about your decision to invite President Obama to speak at Notre Dame University and even to receive an honorary degree. It is a public act of disobedience to the Bishops of the United States. Our USCCB June 2004 Statement “Catholics in Political Life” states: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would […]
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New Brunswick Right to Life Says Abortion Law Being Abused at NB Hospitals

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski FREDERICTON, NB, May 15, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) – New Brunswick Right to Life Association says that the province’s abortion laws are being abused at two hospitals where hundreds of abortions are taking place each year at taxpayers’ expense. NB Right to Life Executive Director Peter Ryan said in a press release that the Chaleur Hospital in Bathurst and the Dr. Georges Dumont Hospital in Moncton “are doing abortion on demand, contrary to provincial law which only allows for ‘medically necessary’ abortions to be covered under Medicare.” Ryan explained that following the 2006 cessation of abortions at the […]
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Top Republican Says No “Litmus Test” for Abortion in Supreme Court Nominee

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sen. Jeff Sessions, the new top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said that he would not necessarily oppose a “pro-choice” or openly homosexual Supreme Court nominee. As anticipation grows over whom President Obama will choose to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who retires in June, Sen. Sessions (R-Ala.) has said repeatedly that he would not resort to “litmus tests” of abortion advocacy or sexual orientation in vetting a nominee.  Instead, Sessions said, he would weigh the candidate’s fidelity to interpreting established law rather than creating it.  As […]
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Homeland Security Pulls Report Calling Pro-Life Activism Sign of Violent “Rightwing Extremism”

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A widely-criticized report that labeled pro-life activism and other normative conservative positions as a potential sign of violent “rightwing extremism” has been pulled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The nine-page document “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” said in a footnote that the term “rightwing extremism” “may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”  The term, said the report, could also refer to groups that reject “federal authority in favor […]
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Germany to Require Three-Day Wait for Late Term Abortions

By Hilary White BERLIN, May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The German parliament has voted to require a three-day waiting period before doctors authorize abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. The measure includes providing for more consultations and support for families with handicapped children who are considering abortion, the news service Deutsche Welle reported today. The law will require women to receive counseling from a doctor about the medical and psychological consequences of a late-term abortion. Patients living with physically or mentally disabled children will be offered other means of support. In a vote of 612 parliamentarians, 326 delegates voted […]
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UK Doctor Suspended for Illegal Abortions Paid £600,000 by Government

By Hilary White BIRMINGHAM, UK, May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A request under the Freedom of Information Act has revealed that the national health service of Britain paid £600,000 to a doctor who was under suspension for having arranged illegal late-term abortions, one of the highest amounts ever paid to a suspended doctor, according to the Birmingham Mail. Dr. Saroj Adlakha, a Non-Resident Indian (NRI), is accused of arranging illegal late-term abortions for British women, including for her own then-18 year-old daughter. Although Adlakha was criminally charged in 2005, those charges were later dropped in 2007. However, Adlakha was suspended […]
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White House Drops Obama Opposition to Defense of Marriage Act from Website

By Hilary White May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Obama White House has removed from its website all references to a pledge made by the president to scrap the Bush administration’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Under the heading of “civil rights” the White House website had originally proclaimed that “Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.” In addition, the site said that legislation should be enacted that would extend federal legal rights and benefits to same-sex partners “in civil unions or other legally recognized unions.” The site specified that this included all of “the […]
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Spain’s Council of Ministers Approves Liberal Abortion Law Despite Strong Public Opposition

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman MADRID, May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Spain’s Council of Ministers has given its approval to a new law that will permit abortion on demand during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, despite a poll indicating that 43% of Spanish women reject the change and only 34% support it. The law must now be approved by legal experts in the government’s General Council of Judicial Authority and the Legal Council before passing to the Spanish Congress, where both chambers must approve it by majority vote before it can become law. If approved, the new law will also […]
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More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First Time Since 1995: Gallup Poll

 By Kathleen Gilbert PRINCETON, New Jersey, May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, has found that 51% of Americans call themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice.” This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking that question in 1995. The new results, obtained from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, represent a significant shift from a year ago, when 50% were pro-choice and 44% pro-life. Prior to the current poll, the highest percentage identifying as pro-life was 46%, in both August […]
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NY Assembly Passes Same-Sex “Marriage” Bill

By Kathleen Gilbert NEW YORK, May 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New York State Assembly approved a bill late Tuesday by a 89 to 52 margin to extend the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.  The bill was introduced last month by Governor David Paterson.  The measure, like a similar version in 2007, passed easily in the Democrat-ruled Assembly; however, the earlier measure failed to garner support in the state Senate.  Senate Democrats now constitute a slim majority, but the fate of the current bill is uncertain. If the bill is passed, New York would become the sixth […]
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Letter from Bishop Michael Sheridan to ND President Fr. Jenkins

Dear Father Jenkins, I join my voice to those of many of my brother bishops and those of hundreds of thousands of lay faithful to ask that you rescind your invitation to President Obama to speak at the Notre Dame commencement and receive an honorary degree.  As you know, the priests and brothers of Holy Cross have long been associated with this diocese.  In the years of my service here I have found them to be among the very finest of our clergy.  This unfortunate decision of yours now reflects negatively on these good men. I have read your apologia […]
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Bishop Michael Sheridan’s Column on Notre Dame Scandal

By Bishop Michael Sheridan If we consider the many threats to our faith and the practice of religion that come from outside the Catholic Church (e.g., the increasing civil legislation that seeks to redefine marriage; the proposed rescinding of health care workers’ right of conscience; the mounting efforts to make contraception and abortion on demand ever more available – even to the very young), it is particularly disturbing to witness the scandalous turmoil within the Catholic Church over the invitation from the president of the University of Notre Dame to President Obama to speak at this spring’s commencement and be […]
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EU Intervenes in Internal Philippines “Reproductive Health” Debate

By Piero A. Tozzi, J.D. & Katharina Rothweiler NEW YORK, NY, May 14, 2009 (C-FAM) – The head of the delegation of the European Commission in the Philippines, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, has vocally intervened in a contentious legislative debate in the Philippines, pushing legislators to pass a controversial “reproductive health” bill while linking increased foreign aid to passage, according to critics.  Speaking at a forum sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to promote the Reproductive Health Care Act of 2008 in Manila last week, MacDonald chided Filipino legislators for failing to pass the bill, calling the “provision of […]
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Pedophile Ringleader was Top Advisor to Scottish Gov’t on Homosexuality and Children

By Kathleen Gilbert EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A ringleader of a pedophile ring unveiled in Scotland was a top advisor to the Scottish Executive on homosexual issues regarding children, reports the Daily Mail. LifeSiteNews.com reported Monday that James Rennie, the 38-year-old chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, was found guilty this month of molesting for four years an infant – beginning when the infant was 3-months-old – whom friends left with Rennie to babysit.  Rennie, who resigned from his position at LGBT Youth following his arrest late last year, lobbied for homosexual issues in the Scottish parliament, […]
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12,000: Canadian 2009 March for Life Smashes Previous Attendance Records

By John Jalsevac May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Under the threat of dark clouds and sometimes through pouring rain, a record-smashing crowd of 12,000 Canadians today gathered on Parliament Hill for a rally and then marched through the streets of Ottawa in protest against 40 years of legalized abortion in Canada. The number of participants significantly exceeded last year’s record-breaking crowd of 8,000, making it by far the largest crowd in the 12 years that the march has taken place. Those in attendance included 18 Members of Parliament. Jim Hughes, the president of Campaign Life Coalition, the pro-life group which […]
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White House Downplays Catholic Opposition to ND Honor, Claims Only “One Group” Boycotting

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Responding to the uproar from U.S. Catholic bishops and laity protesting the honor of President Obama at the University of Notre Dame, the White House Tuesday downplayed the degree of opposition, claiming that only one Notre Dame student group opposed the invitation and that “the majority of Catholics are supportive of the invitation.” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that only one student group at Notre Dame is boycotting the decision, as opposed to 23 in support, reports ABC News. “I think there’s one group organizing a boycott, and, as […]
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Homosexuals’ Complaint against Health Canada Lists Negative Health Consequences of Homosexual Lifest

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of homosexuals headed by Gens Hellquist, director of the Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition, has filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), in which they detail the numerous statistics that prove the high-risk nature of the homosexual lifestyle. The group claims that Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada discriminate against the country’s homosexuals by not providing “equitable levels of programming supports based on needs when compared with programming supports from the general population and other minority populations.” The group supports their complaint by claiming […]
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French Bishop Condemns Government Legal Body for Promoting “Barbarism” of Embryo Research

By Hilary White BAYONNE, France, May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic bishop of Bayonne has warned that the French government is promoting a form of “barbarism” in recommending the legalization of embryo research. Bishop Marc Aillet, head of the diocese of Bayonne, Lescar and Oloron, said in a media release that promoting embryo research is the “temptation for man to set himself up as the master of life over his fellow men.” The bishop released the remarks to coincide with the current Estates General on bioethics – a forum for debate on issues such as embryonic stem cell research […]
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Suit Filed against Militant Anarchist Homosexualist Group that Stormed Christian Church

EAST LANSING, MI, May 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit in federal court Wednesday against a radical anarchist group that openly advocates the use of riots and crime to further its views in favor of homosexual behavior. ADF attorneys filed the suit on behalf of Delta Township’s Mount Hope Church against the group “Bash Back!,” which invaded the church’s building during a worship service on Nov. 9 of last year. “The use of violent threats and criminal behavior to make a political point should never be acceptable in America,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb.  “Bash […]
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Full Text of Letter from Bishop John Yanta to Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins

Father John Jenkins, CSC, President Notre Dame University Corby Hall Notre Dame, Indiana Dear Father I am writing this letter to you early Good Friday morning, April 10. I am trying to make holy this Holy Week by immersing myself completely into the agony, sufferings and disappointments endured by Jesus my Lord and Redeemer for me and for all mankind. Notre Dame inviting President Obama to its graduation ceremony keeps coming up in my thoughts. From the first moment I heard of your regrettable, ill-advised action I was very disappointed. Your decision reminded me of words of God, in particular, […]
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Notre Dame President Sits on Board of Directors of Pro-Abortion, Pro-Contraception Organization

By Alex Bush and John Jalsevac SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. John Jenkins, President of Notre Dame University, sits on the board of directors of Millennium Promise, an organization dedicated to fighting poverty in Africa that promotes contraceptives and abortion, it has been revealed.  The finding comes as the controversy over President Obama’s award and speech at the University reaches a fever pitch in the last week before the event.  As the president of Notre Dame, Fr. Jenkins has received the majority of the heat for the scandal. However, despite the criticism of over 70 U.S. bishops […]
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Catholics Call for Obama to Oust Homosexualist Pope Critic from “Faith” Council

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  Several Catholic leaders have issued a letter to President Obama calling for the ouster of Harry Knox, who has severely criticized Pope Benedict XVI and other Catholic Church leaders, from President Obama’s Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Knox is the director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual activist group.  Knox’s selection as one of the members of the advisory council stirred an angry response from Catholics, as Knox insisted he stood by previous comments calling Pope Benedict XVI “morally reprehensible” for not supporting the use […]
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Catholic Misericordia U. “Diversity” Deacon to Join Homosexuality-Promoting Sect, Bishop Warns of Ex

By Kathleen Gilbert SCRANTON, Pennsylvania, May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A member of the Catholic Misericordia University’s controversial Diversity Institute has stated his plan to join a homosexuality-promoting religious sect.  Scranton’s Bishop Martino, who only recently publicly condemned the Institute’s morally relativistic view of sexuality, has issued a statement warning that the move will incur excommunication from the Catholic Church. Deacon James Calderone is a board member of the Diversity Institute that invited a homosexualist speaker to the university in February against the wishes of Bishop Martino.  Martino subsequently called for the dissolution of the Institute. Calderone cited the “inclusive” […]
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Fr. Jenkins to Graduating ND Students: “There is Much to Admire and Celebrate in the Work of Obama”

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The president of the University of Notre Dame, Fr. John Jenkins, has issued a letter to graduates addressing the controversy that has exploded over the school’s invitation to President Obama to deliver this year’s commencement address and receive an honorary degree. In the letter Jenkins expresses his admiration for President Obama and his record. “There is much to admire and celebrate in the life and work of President Obama,” wrote Fr. Jenkins.  “He’s a remarkable figure in American history and I look forward to welcoming him to Notre Dame.” […]
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Now 11 Bishops Confirmed: Unprecedented Promotion of March for Life from Catholic Bishops

By Alex Bush and John Jalsevac TORONTO, May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian March for Life is set to kick off on Thursday at noon, and so far 11 Canadian Catholic bishops have confirmed that they will attend the March. The show of support from the Canadian bishops is unprecedented in the 11-year history of the largest annual Canadian pro-life event. Indeed, this year marks the first time that the March has been given the full, official support of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) – a decision that was made at last year’s annual plenary in September. […]
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List of Catholic Colleges Honoring Pro-Life Commencement Speakers

May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Amidst the commencement scandal surrounding the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor pro-abortion President Barack Obama, a number of Catholic colleges and universities noted for their fidelity to their Catholic identity are instead choosing to honor individuals dedicated to promoting a Culture of Life. “We are blessed in this country by the presence of many honorable leaders who promote the defense of innocent life in the public square,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS).  “Notre Dame could learn a valuable lesson from Catholic colleges that place principle before prestige when […]
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Commentary: American Psychological Association Changes Tune on Genetic Nature of Homosexuality

Commentary by A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D., MBA, MPH May 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In 1998, the American Psychological Association (APA) published a brochure titled “Answers to Your Questions about Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality.” This particular document was ostensibly published to provide definitive answers about homosexuality. However, few of the assertions made in the brochure could find any basis in psychological science. Clearly a document anchored more in activism than in empiricism, the brochure was simply a demonstration of how far APA had strayed from science, and how much it had capitulated to activism. The newest APA brochure, which appears to […]
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Commentary on May 12 News Reports

Dear Readers, President Obama continues his relentless and deadly assault on life, family and basic freedoms. For some unexplainable reason the Vatican’s newspaper seems to be completely out of touch with this reality. We do not have an answer for you why this is being allowed to happen while 74 US bishops (so far) and the entire pro-life movement has been very publicly condemning Notre Dame’s invitation to the president. Talk about lack of support from headquarters! The former archbishop of Milwaukee finally made public what many knew for a long time. There is no doubt that his active homosexuality […]
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Colombian Government Fines Catholic Hospital for Refusing to Perform Abortion

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, Mary 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Colombian government has announced that it will fine a Catholic hospital for refusing to perform an abortion, according to local news reports. The Saint Ignatius University Hospital (Hospital Universitario San Ignacio), a Jesuit institution, was asked for an abortion in 2008 by a woman whose unborn child suffered from non-lethal defects, including hydrocephaly (an accumulation of water in the brain).  They refused on grounds of “collective conscience.” The woman, Yolima Bernal, ultimately received a late-term abortion in another hospital.  After an investigation of the case […]
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Catholic Doctors Confirm Pope’s Statement: Statistics Prove Condoms Ineffective Against HIV

By Kathleen Gilbert MANILA, Philippines, May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of Catholic medical professionals based in the Philippines has stated that condom promotion has failed to curb the spread of AIDS.  The group said that it agreed with a widely-criticized recent statement by Pope Benedict XVI in which he endorsed a renewed respect for sexuality in facing the AIDS epidemic, rather than condom use.  “Condoms are highly dangerous,” said Yolly Eileen Gamutam, head of Asia’s Catholic Association of Doctors, Nurses and Health Professionals (ACIM-Asia), in an article on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website.  “If we […]
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Pro-Life Walk on Mother’s Day Addresses Abortion and Euthanasia

FORT ERIE, May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This past Mother’s Day, 70 Canadian and American pro-lifers gathered at Mather’s park at the base of the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, Ontario, for the 31st International Mother’s Day Walk for Life (IMDWL). Participants said that their purpose was to remember children who are victims of abortion, to give witness to the fact that human life is a gift from God and an inalienable right, to inform legislators that pro-lifers will not quit their efforts until the unborn are fully protected in law, and to pray for a world-wide culture of life […]
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Ted Turner Claims China Doesn’t Use “Draconian Steps” in One-Child Policy, but Simply “Encourages” O

By Alex Bush and John Jalsevac WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last week, during a radio interview on the Diane Rehm Show, Ted Turner, the billionaire founder of CNN, claimed that China has not used “draconian steps” in its one-child policy, but rather simply “encourages” people to limit the number of children per family to one. (To listen to the interview, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTME9ahQBWM) However, as recently as this past month a researcher with the Population Research Institute (PRI) confirmed during a trip to China that coercive measures, including forced abortion, imprisonment, crippling fines, and kidnapping are frequently used by the […]
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First General Meeting of Canadian Catholic Physicians Society Takes Place in Ottawa

By Laura Galbraith and Miguel A. Rodriguez May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – There is another cause for hope in Canada on the pro-life front with the first annual General Meeting and Conference of the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies (CFCPS) in Ottawa. The CFCPS was formed this past year to unite Catholic Physician Guilds working from coast to coast independently across Canada under one banner. It will provide a united voice for physicians, residents and medical students who believe that the health care of their patients is improved when they allow their own conscience to be guided by their […]
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Quebec Parents Take School Board to Court Over Compulsory Relativistic Ethics and Religion Course

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski DRUMMONDVILLE, PQ, May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parents who object to the Quebec government’s relativistic “Ethics and Religious Culture” school religion program are currently in Quebec Superior Court, where they are arguing that the compulsory school course is unconstitutional and violates their freedom to educate their children according to their religious convictions. The case opened yesterday. The parents hope the court will decide to allow parents to opt their children out of the controversial course, which is compulsory for all primary and secondary schools, private and religiously affiliated schools, and even for parents home schooling their children. […]
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Secretary Clinton Fails to Substantiate Claimed Brazil Hospital Visit with Victims of Botched Aborti

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – When Congressman Chris Smith questioned Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month over the Obama administration’s commitment to dismantling pro-life laws around the world, Clinton gave an impassioned response for “reproductive rights” that included a description of women in a Brazil hospital she witnessed, “fighting for their lives” after botched abortions.  However, when the National Catholic Register asked for details on the trip, Clinton’s staff refused to substantiate the claimed visit. “When I think about the suffering that I have seen of women around the world – I’ve been in […]
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2-Day Count-Down to March for Life Canada – Action Item – Invite Someone Who is not Planning to Atte

OTTAWA, May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This May 14 marks the 40th year of legal abortion in Canada, which has resulted in the ending of the lives of 3.2 million unborn children. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the organizer of the annual March for Life, needs your help in spreading the word on the March, both to the Canadian public and to the media.  On May 4, they launched a 10-day countdown to the March with an action item every day for ten days. Today’s action item is to issue a last-minute invite to anyone you know who is not planning to attend […]
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Former Archbishop of Milwaukee’s Homosexuality Not a Surprise: Author

By Hilary White May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Headlines have appeared throughout the media this week announcing that the former archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, admits in his soon-to-be published autobiography that he is a homosexual. Weakland told reporters that the forthcoming book will describe how his homosexuality “came to life in my own self, how I suppressed it, how it resurrected again.” But the revelation will come as no surprise to anyone who remembers the scandal surrounding the bishop’s 2002 retirement, says Michael Rose, the well-known author of “Good Bye Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption Into the Catholic […]
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IRS: OK for Tax-Exempt Pastors to Encourage Political Involvement

PLANO, Texas, May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Internal Revenue Service has found that pastors who gathered for a series of public policy conferences did so within their rights, and did not violate tax laws governing non-profit organizations, Liberty Legal Institute announced today. “This liberal attempt to intimidate pastors has backfired,” said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute which represented event organizers. “There is now a clear IRS statement outlining these pastors’ events and approving them as valid under the law.” In January 2008, the IRS began its investigation into the Niemoller Foundation, which held six conferences in […]
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Jury Declares Pro-Lifers Innocent after Video Reveals Police Brutality and Cover-Up

By Kathleen Gilbert RANCHO CUCAMONGA, California, May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of peaceful pro-life protesters who were harassed and assaulted by campus police officers at a California college were found not guilty of several charges in court last week. Survivors’ Campus Life Tour (CLT) team members, Jason and James Conrad, were being tried as a result of arrests that took place during a CLT outreach at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga in November 2007. They were charged with disturbing the peace and obstructing a police officer. In spite of video evidence, which Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) lawyers […]
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Obama Calls for Condom Funding to Replace Abstinence Education

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2010 Proposed Budget, the president recommends that Congress eliminate funding for abstinence education and instead pour funds into condoms and contraceptive-based sex education. The proposed budget calls for an additional $150 million for contraceptive-only education, which includes competitive grants, research, evaluation and authorization for $50 million in new mandatory condom grants to states, tribes and territories, according to an Abstinence Clearinghouse press release. The budget eliminates the $133 million set aside for CBAE (Community Based Abstinence Education) and Title V Abstinence Education Program, the two […]
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Spanish Government Mandates Over the Counter Sale of Abortifacient “Emergency Contraception” with No

 By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman MADRID, May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Spanish government announced yesterday that pharmacies will be required to sell the abortifacient “morning after pill,” without a prescription and without an age limitation, throughout Spain. The new regulation, which was announced by Spanish Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez and “Minister of Equality” Bibiana Aido, will take effect in three months.  Jimenez clarified that all pharmacies will be required to carry the drug. “Once the sale of this drug is authorized, the obligation exists for pharmacies to have it available,” she told the media.  She also claimed that a committee […]
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71: Wave of Episcopal Condemnation Continues into Final Week before ND Obama Honor

Friday May 8, 2009 71: Wave of Episcopal Condemnation Continues into Final Week before ND Obama Honor By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Three more U.S. bishops have condemned the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Obama with the commencement speech and an honorary law degree May 17, bringing the tally of opposing bishops to 71. Bishop James Conley, the auxiliary bishop of Denver, told LifeSiteNews.com that he has written a personal letter to University president Fr. John Jenkins concerning the Obama honor, which he said he preferred to keep confidential. He did […]
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Chief Executive of Homosexual Group Found Guilty of Involvement in Pedophile Ring

By Kathleen Gilbert EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The chief executive of a homosexual youth group and another homosexual “rights” activist have been found guilty, along with six other men, of being part of a large pedophile ring uncovered in Scotland. In what police call the largest child abuse network unveiled in the country’s history, a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh took several hours to return verdicts on 54 separate charges, including sex attacks on children, conspiring to abuse children, and possessing and distributing child pornography.  The two men identified by police as the group’s “ringleaders,” Edinburgh […]
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3-Day Count-Down to March for Life Canada – Action Item – Tell Your MP You’re Coming and Encourage H

By John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This May 14 marks the 40th year of legal abortion in Canada, which has resulted in the ending of the lives of 3.2 million unborn children. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the organizer of the annual March for Life, needs your help in spreading the word on the March, both to the Canadian public and to the media.  On May 4, they launched a 10-day countdown to the March with an action item every day for ten days. Today’s action item is to alert your Member of Parliament (MP) that you are […]
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Planned Parenthood Faces Defunding in Kansas after Undercover Tape Released

By John Jalsevac TOPEKA, Kansas, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An undercover audio tape recently released by two Kansas politicians captured a Kansas Planned Parenthood employee enabling the statutory rape of a young teen. Subsequently Kansas politicians voted for an amendment that would divert monies usually received by the organization to legitimate health-care facilities. State Sen. Tim Huelskamp and Rep. Lance Kinzer on May 1 released the recording of a phone call made by an Operation Rescue volunteer posing as a 14-year old girl. The call was placed to Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, (CHPP), in Overland Park, Kansas, on […]
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Dr. Alan Keyes Arrested With 21 Pro-Life Protesters on Notre Dame Campus

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Alan Keyes and 21 pro-lifers were arrested yesterday after they walked onto Notre Dame’s campus praying the rosary and pushing baby strollers carrying baby dolls covered in “stage blood” to protest the invitation of Notre Dame to President Obama to deliver the commencement address at this year’s graduation.  According to videos posted by protest leader Randall Terry, the University administration had served Keyes and his group a trespass notice just prior to the incident.  Repeated calls to the University of Notre Dame made by LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) for comment […]
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Leaders of Evangelical Left Endorse ‘Hate Crimes’ Bill

By Alex Bush WASHINGTON, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Prominent members of the Evangelical left have endorsed a bill before Congress that would add sexual orientation and gender identity as official categories to “hate crimes” law. Liberal evangelist Tony Campolo, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, joined a Capitol Hill rally this week organized by the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual advocacy group, which also distributed supportive statements by Christian ethicist David Gushee, Sojourners’ Jim Wallis and Florida megachurch pastor Joel Hunter. The rally additionally touted legislation that would protect transsexualism in the work place. “We Evangelicals who […]
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Mexican State of Guanajuato Passes Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment: 11th State to Do So

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent GUANAJUATO, MEXICO, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite bitter protests from pro-abortion organizations and representatives, the Mexican state of Guanajuato has passed a pro-life amendment, becoming the eleventh state to do so in recent months. The amendment states that “a person is a complete human being from his conception until his natural death. The State will guarantee to him the full enjoyment and exercise of all of his rights.” The measure was approved overwhelmingly, 26-0.  The ten representatives opposed to the legislation abandoned the chamber before the vote was held.  The amendment was […]
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Pro-Life Adoption Ad Set To Appear On ‘American Idol’

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski WASHINGTON, DC, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new pro-life video produced by CatholicVote.org as part of its series of “Life: Imagine the Potential” ads has received “initial acceptance” for broadcast during the closing episode of the 'American Idol' TV program. Announced by EWTN's Raymond Arroyo at Friday's National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, the second in the series of ads promotes adoption by highlighting famous people who were themselves adopted. The video features quick glimpses of celebrities such as Babe Ruth and John Lennon, and luminaries such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Nelson Mandela, and asks rhetorically what […]
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Pro-Obama Article Re-Published in English Language Edition of Vatican Newspaper after Heavy Criticis

By Hilary White ROME, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has re-published in its English language edition a highly controversial article downplaying the anti-life and anti-family policies of US president Barack Obama. The article, “Obama in the White House: 100 Days that Didn’t Shake the World,” by Giuseppe Fiorentino, was originally published in its Italian daily edition on April 30 and drew heavy criticism from leading figures in the pro-life and pro-family movements in Italy and the US. (To read the article in English, see: https://www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_eng/text.html#5) Many interpreted the article as an indication that the Vatican’s […]
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Priests for Life Head Will Lead Alternate Notre Dame Ceremony

STATEN ISLAND, New York, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, announced today that next Sunday, May 17, he will be present on the campus of the University of Notre Dame where he will lead a service for pro-life graduating students during the university’s official commencement.  Members of the senior class who have decided not to attend their own graduation have invited Fr. Pavone to lead them in prayer at the Class of 2009 Vigil for Life, which will start at 2pm, the same time as the commencement ceremony in which President Obama […]
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Notre Dame has Hurt Itself with Invitation to “Most Radical Anti-life” President Ever: President of

 By Hilary White ROME, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Notre Dame University, with its invitation to President Barack Obama to give the commencement address on May 17, has hurt its reputation and Catholic identity, perhaps irrevocably, a prominent US Catholic scholar and author told LifeSiteNews.com in Rome on Friday. Robert Royal, a professor of history and president of the Faith and Reason Institute in Washington, D.C., told LSN, “I don’t think this is going to end well for anyone.” The university, that he described as having lived under a “sacred canopy” of its religious and academic identity, has made a […]
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74: Catholic School Association Downplays USCCB Policy Role while More Bishops Decry ND Scandal

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The president of the Association of Catholic Colleges & Universities (ACCU) has sided with the University of Notre Dame’s president in stating that the U.S. bishops’ policy is unclear on whether Catholic institutions are forbidden from honoring non-Catholic pro-abortion politicians.  Meanwhile, the total of U.S. bishops condemning Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree at next Sunday’s commencement ceremony has reached 74. ACCU president Richard Yanikoski weighed in on a 2004 document by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Catholics in Political Life,” […]
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California Parents Sue School District Over Unannounced Class Visit From Lesbian Minister

SACRAMENTO, May 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On May 5th, more than twenty parents filed suit against the Castro Valley Unified School District, after the District refused to comply with a public records request.  The parents sought more information after learning from their children that a lesbian minister had been invited by the school to speak to math and science classes at Castro Valley High School. According to students, the minister spoke about her lesbian wedding and similar events under the heading “Out for Good.” The parents are represented by staff attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute, which sent a public records […]
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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes May 8

* Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information. Compiled by Steve Jalsevac NOTRE DAME Mary Anne Glendon’s daughter on why her mother turned down the Notre Dame award: “What is likeable about a Catholic University named for the most important woman in Christianity exploiting a woman who has already dedicated her life to protecting the Church’s teaching by turning her into a warm-up act for a grotesque twist on a reality show?” https://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/04/29/why-mom-turned-down-notre-dame-award-over-obama-honors/ Amy Sullivan: Not Even the Vatican […]
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Top Vatican Prelate Delivers Powerful Address on Life and Family at Prayer Breakfast

By John Jalsevac May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Friday morning at the National Catholic Prayer breakfast, Archbishop Raymond Burke, who was recently appointed to head the Catholic Church’s highest court, the Apostolic Signatura, delivered a stirring and hard-hitting address that focused specifically on the challenges against the right to life and the family in America today. (To read the complete address, see: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09050819.html) Archbishop Burke has long been considered a hero within the pro-life and pro-family movement for his frequent and unapologetic defenses of traditional Christian teaching on the life and the family. He is one of the few U.S. […]
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Commentary: If you Hate Motherhood, Donate to Planned Parenthood this Mother’s Day, but if Not …

Commentary by Tim Waggoner WASHINGTON, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – All non-profit organizations look to holidays, national events or breaking news to help spawn innovative ways to ask people for money.  Successful fundraisers are able to create a relationship between the service they provide and a celebration or event evoking emotion.  The stronger this link is, the more donations they receive. There is nothing wrong with this strategy.  Many invaluable organizations employ and rely upon it to raise the money essential to the success of their missions. But out of all the holidays in the year that Planned Parenthood has […]
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71: Wave of Episcopal Condemnation Continues into Final Week before ND Obama Honor

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Three more U.S. bishops have condemned the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Obama with the commencement speech and an honorary law degree May 17, bringing the tally of opposing bishops to 71. Bishop James Conley, the auxiliary bishop of Denver, told LifeSiteNews.com that he has written a personal letter to University president Fr. John Jenkins concerning the Obama honor, which he said he preferred to keep confidential. He did say, however, that his name could be added to the list of bishops who are opposed to Notre Dame’s […]
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Catholic Teaching is Against Abortion and Against Torture Priest Says as Torture Debate Continues

By Kathleen Gilbert MILAN, Italy, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Although repugnance for torture and abortion usually fall on different sides of the American political spectrum, only the Catholic Church’s position rejects the violation of human dignity inherent in both, says priest-physicist Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete. Albacete commented on the abortion/torture divide in a column for the Italian news agency Il Sussidiario.  “The ongoing discussion concerning the alleged torture of prisoners by American investigators during the Bush II Administration’s ‘war against terrorism’ reveals an interesting reversal of roles when compared to the current discussion about abortion,” he wrote. On both abortion […]
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Obama White House Urges Tax-Funded Abortion-on-Demand in D.C.

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Obama’s budget recommendations unveiled yesterday are being criticized by the National Right to Life Committee for recommending the re-introduction of taxpayer-funded abortion in Washington, D.C.  The White House submission urges the House and Senate to repeal a law known as the Dornan Amendment that prevents tax-funded abortion, except for cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother’s life, in the District of Columbia for several years.  Because Congress holds legislative authority over the District of Columbia, the district’s budget must be appropriated by Congress through an annual appropriations […]
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SF Catholic University President Responds to Criticism over Honor for Condom-Pushing Bishop: “Take i

By Kathleen Gilbert SAN FRANCISCO, California, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After concerned LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) readers contacted University of San Francisco (USF) president Fr. Stephen Privett over the school’s decision to honor a bishop famed for promoting condom use, the president replied that the bishop is “in perfectly good standing” with the Church, and should not be criticized. “Bishop Dowling is in perfectly good standing with the Pope,” wrote Fr. Privett.  “If you have a problem with USF’s honoring the bishop of the poorest diocese in South Africa for his heroic ministry to the sick and dying, especially those with […]
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Canon Law Prof Confronts DC Archbishop Wuerl on Refusal to Deny Communion to Pro-Abortion Politician

By Kathleen Gilbert DETROIT, Michigan, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – American canon lawyer Edward Peters has challenged the reasoning behind Washington D.C. Archbishop Donald Wuerl’s recent assertion that he would not deny Communion to the heavily pro-abortion House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  In an interview with Politics Daily published Wednesday, Archbishop Wuerl said he would not deny Pelosi Communion, which was equated with using the sacrament as a “weapon”, and maintained that “there’s a question about whether this canon [915] was ever intended to be used’’ in such a manner.  “I stand with the great majority of American bishops and bishops […]
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After 10 Months of Stalling, KS Supreme Court Will Hear Arguments in Planned Parenthood Criminal Cas

TOPEKA, Kansas, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Kansas Supreme Court has announced that it will hear oral arguments in the criminal case against a Kansas Planned Parenthood organization on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. The arguments will be related to an appeal filed by former District Attorney Phill Kline of a ruling made by Judge Stephen Tatum, rejecting four of Kline’s subpoenas and other matters related to the case. Kline charged Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri with 107 criminal counts, which included 23 felonies, in October, 2007. The charges include illegal late-term abortions, failure to determine viability for late-term […]
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Have You Registered for the International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide?

May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, released the following statement, encouraging concerned individuals to register for and attend the upcoming Second-International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. The Symposium will take place on May 29-30 in Lansdowne, Virginia. Schadenberg writes: To effectively oppose the legalization of assisted suicide, you need to attend the Second-International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.  The euthanasia lobby appears to be gaining momentum, but we have not lost the battle. The Second-International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide still has space for more registrants. There will […]
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L.A. Archdiocese Catholics Students Invited to Compete for $1,000 in Pro-Life Essay Contest

May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The pro-life, pro-chastity newspaper and web site, www.LoveMatters.com, is hosting a pro-life essay writing contest for students in Catholic schools in Los Angeles. First-place prize is $1,000, second place $500 and third place $250. The deadline for the contest is May 17, 2009. Students who participate in the contest should write persuasively on the topic ‘Abortion is DEADLY.’  Contestants must back up what they write with facts, testimonies, stories and information found on our LoveMatters.com website or in a copy of the LoveMatters.com 32-page newspaper version that Archdiocesan high schools are distributing this spring.   […]
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Leading Vatican Official Cites ND Honor for Obama as ‘Greatest Scandal’

WASHINGTON, DC, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Vatican’s highest court, the Apostolic Signatura, called on Catholics to “give an uncompromising witness” to the dignity of life and sharply criticized the University of Notre Dame for its planned honor for pro-abortion President Barack Obama during an address this morning to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. (To read the complete address, see: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09050819.html) The archbishop began his address by noting that he has “the deepest concern for our nation,” and later implored Catholics to be aware of the “godless secularism and relativism” that […]
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Fr. Corapi, Cardinal Newman Society Launch Prayer Campaign for Notre Dame “Travesty” on National Day

MANASSAS, Virginia, May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Televangelist priest Rev. John Corapi, S.O.L.T. and The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) are leading a national prayer campaign for Catholic higher education and an end to the scandal caused by the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor pro-abortion President Barack Obama at commencement on May 17, 2009. The campaign began yesterday, the National Day of Prayer, when Americans are invited to pray for their country. In a video released on the Internet, Fr. Corapi, on behalf of the Cardinal Newman Society, is calling for prayer for Catholic higher education.  In particular, Corapi […]
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Lesbian Couple Seeks to Bring “Gay Marriage” to Russia

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman MOSCOW, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A lesbian couple plans to use a loophole in Russian law to bring homosexual “marriage” to the country, according to a report by the British news agency Reuters. Irina Fyet, 31, and her anonymous partner, plan to go to Toronto or Norway to get “married,” the agency reports.  Then, using a loophole they claim exists in the law, they plan to apply for recognition for their “marriage” in their home country. Russian homosexualist activist Nikolai Alekseyev admitted to Reuters that the strategy is a long shot, stating that “I am […]
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European Parliament Refuses to Denounce Pope’s Anti-Condom Remarks

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman STRASBOURG, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The European Parliament has rejected a measure to condemn Pope Benedict XVI’s anti-condom remarks, which he made during a trip to Africa in March. The vote was 253-199 with 61 abstentions. The measure was intended to “energetically condemn the recent declarations of the Pope, who has prohibited the use of condoms and has warned that condoms can even bring about a greater risk of illness.” On March 17, the Pope told a reporter who asked about AIDS prevention that “one cannot overcome the problem with the distribution of condoms. On […]
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Obama’s First 100 Days: The anti-life plan is now established

By Fr. Alphonse de Valk, Editor, Catholic Insight May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic Insight, Canada’s national Catholic magazine of news, analysis and opinion, recently issued a review of U.S. President Barack Obama’s first 50 days in office. It has now updated it to reflect his first 100 days and the revised article is presented below. The anti-life assault begins The election of Barack Obama as president, Catholic Insight stated in a November 3, 2008 press release, would turn out to be a disaster for the advance of a pro-life culture. On the most important cultural issue of all, the […]
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Cardinal Newman, and Notre Dame’s Invitiation

By Bishop John R. Gaydos For those in our diocese who are alumni of the University of Notre Dame and/or have children attending Notre Dame and for those who have over the years appreciated the iconic status of Notre Dame for us Catholics in the United States, I offer the following reflections to give some perspective to the current controversy swirling around that institution. “The view taken of a university in these discourses is the following: That it is a place of teaching universal knowledge. This implies that its object is, on the one hand, intellectual, not moral; and, on […]
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FULL TEXT: Archbishop Burke’s Keynote Address from Friday’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

THE TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WASHINGTON, D.C. MAY 8, 2009 KEYNOTE ADDRESS Introduction 1. I am deeply honored to give the Keynote Address at this annual gathering of Catholics to pray for our nation. I express my heartfelt esteem and gratitude to those who, each year, organize and support the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. 2. The theme of this year’s Breakfast is most fitting to the difficult time through which our nation is now passing. Before the fundamental and great challenges which we as a nation are facing, how better to express our patriotism than by celebrating the teachings […]
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68 U.S. Bishops Oppose Notre Dame’s “Serious Mistake”

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two more bishops are continuing the steady stream of criticism aimed at the University of Notre Dame for honoring President Obama with the commencement address and an honorary law degree May 17.  However, unlike several of their brother bishops, the two bishops say that despite the gravity of the scandal, the invitation ought not to be rescinded out of respect for the office of the Presidency. In the latest edition of The Tablet, the newspaper of the diocese of Brooklyn, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said the invitation “has caused an […]
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Campaign Life Coalition Endorses Frank Klees for Ontario Conservative Leader: Register to Vote Now

By Tim Waggoner TORONTO, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the political wing of the pro-life movement in Canada, has thrown its full support behind MPP Frank Klees for Ontario Progressive Conservative party leader.  The organization also advised pro-lifers in Ontario that the deadline for signing up to vote in the Leadership election is May 14. A CLC press release stated: “Campaign Life Coalition’s Preferred Candidate Frank Klees (MPP Newmarket-Aurora) has a pro-life history, has been a strong supporter of parental rights and conscience rights for health care workers. He supports the traditional definition of marriage and […]
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7-Day Count-Down to March for Life Canada – Action Item 4 – Arrange your Carpool/Transportation

By John-Henry Westen  OTTAWA, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This May 14 marks the 40th year of legal abortion in Canada, which has resulted in the ending of the lives of 3.2 million unborn children. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the organizer of the annual March for Life, needs your help in spreading the word on the March, both to the Canadian public and to the media.  On May 4, they launched a 10-day countdown to the March with an action item every day for ten days.  Today’s action item is to arrange your carpool, bus, or transportation to the March […]
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Archbishop Chaput: Habit of “Vanity and Compromise” Led to ND Scandal

By Kathleen Gilbert NEW YORK, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor pro-abortion President Obama resulted from “vanity and compromise” with modern culture, said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver yesterday.  Chaput also remarked on the controversy stirred by President Obama’s statement that America is “not a Christian nation,” asserting that America is under attack from groups working “very vigorously” to de-Christianize popular culture. The Catholic News Agency published portions of the archbishop’s remarks to the American Bible Society in New York City yesterday, where he received the Becket Fund’s Canterbury Medal, which honors those […]
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Pope Calls Doctors to Serve Life in Wed. Audience

By Patrick B. Craine May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI addressed a large group of Italian doctors at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square yesterday, calling them to serve life in their practice.  “[Put your skills] at the service of the human being from conception until natural death,” he urged them. Pope Benedict told the doctors that the defense of life is “an eloquent testimony of human and Christian solidarity.”  He encouraged them to “carry on with generosity in your precious service to life, a fundamental value in which the wisdom and love of God is reflected.” […]
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Commentary: Amnesty International Twists International Law in Dominican Abortion Debate

 Commentary by Piero A. Tozzi, J.D. NEW YORK, NY, May 7, 2009 (C-FAM) – The politicized human rights organization Amnesty International has again taken a pro-abortion position in a nation’s internal debate over abortion, coming out against the Dominican Republic’s proposed protections for unborn life in its draft constitution and in the country’s penal law. In so doing, Amnesty pits the rights of the mother against those of the unborn child while misrepresenting what international law says – or doesn’t say – about abortion. In a statement issued a few weeks ago, Amnesty International claims that the country’s constitutional and […]
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International Planned Parenthood UN Petition Drive Targets Youth, Demands Broad “Sexual Rights”

By Samantha Singson NEW YORK, NY, May 7, 2009 (C-FAM) – The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) recently launched a new petition campaign that aims to pressure governments to “promote, protect and fulfill their promise to provide better access to sexual and reproductive health services” for all young people “regardless of age.” The petition was launched in commemoration of the fifteenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The petition promotes the message “Count Me In: Sexual Rights For All.” “Sexual rights,” however, are not included in the ICPD program of action that the IPPF petition campaign is […]
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NC United Methodist Renewal Groups Host Ecumenical John Paul II ‘Theology of the Body’ Seminar

May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United Methodist renewal groups Lifewatch and Transforming Congregations have announced that they will host an educational seminar on May 21 in New Bern, NC entitled “Theology of the Body: An Ecumenical Introduction to John Paul II’s Teaching.” Paul J. Griffiths, Warren Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke Divinity School, will deliver the keynote address. He will explore the late Pope’s key concepts and discuss such questions as: What is the real dignity of the created human person? Why were we created male and female, and what does that teach us about God? What is […]
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US Christian College Hopes Suspension of Student Involved in Porn Will Help Him “Turn His Life Aroun

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski GROVE CITY, Pennsylvania, May 7, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) – Grove City College (GCC), a Christian liberal arts college about sixty-five miles north of Pittsburgh, has suspended student John Gechter, who was recognized by a fellow student as a subject in the images on a homosexual pornography website. Representatives from the college say that it has done so with the ardent hope that the young man, majoring in molecular biology, can turn his life around and reintegrate himself into the college community. “A student on campus was browsing inappropriate content online and recognized me on a (pornography) Web site,” said […]
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Tennessee District Attorney Reviewing Footage of Sexual Abuse Cover up at Planned Parenthood

MEMPHIS, TN, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing whether to begin an investigation of a Memphis, TN Planned Parenthood facility. It was recently revealed that one of the centre’s employees told an alleged victim of statutory rape to hide the identity of her perpetrator. The undercover videotape that revealed the employee’s actions was recently cited by state legislators in conjunction with a proposed bill to divert taxpayer subsidies from Planned Parenthood. The bill passed a Tennessee House of Representatives Health & Human Resources sub-Committee on Monday. The video shows Lila Rose, a UCLA […]
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Catholics Overwhelmingly Oppose Notre Dame Honor to Obama: Ramussen Poll

May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that more than twice as many Americans – and a wider margin of Catholics – oppose the University of Notre Dame’s decision to give an honorary law degree to President Barack Obama, as those who support it.  The Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that, by a 60% to 25% margin, U.S. Catholics say Notre Dame should obey guidelines issued by the U.S. bishops and refrain from awarding an honorary degree to the president.  Among all Americans, 52% oppose the honor and 25% support it. “Faithful Catholics are sick to […]
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New Zealand Health Commissioner Confirms Right of Women Considering Abortion to View Fetal Scan

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski WELLINGTON, NZ, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Zealand Health Commissioner Ron Paterson has confirmed that women considering an abortion must be given the opportunity to see an ultrasound scan of the baby in their womb if they so choose. The decision of the Commissioner was made in response to a complaint made by New Zealand Right to Life against the Waikato District Health Board (WDHB). The complaint concerned the protocol followed by the Board, which precluded an offer being made to a woman considering an abortion when undergoing an ultrasound scan to view the scan […]
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Commentary: Obama Supports Kidnapping

Commentary by Steven W. Mosher, President, Population Research Institute (PRI) May 7, 2009 (PRI) – Our own Colin Mason is back from China. His week-long undercover investigation revealed fresh abuses in China’s One-Child policy and new proof of the U.N. Population Fund’s complicity in these abuses. Remember that the UNFPA has been in China since 1979, helping the Beijing authorities to implement their program. Colin visited three counties where the U.N. Population Fund claims to run “voluntary” family planning programs, and found that they were anything but. What struck me about his investigation, as someone who has been following the […]
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Openly Homosexual Phoenix Priest Who Endorsed “Naked Boys Singing” Movie Excommunicated

By Kathleen Gilbert PHOENIX, Arizona, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An openly homosexual Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Phoenix, who once endorsed a pornographic film entitled “Naked Boys Singing” for a homosexualist paper, has been excommunicated by Bishop Thomas Olmsted. The excommunication of Fr. Chris Carpenter, who has long been publicly opposed to the Church’s condemnation of active homosexuality, was issued last month but only made public on Monday.  After Bishop Olmsted repeatedly chastised him for his homosexual activism, Carpenter precipitated the excommunication by joining the “Reformed Catholic Church,” an offshoot religious group that endorses homosexuality, homosexual priests, and […]
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Taliban Threatens Pope with “Serious Consequences” if Christianity is Spread in Afghanistan

By Hilary White ROME, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the lead-up to his coming trip to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI has been warned by Islamic extremists that he must stop any attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity or face “the consequences of a severe reaction.” ANSA news service reports that the Taliban issued the statement on an Islamic website after the Islamic news service Al Jazeera showed American soldiers holding copies of the Bible translated into the two local languages. “The Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan asks Pope Benedict XVI to act to stop the foolish and irresponsible […]
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Bishops Urge Catholics to Contact Congress and NIH: Oppose Destructive Stem Cell Research

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched a new “Oppose Destructive Stem Cell Research” campaign today, which urges citizens to contact Congress and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to oppose embryonic stem cell research and support ethical cures and treatments “we can all live with.” The campaign is facilitated by the USCCB’s partner organization, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment. Following President Obama’s March 9 executive order, the NIH proposed guidelines for federally funded research that will require destroying live human embryos for their stem cells. The draft guidelines […]
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Pro-Life Students Send Letter to President Obama Over Terrorist Labeling

ARLINGTON, Virginia, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Wednesday, the national pro-life student organization, Students for Life of America, sent the following letter to the White House. Dear Mr. President,  We write to you today as a collection of over 492 university pro-life organizations. We are alarmed by your administration’s ignorance of who pro-lifers are and what we strive to accomplish. The recent April 7th Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assessment of “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” warned of potential right wing extremism and named pro-lifers specifically which we found extremely insulting. […]
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Keyes Calls Abortion Foes to Come ‘…Until the South Bend Jail is Filled to Overflowing…’

SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “…If this be trespass, then forgive us our trespasses and join us in trespassing until the South Bend jail is filled to overflowing with witnesses to truth…” Dr. Alan Keyes Dr. Alan Keyes, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 against Barack Obama, has announced plans to come to Notre Dame to be arrested for protesting Obama’s address and honorary doctorate at Notre Dame’s graduation. Dr. Keyes urges pro-life compatriots around the country to join him, as a witness against Notre Dame’s betrayal of the babies, and in the hope that […]
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Spanish Congress May Condemn Pope’s Remarks Denouncing Condom Use

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman MADRID, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Spanish Congress is considering a measure to condemn Pope Benedict XVI’s recent remarks denouncing condom use. The proposal, which was made by two small socialist political parties, has been received by the Spanish Congress and submitted to its International Cooperation Committee for consideration.  It reportedly urges the Congress to express its “consternation and rejection” of Pope Benedict’s anti-condom statements, and to “solemnly” affirm that the condom is the “most effective” means to avoid contracting the HIV virus.   It also requests the lower chamber of the Congress to ask the […]
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Washington DC Approves Same-Sex “Marriage” Recognition

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski Washington, DC, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an almost unanimous vote. Washington DC will now recognize same-sex “marriages” performed in other US states. The District of Columbia is not a state, and has to have many of its laws cleared through the US Congress before they can be enacted. Washington DC’s city council voted twelve to one in favor of the measure at a meeting yesterday. It was reported that the sole “no” vote was by former mayor Councilman Marion Barry, who said he decided to take a stand with the “ministers who stand on […]
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8-Day Count-Down to March for Life Canada – Action Item 3 – Pray for an End to Abortion

by John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This May 14 marks the 40th year of legal abortion in Canada which has resulted in the ending of the lives of 3.2 million unborn children. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the organizer of the annual March for Life, needs your help in spreading the word on the March, both to the Canadian public and to the media.  On May 4, they launched a 10-day countdown to the March with an action item every day for ten days. Today’s action item is to spend at least ten minutes in prayer for an […]
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List of Bishops Opposing the Notre Dame Invitation and Award to President Obama

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Following is an alphabetical list of bishops who have so far expressed disapproval of the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama to give the commencement speech and receive an honorary law degree May 17.  Included are links to the original source as well as LifeSiteNews.com coverage.  Current count: 83 bishops Bishop Joseph V. Adamec – Altoona-Johnstown, PA Statement: LSN Bishop John D'Arcy – Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN Statement: LSN Report Bishop Samuel Aquila – Fargo, ND Statement: LSN:   Bishop Gregory Aymond – Austin, TX Statement:  LSN:   Bishop Robert Baker – Birmingham, AL Statement:  LSN:   Bishop Gerald Barbarito– Palm Beach, FL […]
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Canadian Cancer Society Will Still Fund Research Using Human Embryonic Stem Cells

By John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite massive advances in non-controversial adult stem cell research, the Canadian Cancer Society remains officially in support of funding for embryonic stem cell research.  Their current policy on the matter is on the organization’s website.  It indicates, “The Canadian Cancer Society will fund research using human embryonic stem cells,” as long as the research satisfies the following three conditions:     * the research is deemed meritorious by an expert panel of reviewers through the grant review process managed by the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute    * the research holds the promise […]
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Greek Court Annuls Same-Sex “Marriage” Ceremony

By Hilary White RHODES, Greece, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Greek court in Rhodes has ruled that same-sex “marriages,” created by a loophole in the law, are invalid.  The civil marriage law failed to specify that the two parties in a wedding ceremony had to be male and female, a loophole that was exploited by homosexual activists last year. Last June, two pairs of homosexuals, one male, one female, were “married” by the local mayor in Tilos, Tassos Aliferis.  A court official who spoke on condition of anonymity, told media, “The decision sides by the prosecutor’s request to annul […]
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Canadian Human Rights Commission Refuses To Hear Case Of Anti-Catholic Discrimination

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski OTTAWA, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dave MacDonald, a member of Canada’s civil service union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and president of PSAC Local 70160 in Ottawa has informed LifeSiteNews that the Canadian Human Rights Commission has refused to hear his complaint of religious discrimination by PSAC and the Treasury Board of Canada. MacDonald alleged in his original complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) that he was “discriminated against and harassed based on my religious beliefs” by the Treasury Board, who refused his request to re-direct his union dues to avoid […]
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Enforced “Diversity” will make Britain “First Modern Soft Totalitarian State”

By Hilary White May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A deliberate campaign to enforcce “diversity” and political correctness by “unelected or quasi-governmental bodies” is turning Britain into the “the first modern soft totalitarian state”, an Australian political science expert and author says. Hal Gibson Pateshall Colebatch, an Australian historian, author, poet, lecturer, journalist, editor, and lawyer, has warned in an editorial in the Australian that while there may as yet be no concentration camps or gulags in Britain, “there are thought police with unprecedented powers to dictate ways of thinking and sniff out heresy, and there can be harsh punishments for […]
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Christian Political Party Before Human Rights Commission for Speaking Against Homosexuality

Tuesday November 27, 2007 Christian Political Party Before Human Rights Commission for Speaking Against Homosexuality Leader says: “I’m willing to go to jail over this” LETHBRIDGE, Alberta, November 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP) and its Leader Ron Gray are being investigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission after a homosexual activist complained of material published on the Party’s website he claims is offensive to homosexuals. Homosexual activist Rob Wells of Edmonton, had previously launched human rights complaints against Christian activist Craig Chandler in Alberta and has now made formal complaints against the CHP and […]
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Toledo Bishop Bans Conference of Catholic Ministry to Gays for Failure to Adhere to Church Teaching

By Tim Waggoner TOLEDO, Ohio, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Leonard Blair of the Diocese of Toledo has forbade a gay-friendly “Catholic” ministry from presenting a workshop on gay and lesbian ministry at the Sisters of St. Francis’s convent in Tiffin, Ohio, reports the Toledo Blade. Bishop Blair, who was recently commissioned by the Vatican to investigate the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization representing 95% of the nation’s nuns, sent a letter to the head of the Sisters of St. Francis, Jacquelyn Doepker, requesting that she cancel the workshop that was scheduled for May 1.  “The positions […]
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FRC Releases Powerful Video – ‘100 Days of Change for the Family’

Washington D.C. – On April 29, the Family Research Council (FRC) released a powerful video report on the devastating first 100 Days of the Obama presidency. The report dramatically exposes the negative impact of the Obama Administration on life, marriage, the justice system and other family issues. “This video provides indisputable evidence of the current Administration’s hostility to the values of faith and family,” said FRC President Tony Perkins. “This President and his advisors have a very purposeful agenda, one that is seeking to take our country in a radically different direction. Mr. Obama is personally winsome, but his agenda […]
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Vice-President of Brazilian Bishops’ Conference Contradicts Vatican on Homosexual Priests

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman INDAIATUBA, BRAZIL, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  The Vice-President of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB) has made a statement appearing to contradict the Vatican's prohibition on homosexuals in the priesthood, according to the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo. Asked about homosexuals in the priesthood, Archbishop Luis Soares Vieira of Manaus reportedly responded that “They are human beings. They have that constitution and they should be treated like people, with respect. Now, what is required of a heterosexual for being a priest, is required also of the homosexual.  If he is to enter into […]
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Pope: “Non-Negotiable Human Rights” include “Right to Life and Right to Freedom of Conscience and Re

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski VATICAN CITY, MAY 5, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI addressed members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences yesterday at their plenary session which is focused on the theme of Catholic social teaching and human rights, and called for the promotion of universal human rights based on both faith and reason, affirming the “right to life and the right to freedom of conscience and religion as being at the center of those rights that spring from human nature itself.” The Holy Father noted that though these human rights are not strictly “truths of faith, even […]
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New Oakland California Bishop Cordileone Speaks out Strongly on Right to Life in Inaugural Homily

By John-Henry Westen OAKLAND, CA, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone was installed as the Bishop of Oakland today at a noon Mass today, taking the reigns as the spiritual father of the East Bay’s 550,000 Catholics. In his homily at the installation Mass, Bishop Cordileone gave a very strong defense of the right to life, lamenting that the home (the United States) to which his grandparents came from Sicily nearly one hundred years ago has become less hospitable especially to the unborn. In addition to his evident prominence for the right to life, Bishop Cordileone also […]
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Washington State Referendum Challenges Expanded Same-Sex Partner Privileges

By Kathleen Gilbert SEATTLE, Washington, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-family group in Washington state has filed a request for a voter referendum to challenge a law set to bestow all marriage privileges to domestic partnerships, including same-sex couples. Larry Stickney, president of the Washington Values Alliance, on Monday filed a referendum that would allow voters to overturn Senate Bill 5688, the new domestic partnership law Gov. Chris Gregoire vowed to sign into law later this month.  The Washington legislature was split mostly down party lines in approving the bill last month, 30-18 in the Senate and 62-35 in […]
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Valedictorian Barred from Giving Speech Because of References to “God” Files Suit

BILLINGS, MT, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Attorneys for TheRutherford Institute have filed a free speech lawsuit in the MontanaThirteenth Judicial District Court on behalf of a high schoolvaledictorian who was forbidden from making any remarks at all in herschool’s graduation ceremony after she refused to strip references toGod and Christ from her valedictory speech. “This is a case of pure censorship and a denial of the freedom ofspeech,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute.”If we don’t begin protecting the right to free speech in the schools,we are going to lose the right to speak entirely.” Renee […]
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9-Day Count-Down to March for Life Canada – Action Item 2 – Send out this Video

by John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This May 14 marks the 40th year of legal abortion in Canada which has resulted in the ending of the lives of 3.2 million unborn children. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the organizer of the annual March for Life, needs your help in spreading the word on the March, both to the Canadian public and to the media.  Yesterday, they launched a 10-day countdown to the March with an action item every day for ten days. The second action item is simple: Send the March for Life youtube video to at least […]
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Homosexual Indoctrination Booklets Distributed in Chilean Schools, Funded by Spanish Province

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America CorrespondentCHILE, May 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Homosexualist indoctrination booklets are being distributed to Chilean students with help from the socialist Spanish province of Extremadura, LifeSiteNews has learned. The booklet, which was created by Chilean Movement of Sexual Minorities (Movimiento Chileneo de Minorías Sexuales – MOVILH), is called “Education in Diversity: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Classroom.” Among many other points of homosexualist ideology, the booklet teaches students that it is a “myth” that homosexuality is a sin. “Sin is a religious concept that is usually based on the Bible, a text that […]
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Study: Children Who View TV Targeted for Adults Engage in Sexual Activity Earlier

BOSTON, MA, May 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Early onset of sexual activity among teens may relate to the amount of adult content children were exposed to during their childhood, according to a new study released by Children’s Hospital Boston. Based on a longitudinal study tracking children from age six to eighteen, researchers found that the younger children are exposed to content intended for adults in television and movies, the earlier they become sexually active during adolescence. The findings are being presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meetings on Monday, May 4 in Baltimore. “Television and movies are among the leading […]
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Exclusive Interview: Cardinal Rigali Says Notre Dame Defence of Obama Honor “Evades Common Sense”

Tuesday April 28, 2009 Exclusive Interview: Cardinal Rigali Says Notre Dame Defence of Obama Honor “Evades Common Sense” By Kathleen Gilbert PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, April 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Philadelphia’s Cardinal Justin Rigali, Chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, weighed in on the Notre Dame scandal in an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.com today. Rigali called the school’s decision to honor President Obama a “most unfortunate” decision that “must not happen again,” and criticized the school’s defense of the decision as one that “evades common sense.” President Obama is due to give the commencement address and receive an […]
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Commentary on May 4 News Reports

Dear Readers, It is a joy for us to announce that our Assistant Editor John Jalsevac’s new baby son was born Saturday night at 11pm weighing 8.2lbs.  Mother and baby are doing very well. In other happy news, we are 10 days away from Canada’s National March for Life, the largest annual gathering of right-to-lifers in Canada.  March for Life organizer Campaign Life Coalition has launched a 10-day countdown they’re hoping Canadians participate in – ten simple things to do, one a day every day, till the March for Life. And if that’s not enough good news, the list of […]
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California Court Upholds Religious School’s Right to Expel Actively Lesbian Students

By Tim Waggoner SAN FRANCISCO, May 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The California Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling Wednesday protecting the religious freedom of a Christian private school that expelled two female students for having a lesbian relationship, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. In September of 2005, two students from the California Lutheran High School in Wildoma were suspended by the school principal, Gregory Bork, after they were questioned about their suspected lesbian relationship.  The principal was reacting to a tip from another student regarding questionable material found on the girls’ MySpace pages. One month later, the high school’s […]
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Letters to the Editor

Re: Obama at Notre Dame If Notre Dame doesn”t want to uninvite President Obama, let the students do the courageous thing, when Obama walks in let a trumpetier sound a dirge and all the graduates walk out on Obama and deliver the message of what Notre Dame really stands for as Catholic Universitiy. This will send a message to the President that he’s not a symbolic messiah for the nation and that morality of human life trumps over the political statements of his office that diminish the worth of the holy innocents of babies in the in the mother’s wound. […]
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Looney England: UK Parents Sue Hospital For “Wrongful Birth” of Disabled Son Born 14 Years Ago

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski LONDON, UK, May 4, 2009 (LIfeSiteNews.com) – A couple who are claiming they were deprived of their chance to abort their disabled son are suing the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust for £1million in damages and compensation for the cost of caring for him. The couple told the High Court in London that staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital should have detected anomalies in their son’s brain structure during an ultrasound scan carried out at 20 weeks gestation, claiming the scan was conducted in a “fairly light-hearted and casual manner” and lacked “proper focus and […]
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Prominent Rabbi: AIDS, Swine Flu, Economic Crash – Spiritual Cause and Effect

By Patrick B. Craine NEW YORK, NY, March 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada, posted a video on YouTube last week entitled ‘Is Swine Flu a Punishment from God?’, in which he reflects from his Jewish perspective on the current flu outbreak and other grave issues. “The question that people should be asking themselves is,” says Rabbi Levin, “why is there a sudden outbreak of swine flu?”  According to ancient Jewish tradition, he says, when we are faced with a tragic event, “we are supposed to be […]
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10-Day Count-Down to March for Life Canada – Action Item 1 – Church Bulletin Announcement

by John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, May 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This May 14 marks the 40th year of legal abortion in Canada which has resulted in the ending of the lives of 3.2 million unborn children. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the organizer of the annual March for Life, needs your help in spreading the word on the March, both to the Canadian public and to the media.  Today, they are launching a 10-day countdown to the March with an action item every day for ten days. The first involves getting the message out to local Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other […]
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Slovak Republic Faces Lawsuit After Police Clamp-Down on Pro-Life Rally

KOSICE, Slovak Republic , May 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Centre for Bio-ethical Reform Europe filed suit Thursday in the highest court of the Slovak Republic after police put an end to a peaceful pro-life rally that was held in full compliance with domestic law.  CBR Europe, represented by attorney Dr. Alan Bohm and Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, held its “Stop Genocide” rally to inform people about the atrocities of genocide, including abortion, but Slovak police asserted the signs displayed by participants were too graphic for the general public. “Christians and other pro-life advocates should not be discriminated against and […]
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Maine Senate Passes Same-Sex “Marriage” Bill

By Kathleen Gilbert AUGUSTA, Maine, May 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Maine’s senate voted 20-15 Thursday to approve the state’s same-sex “marriage” legislation.  Support and disapproval for LD 1020, which had sparked an emotional and lengthy debate in the Democrat-led chamber, closely followed party lines. While an amendment to require a statewide referendum on the issue was rejected 22-13, true marriage supporters are likely to petition for a people’s veto referendum. LD 1020 is now up for consideration in Maine’s House of Representatives this week.  Democrat Gov. John Baldacci has said he is opposed to same-sex “marriage,” but it is uncertain […]
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Graphic Abortion Signs Flown Over Notre Dame Campus and Shown on Sides of Trucks

By Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Center for Bioethical Reform (CBR) is stirring controversy on Notre Dame’s campus, where the group is displaying images of aborted children in silent protest against the honor to be conferred on pro-abortion President Obama at this year’s commencement ceremony. CBR has stated that they will continue to display the graphic photos in hand-held signs, on the sides and backs of a fleet of billboard trucks, and on aerial signs that are being flown over the campus until after the graduation ceremonies May 17. On that day, President Obama is due to […]
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Mexican State of Queretaro Rejects Pro-Abortion Bill

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman QUERETARO, Mexico, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Mexican state of Queretaro has rejected a bill that would have guaranteed access to abortions not currently penalized under state law. The measure, which was proposed by a member of the socialist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), would have mandated that “the Public Ministry (District Attorney) will give authorization [for an abortion] within 24 hours counted from the time that the woman, the legal representative, or the victim submits a request for the interruption of pregnancy, when it is a product of a rape and a crime […]
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340,000 Support Conscience Rights of Healthcare Workers

By Tim Waggoner WASHINGTON, DC, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 30 day comment period on the Obama administration’s plan to rescind a regulation protecting health care workers’ conscience rights, saw 340,000 Americans tell the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) that they are at odds with the proposed initiative, reports Citizenlink. Just before his second term ended, President Bush established regulations protecting the rights of healthcare workers to refuse to participate in practices objectionable to their consciences, such as performing abortions or prescribing contraceptives.  President Obama, however, wasted little time initiating the first step in striking down Bush’s policy, with […]
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Commentary: Swine and Abortion

Commentary by Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As loathe as I am to sully the good name of “swine” by relating them to abortion, there is a story in the Mexican swine flu epidemic that you will not hear broadcast by the major media or lamented in the stories of its victims: it is the connection between the epidemic and the legalization of abortion in Mexico. I learned of the story this week when I was conducting an HLI pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The […]
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Hamilton Right to Life Wins Ad Battle – Pro Life Ads Are Back on Buses and Shelters

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski HAMILTON, Ontario, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The city of Hamilton Ontario has decided to lift a ban on pro-life posters on its buses and transit shelters. The decision was a result of a human rights complaint file by Hamilton Right to Life last year, stating that the city violated the right to freedom of expression and denied equal treatment and the right to contract on equal terms because of discrimination against its position on abortion. Hamilton Right to Life intends to drop its human rights complaint, which was scheduled for a hearing in July, now […]
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Letter from Professor Joseph Seifert on Archbishop Fisichella’s Article in L’Osservatore Romano

By Professor Joseph SeifertFounder and rector of the International Academy of Philosophy in Liechtenstein May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The recent publication of an article by PAV President Mons. Fisichella in the Osservatore Romano and its world-wide distribution and use by pro-abortionists as well as a press communication of Father Lombardi, have led to a deep crisis of the Pontifical Academy for Life and, more importantly, of the public perception of Church teaching on abortion. Countless persons and media in the whole world now attribute to the PAV and (because of the high authority its President is believed to possess […]
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Pro-lifers Put up Billboards on Indiana Toll Road Decrying Obama’s Notre Dame Appearance

CHICAGO, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In response to the University of Notre Dame’s invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree on May 17, the Pro-Life Action League has erected two large billboards located near the South Bend, Ind., campus. The billboards, to go up May 4 on the Indiana Toll Road, Interstate 80/90, will read, “NOTRE DAME: Obama is pro abortion. How dare you honor him,” along with a picture of a baby in utero sucking its thumb. They also will list a Web address, NotreDameProtest.com, where visitors can get information […]
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Pro-Life Leaders Worldwide Concerned About Weakening of Vatican’s Pro-Life Stand in Wake of Uncorrec

By Hilary White ROME, April 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In recent weeks, pro-life Catholics from around the world have flooded Vatican offices with protests, petitions and letters asking for a retraction or clarification on an article published by L’Osservatore Romano implying that direct abortion could be morally justified or its evil mitigated in some “extreme circumstances”.  However, since the March 15th publication of the article, provocatively titled, “On the side of the Brazilian girl,” by Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, the head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV), nothing has been heard from the Vatican or Fisichella himself. Archbishop Fisichella prompted […]
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Percentage of Americans Approving Abortion Dropped 8% since August: Pew Poll

By Tim Waggoner WASHINGTON, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite President Barack Obama’s strong promotion of abortion in his first 100 days as president, a new study has revealed an overall increase in the number of Americans believing abortion should be illegal in most cases. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press was conducted from March 31-April 21, among 1,521 adults. The survey found that the overall support for legal abortion dropped from 54% last August to 46% this month, with the number of people supporting the illegalization of abortion rising 3% […]
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Souter to Leave Open Seat in June

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Obama will have his first opportunity to influence the U.S. Supreme Court after Justice David Souter retires at the end of the term in June, according to news reports. An NPR report and sources with the New York Times say that Justice Souter, 69, is in very good health, but is expected to return to New Hampshire amid strong rumors that he had grown to dislike life in the nation’s capital.  The NPR report suggests that Souter waited to retire until President Obama’s term, as he expects the new […]
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France to Recognise Foreign Same-Sex Civil Unions and Partnerships

By Hilary White PARIS, May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The French National Assembly has approved a measure in which civil unions or legal partnerships contracted in other countries will be recognised legally under the existing French legal definition of civil unions. The bill, which passed in the early hours of April 29, had already been accepted in the Senate and is expected to be endorsed by President Sarkozy. It specifies that foreign partnerships will enjoy the same recognition in France as they do in their country of origin. For British people living in France, this could mean access to certain […]
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