Articles for Month: September 2010

Monday September 27, 2010 Egyptian Coptic Pope Shenouda III Fined For Stand Against Divorce By Thaddeus M. Baklinski CAIRO, September 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court has issued a decision requiring Orthodox Coptic Pope Shenouda III to pay damages of approximately 19,500 Egyptian pounds to church member Magdi William who sued the Coptic Church over its refusal to issue a certificate to re-marry after he divorced his wife. In May, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled in favor of another litigant seeking re-marriage, Hani Wasfi Naguib, stating that under Egyptian law the Coptic Orthodox Church must allow its […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent BRASILIA, Brazil, September 29, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In an apparent attempt to counteract a massive pro-life internet campaign against her party, Brazilian presidential front runner Dilma Rousseff told the nation's media today that she is a Catholic and is “personally against abortion.” “In my conception, I am favorable to the valuing of life,” Rousseff said. “And I am personally against abortion, which is violence against a woman.” Rousseff made the statements following a meeting with various religious and political leaders, which was organized in apparent response to the dissemination of numerous internet texts […]

Commentary by Terrence McKeegan, J.D. September 30, 2010 (C-FAM) – A rock star's scandal and a surprising critique of aid programs last week underscored heightened criticism of international development efforts. The two incidents upended the intended message of a summit on UN development policies, reflecting a growing disconnect between rhetoric and development results. Rock star Bono, front man of the Irish group U2, was caught violating his own call for greater transparency and accountability, which he made in an op-ed piece for the New York Times. His opinions inspired the New York Post to examine the finances of Bono's own […]

By Hilary White ROME, September 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last Monday, when the head of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales (CBEW) told a BBC interviewer that the U.K. bishops had not opposed the creation of legal civil partnerships for homosexuals, he was speaking from a longstanding policy that was published in 2005. But a source close to the CBEW has told LifeSiteNews.com that that policy was rejected by the Vatican for not being in line with Catholic teaching. The UK bishops, however, have implemented it without change, ignoring Vatican-mandated corrections. During last week’s panel discussion on BBC 2, Archbishop […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent RECIFE, Brazil, September 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Over sixty thousand Brazilians attended a pro-life rally held on Sunday by the Archbishop of Olinda e Recife, Fernando Saburido. The archbishop is a controversial figure due to statements he has made in recent months that appeared to contradict the Catholic Church's teaching on human life and family. But in a speech delivered to the crowd, Saburido condemned the movement to legalize abortion in Brazil, which is being spearheaded by members of the ruling Labor Party, as well as other social problems currently troubling Brazilian society. […]

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski BEIJING, September 29, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Sept. 25, 1980, the Communist Party Central Committee issued a statement saying that “in 30 years, when our current extreme population growth eases, we can then adopt a different population policy.” But while the 30th anniversary of China's coercive one-child policy came and went this past week, the Chinese government has shown no signs of easing the policy, and instead expressed its intent to continue the use of forced abortion and sterilization, with no end in sight. Chinese state-run media quoted Li Bin, head of the National Population and […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent BRAZIL, September 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Brazilian supermodel Isabeli Fontana has revealed in a recent interview that she was pressured by a U.S. modeling agency to terminate the life of her unborn child when she became pregnant for the first time. Fontana told Brazil's Istoé magazine that after modeling during her adolescence, she decided to leave her mother's home at the age of 18 and live with her boyfriend.  When she became pregnant at the age of 19 with her first child, however, her agents in New York encouraged her to have an […]

Friday September 24, 2010 On Tape: Top UK Catholic Bishop: We Fight Poverty not Gay Unions By Hilary White ROME, September 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A day after the departure of Pope Benedict XVI from Britain, his senior archbishop, the unofficial head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, told a BBC interviewer that the English bishops had purposely refused to oppose legalizing homosexual civil partnerships. (Download the audio here) Attempting to defend the Catholic hierarchy from accusations of being opposed to the homosexualist political agenda around the world, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster hastened to assure the BBC’s […]

Tuesday September 14, 2010 Ugandan Ethics Minister to Porn Dealers: ‘Your Days are Numbered’ By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman KAMPALA, September 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Ugandan government has announced a new legislative initiative to widen the definition of pornography and to eliminate its distribution from the country. Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, the nation’s Ethics and Integrity Minister, says that the new law will help to eliminate the “terrible vice” of pornography, and help to discourage other vices related to it, such as homosexual behavior. “Pornography leads to homosexuality,” said Buturo in a recent press conference. “I’m happy that, finally, a […]

Church spokesman says Aquino is 'selling out the Filipino soul' for American dollars

Thursday September 23, 2010 Medical Experts Demand UN Action on Maternal Health, Not “Safe” Abortion By Samantha Singson NEW YORK, September 23, 2010 (C-FAM) – Medical experts blasted the UN’s “abortion-first” approach in a maternal-health presentation to UN delegates last week. Coming on the eve of a UN summit on development issues, the expert panel urged governments to focus on basic medical care rather than abortion to reduce pregnancy-related deaths. “It is egregious to suggest to mothers that the only way to save their lives is to kill their babies,” said Dr. Robert Walley, head of MaterCare International. “They have […]

Thursday September 23, 2010 Vatican: MDG’s for Pop Control “Malevolent and Shortsighted” By Hilary White ROME, September 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A senior Vatican official warned the UN this week against using the fight against world poverty and hunger as an excuse to push international population control and other anti-human ideologies. The Cardinal President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Peter Turkson, spoke to the summit of heads of state and government on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Monday. “Any attempt to use the MDGs to spread and impose egoistic lifestyles or, worse still, population policies as […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent MEXICO CITY, September 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Cardinal Archbishop of Mexico City is refusing to retract his statements condemning homosexual behavior, despite a complaint filed against him with the federal government's National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Contrapred). Multiple complaints before various government agencies were filed in August against Rivera, his spokesman Hugo Valdemar, and Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez by Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard and fellow members of the socialist Party of the Democratic Revolution in response to statements they made denouncing the homosexualist and abortionist policies of the Mexico City government […]

Tuesday September 7, 2010 UN Treaty Used to Threaten Homeschool Families in Botswana Botswana, Sept. 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This week the fate of four homeschooling families will be decided in Botswana, reports the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). The families, adherents to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, have been ordered by a judge to send their children to public school. Despite the judge’s ruling indicating that the children were cared for and that the parents took steps to provide for the education of their children, the court found that they still need to go to public school because […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent SAN JUAN DE CUYO, Argentina, September 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of the Catholic archdiocese of San Juan de Cuyo, Argentina, is accusing pro-abortion and anti-family politicians in his country of “crimes against humanity,” warning that their actions will be remembered by the people. Archbishop Alfonso Delgado made the comments during the ordination of three priests and five deacons in the archdiocesan cathedral on September 9.  The ordination, which was attended by an estimated 3,500 people, was the first of that size in 25 years, according to Jeanne Smits writing for Chretiente.info. […]

By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. NEW YORK, September 23, 2010 (C-FAM) – UN leadership capitulated on key maternal health figures last week, conceding pregnancy-related deaths have fallen faster than recently reported.     A new report abandons statistics fiercely defended just months ago. In April, an independent research team showed that UN leaders had for years inflated the number of maternal deaths to a half-million worldwide. The new UN report mirrors the independent study, putting the number around 350,000 and falling. The change highlights the tension between the UN's dual roles in research and policy making, as one researcher told of jetting […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman BARCELONA, September 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The socialist dominated legislature of the Spanish region of Catalonia was blasted by a member yesterday for caring more about animals than human beings, in response to legislation outlawing the practice of bullfighting. Juan Bertomeu, a deputy elected from the more conservative People's Party, observed that while one bull dies every three days in a bullfight, 57 children are killed by abortion in the region daily, a practice that is legal and supported by the ruling socialists. “You want to tell me that you have feelings over the death of […]

Monday September 20, 2010 Pope Calls Every Person to ‘Work for Culture of Life’ By Thaddeus M. Baklinski ROME, September 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – At an open air prayer vigil in London’s Hyde Park on Saturday, Pope Benedict exhorted the thousands present to realize that “in our day, when an intellectual and moral relativism threatens to sap the very foundations of our society,” every person is called “to work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel.” “Each of us has a mission,” the pope stated, “each of us is called to […]

By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., September 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of a Christian group has implored help from the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government and the European Parliament on behalf of two Chinese human rights advocates, one of whom who has been cut off from quality medical care despite his recent release from a prison sentence that shattered his health. Reverend Bob Fu, president of the China Aid Association, filed a petition Monday to the two governments for immediate intervention in the high-profile case of human rights lawyers Chen Guangcheng, who was released from prison […]

By Hilary White ROME, September 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Europe will grow more “Islamicized” if Christian Europeans do not start having more children, and going back to Church, a senior Vatican official said this month. Msgr. Piero Gheddo, a famous missionary and an official with the Vatican’s Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, told Zenit news service that Europe’s indigenous inhabitants have abandoned Christianity and are becoming “paganized.”  “The fact is that, as a people, we are becoming ever more pagan and the religious vacuum is inevitably filled by other proposals and religious forces,” said Msgr. Gheddo, who founded AsiaNews, the […]

By Hilary White ROME, September 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Basing political and civil life on moral relativism and the shifting sands of popular opinion will lead ultimately to totalitarian ideologies and anti-human practices, Pope Benedict told a gathering of politicians, intellectuals, businessmen and ex-Prime Ministers on Friday. Standing on the spot in Westminster Hall where St. Thomas More was condemned to death by Henry VIII’s government, Pope Benedict took up his longstanding theme of warning against the “dictatorship of relativism.” He again voiced his concern “at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some […]

By Hilary White September 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two pro-life activists were arrested this month in Brighton for displaying an allegedly “distressing” graphic sign of abortion outside a publicly-funded abortion facility. The two were held for 15 hours by police after staff in the British Pregnancy Advisory Service facility claimed patients were “traumatised and upset” by the pictures. The 7ft by 5ft banner showed an aborted eight-week-old embryo. The group has previously demonstrated without incident in Brixton, south London. Andy Stephenson and Kathryn Sloane are the leading members of Abort '67, an organisation, named after Britain’s 1967 Abortion Act, affiliated […]

Thursday September 16, 2010 Jerusalem Must Fund Homosexual Community: Israeli Supreme Court By Thaddeus M. Baklinski JERUSALEM, September 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Israeli Supreme Court judges ruled this week that Jerusalem discriminated against the city’s homosexual community by refusing to provide funding for a homosexual drop-in center and ordered the municipality to give the Open House Center for Pride and Tolerance $120,000. According to YNet News, Justices Esther Hayut, Hanan Melcer, and Isaac Amit wrote in their verdict that the municipality must expand funding for community centers without discriminating against the homosexual community and other minority groups, noting that the […]

Wednesday September 15, 2010 Faithful Have ‘Obligation’ to Disobey Abortion Law: Spanish Archbishop By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman TARRAGONA, Spain, September 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Archbishop of Tarragona, Spain, is instructing the faithful of his diocese to disobey Spain’s pro-abortion legislation. Archbishop Jaume Pujol Balcells writes in the latest diocesan bulletin that there are “obligations inherent in the relationship between the people and the civil authorities,” as well as the “right to a constructive criticism” of government policies. Those rights, he adds, include “the love and service of the country, the right and the obligation to vote, to pay […]

Friday September 10, 2010 British Headlines on Pope Visit Compiled by Hilary White LONDON, September 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The volume of news items in the print and broadcast media coming from Britain and Ireland attacking Pope Benedict and his upcoming state visit is becoming so great that it is becoming difficult to track. LifeSiteNews.com therefore presents this round-up of recent headlines, not a comprehensive list, with links for our readers’ interest. The Independent’s Johan Hari calls for faithful Catholics to join anti-papal protesters – The Independent Johann Hari: Catholics, it’s you this Pope has abused https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-catholics-its-you-this-pope-has-abused-2074029.html “I disagree with […]

Day 2 of papal visit continues in London after triumphant beginning in Scotland

Thursday September 16, 2010 Abortion Groups Praise Newly Named Head of UN Women’s Agency By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. and Nicholas Dunn NEW YORK, September 16 (C-FAM) – The appointment of former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet as Under Secretary General of UN Women has garnered praise from several abortion advocacy groups. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, commonly known as UN Women, was established on July 2nd when the General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution that consolidated four UN bodies on women’s issues. The creation of this super-agency for women’s issues is largely attributed to […]

Thursday September 16, 2010 United Nations Considers International Tax to Support MDG’s By Amanda Pawloski NEW YORK, September 16 (C-FAM) – Sixty nations will present a declaration to implement an international currency transaction tax during the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) summit that begins next week at United Nations headquarters in New York. As members of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development, these nations will propose a tax they contend is necessary to bridge alleged funding gaps for the MDGs. Estimates judge the gap in development financing to fall between $324-336 billion a year from 2012 to 2017. […]

Wednesday September 15, 2010 Chinese Province Tackles Promiscuity with Christian Chastity Program By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman PEKING, September 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – China’s Yunnan Province is implementing a new program to encourage chastity in students, using materials produced by the evangelical protestant organization Focus on the Family, according to local media reports. The program teaches students the value of sexual abstinence until marriage, and reportedly gives suggestions on how to respond to attempts by boys to convince girls to have premature sexual relations. For example, if the boy argues that “it’s safe, I have a condom,” the girl is taught […]

Friday September 17, 2010 Poll: 67 Percent Irish Support Gay ‘Marriage’ By Hilary White DUBLIN, September 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A poll taken by the left-leaning Irish Times newspaper that showed growing public support for the homosexualist cause in Ireland has prompted a group of campaigners to renew calls for legislation legitimizing same-sex unions. Irish Times/Behaviour Attitudes’ social poll found that 67 percent of those questioned believe “gay marriage” legislation should be instituted, while 46 percent support homosexuals being allowed to adopt children, with 38 percent opposed. Moninne Griffith, director of the pro-homosexualist group Marriage Equality, said the findings show […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent MANAGUA, September 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Famed Nicaraguan columnist and attorney Adolfo Miranda Sáenz is warning his readers against a new bill working its way through the national congress, which “intends, with subtle language, to legalize abortion, homosexual marriages, and adoption of children by homosexual couples.” According to Miranda Sáenz, the proposed legislation seeks (in its own words) to “avoid and reduce deaths and injuries to women resulting from an unsafe abortion,” because “reproductive health implies that people have the capacity to have children and the freedom to decide if they want to […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent BRAZIL, September 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Brazilian pastor is being threatened with “legal measures” by government officials following a sermon condemning the ruling party's support for decriminalizing abortion, the homosexual agenda, and infanticide committed by indigenous tribes in the Amazon rain forest. In a YouTube video that has now been viewed over 1.6 million times, Pastor Paschoal Piragine Jr. of the First Baptist Church of Curitiba, warns his flock that the ruling Brazilian Labor Party (PT) is seeking to create “institutionalized evil” in Brazil. “We need to take a stand and say: 'we […]

Encourages Christians to reinforce faith as foundation for culture

By Hilary White ROME, September 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On the first day of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain he has not held back from the great themes of his pontificate – the threat of the “dictatorship of relativism” and suppression of religious freedom by secularist governments. In his address to Queen Elizabeth II, Benedict was pointed in his condemnation of the “atheist extremism” that led to the Nazi atrocities. In remarks that are clearly intended to answer the accusations of Britain’s radical secularists, he identified the country’s long history of human rights and justice with its thousand years […]

By Hilary White ROME, September 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI has made it clear that he is not going to mince words or waste time on his visit to a Britain beleaguered with social unrest, chronic welfare dependency, pornography, family breakdown, plummeting rates of marriage, record levels of abortion and increasingly aggressive – and politically successful – secularism. In his customary press conference aboard his Alitalia flight to Edinburgh this morning, Benedict was asked whether he hopes “to make the Church as an institution, more credible and attractive” in a country where secularism is becoming the standard. Benedict […]

Monday September 13, 2010 Catholic Marriages Plummet in Britain By Hilary White LONDON, September 13, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the lead-up to the pope’s visit, the Catholic bishops have striven to create a positive spin on the situation of the Catholic Church in Britain, but statistics have shown dramatic drops in most indicators of Catholic life since the 1982 visit of Pope John Paul II. Most significant, particularly in the light of Pope Benedict’s emphasis on the value of marriage, has been the precipitous drop in Catholic weddings in all dioceses in the country. Figures released this week by the […]

LIVERPOOL, September 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Convenor of the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Dignity has issued a statement warmly welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the country this week. The pope's State Visit to the UK, which begins Thursday and ends Sunday, has been the subject of immense hostility from media and top atheist and homosexualist public figures. Prof. Lord David Alton of Liverpool said he was “delighted” to welcome the pope to the country on behalf of the parliamentary group, in a statement Wednesday. Alton said he hoped the visit “will encourage the opening up of the […]

By Hilary White BRUSSELS, September 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Of the 475 victims of sexual abuse by Belgian clergy, 13 victims committed suicide, according to a report by an independent commission. On Friday, commission head and child psychiatrist Dr. Peter Adriaenssens issued the report, which showed most of the cases came from the Dutch-speaking sections of the country and occurred largely from the 1950s to the mid-1980s. The report stated “It is notable how often one issue comes back in the witness reports: the high number of suicides.” Adriaenssens told media, “The reality is worse than what we present here […]

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski LONDON, UK, September 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new study has found that watching more than 4 hours of TV a day has an adverse effect on mental well-being. The study was conducted by Mark Hamer, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, and research associates Emmanuel Stamatakis, PhD, and Gita D. Mishra, PhD. It analyzed the association of leisure-time sedentary behavior in adults, measured by television and screen-based entertainment (TVSE) time, and mental health. The researchers looked at mental health survey data of 3920 men and women between the ages of 35 […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman SALAMANCA, Spain, September 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Famed disabled athlete Enrique Sánchez-Guijo prayed for the right to life during his speech announcing the  opening the annual fair for the city of Salamanca last Thursday. Addressing the Virgin Mary under her local title of the Virgin of Vega, Sanchez-Guijo asked her to “safeguard the right to life, inherent in every human being, from beginning to end.”  To this he added the “right to live in freedom, exiling every type of terrorism and oppression.” Sánchez-Guijo, who is blind, is well known throughout Spain for his multiple gold and […]

By Peter J. Smith LONDON, September 14, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Anglican Communion's increasing turn toward liberal dogmatic theology is harming its ecumenical relations with the Orthodox Church, and further dividing the unity of Christians, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church warned the leader of the English church Thursday.  Metropolitan Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations for the Patriarch of Moscow, issued the warning to Archbishop Rowan Williams, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, in his September 9 address to the Nicean Club Dinner. Volokolamsk condemned the Anglican Communion’s embrace of a female episcopate, the ordination […]

Friday September 10, 2010 Transvestites Seek Right to Use Opposite Sex Bathrooms in Argentina By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent BUENOS AIRES, September 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Argentinean transvestites are objecting to new legislation proposed to create a third bathroom for their use in commercial establishments, according to local and international reports. The proposed law, advanced by councilwoman Gimena Abonassar of the city of San Martín, is intended to protect women from men who enter their bathrooms dressed as the opposite sex, an increasingly common occurrence in certain countries. “We’re talking about creating a third bathroom to give a […]

Thursday September 9, 2010 Jailed Chinese Forced-Abortion Whistleblower Due for Release By Kathleen Gilbert BEIJING, September 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A blind Chinese activist who has suffered extreme abuse by government authorities for revealing the coercive nature of the country’s one-child policy is due to be set free after serving a four-year prison sentence. Chen Guangcheng, 39, was arrested in 2006 after he advocated in favor of Chinese women who had fallen victim to forced abortions at the hands of the Chinese government. Although her husband’s term is up this week, Yuan Weijing told AFP Wednesday that she has not […]

Tuesday September 7, 2010 Slovenian Government Pushing Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ and Adoption LJUBLJANA, September 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Slovenian government is planning to legalize same-sex ‘marriage’ and adoption of children by same-sex couples, according to The Slovenian Civilian Initiative for Family and the Rights of Children (CIFRC). CIFRC president Ales Primc told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that the proposed new Family Code bill is being pushed through the government’s Labor, Family and Social Issues Committee without any public input. Primc said he himself was barred from attending the session of Parliament during which the controversial bill was discussed. A communiqué from Mr. […]

Friday September 3, 2010 World Youth Conference Ends In Controversy and Chaos By Samantha Singson LEÓN, MEXICO, Sept. 3, 2010 (C-FAM) – The World Youth Conference (WYC) closed in León, Mexico last week with frustrated and confused delegates adopting what is being called the Declaration of Guanajuato, which will be presented to the UN (United Nations) General Assembly later this month. Delegates became increasingly frustrated as they were shut out of the negotiating process. Unlike at the United Nations where meetings are open to any delegation wishing to make amendments, at the WYC delegates were told that meetings were closed […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman COPENHAGEN, September 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of a Faroe Islands political party took a stand in favor of sexual morality on Tuesday when he refused to dine with Iceland Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir and her lesbian partner during a state visit to his country. Sigurdardóttir, who has lead Iceland since 2009, is a practicing lesbian who “married” her partner Jónina Leósdóttir in a highly publicized ceremony in June of this year.  Calling the presence of Leósdóttir a “provocation,” Member of Parliament Jenis av Rana refused to attend at dinner in honor of the prime […]

By Hilary White ROME, September 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The hostility that the papal visit has engendered among a “small, well organized group” of homosexualist and hard-core secularist activists is “extraordinary,” but their opinion is not representative of the general British public, said Austen Ivereigh, a journalist and former deputy editor of the liberal Catholic magazine, The Tablet, in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). Ivereigh, who is acting as a co-coordinator and spokesman for the group Catholic Voices, which has been leading the charge in defending Pope Benedict's state visit, told LSN he believes the tide of anti-Catholic media coverage is about […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent ASUNCIÓN, September 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Paraguayan city council member has drawn the wrath of the homosexualist organization Amnesty International by proposing that discussions of homosexuality be eliminated in the local media during prime time. In introducing the bill for consideration, Hugo Ramirez of the Municipal Council of Asunción said that “as a father I express my concern over the focus given to the topic without taking into account the time.” “I propose that notices be sent to the media and other organizations for the purpose of preventing information that involve these […]

By Patrick B. Craine ROME, September 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Wednesday to reject relativism and find the source of human rights in an objective ethic that respects life from conception to natural death and true marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Noting that the Assembly aims to address various violations of human dignity, the pope insisted that given “the context of today’s society in which different peoples and cultures come together, it is imperative to develop the universal validity of these rights […]

By Hilary White LONDON, September 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With just days left to the visit to Britain by Pope Benedict XVI, the cardinal archbishop of Edinburgh has blasted the BBC for what he says is its “consistent institutional anti-Christian bias.” Cardinal Keith O’Brien told the Daily Express this Sunday that the BBC is pervaded by “a radically secular and socially liberal mindset.” The outspokenly pro-life cardinal warned that a planned documentary by the BBC on clerical sexual abuse, would be a “hatchet job.” The documentary, “Benedict –Trials of a Pope” is set to air the night before the pope’s […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent PANAMA, September 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Those who dare to criticize homosexuals in Panama could soon face a large fine. A bill is advancing silently through the Panamanian legislature that would fine perpetrators between $500 and $5000 dollars for making fun of or speaking “disrespectfully” of a homosexual, according to the Panamanian newspaper Critica. The law in question seeks to take “preventative measures” against “discrimination for reason of sexual orientation or gender identity” according to the newspaper. Critica reports that the bill has already passed out of the Government Committee of the national […]

By Hilary White LONDON, September 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith, met today with anti-Catholic campaigners to ask them to “show respect” to Catholics celebrating Pope Benedict’s visit to London. The first official state visit of a reigning pontiff to the UK, starting September 16, will likely be marred by demonstrations by secularist and homosexualist protesters. Anti-Catholic sentiment has rarely been higher in Britain since the repeal of laws restricting Catholic practice in the mid-19th century. The meeting between Smith and the protest organizers was organized by Scotland Yard. The archbishop said on Monday that […]

Commentary by Hilary White ROME, September 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – So, hands up everyone who thought the papal visit to Britain, set for September 16, was going to be a smash success; a revelation of the orderliness, devotion and unity of British Catholicism, and of the dedication of the secular media to cool, even-handed objectivity. Anyone? … Bueller? Watching the cringeworthy festival of pre-visit idiocy bursting out of Britain, both secular and ecclesiastical, has been a lesson for many in just how deeply the elite British institution hates and fears the traditional Christian mores and the world’s last unequivocal upholder of […]

Thursday September 2, 2010 More Human Embryo Experimentation Likely under EU Directive: Bishops By Hilary White BRUSSELS, September 2, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An EU proposal to restrict the use of animals in medical research has alarmed pro-life observers and the Catholic bishops’ conference for the European Union. The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) has this week voiced its opposition to an article in the EU’s draft directive on animal experimentation that would require the use of “alternative” test subjects that could include living human embryos. A statement from COMECE said that while it welcomes efforts […]

Friday September 3, 2010 HLI Denounces Eugenicist Professor’s Call to Sterilize the ‘Unfit’ FRONT ROYAL, Virginia, September 2, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carambula, Interim President of Human Life International (HLI), yesterday denounced comments made recently by British Professor David Marsland in which Marsland called for certain “unfit” members of society to be forcibly sterilized. “Professor Marsland’s comments only go to show that no evil is ever fully buried in the past,” said Monsignor Barreiro. “Every time we think we’ve seen the last of the Sangerian calls to forcibly sterilize and otherwise do away with the disabled, we are aghast […]

Friday September 3, 2010 Sex Toys on Display at the World Youth Conference By Terrence McKeegan, J.D. LEON, MEXICO, Sept. 3, 2010 (C-FAM) – Last week at the World Youth Conference, organized primarily by the Mexican government and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the main event for most of the estimated 5000 “participants” was the Interactive Global Forum, a massive expo with hundreds of booths and exhibits. A tour of the booths revealed what passes for “age-appropriate” sexual education in some UN circles. Because the venue for the World Youth Conference had considerably more exhibit space than most UN […]

Wednesday September 1, 2010 Virtually all El Salvadorans Oppose Legalization of Abortion: Poll By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent SAN SALVADOR, September 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ninety-three percent of El Salvadorans are opposed to the legalization of abortion in their country, according to a new poll. To the question: “Do you agree with modifying the Constitution of the Republic, and that abortion be permitted?”, 93% answered that they were not in agreement, and seven percent said they were, according to the El Salvador newspaper. Among the reasons given for their rejection of the idea were: “All of us have […]

Wednesday September 1, 2010 Italy Refuses Tax Revenue to Fund Mosques By Hilary White ROME, September 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Italian government has refused to grant official recognition to Islam in the tax code, citing polygamy that is sanctioned by Muslims and the religion’s failure to uphold women’s rights. The decision has to do with a bill that would allocate and distribute 8 percent of tax revenue to organized religions in the country. COREIS, one of Italy’s largest Muslim groups, responded to the decision saying, “Work should be begun on legally recognising those moderate Muslims who have for years […]

Tuesday August 31, 2010 Africa Report: Kenya, Conflicts at Uganda Anglican Conference Commentary by Martyn Drakard NAIROBI, KENYA, August 31, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Friday 27th August was a red-letter day for many, though not all Kenyans. In the most impressive show of might and the costliest celebration since Independence Day in December 1963, the new national constitution was promulgated. The event was somewhat blighted, when Sudan’s president, Al-Bashir, one of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) most wanted men for the “genocide” in Darfur, showed up, having snuck in through Nairobi’s second airport, Wilson, at the invitation of some of the […]

Thursday September 2, 2010 USAID Pushes Social Marketing of Contraceptives in Philippines By Thaddeus M. Baklinski MANILA, September 2, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Philippine government is implementing a new marketing scheme developed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to push contraceptives on the largely Catholic population of the country. The “May Plano Ako (I Have Plans)” program was put together by USAID’s Health Promotion and Communication Project Health (PRO) and endorsed by the Department of Health (DoH) and Health Secretary Enrique Ona, according to Dr. Ivanhoe Escartin, head of the Philippine National Center for Health Promotion (NCHP). HealthPRO […]

Tuesday August 31, 2010 Sterilize the Unfit Says British Professor By Hilary White LONDON, August 30, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The mentally and morally “unfit” should be sterilized, Professor David Marsland, a sociologist and health expert, said this weekend. The professor made the remarks on the BBC radio program Iconoclasts, which advertises itself as the place to “think the unthinkable.” Pro-life advocates and disability rights campaigners have responded by saying that Marsland’s proposed system is a straightforward throwback to the coercive eugenics practices of the past. Marsland, Emeritus Scholar of Sociology and Health Sciences at Brunel University, London and Professorial Research […]

Tuesday August 31, 2010 Charitable Status Revoked from New Zealand Homosexual Reorientation Group By Thaddeus M. Baklinski WELLINGTON, August 31, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New Zealand affiliate of U.S.-based Exodus Global Alliance has had its charity status revoked by the NZ Charities Commission. Exodus is a Christian organization that says it is dedicated to equipping agencies and individuals to communicate the message of “freedom from homosexuality.” The NZ Exodus Ministries Trust Board has had charitable status for more than ten years. However, the status was removed by the government’s Charities Commission in a decision dated August 18, as part of […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent GUANAJUATO, Mexico, September 2, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Seven women convicted of infanticide have been released by the governor of the state of Guanajuato and a state judge following a massive campaign by pro-abortion groups, who have turned their cases into a cause célèbre in the national media. Governor Juan Manuel Oliva has also announced a legislative initiative to reduce the criminal penalty for infanticide from 25 to 35 years in prison, to three to eight years. The decision to release the women follows weeks of pressure by pro-abortion organizations, members of the socialist […]

By Hilary White MELBOURNE, September 3, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A UN conference hosted in Melbourne has received an unusually positive review from a prominent local pro-life advocate, who said the event was atypical for its lack of hostility to the unborn and the traditional family. The United Nations Department of Public Information’s 63rd NGO conference in Melbourne, ponderously titled, “Advance Global Health and Achieve the Millennium Development Goals,” was “a comparatively wholesome affair with little of the undercurrent warfare of other feminist-dominated conferences,” said Babette Francis. Francis, National and Overseas Co-ordinator of the life and family advocacy group Endeavour Forum […]

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Latin America Correspondent MEXICO CITY, September 3, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Mexico City official is being investigated for “human rights” violations following a statement she made on national radio criticizing the Miss Universe contest. Martha Lucía Micher, chief of Mexico City's Institute of Women (INMUJERES-DF), told an interviewer with MVS Radio that “really I don't love [the Miss Universe pageant] and there are many women who don't love to see how they exhibit us like cows.” Miss Universe contestants exhibit their bodies to judges while dressed in extremely small string bikinis during the competition.  The swimsuit […]

Monday August 30, 2010 “Miracle” as Baby Begins Breathing after Two Hours By Hilary White SYDNEY, Australia, August 30, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Doctors were baffled in April when a premature baby boy whom they had pronounced dead appeared to come back to life after two hours of being held by his mother. Staff had given child, Jamie, a twin, to his mother to hold and to “say goodbye” after the 27-week gestation boy had been pronounced dead. The attending doctor had spent 20 minutes after the birth trying to get the boy to breathe. Kate Ogg, of Sydney, Australia, held […]

Monday August 30, 2010 Cardinal Danneels Urged Sex Abuse Victim to Silence: Secret Recordings By Hilary White BRUSSELS, August 30, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Recordings have revealed Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels urging a victim not to reveal 13 years of sexual abuse at the hands of the cardinal’s friend and colleague Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, the recently retired bishop of Bruges. “The bishop will resign next year, so actually it would be better for you to wait,” the cardinal is heard saying. Danneels warned the victim against trying to blackmail the church and suggested that he accept a private apology from the […]

By Hilary White ROME, Sept. 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The head of the Italian Catholic bishops’ conference said this week that Italian society is being “seriously mutilated” by its negative growth birth rate. Angelo Bagnasco, cardinal archbishop of Genoa, said at a Mass in Liguria this weekend that Italy, and Italian democracy, is facing a “serious cultural catastrophe” from its low birth rate. The Italian birth rate has climbed slightly from an all-time low of 1.23 in 2004 –  which made Italy the second most infertile country in the industrialized world – to 1.32 this year. It is estimated that […]

Commentary By John Smeaton, LONDON, England, Sept. 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Tony Blair's memoirs, entitled A Journey, have been published today and we have a copy at SPUC HQ. Here are some key points from it: “Politicians are obliged from time to time to conceal the full truth, to bend it and even distort it.” On Hans Kung, the theologian and notorious dissenter from Catholic teaching on abortion, euthanasia, contraception and much else: “My Oxford friend, Pete Thomson, always sung the praises, rightly, of the inestimable Hans Kung … a distinguished scholar and author [of] great works.” repeated references to his support for the […]