LifeSite Daily News for Wednesday April 8, 2009

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Commentary on April 8 News Reports – Notre Dame, The Blairs, D&P;, Latin American bishops, Rick Warren, Letters

Dear Readers,

Notre Dame president Fr. Jenkins has cooked up his own very convenient interpretation of the USCCB guidelines regarding honoring pro-abortion politicians. Now why didn’t Cardinal George, the head of the USCCB think of that, as well as the 28 other bishops (so far) who have condemned the Obama invitation? They will have to attend creative interpretation classes at Notre Dame.

We have been warning about Tony and Cherie Blair for some time. Now maybe more sceptics will finally start to consider that these two are not real Catholics and have a very unCatholic, unChristian long term international agenda. The pro-life, pro-family movements of the world would be wise to do whatever they can to blunt efforts by either one of this couple to achieve more influential positions in the world. All the factual evidence we have encountered on this causes us great concern.

Yesterday and today’s Development and Peace reports get us right to a
main issue that has become apparent in this controversy. Although a
bishop’s delegation is going to Mexico to investigate the groups funded
there, it does seem to be a far less necessary effort than the
investigation needed in Canada itself about D&P’s lack of
appropriate funding policies.

Also, the bishops’ trip to Mexico cannot address the problems
discovered with the funding in at least several other nations. The
United States bishops’ aid organization’s firm policies show the way to
respond to D&P’s flaws. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here
and waste a lot of time and money on these junkets which may end up
being of dubious value now that the offending groups have been well
alerted they may lose funding.

You have to love some of those Latin American bishops. They do not beat around the bush as so many developed nation bishops have done ad nauseam and to the great harm of our culture for decades. Thank you Cardinal archbishop of Peru. You really do understand the great injustice and devastation of abortion.

The news about pastor Rick Warren is concerning. It appears that another one has been lost to the blinding Obama charisma.

Check out the letters to the editor today. We made a goof in a duplicate email to our subscribers one day this week but many of the comments we got back gave us a real boost.

Steve Jalsevac
LifeSiteNews.com

Leaked: ND Prez Comment on USCCB Document Prohibiting Honoring Pro-Abortion Politicians

By Kathleen Gilbert

NOTRE DAME, Indiana, April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSiteNews.com has obtained a copy of University of Notre Dame President Fr. John Jenkins’ commentary on the U.S. Bishops Conference (USCCB) document, “Catholics in the Political Life,” which was sent to Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees at the beginning of this month. In the commentary Jenkins explains how he believes that the university’s invitation of President Obama to be this year’s commencement speaker and receive an honorary law degree is in keeping with the “letter and the spirit” of the recommendations included in the USCCB document.

The USCCB issued “Catholics in Political Life” in 2004. The document directs Catholic schools not to honor pro-abortion politicians. Many of the 29 bishops who have so far spoken out against the scandal, including Notre Dame’s Bishop John D’Arcy and USCCB President Cardinal Francis George, have indicated that the school’s invitation to President Obama to speak at commencement and receive an honorary law degree was in violation of the bishops’ directive. (To view the USCCB document, go to: https://www.usccb.org/bishops/catholicsinpoliticallife.shtml)

The following is the complete text of Jenkins’ commentary:

In June 2004, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement, “Catholics in Political Life.” A number of people have quoted this document with regard to Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama to be its Commencement Speaker and receive an honorary degree. Our interpretation of this document is different from the one that has been imposed by those criticizing us, and I wanted to explain our understanding.

The 2004 document was clearly adopted by the Bishops as provisional. As the document says, “[h]aving received an extensive report from the Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians, and looking forward to the full report, we highlight several points from the interim report that suggest some directions for our efforts….” Nevertheless, despite its provisional character, this document has been used by all the people at Notre Dame who recommend speakers for commencement or others for honorary degrees since its publication. We have tried to follow both the letter and the spirit of its recommendations.

Two key sentences of the document have been frequently quoted regarding the invitation to President Obama:

“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 suggest support for their actions.”

Because the title of the document is “Catholics in Political Life”, we understood this to refer to honoring Catholics whose actions are not in accord with our moral principles. This interpretation was supported by canon lawyers we consulted, who advised us that, by definition, only Catholics who implicitly recognize the authority of Church teaching can act in “defiance” of it. Moreover, fellow university presidents have told me that their bishops have told them that in fact it is only Catholic politicians who are referred to in this document.

In addition, regardless of how one interprets the first sentence, the second is also important. It reads: “They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions. [My italics]” In every statement I have made about the invitation of President Obama and in every statement I will make, I express our disagreement with him on issues surrounding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research. If we repeatedly and clearly state that we do not support the President on these issues, we cannot be understood to “suggest support”.

Finally, the document states that “we need to do more to persuade all people that human life is precious and human dignity must be defended. This requires more effective dialogue and engagement with all public officials….” However misguided some might consider our actions, it is in the spirit of providing a basis for dialogue that we invited President Obama.

On May 17 we will welcome the ninth President who will receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame. It will be an important opportunity to bring the leader of our nation to Notre Dame, and, I hope, a joyful day for our graduates and their families.

Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C.

Four More Makes 29 Bishops, 10 Holy Cross Priests Condemn ND Scandal

By Kathleen Gilbert

NOTRE DAME, Indiana, April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of priests with the Congregation of the Holy Cross (C.S.C.), the religious order that runs the University of Notre Dame, and four more U.S. bishops have issued their condemnation of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Obama with an honorary law degree and an invitation to speak at the school’s May 17 commencement.

Ten Holy Cross priests and Notre Dame alumni wrote a letter concerning the scandal to the University’s Observer newspaper yesterday, requesting that fellow C.S.C. member and University president Fr. John Jenkins “revisit this matter immediately” as “failure to do so will damage the integrity of the institution and detract from all the good work that occurs at Notre Dame and from the impressive labors of its many faithful students and professors.” Both the local C.S.C. superior, and the superior general in Rome, have refused to condemn the invitation.

Said the priests: “The University pursues a dangerous course when it allows itself to decide for and by itself what part of being a Catholic institution it will choose to embrace.”

The priests lamented “the fissure that the invitation … has opened between Notre Dame and its local ordinary,” and that the invitation “portends a distancing of Notre Dame from the Church.”

“Although undoubtedly unintended, the University administration’s decision portends a distancing of Notre Dame from the Church which is its lifeblood and the source of its identity and real strength,” said the priests. “Such a distancing puts at risk the true soul of Notre Dame.”

Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of Indianapolis, in a letter to Fr. Jenkins posted on the archdiocese’s website today, wrote: “I join my voice to the chorus of thousands of faithful Catholics around the United States, and those of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in particular, who are appalled and embarrassed by your recent invitation to President Obama to address the 2009 graduates of Notre Dame.

“I was stunned and angered upon hearing the news of the invitation; in the end, I am among the thousands of good people who are profoundly saddened by it,” he wrote. “There isn’t a single reason that would justify Catholic sponsorship of the president of our country, who is blatantly opposed to the Catholic Church’s doctrine on abortion and embryonic stem-cell research.

“You dishonor the reputation of the University of Notre Dame and, in effect, abdicate your prestigious reputation among Catholic universities everywhere,” the Archbishop concluded. “Like other people of good faith, I await some action that indicates your regret concerning a truly wrong decision.”

Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan, the nation’s youngest bishop at 48, called the decision “unconscionable” in a statement published today.

“It is unconscionable to me that a Catholic university would bestow such an honor upon an individual who is so completely out of step with the Catholic Church’s teaching on the need to protect innocent human life in its most vulnerable forms, even if that individual holds the highest office in the land,” said Sample. The bishop said he has written to Fr. Jenkins urging him to withdraw the invitation, “Because this has the potential to cause grave scandal to the faithful and weaken our united Catholic efforts in defense of life.”

“It saddens me beyond words that the great university named after Our Lady would bestow distinction and honor on a politician who would seek to expand threats to such innocent human life,” wrote Sample. (To view Bp. Sample’s full comments: https://www.dioceseofmarquette.org/upcarticle.asp?upcID=1969)

Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore has said he was “disappointed and bewildered” by the decision, reports the Baltimore diocese’s Catholic Review newspaper.

In a March 26 letter, O’Brien told Fr. Jenkins that he “fully supports” the statement by Notre Dame’s own Bishop John D’Arcy, who announced his plan to boycott the ceremony and expressed dismay at the decision to invite Obama.

“[I] regret that [Bishop D’Arcy] must bear this personal affront from a university which he has so consistently and ardently supported this last quarter century,” Archbishop O’Brien wrote. O’Brien also wrote a separate letter to Bishop D’Arcy thanking him “for your strong and noble stand in your effort to uphold the reputation of the University of Notre Dame as a thoroughly Catholic institution.”

In Friday’s edition of the Birmingham diocesan newspaper One Voice, Bishop Robert J. Baker published an article “to express my deep disappointment” over the Obama invite, which he called a “travesty.”

“That a Catholic school should publicly recognize a man who unashamedly promotes values clearly opposed to the Church’s teaching on the Gospel of Life is a travesty to the legacy of Catholic education,” said Baker, who concurred with Bishop Thomas Olmsted’s statement that the situation constituted “a public act of disobedience to the Bishops of the United States.”

Baker encouraged Catholics “to vigorously react to this situation through prayer,” as well as public witness on the day of commencement.

The bishops who have so far gone public with their disapproval of Notre Dame’s invitation of Obama (in alphabetical order) are:

1. Bishop John D’Arcy – Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN
2. Bishop Gregory Aymond – Austin, TX
3. Bishop Robert Baker – Birmingham, AL
4. Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, Indianapolis, IN
5. Archbishop Eusebius Beltran – Oklahoma City, OK
6. Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantú – San Antonio, TX
7. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo – Houston, TX
8. Archbishop Timothy Dolan – New York, NY
9. Bishop Thomas Doran – Rockford, IL
10. Auxiliary Bishop John Dougherty – Scranton, PA
11. Cardinal Francis George – Chicago, IL; President, USCCB
12. Archbishop José Gomez – San Antonio, TX
13. Bishop William Higi – Lafayette, IN
14. Archbishop Alfred Hughs – New Orleans, LA
15. Bishop Jerome Listecki – La Crosse, WI
16. Bishop William E. Lori – Bridgeport, CT
17. Bishop Robert Lynch – St. Petersburg, FL
18. Bishop Joseph Martino – Scranton, PA
19. Bishop Charles Morlino – Madison, WI
20. Bishop George Murry – Youngstown, OH
21. Archbishop John J. Myers – Newark, NJ
22. Bishop R. Walker Nickless – Sioux City, IA
23. Archbishop John C. Nienstedt – St. Paul-Minneapolis, MD
24. Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, Baltimore, MD
25. Bishop Thomas Olmsted – Phoenix, AZ
26. Bishop Kevin Rhoades – Harrisburg
27. Bishop Alexander Sample – Marquette, MI
28. Bishop Edward J. Slattery – Tulsa, OK
29. Bishop Anthony Taylor – Little Rock, AR

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Seven More U.S. Bishops Make 24 Against Notre Dame Scandal
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040704.html

Notre Dame’s Bishop Will Not Attend Obama-Honoring Graduation, Criticizes University’s Decision
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032408.html

Notre Dame Faces Groundswell of Outrage after Announcing Plan to Honor Obama
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032312.html

Notre Dame President: School “Honored” by Obama’s Acceptance to Speak and Receive Honorary Degree
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032306.html

Catholic Notre Dame University to Give Obama Honorary Degree on May 17, Against USCCB Policy
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032005.html

Unlike Development and Peace, U.S. Bishops Development Arm Has Strong Pro-Life Policies

By John Jalsevac

April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In stark contrast to the Canadian bishops’ official international development arm, Development and Peace (D&P), the United States bishops’ official international development arm, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), has put in place and closely follows strict pro-life policies that ensure that it is not funding pro-abortion or pro-contraception organizations.

Recently, LSN spoke with CRS senior communications manager Tom Price, after LSN discovered that an NGO that is currently lobbying the East Timorese government to legalize abortion was listed as a “partner” on CRS’s website. Price investigated the situation and reported that the information on CRS’s website was significantly outdated, and that CRS had only partnered with the NGO, called Fokupers, between 2003 and 2004, well before its pro-abortion activities began.

However, Price told LSN that if Fokupers had been a CRS partner and it was confirmed that the NGO was involved in any abortion advocacy, CRS would have immediately severed its relationship with the NGO.

“We would not fund any [abortion] advocacy organization,” Price said.

“If they are involved in anything like that we would completely rethink a relationship with them. We don’t want to fund any group that’s doing something that’s not completely in line with Church teaching. We take this very seriously.”

Price explained that CRS’s official policy “on relationships with organizations that carry out activities counter to Church teaching is that we would not partner or fund them. This is very clear policy at CRS. We are an agency of the Catholic Church and we do not just follow Church teachings, we embrace them.”

CRS’s Policies Compared to D&P’s

CRS’s policies stand in dramatic contrast to the situation with the official Canadian bishops international development arm. Yesterday LSN reported that despite the fact that Fokupers is currently battling the East Timor bishops over the legalization of abortion, Fokupers is still listed as a current partner of D&P on its most recent program report. D&P did not respond to requests for comment on its support for the abortion-promoting NGO. (See: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040708.html)

Early last month LSN broke the news that D&P is supporting five pro-abortion organizations in Mexico. Since then the scandal has metastasized, with solid evidence emerging that D&P funds strongly pro-abortion and pro-contraception groups in Mexico, Brazil, Haiti, Nigeria, Benin, Guinea, Togo, Bolivia and East Timor (See bottom for links to coverage).

When LSN contacted D&P for comment about its initial discoveries about the five pro-abortion Mexican groups, Gilio Brunelli, Director of International Programs at D&P, was unconcerned by the revelations. Brunelli explained that the organization has no policy for or against abortion. He also explained that while D&P would not support specifically pro-abortion projects, it has no problem funding organizations that are involved in pro-abortion advocacy.

“The criterion is not pro-life or pro-abortion,” said Brunelli. “If the piece of work they propose to us is something we want to support it is something that is within our parameters, if yes we support them, if not we don’t.”

Asked about the fact that money is fungible and therefore can be used to free up other funds for pro-abortion activities, Brunelli acknowledged that “the money is always fungible,” adding that it is “not our responsibility” to avoid funding groups that could use the money for such purposes.

D&P’s loose policies have therefore resulted in the massive scandal of an official arm of the Catholic Church funding numerous groups that are working to undermine core Catholic moral values in developing countries around the world.

CRS’s Pro-Life Policies

In order to avoid a similarly devastating scandal, the U.S. Bishops’ Catholic Relief Services has in place numerous mechanisms to ensure that CRS is wholly pro-life in its funding practices.

In the first place CRS always works through and with the permission of the local bishops conference, wherever they are working. This ensures that CRS is never supporting organizations that are working against the Catholic Church in any particular area. If there is a situation where CRS does not work through the local Church, said Price, “it’s because the Church isn’t there. Afghanistan would be an example of that, where any Church infrastructure that was once there has since been destroyed.”

When asked if CRS had any real trouble finding development organizations to support that are completely in line with Church teaching, Price said, “No, it’s not a problem finding them. I can’t stress how large and how valuable the work that the Catholic Church, and the Christian churches do in the developing world. It’s huge.”

“You might not know it, but of AIDS patients … I think the Catholic Church takes care of fully 25% of them worldwide. If you include Protestant churches, it’s up to something like a third. So the Catholic network is enormous.”

Price explained that CRS has little difficulty supporting thoroughly pro-life organizations, even though they are an exponentially larger organization than Development and Peace, supporting far more projects worldwide. He said that “Development and Peace might fund one $100,000 project in Peru. We would likely fund ten or more $100,000 projects. I think in Haiti it’s worth about $14 million.”

However, despite the relative sizes of the two organizations, LSN has discovered that a surprisingly large proportion of D&P’s partner organizations are involved in activities seriously contrary to Church teaching.

Price did add, however, that it’s not necessarily easy in every single circumstance to find good Catholic or Christian relief organizations to support. “I’m not saying that there aren’t holes there occasionally, especially in somewhere like Timor, which was rubble a few years ago,” he said. “There are often correct opportunities to partner with these non-Catholic agencies.” He gave the area of “micro-finance” as an area where CRS might team up with a non-Catholic agency.

But, he added, “We are an agency of the Church, so we are always looking at everything we do through Catholic eyes. That’s just who we are. And we’re very close to the bishops conference in Timor. So we’re not going to partner with any group that’s against it, especially in the area of abortion. That’s a no-go area.”

Responding to Accusations of Scandal: CRS and D&P Compared

On occasion, however, CRS has been forced to face up to accusations that it is supporting activities that are not totally in line with Church teaching. But once again, in this area CRS’s methods of damage control stand in stark contrast to those of D&P.

In April 2008 it was revealed by Germain Grisez, professor of Christian ethics at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, that CRS had distributed a flip-chart, designed by the Zambian government, to local church partners in Zambia that included depictions of how to use a condom. After an investigation CRS admitted openly that it had distributed the chart after the Zambian government refused CRS’s requests to alter the chart. CRS apologized for the incident, admitting that the chart should not have been distributed, and took measures to ensure that a similar incident would not occur.

Chairman of Catholic Relief Services Archbishop Timothy Dolan said recently about this, “In retrospect, Professor Grisez did us a favor, and we appreciated his criticisms, because as embarrassed as I am to admit it, he was right on target.”

“So, we have withdrawn the document,” Archbishop Dolan said, “but we and the board of trustees of CRS didn’t want to stop there; we said, ‘Let’s make sure this mistake is never repeated. And let’s make sure that our people in the field completely comprehend, understand and appreciate the Church’s teaching when it comes to chastity.'”

LSN’s experience with CRS was similarly positive. When LSN informed CRS that one of the partners listed on its website was involved in pro-abortion activities, CRS spokesman Tom Price thanked LSN for the information and immediately began an investigation into the matter.

D&P on the other hand, has responded to LSN’s reports on its support for pro-abortion and pro-contraception organizations by:

– accusing LSN of engaging in “dangerously irresponsible and slanderous … ill-conceived conjecture and hypothesis”
– denying only that it supports organizations that provide “abortion services” (something that LSN never accused D&P of doing)
– ignoring all LSN reports on D&P’s support for pro-abortion and pro-contraception organizations other than the first report about the groups in Mexico
– and by creating the false impression that LSN’s allegations against the Mexican groups were based upon the fact that they signed a single document that included pro-abortion references, ignoring the plethora of evidence that LSN presented to prove its case.

To contact Development and Peace:

10 St. Mary Street, Suite#420
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M4Y 1P9

Phone: (416) 922-1592
Fax: (416) 922-0957
Toll Free: 1-800-494-1401

E-Mail:
Web Site: https://www.devp.org

Contact information for every Canadian bishop:
https://www.cccb.ca/site/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid

To contact the Canadian Conference for Catholic bishops:

2500 Don Reid Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1H 2J2, Canada

E-mail:
Phone:(613) 241-9461
Fax: (613) 241-9048

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

IRONY: NGO Funded by Canadian Bishops’ D&P Battles East Timor Bishops over Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040708.html

“Development and Peace” Funding Sixth Pro-Abortion Organization in Mexico
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040611.html

Hundreds of Thousands in Canadian Lent Collection Money Funding Pro-Abortion Groups in Mexico
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031210.html

Group Funded by Development and Peace Supports Mexico City’s Abortion on Demand Law
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032313.html

Mexican Pro-Life Leader Confirms: Groups Funded by Development and Peace are Pro-Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031710.html

Canadian Catholic “Development and Peace” Funding Two Abortion Advocacy Groups in Brazil
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032705.html

Development and Peace Also Supporting Pro-Abortion Group in Bolivia: National Catholic Register
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031812.html

Pro-Abortion/Contraception Groups in Africa Receiving Development and Peace Funding
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032613.html

“Development and Peace” Supporting Two Pro-Abortion Organizations in Haiti
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09033008.html

Catholic and International Pro-Life Groups Ask Canadian Bishops to Halt Funding to Latin American Pro-Abortion Groups
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031610.html

Toronto Archbishop: Development and Peace Won’t Get Funds if They Support Pro-Abortion Groups
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031808.html

Third And Fourth Canadian Bishops Say Development & Peace Funds to be Held Pending Investigation
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032716.html

Full Text of LifeSiteNews Interview With Gilio Brunelli of Development and Peace
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/090320b.html

Tony and Cherie Blair Attack Pope on Homosexuality and Condoms

By Hilary White

April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In separate media venues this week, former British Prime Minister and his wife have attacked Pope Benedict XIV and the Catholic teaching on homosexuality and the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS.

In an interview with Attitude, a homosexual magazine, Tony Blair said that Pope Benedict’s objection to homosexual behaviour is a “generational” issue and that any change in Catholic teaching on the matter is resisted by Church leaders because of “fear” among religious leaders of changing with the times.

Blair said, “We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith.”

Asked if he could foresee a future in which the Catholic Church would be led by a “pro-gay” pope, Blair said there are “many fantastic things this pope stands for,” but that his views on sexuality are not shared by the majority of Catholics.

“If you went into any Catholic Church, particularly a well-attended one, on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you’d be surprised at how liberal-minded people were.

“I think on some of these issues, if you went and asked the congregation, I think you’d find that their faith is not to be found in those types of entrenched attitudes.”

Interviewer Johann Hari wrote that in a “controversial” political career, Tony Blair’s one “consistent success story” was his championing of the homosexualist political movement in Britain.

Tony Blair was received into the Catholic Church in December 2007 by Cormac Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, the archbishop of Westminster. At the time, pro-life and pro-family people, including many prominent Catholics, called upon Blair, without success, to recant his opposition to Catholic teaching on homosexuality, marriage, abortion and human embryonic research.

Since his reception into the Catholic Church, Blair has established the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, in which he is attempting to establish himself as a spokesman for a generic and non-specific “faith” as a unifying principle in global politics. Describing the aims of his Foundation, Blair said it is “trying to bring different religious faiths together, to show how, actually, there is a huge common space around these values between the different religious faiths.”

Calling Blair “probably the most prominent pro-gay religious figure in the world,” Hari wrote that Blair is urging “religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal.” This, he says, will result in the religions of the world in accepting “gay people as equals.”

Blair said that he found no conflict between being “religious” and “pro-gay.” “I came to a religious faith through people who were themselves very much open and liberal on all these issues, and who would have regarded it as bizarre to have attitudes of hostility to gay people.”

He said, “For all religions, the challenge is how do you extract the essential values of the faith from a vast accumulation of doctrine and practice?”

At the same time, Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie, told the Times of Malta that she was “rather sad” when she heard Pope Benedict’s assertion that condoms only increase the problem of AIDS, during his recent visit to Africa.

“I think we do have to understand that there is concern about promiscuity,” she said. “But there’s also a real concern about saving lives and I absolutely believe, and scientific evidence shows, that condoms do save lives. Therefore, when there’s a choice between endangering and not endangering life, we should always choose life.”

Mrs. Blair went on to defend her very public refusal to conform to the teaching of the Church on contraception. “I think it’s a matter of personal conscience in the end. I don’t feel bad about making those choices and I don’t feel the Catholic Church feels bad about me making those choices,” she says.

Mrs. Blair, a firm supporter of the abortion group Planned Parenthood, has consistently equated the use of artificial contraceptives with women’s rights. In early March, Mrs. Blair told the BBC that she credited her personal success as a barrister to her use of contraceptives and called the Catholic Church a “sexist” organisation which “marginalizes” women and keeps them “virtually invisible” in its public face.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Cherie Blair Says Catholic Church Sexist, Credits Personal Success to Contraception
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09030209.html

Blair Formally Refuses to Respond to Abortion and Embryo Research Questions after “Conversion” to Catholicism
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041406.html

Angelicum University Refuses to Believe Cherie Blair’s Pro-abortion and Anti-Family Reputation
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08120501.html

Full Text of Cherie Blair Speech at Angelicum: Sticks to Support for Contraception, Dodges Abortion Question
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121704.html

Notre Dame’s Bishop on Obama’s Pro-Abortion Views: “No One Is Allowed to Say Who Sits at Table of Life”

By Kathleen Gilbert

NOTRE DAME, Indiana, April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop John D’Arcy, whose diocese includes the University of Notre Dame, has broken weeks of silence since his initial statement about the school’s decision to honor President Obama.

Notre Dame touched off a firestorm of controversy after it was announced March 20 that President Obama would give the school’s commencement address and receive an honorary law degree May 17.

D’Arcy issued a statement after the scandal broke, condemning the move and announcing his intention to boycott the university. 29 U.S. bishops have condemned the invitation so far. University president Fr. John Jenkins, however, has declared he will not back down.

In a recent interview with a local Indiana news station, Bishop D’Arcy said he was stunned at the decision, especially since he was not informed until after it was made public.

“This is giving a Doctorate of Laws to a person whose only experience with the laws … has been anti-life laws,” D’Arcy explained.

D’Arcy also explained his reasons for boycotting the commencement ceremony where President Obama would be speaking. “If I’m up there on the platform, it must be OK,” he said. “It’s saying to the young people, ‘Well, it’s OK, it really doesn’t matter.”

The bishop said he feared that by inviting Obama, Notre Dame “has alienated itself from the Catholic community, from the bishops – many bishops are writing – from ordinary Catholic people.”

Regarding Fr. Jenkins’ reaction to D’Arcy’s plan to boycott the ceremony, D’Arcy said, “I don’t know if he understands my position. I think he minds it, I think he’s troubled by it, and I don’t think he really is eager to talk about it too much.”

“If he [Obama] came for a seminar, even on this issue, or on health care or something like that, that’s what the University should be doing,” said D’Arcy. “But to honor someone with a doctorate of laws, and the only laws he has made are laws which are against innocent life.”

D’Arcy added that he thinks the University’s wish “to be a very significant university in the public order … must have driven the decision.”

“To be at those graduations, the mass the day before, all the young people that are there, all their parents that are there, the friends that are there, and they’re graduating from this splendid university – how beautiful is life?” said D’Arcy. “They’ll go out to the world, they’ll fall in love, they’ll have children, they’ll have grandchildren, they’ll have a family. No one is allowed to say who’s going to sit at the table of life – and more important, who’s not going to sit at the table of life.

“God didn’t give us that privilege. He gave us many other privileges – that belongs to him alone. This is so central – there’s no other right unless you have the right to life, and a Catholic University should support that one hundred percent.”

The bishop said he plans to participate in the baccalaureate Mass before the commencement ceremony.

To view the video of the interview, go to: https://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/42591207.html

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Seven More U.S. Bishops Make 24 Against Notre Dame Scandal
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040704.html

Notre Dame’s Bishop Will Not Attend Obama-Honoring Graduation, Criticizes University’s Decision
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032408.html

Notre Dame Faces Groundswell of Outrage after Announcing Plan to Honor Obama
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032312.html

Notre Dame President: School “Honored” by Obama’s Acceptance to Speak and Receive Honorary Degree
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032306.html

Catholic Notre Dame University to Give Obama Honorary Degree on May 17, Against USCCB Policy
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032005.html

Cardinal Archbishop of Lima, Peru Calls Pro-Abortion Forces “Traitors”

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

LIMA, April 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Cardinal Archbishop of Lima, Peru denounced pro-abortion forces as “traitors” in a homily last Sunday in the cathedral of the diocese.

“Human rights are often spoken of, but who defends the most defenseless one who is still within the womb of the mother?” Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani asked the crowd that had packed the cathedral.

“We don’t want to participate in this parade of traitors, because although they might be powerful throughout the world, they are a parade of traitors. They don’t defend the family, nor life, nor peace, nor justice,” said Ciprinai.

He went on to add that, “the Church has to protect mankind like a sanctuary from the murder of the lives of the unborn, and from causing the death of the elderly.”

Cipriani also called upon those present to cleanse themselves from the sin of criminal activity. “One can’t have hands of violence, of corruption, of robbery. Leave behind those jealousies, manipulations, and lies. If the heart isn’t cleansed, the cross does not enter.”

Peru has been engaged in a struggle against international pro-abortion organizations and pro-abortion physicians, which are trying to make abortion available in the country through a de facto process of legalization, despite the fact that abortions remain illegal under the existing legal code.

Related LifeSiteNews coverage:

“Human Rights Watch” Expresses Frustration over Peru’s Refusal to Decriminalize Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071710.html

Peruvian Bishop Condemns Illegally Created Abortion Protocol
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022102.html

US Pro-Abortion Organizations Begin Major Assault on Peru – Part 1
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07071605.html

United Nations Pushing Abortion Politics in Peru
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06022207.html

Catholic Monaco Legalizes Abortion

Legislature unanimously approves law permitting abortion in cases of rape or fetal deformity

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

MONACO, April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic nation of Monaco, one of the last holdouts against the tide of abortion legalization in the European continent, has approved a new law permitting abortion for “hard cases,” including rape, fetal deformity, fetal illness, or danger to the life of the mother.

The law was passed unanimously by Monaco’s National Council, its parliament, in a 26-0 vote, despite the fact that 90% of its population is formally Catholic. The legislation had been in process for five years.

Archbishop Pernard Barsi of Monaco reportedly blasted the measure as being “incompatible” with the constitution of Monaco, which recognizes the Catholic faith as the state religion.

“When they say that the text [of the law] only concerns extreme cases, they are not saying the truth,” said Barsi. “There is a risk that all of the rest will follow and the worst is to be feared because they will not stop trying to conform Monaco to the lowest ethical standards.”

Members of the council denounced Barsi for his criticisms, claiming they were made at the last minute. However, as LifeSiteNews has reported, Barsi has been denouncing the measure since at least 2006.

Monaco was one of the last three nations in Europe where abortion is illegal. The other two countries are Ireland and Malta.

Previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Monaco Considers Proposal to Legalize Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06112003.html

Obama: “We Do Not Consider Ourselves a Christian Nation”

By Kathleen Gilbert and John-Henry Westen

ANKARA, Turkey, April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking to a Turkish press conference Monday as part of a tour to boost U.S. relations with Muslim countries, President Obama sparked controversy by dismissing the notion that America considers itself Christian in nature – unlike 62% of Americans in a recent Newsweek survey.

“Although … we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation,” said Obama. “We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”

The statement recalled previous remarks to the Christian Broadcasting Network in 2007, when Obama affirmed that “whatever we once were, we’re no longer just a Christian nation.”

The Internet immediately buzzed with feedback and reflection on the President’s statements. Just prior to the press conference, Newsweek had stirred the waters with an article entitled “The End of Christian America,” revealing 2009 American Religious Identification Survey data showing a decline in religious values in the U.S. In that survey, 62 percent of respondents said they considered the U.S. a Christian nation.

Conservative leaders questioned Obama’s assessment of American self-identity, citing the U.S. Founding Fathers and presidents throughout the country’s history who affirmed the country’s Christian foundation.

“I think he [Obama] was using the editorial ‘we’ there. I don’t know who he’s talking to,” remarked Dr. Timothy O’Donnell, president of Christendom College and professor of history, in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) today on the issue.

While it is clear America was not instituted as an explicitly Christian nation, said O’Donnell, “it’s an inconvertible fact of history that the overwhelming population of people who were involved in the drafting of the constitution … came out of the tradition of Western Christian civilization.”

“I think there’s a strong body of Jews, Christians, certainly Evangelicals that would find such a statement to be very offensive,” he said.

“With the greatest respect for the office of the presidency, many of us are both frightened and befuddled by this combo of bowing to the waist to the king of Saudi Arabia, and then declaring that this is not a Christian nation,” remarked Rabbi Yehuda Levin, the Special Emissary to Israel for The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada and The Rabbinical Alliance of America, in an interview with LSN today.

“I would say that most of us understand that this is a – certainly, certainly was at the founding, and for hundreds of years, was a de facto Christian nation,” said Levin.

“What is the idea that binds us together?” he asked. “Respect for life and family values, respect for religious values that derive from a God who gave us Holy Writ. If Obama wants to discuss theology, then he should answer some more questions on this subject, because he is scaring a lot of people.”

Pastor Rick Warren says He’s “Oblivious” to Iowa Gay “Marriage” Ruling – “Not Even My Agenda”

Tells Larry King saving traditional marriage “very low” on priority list

By John-Henry Westen

IRVINE, CA, April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – US Evangelical leader Pastor Rick Warren, who famously delivered the invocation prayer for President Barack Obama’s inauguration, appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live program Monday, where he disavowed any ties to California’s Proposition 8 effort to protect the true definition of marriage.

After denying that he had engaged in any activism in support of Prop 8, Larry King asked Warren, “Do you therefore criticize or not comment on the Iowa court decision to permit gay marriage.” Warren replied, “Yeah, I’m totally uh oblivious to, to what’s, that’s not even my agenda.” He went on to say, “My agenda is two things” and spoke of the 15th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide and what the recession is doing to the spiritual climate of the nation.

“I am not an anti-gay or an anti-gay marriage activist. Never have been, never will be,” Warren told King at the outset of the interview. “During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going.”

Pressed by King on whether he told his congregation to support Prop 8, Warren conceded to having “just simply made a note in a newsletter” about it. He also stated that he continues to believe that the definition of marriage should not be changed.

Nonetheless, he stated that his note to his congregation telling them to support Prop 8 was blown out of proportion. “I sent a note to my own members, and then all of a sudden out of it they made me something that I really wasn’t.” He added: “I wrote to all my gay friends, the leaders that I knew and apologized to them.”

“I was asked a question that made it sound like I equated gay marriage with pedophilia or incest which I absolutely do not believe,” added Warren.

King asked Warren in conclusion, regarding homosexual “marriage,” “So it’s not high on your road of issues?” Warren replied, “No, no it’s very low. In fact I am working with a number of different gay organizations on issues that we care about in saving lives.”

To express concern to Pastor Warren:

Pastor Rick Warren
1 Saddleback Parkway
Lake Forest, CA 92630
U.S.A.

See the Larry King Live interview on video here:
https://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/04/07/lkl.ric…

Canadian Conference of Bishops Says Two Bishops Will Lead Investigation into D&P; Mexican Partners

April 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The following is a press release issued today by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding the reports initiated by LifeSiteNews.com that Development and Peace, the official development arm of the bishops’ conference, has been funding pro-abortion groups in Mexico. While the original LifeSiteNews.com report mentioned only groups in Mexico, later reports have found evidence for D&P funding of pro-abortion and pro-contraception groups throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

The text of the press release is as follows:

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has asked two Bishops to lead a committee of inquiry into allegations about five Mexican groups that received project funding from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

The two Canadian Bishops on the committee which will be going to Mexico later this month, 15-18 April, are Archbishop Martin W. Currie of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Bishop François Lapierre, P.M.É., of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. They will be assisted by Msgr. Mario Paquette, P.H., General Secretary of the CCCB, and by Msgr. Carlos Quintana from the offices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he is Executive Director of its Secretariat for the Church in Latin America. The committee of inquiry will report to the CCCB on its findings.

Over the past few weeks there have been allegations that some groups in Mexico which received project funding from Development and Peace had shown support for abortion. In addition to confirming it does not support any groups in favour of abortion, Development and Peace also received written assurances from the five groups that they do not promote abortion.

Development and Peace had also announced there would be “an immediate inquiry with the five Mexican partners to get to the bottom of these allegations.”

The President of the CCCB, Archbishop V. James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, has now confirmed this inquiry will be undertaken by the Canadian Episcopal Conference. “There has been a lot of confusion sown in the minds of Canadian Catholics,” he said. “It is now important to provide answers that respond to the important questions that have been raised.”

Archbishop Weisgerber said the committee of inquiry would investigate the specific issues raised by the Mexican allegations and review first-hand how Development and Peace approaches its work with its partners in the Global South. He indicated the two Bishops on the CCCB inquiry would meet with Bishops from Mexico.

The committee of inquiry will later make its report and present its recommendations to the CCCB Permanent Council.

Development and Peace was founded by the Bishops of Canada in 1967 as their official agency for development work and emergency relief in the Global South. It is also the Canadian branch of Caritas Internationalis.

Letters to the Editor – Obama summary, ND/Obama controversy, Canadian UN delegation, D&P;, Other items

RE: Priest/historian author says, Obama “represents greatest threat today, even more so than Marxist revolution of 1917 with its attack on the family”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040114.html

Dear LSN,

Thank you for publishing the summary of President Obama’s “accomplishments.” He’s done so much in such a short amount of time to advance the culture of death that I’m having a hard time keeping up with the facts. I will pass this on to my friends and family who remain enthralled by the Presidents’ charisma and refuse to learn about what “change” is actually accomplishing.

Please post another summary of the next 50 days.

Thanks
A. Colomer
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

____________________________________________________

Re: Leslie Tomlinson’s Letter to editor (Third from top in section Re: ND/Obama affair)
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040318.html

I would like to comment on the short letter written by Leslie Tomlinson who describes herself as a practicing Catholic. She adamantly supports President Obama and threatens that she will find a new church for her family if Lifesitenews does not stop criticizing him. My question to Ms. Tomlinson is this …… does her Catholic faith support abortion and Mr. Obama’s pushing it in every way that he can? Is the killing of millions of unborn babies second tier to her? I wish with all my heart that all those who call themselves Catholic actually believed in the true teachings of the church. I can understand why she could so easily consider moving to a different denomination. It is clear that her Catholic faith is not very dear to her at all.

Irene Michaud
Saskatoon, SK
___________________________

“I would like to make it very clear that as a practicing Catholic, I 100% support President Obama.”

Supporting Obama 100% means that this person supports abortion (killing innocent human beings).
Abortion is against Catholic teaching. This person writing the letter is NOT a practicing Catholic.

“and I find it HIGHLY offensive that your organization would publicly criticize him.”

Keep up the good work, LifeSite. REAL Catholics find Obama’s doctrine of death Offensive.

Peter Polk
Arizona
___________________________

I refer to the comment made by Leslie Tomlinson that appeared in the April 4 edition of LSN. Tomlinson says and I quote “I would like to make it clear that as a practicing Catholic I 100% support President Obama and I find it HIGHLY offensive that your organization would publicly criticize him. I don’t recall this amount of criticism over the slaughter in Iraq, presided by our former president. I guess those killings are second tier to you. Keep this up and I will definitely find a new church for my family.”

I wonder if the writer has realized that by making such a strange connection viz, – “if you continue to criticize President Obama, I will definitely take my family away from the Catholic Church”, your readers will be forced to conclude that the writer is anybody but a “practicing Catholic”. Consider these reasons:

1. A practicing Catholic, by definition, is one who believes in and worships the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour. Therefore, if one’s human idol i.e. President Obama, was being vilified, it would be totally illogical to threaten to walk away from one’s God to avenge an alleged insult to one’s idol. Isn’t it that by definition and belief that God is far, far higher than a human idol? But clearly the writer holds President Obama in higher esteem and position than Jesus Christ and is therefore threatening to walk away from Him to avenge an alleged insult to President Obama …. So then, to this writer, which one of them is God and which is the idol? If Jesus Christ does not occupy a predominant and eminently higher position than everything and everybody else to this writer, could we believe that the writer is a “practicing Catholic”? Hmmmm….

2. If a simple disagreement between the writer and your institution could cause the writer to threaten to walk away from the Church, and that too, when the Church hierarchy has in no way participated in the discussion, one has to seriously wonder whether the writer is a Catholic let alone a “practicing Catholic”. Would it make sense for one private U.S. citizen to have a simple disagreement with another private (as opposed to a government official) U.S. citizen and threaten to leave the U.S. if the second citizen didn’t alter his or her views? Would one then consider the first person a U.S. citizen at all? One would be of the opinion that as the first person has reduced the importance of being a U.S. citizen to practically nothing, therefore the first person is at heart, not a U.S. citizen at all.. And as Catholics, we are talking of citizenship of the Church which is something that is vastly greater than the citizenship of a country.. So threatening to leave the citizenship of the Church at the drop of a theoretical hat does not reflect on the writer being a possible “practicing Catholic”.

3. I should congratulate you on the contents of this letter by Tomlinson. If a disagreement with LSN has made the writer threaten to find a new church, it must be because at least in Tomlinson’s eyes, LSN accurately presented the views of the Catholic Church. Bravo!!

Do continue with the good work.

With respect,

Alfred D’Costa
Mumbai, India

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Re: Obama/Notre Dame controversy

Notre Dame is not Catholic. The name remains because one can take Federal dollars and keep their Identity. In this case the Feds expect secularization. Not only that, but the New Order Catholic Church is in support of abortion. Just follow the money trail. Hippety Hoppety you will see Feds, grants all kinds of monies. In programs that teach teens preventive pregnancy with condoms and such. Oh, yes! And your hospitals with saints names, whose handbooks give services for all family planning(contraceptives to sterilization and refer for abortion). Does that sound like pro-life to you? These hospitals are not being pushed! NO! they just took the money. St. Vincent De Paul does the same. An organization that went door to door to promote sacraments is now everything but that.
___________________________

Isn’t it interesting that no California bishop of any rank has issued a statement opposing the invitation of the President to be a commencement speaker. Do we have any conservative, traditional bishops who are faithful to the tenants of the Church?

Kent L.
SanDiego, California

____________________________________________________

Re: Dark Ages and allowing “legal, safe” abortion

How irresponsible can you people be? I thank God I was able to get a legal, safe abortion when I needed it. This subject is a WOMAN’s personal choice, not to be made by MEN or governments who have no business making it. You people need to get real and quit demonizing women because of their choice to not bring an unwanted child into the already over-crowded world. There are already so many unwanted children in foster care, orphanages, etc. Maybe you should focus your efforts, time and money on those kids already here. You need to rise up out of the dark ages

Cherie Daniel

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Re: Canadian delegation unchanged under Conservatives – still pushing “reproductive rights,” opposing sovereignty
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040212.html

Re: the UN Status of Women meetings and the pro-abortionists, I wish to express that I “know” that this was not initiated by Stephen Harper personally – he is a Bible believing Christian, but he can’t dictate to groups or factions against the wishes of the majority of Canadians who are not Christians. A Prime Minister cannot dictate moral values to the rest of the 270 members of Parliament, nor can he go against the laws of his country.
Thank you.

Maxine Snow
Nova Scotia, Canada

Note from LifeSiteNews: The Interim report did not charge that the Harper government itself initiated the anti-life, anti-family actions of its UN delegation. However, it did sadly confirm what LifeSiteNews has already repeatedly noted in past reports. That is, the Harper government has still not changed the usual socially radical direction and makeup of the Canadian foreign affairs reps at the UN left over from Liberal government days. To say that after over three years in power the Conservatives cannot influence what is said on Canada’s behalf at the United Nations is quite a stretch of wishful thinking. Also, this is not about moral values. It is about justice and common sense regarding aggressive attempts by Canada, in league with other developed nations, to force abortion and other offensive radical cultural interferences upon vulnerable sovereign nations.

____________________________________________________

Subject: D&P controversies

I am a pro-lifer. My view of pro-life is to love and respect life from time of conception until God calls us home.
I have read your commentaries and the letters to the editor. Now I cannot stay silent because what I read is not loving according to what Jesus thought us. Jesus thought us to defend and love the poor, to love others as we would like others to love us.

To be a pro-lifer is helping the poor not just in time of emergencies but to support the poor in their struggle to a better life which means the right to assembly to demand better living conditions & just laws, the right to have a government without corruption, the right to vote, the right to live in peace, the right of women and children to be treated as equal, the right to live in dignity as citizens, the right to have education, health services, a safe home, proper food and a good work. Denying this to the poor is promoting slavery, death, war, violence, poverty and corruption.

I support emergency services (food, temporary housing, etc…) and orphanage as there are special circumstances but I also support the work of organization like Development and Peace because it works on eliminating the doers of poverty. I support initiatives that bring life to people and communities. I believe that Development and Peace is a serious organization that is supporting local initiatives that promote life but also educate us on issues that prevent life to flow.

For me, being a pro-lifer is that. Doing otherwise is promoting death. One of the 10 commandments says : “The shall not kill”. There are ways to kill. You can kill directly or you can let the killing be done by stopping initiatives that would prevent the killing. The commentaries and actions on D&P work that you promote is like stopping initiatives that would prevent the killing. I tend to agree with one of the persons who wrote you, that it is the work of evil.

Jesus had a special love for the poor and he supported their struggle. He was send to the Cross by his own people because he demanded changes to unjust laws. He demanded justice, peace, love, dignity and full life for all. Bashing on D&P is like sending the poor to the Cross. I hope that it is not what you are trying to achieve because it would be contrary to Jesus’ teachings.

Peace,
G. Bergen
Ottawa

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RE: Responses to LSN announcement of error of gift subscription notice to current subscribers

We Christians can’t get along without you guys doing this necessary and timely work. This peace & development stuff has happened before as we old, faithful Pro-lifers know but this time the scandal about them has gotten out to everyone! With our own website here, people are going to have to give a care about how they act and spend our money! Thank God for this new venue for us Pro-lifers, now we have someone defending our side of the story. God’s many blessing upon you all and your families.

Kathy Bachman
Saskatchewan
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I am really thrilled that someone thought that I would appreciate LifeSiteNews. I’m subscribed my self some time ago and I’m afraid that if I unsubscribe, that I might be taken off your list. (Which would be devastating because nothing anywhere provides the comprehensive, accurate, concise, clear and “on the money” news that you do for people interested in maintaining their sanity in an ever increasingly insane world.) Please be assured that I value the most impressive and diligent work that you do–it is much more than that. For us, your readers, it is invaluable. No price can possibly be assessed to the good that you do. I would be a dumb as if my head were cut off, if it weren’t for your news website.

No words can possible express the thanks that I am certain many, many of us feel.

Margaret Beveridge
Kamloops, B.C. Canada
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I have been a subscriber for a while and enjoy your news site very much. You have inspired me to write several e-mail letters of protest: 1) to the Bishop of London re: ‘early inductions’ at the Catholic hospital; 2) to Fr. Jenkins at Notre Dame re: Obama and 3) to the CCCB re: D & P. Thank you for all your great investigative work.

With thanks,
Vera F.
Ontario, Canada
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Please resume sending me your insightful e-mails. There is no better way of staying informed. Your service to the World Pro-Life Community is invaluable especially with our current administration’s egregious and merciless march to death.

James W. Cunningham, Jr.
Brockwell, Arizona

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