Recent Catholic News

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Thursday, March 24, the director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida sent an e- mail to advocates for the abortion operation telling them how to “express your appreciation” to Florida Republican senators who split with the GOP leadership by voting against a bill intended to save Terri Schiavo. The message listed the names and contact information for the six senators. “Apparently Planned Parenthood isn’t content with killing 244,628 innocent children in the last year through abortion. Now the harmful organization is telling its advocates how to thank elected […]

LONDON, March 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Special to LifeSiteNews.com by Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.   The death of Terri Schiavo – Euthanasia or Natural Death? The tragic death of Terri Schiavo has reignited the Euthanasia debate in the United States and Canada. Everyday we witnessed new media reports about Terri Schiavo. We heard conflicting commentary from bio-ethicists, physicians, and religious leaders as to whether dehydrating Terri was euthanasia or simply allowing natural death to occur. To intentionally dehydrate and starve Terri Schiavo to death was euthanasia and I will clearly explain why. Euthanasia is an intentional act […]

CALGARY, March 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Even in the face of two human rights complaints, Calgary Bishop Fred Henry is refusing to back down over his pastoral and public statements on same-sex marriage, in which he faithfully presented the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality. “Since homosexuality, adultery, prostitution and pornography undermine the foundations of the family, the basis of society, then the State must use its coercive power to proscribe or curtail them in the interests of the common good,” Bishop Henry said in a letter addressed to Catholics in his diocese in January. (see coverage) In addition to the […]

WATERTOWN, March 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With the death of Terri Schiavo, disabled rights advocates are asking the inevitable question, ‘who’s safe?’ Michael Schiavo’s successful bid to have his wife starved to death rested on his alleged recollection of an offhand comment Terri made years before while watching a television programme about Karen Ann Quinlan. Observers are warning that judicial acceptance of such flimsy evidence poses a threat to everyone. Cases like Schiavo’s and numerous others like it, show that anyone might fall into the hands of relatives, hospital bioethics committees or courts with ideological biases in favour of euthanasia. […]

Catholic Bishops Comments on Schiavo Case

LONDON, ON, March 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) recognizes Terri Schiavo’s death as euthanasia because she was intentionally dehydrated to death, not for palliative reasons but because she was cognitively disabled. “Hopefully Terri’s death will result in legislation being enacted to protect people who are cognitively disabled from similar acts of death by dehydration,” commented EPC executive director Alex Schadenberg. To that end, the Euthanasia Prevention CoalitionÂoffers for saleÂthe Life-Protecting Power of Attorney for Personal Care to protect Canadians from being dehydrated to death, like Terri Schiavo. For more information on the power of attorney document […]

VATICAN, March 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With the reticence of the Vatican to be candid about the state of the Pope’s health, media reports have been buzzing with reports from unconfirmed Vatican sources. The latest and most serious report comes from CNN indicating that a Vatican source has revealed that Pope John Paul II received last rites Thursday night. AP is reporting that papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that today “The Holy Father was struck today by a high fever caused by a confirmed infection of the urinary tract.” In an official Vatican release on the pontiff’s condition Wednesday, Navarro-Valls […]

UNITED NATIONS, March 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute’s (C-FAM) President Austin Ruse today said, “We have never seen such a concentrated and sustained effort to advance abortion at the UN,” describing the latest push by the United Nations to ensure universal access to abortion leading up to next week’s conference on HIV/AIDS. “A UN body looks poised to call for universal access to abortion as a necessary prerequisite for success in the fight against HIV/AIDS and the full implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” Ruse explained in his weekly Friday Fax. “The Commission on […]

LONDON, Ontario, March 30, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – News that notorious Canadian abortion activist Henry Morgentaler is to receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario has elicited the outrage of pro-lifers. Despite the “firestorm of protest,” as described by the National Post, the University said it still plans to bestow the honour June 16. University spokesman Ted Garrard said Tuesday that the decision of the honorary degrees committee “is final.” “We certainly respect the dissenting opinions, and we did expect a good deal of reaction,” Garrard, a university vice president, claimed. “But there are many […]

TORONTO, March 30, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ottawa Citizen columnist David Warren has provided the following insightful commentary to LifeSiteNews.com regarding the Terri Schiavo ordeal in the United States: The Schiavo case has shown, as plainly as ever, and to the largest media audience ever, that the U.S. courts are prepared to ignore the most precise legislative instructions from their elected masters, delivered in live time. They will impudently & instinctively insist on turning each critical case on technicalities, and in their judgements, they will insert the most gratuitous expressions of their own personal opinions into the spaces between. But here […]