Recent Catholic News

JOHANNESBURG, July 30 (LSN) – Judge J. Sydney McCreath of the Pretoria High Court upheld the world's most permissive abortion law in South Africa Tuesday as he ruled that a child in the womb could not be classified as a person. Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma was delighted with the ruling, saying it has strengthened the 1996 Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. This was the second unsuccessful attempt by various religious and cultural groups to dismantle the Act. Pro-lifers say they will continue to challenge the legislation.  News reports indicate that at least 30,000 children in the womb have lost […]

AJIEP, Sudan, July 29 (LSN) – Desperate pleas from hundreds of thousands of starving Sudanese reached the world yesterday as reports of the UN’s complicity in prolonging the Sudanese war and famine hit the press.  World magazine reported yesterday that humanitarian aid organizations have charged the UN is controlling all aid distribution in the country and severely hampering relief efforts. Peter Hammond, the director of Frontline Fellowship, a Christian organization which provides has smuggled Bibles, food relief and medicine into southern Sudan, told World that “Organizations have to get permission for everything they do from the UN They have to […]

OLYMPIA, July 29 (LSN) – On November 3, Washington state will conduct a vote on banning partial-birth abortion . State pro-lifers made this possible by collecting well over the 179,248 needed signatures to put the item on the ballot. Initiative 694, as the measure is designated, was announced successful by Secretary of State Ralph Munro on Monday. Earlier this month, pro-lifers submitted petitions containing the signatures of 216,716 voters to Munro’s office.

WASHINGTON, July 29 (LSN) – 35,000 signatures are being delivered to President Clinton today demanding better enforcement of obscenity laws. The New York-based group Morality in Media launched the petition drive noting a dire lack of enforcement of obscenity laws since the Clinton administration took office in 1993. Robert Peters, president of Morality in Media quoted an editorial endorsement of Clinton’s 1996 reelection written by pornographers. Adult Video News wrote, “there have been fewer federal prosecutions of the adult industry under the Clinton Administration than under Reagan and Bush, and since, if elected,  Clinton will be a lame duck with […]

WASHINGTON, July 29 (LSN) – Yesterday, the American Psychological Association released a new book promoting the abortion ideology. The book entitled The New Civil War: The Psychology, Culture, and Politics of Abortion, purports to be an exhaustive analysis of the issue but shows obvious disdain for the pro-life position. One of the chapters is on “Improving Access to Abortion Services.”  For more information on the book go to:  http://www.apa.org/books/civil.html

BERLIN, July 28 (LSN) – The Spanish newspaper ABC revealed last week that the bodies of almost 4,000 babies aborted in Berlin last year were “used as organic material for a granulate used to asphalt streets.” Although parents have the right to request a proper burial, costs are prohibitive. Thus certain companies process the “waste” materials from hospitals to generate marketable products. Babies weighing more than 2.2 lbs. must be given a burial according to German law.  Germany’s Roman Catholic bishops denounced the practice as showing “a terrifying lack of respect.” A spokesman for the German health department told reporters […]

LONDON, July 28 (LSN) – Following yesterday’s report of a nurse in France admitting to the “mercy killing”  of 30 patients, a male nurse at Birch Hill Hospital in Manchester, England is being questioned in the “suspicious” deaths of five elderly patients. Robert Clegg, the hospital’s chief executive, said that “there may have been inappropriate use of drugs which possibly resulted in the death of a patient or patients.”

LANSING, Mich., July 28 (LSN) – Pro-euthanasia activist Jack Kevorkian refused to hand over files to authorities by the deadline set by Ingham County Circuit Judge Lawrence Glazer. Kevorkian’s lawyer Michael Schwartz forewarned of his client’s refusal to cooperate, saying Kevorkian would incriminate himself by complying with the subpoena.  The Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services, the agency which licenses doctors, has asked the courts to investigate whether Kevorkian is practicing medicine without a licence. Kevorkian may be found in contempt of court for refusing to hand over his files.

MEXICO CITY, July 28 (LSN) – Catholic World News reported yesterday that the National Pro-Life Committee of Mexico held a press conference Sunday in which they used ultrasound technology to show the nation the reality of life in the womb. As the cameras began to role in a scheduled press conference, rather than speaking first, the Mexican pro-lifers connected a three-month pregnant woman to an ultrasound machine allowing the images and sounds of the baby’s beating heart to be transmitted on Mexican television.  The press conference was held in response to growing pressure from health authorities and feminist groups to […]

LONDON, July 28 (LSN) – At the 13th Lambeth Conference, Anglican bishops from around the world are preparing to vote on whether to allow sexually-active homosexuals to be pastors and whether to sanction homosexual unions. The meeting, which takes place every 10 years, will conclude on August 9 after discussion of a wide variety of issues.  Cardinal Edward Cassidy, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Unity of Christians,  addressed Lambeth participants in a homily on Sunday urging the Anglican hierarchy to stand firm against the homosexual agenda. “Are we not experiencing in fact new and deep divisions among […]