Recent Catholic News

OTTAWA, Jan. 25, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of Ontario (EPCO) has urged pro-lifers to write the Canadian Minister of Justice Anne McLellan, opposing the granting of leniency or clemency to convicted murderer Robert Latimer. Latimer, who killed his 12-year-old daughter in 1993 because she was disabled, is set to ask for mercy from the federal government based on his claim that he acted out of mercy. Alex Schadenberg, EPCO executive director, told LifeSite that reducing Latimer’s sentence sends the message to Canadians that killing disabled or vulnerable people is a lesser crime than killing able-bodied people. The […]

OTTAWA, Jan. 25, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Roy Beyer, President of the Canada Family Action Coalition, has defended Official Opposition leader Stockwell Day from the media onslaught over his recent court battle regarding a defamation suit. In a CFAC release Beyer notes that “if you are a pro-family Canadian, I would hope you recognise that much of the media attack against Stockwell Day is nothing less than an attack against all people of faith and moral conscience.” The following summary of arguments by Beyer and an article by Danielle Smith of the Calgary Herald help to put the debate in focus, […]

GOZO, Malta, Jan. 25, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Michaelangelo and Rina Attard, the parents of the conjoined twins Jodie and Mary who were separated in an operation in Britain, informed the media that they would be placing a pro-life plaque on their daughter Mary’s grave. The parents, who were against the separation operation since it would inevitably lead to the death of Mary, were overruled when British courts decided to perform the separation operation despite the objection of the Roman Catholic parents and Catholic Church leaders. Mrs Attard, 29, said in a television interview, “I think it’s going to be a […]

KAMPALA, Jan. 25, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala has issued a pastoral letter to the faithful urging them to vote for pro-life and pro-family politicians. “We deserve leaders who will not condone immorality such as corruption, abortion, homosexuality or any other forms of behaviour which are contrary and offensive both to God’s law and to our own culture,” he said. “We should give our votes to candidates who we think are serious in their intentions, honest and capable of working for and with us.” See the coverage in The Monitor (Kampala):  http://allafrica.com/stories/200101240109.html

DENVER, Colorado, Jan. 25, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver addressed participants at the Colorado Right to Life March and Rally, held last Saturday on the west steps of Colorado’s State Capitol Building, telling them Catholics must vote pro-life. “We can’t simultaneously commit ourselves to human rights, while voting for people and policies that attack the weakest among us. Nor can we practice a commitment to the sanctity of human life only as a private piety. People of religious faith must live their pro-life witness courageously, as a matter of public record and civic responsibility – or we’ll […]

Religious And Family Groups Allowed Intervenor Status VANCOUVER, Jan 24, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The court cases launched in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec by homosexual couples demanding marriage are being funded by taxpayers through the Federal Court Challenges Program (FCCP). Canada’s foremost homosexual activist group Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE) orchestrated the cases by asking for homosexual couples interested in marriage to come forward, they screened the applicants and sent their selections off to commence the challenges by applying for marriage licences. Gwen Landolt, of Real Women Canada told LifeSite that the decision to publicly fund the challenges […]

WASHINGTON, Jan 24, 2001 (LSN.ca) – On Jan 21, 3 US Cardinals, 1 Cardinal-designate, the Apostolic Nuncio, over 30 bishops, hundreds of priests and over 6,000 faithful gathered at the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. At the event, held annually on the eve of the March for Life, Cardinal William Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore and Chair of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Committee, delivered a homily decrying the current “abortion license” as an “evil” noted its “poisoning effect” nationwide. Also taking part in the Vigil were Bernard […]

BRASILIA, Brazil, Jan 24, 2001 (LSN.ca) – A report by environmentalists seeking the restriction of human activity within the Amazon was rejected Monday by the country’s science and technology ministry. Chief among the reasons for rejecting the propositions in the article in the journal Science were that the Amazon could not be turned into an “untouchable sanctuary” since “there are 20 million Brazilians living there.” Reuters reports that the Brazilian Embassy in Washington issued a statement questioning the January 19 article by William Laurance of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Michigan State University researcher Mark Cochrane. The Embassy noted […]

ROME, Jan 24, 2001 (LSN.ca) – While pro-lifers the world over rejoiced and abortion advocates cringed at Monday’s decision by US President George Bush to reinstate the Mexico City policy, international political figures also weighed in on both sides. AP reports that the Vatican, gave prominent attention Tuesday to Bush’s move to bar U.S. funds to groups which lobby for abortion internationally, making it the top story in the Vatican’s L’Osservatore Romano and carrying it on Vatican Radio. The reaction from a European Union official was severe. EU Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou called the move a “step […]

LONDON, Jan 24, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The Conservative Party, the Official Opposition in England has demonstrated openness to pro-life initiatives causing consternation among abortion supporters. The BBC reports today that shadow health secretary Liam Fox is recorded in a Christian Fellowship prayerbook as asking party members “to pray that there would be a huge restriction if not abolition of our pro-abortion laws”. Fox confirmed the comment and today suggested that a Conservative government would reverse the decision to make the abortifacient morning-after-pill available over the counter from pharmacists. Last year, Conservative leader William Hague who says he is “anti-abortion, except […]