2013 was a big news year for pro-life and pro-family issues, but after putting our heads together, LifeSiteNews’ editorial staff have narrowed the list down to what we believe were the biggest news events for the year.
1) The roller-coaster ride of the Papal transition
The most significant event was undoubtedly the surprise resignation of Pope Benedict followed by the election of Pope Francis, and the ensuing confusion as a result of his series of off-the-cuff interviews. We covered this one in depth last week here.
2) The Gosnell trial
The weeks-long murder trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell in the spring of 2013 was described by one pro-choice reporter as “the trial of the century.” It isn’t hard to see why. Gosnell was accused by his former staff of murdering literally hundreds of living newborn babies in cold blood.
As his staff described it, Gosnell would routinely induce labor in women who came to his filthy “House of Horrors” Philadelphia clinic for late-term “abortions,” and then “snip” the spines of the babies before discarding of their bodies, or storing them in his clinic freezer alongside his employees’ lunches.
During testimony, Gosnell’s former employees recounted an endless litany of unspeakable horrors, including babies shrieking as their necks were being snipped, the flea-infested conditions inside the walls of the clinic, and the total apathy of state regulatory bodies to Gosnell’s crimes.
Ultimately Gosnell was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of manslaughter in the death of one of his former abortion clients. He was sentenced to life in prison.
For the pro-life movement the trial was a watershed moment, having the double effect of exposing the inherent horrors of abortion, particularly late-term abortion, and the shoddy practices that are endemic throughout the abortion industry.
3) Victories and losses in defending religious freedom in the West
While severe, the Obama Administration’s HHS contraceptive mandate did serve to galvanize opposition, causing Catholic and Evangelical leaders to come out swinging both in the political arena and the courts against the overt attack on religious liberty.
Another encouraging result of attempted restrictions on religious freedom in the West was the Duck Dynasty affair, where a united front pushed back against A&E after they suspended Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson over his remarks against homosexual sex.
However, for the few encouraging moments of successful resistance there was an overwhelming number of cases in which religious freedom suffered. President Obama’s assurance to Americans that there was no need to fear restrictions on religious freedom after the Supreme Court rulings against traditional marriage ring hollow in light of the after-effects. Christian judges, photographers, cake makers, B&B owners and florists all suffered for being unwilling to violate their consciences by providing services for same-sex ‘weddings’.
In a similar vein, it seems Catholic schools will soon be forced to employ teachers in homosexual ‘marriages.’ And it seems the Obama Administration was ready to pursue Christian pro-family organizations not only through the IRS, but also through the FBI.
Such ideological persecution was by no means exclusive to the United States. In Canada certain provincial governments forced pro-homosexual education on students even in private and religious schools. It didn’t help of course that a Catholic bishop caved in to pressure.
Similar and worse attacks over religiously based opposition to the homosexual lifestyle were seen in England, France, Scotland, Italy and perhaps soon all over the EU.
4) Same-sex ‘marriage’ spreads
In January, New Zealand became the first nation of 2013 to legalize same-sex ‘marriage’, making it the 13th country in the world to do so. Uruguay followed suit in May making it the second South American country to do so after Argentina.
France too enacted homosexual ‘marriage’ legislation in May despite massive public protest where police were often brutal with pro-family demonstrators. The UK too passed such legislation despite mass public opposition. A bishop there noted that it was the ‘inevitable’ outcome of the sexual revolution.
In June the US Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, and the Vatican’s Cardinal Burke, an American, warned the decision would “destroy our culture” and lead to ‘death’.
Rhode Island, Minnesota, Delaware, Hawaii, and Illinois passed same-sex ‘marriage’ legislation in 2013. In Illinois, the local bishop held exorcism prayers while the Governor signed the bill.
Courts imposed same-sex ‘marriage’ in New Jersey, New Mexico, and a judge in Utah tried it too, but the state appealed the case to the US Supreme Court.
5) FEMEN topless protests worldwide push abortion and homosexuality
From pouncing on the altar at Christmas Mass in Cologne, Germany, to protesting the crucifix in the Quebec legislature, to assaulting men as they stood guard outside an Argentine cathedral, the FEMEN movement that seeks to promote abortion and homosexuality has made its presence felt in 2013.
The FEMEN attacks have been brutal and have bared more than the chests of the women protesters. They have revealed the dark underbelly of the movement behind abortion and homosexuality. They have shown total disregard for beauty and decency, for civil debate and decorum.
LifeSiteNews readers learned however that the FEMEN movement is the invention not of a feminist woman but of a man, a man who had a penchant for using pretty women no less.
Readers also saw the how one Archbishop who was attacked by the FEMEN protestors stole the show by praying peacefully in the face of the attack. The men who defended the Buenos Aires Cathedral also demonstrated a heroism that made the activists angry nudity pale in comparison.