By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, Reporter
INQUIRER.net/Posted date: November 09, 2010
MANILA, Philippines—Lawmakers on Tuesday balked at fresh attacks from the Catholic Church for pushing the reproductive health bill in the House of Representatives, and told their religious critics to look at their backyard first before hurling criticisms.
“Let’s not stoop to name-calling,” Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said in a text message when asked to react to the statement of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales that lawmakers have poorly-formed conscience.
“If you fail, you will reap the kind of people that we have now in most of our institutions, including Congress,” Rosales said in his homily at a mass Monday, the culmination of the three-day 17th Asia-Pacific Congress on Faith, Life, and Family at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City.
Rosales later replied when asked if he meant that lawmakers have poorly-formed conscience: “Ay talaga. Wala tayong problema kung lahat ay may konsyensya (Really. We won’t have a problem if they have a conscience.)”
Belmonte has yet to make clear his stand on the reproductive health bill, but said he would like to see it voted on the floor, unlike the past congresses.
At least seven bills and resolutions on reproductive health bill are pending in the House.
Iloilo Representative Janette Garin, author of one of the bills seeking to promote the use of artificial means of family planning, advised Rosales “to look into their backyards first.”
“Much as I don’t want to be disrespectful to CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines) leaders, hypocrisy in their institution is pulling them down,” she said in a separate text message.
Garin, a medical doctor, said the Church should accept the reality that most Filipinos are not adverse to reproductive health.
“We object to impositions brought about by stone-age beliefs, not intended for the good of the many but is there merely to protect the reputation of a few,” she added.
Gabriela party-list Representative Luz Ilagan said the Catholic Church should discuss the issue with proponents of the reproductive health bill instead of resorting to name-calling.
“Doing so is an indication of the bankruptcy of ideas or reason. The public is entitled to a rational debate, and emotional outbursts and threats are great disservice to the people,” she said.
Ilagan also cautioned the Church against name-calling, saying “the same insult can be thrown back at them.”
“Think of the scandals or morality the church has been accused of. Let he who is not without sin cast the first stone,” she added.
Bacolod Representative Anthony Golez said Congress should now decide whether the services to be given under the reproductive health policy are lawful.
Golez filed a resolution seeking to determine when life begins.
“The question, if answered will settle all emotional issues at hand,” he said.
Friday, November 12, 2010
RH bill supporters are morally 'lost' - Cardinal Rosales
MANILA, Nov. 8, 2010—Those who support the reproductive health bill are “lost” and do not have proper formation of conscience, the head of Manila Roman Catholic Church said Monday.
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said one of the country’s biggest problems is the lack of values, which is prevalent among public officials.
According to him, contraception issue wouldn’t be much of an issue had the country elected lawmakers with good conscience.
“There are consciences that are not well formed. They were not brought up properly and that is always certain,” said Rosales.
The cardinal made the statement in his homily during the closing Mass of the three-day 17th Asia-Pacific Congress on Faith, Life and Family held at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City.
A well-formed Christian conscience, he said, does not permit one to support for a political program or a law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals.
The Manila archbishop stressed that those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life.
Whatever the decision of the lawmakers on the controversial measure, he said, would reflect on how they were brought up by their parents who are the “first teacher of conscience.”
Healthy conscience formation depends on a trusting relation with the parents, who must also learn how to be such a parent, he pointed out.
Rosales said it is great help for parents to maintain the good values at home and start teaching kids as early as possible.
“If you fail (in guiding your children properly), you will reap the kind of people that you have now in most of our institutions, including Congress,” Rosales said earning applause from the audience.
The cardinal said the Catholic hierarchy will continue to oppose the RH bill and other measures that would violate the moral law.
He also called on the lawmakers to make serious examination of conscience before they cast their vote in favor of the bill because their choice will have long-lasting consequences on the lives of Filipinos. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)
CBCP News :: Official news service of Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Media Office
Source URL (retrieved on 11/10/2010 - 04:30): http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/13646
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said one of the country’s biggest problems is the lack of values, which is prevalent among public officials.
According to him, contraception issue wouldn’t be much of an issue had the country elected lawmakers with good conscience.
“There are consciences that are not well formed. They were not brought up properly and that is always certain,” said Rosales.
The cardinal made the statement in his homily during the closing Mass of the three-day 17th Asia-Pacific Congress on Faith, Life and Family held at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City.
A well-formed Christian conscience, he said, does not permit one to support for a political program or a law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals.
The Manila archbishop stressed that those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life.
Whatever the decision of the lawmakers on the controversial measure, he said, would reflect on how they were brought up by their parents who are the “first teacher of conscience.”
Healthy conscience formation depends on a trusting relation with the parents, who must also learn how to be such a parent, he pointed out.
Rosales said it is great help for parents to maintain the good values at home and start teaching kids as early as possible.
“If you fail (in guiding your children properly), you will reap the kind of people that you have now in most of our institutions, including Congress,” Rosales said earning applause from the audience.
The cardinal said the Catholic hierarchy will continue to oppose the RH bill and other measures that would violate the moral law.
He also called on the lawmakers to make serious examination of conscience before they cast their vote in favor of the bill because their choice will have long-lasting consequences on the lives of Filipinos. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)
CBCP News :: Official news service of Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Media Office
Source URL (retrieved on 11/10/2010 - 04:30): http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/13646
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Prolife group to hold anti-RH vigil November 20
Prolife group to hold anti-RH vigil November 20
11/09/2010 | 05:06 PM
Prolife groups will hold a prayer vigil in Manila on November 20 to express their opposition to the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill in Congress.
Led by the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, the vigil dubbed “Prayers and Reflections on Human Life" will be held at the Manila Cathedral from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on November 20.
“As a Church, we cannot just be complacent and allow this insidious attempt to ruin the moral and spiritual fabric of our society," Laiko national president Edgardo Tirona said in an article posted Tuesday afternoon on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site.
He said now is the time for the laity to defend the Catholic faith “against those who are trying to propagate the culture of death in the guise of alleviating the lives" of the poor.
Next week's prayer vigil will also serve as a spiritual prelude to a prayer vigil called by Pope Benedict XVI.
The vigil, for “All Nascent of Human Life," will be conducted in all dioceses and parishes on November 27, the eve of the first Sunday of Advent.
Tirona urged all lay organizations to participate in both activities and affirm their “commitment to the sacredness of family and life."
Bishop questions consciences of RH bill supporters
Meanwhile, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said the Catholic hierarchy will continue to oppose the RH bill and other measures that they consider to be violating the moral law.
He also called on the lawmakers to make serious examination of conscience before casting their votes for the RH bill because their choice will have long-lasting consequences on the lives of Filipinos.
Rosales said RH bill supporters are “lost" and do not have "well-formed" consciences.
“There are consciences that are not well formed. They were not brought up properly and that is always certain," Rosales said in an article posted on the CBCP news site on Monday.
Rosales made the statement in his homily during the closing Mass of the three-day 17th Asia-Pacific Congress on Faith, Life and Family at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City.
Rosales said one of the country’s biggest problems is the lack of values, which he said is prevalent among public officials.
He said contraception would probably not have been much of an issue if the country elected lawmakers with good consciences.
According to Rosales, a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit a person to support a political program or a law that contradicts faith and morals.
Those involved in lawmaking have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life, he added.
Rosales said the decision of the lawmakers on the RH bill will reflect how they were brought up by their parents, who are the “first teacher of conscience."
“If you fail (in guiding your children properly), you will reap the kind of people that you have now in most of our institutions, including Congress," Rosales said.
Rosales' statement came barely two days after CBCP president Nereo Odchimar said they will consult with legal and medical experts to prepare them for a dialogue with government on reproductive health.
RH bill 96
Several versions of the RH bill have been filed in previous congresses. In the present Congress, the RH bill is known as "Bill 96" whose main proponent is Minority Leader Edcel Lagman of Albay.
The RH is based on the premise that the country's population growth impedes economic development and exacerbates poverty.
The bill seeks to “guarantee to universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information."
The bill also seeks a “consistent and coherent national population policy," citing studies that show that "rapid population growth exacerbates poverty while poverty spawns rapid population growth."
The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a rise in abortion cases.
On the other hand, RH advocates say natural family planning methods are not as reliable as artificial means of birth control
.
End contraceptive mentality
The Catholic Church accepts only natural family planning (NFP) methods. The NFP has two distinct forms:
* Ecological breastfeeding (a form of child care that normally spaces babies about two years apart on the average), and
* Systematic NFP (a system that uses a woman’s signs of fertility to determine the fertile and infertile times of her cycle).
–VVP, GMANews.TV
11/09/2010 | 05:06 PM
Prolife groups will hold a prayer vigil in Manila on November 20 to express their opposition to the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill in Congress.
Led by the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, the vigil dubbed “Prayers and Reflections on Human Life" will be held at the Manila Cathedral from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on November 20.
“As a Church, we cannot just be complacent and allow this insidious attempt to ruin the moral and spiritual fabric of our society," Laiko national president Edgardo Tirona said in an article posted Tuesday afternoon on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site.
He said now is the time for the laity to defend the Catholic faith “against those who are trying to propagate the culture of death in the guise of alleviating the lives" of the poor.
Next week's prayer vigil will also serve as a spiritual prelude to a prayer vigil called by Pope Benedict XVI.
The vigil, for “All Nascent of Human Life," will be conducted in all dioceses and parishes on November 27, the eve of the first Sunday of Advent.
Tirona urged all lay organizations to participate in both activities and affirm their “commitment to the sacredness of family and life."
Bishop questions consciences of RH bill supporters
Meanwhile, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said the Catholic hierarchy will continue to oppose the RH bill and other measures that they consider to be violating the moral law.
He also called on the lawmakers to make serious examination of conscience before casting their votes for the RH bill because their choice will have long-lasting consequences on the lives of Filipinos.
Rosales said RH bill supporters are “lost" and do not have "well-formed" consciences.
“There are consciences that are not well formed. They were not brought up properly and that is always certain," Rosales said in an article posted on the CBCP news site on Monday.
Rosales made the statement in his homily during the closing Mass of the three-day 17th Asia-Pacific Congress on Faith, Life and Family at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City.
Rosales said one of the country’s biggest problems is the lack of values, which he said is prevalent among public officials.
He said contraception would probably not have been much of an issue if the country elected lawmakers with good consciences.
According to Rosales, a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit a person to support a political program or a law that contradicts faith and morals.
Those involved in lawmaking have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life, he added.
Rosales said the decision of the lawmakers on the RH bill will reflect how they were brought up by their parents, who are the “first teacher of conscience."
“If you fail (in guiding your children properly), you will reap the kind of people that you have now in most of our institutions, including Congress," Rosales said.
Rosales' statement came barely two days after CBCP president Nereo Odchimar said they will consult with legal and medical experts to prepare them for a dialogue with government on reproductive health.
RH bill 96
Several versions of the RH bill have been filed in previous congresses. In the present Congress, the RH bill is known as "Bill 96" whose main proponent is Minority Leader Edcel Lagman of Albay.
The RH is based on the premise that the country's population growth impedes economic development and exacerbates poverty.
The bill seeks to “guarantee to universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information."
The bill also seeks a “consistent and coherent national population policy," citing studies that show that "rapid population growth exacerbates poverty while poverty spawns rapid population growth."
The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a rise in abortion cases.
On the other hand, RH advocates say natural family planning methods are not as reliable as artificial means of birth control
.
End contraceptive mentality
The Catholic Church accepts only natural family planning (NFP) methods. The NFP has two distinct forms:
* Ecological breastfeeding (a form of child care that normally spaces babies about two years apart on the average), and
* Systematic NFP (a system that uses a woman’s signs of fertility to determine the fertile and infertile times of her cycle).
–VVP, GMANews.TV
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Aquino to face lay pax on birth control
Aquino to face lay pax on birth control
By RAYMUND F. ANTONIO
November 6, 2010, 7:30pm
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines — In his next dialogue with the bishops on the issue of population control, President Aquino will not only be facing the guardians of morality.
He will also be dealing with a phalanx of lay experts on the medical, legal and economics fields to help the Church convince the President that a high population rate does not often mean high incidence of poverty.
And perhaps, with this, possibly coax him to go slow in pushing for artificial birth control methods.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Nereo Odchimar said legal, medical and economics experts will be on hand when they meet the President again to explain the Church’s position on reproductive health and family planning.
“We would be enlisting help from the lay people who would be with us, representing their specific expertise. This is also a presentation that the Church is not only composed of bishops. That the majority of the church in the Philippines is composed of lay people,” Odchimar said.
“So this would be a concerted presentation of the position of the Church not only by the bishops, not only by the CBCP, but in the totality,” he added.
Odchimar said the lay experts will help enlighten the President that corruption is the major cause of poverty and not overpopulation.
Population as the root cause of poverty has been the fallacious argument trumpeted by those against the Church position.
“We’re trying to approach it for example (from the point of view of) corruption which could be one of the causes of poverty in the Philippines. Also, as the President himself has said, kung walang corrupt walang mahirap so to be pinpointing the population as the primary and the sole cause of poverty int he Philippines is I think lopsided,” Odchimar said.
The issue of curbing the runaway population rate has re-emerged shortly after Aquino assumed office. During the campaign, Aquino has hinted he favored the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill, which seeks to expand sex education in schools and access to other methods of family planning.
At one point, a bishop was wrongly reported of having threatened to excommunicate Aquino if he pushes through with an aggressive population control program. The bishop has denied issuing excommunication to the President.
By RAYMUND F. ANTONIO
November 6, 2010, 7:30pm
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines — In his next dialogue with the bishops on the issue of population control, President Aquino will not only be facing the guardians of morality.
He will also be dealing with a phalanx of lay experts on the medical, legal and economics fields to help the Church convince the President that a high population rate does not often mean high incidence of poverty.
And perhaps, with this, possibly coax him to go slow in pushing for artificial birth control methods.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Nereo Odchimar said legal, medical and economics experts will be on hand when they meet the President again to explain the Church’s position on reproductive health and family planning.
“We would be enlisting help from the lay people who would be with us, representing their specific expertise. This is also a presentation that the Church is not only composed of bishops. That the majority of the church in the Philippines is composed of lay people,” Odchimar said.
“So this would be a concerted presentation of the position of the Church not only by the bishops, not only by the CBCP, but in the totality,” he added.
Odchimar said the lay experts will help enlighten the President that corruption is the major cause of poverty and not overpopulation.
Population as the root cause of poverty has been the fallacious argument trumpeted by those against the Church position.
“We’re trying to approach it for example (from the point of view of) corruption which could be one of the causes of poverty in the Philippines. Also, as the President himself has said, kung walang corrupt walang mahirap so to be pinpointing the population as the primary and the sole cause of poverty int he Philippines is I think lopsided,” Odchimar said.
The issue of curbing the runaway population rate has re-emerged shortly after Aquino assumed office. During the campaign, Aquino has hinted he favored the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill, which seeks to expand sex education in schools and access to other methods of family planning.
At one point, a bishop was wrongly reported of having threatened to excommunicate Aquino if he pushes through with an aggressive population control program. The bishop has denied issuing excommunication to the President.
Enrile: A pro-life statesman
Enrile: A pro-life statesman
By BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS
November 7, 2010, 2:41pm
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – I remember feeling a little nervous when I faced the panel constituted by the Jaycees to interview the candidates for the Ten Outstanding Men for 1972. A member of the panel of judges was then Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile, the most powerful man after President Ferdinand Marcos who had just declared martial law. One of the judges (not Enrile) asked me what I thought about population control (at that time President Marcos still used to quote Pope Paul VI in the famous lines of Humanae Vitae, "we should not limit the number of participants in the banquet of life"). I replied with conviction, as I do now, that a large population means human resources with hands and minds to work and an attractive domestic market for goods and services. To my relief, Defense Secretary Enrile added with approval, "and a large pool of men for the military." As a master of the art of the possible, Secretary Enrile was being pragmatic and common sensical.
Today, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile continues to be pro-life. His reasons go beyond pragmatism. They are both philosophical and theological. In introducing Senate Bill No. 2497, the good senator intends "to give life to the Constitutional right of the unborn child to protection, to accord the unborn child the basic right to life, to the protection of his or her welfare and against acts which place the unborn child in danger of being harmed, injured, or killed, bearing n mind that the unborn is totally incapable of protecting itself."
S.B. No. 2497 comes at an opportune time when all over the world, leaders are discussing the attainment of the so-called Millennium Development Goals. In fact, that was the main reason President Benigno Aquino III traveled to New York. He attended a meeting, the main agenda of which was the assessment of how countries are coping with the challenge of meeting the MDGs set for 2015. Very prominent among these goals is maternal health. It must be pointed out, however, as Senator Enrile comments in the Explanatory Note to the Bill that "a 2008 gender study emphasized that the health of the mother and child are inextricably linked for biological and social reasons. While the government has called for the strengthening of maternal and child health care and nutrition and has, in fact, included the same among the top 10 priority areas of reproductive health, the promotion of the right and welfare of unborn children, the most defenseless as they are, has not received adequate attention."
The bill also comes at a time when a country like Mexico, fearful of contamination of the pro-abortion mindset and culture of death now rampant in the country to its north, is seeing more and more of its states passing laws that would criminalize the killing of the fetus from the moment of conception. This very positive pro-life trend in Mexico, in which society has been secularized for more than a century and in which religion hardly influences political decision making, can only be attributed to leaders using their natural gift of reasoning to arrive at the unquestionable fact that human life begins at conception. The Mexicans, whose culture is the closest to that of the Philippines for historical reasons, are wittingly or unwittingly emulating the contents of our 1987 Constitution which states in Article II, Section 12 that as a matter of national principle and State policy the State "shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception."
As a consummate lawyer, Senator Enrile cites the very concrete circumstances that motivated him to sponsor the bill: "Over the years, many incidents of abortion have been reported, with mothers resorting to induced abortion for various reasons, while others suffered from spontaneous abortions, or miscarriage, due to acts, violent or otherwise, and practices that are harmful and fatal to the unborn child. Worse, the deleterious and often fatal consequences to the mothers of such acts of abortion performed in abortion clinics or elsewhere and by abortion practitioners that have proliferated, while clearly criminal in nature, have been used as a convenient excuse to advance the population control under the euphemism called 'reproductive health.'"
Not leaving things to free interpretation by those who want to define the beginning of human life at implantation, rather than conception, Section 5 of the proposed bill gets down to specifics: "The unborn child shall be protected from abortifacients, abortive acts and practices that induce abortion, including the use, administration, dispensing, injection or delivery by whatever means of substances, medicines in any form which endanger or expose the unborn child to damage, injury or death, whether committed with or without violence, and whether committed with or without the consent of the mother."
Not content with motherhood statements about the evils of killing the unborn child during any of the stages from conception to birth, Senator Enrile is making sure that the bill will impose heavier penalties for abortive acts defined under Articles 256, 257, 258 and 259 of the Revised Penal Code. For intentional abortion, for example, the penalty has been increased from "reclusion temporal" to "reclusion perpetua" for those convicted of using violence upon the person of the pregnant woman. Penalties--both imprisonment and fines--will be imposed on physicians, midwives, pharmacists and other health workers who practise abortion.
Let me set a target for all pro-life members of Congress, whether in the lower or upper houses. They should give the highest priority to the passing of this bill, consolidating it with House Bill No. 13 sponsored by Congressman Roilo Golez. Asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially under the advocation of Our Lady of Guadalupe, let the bill be enacted into law by December 12, 2010, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Secondary Patroness of the Philippines and the Patroness of Mexico and the entire Americas. I have no doubt that Mrs. Cristina Castaner Ponce Enrile will be our ally in praying to the Mother of God for the successful passing of this Bill. I still remember her as a beauteous colegiala from St. Paul's College, Manila, playing the role of the Blessed Virgin in a tableau directed by Fr. James Reuter, S.J., on the occasion of the centennial of the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1954. Our Lady will never despise our petition, as we say in the Memorare. For comments, my email address is bvillegas@uap.edu.ph.
By BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS
November 7, 2010, 2:41pm
Manila Bulletin
MANILA, Philippines – I remember feeling a little nervous when I faced the panel constituted by the Jaycees to interview the candidates for the Ten Outstanding Men for 1972. A member of the panel of judges was then Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile, the most powerful man after President Ferdinand Marcos who had just declared martial law. One of the judges (not Enrile) asked me what I thought about population control (at that time President Marcos still used to quote Pope Paul VI in the famous lines of Humanae Vitae, "we should not limit the number of participants in the banquet of life"). I replied with conviction, as I do now, that a large population means human resources with hands and minds to work and an attractive domestic market for goods and services. To my relief, Defense Secretary Enrile added with approval, "and a large pool of men for the military." As a master of the art of the possible, Secretary Enrile was being pragmatic and common sensical.
Today, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile continues to be pro-life. His reasons go beyond pragmatism. They are both philosophical and theological. In introducing Senate Bill No. 2497, the good senator intends "to give life to the Constitutional right of the unborn child to protection, to accord the unborn child the basic right to life, to the protection of his or her welfare and against acts which place the unborn child in danger of being harmed, injured, or killed, bearing n mind that the unborn is totally incapable of protecting itself."
S.B. No. 2497 comes at an opportune time when all over the world, leaders are discussing the attainment of the so-called Millennium Development Goals. In fact, that was the main reason President Benigno Aquino III traveled to New York. He attended a meeting, the main agenda of which was the assessment of how countries are coping with the challenge of meeting the MDGs set for 2015. Very prominent among these goals is maternal health. It must be pointed out, however, as Senator Enrile comments in the Explanatory Note to the Bill that "a 2008 gender study emphasized that the health of the mother and child are inextricably linked for biological and social reasons. While the government has called for the strengthening of maternal and child health care and nutrition and has, in fact, included the same among the top 10 priority areas of reproductive health, the promotion of the right and welfare of unborn children, the most defenseless as they are, has not received adequate attention."
The bill also comes at a time when a country like Mexico, fearful of contamination of the pro-abortion mindset and culture of death now rampant in the country to its north, is seeing more and more of its states passing laws that would criminalize the killing of the fetus from the moment of conception. This very positive pro-life trend in Mexico, in which society has been secularized for more than a century and in which religion hardly influences political decision making, can only be attributed to leaders using their natural gift of reasoning to arrive at the unquestionable fact that human life begins at conception. The Mexicans, whose culture is the closest to that of the Philippines for historical reasons, are wittingly or unwittingly emulating the contents of our 1987 Constitution which states in Article II, Section 12 that as a matter of national principle and State policy the State "shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception."
As a consummate lawyer, Senator Enrile cites the very concrete circumstances that motivated him to sponsor the bill: "Over the years, many incidents of abortion have been reported, with mothers resorting to induced abortion for various reasons, while others suffered from spontaneous abortions, or miscarriage, due to acts, violent or otherwise, and practices that are harmful and fatal to the unborn child. Worse, the deleterious and often fatal consequences to the mothers of such acts of abortion performed in abortion clinics or elsewhere and by abortion practitioners that have proliferated, while clearly criminal in nature, have been used as a convenient excuse to advance the population control under the euphemism called 'reproductive health.'"
Not leaving things to free interpretation by those who want to define the beginning of human life at implantation, rather than conception, Section 5 of the proposed bill gets down to specifics: "The unborn child shall be protected from abortifacients, abortive acts and practices that induce abortion, including the use, administration, dispensing, injection or delivery by whatever means of substances, medicines in any form which endanger or expose the unborn child to damage, injury or death, whether committed with or without violence, and whether committed with or without the consent of the mother."
Not content with motherhood statements about the evils of killing the unborn child during any of the stages from conception to birth, Senator Enrile is making sure that the bill will impose heavier penalties for abortive acts defined under Articles 256, 257, 258 and 259 of the Revised Penal Code. For intentional abortion, for example, the penalty has been increased from "reclusion temporal" to "reclusion perpetua" for those convicted of using violence upon the person of the pregnant woman. Penalties--both imprisonment and fines--will be imposed on physicians, midwives, pharmacists and other health workers who practise abortion.
Let me set a target for all pro-life members of Congress, whether in the lower or upper houses. They should give the highest priority to the passing of this bill, consolidating it with House Bill No. 13 sponsored by Congressman Roilo Golez. Asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially under the advocation of Our Lady of Guadalupe, let the bill be enacted into law by December 12, 2010, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Secondary Patroness of the Philippines and the Patroness of Mexico and the entire Americas. I have no doubt that Mrs. Cristina Castaner Ponce Enrile will be our ally in praying to the Mother of God for the successful passing of this Bill. I still remember her as a beauteous colegiala from St. Paul's College, Manila, playing the role of the Blessed Virgin in a tableau directed by Fr. James Reuter, S.J., on the occasion of the centennial of the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1954. Our Lady will never despise our petition, as we say in the Memorare. For comments, my email address is bvillegas@uap.edu.ph.
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say
Published Date: November 9, 2010
Tags: Henry Kissinger, reproductive health, USA
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say
Filipino Catholics join a protest march against the passage of the Reproductive Health bill outside Quiapo Church in Manila
An international “pro-life group” has linked efforts to promote reproductive health legislation in the Philippines to United States economic interests in the country.
Virginia-based Human Life International (HLI) claims that the proposed legislation will also promote a depopulation policy which aims to protect access to the natural resources of developing economies.
Brian Clowes, HLI director for research and training, said the administration of President Barack Obama continues to implement a once-secret security memorandum on world population control.
“It is still the same US policy on population control because it has never been repudiated,” Clowes told ucanews.com during the 17th Asia Pacific Congress on Faith and Family over the weekend.
The US government’s primary motivation has nothing to do with altruism or poverty alleviation, said Clowes.
“The memorandum… says that we have to repress the populations because … [poor] countries would want to use their own natural resources. So we need to hold down their populations,” he added.
The 123-page “National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for US Security and Overseas Interests,” was prepared by the US National Security Council under Henry Kissinger in 1974.
It was formally adopted as US policy in 1975 and was declassified in 1989.
Chapter III of the NSSM 200, which discusses concerns on minerals and fuels, states that “the US economy will require increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries.”
“Wherever a lessening of population pressures through reduced birth rates can increase the prospects for such stability, population policy becomes relevant to resource supplies and to the economic interest of the United States,” the document says.
The Philippines was among the 13 countries identified in NSSM 200 that needed “assistance for population moderation.”
It says that the Philippines was among the “largest and fastest growing developing countries where there is special US political and strategic interest.”
Clowes said Filipinos should be fully aware of the intentions behind the passage of the reproductive health bill.
“This not just about fighting for human rights or women’s rights, it is also about the economic interest of the US government in the Philippines,” he said.
SOURCE
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say (ucanews.com)
Published Date: November 9, 2010
Tags: Henry Kissinger, reproductive health, USA
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say
Filipino Catholics join a protest march against the passage of the Reproductive Health bill outside Quiapo Church in Manila
An international “pro-life group” has linked efforts to promote reproductive health legislation in the Philippines to United States economic interests in the country.
Virginia-based Human Life International (HLI) claims that the proposed legislation will also promote a depopulation policy which aims to protect access to the natural resources of developing economies.
Brian Clowes, HLI director for research and training, said the administration of President Barack Obama continues to implement a once-secret security memorandum on world population control.
“It is still the same US policy on population control because it has never been repudiated,” Clowes told ucanews.com during the 17th Asia Pacific Congress on Faith and Family over the weekend.
The US government’s primary motivation has nothing to do with altruism or poverty alleviation, said Clowes.
“The memorandum… says that we have to repress the populations because … [poor] countries would want to use their own natural resources. So we need to hold down their populations,” he added.
The 123-page “National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for US Security and Overseas Interests,” was prepared by the US National Security Council under Henry Kissinger in 1974.
It was formally adopted as US policy in 1975 and was declassified in 1989.
Chapter III of the NSSM 200, which discusses concerns on minerals and fuels, states that “the US economy will require increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries.”
“Wherever a lessening of population pressures through reduced birth rates can increase the prospects for such stability, population policy becomes relevant to resource supplies and to the economic interest of the United States,” the document says.
The Philippines was among the 13 countries identified in NSSM 200 that needed “assistance for population moderation.”
It says that the Philippines was among the “largest and fastest growing developing countries where there is special US political and strategic interest.”
Clowes said Filipinos should be fully aware of the intentions behind the passage of the reproductive health bill.
“This not just about fighting for human rights or women’s rights, it is also about the economic interest of the US government in the Philippines,” he said.
SOURCE
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say (ucanews.com)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Archbishop Criticizes UN
Archbishop criticizes United Nations for failing to respect life
La Plata, Argentina, Oct 20, 2010 / 03:06 am (CNA).- Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata, Argentina has criticized the United Nations for spreading ideologies that fail to respect fundamental human rights and the family.
In his weekly television program, “Keys to a Better World,” Archbishop Aguer pointed to the cultural changes that are taking place in Argentina through laws put forth by the self-proclaimed “progressive” minority.
He added that the changes are totally foreign to the nation's cultural tradition.
One such change took place in July, when the country legalized same-sex “marriage.”
The archbishop said these ideas are part of a global plan that is based at “the United Nations and a series of its satellite organizations.”
He said huge amounts of money are behind the attempts to change Argentina and to alter fundamental human rights. “Thus, we can see that there is a conspiracy here in the worst sense of the word,” the archbishop added.
“There is a conspiracy that tends to homogenize thought and conduct in the entire world, and this comes from the centers of world power, especially from the centers of political power, which are sustained by the centers of financial power,” said Archbishop Aguer.
“If this is not a new form of colonialism, a new imperialism, I don’t know what to call it,” he warned.
The archbishop denounced the U.N. for its anti-human and anti-Christian positions and for undermining natural law.
“For several years - at least 15 - we could say, ideologies that are contrary to the nature of the human person, and therefore, man’s dignity, authentic rights and corresponding duties, have been imposed on these world centers of power,” he stated.
Archbishop Aguer noted that at diverse international forums, U.N. officials promote “contraception, abortion and other supposed women’s rights founded upon gender ideology.”
La Plata, Argentina, Oct 20, 2010 / 03:06 am (CNA).- Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata, Argentina has criticized the United Nations for spreading ideologies that fail to respect fundamental human rights and the family.
In his weekly television program, “Keys to a Better World,” Archbishop Aguer pointed to the cultural changes that are taking place in Argentina through laws put forth by the self-proclaimed “progressive” minority.
He added that the changes are totally foreign to the nation's cultural tradition.
One such change took place in July, when the country legalized same-sex “marriage.”
The archbishop said these ideas are part of a global plan that is based at “the United Nations and a series of its satellite organizations.”
He said huge amounts of money are behind the attempts to change Argentina and to alter fundamental human rights. “Thus, we can see that there is a conspiracy here in the worst sense of the word,” the archbishop added.
“There is a conspiracy that tends to homogenize thought and conduct in the entire world, and this comes from the centers of world power, especially from the centers of political power, which are sustained by the centers of financial power,” said Archbishop Aguer.
“If this is not a new form of colonialism, a new imperialism, I don’t know what to call it,” he warned.
The archbishop denounced the U.N. for its anti-human and anti-Christian positions and for undermining natural law.
“For several years - at least 15 - we could say, ideologies that are contrary to the nature of the human person, and therefore, man’s dignity, authentic rights and corresponding duties, have been imposed on these world centers of power,” he stated.
Archbishop Aguer noted that at diverse international forums, U.N. officials promote “contraception, abortion and other supposed women’s rights founded upon gender ideology.”
Church Siege Kills 58
Iraqi Christians mourn after church siege kills 58
AFP – Iraqi security forces survey the scene outside the Sayidat al-Nejat Catholic Cathedral, or Syrian Catholic …
By BARBARA SURK and HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Barbara Surk And Hamid Ahmed, Associated Press – 1 hr 16 mins ago
BAGHDAD – Iraq's dwindling Christian community was grieving and afraid on Monday after militants seized a Baghdad church during evening Mass, held the congregation hostage and triggered a raid by Iraqi security forces. The bloodbath left at least 58 people killed and 78 wounded — nearly everyone inside.
The attack, claimed by an al-Qaida-linked organization, was the deadliest ever recorded against Iraq's Christians, whose numbers have plummeted since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion as the community has fled to other countries.
Outside Our Lady of Salvation church, Raed Hadi leaned against the car carrying his cousin's coffin, waiting for the police to let him bury him on church grounds.
"It was a massacre in there and now they are cleaning it up," he said Monday morning. "We Christians don't have enough protection. ... What shall I do now? Leave and ask for asylum?"
"Now they make a show," said Jamal Jaju, who watched as Iraqi forces pushed back observers. "What can I say? I lost at least 20 friends in there."
Pope Benedict XVI denounced the assault as "ferocious" and called for renewed international efforts to broker peace in the region.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also condemned the siege, saying it was an attempt to drive more Christians out of the country.
Islamic militants have systematically attacked Christians in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, effectively chasing more than 1 million people out of the country, according to estimates from an adviser to Iraq's top Catholic prelate, Chaldean Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly. He shared the figures with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
In an interview, the cardinal encouraged the country's remaining 1.5 million remaining Christians not to be driven off by the militants.
Sunday's carnage began at dusk, when a deadly car bomb went off in the area. Militants wearing suicide vests and armed with grenades then attacked the Iraqi stock exchange, injuring two guards.
The car bombing and the attack on the stock exchange may have been an attempt by the militants to divert attention from their real target — the nearby church in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood.
That attack soon followed. The gunmen went inside the church and took about 120 Christians hostage.
At least 58 people were killed, including 12 policemen as well as five bystanders thought to have been killed by the car bombing and blasts outside the church before the attackers stormed inside. Forty-one Christians inside the church also died, including two priests. Iraqi officials had initially provided a much lower death toll.
Witnesses said hostages died both before and during the rescue. They described a terrifying scene in which they desperately tried to shield themselves from the violence.
One parishioner, Rauf Naamat, said militants began by throwing several grenades and spraying the crowd inside the church with gunfire. After the initial violence and chaos died down, the militants walked up to the priest leading the mass, told him to lie down and shot him, he said.
An Iraqi official said he talked on a cell phone with one of the hostages during the siege. He said the hostage described how insurgents began shooting wildly when they went into the church and that he could see about 40 wounded people lying around him on the floor.
During the hours that followed, an eerie quiet descended on the building, punctuated only by quiet weeping, according to Naamat.
"Most people were too afraid to produce a sound. They feared militants would kill them if they heard them," Naamat said.
Naamat said he heard one of the attackers talking to what he thought was Iraqi security, threatening to blow themselves up if Iraqi forces stormed the building.
The Iraqi official who spoke by phone with one of the hostages said he also had a four-minute phone conversation with a militant, who demanded that authorities release all al-Qaida-linked prisoners starting with the women. The official said he judged by the militant's accent and speech that he was not Iraqi.
The militants also called an Egyptian television station, al-Baghdadia, during the hostage siege, repeating their demand that their colleagues be released.
When Iraqi special forces joined police and other officials already on the scene, they heard gunshots and decided to enter the church "to prevent the further loss of innocent lives," said Lt. Col. Terry L. Conder, a spokesman for U.S. special forces.
Naamat said the lights went out — turned off by Iraqi forces surrounding the building — and he heard the voices of Iraqi forces saying: "We will save you," as they entered the building wearing black uniforms and carrying rifles.
He said he then saw a militant approach the security forces as they made their way to the alter. The militant blew himself up, unleashing a massive blast.
The Iraqi official said that when the security forces stormed the church, the militants were shooting at the hostages.
According to two security officials, most of the deaths took place in the basement where a gunman killed about 30 hostages when Iraqi forces began to enter the church. One official said the gunman set off an explosives vest he was wearing, but the other said the gunman threw two grenades at his hostages.
A member of the commando force that went into the church said security forces found three explosives vests and grenades.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.
Video footage from an American drone showed a black plume of smoke pouring out of the church followed by flashes before security forces charged inside. U.S. forces often supply air support to Iraqi forces conducting operations on the ground, feeding them video footage from their aircraft.
Conder said Iraqi forces rescued 70 hostages, and Baghdad military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said they arrested five suspects, some of whom were not Iraqi.
Others, however, questioned whether the raid was wise.
Younadem Kana, a Christian member of the Iraqi parliament, condemned the operation as "hasty" and "not professional."
"We have no clear picture yet whether the worshippers were killed by the security forces' bullets or by terrorists, but what we know is that most of them were killed when the security forces started to storm the church," Kana said.
About 4 1/4 hours passed between the car bombing and the end of the siege shortly after 10 p.m., said an American military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
A cryptically worded statement posted late Sunday on a militant website allegedly by the Islamic State of Iraq appeared to claim responsibility for the attack.
The group, which is linked to al-Qaida in Iraq, said it would "exterminate Iraqi Christians" if Muslim women in Egypt were not freed.
It specifically mentioned two women that extremists maintain have converted to Islam and are being held against their will in Egypt.
Iraqi authorities on Monday took extra measures to protect Christian neighborhoods and churches in Mosul, Kirkuk and Baghdad. Additional police cars and checkpoints were seen near many churches, and authorities were conducting extensive searches on cars and pedestrians heading to churches.
"This is more than a tragedy," said Iraq's Human Rights minister, Wijdan Mikheil, who is a Christian.
Choking back tears as she spoke with reporters outside Our Lady of Salvation church, she said: "What is happening to Iraqis in general and Christians in particular is an attempt to push them out of the country, but we hope Iraqis remain united."
Our Lady of Salvation is a Syrian Catholic church.
Karim Khalil, a 49-year-old Iraqi Christian, said he moved to Syria with his family last year because he felt his religion made him a target in Baghdad.
"Iraqi militias threatened me, saying I was on the side of the Americans because I am Christian," Karim told the AP. "They said I would be killed if I stayed in Iraq."
Now he lives in Damascus with his wife and five children.
"I have left behind my house and everything to escape with my family," he said.
Many other Iraqi Christians living in Syria refused to speak to the AP. They said they fear militias may exact revenge on their families in Iraq.
___
Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Sinan Salaheddin and Lara Jakes in Baghdad, Sameer N. Yacoub in Amman, Jordan and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston contributed to this report.
AFP – Iraqi security forces survey the scene outside the Sayidat al-Nejat Catholic Cathedral, or Syrian Catholic …
By BARBARA SURK and HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Barbara Surk And Hamid Ahmed, Associated Press – 1 hr 16 mins ago
BAGHDAD – Iraq's dwindling Christian community was grieving and afraid on Monday after militants seized a Baghdad church during evening Mass, held the congregation hostage and triggered a raid by Iraqi security forces. The bloodbath left at least 58 people killed and 78 wounded — nearly everyone inside.
The attack, claimed by an al-Qaida-linked organization, was the deadliest ever recorded against Iraq's Christians, whose numbers have plummeted since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion as the community has fled to other countries.
Outside Our Lady of Salvation church, Raed Hadi leaned against the car carrying his cousin's coffin, waiting for the police to let him bury him on church grounds.
"It was a massacre in there and now they are cleaning it up," he said Monday morning. "We Christians don't have enough protection. ... What shall I do now? Leave and ask for asylum?"
"Now they make a show," said Jamal Jaju, who watched as Iraqi forces pushed back observers. "What can I say? I lost at least 20 friends in there."
Pope Benedict XVI denounced the assault as "ferocious" and called for renewed international efforts to broker peace in the region.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also condemned the siege, saying it was an attempt to drive more Christians out of the country.
Islamic militants have systematically attacked Christians in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, effectively chasing more than 1 million people out of the country, according to estimates from an adviser to Iraq's top Catholic prelate, Chaldean Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly. He shared the figures with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
In an interview, the cardinal encouraged the country's remaining 1.5 million remaining Christians not to be driven off by the militants.
Sunday's carnage began at dusk, when a deadly car bomb went off in the area. Militants wearing suicide vests and armed with grenades then attacked the Iraqi stock exchange, injuring two guards.
The car bombing and the attack on the stock exchange may have been an attempt by the militants to divert attention from their real target — the nearby church in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood.
That attack soon followed. The gunmen went inside the church and took about 120 Christians hostage.
At least 58 people were killed, including 12 policemen as well as five bystanders thought to have been killed by the car bombing and blasts outside the church before the attackers stormed inside. Forty-one Christians inside the church also died, including two priests. Iraqi officials had initially provided a much lower death toll.
Witnesses said hostages died both before and during the rescue. They described a terrifying scene in which they desperately tried to shield themselves from the violence.
One parishioner, Rauf Naamat, said militants began by throwing several grenades and spraying the crowd inside the church with gunfire. After the initial violence and chaos died down, the militants walked up to the priest leading the mass, told him to lie down and shot him, he said.
An Iraqi official said he talked on a cell phone with one of the hostages during the siege. He said the hostage described how insurgents began shooting wildly when they went into the church and that he could see about 40 wounded people lying around him on the floor.
During the hours that followed, an eerie quiet descended on the building, punctuated only by quiet weeping, according to Naamat.
"Most people were too afraid to produce a sound. They feared militants would kill them if they heard them," Naamat said.
Naamat said he heard one of the attackers talking to what he thought was Iraqi security, threatening to blow themselves up if Iraqi forces stormed the building.
The Iraqi official who spoke by phone with one of the hostages said he also had a four-minute phone conversation with a militant, who demanded that authorities release all al-Qaida-linked prisoners starting with the women. The official said he judged by the militant's accent and speech that he was not Iraqi.
The militants also called an Egyptian television station, al-Baghdadia, during the hostage siege, repeating their demand that their colleagues be released.
When Iraqi special forces joined police and other officials already on the scene, they heard gunshots and decided to enter the church "to prevent the further loss of innocent lives," said Lt. Col. Terry L. Conder, a spokesman for U.S. special forces.
Naamat said the lights went out — turned off by Iraqi forces surrounding the building — and he heard the voices of Iraqi forces saying: "We will save you," as they entered the building wearing black uniforms and carrying rifles.
He said he then saw a militant approach the security forces as they made their way to the alter. The militant blew himself up, unleashing a massive blast.
The Iraqi official said that when the security forces stormed the church, the militants were shooting at the hostages.
According to two security officials, most of the deaths took place in the basement where a gunman killed about 30 hostages when Iraqi forces began to enter the church. One official said the gunman set off an explosives vest he was wearing, but the other said the gunman threw two grenades at his hostages.
A member of the commando force that went into the church said security forces found three explosives vests and grenades.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.
Video footage from an American drone showed a black plume of smoke pouring out of the church followed by flashes before security forces charged inside. U.S. forces often supply air support to Iraqi forces conducting operations on the ground, feeding them video footage from their aircraft.
Conder said Iraqi forces rescued 70 hostages, and Baghdad military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said they arrested five suspects, some of whom were not Iraqi.
Others, however, questioned whether the raid was wise.
Younadem Kana, a Christian member of the Iraqi parliament, condemned the operation as "hasty" and "not professional."
"We have no clear picture yet whether the worshippers were killed by the security forces' bullets or by terrorists, but what we know is that most of them were killed when the security forces started to storm the church," Kana said.
About 4 1/4 hours passed between the car bombing and the end of the siege shortly after 10 p.m., said an American military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
A cryptically worded statement posted late Sunday on a militant website allegedly by the Islamic State of Iraq appeared to claim responsibility for the attack.
The group, which is linked to al-Qaida in Iraq, said it would "exterminate Iraqi Christians" if Muslim women in Egypt were not freed.
It specifically mentioned two women that extremists maintain have converted to Islam and are being held against their will in Egypt.
Iraqi authorities on Monday took extra measures to protect Christian neighborhoods and churches in Mosul, Kirkuk and Baghdad. Additional police cars and checkpoints were seen near many churches, and authorities were conducting extensive searches on cars and pedestrians heading to churches.
"This is more than a tragedy," said Iraq's Human Rights minister, Wijdan Mikheil, who is a Christian.
Choking back tears as she spoke with reporters outside Our Lady of Salvation church, she said: "What is happening to Iraqis in general and Christians in particular is an attempt to push them out of the country, but we hope Iraqis remain united."
Our Lady of Salvation is a Syrian Catholic church.
Karim Khalil, a 49-year-old Iraqi Christian, said he moved to Syria with his family last year because he felt his religion made him a target in Baghdad.
"Iraqi militias threatened me, saying I was on the side of the Americans because I am Christian," Karim told the AP. "They said I would be killed if I stayed in Iraq."
Now he lives in Damascus with his wife and five children.
"I have left behind my house and everything to escape with my family," he said.
Many other Iraqi Christians living in Syria refused to speak to the AP. They said they fear militias may exact revenge on their families in Iraq.
___
Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Sinan Salaheddin and Lara Jakes in Baghdad, Sameer N. Yacoub in Amman, Jordan and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston contributed to this report.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Pope Tells Bishops to Defend Right to Life
Pope Tells Bishops to Defend Right to Life, Tell Lay Faithful to do so in Political Participation
10/28/2010
www.catholic.org
'When defending life we must not fear hostility or unpopularity'
"It would be completely false and illusory to defend, political, economic or social rights which do not comprehend a vigorous defense of the right to life from conception to natural end. When it comes to defending the weakest, who is more defenseless than an unborn child or a patient in a vegetative or comatose state?"
Pope Benedict greeting Bishops from Brazil
Pope Benedict greeting Bishops from Brazil
VATICAN CITY (VIS) - Prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Northeast region 5) who just complete their five-yearly "ad limina" visit were received Thursday morning by the Holy Father. "I wish to speak to you today", the Pope told them, "about how the Church's mission to serve as the leavening of human society through the Gospel teaches human beings their dignity as children of God, and their vocation to the unity of all mankind, whence derive the need for justice and social peace in accordance with divine wisdom".
"First, the duty of direct action to ensure a just ordering of society falls to the lay faithful who, as free and responsible citizens, strive to contribute to the just configuration of social life, while respecting legitimate autonomy and natural moral law", the Holy Father explained. "Your duty as bishops, together with your clergy, is indirect because you must contribute to the purification of reason, and to the moral awakening of the forces necessary to build a just and fraternal society. Nonetheless, when required by the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls, pastors have the binding duty to emit moral judgments, even on political themes".
"When forming these judgments, pastors must bear in mind the absolute value of those ... precepts which make it morally unacceptable to choose a particular action which is intrinsically evil and incompatible with human dignity. This decision cannot be justified by the merit of some specific goal, intention, consequence or circumstance. Thus it would be completely false and illusory to defend, political, economic or social rights which do not comprehend a vigorous defense of the right to life from conception to natural end. When it comes to defending the weakest, who is more defenseless than an unborn child or a patient in a vegetative or comatose state?"
"When political projects openly or covertly contemplate the decriminalizing of abortion or euthanasia, the democratic ideal (which is truly democratic when it recognizes and protects the dignity of all human beings) is betrayed at its very foundations. For this reason, dear brothers in the episcopate, when defending life we must not fear hostility or unpopularity, rejecting all compromise and ambiguity which would conform us to the mentality of this world".
In order to help lay people live their Christian, social and political commitments in a unified and coherent fashion it is necessary, said the Holy Father, to ensure appropriate "social catechesis and an adequate formulation of Church Social Doctrine. ... This also means that on some occasions, pastors must remind all citizens of the right, which is also a duty, freely to use their vote to promote the common good".
"At this point politics and faith come together", he went on. "The specific nature of faith certainly lies in the meeting with the living God, Who opens new horizons far beyond the sphere of reason. ... Only by respecting, promoting and indefatigably teaching the transcendent nature of the human being can a just society be built. ... 'God has a place in the public realm, specifically in regard to its cultural, social, economic, and particularly its political dimensions'", said the Holy Father quoting his Encyclical "Caritas in veritate".
Benedict XVI concluded his discourse by joining the Brazilian bishops' appeal for religious education and, "more specifically, for the pluralistic and confessional education of religion in State schools". He also indicated that "the presence of religious symbols in public life is both a recollection of man's transcendence and a guarantee of its respect. They have particular value in the case of Brazil where the Catholic religion is a component part of the country's history".
10/28/2010
www.catholic.org
'When defending life we must not fear hostility or unpopularity'
"It would be completely false and illusory to defend, political, economic or social rights which do not comprehend a vigorous defense of the right to life from conception to natural end. When it comes to defending the weakest, who is more defenseless than an unborn child or a patient in a vegetative or comatose state?"
Pope Benedict greeting Bishops from Brazil
Pope Benedict greeting Bishops from Brazil
VATICAN CITY (VIS) - Prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Northeast region 5) who just complete their five-yearly "ad limina" visit were received Thursday morning by the Holy Father. "I wish to speak to you today", the Pope told them, "about how the Church's mission to serve as the leavening of human society through the Gospel teaches human beings their dignity as children of God, and their vocation to the unity of all mankind, whence derive the need for justice and social peace in accordance with divine wisdom".
"First, the duty of direct action to ensure a just ordering of society falls to the lay faithful who, as free and responsible citizens, strive to contribute to the just configuration of social life, while respecting legitimate autonomy and natural moral law", the Holy Father explained. "Your duty as bishops, together with your clergy, is indirect because you must contribute to the purification of reason, and to the moral awakening of the forces necessary to build a just and fraternal society. Nonetheless, when required by the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls, pastors have the binding duty to emit moral judgments, even on political themes".
"When forming these judgments, pastors must bear in mind the absolute value of those ... precepts which make it morally unacceptable to choose a particular action which is intrinsically evil and incompatible with human dignity. This decision cannot be justified by the merit of some specific goal, intention, consequence or circumstance. Thus it would be completely false and illusory to defend, political, economic or social rights which do not comprehend a vigorous defense of the right to life from conception to natural end. When it comes to defending the weakest, who is more defenseless than an unborn child or a patient in a vegetative or comatose state?"
"When political projects openly or covertly contemplate the decriminalizing of abortion or euthanasia, the democratic ideal (which is truly democratic when it recognizes and protects the dignity of all human beings) is betrayed at its very foundations. For this reason, dear brothers in the episcopate, when defending life we must not fear hostility or unpopularity, rejecting all compromise and ambiguity which would conform us to the mentality of this world".
In order to help lay people live their Christian, social and political commitments in a unified and coherent fashion it is necessary, said the Holy Father, to ensure appropriate "social catechesis and an adequate formulation of Church Social Doctrine. ... This also means that on some occasions, pastors must remind all citizens of the right, which is also a duty, freely to use their vote to promote the common good".
"At this point politics and faith come together", he went on. "The specific nature of faith certainly lies in the meeting with the living God, Who opens new horizons far beyond the sphere of reason. ... Only by respecting, promoting and indefatigably teaching the transcendent nature of the human being can a just society be built. ... 'God has a place in the public realm, specifically in regard to its cultural, social, economic, and particularly its political dimensions'", said the Holy Father quoting his Encyclical "Caritas in veritate".
Benedict XVI concluded his discourse by joining the Brazilian bishops' appeal for religious education and, "more specifically, for the pluralistic and confessional education of religion in State schools". He also indicated that "the presence of religious symbols in public life is both a recollection of man's transcendence and a guarantee of its respect. They have particular value in the case of Brazil where the Catholic religion is a component part of the country's history".
Conscience Rights
Volume 13, Number 44
C-FAM.org - Research
October 14, 2010
Historic Turnaround in Europe Preserves Conscience Rights
By Terrence McKeegan, J.D.
STRASBOURG, October 14 (C-FAM) A dramatic legislative reversal reaffirmed the conscience rights of medical professionals and institutions in Europe last week.
The Council of Europe’s legislature considered a resolution calling for onerous restrictions on conscientious objection, including stripping protections for doctors who object to performing abortions.
Led by two politicians from Italy and Ireland, a coalition of legislators secured the passage of 29 amendments that transformed the resolution into one that upheld universally recognized rights to freedom of conscience.
The original resolution, known as the McCafferty report, sought to punish medical professionals for refusing to perform procedures against their conscience. It even called for a new registry of conscientious objectors.
Christian McCafferty, a British politician and main author of the original resolution, said during deliberations that she sought to force private and religious hospitals and clinics to perform abortions.
A committee voted for McCafferty’s original resolution, but was overruled by the final legislative vote. Most observers assumed the draft resolution would pass in substantially the same form, and the final resolution shocked nearly everyone, especially McCafferty. She ended up voting against her own resolution.
The adopted resolution says that no “hospital, institution or person may be subject to pressures, or be held liable or suffer discrimination of any kind for refusing to perform, allow or assist an abortion…”
“This resolution will have a real impact on case law of the European Court of Human Rights,” said Gregor Puppinck, Director of the European Centre for Law and Justice. He said the court often quotes resolutions of the European legislature as a reflection of opinion in the continent’s broader society.
Puppinck told the Friday Fax that the legislature often holds votes on the most contentious issues on Thursday evening or Friday. As more conservative members tend to live further than liberals from the Strasbourg meeting site, travel arrangements often make it more difficult for them to stay for votes late in the week. Puppinck credited much of the success of the final resolution to efforts to keep the conservative members in the room for the Thursday evening vote.
The amendments’ backers widely credited the final result to the leadership of Sen. Luca Volonte of Italy, chairman of the European People’s Party, and Sen. Ronan Mullen of Ireland.
“Mrs. McCafferty and her supporters should ask themselves why so many healthcare professionals object to being involved in abortions in the first place,” said a press release from Mullen. “It’s because they regard abortion itself as a breach of human rights, and not part of responsible medical treatment.”
Several binding international agreements guarantee the right to conscientious objection, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
A number of medical associations, including the French National Medical Council, condemned the original McCafferty report. Prominent figures, including a former judge of the European Court of Human Rights and a former professional conduct chairman of the United Kingdom’s chief medical council, spoke out against the original resolution at an event held the day before the vote.
C-FAM.org - Research
October 14, 2010
Historic Turnaround in Europe Preserves Conscience Rights
By Terrence McKeegan, J.D.
STRASBOURG, October 14 (C-FAM) A dramatic legislative reversal reaffirmed the conscience rights of medical professionals and institutions in Europe last week.
The Council of Europe’s legislature considered a resolution calling for onerous restrictions on conscientious objection, including stripping protections for doctors who object to performing abortions.
Led by two politicians from Italy and Ireland, a coalition of legislators secured the passage of 29 amendments that transformed the resolution into one that upheld universally recognized rights to freedom of conscience.
The original resolution, known as the McCafferty report, sought to punish medical professionals for refusing to perform procedures against their conscience. It even called for a new registry of conscientious objectors.
Christian McCafferty, a British politician and main author of the original resolution, said during deliberations that she sought to force private and religious hospitals and clinics to perform abortions.
A committee voted for McCafferty’s original resolution, but was overruled by the final legislative vote. Most observers assumed the draft resolution would pass in substantially the same form, and the final resolution shocked nearly everyone, especially McCafferty. She ended up voting against her own resolution.
The adopted resolution says that no “hospital, institution or person may be subject to pressures, or be held liable or suffer discrimination of any kind for refusing to perform, allow or assist an abortion…”
“This resolution will have a real impact on case law of the European Court of Human Rights,” said Gregor Puppinck, Director of the European Centre for Law and Justice. He said the court often quotes resolutions of the European legislature as a reflection of opinion in the continent’s broader society.
Puppinck told the Friday Fax that the legislature often holds votes on the most contentious issues on Thursday evening or Friday. As more conservative members tend to live further than liberals from the Strasbourg meeting site, travel arrangements often make it more difficult for them to stay for votes late in the week. Puppinck credited much of the success of the final resolution to efforts to keep the conservative members in the room for the Thursday evening vote.
The amendments’ backers widely credited the final result to the leadership of Sen. Luca Volonte of Italy, chairman of the European People’s Party, and Sen. Ronan Mullen of Ireland.
“Mrs. McCafferty and her supporters should ask themselves why so many healthcare professionals object to being involved in abortions in the first place,” said a press release from Mullen. “It’s because they regard abortion itself as a breach of human rights, and not part of responsible medical treatment.”
Several binding international agreements guarantee the right to conscientious objection, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
A number of medical associations, including the French National Medical Council, condemned the original McCafferty report. Prominent figures, including a former judge of the European Court of Human Rights and a former professional conduct chairman of the United Kingdom’s chief medical council, spoke out against the original resolution at an event held the day before the vote.
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