Alert: Refrain From 2nd Collection on 11.22.09

Posted on October 28, 2009 by KHernandez

Almost always the Catholic Church has really good causes that they ask parishioners to donate towards in second collections. And giving to charity, through either time, talent or treasure, is always encouraged in our faith.

However, a second collection coming up in November raises serious concern. If you haven’t heard of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), you should know who they are since its likely your parish will be asking you to give money to them on Sunday, November 22^nd.

header CCHD supposedly works to alleviate poverty. Through their mission, they fund several other organizations that work with them as well. Here’s where the problem comes in.

In 2008, they finally de-funded ACORN, who they had given over $7 million dollars. Yes, that ACORN -the same one caught on tape in several cities recently aiding an undercover pimp and prostitute on how to avoid taxes and traffic underage girls for prostitution.

But the CCHD’s sketchy ties don’t end with ACORN. CCHD has funded groups that openly oppose the Church’s teachings, including:

Young Workers United – supports abortion rights, legalized prostitution and gay marriage.
The Chinese Progressive Association (San Francisco) – supports abortion rights and gay marriage, actively urging its members to vote against Prop 8 in California, which would define marriage as between a man and a woman.
People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO) – currently campaigning for the a version of healthcare reform, which has government-funding of abortion and does not protect the conscience rights of medical professionals who decline to perform or refer for abortions.

Learn more from the Bellarmine Veritas Ministry’s exposition of CCHD-funded groups and for more information and for the CCHD’s response to these charges, click here.

The Wall Street Journal wrote last week that:

“As it happens, the Catholic Campaign has been involved in funding left-leaning organizations and activities from its earliest years, subsidizing not only the Industrial Areas Foundation but also Acorn (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), both of which have promoted pro-choice candidates for office.”

What can you do?

The Reform CCHD campaign is urging parishioners to download a pdf coupon and place it in the collection basket instead of money and give that money to an organization or charity that truly supports and upholds the teaching of the Catholic Church. Here’s a list of a few good ones:

Support a Catholic Speaker Month: Pam Stenzel

Posted on October 27, 2009 by KHernandez

Matthew Warner at Fallible Blogma had the great idea of involving as many Catholic blogs and bloggers as possible to join in Support a Catholic Speaker Month 2009 by choosing from a list of 50 Catholic speakers and writing about each one on a different blog.

We gladly choose dynamic abstinence education speaker Pam Stenzel.

As a teenage, one of the editors of St. Michael Society remembers hearing Pam speak on video to her youth group at church about sex and abstinence and loved her enthusiasm and encouragement. As a teen, you can never have too many talks on the meaning of sexuality, the exclusive environment of where sex truly belongs (in marriage), love and relationships, and encouragement in the midst of an over-sexualized culture.

Pam Stenzel’s mother decided to choose life for her after conceiving through rape but gave up Pam for adoption five months after her birth. Before Pam became an internationally-recognized speaker, she counseled girls in crisis pregnancy situations and realized so many of them had no idea about the consequences and risks of sexual activity because no one ever told them.

In her talks she mixes new media, music, and videos to keep the attention of teens and relay her message in an entertaining and engaging way. She’s dynamic, funny and passionate and truly cares about the teens she speaks to. Pam also has a series of programs for parents on how to talk to their kids about sex, love, relationships and abstinence.

To learn more about Pam, check out videos of her and book her for a speaking engagement, check out her website at http://pamstenzel.com/.

1,500,000 Rally for Life in Madrid

Posted on October 22, 2009 by COBoyle

An incredible gathering of people young and old rallied in the capital of Spain this week to witness for the value of human life. The theme of the rally was ”Cada Vida Importa,” translated in English as ”Every Life Matters.”

According to Youth Defence:

The sheer size of the crowd was breathtaking – upwards of 1.5 million people speaking up for life is truly a sight to behold. Huge numbers of young families and students were present and the atmosphere was upbeat and joyful. We were warmly welcomed by the Spanish people, who said that their aim was to be like Ireland; to be abortion-free.

Youth Defence, the leading pro-life organization in Ireland, traveled to Madrid to participate in the rally and shares their experience on their website here. Their report includes several videos Spanish broadcast media that televised the event, and a particularly excellent video montage of live shots from the rally set to the tune of Coldplay’s “When I Ruled the World.” Watch it here:

Vatican Welcomes Anglicans into Catholic Church

Posted on October 20, 2009 by COBoyle

Today the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI “has approved, within the Apostolic Constitution, a canonical structure that provides for Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony,” as explained by the American Papist.

This is very exciting news for Catholics and Anglicans alike – a “corporate reunion” of sorts – that was issued in response to requests from groups of Anglicans who have requested “to enter into full visible communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and are willing to declare that they share a common Catholic faith and accept the Petrine ministry as willed by Christ for his Church.”

The Vatican website explains that the new Constitution

“will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”

Reports of this development are breaking by religious and secular media alike, and GetReligion.org has a very good piece up by Scripps Howard reporter Terry Mattingly.

YouTube is hosting a new video with Archbishop of Canterbury responding to the Holy Father’s new Apostolic Constitutionat a Ecclestone Square press conference , and Zenit has posted a joint statement issued by Anglican and Catholic Archbishops as well.

NYT Enviro-Reporter Ponders Carbon Credits for 1-Child Families, ‘Are Condoms the Ultimate Green-Technology?’

Posted on October 20, 2009 by admin

Andrew Revkin, a NY Times environmentalist reporter recently proposed giving carbon credits to couples that limit themselves to having one child. He said, “You get credit–If we’re going to become carbon-centric–for having a one-child family when you could have had two or three.”

Catholic teaching has always stressed due respect for the environment but never at the expense of the human person. Genesis 1:28 is a good place to start understanding the Judeo-Christian relation of man to the environment: “God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.’” God commands humans to multiply, fill the earth and have dominion over it.

In stark contrast to these basic principles, Revkin suggests that the protection of the environment comes first and birth control is the way to achieve it. On September 15, 2009 Revkin posed this question on his blog: “Are Condoms the Ultimate Green-Technology?” and began the entry saying “More children equal more carbon dioxide emissions.”

Fewer children leads to problems that are far worse than carbon dioxide emissions. Knowing the great resource that people provide to the world, Pope Benedict XVI noted in his newest encyclical the effects of diminished birthrates and his concern with this trend: “Formerly prosperous nations are presently passing through a phase of uncertainty and in some cases decline, precisely because of their falling birth rates…The decline in births, falling at times beneath the so-called “replacement level”, also puts a strain on social welfare systems, increases their cost, eats into savings and hence the financial resources needed for investment, reduces the availability of qualified labourers, and narrows the “brain pool” upon which nations can draw for their needs.” (44, Caritatis in Veritate)

People are the greatest resource even more so than the natural resources provided by the environment. No “green-technology” can exist that degrades human sexuality and limits it by strategies of mandatory birth control.

Baucus Bill Passes: What Pro-Life Leaders Are Saying

Posted on October 13, 2009 by KHernandez

Charmaine Yoest

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of Americans United for Life

The Senate Finance Committee has joined the four other committees with jurisdiction over health care reform in reporting out a bill that does not include explicit language excluding abortion funding and coverage. In fact, the Baucus bill explicitly includes abortion funding and coverage history has shown that unless legislation relating to health care reform includes language that expressly excludes abortion, courts and administrative agencies will interpret the legislation as including abortion. We urge the Democratic leadership in the Senate to ensure that the final Senate bill includes such language before the bill is brought to the Senate Floor.

Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director, Students for Life of America and HealthcareForGunner.com

I was disappointed to watch the the Baucus health care reform pass out of committee today. The vote highlights the disregard some leaders in Washington have for the most vulnerable among us. I am disgusted to think that these Senators think that it is okay to force all Americans, regardless of these stance on abortion, to pay for unlimited abortions in all 9 months of pregnancy. Further, I am frightened by the prospect of those with chronic diseases and those towards the end of the lives receiving less than top care because of rationing cost restraints. As a mother of a special-needs child, this vote is especially concerning as the current health care reform bill may be the mean life or death for my son. I and the thousands of pro-life students of America abhor this vote.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List

No matter how many times the President and his allies repeat it, the Hyde Amendment will not protect the taxpayer from government-funded abortion on-demand in health care. The truth is, without an explicit exclusion, abortion will be covered, whether it is in a public plan or government co-op. Yet authentic abortion exclusion language has been voted down five times, three times in the House and twice in the Senate. If the President and Congress are sincere about not funding abortion on-demand in health care reform, they should add separate Hyde amendment language to health care legislation. The American pro-life majority is waiting.

David Bereit

David Bereit, National Director, 40 Days for Life

By passing a health care reform bill that mandates government funding of abortion coverage, the Senate Finance Committee has violated President Obama’s promise to the American people and thumbed its nose at the 71% of Americans who oppose government funding of abortion. Regrettably, abortion industry lobbyists have successfully hijacked the health care reform debate, convincing these bureaucrats to move one step closer to handing the abortion industry a multi-billion-dollar government subsidized bailout that could jeopardize the prospects of real health care reform for the American people.

Douglas Johnson

Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director, National Right to Life Committee

The Senate Finance Committee now becomes the fifth Democrat-controlled congressional committee to approve a bill that would expand federal support for elective abortion, after rejecting amendments that would protect the true principles of the Hyde Amendment. The Obama Administration continues to advance its pro-abortion policy agenda behind smokescreens of contrived language and outright misrepresentation, aided and abetted by mostly superficial and gullible coverage by the mainstream news media.

US Bishops: Ready to Oppose Healthcare If Principles Aren’t Met

Posted on October 8, 2009 by KHernandez

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USSCB) made it crystal clear today that current healthcare legislation does NOT mean their concerns of: 1) making sure government funds do not pay for abortions and 2) that conscience rights are protected.

It gets better.

The bishops say in this new letter that they will continue to work with Congress but -

“If final legislation does not meet our principles, we will have no choice but to oppose the bill.”

The USSCB has always advocated for some type of healthcare reform since Catholic moral teachings say that physical health is a gift entrusted to us by God. Here’s what the Catechism says:

2288: We must take reasonable care of [life and physical health], taking into account the needs of others and the common good. Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance. [emphasis mine]

But the killing of the unborn come above anything else, as it should. Abortion is a grave moral evil and making healthcare out to be a moral right, which many have done, should never include the government funding of such an act.

The Bishops aren’t fooled by the clever rhetoric of the Obama Administration and the phony compromises put forth by pro-abortion Members of Congress.

See the full letter from the bishops here: www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/2009-10-08-healthcare-letter-congress.pdf.

Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Posted on October 7, 2009 by admin

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and October is dedicated to encouraging the faithful to pray the Rosary while reflecting on the mysteries of our Catholic faith. F. K. Bartels from catholicpathways.com has a wonderful essay on Catholic Online concerning today’s feast day. Found Here.

As we continue to promote the Culture of Life, here are pro-life meditations on the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary from Priests for Life.

Obama School Safety Czar Under Fire; Long Time Advocate for Teaching Homosexuality In Elementary School

Posted on October 6, 2009 by admin

“People are policy” is a famous DC-Beltway phrase often used when ardent supporters of a President, or other elected official, push for the hiring of people that will pursue policies in line with what the elected official ran on during his or her campaign. It also happens to be one of a few truths that occur in national politics. People are policy, particularly when they have a serious background in advocacy. This advocacy is not something that they check at the door.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of debate over numerous policy “Czars” the Obama Administration has empowered to craft and implement Administration policies. This is under much scrutiny, even by some Democrats, as undermining or going around the Constitution. In fact the Senate Judiciary Committee recently scheduled hearings on the subject http://bit.ly/4uPfIe. These unelected Czars have not been voted on by Congress, yet they have enormous power to implement policy.

The latest Czar controversy emerging involves President Obama’s choice to head the Education Department’s Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools. The President has appointed Kevin Jennings, an extremist gay activist who is a long time advocate of teaching homosexuality in elementary school. An article by DC Examiner Columnist Byron York outlines Obama’s emerging Czar problem and zeroes in on Mr. Jennings background:

Kevin Jennings, DOE's School Safety Czar, is under fire for long record of promoting homosexuality in schools

http://bit.ly/nyEsH

Now comes Kevin Jennings, the gay activist who heads the Education Department’s Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools. Jennings founded a group called the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network and has devoted his career to introducing the topic of homosexuality into every American classroom, including elementary schools. Some of his credentials include writing the foreword to a book called Queering Elementary Education, which included chapters like “Why Discuss Sexuality in Elementary School?” and “Locating a Place for Gay and Lesbian Themes in Elementary Reading, Writing, and Talking.” Jennings worked hard to bring discussions of overtly homosexual topics — and in some cases, sexual practices — into classrooms.

As a young teacher, nearly two decades ago, Jennings was approached by a 15-year old boy (some defenders now say the boy was 16) who said he had had an encounter with an older man. Instead of pursuing the matter with the authorities, Jennings, by his own account, offered some simple advice: “I hope you used a condom.”

Social conservatives are going after Jennings hard. Why is a man with his agenda in charge of safe and drug-free schools? (Jennings has no experience in anti-drug work.)

NY Representative Peter King weighed into the controversy today in a Politico story saying: “President Obama should fire Kevin Jennings immediately.” http://bit.ly/BqzWR

Spotlight: Archbishop Chaput – A Contemporary St. Michael

Posted on October 6, 2009 by admin

As we were combing through the early morning clips, we came across a number of stories today mentioning Denver Archbishop Cardinal Charles J. Chaput’s contestation of a Vatican Cardinals’ pro-Obama essay that appeared over the summer in the International Catholic magazine 30 Days http://bit.ly/IaHAV.

Written by Cardinal Georges Cottier, a Swiss Dominican who served as the Theologian of the Pontifical Household from 1990 to 2005, the piece keyed off of President Obama’s speech at Notre Dame. In his piece, Cardinal Cottier defends and attempts to rationalize President Obama’s speech suggesting it “gave a glimpse of politics that can be usefully compared with fundamental elements of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.” But what shocked many Catholics around the world was Cardinal Cottier’s claim that the President’s comments pertaining to abortion were a “humble realism.”

American Catholics awaited a response. Well, as the saying goes – “good things come to those who wait.” In today’s edition of the popular and influential Italian daily, Il Foglio, Archbishop Chaput firmly and articulately contests Cardinal Cottier’s pro-Obama essay of July 3 — strike up the Notre Dame fight song and read it here… http://bit.ly/2kTK55

Following on the call of John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI for Catholics to engage in the public debate over the great challenging issues of our day, Archbishop Chaput is in many ways a modern day St. Michael, defending the Catholic faith both within the Catholic community and more broadly in the public square. He is consistently a defender of the unborn and for traditional marriage. He is elegantly outspoken in the Church’s opposition to embryonic stem cell research.

Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

While the debate over Notre Dame’s invitation for President Obama to speak and their subsequent awarding of him through an honorary degree may have abated, each Saturday as the “Fighting” Irish tee up the ball for kick off, many Catholics cringe in memory of this sad day for American Catholocism. For those Catholics we encourage a read of Archbishop Chaput’s response to Cardinal Cottier. Maybe even file it away and before the next kick-off, give it a read. Thanks to Archbishop Chaput for standing up for our faith, even when it may mean calling out a Vatican Cardinal.

St Michael Society

Defending and Promoting the Faith in the Public Square

Category Archives: Uncategorized