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Analyst: Obama could lose Catholic vote over HHS mandate
Washington D.C., Feb 5, 2012 / 05:33 pm (CNA).- The growing Catholic outcry against a recent health insurance mandate could threaten President Obama?s support ?among a key group of swing voters that was critical to his victory in 2008,? political writer George Condon says.
According to an analysis released by the Pew Research Center on Feb. 2, Catholics have shifted away from Democratic Party since the 2008 election.
George E. Condon, Jr., a political writer for the nonpartisan National Journal, wrote in a Feb. 1 article that although Obama won the Catholic vote in the 2008 election, recent dissatisfaction among Catholics could be detrimental to his 2012 efforts for a second term.
Condon tied Obama?s change in political fortune to the Jan. 20 announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that virtually all employers will be required to purchase health insurance that includes coverage for sterilization and contraception, as well as the drug Ella, which can cause early abortions.
The very narrow religious exemption to the mandate requires an organization to exist for the purpose of inculcating religious values and to restrict employment and its services primarily to fellow believers.
The administration refused to broaden the exemption despite thousands of complaints from religious hospitals, schools and charitable agencies that objected to the mandate but were open to serving members of all faiths.
In less than two weeks, the decision has been denounced in thousands of Catholic churches across America, and several bishops stated that they would refuse to comply with the ?unconscionable? and ?unjust? regulation.
According to Condon, the mandate provoked an ?explosion of anger? and has left many Catholics feeling disappointed with President Obama.
Many Catholics who supported Obama in the 2008 election and defended his controversial appearance at Notre Dame in 2009 are also now left disillusioned by the realization that Obama does not understand ?Catholic sensitivities,? as they had thought.
Condon said that although not all Catholics follow the Church?s teaching on birth control, the ?American Catholic backlash? against the mandate has united the Church in a fight against a government attempt to regulate its ministries and employees.
The united Catholic opposition could be damaging to Obama?s chances for reelection, he said, observing that in 2010, Catholics made up 25 percent of the American population and were a ?big swing vote in the key political states.?
Surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center over the last year show a significant shift in the Catholic electorate away from the Democratic Party.
In 2008, 37 percent of Catholic registered voters either identified with or leaned towards the Republican Party, while 53 percent favored the Democratic Party.
By 2011, those numbers had changed significantly, with 43 percent favoring the Republican Party and 48 percent identifying more closely with the Democratic Party.
An even further shift has occurred among white Catholics who attend Mass every week.
In 2008, this demographic was evenly split, with 45 percent favoring each political party.
But in 2011, 52 percent favored the Republicans and just 40 percent identified more with the Democrats.
The Pew analysis indicates that Catholic voters are not alone in this trend. It finds that ?the share of voters identifying with or leaning toward the GOP has either grown or held steady in every major religious group,? including those that have traditionally tended to align more closely with the Democratic Party.
Condon explained that Catholics being upset at the Obama administration over the new mandate could play a significant role in the upcoming election.
He stated that ?the clout of the Catholic vote is unquestioned,? with only one candidate winning the presidency without it since 1972.
He also pointed out that over 50 of the bishops who have spoken out ?represent dioceses in what will be battleground states in the election? and that many of these states have large Catholic populations.
Catholics are also highly concentrated in about a dozen battleground states, including New Jersey (41 percent), Wisconsin (30 percent), Pennsylvania (28 percent), and Ohio (18 percent).
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High school students show solidarity with needy in hometown and the world
Denville, N.J., Feb 5, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA).- Reaching from Dover in Morris County, N.J. to Malawi in Africa, students at Morris Catholic High School in Morris County, N.J. have partnered together to show their solidarity with those in need.
Recently, students hosted an Empty Bowls dinner to bring solidarity and awareness to those living in poverty in the African nation of Malawi and to also bring support to Hope House in Dover, N.J., an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities that serves the needy in Morris County. The Empty Bowls Project is a grassroots effort to fight hunger created by the Image Render Group.
For several weeks, students in Lauren Caruso's art class made clay bowls. The colorful and creative hand crafted clay bowls were then sold at the dinner fundraiser. For the dinner, members of the school's campus ministry volunteered to serve patrons a simple meal of soup and bread while Key Club members hosted a fair trade sale, featuring hand-made goods from artisans in developing nations. Proceeds helped both the Empty Bowls Project and Hope House in Paterson, N.J. in their service to the poor.
The purpose of the bowls, according to Jeanne Gradone, director of student services at Morris Catholic High School, was "for families to bring the bowls home and place the empty bowls on their dinner table. The empty bowls symbolize the many people around the world who don't have a meal that day. It is to bring awareness that the majority of people around the world have empty bowls. We don't want people to feel guilty about what they have, but we want them to consciously make a commitment to live in solidarity with the poor and have a constant reminder to pray for them."
During the process of making the bowls, students focused on those in Malawi, while having an awareness of their place in the world family and at the same time concentrate on its local family.
"We also wanted to support Hope House and help the local residents they serve. The agency supports many of our neighbors in Morris County and also the many people who were affected by the floods last August in the area," said Gradone.
For the past two years, the school has been immersed in a Global Solidarity school initiative, sponsored by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. This year, the school is remembering orphans and vulnerable children around the world with Malawi as a focus. Last year, the school was centered on the theme of peace building and looked to examples from the Holy Land.
"The mission of CRS," said Gradone, "is to allow people to become self sufficient. The people in many of these nations know what they need; they just need the resources to succeed."
During Lent, which begins this year on Feb. 22, Ash Wednesday, the school will continue to support Catholic Relief Services through the agency's well-known Operation Rice Bowl program. The students will learn more about the countries featured in the program and learn to be an advocate for those around the world.
Gradone said, "We want the students at Morris Catholic to know their place in the world and make connections with people. We want them to say about others, 'I value the gift that you are.'"
Posted with permission from the Diocese of Paterson, N.J.
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God's love overcomes the misery of illness, Pope teaches
Vatican City, Feb 5, 2012 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Faith in the love of Jesus Christ can overcome the suffering of long-term illness, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Sunday Angelus address Feb. 5.
Just as Jesus faced the devil ?with the power of love that was from the Father,? the Pope explained, so also a sick person can ?overcome and defeat the test of disease with a heart immersed in the love of God.?
Indeed, he noted, ?we all know people who have endured terrible suffering because God gave them a deep serenity.?
Pope Benedict addressed his remarks to thousands of pilgrims braving the cold and snow in St. Peter?s Square. From the window of the papal apartments, he reflected on the day's Gospel in which Jesus ?healed many who were sick with various diseases,? and ?cast out many demons.?
He observed how the four Evangelists ? Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ? all describe ?freedom from disease and illness of any kind, together with preaching, as the main activities of Jesus in his public life.?
While disease is ?a sign of the evil in the world and in man,? Christ?s healings show that ?the Kingdom of God is near,? and they serve as ?a foretaste of his victory obtained by his death and resurrection.?
The Pope recognized that if healing does not arrive swiftly and suffering is prolonged, those who are sick ?can remain crushed, isolated,? and even ?depressed and dehumanized.?
Appropriate medical treatment is in order and, as the Pope pointed out, ?medicine in recent decades has made great strides.?
But he also noted that the ?Word of God? teaches ?a decisive attitude? toward illness, an attitude which is ?that of the faith.?
Even in the face of death, ?faith can make possible what is humanly impossible.?
?But faith in what?? the Pope asked, answering that faith in God's love ?is the true answer, which radically defeats evil.?
As an example of how to bear illness through the love of God, Pope Benedict highlighted the life and death of Blessed Chiara Badano, an Italian teenager who died in 1990 from an aggressive and painful bone cancer.
Although she was struck ?in the bloom of youth,? those who visited her during her illness saw that she manifested ?light and trust? through her love for Christ.
The Pope concluded by noting that next Saturday, Feb. 11, is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and also the World Day of the Sick.
On that day, he suggested, believers should imitate people of Jesus' time and ?spiritually present to him all the sick people, confident that he wants to and can heal,? while also invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary ?especially in situations of immense suffering and abandonment.?
?Mary, Health of the Sick,? he declared, ?pray for us!?
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Church celebrates 16th century Martyrs of Nagasaki on Feb. 6
Denver, Colo., Feb 5, 2012 / 08:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Feb. 6, the Catholic Church honors the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of native Japanese Catholics and foreign missionaries who suffered death for their faith in the year 1597.
During the 16th century, the Catholic faith reached Japan by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552). Jesuit outreach to the Japanese continued after his death, and around 200,000 Japanese had entered the Church by 1587.
Religious tensions led to a period of persecution during that year, during which many churches were destroyed and missionaries forced to work in secret. But few episodes of martyrdom took place during this time, and within a decade 100,000 more Japanese became Catholic despite the restrictions.
During 1593, Franciscan missionaries came to Japan from the Philippines by order of Spain's King Philip II. These new arrivals gave themselves zealously to the work of charity and evangelism, but their presence disturbed a delicate situation between the Church and Japanese authorities.
Suspicion against Catholic missionaries grew when a Spanish ship was seized off the Japanese coast and found to be carrying artillery. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, an powerful imperial minister, responded by sentencing 26 Catholics to death.
The group was comprised of three native Jesuits, six foreign Franciscans, and several lay Catholics including some children. Sentenced to die by crucifixion and lancing, they were first marched 600 miles to the city of Nagasaki.
During the journey they underwent public torture meant to terrorize other Japanese believers in Christ. But all of the 26 held out courageously, even singing the hymn of praise ?Te Deum? when they arrived at the hill where they would be crucified.
Three of the best-known martyrs of Nagaki are Saints Paul Miki, John of Goto, and James Kisai. Though none were priests, all were associated with the Jesuits: Miki was training for the priesthood, while Kisai was a lay brother and John of Goto was a catechist preparing to enter the order.
Paul Miki offered an especially strong witness to his faith during the group's month-long march to Nagasaki, as he joined one of the captive Franciscan priests in preaching to the crowds who came to mock the prisoners.
The son of a wealthy military leader, Miki was born in 1562 and entered the Church along with the rest of his family. He joined the Jesuits as a young man and helped many Buddhists to embrace Christianity. His last act of evangelism took place as he hung on his cross, preaching to the crowds.
?The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ,? he announced. ?I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die.?
?After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.?
St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions were stabbed to death with lances on Feb. 5, 1597, at the site that became known as ?Martyrs' Hill.? Pope Pius IX canonized the Martyrs of Nagasaki in 1862.
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Detroit's blogging bishop documents Roman pilgrimage
Rome, Italy, Feb 4, 2012 / 06:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Currently
on an ?ad limina? visit to the Vatican, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Arturo
Cepeda is taking the Michigan faithful along with him by means of his
blog.
?My blog is for all of my people in the Archdiocese
of Detroit who can actually follow every single movement that I do,?
Bishop Arturo Cepeda told CNA Feb. 3. ?I call it a ?virtual
pilgrimage.??
?So I?m blogging every single day, every meeting I
go to. I take pictures and send them to my blog. I?m able to text and
tell them what my feelings are and what?s going on.?
Ordained in May 2011 as an auxiliary bishop for Detroit,
42-year-old Bishop Cepeda is making the pilgrimage required of all
dioceses every five years to meet with the Pope.
The current visit allows the bishops of Detroit and Cincinnati to
update the Pope and the Vatican on the health of the Church in their
regions of the U.S.
For Bishop Cepeda, the ?updating? goes two ways.
?For example, when I go to meetings with the
different Vatican congregations, I give those reading the blog some
idea of the issues we?ve just discussed,? he explained.
The auxiliary bishop's relative youth places him in a
generation more at ease with the world of new media like Facebook,
Twitter, and blogs.
?I?m a product of the 70s,
and that was when that particular technological revolution began,? he
said, ?so I?ve always been on top of all the technological gadgets that
are out there and I feel very comfortable with it all ? and I believe
that our future generations of Catholics feel very comfortable with it
too.?
As the Church approaches Pope Benedict XVI?s ?Year
of Faith? which begins in October 2012, Bishop Cepeda also believes
that such technologies can aid in the ?New Evangelization? of the
traditionally Christian West.
?I do believe in the new media and I do believe in
communication. It?s a gift not only for society but it?s also a gift
for our Church.?
?We want to communicate our
feelings, we want to communicate our thoughts. We want to communicate
faith, and truth, and how the truth can change our culture.?
Recent blog entries by the bishop have covered his
Feb. 3 audience with Pope Benedict, as well as the unusually heavy snow
covering Rome.
?Let me tell you, I lived here
in Rome for five years and never saw snow fall once. So this is the
first time I?ve seen snow in my life here in Rome and it is coming down
pretty heavy.?
Detroit Catholics, of course, got an update about it at http://aodonline.wordpress.com/.
?I have already taken pictures and sent them to my
blog,? Bishop Cepeda said, clutching his smartphone. ?I told them:
?Guess what! Right after our meeting with the Holy Father it began to
snow ? so it seems that Detroit is following me all the way to Rome!??
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Vatican astronomer says Big Bang theory in tune with creation history
Vatican City, Feb 4, 2012 / 06:09 pm (CNA).- The director of the Vatican Observatory said that the Church is open to the scientific theory that the world began from a cosmic explosion billions of years ago.
?The Big Bang is not in contradiction with the faith, ? Father Jose Gabriel Funes said during a Feb. 2 announcement of a Vatican exhibit that will feature photos, research tools and minerals from the Moon and Mars.
The exhibit titled ?Stories from another world: The Universe within us and outside us,? will be on display March 10 - July 1 in Pisa, the birthplace of Galileo, the father of modern astronomy.
Fr. Funes told CNA at the event that the Big Bang explanation ?is the best theory we have right now about the creation of the universe.?
The theory holds that creation began some 14 billion years ago with a colossal explosion in which space, time, energy and matter were created, and galaxies, stars and planets ? which are in continual expansion ? came to be.
?We know that God is the creator,? he added, ?that He is a good Father who has a providential plan for us, that we are his children, and that we everything we can learn by reason about the origin of the universe is not in contradiction with the religious message of the Bible.?
Fr. Funes said that as an astronomer and a Catholic, he is open to this explanation of the creation of the universe, despite ?some yet unanswered questions.?
He noted, for example, that while there is no proof of other intelligent life in the universe, ?we cannot rule it out,? since studies show that there are nearly 700 planets orbiting other stars.
?If in the future it was established that life, and intelligent life, exists, which I think would be very difficult, I don?t think this contradicts the religious message of creation because they would also be creatures of God,? he said.
Ultimately, Catholics ?should see the cosmos as a gift of God? and should ?admire the beauty that exists in the universe.?
?This beauty we see in some way leads us to the beauty of the creator,? he said.
?And also, because God has granted us intelligence and reason, we can find the logos, that rational explanation that exists in the universe that allows us to engage in science as well.?
The Church?s official interest in astronomy dates back to the 16th century. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII decided to officially create the Vatican Observatory to show that the Church is not against scientific development, but rather promotes it.
Since then, the Vatican Observatory has operated out of Castel Gandolfo and uses a telescope located in Tuscon, Arizona, for research.
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Chicago Catholic schools continue to grow
Chicago, Ill., Feb 4, 2012 / 01:05 pm (CNA).- Catholic schools in the city of Chicago are celebrating the news that for two years in a row, enrollment has gone up.
That?s the first time that has happened since 1965.
It might be too early to say Catholic schools have turned a corner, but Catholic schools superintendent Sister Mary Paul McCaughey of the Archdiocese of Chicago is optimistic that efforts to promote the schools while keeping them on a sound financial footing will pay off.
?We think we can do it,? she said. ?We think we can turn it around. It would be so much fun to see that across the system. Large Catholic school systems haven?t seen that since ?65. But we?re a good city to have this happen to.?
The efforts to spread the good news about Catholic schools, combined with changing demographics in Chicago, are leading to full classrooms, she said.
?We?re really growing in those places where young families are staying in the city, and they?ve grown to love it and they don?t want to leave,? Sister Paul said. ?And with the focused scholarship efforts, we?re holding the line in the poorer areas.?
Across the entire archdiocese of Chicago, enrollment is stabilizing, with a drop of less than 1 percent this year. But with 86,502 elementary school students this year, Catholic schools have fewer than half the students they did in 1979-80, when enrollment was 189,611.
Reviewing themselves
The Office for Catholic Schools of Chicago has asked each of its schools to review where they are in terms of maintaining academic excellence and Catholic identity, financial status and their efforts to attract and keep new students. Each school also will be asked to come up with a plan to move forward in the next year, although many are already doing quite well.
?The schools that are doing it have a strong Catholic culture and excellent academics,? she said. ?They are engaging parents and refocusing on getting the ?good whispers? out there.?
One school that has seen such efforts pay off is St. Therese Chinese Catholic School in Chinatown, which principal Phyllis Cavallone-Jurek said was on the brink of closure when she came seven and a half years ago. Then, the school opened with 180 students. Now, with ongoing efforts to strengthen an already rigorous curriculum and work spreading the word about the school across the city, it has waiting lists at all the lower grades.
There are 286 students, and Cavallone-Jurek has started to consider the possibility of adding space, although that would be difficult in its neighborhood.
The school will likely become even more popular in the next couple of years, as it proudly flies its national Blue Ribbon Award flag for all to see. It?s the first Blue Ribbon in 20 years for a school supported by the Big Shoulders Fund ? a local nonprofit that offers scholarships and other financial help to schools where a significant percentage of the students are low-income.
At St. Therese, all students are expected to be two years ahead of grade level in math by the time they graduate, and all students study Mandarin Chinese and Spanish throughout elementary school. Because of the unique curriculum, Cavallone-Jurek said, she has to be careful when admitting transfer students to the upper grades.
Getting the word out
The school?s enrollment grew as Cavallone-Jurek worked with staff and parents to get the word out about the school?s strengths ? its academics and its focus on Chinese culture. A student dance group performed whenever and wherever it could, including on morning TV news shows and at neighborhood festivals.
?Schools have to look at what their strengths are,? she said. ?What are the non-negotiables that make us really special and unique??
At St. Hyacinth School in Logan Square, enrollment jumped from 119 students last June to 187 students this year. Principal Annmarie Mahay said that what helped most in terms of marketing was really everything.
?No one thing works,? she said. ?Everything we did brought in a few more kids.?
Perhaps the biggest single change the school made was opening a second preschool classroom, so that there are now 40 preschoolers instead of 25. Parents realize that full-day preschool costs less than daycare, and that their children get more out of it, Mahay said.
That follows the pattern for the archdiocese, where preschool enrollment is up 15 percent.
Families who have transferred older children into the school are generally coming from three area public schools, all of which are crowded, Mahay said, so they appreciate the small classes at St. Hyacinth. They also were able to get to know the school through a series of ?family fun nights,? when they could mingle with existing St. Hyacinth families and teachers while doing activities in the school?s classrooms.
?It gives them the opportunity to take a look at us,? Mahay said.
The biggest obstacle to families choosing the school is nearly always the cost of Catholic education, Mahay said, although breaking it down into 10 monthly payments helps.
Sister Paul said Catholics should continue to push for more public funding of Catholic schools, whether in the form of vouchers or tax credits, because that would make it easier for families to choose Catholic education, which would be good for the state as well, she said.
?It saves the state money in the long run,? she said. ?They just don?t see it.?
Posted with permission from Catholic New World, newspaper for the Diocese of Chicago.
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US free speech faces Islamic blasphemy law pressure, analyst says
Washington D.C., Feb 4, 2012 / 07:05 am (CNA).- Paul Marshall, a religious liberty expert, says that attempts to ?export? Islamic anti-blasphemy laws to the West could pose a threat to freedom of speech in the U.S.
Marshall, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute?s Center for Religious Freedom, said that many governments deliberately manipulate alleged instances of blasphemy by provoking popular outrage, enabling them to advance ?particular policy goals.?
Marshall made his remarks Feb. 3 at Hillsdale College?s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C.
He argued that blasphemy codes in the Muslim world are used to stifle religious minorities, as well as Muslim reformers who support religious liberty, freedom of speech and democracy.
In the U.S., Marshall observed, courts generally uphold the First Amendment?s free speech protections. But he said that America is still threatened by blasphemy laws, and cited efforts by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to promote international laws that ban insults to Islam, through the United Nations.
Marshall also cautioned against a growing tendency towards ?extra-legal intimidation,? which involves private individuals pre-emptively censoring themselves -- often under the guise of religious sensitivity -- because they realize that it is ?too dangerous? to insult Islam.
To illustrate the effectiveness of this intimidation, he gave multiple examples of books, newspapers and television shows that refused to publish content that could be deemed offensive to Islam, although they chose to carry similar material that mocked Christianity and other religions.
He also recounted the 2010 story of Molly Norris, a Seattle cartoonist, who called for an ?Everybody Draw Mohammed Day? in response to such self-censorship. She received death threats for the suggestion and, under the advice of the FBI, changed her name and went into hiding.
Marshall also warned of the potential for government policies that seek to restrict speech. He observed that the Obama administration has vocalized a commitment to fighting ?negative stereotypes of Islam,? although it has not done the same for other religions.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he noted, invited the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to a meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss how the U.S. could carry out this commitment.
According to Marshall, the December 2011 meeting featured presentations on how
America should fix its treatment of Muslims. It was also suggested that the U.S. should learn from countries in the organization, which use the death penalty to fight blasphemy within their borders, he said.
Although Clinton claimed to be simply pursuing tolerance, Marshall said it was concerning that she was partnering with an organization that has been aggressively lobbying to restrict free speech through legal controls.
He urged the Obama administration to end this partnership and instead promote the idea that ?in open, boisterous, free societies? all religions will likely be subject to criticism.
The American founders considered freedom of speech to be critical, Marshall concluded, adding that ?their example is always needed, but never more so than in a time such as this.?
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Being Catholic means 'paying a price,' says Detroit archbishop
Vatican City, Feb 3, 2012 / 08:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Being Catholic in 2012 involves ?paying a price? for loving Jesus Christ and his Church, says Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit.
?If we are not willing to pay a price for the grace of the revelation then it is a sign that we don?t really treasure it,? the archbishop told CNA Feb. 3.
?And maybe that is what God is asking us to do ? to re-appropriate our own conviction about how precious the knowledge of Jesus is to us.?
Archbishop Vigneron is currently in Rome with 16 other bishops from the Provinces of Detroit and Cincinnati to update the Vatican and Pope Benedict on the health of their dioceses. As part of their ?ad limina? visit, the group has also made pilgrimages to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.
?When I see those tombs,? said Archbishop Vigneron, ?I immediately think of Our Lord?s big recruitment speech to the apostles when he said ?I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves? and I imagine them looking around at one another and saying ?Is he talking to us???
And yet, Christ's prediction that ?if they rejected me they?ll reject you,? is present for Catholics ?in every age? even if ?it differs in how it takes its shape,? he said.
He believes that one clear manifestation of this is the Obama administration?s decision to force all health insurance to cover sterilization and contraception services, including abortifacient drugs. The ?price to be paid,? he said, could be in terms of religious freedom and also financially.
?If I think about these fines that it seems the government will impose upon us, well that is money I could use in my Catholics schools, it?s money I could use for feeding the hungry, providing services to people with addiction. I expect we?ll have to pay a price like that.?
The one price that Archbishop Vigneron said he will refuse to pay is any violation of Catholic moral teaching. As Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York recently said, ?they?ve given us a year to figure out how we can violate our principles ? it?s not going to happen.?
On Friday morning, Archbishop Vigneron led the bishops of the Detroit Province as they met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience. During the seminar-style discussion, the Pope was asked about how to authentically interpret the Church?s mind as regards the liturgy.
?The Pope?s way of talking about it was to say that the liturgy is the experience of the Church and what should happen is that people experience at the Mass the existence of the Church as it is true through all time. I thought that was a very good way to talk about it,? said Archbishop Vegneron
He added that he has ?heard the Pope make this point before. The liturgy isn?t something we do. It?s something we inherit and enter into.?
Archbishop Vigneron said the meeting with the Pope also ?confirmed? the bishop?s own intuition ?that we really have to focus ourselves on the new evangelization,? which involves giving ?intentionally focused energy on bringing the Gospel to people who think they?ve already heard.?
That doesn?t involve ?some sort of miracle program,? he contended, but does involve ?helping people who are strong in their faith to share their faith.?
The archbishop said he took inspiration from the 19th century English cleric, Cardinal John Henry Newman, who saw faith as growing ?from being passed from one heart to another heart.?
In modern society, there is immense opportunity to evangelize those ?parts of our culture that look upon the Gospel and Gospel way of life as a burden which they seem to think they are fortunate to have escaped,? he noted.
?What we bring is not an onerous burden ? we bring a liberation,? he said, ?and people may not know they do want this good news from Jesus but it really is what they?re looking for.?
Archbishop Vigneron and the other bishops conclude their ?ad limina? visit on Monday Feb 6. He said they return home full of ?new encouragement? after a week that has helped them to ?take stock of our lives and to find some new breath to go back to reapply ourselves to our task.?
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Mexican artist thrilled to craft papal throne for Pope's trip
Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 3, 2012 / 06:03 pm (CNA).- A Mexican artist designing the papal throne Pope Benedict will use during his visit to the Cathedral of Leon on March 25 said he was honored to be appointed to the task.
?This is not a special job, it?s beyond special,? Jose Cruz Gonzalez Martinez told the Efe news agency. ?The mere fact that it is for the Pope is amazing.?
Gonzalez said for thirteen days he did not tell his family he had been given this assignment, until he could no longer contain his emotions.
?The truth is I cried. I couldn?t hold it in,? he said, recalling the phone call he received from Father Jose Salome Lemus, the rector of the Cathedral of Leon, who asked him to design the papal throne.
The chair is being built with Mexican mahogany and will be decorated with engravings. The arms of the throne will feature two lions, representing the city of Leon (?Lion? in Spanish), where the Pope will be from March 23-26.
Seven carpenters involved in the project work 12 hours a day including the weekends, in order to have the throne ready by Feb. 20. After the papal visit, the throne will be sent to the Museum of Sacred Art located at the Cathedral of Leon.
On March 25, the Pope will use the throne during vespers with the Bishops of Mexico and Latin America at the Cathedral.
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Komen reversal on Planned Parenthood funding fails to surprise some
Dallas, Texas, Feb 3, 2012 / 04:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced on the morning of Feb. 3 that it is amending its funding guidelines so that only those organizations under criminal investigation will be excluded, a move that could allow Planned Parenthood funding to be restored.
?I am surprised that it happened so fast, but not that it happened,? nationally syndicated EWTN radio host Teresa Tomeo told CNA.
Tomeo received much criticism for holding back her full support of the organization this week but said she is not surprised that breast cancer charity changed their initial decision.
On Feb. 3, Founder and CEO of Komen for the Cure, Nancy Brinker, apologized to ?the American public? for the original decision to pull funding from any organization undergoing investigation and said she did not want her charity ?marred or affected by politics.?
The new funding guidelines now specify that ?disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.?
Brinker said that her organization was ?distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.?
The day before the organization decided to adjust its rules, 26 U.S. senators sent Brinker a letter urging her to reconsider her decision to cut funding to abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
?We earnestly hope that you will put women's health before partisan politics,? the letter signed by 26 Senate Democrats said.
For her part, Tomeo explained that her hesitation to lend full support came partially from Komen's long history with Planned Parenthood as well as the group not recognizing the link between abortion, oral contraception and breast cancer, a position that many medical professionals claim to be one of the most avoidable risks for breast cancer.
Tomeo thinks organizations such as the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute and Abortion/Breast Cancer should have gotten support from those opposed to abortion, before Susan G. Komen. She was disappointed that so many anti-abortion advocates ?drank the pink kool-aid? by lending their support to Komen so quickly.
Americans United for Life founder and CEO Chamaine Yoest released a statement in support of Komen's original decision. She said the criticism they received was just a part of Planned Parenthood's ?highly partisan? and ?scorched-earth strategy? to force their ?pro-abortion agenda.?
Americans United for Life's report on Planned Parenthood employees involved in covering up prostitution and human trafficking helped spur the ongoing congressional investigation being led by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) into the nation?s largest abortion provider.
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No law allowing abortion can be moral, say Spanish experts
Cordoba, Spain, Feb 3, 2012 / 01:53 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- Catholic professors from the University of Cordoba in Spain have published a study on abortion in which they argue that no law allowing abortion can be considered moral.
The study, which is included in a book published by the Diocese of Cordoba, was presented Feb. 1 by Professor Juan Luis Sevilla of the University of Cordoba and Miguel Castro, head of Campus Ministry for the diocese.
Castro said copies of the book will be distributed free of charge throughout the Spanish region of Andalusia ?to all those who want a clear understanding of the issue of abortion from a humanist and Christian perspective, but with an academic report.?
Commenting on the Spanish government?s plan to reform the 2010 law on abortion rather than returning to the 1985 law, Castro said, ?the Church does not support any law? that considers the unborn to receive less legal protection ?than other persons.?
In fact, he underscored, abortion can never be justified in any instance, not even in cases of rape or fetal deformation, as established by the 1985 law.
The Church rejects the current law but also continues to be ?in disagreement? with the 1985 one, ?because the person in the womb deserves the same protection as the person outside it,? Castro said.
Juan Luis Sevilla, the director of the study on abortion in Andalusia, said Spain?s current law is based on ?gender ideology? and is a ?legal aberration,? because it ?establishes abortion as a right? and allows minors to obtain abortions without parental consent.
For this reason, he said, the 1985 law ?can never be good? as it ?opened the door to death for innocent persons.?
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Romney pledges to eliminate HHS mandate on ?day one? of presidency
Washington D.C., Feb 3, 2012 / 01:48 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pledged to overturn the HHS contraception mandate that he says takes ?particular aim? at Catholics.
?I stand with the Catholic bishops and all religious organizations in their strenuous objection to this liberty- and conscience-stifling regulation,? Romney wrote in a Feb. 3 Washington Examiner column titled ?President Obama vs. religious liberty?
If elected president, the former Massachusetts governor said, he would eliminate the mandate ?on day one.?
?Such rules don?t belong in the America that I believe in.?
The mandate, announced on Jan. 20, requires employers to provide insurance coverage for FDA-approved sterilization procedures and contraceptive drugs, including some abortifacient drugs. The Department of Health and Human Services classified the procedures and drugs as ?preventive care.?
The religious exemption for the mandate would not cover most Catholic hospitals, universities, and charitable organizations, despite Catholic teaching that the use of these procedures and drugs is sinful and objectively immoral.
Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that religious liberty is ?facing the most serious assault in generations? from ?liberalism itself.?
He charged that the rule is ?taking particular aim at Roman Catholics.?
?The Obama administration is forcing religious institutions to choose between violating their conscience or dropping health care coverage for their employees, effectively destroying their ability to carry on their work.?
Romney incorporated his pledge against the mandate into his general position against the 2010 health care legislation, which opponents call ?Obamacare.? He said he is committed to overturning it ?root and branch? and will issue an executive order telling his Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a waiver from its requirements to all U.S. states.
However, his column?s dominant focus remained religious liberty.
Although liberals and conservatives have defended the rights of religious minorities in the past, Romney charged, that devotion to religious freedom ?goes out the window? for ?the agenda of the left-wing of the Democratic Party.? He linked the mandate to abortion on demand and opposition to abstinence education.
?They would force Catholics and others who have beliefs rooted in their faith to sacrifice the teachings of their faith to the mandate of federal bureaucrats,? Romney said.
He also criticized the Obama administration?s 12-month extension for religious groups to comply with the mandate, calling it ?a clumsy attempt to push this matter past this year?s presidential election.?
?The America I believe in is governed by the U.S. Constitution and I will not hesitate to use the powers of the presidency to protect religious liberty,? Romney stated.
All four leading Republican presidential candidates have opposed the mandate.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a convert to Catholicism, charged that the mandate is part of a ?war against Christianity.? During his campaign in Florida, ahead of the state primary, he pledged to overturn all ?anti-religious? federal policies on his first day in office.
At a Jan. 31 campaign stop in Colorado, Catholic and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum said the mandate makes people act against their faith.
?Barack Obama and Kathleen Sebelius said ?Too bad. If it goes against what you believe, then you believe the wrong things,?? Santorum said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
?This is just the tip of the iceberg of what we can expect.?
In an October statement on his website, Texas Congressman Ron Paul said the mandate ?violates the conscience of millions of pro-life Americans.? He said he views the ?regulatory overstep? as ?payback to Planned Parenthood and big pharmaceutical companies for their support of Obamacare.?
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White House?s defense of mandate called inaccurate, misleading
Washington D.C., Feb 3, 2012 / 01:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An expert in religious freedom says that the White House's defense of the contraception mandate contains inaccurate information and does not address the main complaints raised by its critics.
Brian Walsh, executive director of the American Religious Freedom program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said that some of the the claims made by the White House are ?not factually accurate? and a number of its points ?aren?t even relevant.?
?It?s certainly not a direct response? to the concerns of religious freedom that have been raised in recent days, but is simply restating the administration?s position on contraception,Walsh told CNA on Feb. 2.
Walsh's remarks were aimed at a Feb. 1 blog post by Cecilia Muņoz, the Director of the White House?s Domestic Policy Council, who attempted to clarify ?the facts? surrounding the controversial mandate.
On Jan. 20, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that virtually all employers would be required to purchase health insurance plans that cover contraception ? including drugs that cause abortion ? and sterilization at no cost to employees.
The very narrow religious exemption to the mandate includes only those organizations that exist for the purpose of inculcating religious values and that both primarily serve and employ members of their own faith.
The administration refused to broaden the exemption, despite an outcry of protest from religious individuals and organizations who will be excluded from the exemption and believe that their religious freedom and rights of conscience are being violated.
In her Feb. 1 blog post, Muņoz justified the administration?s decision by saying that although companies will be required to purchase contraceptive coverage, women will not be forced to use it, and doctors will not be forced to prescribe it.
She also argued that multiple states already require contraceptive coverage in insurance plans.
Muņoz asserted that contraception coverage actually ?reduces costs? for employers because they will not have to pay costs associated with their employees? unintended pregnancies.
Walsh responded that the White House?s assertions ?don?t address the core? of the religious freedom concerns that were raised by the mandate.
He also found several statements on the blog post to be factually inaccurate.
The claim that ?churches are exempt from the new rules? is ?not entirely correct,? he said.
Walsh said that in some areas, new ?church plants? are being built from scratch for the purpose of reaching out to those who have no faith or have left their faith.
Because these churches do not restrict their services to primarily members of their own faith, they would not qualify for the mandate?s religious exemption.
Walsh also said that the White House is playing ?word games? in its claim that ?drugs that cause abortion are not covered by this policy.? He noted that the drug Ella, which is covered by the mandate, prevents an already-fertilized embryo from attaching to the uterus, thereby causing an early abortion.
He added that the blog?s statement that ?no Federal tax dollars are used for elective abortions? is ?inaccurate and misleading.?
President Obama reversed the Mexico City Policy during his first week in office, he explained, and since that time, federal taxpayer money has gone ?to fund abortion providers in foreign countries.?
Walsh also tackled the White House?s claim that ?contraception is used by most women,? including Catholics. He said that the Catholic Church is very clear in its opposition to birth control, and the fact that not all Church members follow that teaching is not a sufficient reason to ?sweep away? religious liberty.
Religious liberty is not ?subject to majority vote,? he said. ?That?s not truly religious freedom.?
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Archbishop Chaput says Obama administration sold out Catholic supporters
Philadelphia, Pa., Feb 3, 2012 / 06:08 am (CNA).- The Obama administration has betrayed Catholics by refusing to expand the religious exemption in Health and Human Services' contraception mandate, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput says.
?The administration's only concession was to give our institutions a one-year delay to comply,? he said in a Feb. 2 letter. ?This is not merely inadequate. It is dangerous. And it betrays the good faith of many Catholics who ? until now ? have supported the current administration with an honest will.?
Archbishop Chaput is one of over 140 U.S. bishops who have spoke out against the Health and Human Services rules finalized Jan. 20, which require most new health plans to provide contraception and sterilization ? including drugs that can cause an abortion ? without a co-pay.
Most religious institutions will not be able to opt out, though HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius gave them an additional year to meet the requirements.
In a letter distributed to parishes to be read at Feb. 5 Sunday Masses, Archbishop Chaput said Catholic institutions ?cannot comply with this unjust law without compromising our convictions and undermining the Catholic identity of many of our service ministries.?
?This is not just another important issue among the many we need to be concerned about,? he stated.
?This ruling is different. This ruling interferes with the basic right of Catholic citizens to organize and work for the common good as Catholics in the public square.?
On Feb. 1, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muņoz issued a response to critics of the mandate. She stressed the existence of a religious exemption, cited Guttmacher Institute statistics about contraceptive use among Catholics, and said the mandate excluded abortion-causing drugs.
The exemption, however, applies only to institutions that primarily employ and serve members of the same faith for the purpose of inculcating religious values.
Meanwhile, the emergency contraceptive ?Ella? ? covered without a co-pay under the mandate ? can prevent the survival of a living embryo, and thus qualifies as an abortifacient drug according to the U.S. bishops' Ethical and Religious directives.
In his letter, Archbishop Chaput indicated that the issue at hand had nothing to do with any particular individual's decision to contracept, but was primarily a matter of institutions' right to act in accordance with religious convictions.
But individuals and non-religious institutions, he noted, would also be subject to state coercion.
?Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those 'services' in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.?
He urged Catholics to educate themselves with the resources of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and said they should contact their congressional representatives in the House and Senate.
?Your action on this issue matters ? not just today but for many years to come; and in ways that will shape the ability of the Church to witness the Gospel publicly through her ministries well into the future.?
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