Irish Government bring out draft abortion legislation

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0430/388858-abortion-legislation/

Ministers have agreed the terms of the proposed Protection of Maternal Life Bill.
RTÉ News has learned that in the case of suicidal ideation, for a woman to be granted a termination of pregnancy, the three consultants reviewing the case must all agree that this should proceed.
There is provision for an appeal by the woman where termination of pregnancy is not approved by the first three doctors.
That appeal would be to three other consultants.
The appeal panel of three doctors must also be unanimous in approval for a termination to be granted under law.
The procedures mean that in the case of suicide threat, a woman could have six doctors reviewing her application.
The full details of the legislation are due to be published later this evening.
One Cabinet source said there had been substantial changes to the measures.
They told RTÉ News that it was a very different Bill to the legislation described in earlier media reports.
Some Fine Gael sources said they were hopeful that backbenchers with misgivings about including the risk of suicide as grounds for abortion might think differently when they see the terms of the legislation.

The Cabinet resumed its talks on the legislation this evening after an adjournment this afternoon.
The adjournment came after what Cabinet sources described as a lengthy discussion of the legislation.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny denied there were any problems at Cabinet with the legislation and ministers dealt with 28 items this morning.
He earlier said it was the Government's intention to have the heads of the bill sent to the Oireachtas Health Committee after approval today.
It is now 21 years since the Supreme Court judgment in the X Case, which found that abortion was legal under the Constitution, if there was a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother.
The court held that this included the threat of suicide.
The draft heads will go for detailed discussion in the Oireachtas Health Committee, before the actual legislation is drawn up and introduced in the Dáil.
There is significant opposition to the measure within Fine Gael, with several TDs and Senators likely to defy the party whip on the issue.
Mr Kenny has urged opponents to study the wording, and contribute to the debate, before coming to a final decision.

At Boston's bombing scene: Catholic priests need not apply

From http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/the-city-gates.cfm?ID=561

 
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Graham tells me something that I hadn’t heard about Boston Marathon bombing. As dozens of victims were sprawled across Boylston Street, many of them in danger of death, Catholic priests came running to the scene—and were turned away.
Doctors and nurses were welcome at the bombing scene. Firefighters and police officers were welcome. But Catholic priests, who might have offered the solace of the sacraments, were not.
”Catholics need not apply.” That slogan was familiar in Boston years ago, before Irish and Italian immigrants took over control of the city. Now, after decades of decline in Catholic influence , the attitude has returned. One priest who was barred from Boylston Street remarked that in the past a priest was admitted anywhere. “That’s changed,” he said. “Priests are no longer considered to be emergency responders.”
Unless police officers in Boston are uniquely hostile to priests (a distinct possibility), the tide has turned very quickly on this question. On September 11, 2001, there were Catholic priests at the staging areas near the World Trade Center, giving absolution to firefighters before they rushed into the doomed building: mass-producing saints!
Unable to provide spiritual help to those whose lives were endangered, the priests in Boston retreated to a nearby church, were they “set up a table with water and oranges and bananas to serve people.” Doesn’t that nicely capture what a once-Catholic, now-secular culture expects from the Church? It’s not essential for priests to administer the sacraments; in fact it’s unwelcome. But if they could just stay out of the way, and give people something to eat, that would be fine.
Jennifer Graham captures the problem well:

But it is a poignant irony that Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who died on Boylston Street, was a Catholic who had received his first Communion just last year. As Martin lay dying, priests were only yards away, beyond the police tape, unable to reach him to administer last rites…

Archbishop prays while topless gay activists shout curses and douse him with water

BRUSSELS, April 23, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) 

In an astonshing display of gentleness in the face of a vile attack, the head of the Catholic Church in Belgium, Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, remained calmly seated with eyes closed in prayer Tuesday as four topless women attacked him with shouts and curses and doused him with water.

It’s not the first time the bishop has been attacked for standing up for the Church’s teachings on homosexuality and expressing his concern for those who live the homosexual lifestyle.
The incident took place at the ULB University in Brussels where the archbishop was participating in a debate on blasphemy laws.
The four women, representing the pro-abortion and homosexual group FEMEN, took to the stage where they disrobed to reveal black-painted slogans on their bare chests and backs, such as ‘my body my rules,’ and 'anus dei is coming.' They also held signs reading ‘stop homophobia’. The women doused the archbishop with water from bottles formed in the image of the Virgin Mary.
For most of the attack, which lasted a number of minutes before the women could be forced off stage, Archbishop Leonard sat drenched with water with eyes closed in prayer.  After the ordeal, the archbishop kissed the image of the Virgin Mary on one of the water bottles that was used in the attack. Le Soir reports that one of the interveners said of the archbishop: “He was very calm and maintained a position of prayer. I have to believe he was praying for us.”
According to FEMEN, Tuesday’s attack was spurred by an interview three weeks ago where Archbishop Leonard said that when speaking to Christians who are inclined to homosexuality he suggests celibacy, as is required for all single persons.
Already in 2007, as Bishop of Namur, Archbishop Leonard was accused of an offence against the Belgian anti-racism act for calling homosexual acts “abnormal”.  In 2008 he was cleared of homophobia charges after appearing in court.
In 2010, as the new archbishop of Brussels, the archbishop was targeted by homosexualist groups, and condemned by the country’s prime minister, after he said that AIDS is a consequence of risky sexual behavior, including homosexual sexual activity.
Also in 2010 he was attacked at his Cathedral by a man who shoved a cherry pie in the archbishop’s face. Again in 2011, homosexual activists at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve near Brussels threw a custard pie in the archbishop’s face.
Archbishop Leonard has been a great supporter for the pro-life movement in Belgium, speaking at their inaugural March for Life in 2010.

Three Prophetic Insights from Pope Leo XIII That Still speak powerfully 120 Years Later

Excerpts from http://blog.adw.org/2013/04/three-prophetic-insights-from-pope-leo-xiii-that-still-speak-powerfully-110-years-later/

He wrote of these three concerns in 1893 in the Encyclical on the Holy Rosary entitled Laetitiae Sanctae (Of Holy Joy). The Pope enunciates these three areas of concern and then offers the mysteries of the Rosary as a necessary remedy.

There are three influences which appear to Us to have the chief place in effecting this downgrade movement of society. These are–first, the distaste for a simple and laborious life; secondly, repugnance to suffering of any kind; thirdly, the forgetfulness of the future life. (# 4)

Problem 1 – The distaste for a simple and laborious life - We deplore….the growing contempt of those homely duties and virtues which make up the beauty of humble life. To this cause we may trace in the home, the readiness of children to withdraw themselves from the natural obligation of obedience to the parents, and their impatience of any form of treatment which is not of the indulgent and effeminate kind. In the workman, it evinces itself in a tendency to desert his trade, to shrink from toil, to become discontented with his lot, to fix his gaze on things that are above him, and to look forward with unthinking hopefulness to some future equalization of property. We may observe the same temper permeating the masses in the eagerness to exchange the life of the rural districts for the excitements and pleasures of the town….(#5)

Let us take our stand in front of that earthly and divine home of holiness, the House of Nazareth. How much we have to learn from the daily life which was led within its walls! What an all-perfect model of domestic society! Here we behold simplicity and purity of conduct, perfect agreement and unbroken harmony, mutual respect and love….devotedness of service. Here is the patient industry which provides what is required for food and raiment; which does so “in the sweat of the brow,” which is contented with little….These are precious examples of goodness, of modesty, of humility, of hard-working endurance, of kindness to others, of diligence in the small duties of daily life, and of other virtues…., Then will each one begin to feel his work to be no longer lowly and irksome, but grateful and lightsome, and clothed with a certain joyousness by his sense of duty in discharging it conscientiously….home-life…loved and esteemed….(# 6).

Problem 2 – Repugnance to suffering of any kind - A second evil…. is to be found in repugnance to suffering and eagerness to escape whatever is hard or painful to endure. The greater number are thus robbed of that peace and freedom of mind which remains the reward of those who do what is right undismayed by the perils or troubles to be met with in doing so….By this passionate and unbridled desire of living a life of pleasure, the minds of men are weakened, and if they do not entirely succumb, they become demoralized and miserably cower and sink under the hardships of the battle of life. (# 7)

…If from our earliest years our minds have been trained to dwell upon the sorrowful mysteries of Our Lord’s life…we [may] see written in His example all the lessons that He Himself had taught us for the bearing of our burden of labor– and sorrow, and mark how the sufferings…He embraced with the greatest measure of generosity and good will. We behold Him overwhelmed with sadness, so that drops of blood ooze like sweat from His veins. We see Him bound like a malefactor, subjected to the judgment of the unrighteous, laden with insults, covered with shame, assailed with false accusations, torn with scourges, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, accounted unworthy to live….Here, too, we contemplate the grief of the most Holy Mother…”pierced” by the sword of sorrow…. (# 8 )

Then, be it that the “earth is accursed” and brings forth “thistles and thorns,”–be it that the soul is saddened with grief and the body with sickness; even so, there will be no evil which the envy of man or the rage of devils can invent, nor calamity which can fall upon the individual or the community, over which we shall not triumph by the patience of suffering….But by this patience, We do not mean that empty stoicism in the enduring of pain which was the ideal of some of the philosophers of old, but rather….It is the patience which is obtained by the help of His grace; which shirks not a trial because it is painful, but which accepts it and esteems it as a gain, however hard it may be to undergo. [Men and women of faith] re- echo, not with their lips, but with their life, the words of [the Apostle] St. Thomas: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John xi., 16). (# 9) 

Problem 3- Forgetfulness of the future life - The third evil for which a remedy is needed is one which is chiefly characteristic of the times in which we live. Men in former ages, although they loved the world, and loved it far too well, did not usually aggravate their sinful attachment to the things of earth by a contempt of the things of heaven. Even the right-thinking portion of the pagan world recognized that this life was not a home but a dwelling-place, not our destination, but a stage in the journey. But men of our day, albeit they have had the advantages of Christian instruction, pursue the false goods of this world in such wise that the thought of their true Fatherland of enduring happiness is not only set aside, but, to their shame be it said, banished and entirely erased from their memory, notwithstanding the warning of St. Paul, “We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one which is to come” (Heb. xiii., 4). (# 11)

These mysteries are the means by which, in the soul of a Christian, a most clear light is shed upon the good things, hidden to sense, but visible to faith, “which God has prepared for those who love Him.” From them we learn that death is not an annihilation which ends all things, but merely a migration and passage from life to life. By them we are taught that the path to Heaven lies open to all men, and as we behold Christ ascending thither, we recall the sweet words of His promise, “I go to prepare a place for you.” By them we are reminded that a time will come when “God will wipe away every tear from our eyes,” and that “neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall be any more,” and that “We shall be always with the Lord,” and “like to the Lord, for we shall see Him as He is,” and “drink of the torrent of His delight,” as “fellow-citizens of the saints,” in the blessed companionship of our glorious Queen and Mother. Dwelling upon such a prospect, our hearts are kindled with desire, and we exclaim, in the words of a great saint, “How vile grows the earth when I look up to heaven!” Then, too, shall we feel the solace of the assurance “that this momentary and light affliction produces for us an eternal weight of glory beyond measure, exceedingly ” (2 Cor. iv., 17).

Here then are three diagnoses, and three remedies. It is interesting to see that the roots of them were already evident in 1893 and how they have come further to press upon us more than 100 years later. It is helpful to have a Doctor of Souls to help us name the demons that afflict us. For having named a demon, we have more power over it and learn its moves:

1. Demon, your name is “laziness” and “distaste” for hard work. By the joyful mysteries of the Lord’s Life, be gone.
2. Demon your name “refusal of any suffering” and an “resentment at the cross.” By the sorrowful mysteries of our Lord’s life, be gone.
3. Demon your name is “forgetfulness of heaven” and “obsession with the passing world.” By the glorious mysteries of Lord’s life and our Lady’s too, be gone.

Nearly 15,000 French mayors will refuse to marry gay couples

Paris, France, Apr 19, 2013 (CNA).

A group of at least 14,900 French mayors has said it will not perform “gay marriages,” even if the government moves ahead with plans to legalize the practice.
The administration of French President Francois Hollande has put forth a measure that would legalize “gay marriage,” allow gay couples to receive medical treatment for artificial procreation and to adopt children.
“It is foolish to think that the mobilization of the elected mayors would stop if the law is passed,” said Franck Meyer, spokesman for the association Mayors for Children.
“As citizens, we elected officials will not give up,” he emphasized in statements to the media.
Meyer, who is mayor of Sotteville-sous-le-Val in northern France, observed that some of the mayors in the group have said they “would resign if the law is adopted,” while others “have said they will refuse” to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples.
On April 12, the French Senate passed the measure sponsored by President Hollande, but it has yet to go before the French National Assembly.
The Senate adopted the measure despite massive opposition from the public, including a demonstration attended by an estimated one million French citizens through the streets of Paris calling for the measure to be voted down.
Nathalie de Williencourt, a French lesbian and founder of one of the largest homosexual associations in France, said in January that most homosexual individuals in the country do not want “gay marriage” or the right to adopt children.
“I am French, I am homosexual. The majority of homosexuals do not want either marriage or adoption, and we especially don’t want to be treated the same as heterosexuals because we are different,” she said. “We don’t want equality but we do want justice.”

TD's call for 'sunset clause' in abortion legislation

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0414/381311-abortion-laws/

There has been a call from a number of Fine Gael TDs to include a "sunset clause" in the planned legislation that will deal with the X case.
The proposal, first made in a letter to the Taoiseach by Cork North West deputy Michael Creed, would allow for the legislation on abortion to be reviewed after a number of years.
If it had led to an "opening of the floodgates" then the law could be looked at again, Mr Creed wrote in a letter released to RTÉ News under the Freedom of Information Act.
The call has been backed by Junior Minister Lucinda Creighton who said it was constructive and sensible and should be considered by Cabinet.
Cork South West TD Jim Daly said he met with the Taoiseach recently to urge him to accept this clause.
He added that it was a popular proposal and would ensure that abortion would not become widely available here.
Fine Gael TD for Mayo John O'Mahony also said he would welcome such a clause.

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte said he has no objection to the planned legislation being reviewed in a few years.
However, he said he did not believe a "sunset clause" was required.

Constitutional Convention recommends referendum on same-sex marriage

See http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0414/381286-constitutional-convention/

 

Ratzinger's health gives cause for concern

From http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/papa-el-papa-pope-ratzinger-bergoglio-24004/

Giacomo Galeazzi vatican city

Concern has spread about Ratzinger's apparently rapidly deteriorating health. “Benedict XVI is not suffering from any specific chronic illness; his health problems are purely to do with old age,” the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi stressed. His statement, released to Catholic news agency Aci Prensa, came in response to rumours that have been circulating in the Spanish press about the Pope Emeritus suffering a serious illness. In recent pictures Ratzinger appears visibly thinner and physically weaker.

According to information from within the Curia, Pope Francis was apparently also told about his predecessor's health conditions, by Georg Gaenswein, who reassured him. Benedict's increased general fragility is apparently not due to any specific illnesses, recent routine medical check ups confirm. Physical and nervous deterioration are normal consequences of the stressful period that ensued Ratzinger's resignation as Pope. He does not need to be hospitalised for the time being and as scheduled, the former Pope is to return to the Vatican next month, to enter the monastery that has been prepared for him, in the Vatican gardens.

Spanish journalist Paloma Gomez Borrer, the Pope Emeritus' health has allegedly deteriorated significantly in this recent period. Meanwhile, Francis continues to show great consideration for his predecessor as he prepares to make changes to the Church's leadership. He is considering a number of candidates for the position of Secretary of State, but it is likely he will choose an Italian. Cardinal Fernando Filoni was Benedict XVI's favourite for this role, although he was always fervently opposed to Bertone's substitution during the Vatileaks storm. Ratzinger had apparently considered the current prefect of the all-powerful Propaganda Fide dicastery and previously (from June 2007 to May 2011) substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State, as a possible candidate for the position of Secretary of State.

The Pope Emeritus expressed this preference during his historic meeting with the new Pope on Saturday 23 March at the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. Filoni, 67, has frontline international experience in very difficult situations given the role he held as Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq during the Iraq war and then as Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. Time will tell whether Bergoglio will take his predecessor's choice into account. As photographs attest, Benedict XVI handed a hefty pack of documents and two sealed envelopes to Francis which were clearly to do with his papal ministry.
Bergoglio himself wanted the pictures of the box on the table to be taken: a symbol of the handover of the Church's leadership from one Pope to another. Ratzinger's word means a great deal to Francis. And he is naturally also concerned about his predecessor's health.

7 clues tell us *precisely* when Jesus died (the year, month, day, and hour revealed)

See http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/when-precisely-did-jesus-die-the-year-month-day-and-hour-revealed

He that came by water and blood - The miraculous deluge

From http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.ie/2013/04/he-that-came-by-water-and-blood.html

Sunday of Divine Mercy

But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side: and immediately there came out blood and water. (John 19:33-34)

This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit which testifieth that Christ is the truth. (1 John 5:6)

The image of the Divine Mercy recalls the blood and water which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us. It was after his death, as his lifeless and inanimate body hung upon the Cross, that his holy side and Sacred Heart were opened by a lance, which released upon the earth the flood of God’s mercy.

We may ask: What really happened when the blood and water flowed? Was it natural or miraculous? Just how much blood and how much water came forth? Finally, we do well to consider what was the significance of this blood and water?

Hypovolemic shock and pericardial effusion

There is some biblical evidence to suggest that our Savior had entered into hypovolemic shock after his scourging. Due to the great brutality of the scourging, in which the sacred flesh of our Savior was so torn that his skeletal muscles, veins, sinews, and even his bowels were exposed, our Lord had literally begun to run out of blood in his body. This extreme blood-loss may well have set him into a state of hypovolemic shock which would be occasioned by low blood pressure.

Those in this state of shock will experience dizziness and fainting (and our Lord fell several times as he carried his Cross) as well as extreme thirst and a desire to drink liquids to replenish all the lost fluids (and Jesus said I thirst).

What is particularly pertinent to our discussion is that hypovolemic shock causes a rapid heart-rate which in turn causes a great deal of fluid to gather in the sack around the heart and the lungs. Thus, some suggest that the “blood and water” which came forth could have been this pericardial effusion of fluid.

If such were the case, the blood and water would be mixed together, flowing out as one. Further, the event would not be a miracle, but would be a medically and scientifically explainable phenomenon – something natural.

The miracle

However, St. John refers to the blood and water coming forth not merely as a natural phenomenon which demonstrates our Lord’s bodily death, but even further (especially in 1 John 5:6), as a proof of our Savior’s divinity. Pericardial effusion and hypovolemic shock do very little to prove the divinity of Jesus, thus the “scientific” and “medical” explanation seems contrary to the plain sense of the holy and inerrant Scriptures.

Furthermore, a pericardial effusion does not pertain to the flowing of blood and water, but rather to the pouring forth of various fluids which had built up around the heart. However, St. John does not say that “fluids” poured forth, but that there came out blood and water.

And we are to understand that the blood and water came out separately, not mingled. For, if they had come forth mingled, then the Beloved would not be able to say blood and water, but only blood or fluid – just as we do not say that there is “wine and water” consecrated at the Mass, but only “wine”, since the water is mingled with the wine.

Now, St. John states that there came out blood and water, and this must needs be miraculous for it was not serum, but rather pure blood and pure water which came forth so as to be distinguished one from the other.

It is well worth noting that our Savior himself confirms this interpretation through his Image of Divine Mercy, in which the blue and the red rays are clearly distinct.

A total gift

It is further worth noting that this miraculous pouring forth of blood and water was total and complete. Indeed, the tradition is that our Savior gave forth in this miraculous deluge all the blood and all the water which was in his body. There is no reason why this could not be accomplished by a miracle.

Further, this total gift of blood and water symbolized the total gift of himself, and also the abundance and infinite depths of divine mercy.

The water, the blood, and the Spirit

In his first Epistle, St. John states that the three – the water, the blood, and the Spirit – give testimony. The Fathers and Doctors recognize a spiritual meaning to these three.

First, the literal sense. The “water” and “blood” refer, of course, to the blood and water which poured forth from his sacred side. The “spirit” may refer to the Holy Spirit, but perhaps more likely refers to the Savior’s breath/spirit which he gave up on the Cross.

Just as it was by a miracle that all the blood and water of our Lord’s body immediately gushed forth with great force and yet remained unmingled and most pure, so too it was by a miraculous last breath that our Savior cried out in a loud voice as he gave forth his spirit. For, indeed, those who are dying (especially those dying upon the Cross, which is a quasi-suffocation) are not naturally able to cry out in such a loud voice.

The spiritual sense follows. The water symbolizes baptism. The blood, the Eucharist. And the spirit, the sacrament of Penance – for it was this spirit which Jesus breathed upon his disciples after his resurrection when he gave them the power to absolve sin.

Oh Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in you!

10 Reasons the Catholic Church Should NOT Sell Her "Riches" and Give Them to the Poor

Aggie Catholics April 2, 2013:

There are many who ask - why doesn't the Catholic Church sell all her paintings, buildings, expensive decorations, etc. and give them to the poor (and it is a good question to ask). The answer below.

1. The Catholic Church is not as "rich" as some might think. Most of her "riches" are tied up in assets that were given as gifts. More on this below. 
2. What happens after all the money is gone? Then where does that get us? The poor are still poor and now the Church's art, buildings, etc. are in the hands of those that might not appreciate them or steward them as well as the Church. 
3. The "Church" isn't just the hierarchy, it is all of us. The art, buildings, and even money is controlled by certain people, but belongs to all of us. The Pope and/or Bishops can't just sell everything off because they think it is a good idea. 
4. The People of God have provided the Church with the riches she has. Therefore the people have a right to be able to have the intent of their donations honored. If I gave the Vatican a priceless work of art to preserve and they sold it to the highest bidder, I would be royally miffed. 
5. Has anyone asked the poor if they want cash for church assets? If I were poor and gave my widow's mite to build a church and then you went and sold it without asking me I might just go apoplectic. Ask a poor and pious Catholic the next time you get the chance. 
6. The Catholic Church does more to aid the poor than any other private organization already. This points out that the argument isn't about the poor or what the "riches" of the Catholic Church, but about the heart of men. Remember that many religious brothers, sisters, and priests take a vow of poverty and renounce everything for God. But, not all are called to this.
7. The issue of poverty isn't about an amount of money (there is plenty to go around), but about personal greed, corruption, injustice, governmental problems, economic systems, etc. 
8. The greatest need is spiritual poverty - not material poverty. Thus, the Church should use the gifts she has been given to erase this poverty first. 
9. Worship of God is the first justice issue. We owe God our worship before we owe any other human anything. Thus, if art, buildings, gold vessels, etc. can aid us to worship God, then we are fulfilling the requirements of justice. 
10. The total Vatican budget is about $365 million. Most large universities have this budget several times over. The Church's wealth wouldn't do much more for the poor. 

As you can probably see, the argument is quite simply answered by the following quote from Jesus:

"The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." -Matt 26:11 

The purpose of serving the poor is to show your love of both God and man. What better way of showing love to both God and man, but by loving both in the person of Jesus Christ?