See http://www.thelifeinstitute.net/current-projects/be-the-change-vote-pro-life/candidates-europe/
See http://www.thelifeinstitute.net/current-projects/be-the-change-vote-pro-life/candidates-local-elections/
These pages only show Independent, Fianna Fáil, Direct Democracy and Green candidates if they have confirmed their pro-life stance. The other political parties voted for the abortion act last year which legalised abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, and they should not receive any votes in future elections.
Showing posts with label Pro Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pro Life. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Horror: Violent mob of topless pro-abort feminists attacks praying men defending cathedral
From http://www.lifesitenews.com/horror-mob-of-topless-pro-abort-feminists-attacks-rosary-praying-men-defend.html
Buenos Aires, December 2nd, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com)
Extremely disturbing video footage from Argentina shows a mob of feminists at a recent protest attacking and sexually molesting a group of Rosary-praying Catholic men who were peacefully protecting the cathedral in the city of San Juan from threats of vandalism.
The women, many of them topless, spray-painted the men’s crotches and faces and swastikas on their chests and foreheads, using markers to paint their faces with Hitler-like moustaches. They also performed obscene sexual acts in front of them and pushed their breasts onto their faces, all the while shouting “get your rosaries out of our ovaries.” (Note: Some of the most graphic content has been removed from the video. Uncensored footage is available here. Viewer discretion strongly advised.)
According to InfoCatolica, some of the women chanted a song, with the lyrics: “To the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, who wants to get between our sheets, we say that we want to be whores, travesties and lesbians. Legal abortion in every hospital.”
During the attack some men were visibly weeping. None of them retaliated against the abuses heaped on them.
While the site of the protest was the front of the cathedral, InfoBae reports that "the whole city awoke to graffiti in favor of abortion."
Inside the cathedral, 700 people were also in prayer accompanied by their bishop Mos. Alfonso Delgado.
After unsuccessfully trying to get into the building, the women burned a human-sized effigy of Pope Francis. “If the pope were a woman, abortion would be legal,” they shouted.
The attack took place on Sunday, November 24th during the National Women’s Encounter, which annually brings together Argentinean feminists who support “women’s rights.”
The police reportedly told the media they were unable to intervene because “they are women."
The parish priest Fr. Rómulo Campora said to the Diario de Cuyo that “the burning of the image of Pope Francis is an offense, not just to the Church but to every Argentinean because the pope is Argentinean.”
Praising the men who defended the church, he said: “San Juan loves its God, loves its faith, loves its family.”
He lamented the damage done to the cathedral and concluded that “if they don’t respect life, we can’t expect them to respect the buildings.”
The National Women’s Encounter takes place every year in different Argentinean cities, sponsored by the Department of Culture as a “social interest” event.
According to the Argentinean pro-life site ArgentinosAlerta.org, this is not the first time that the feminists wind up in public violence against churches and Catholics.
In past protests, the cathedral of Bariloche, Paraná and Posadas have also suffered damages from these groups.
“These encounters of women represent today’s civilization that seeks to impose it’s own rules,” reads the site.
“On one side, they try to impose political agenda that international organizations dictate: population control, abortion, contraception, homosexualism. On the other side, they become barbaric in the most literal sense.”
Buenos Aires, December 2nd, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com)
Extremely disturbing video footage from Argentina shows a mob of feminists at a recent protest attacking and sexually molesting a group of Rosary-praying Catholic men who were peacefully protecting the cathedral in the city of San Juan from threats of vandalism.
The women, many of them topless, spray-painted the men’s crotches and faces and swastikas on their chests and foreheads, using markers to paint their faces with Hitler-like moustaches. They also performed obscene sexual acts in front of them and pushed their breasts onto their faces, all the while shouting “get your rosaries out of our ovaries.” (Note: Some of the most graphic content has been removed from the video. Uncensored footage is available here. Viewer discretion strongly advised.)
According to InfoCatolica, some of the women chanted a song, with the lyrics: “To the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, who wants to get between our sheets, we say that we want to be whores, travesties and lesbians. Legal abortion in every hospital.”
During the attack some men were visibly weeping. None of them retaliated against the abuses heaped on them.
Inside the cathedral, 700 people were also in prayer accompanied by their bishop Mos. Alfonso Delgado.
After unsuccessfully trying to get into the building, the women burned a human-sized effigy of Pope Francis. “If the pope were a woman, abortion would be legal,” they shouted.
The attack took place on Sunday, November 24th during the National Women’s Encounter, which annually brings together Argentinean feminists who support “women’s rights.”
The police reportedly told the media they were unable to intervene because “they are women."
The parish priest Fr. Rómulo Campora said to the Diario de Cuyo that “the burning of the image of Pope Francis is an offense, not just to the Church but to every Argentinean because the pope is Argentinean.”
He lamented the damage done to the cathedral and concluded that “if they don’t respect life, we can’t expect them to respect the buildings.”
The National Women’s Encounter takes place every year in different Argentinean cities, sponsored by the Department of Culture as a “social interest” event.
According to the Argentinean pro-life site ArgentinosAlerta.org, this is not the first time that the feminists wind up in public violence against churches and Catholics.
In past protests, the cathedral of Bariloche, Paraná and Posadas have also suffered damages from these groups.
“These encounters of women represent today’s civilization that seeks to impose it’s own rules,” reads the site.
“On one side, they try to impose political agenda that international organizations dictate: population control, abortion, contraception, homosexualism. On the other side, they become barbaric in the most literal sense.”
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Abortion Rights Activists Vandalize Cathedral in Chile
CNA July 26, 2013:
Abortion activists interrupted Mass at the Cathedral of the Chilean capital Santiago the evening of July 25, destroying confessionals and defaming several side altars with blasphemous graffiti.
“We were celebrating the feast of St. James the Apostle, with the mayor in attendance, and offering thanks to so many Catholics who serve the public, in an atmosphere of peace and recollection when protestors suddenly came in,” said Bishop Pedro Ossandón Buljevic, an auxiliary bishop of the Santiago de Chile archdiocese.
“The truth is that we are always for dialogue, for civilized debate. We believe in the God-given gift of reason.”
“Therefore we invite everyone to protest in whichever way they wish, but that they do so with respect for the law, for democracy, and the for the dignity of others.”
Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello was saying Mass on the eve of the feast of St. James, the city's patron and namesake, when the activists unexpectedly stormed the cathedral at the conclusion of a pro-abortion march.
Abortion is illegal in Chile, even in cases of rape. Of the country's population, around 85 percent is Christian.
The current government opposes liberalization of abortion access. Last year, Chile's senate rejected three bills easing the absolute ban, the Associated Press reports.
The faithful present at the Mass, including Santiago’s mayor, Carolina Toha, prevented the activists from reaching the main altar.
With help from the faithful, police who in riot gear were able to remove the protestors from the cathedral, dispersing the crowd outside as well, and making several arrests. The protestors had barricaded themselves in with pews.
Isabel Carcamo of the Right to Choose organization told CNN Chile that although she was present during the incident and understood “the people’s anger” against the Church because abortion is not legal in the country, she did not agree with the violent attack.
The protests came ahead of a presidential election, to be held in November.
Bishop Ossandón commented, “at this time when Chile is getting ready to choose candidates for the presidency and for congress, let us all please respect the rule of law.”
Chilean president Sebastian Pinera said the vandalism was "not respecting that rights of others" and that "they're not tolerant and are contradicting their own views."
The protestors destroyed a confessional and spray-painted blasphemies on side altars and statues, such as “Mary wanted to abort” and “abortion is the best.”
Police said charges would be filed against several protestors for destroying a national monument. Church officials said they would also file a lawsuit against those responsible for the vandalism.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Cardinal Raymond Burke Warns Irish Mass Goers of the Culture of Death
The Irish Times
July 8, 2013:
A senior Vatican prelate, Irish-American Cardinal Raymond Burke, advised Mass-goers in Cork yesterday not to be discouraged from living “faithful Christian lives in a society marked by the culture of death”.
The prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura, effectively its Supreme Court, said “more and more, we witness the violation of the most fundamental norms of divine natural law, written upon every human heart by God, in the policies and laws of nations, and in the judgments given by their courts”.
‘Evil fruits’
In a sermon marking the sixth Fota international liturgical conference at a High Mass in the church of Saints Peter and Paul, he said: “We see before our eyes the evil fruits of a society which pretends to take the place of God in making its laws and in giving its judgments, of a society in which those in power decide what is right and just, according to their desires and convenience, even at the cost of perpetrating mortal harm upon their innocent and defenceless neighbours.”
It was, he said, “a society which has abandoned its Judeo-Christian foundations, and above all, the fundamental obedience to God’s law which safeguards the good of all. It is a society which embraces a totalitarianism masking itself as the ‘hope,’ the ‘future’, of a nation”.
Meanwhile, Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor has said the Taoiseach and Government have “dealt a fatal blow to the legitimacy of the political and legislative process” and “disenfranchised massive numbers of citizens of the Republic” through their handling of debate on abortion legislation.
Papal nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Charles Brown pointed out yesterday that “the teaching of the Catholic Church is very clear; a person “has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. ‘He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience’ . . .” He noted too that Ireland’s Constitution “explicitly states that freedom of conscience is guaranteed to every citizen”.
Speaking yesterday at a ceremony in Co Down, Bishop Treanor hailed “the courage of those TDs, men and women, in Dáil Éireann who refuse to bend to weavers of party political mantras, who recognise that the Taoiseach and the Government have failed to engage with key and substantive issues raised in reasoned comment on both grounds of pure reason as well as on grounds linking human reason and Christian faith”.
He added, “this failure has seriously impoverished the quality of the public and political debate. It has dealt a fatal blow to the legitimacy of the political and legislative process. It has, I believe, disenfranchised massive numbers of citizens of the Republic.”
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Abortion in Ireland
From http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/06/abortion-in-ireland
The “Night of the Big Wind” is still the stuff of folklore in Ireland. On January 6, 1839, an unexpected hurricane slammed into the Emerald Isle from the North Atlantic, decimating neighborhoods from County Mayo to Dublin and becoming the worst storm ever recorded in Irish history. Waves were said to have crashed over Ireland’s towering Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. Perhaps most striking was the weather pattern in the run-up to the storm: an unexpectedly strong snowfall on January 5 followed by a warm front on the Epiphany, colliding with a second cold front that would produce the first of the hurricane-force winds.
The present political uproar over abortion law in Ireland—one of only three western European nations, together with Poland and Malta, which continue to ban the practice—seems to have arrived with similar ferocity. The warning signs, however, are decades-old.
Ireland has been “abortion-free,” as pro-life group Youth Defence calls it, for as long as anyone can remember. The illegality of abortion has been codified in some form since 1861, and in 1983 the Constitution of Ireland was explicitly amended by the public to guarantee the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn child. The measure passed with sixty-seven percent of the vote in a decade when abortion restrictions were being repealed all around the world.
Since then, global abortion rights organizations have aggressively targeted the island nation. The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), associated with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, violated Irish law repeatedly in the 1990s—most recently advising women to hide their abortions from authorities, putting women’s lives in danger in the event of postoperative complications. And several thousand women receive assistance each year to seek abortions overseas in Great Britain, though the proportion of Irish women who receive abortions is dwarfed by the abortion rate in the United Kingdom and the Unites States.
Meanwhile, Ireland has maintained one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world. It is safer to be an expectant mother in pro-life Ireland than pro-choice America or Britain.
Ireland’s experience contradicts the “legal abortion makes pregnancy safer” logic, which perhaps explains why the pro-abortion movement has had its eyes trained on Ireland for so long. Ireland is an example of a healthcare system where the rights of both the baby and the mother are upheld equally—to the detriment of no one.
The next chapter of the abortion debate unfolded in 1992, when the Irish Supreme Court ruled that women had the right to an abortion if the mother’s life was imperiled by the pregnancy. Known as the “X case,” the decision sparked an ongoing debate about how to interpret the legislative mandate from the court, with successive governments reluctant to touch the issue for fear of upsetting the public.
The attack on pro-life Ireland resumed with a vengeance in 2005, when three women accused Ireland of violating their basic rights under the European Convention on Human Rights by prohibiting abortion. A, B and C v. Ireland, as the case was known, was a major pro-life victory. In its ruling, the European Court of Human Rights threw out the notion that abortion was a fundamental human right.
The latest uproar, which threatens to finally overthrow the pro-life consensus in Ireland, stems from the case of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian woman who miscarried and died of sepsis during her pregnancy in Galway. The case has become the rallying cry of abortion rights supporters, who maintain (along with Savita’s husband) that her OB/GYN, Dr. Katherine Astbury, refused to provide her with a life-saving abortion. In response, Prime Minister Enda Kenny has proposed a bill that would “clarify” the abortion statute in Ireland, making a clear exception in the constitutional ban for cases of maternal health and including an unrelated provision allowing for suicide as a reason for seeking terminating the pregnancy.
The problem is that the legislation is redundant at best and a Trojan horse at worst. Abortion is already permitted when the attending physician deems the pregnancy a threat to the mother’s life. In fact, once the diagnosis of life-threatening sepsis came, an abortion was planned by Dr. Astbury. The problem was that the diagnosis came a day too late. As Eilis O’Hanlon of the Independent summarized, “It is clear that Savita died because she had severe sepsis which was not properly treated; an earlier abortion may have saved her life, but the reason she did not get one was because doctors failed to ascertain that her life was in danger.”
This hasn’t stopped Kenny, who continues to insist he is a pro-life politician working to bring “clarity” to the law. Never mind that the organization representing Ireland’s doctors feels that the law is unnecessary, and never mind that countless medical experts have testified that abortion can compound the risk for women contemplating suicide.
The result, whether Kenny intends it or not, will mean a fatal break in the Irish pro-life consensus. The suicide loophole, which allows a woman to have an abortion if she receives the approval of three doctors, will quickly be exploited when information spreads regarding who the doctors sympathetic to the pro-choice cause are (see the similar case of New Zealand). And, within no time at all, Ireland will have de facto abortion on demand.
But as opposition has grown, Kenny has hunkered down—realizing that the legislation has become a referendum on his government. He’s forbidden members of his party, Fine Gael, from voting their conscience on the bill, slated for a vote this summer. All the while, public opinion has held remarkably steady on the basic question of abortion. As of mid-2013 only thirty-nine percent of those polled supported abortion on demand, indicating little movement since 1983.
Despite this, today a majority of the Irish public supports Kenny’s bill, swayed by the Savita case—not to mention other factors chipping away at the pro-life position for years, like the eroding influence of the Roman Catholic Church. What the public fails to see, however, is that the bill is only the first front in a long-planned, well-coordinated storm.
The “Night of the Big Wind” is still the stuff of folklore in Ireland. On January 6, 1839, an unexpected hurricane slammed into the Emerald Isle from the North Atlantic, decimating neighborhoods from County Mayo to Dublin and becoming the worst storm ever recorded in Irish history. Waves were said to have crashed over Ireland’s towering Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. Perhaps most striking was the weather pattern in the run-up to the storm: an unexpectedly strong snowfall on January 5 followed by a warm front on the Epiphany, colliding with a second cold front that would produce the first of the hurricane-force winds.
The present political uproar over abortion law in Ireland—one of only three western European nations, together with Poland and Malta, which continue to ban the practice—seems to have arrived with similar ferocity. The warning signs, however, are decades-old.
Ireland has been “abortion-free,” as pro-life group Youth Defence calls it, for as long as anyone can remember. The illegality of abortion has been codified in some form since 1861, and in 1983 the Constitution of Ireland was explicitly amended by the public to guarantee the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn child. The measure passed with sixty-seven percent of the vote in a decade when abortion restrictions were being repealed all around the world.
Since then, global abortion rights organizations have aggressively targeted the island nation. The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), associated with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, violated Irish law repeatedly in the 1990s—most recently advising women to hide their abortions from authorities, putting women’s lives in danger in the event of postoperative complications. And several thousand women receive assistance each year to seek abortions overseas in Great Britain, though the proportion of Irish women who receive abortions is dwarfed by the abortion rate in the United Kingdom and the Unites States.
Meanwhile, Ireland has maintained one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world. It is safer to be an expectant mother in pro-life Ireland than pro-choice America or Britain.
Ireland’s experience contradicts the “legal abortion makes pregnancy safer” logic, which perhaps explains why the pro-abortion movement has had its eyes trained on Ireland for so long. Ireland is an example of a healthcare system where the rights of both the baby and the mother are upheld equally—to the detriment of no one.
The next chapter of the abortion debate unfolded in 1992, when the Irish Supreme Court ruled that women had the right to an abortion if the mother’s life was imperiled by the pregnancy. Known as the “X case,” the decision sparked an ongoing debate about how to interpret the legislative mandate from the court, with successive governments reluctant to touch the issue for fear of upsetting the public.
The attack on pro-life Ireland resumed with a vengeance in 2005, when three women accused Ireland of violating their basic rights under the European Convention on Human Rights by prohibiting abortion. A, B and C v. Ireland, as the case was known, was a major pro-life victory. In its ruling, the European Court of Human Rights threw out the notion that abortion was a fundamental human right.
The latest uproar, which threatens to finally overthrow the pro-life consensus in Ireland, stems from the case of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian woman who miscarried and died of sepsis during her pregnancy in Galway. The case has become the rallying cry of abortion rights supporters, who maintain (along with Savita’s husband) that her OB/GYN, Dr. Katherine Astbury, refused to provide her with a life-saving abortion. In response, Prime Minister Enda Kenny has proposed a bill that would “clarify” the abortion statute in Ireland, making a clear exception in the constitutional ban for cases of maternal health and including an unrelated provision allowing for suicide as a reason for seeking terminating the pregnancy.
The problem is that the legislation is redundant at best and a Trojan horse at worst. Abortion is already permitted when the attending physician deems the pregnancy a threat to the mother’s life. In fact, once the diagnosis of life-threatening sepsis came, an abortion was planned by Dr. Astbury. The problem was that the diagnosis came a day too late. As Eilis O’Hanlon of the Independent summarized, “It is clear that Savita died because she had severe sepsis which was not properly treated; an earlier abortion may have saved her life, but the reason she did not get one was because doctors failed to ascertain that her life was in danger.”
This hasn’t stopped Kenny, who continues to insist he is a pro-life politician working to bring “clarity” to the law. Never mind that the organization representing Ireland’s doctors feels that the law is unnecessary, and never mind that countless medical experts have testified that abortion can compound the risk for women contemplating suicide.
The result, whether Kenny intends it or not, will mean a fatal break in the Irish pro-life consensus. The suicide loophole, which allows a woman to have an abortion if she receives the approval of three doctors, will quickly be exploited when information spreads regarding who the doctors sympathetic to the pro-choice cause are (see the similar case of New Zealand). And, within no time at all, Ireland will have de facto abortion on demand.
But as opposition has grown, Kenny has hunkered down—realizing that the legislation has become a referendum on his government. He’s forbidden members of his party, Fine Gael, from voting their conscience on the bill, slated for a vote this summer. All the while, public opinion has held remarkably steady on the basic question of abortion. As of mid-2013 only thirty-nine percent of those polled supported abortion on demand, indicating little movement since 1983.
Despite this, today a majority of the Irish public supports Kenny’s bill, swayed by the Savita case—not to mention other factors chipping away at the pro-life position for years, like the eroding influence of the Roman Catholic Church. What the public fails to see, however, is that the bill is only the first front in a long-planned, well-coordinated storm.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Pro Life Campaign condemns Taoiseach’s ‘disgusting attempt to demonise pro-life movement’
From http://prolifecampaign.ie/?page_id=3073
The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has rejected the Taoiseach's latest reference to alleged intimidating or unpleasant contact from people concerned about the Government's abortioon proposal, saying he is out to demonise the pro-life movement.
“It’s interesting that the last time the Taoiseach complained of harassing or unpleasant behaviour was just after the highly successful Unite for Life vigil in January, said PLC spokesperson Cora Sherlock. “Now the Taoiseach is making lurid claims again – just after the largest ever pro-life demonstration in Ireland, the National Vigil for Life last Saturday.”
“This is nothing more than spin designed to distract from the Bill. It’s a disgusting attempt to demonise the pro-life movement rather than debate the proposed legislation”, Ms Sherlock said.
“We remind him that pro-life people also suffer harassment. Only last week people at the Pro Life Campaign received death threats. Instead of issuing a press release, we reported it to the Gardai and we would encourage the Taoiseach to do likewise. That way, he is not putting ideas into the heads of other disturbed people who might piggyback on this or any other campaign.
“We believe that the Taoiseach is trying to make capital out of this situation, to distract from his highly dangerous and unjust abortion proposal. We remind him that the real victims here are the unborn children who will be vulnerable to abortion on request – and some at a late term of pregnancy – on the basis of a threat of suicide. And the mothers, some of whom will suffer negative mental health consequences in the future as a result of their abortion.
"The Government is also trying to confuse people into thinking that the proposed abortion legislation is restrictive," Ms. Sherlock said.
“The Taoiseach claimed today that the number of children who will lose their lives every year will not rise above the 30 who die as a result of necessary medical interventions. Is he saying that no abortions will take place on the suicide ground? Who is advising him to say this and do they have any respect for the truth?” Ms Sherlock asked.
Ms Sherlock noted that pro-life Government TDs and Senators had been pressurised by the Taoiseach and his Ministers over the legislation.
“People have been bullied and cajoled, and County Councillors have been drafted in to threaten TDs and Senator that they will lose their political support if they vote against abortion. This is not the right way to pass a law in a democracy. It's time to shout stop."
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Boston cardinal to boycott graduation over honors to Irish official
.
Cardinal Séan O'Malley announced that he would not attend the commencement of Boston College due to an honorary degree Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will receive at graduation.
According to a May 10 statement from the cardinal, “Mr. Kenny is aggressively promoting abortion legislation” in Ireland.
“Because the Gospel of Life is the centerpiece of the Church’s social doctrine and because we consider abortion a crime against humanity,” Cardinal O’Malley explained, “the Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies.”
“Since the university has not withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach (prime minister) has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation,” the cardinal added.
In addition to serving as the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal O’Malley also serves as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
On April 25, Boston College, a Catholic Jesuit university in Boston, announced that it would host Kenny as its commencement speaker and award the Irish Prime Minister an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at its May 20 graduation ceremony. On May 9, the college reaffirmed its commitment to having Kenny as its speaker following condemnation from various pro-life groups within the Boston area and across the country.
Traditionally, the archbishop of Boston delivers a closing benediction during the commencement ceremony.
Kenny and his party has been advancing legislation that would legalize abortion when the mother’s life is in danger – including when the mother threatens suicide.
Abortion is currently illegal in Ireland, and both Kenny and his party, Fine Gael, had previously promised not to advance abortion legislation. Kenny has hinted that pro-life members of parliament who vote against the legislation may be expelled from the party.
Kenny has claimed to reporters that the legislation “ restates the general prohibition on abortion in Ireland,” and merely places into law an earlier Irish Supreme Court ruling that permitted abortion in such cases. However, critics note that the lack of a gestational age limit means that abortion would be available on-demand to any woman in Ireland who raises the threat of suicide.
As currently proposed, the law also lacks conscience protections for doctors, nurses, and other health care workers, and would force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.
Irish bishops have criticized the legislation in a May 3 statement, calling it “a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law.” They also note that the legislation, if approved, would “make the direct and intentional killing of unborn children lawful.”
Cardinal O’Malley has also criticized the legislation, saying in a May 10 interview with the Catholic Herald that abortion “is the taking of an innocent human life” and that “everyone should resist” it.
The cardinal noted that while Ireland has had the “good fortune” to “have been opposed to abortion despite the great pressure that they have come under from secularizing forces,” he hopes “that Ireland will continue to stand up against the pressures” to advance abortion within the country.
“Pressure to legislate for abortion is a dehumanizing force in our world,” Cardinal O’Malley added.
In his May 10 statement, the cardinal said he was “sure that the invitation was made in good faith, long before” Kenny’s legislative actions “Came to the attention of the leadership of Boston College.”
Boston College Spokesman Jack Dunn said to the Boston Globe on May 10 that the school “invited Prime Minister Kenny a year ago” and chose him “in light of our long-standing connection with Ireland and our desire to recognize and celebrate our heritage.” Dunn also said that the decision to invite Kenny is “independent” of the proposed legislation.
The cardinal offered his “ardent hope that Boston College will work to redress the confusion, disappointment and harm caused by not adhering to the Bishops' directives,” and resolve the situation.
Adding that while he will not be able to give the final benediction, “I assure the graduates that they are in my prayers on this important day in their lives, and I pray that their studies will prepare them to be heralds of the Church’s Social Gospel and ‘men and women for others,’ especially for the most vulnerable in our midst.”
Cardinal Séan O'Malley announced that he would not attend the commencement of Boston College due to an honorary degree Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will receive at graduation.
According to a May 10 statement from the cardinal, “Mr. Kenny is aggressively promoting abortion legislation” in Ireland.
“Because the Gospel of Life is the centerpiece of the Church’s social doctrine and because we consider abortion a crime against humanity,” Cardinal O’Malley explained, “the Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies.”
“Since the university has not withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach (prime minister) has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation,” the cardinal added.
In addition to serving as the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal O’Malley also serves as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
On April 25, Boston College, a Catholic Jesuit university in Boston, announced that it would host Kenny as its commencement speaker and award the Irish Prime Minister an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at its May 20 graduation ceremony. On May 9, the college reaffirmed its commitment to having Kenny as its speaker following condemnation from various pro-life groups within the Boston area and across the country.
Traditionally, the archbishop of Boston delivers a closing benediction during the commencement ceremony.
Kenny and his party has been advancing legislation that would legalize abortion when the mother’s life is in danger – including when the mother threatens suicide.
Abortion is currently illegal in Ireland, and both Kenny and his party, Fine Gael, had previously promised not to advance abortion legislation. Kenny has hinted that pro-life members of parliament who vote against the legislation may be expelled from the party.
Kenny has claimed to reporters that the legislation “ restates the general prohibition on abortion in Ireland,” and merely places into law an earlier Irish Supreme Court ruling that permitted abortion in such cases. However, critics note that the lack of a gestational age limit means that abortion would be available on-demand to any woman in Ireland who raises the threat of suicide.
As currently proposed, the law also lacks conscience protections for doctors, nurses, and other health care workers, and would force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.
Irish bishops have criticized the legislation in a May 3 statement, calling it “a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law.” They also note that the legislation, if approved, would “make the direct and intentional killing of unborn children lawful.”
Cardinal O’Malley has also criticized the legislation, saying in a May 10 interview with the Catholic Herald that abortion “is the taking of an innocent human life” and that “everyone should resist” it.
The cardinal noted that while Ireland has had the “good fortune” to “have been opposed to abortion despite the great pressure that they have come under from secularizing forces,” he hopes “that Ireland will continue to stand up against the pressures” to advance abortion within the country.
“Pressure to legislate for abortion is a dehumanizing force in our world,” Cardinal O’Malley added.
In his May 10 statement, the cardinal said he was “sure that the invitation was made in good faith, long before” Kenny’s legislative actions “Came to the attention of the leadership of Boston College.”
Boston College Spokesman Jack Dunn said to the Boston Globe on May 10 that the school “invited Prime Minister Kenny a year ago” and chose him “in light of our long-standing connection with Ireland and our desire to recognize and celebrate our heritage.” Dunn also said that the decision to invite Kenny is “independent” of the proposed legislation.
The cardinal offered his “ardent hope that Boston College will work to redress the confusion, disappointment and harm caused by not adhering to the Bishops' directives,” and resolve the situation.
Adding that while he will not be able to give the final benediction, “I assure the graduates that they are in my prayers on this important day in their lives, and I pray that their studies will prepare them to be heralds of the Church’s Social Gospel and ‘men and women for others,’ especially for the most vulnerable in our midst.”
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
What did the Pope say about abortion yesterday?
From http://www.thejournal.ie/pope-comments-abortion-law-744943-Jan2013/
POPE BENEDICT yesterday criticised legal efforts around the world to decriminalise abortion, ahead of three days of committee hearings in Ireland on proposed new legislation bringing legal clarity to the area.
The pontiff was speaking at a gathering of diplomats accredited to the Holy See when he criticised the proposal of any law which decriminalised abortion, describing such moves as “gravely contrary to the moral law”.
The remarks came in the midst of a lengthy speech, extracts of which were distributed by the Vatican Information Service and which are reproduced below. The passage referring to abortion is emboldened for convenience.
The Catholic Church will be one of six groups to offer input in a two-hour session on Thursday morning, alongside representatives from the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Muslim faiths, and from Atheist Ireland.
POPE BENEDICT yesterday criticised legal efforts around the world to decriminalise abortion, ahead of three days of committee hearings in Ireland on proposed new legislation bringing legal clarity to the area.
The pontiff was speaking at a gathering of diplomats accredited to the Holy See when he criticised the proposal of any law which decriminalised abortion, describing such moves as “gravely contrary to the moral law”.
The remarks came in the midst of a lengthy speech, extracts of which were distributed by the Vatican Information Service and which are reproduced below. The passage referring to abortion is emboldened for convenience.
The Oireachtas health committee today begins three days of hearings on the proposed legislation, hearing input from medical, legal and lobby groups on what should and should not be included in the legislation.Civil and political authorities before all others have a grave responsibility to work for peace. They are the first called to resolve the numerous conflicts causing bloodshed in our human family, beginning with that privileged region in God’s plan, the Middle East. I think first and foremost of Syria, torn apart by endless slaughter and the scene of dreadful suffering among its civilian population. I renew my appeal for a ceasefire and the inauguration as quickly as possible of a constructive dialogue aimed at putting an end to a conflict which will know no victors but only vanquished if it continues, leaving behind it nothing but a field of ruins. Your Excellencies, allow me to ask you to continue to make your Governments aware of this, so that essential aid will urgently be made available to face this grave humanitarian situation. I now turn with deep concern towards the Holy Land. Following Palestine’s recognition as a Non-Member Observer State of the United Nations, I again express the hope that, with the support of the international community, Israelis and Palestinians will commit themselves to peaceful coexistence within the framework of two sovereign states, where respect for justice and the legitimate aspirations of the two peoples will be preserved and guaranteed. Jerusalem, become what your name signifies! A city of peace and not of division; a prophecy of the Kingdom of God and not a byword for instability and opposition!
As I turn my thoughts towards the beloved Iraqi people, I express my hope that they will pursue the path of reconciliation in order to arrive at the stability for which they long.
In Lebanon, where last September I met the various groups which make up society, may the many religious traditions there be cultivated by all as a true treasure for the country and for the whole region, and may Christians offer an effective witness for the building of a future of peace, together with all men and women of good will!
In North Africa too, cooperation between all the members of society is of primary concern, and each must be guaranteed full citizenship, the liberty publicly to profess their religion and the ability to contribute to the common good. I assure all Egyptians of my closeness and my prayers at this time when new institutions are being set in place.
Turning to sub-Saharan Africa, I encourage the efforts being made to build peace, especially in those places where the wounds of war remain open and where their grave humanitarian consequences are being felt. I think particularly of the Horn of Africa, and the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where new of acts of violence have erupted, forcing many people to abandon their homes, families and surroundings. Nor can I fail to mention other threats looming on the horizon. Nigeria is regularly the scene of terrorist attacks which reap victims above all among the Christian faithful gathered in prayer, as if hatred intended to turn temples of prayer and peace into places of fear and division. I was deeply saddened to learn that, even in the days when we celebrated Christmas, some Christians were barbarously put to death. Mali is also torn by violence and marked by a profound institutional and social crisis, one which calls for the effective attention of the international community. In the Central African Republic, I hope that the talks announced as taking place shortly will restore stability and spare the people from reliving the throes of civil war.
The building of peace always comes about by the protection of human beings and their fundamental rights. This task, even if carried out in many ways and with varying degrees of intensity, challenges all countries and must constantly be inspired by the transcendent dignity of the human person and the principles inscribed in human nature. Foremost among these is respect for human life at every stage. In this regard, I was gratified that a resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in January of last year, called for the prohibition of euthanasia, understood as the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being.
At the same time, I must note with dismay that, in various countries, even those of Christian tradition, efforts are being made to introduce or expand legislation which decriminalizes abortion. Direct abortion, that is to say willed as an end or as a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law. In affirming this, the Catholic Church is not lacking in understanding and mercy, also towards the mother involved. Rather, it is a question of being vigilant lest the law unjustly alter the balance between the right to life of the mother and that of the unborn child, a right belonging equally to both. In this area, the recent decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding in vitro fertilization, which arbitrarily redefines the moment of conception and weakens the defence of unborn life, is also a source of concern.
The European Union also requires far-sighted representatives capable of making the difficult choices necessary to rectify its economy and to lay solid foundations for growth. Alone, certain countries may perhaps advance more quickly, but together, all will certainly go further! If the differential index between financial taxes represents a source of concern, the increasing differences between those few who grow ever richer and the many who grow hopelessly poorer, should be a cause for dismay. In a word, it is a question of refusing to be resigned to a ‘spread’ in social well-being, while at the same time fighting one in the financial sector.
Investment in education in the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America means helping them to overcome poverty and disease, and to create legal systems which are equitable and respectful of human dignity. Certainly, if justice is to be achieved, good economic models, however necessary, are not sufficient. Justice is achieved only when people are just! Consequently, building peace means training individuals to fight corruption, criminal activity, the production and trade in narcotics, as well as abstaining from divisions and tensions which threaten to exhaust society, hindering development and peaceful coexistence.
Continuing our meeting today, I would like to add that peace in society is also put at risk by certain threats to religious liberty: it is a question sometimes of the marginalization of religion in social life; sometimes of intolerance or even of violence towards individuals, symbols of religious identity and religious institutions. It even happens that believers, and Christians in particular, are prevented from contributing to the common good by their educational and charitable institutions. In order effectively to safeguard the exercise of religious liberty it is essential to respect the right of conscientious objection. This ‘frontier’ of liberty touches upon principles of great importance of an ethical and religious character, rooted in the very dignity of the human person. They are, as it were, the ‘bearing walls’ of any society that wishes to be truly free and democratic. Thus, outlawing individual and institutional conscientious objection in the name of liberty and pluralism paradoxically opens by contrast the door to intolerance and forced uniformity.
Moreover, in an ever more open world, building peace through dialogue is no longer a choice but a necessity! From this perspective, the joint declaration between the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Poland and the Patriarch of Moscow, signed last August, is a strong signal given by believers for the improvement of relations between the Russian and Polish peoples. I would also like to mention the peace accord concluded recently in the Philippines and I would like to underline the role of dialogue between religions for a peaceful coexistence in the region of Mindanao.
To conclude our encounter, I would like to recall that, at the end of the Second Vatican Council – which started fifty years ago – the Servant of God, Pope Paul VI, sent out messages which remain relevant, including one addressed to world leaders. He encouraged them in this way: ‘Your task is to be in the world the promoters of order and peace among men. But never forget this: It is God […] who is the great artisan of order and peace on earth’. Today, as I make those sentiments my own, I convey to you, the Ambassadors and other distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as to your families and colleagues, my very best wishes for the New Year. Thank you!
The Catholic Church will be one of six groups to offer input in a two-hour session on Thursday morning, alongside representatives from the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Muslim faiths, and from Atheist Ireland.
Monday, January 7, 2013
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