CNA Daily News - Americas

Argentine bishops concerned over assisted reproduction law

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:04:00 -0600

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jun 18, 2013 / 12:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Responding to a new law on assisted fertilization, the bishops of Argentina stressed that “not everything that is technically possible is ethically and legally acceptable.”

Argentine lawmakers recently voted overwhelmingly to approve legislation requiring all health care plans to offer a range of artificial fertility treatments to anyone at least 18 years of age.

In their statement, made public on June 15, the executive committee of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference recalled that every human being, including those conceived outside the body, has the same dignity and rights.

“The transmission of human life enjoys such dignity that it cannot be submitted to technical parameters,” the bishops explained. “Among the goods that are affected is the right of conceived children to an identity.”

“Moreover, the recently approved law on ‘comprehensive access to medically assisted reproduction’ raises concerns because of the legalization of new forms of manipulating human lives at the embryonic level,” they added.

Given the new law, they continued, it is necessary to implement an “express prohibition of any form of destruction of human embryos, or of their utilization for commercial, industrial or experimental purposes.”

The Argentine bishops observed that the country has long protected human life from conception, a policy that they called “wise.”

“This protection, far from being the expression of a religious viewpoint, is a manifestation of the respect that each human life deserves and that is at the foundation of the functioning of our system of human rights,” they said.

They also praised the European initiative “One of Us,” which seeks to defend human embryos from manipulation and destruction, and they recalled the words of Pope Francis, who said on May 12, “I invite you to keep everyone focused on the very important issue of respect for human life from the moment of conception.”

Quebec euthanasia bill blasted for enshrining 'power to kill'

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:03:00 -0600

Quebec City, Canada, Jun 17, 2013 / 04:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Quebec bill to allow lethal drug prescriptions for patients in pain would give doctors “the power to kill” and further lessen the value society places on the ill and dying, a Canadian pro-life group said.

“We must not give anyone – especially not our doctors – the power to kill. We must keep our hospitals safe and protect the weakest and the most vulnerable among us. It is a matter of public safety, of dignity, of true compassion and solidarity,” the Catholic Organization for Life and Family said in a statement.

Social Services Minister Veronique Hivon introduced the Quebec government’s medically assisted suicide bill on June 12.

The bill would allow a doctor to administer fatal drugs to a mentally sound patient who repeatedly gives written consent, CBC News reports. Two physicians would have to approve a suicide request.

Patients who qualify for euthanasia would not need to accept all available treatments. Rather, they would qualify if they experience “constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain which cannot be relieved in a manner the person deems tolerable.”

Canada’s federal government has said it will review the proposed bill’s implications, as assisted suicide and euthanasia are illegal under the national criminal code.

“The laws that prohibit euthanasia and assisted suicide exist to protect all Canadians, including those who are potentially the most vulnerable, such as people who are sick or elderly, and people with disabilities,” Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General Rob Nicholson said June 12.

He noted that a large majority of the Canadian parliament voted against changing the national laws.

Hivon said she believed society was ready for the bill, which she described as allowing people at the end of life “to die with autonomy and dignity.”

However, the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, which was co-founded by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus, warned that justifications for the bill serve as camouflage for euthanasia.

“It is all very well to play with words, but the fact remains that killing is not caring,” the group said. “Let us put an end to confusing the terminology.”

The organization said palliative care is “the only human response” to suffering at the end of life. It urged Quebec to “preserve the mutual trust that is the foundation for genuine relationships between us.”

The group also pointed to worrying precedents in other nations.

“In countries that have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide – despite the safeguards and restrictions that have been put in place – we’ve seen increased depreciation for human life,” the organization said. “In the name of budgetary efficiency, particularly vulnerable people have been encouraged to ask for euthanasia or to commit suicide.”

“This danger is real and is likely to increase with the aging of our population, the rise in demand for health care services and the related costs.”

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family noted that following the legalization of euthanasia in Belgium in 2002, cases in the country rose from 235 in 2003 to 1,133 in 2011. Strict adherence to promised standards is lacking, it said, while Belgian euthanasia lobbyists are now seeking legal euthanasia for children and those with dementia.

The organization reminded Christians of the biblical injunctions against murder, citing the biblical commandment “You shall not kill,” and God’s words in Genesis, “I will require a reckoning for human life.”

At the same time, it explained, Christians should oppose “overly aggressive treatment and the maintenance of life at all costs.”

Denying or ending “extraordinary treatments” are not euthanasia, the group said.

Vatican diplomat: anti-drug policies should focus on family

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:21:00 -0600

La Antigua, Guatemala, Jun 13, 2013 / 04:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Policies to fight drug abuse should reflect the dignity of the human person and build up the family as vital for both prevention and treatment efforts, said a representative of the Holy See.

“Protecting the dignity of all people, especially the youth who represent our future, requires the concerted effort of all in society,” Archbishop Francis Chullikatt said in a statement on behalf of the Holy See.

The archbishop, who serves as the permanent observer of the Holy See to the Organization of American States, spoke at the 43rd regular session of the organization’s General Assembly, held in Guatemala June 4-6.

The theme of the gathering was “Towards a Comprehensive Anti-Drug Policy in the Americas.”

In his statement, Archbishop Chullikatt stressed the importance of the family for society, as well as the need to keep both the individual and the family at the center of drug abuse policies.

“The family constitutes the very basis of society,” he said. “When illicit drug abuse destroys the social fabric of families, it inevitably leads to the destabilization of broader society.”

“It should thus be a necessity that policy makers maintain focus on the family as the cornerstone of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, reintegration, and health strategies so as to provide the only truly holistic and human-centered response to drug abuse.”

The archbishop explained that an adequate response to drug problems and the violent crime that surrounds them “requires not only policies which hold perpetrators responsible but also courses of action which place the individual at the center of policies.”

Ultimately, he said, the “chain of enslavement” to drugs can only be broken by individuals who are empowered to make the right choices.

In the continued battle against drugs, the Holy See is firmly committed to “educating consciences” and “alleviating suffering afflicting those who are affected by drug abuse,” he pledged.

Archbishop Chullikatt voiced the Holy See’s hope that individuals, families and communities will have the opportunity to leave behind the false promises of drug use and rebuild their lives.

“Addressing the international impact of these problems requires recommitting ourselves in the first place to the recognition of the inherent dignity and worth of every person, without exception,” he said.

Teen attributes recovery from coma to global prayer chain

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:10:00 -0600

Santiago, Chile, Jun 13, 2013 / 12:10 pm (CNA).- A year ago, 16 year-old Antonia Cabrera suffered a stroke and was expected to die. Today, she can speak, walk with some difficulty and is continuing a recovery that she attributes to prayers across the globe.

On April 28, 2012, Cabrera fell into a coma, and doctors told her family she would likely either die or remain permanently unconscious.

On May 2, her case was publicized on the website MayFeelings.com, a social network designed to unite people throughout the world in prayer. Soon, Cabrera’s story had drawn thousands of people to pledge their prayers, along with hundreds of messages of encouragement.

Two weeks later, Cabrera woke up, surprising doctors and her family. She has been progressing in the recovery process in recent months.

In a video posted this week by May Feelings, Cabrera recounted her story and thanks those who offered prayers for her.

“The doctors said there was no hope that I could live,” she recalled.

“I don't think good luck just falls out of nowhere. There was a reason why I was lucky - it was because many people prayed for me,” she said.

The 16-year-old described her stroke as “the best thing that happened to me” because it taught her many things and introduced her to people that she otherwise may not have met.

She said she is grateful “for all those who have prayed for me, and I can tell you that it was not in vain, because I am here.”

Cabrera also reflected on the progress she has made so far in recovering.

“If they tell me I won't be able to walk, I walk. This is what we have to do in life,” she said. “When they ask me to do ten exercises, I do eleven. We should always do more than what we are asked.”

Everyday activities are still a struggle, she explained, and this allows her to “appreciate each movement more.”

No matter how the rest of the recovery process goes, Cabrera is optimistic about her future.

“Who says you can't be happy with one less leg, one less hand or whatever?”

The creators of the May Feelings website say that Cabrera’s case has become “an extraordinary example of the power of the prayers of many.”

Latin American religious backtrack on Pope and gay lobby

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:45:00 -0600

Lima, Peru, Jun 12, 2013 / 10:45 am (CNA).- In response to media flurry, the Latin American Confederation of Men and Women Religious (CLAR) released a statement on June 11 claiming that the assertion of a gay lobby at the Vatican “cannot be attributed with certainty to the Holy Father.”

The news that Pope Francis acknowledged the existence of a gay lobby at the Vatican was published on Monday by the left-leaning Chilean Catholic portal “Reflexión y liberación” (Reflection and Liberation), claiming that it was an "exclusive" account of the private meeting between Pope Francis and the CLAR presidency, held on June 6.

According to “Reflexión y liberación,” Pope Francis told CLAR members that “there are holy people in the curia, truly, there are holy people. But there is also a current (stream) of corruption, there is one, it is true… there are words about a 'gay lobby,' and it is true, it is there… we have to see what can we do (about it).”

The same source claims that the Pope also said that “the reform of the Roman curia is something that almost all of us cardinals requested during the congregations previous to the conclave. I also did. I cannot personally make that reform, with these managerial issues... I am too unorganized; I have never been good at that. But the Cardinals of the committee will carry it out.”

According to the statement, CLAR “deeply regrets the publication of a text regarding the conversation held with the Holy Father Francis on June 6. The conversation developed upon the questions asked of the Pope by those present (at the meeting).”

The group added that “there was no recording made during the conversation but shortly after a summary was made based on the memories of the participants. This summary, which does not include the questions posed to the Holy Father, was intended at (helping) the personal memory of the participants and in no way for publication.”

Regarding the decision of “Reflexión y liberación” to publish the story, CLAR says that “in fact, no authorization was requested.”

“It is clear that, based on these facts, it cannot be attributed with certainty to the Holy Father, the specific expression contained in the text, but only in its general sense.”

CNA attempted to contact CLAR’s secretary general, Fr. Gabriel Naranjo Salazar, who is currently in Rome, as well as the group’s president, Sr. Mercedes Leticia Casas Sánchez, FSpS, but did not receive a response by publication deadlines.

“Reflexión y Liberación,” based in Santiago (Chile), issued a June 12 statement defending its decision to publish the text.

“A few days ago, our magazine received a summary of what was the meeting of Pope Francis and CLAR's directive,” it stated.

“We decided to publish it as a news story, without additional comments, just a brief introduction highlighting the importance of such meetings at the Holy See, not only for the Consecrated, but for all the People of God.”

It cited Matthew 10:27: “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.”

Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, told CNA on June 11 that “(t)he meeting between the Holy Father and the presidency of CLAR was a meeting of a private nature.

“Therefore I have no comment to make about the content of the conversation,” he said.

Mexican cardinal: spread peace, not violence

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:30:00 -0600

Mexico City, Mexico, Jun 11, 2013 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Norberto R. Carrera said the family should become the nucleus of a society that spreads concord and not hostility, while speaking at a voluntary disarmament campaign in Mexico City.

“Society always needs public forces to prevent violence, but preventative actions such as voluntary disarmament are more important,” the cardinal Archbishop of Mexico stated.

The campaign allowed citizens to exchange weapons in their possession for economic aid or cash, and was held at the city's cathedral.

According to the News Service of the Archdiocese of Mexico, Cardinal Carrera thanked government officials for the invitation “to participate in a cause so noble as peace.”

“Together with his program, many other actions are needed, such as strengthening the nuclear family, where violence often arises, instead of being a center of harmony, peace and tolerance,” he emphasized.

“Not only are preventive actions necessary to be successful, but the banishing of impunity is as well, because if it is not, society is encouraged to continue down the path of violence and criminality.”

Nearly 6,000 weapons and 49,000 cartridges were collected during the voluntary disarmament campaign, which ended May 31.

Mexico City governor Miguel A. Mancera thanked Cardinal Carrera for the “chance to be at this most important center of the Catholic religion,” and he recognized the Church's efforts to join in the campaign to help foster a culture of peace.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the Church, the Mexican military, and civil organizations, it was the most successful disarmament campaign in the country, Mancera noted.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu thanked Cardinal Carrera for his efforts to raise awareness and promote peace initiatives.

The disarmament program “invites us to make others aware that we want to live in happiness, not in fear.”

“Fear comes from weapons,” she added.

Cardinal Carrera said the Church joins these efforts because “her goal is also to achieve the peace that Christ came to bring to the earth.”

Migrants on Mexico's border face 'nightmares,' priest says

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:03:00 -0600

Tijuana, Mexico, Jun 11, 2013 / 06:03 am (CNA).- Harsh conditions and persecution confront migrants in Mexico, many of whom have been deported from the U.S., according to a Salesian priest who serves the population in the border-town of Tijuana.

“This results in them being people with so many dreams that end up becoming nightmares,” Father Ernesto Hernández Ruiz, a member of the order founded by Saint John Bosco to assist the young poor, told CNA in early June.

Fr. Ruiz operates the “Padre Chava” soup kitchen, which gives breakfast to some 1,200 people daily in the city across the border from San Diego. Most of them have faced deportation by the federal government, some after having lived in the U.S. for numerous years with families and business ties.

“We try to offer comprehensive help – from basic aid consisting of meals, a place for them to stay if necessary – to assistance in helping them to move on with their lives, such as guidance on where to go to resolve a specific problem, or even support in returning to their native countries...or to their cities if they are from Mexico.”

The Salesians in Tijuana don't distinguish between legal and illegal migrants, and Fr. Ruiz says that “the only requirement to come here is to be in need and to be hungry...and of course they should be respectful of themselves and those around them.”

“Every immigrant receives help, and there are even American emigrants who come here for different reasons. Everyone receives help according to their need and what we can give.”

At least 1,000, and as many as 3,000 migrants in Tijuana have made makeshift homes along the Tijuana River, which serves as a sewage canal through the city. Trash, feces, and pollution flow along the river where people deported from the U.S. are now living.

Tijuana, and border towns like it, are full of both those preparing to enter the U.S. from Mexico and Central and South America, and those who have been deported, who are effectively displaced persons.

In Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, deported emigrants as well as those seeking to enter the U.S. are at the mercy of the Gulf Cartel, which regulates both human and drug trafficking in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas.

Migrants in Tamaulipas are a vulnerable population who can be pressed into the cartel's service, or who pay the cartel for assistance in crossing the border. Smugglers in Tamaulipas must pay the Gulf Cartel a tax for each person they help across the border, and migrants must pay for this tax, even if they are later deported.

Over the past five years, the U.S. has deported more than 1.5 million people, often separating immigrant parents from their U.S.-citizen children.

“The first suffering is family separation,” Fr. Ruiz said. Emigrants come to Tijuana in hopes of “solving their family's problems,” by finding economic opportunity in the U.S. Crossing the border involves not only avoiding the U.S. border patrol, but also “being the targets of so much abuse” in both the U.S. and Mexico.

“The rupture of the family,” Fr. Ruiz told CNA, is not only the physical separation, but involves also “difficulty even to communicate.”

This challenge, of being cut off from the family members whom emigrants are trying to help, can lead to the loss of family identity “and even the desire to improve their situation.”

“To strive for this and then not achieve it leads to a feeling of frustration and defeat,” he said – the transformation of the “American dream” into a nightmare for so many seeking a better life for their loved ones.

One of the displaced people deported from the U.S., Abimael Martinez, spoke to NPR about conditions in Tijuana last month. Migrants there are vilified and face harassment from city officials.

“For the police in Mexico, just seeing someone dirty and disoriented...is enough to detain them,” he told the agency in May.

Martinez has dug a hole along the canal to live in, about the size of two refrigerators. He was deported from the U.S. after living in California, where he was an entrepreneur – the owner of an auto body shop, for eight years.

Tijuanans view the migrants in their city as a criminal threat, even though most deportees have no criminal record and less than 0.3 percent are murderers.

Deportation, Fr. Ruiz said, “is breaking up the fundamental structure of society and of the Church herself, which is the family. He called the current U.S. immigration system “immigrant persecution” because “most of the immigrants who are deported are people who have already established a family” in the U.S.

“These children, these teens suddenly find that their father or their mother are no longer here and are not with them. And that causes all kinds of disintegration.”

He noted that government policies must always be concerned with “what is most essential, which is care and concern for the person.”

Government policy in Latin America, he said, should promote job creation “so that people don't leave. Most people leave because they want to seek a better economic situation for their families.” He also urged information campaigns, “because the solution really isn't to go to the U.S.”

“I think people imagine it to be a paradise, when it isn't.”

Meanwhile, in the U.S., an immigration reform bill in Congress that has garnered bipartisan support. It would offer a path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants already residing in the country.

The U.S. bishops have welcomed the proposal, acknowledging it is imperfect saying, according to Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, that it “goes a long way towards correcting injustices in the system.”

Fr. Ruiz expressed concern that the bill would “be beneficial for some...but the vast majority won't have access to many of the proposals that are included.”

“It’s risky for many people because it gives them the hope of getting something, but without offering them any real guarantees,” he reflected.

Chile proposes financial incentives for childbearing

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:18:00 -0600

Santiago, Chile, Jun 10, 2013 / 12:18 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an effort to reverse the country’s low birth rate, President Sebastian Pinera of Chile has announced a proposal to offer financial incentives to couples who have three or more children.

The measure, announced on May 21, would benefit all women apply regardless of income level and would entail a one-time payment of approximately $200 for a couple’s third child. It would increase to $300 for the fourth child and $400 for the fifth.

Catalina Siles, a researcher at the Institute for Societal Studies, told CNA the proposal brings to the forefront an issue that has been absent in the public debate and in the priorities of the government.

“The credit is not intended to solve the underlying problem and much less oblige families to have children, but instead it is a step, a positive measure,” she said, labeling criticism of the bill as “a bit unfair.”

“This is an attempt to reverse the problem, and obviously it should be part of a broader set of policies in support of the family,” Siles said.

“It’s an issue that concerns the government since Chile’s birth rate has been in continual decline since the 1960s, reaching 1.8 children per woman, one of the lowest in Latin America. We find ourselves amidst what experts call the ‘generational winter,’ an increase in the aging of the population.”

She added that the connection between family and personal fulfillment is often overlooked in the country.

“The polls in Chile show that the family is one of the main reasons for personal happiness. A society that only seeks professional success and material wellbeing will produce a generation that is sadder and less fulfilled,” she stressed.

Chile’s Minister for Social Development, Joaquin Lavin, said the new proposal would join a series of initiatives the Chilean government has already adopted to help encourage couples to have children, including extended maternal leave, free day care and other tax credits.

The new proposal must be sent to the Chilean Congress and if approved, would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

Global contraception push aims to 'eliminate motherhood'

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 06:01:00 -0600

Newfoundland, Canada, Jun 7, 2013 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The head of an international charity called the billions of dollars funding “reproductive health” in the developing world an effort to do away with motherhood rather than shrink the maternal mortality rate.

“The objective is not to reduce maternal mortality but to eliminate motherhood,” Dr. Robert L. Walley of the Canada-based MaterCare International told CNA June 3.

Of the over 300,000 maternal deaths that take place in the developing world each a year, the majority of them occur in the last three months of pregnancy, during delivery or shortly after, Walley said – while a very small percentage of those deaths are abortion-related.

Mothers, he noted, “die frequently in unclean conditions, alone, in terror and agony without trained assistants, or access to proper life saving care.”

And delivery is only the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to maternal mortality, he said. Even if she delivers a healthy baby, the mother may still suffer from postpartum hemorrhaging, infection or diseases such as malaria or AIDS.

Rather than providing birth control or abortions to reduce the maternal death rate, Walley says the best solution is to help support mothers during pregnancy, delivery and recovery.

However, the majority of government and private funding is given to organizations promoting contraception and abortion as a solution to the worldwide maternal mortality rate.

“While governments and private agencies spend billions of dollars on reproductive health programs, only a small fraction is spent on life-saving emergency obstetrical care,” he said.

“This neglect to provide essential care amounts to a form of violence, by omission.”

He used the example of the Gates Foundation, which Melinda Gates has used to push contraceptives like Depo-Provera, an injection of progesterone that suppresses a woman’s ovulation.

Risks associated with the drug include breast cancer, ectopic pregnancy, delayed return to fertility after discontinuation and loss of bone mineral density.

Alternatively, for over 20 years, MaterCare International has been working to provide maternity care for mothers mainly in sub-Sahara Africa that “respects their dignity and offers life and hope.”

The group has set up programs to train local doctors and midwives in safe delivery techniques and natural family planning, as well an emergency transport system to take mothers to the nearest hospital if necessary.

However, the charity has been turned down “countless times” for funding by the Canadian government since it does not provide abortions or contraceptives.

Most recently, the group was “frozen out” of the $82 million in funding between 2011 and 2016 from the Canadian development agency, while Planned Parenthood received $6 million in funding.

They had requested $2.2 million in funding to open a hospital near its thriving maternity clinic in Isiolo, Kenya.

Recently, the work of MaterCare International was recognized by now-retired pontiff Benedict XVI when he honored them with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice – “for the Church and the Pope” – award.

More information on the organization can be found at: http://www.matercare.org/.

Bishop says no truce yet between Honduran gangs

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:47:00 -0600

Tegucigalpa, Jun 3, 2013 / 12:47 pm (CNA).- A bishop in Honduras said a truce has still not been achieved between rival gangs in the country that have unleashed “an underhanded civil war between Honduran young people.”

Auxiliary Bishop Romulo Emiliani of San Pedro de Sula denied reports of a truce between the country’s two most violent gangs, the M-18 and the MS-13.

Leaders of both gangs appeared in the media to ask “forgiveness of society and the authorities” and to promise to put an end to their confrontations with the help of the Church and the Organization of American States.

However, Bishop Emiliani, who has been working to end the youth violence in the country, said that this does not mean an agreement of peace has been reached between the two groups.

“What they have done is make a statement of the principles of reconciliation, with God, with society, with the government and the police,” he said.

But while both gangs agree on this, they have not spoken to each other, he explained.

“A truce between the gangs has not yet been achieved,” Bishop Emiliani clarified. “They continue to be at war,” with young people fighting each other and “using the most terrible of means.”

“I do not understand such terrible hatred between poor Honduran young people,” he lamented.

Leaders of one of the gangs promised “zero crimes” against the population “and the other said no more extortions,” the bishop continued.

The gang members are undergoing “a process of enlightenment,” as they “do not want their children to suffer what they are suffering,” he explained. However, this could be a long process that could go on for decades.

Bishop Emiliani chided the state for its “timid” participation, noting that President Porfirio Lobo called him three days ago to offer his “moral support,” but that “there has been no presence from the government.”

Pro-lifers pray after death of Canadian abortion crusader

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 06:04:00 -0600

Ottawa, Canada, Jun 1, 2013 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pro-life leaders in Canada reacted with sadness and prayers to the death of Henry Morgentaler, regretting his leading role in legalizing abortion across the nation and the tens of thousands of abortions he performed.

“As an organization supporting the protection of all human life from conception to natural death, we have always been opposed to Canada’s unrestricted access to legal abortion of which Henry Morgentaler, through his continued court challenges, was probably the biggest single influence,” the Toronto-based Catholic Civil Rights League said May 30.

“Nevertheless, his death reminds us of the sanctity of all life, and we continue to pray for him, as well as for his family and friends at this difficult time,” the league added.

Jim Hughes, National President of the Campaign Life Coalition, said he had been praying for Morgentaler every day “for more than 20 years.”

However, he said Morgentaler was “a highly divisive figure” who trained abortionists “in his methods of killing.”

Hughes said the abortionist did “unbelievable damage” to Canada’s future and his advocacy resulted in the abortions of “millions of Canadians.”

The Polish-born Morgentaler died May 28 in Toronto at the age of 90. He had survived Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Dachau before emigrating to Canada from Poland, the New York Times reports.

He performed his first illegal abortion in 1968 on the 18-year-old daughter of a friend. Beginning in the late 1960s, he opened illegal abortion clinics because he believed criminalized abortion drove women to incompetent abortionists.

“The law was barbarous, cruel and unjust. I had been in a concentration camp, and I knew what suffering was. If I can ease suffering, I feel perfectly justified in doing so,” he said, according to a 1996 biography by Catherine Dunphy.

During his career, he performed tens of thousands of abortions. He was arrested for performing illegal abortions four times and acquitted by jurors four times. Prosecutors appealed one acquittal, resulting in Morgentaler’s conviction.

He served ten months of an 18-month jail sentence, being released after a heart attack. His appeal of another abortion conviction in Ontario resulted in a hearing before Canada’s Supreme Court that challenged the constitutionality of Canadian abortion law. In a 5-2 ruling, the court struck down the law on Jan. 28, 1988 on the grounds it denied women their rights in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Throughout his abortion career, Morgentaler’s actions provoked death threats and some violent responses. He was attacked with garden shears and beaten by a mob. One of his clinics was firebombed, though he escaped injury.

Morgentaler's death this week prompted prayers from pro-life leaders.

“As we wish for both ally and adversary, may God have mercy on his soul,” said Mary Ellen Douglas, national director of the Campaign Life Coalition.

“This is the end of an era and we hope that our country can now turn a necessary corner and find the courage to restore protection to all human beings, born and pre-born.”

Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, president of Canada’s bishops conference, said he recognized that Morgentaler’s family had lost someone they loved. He expressed his condolences on behalf of Canada’s Catholic bishops.

“Every human life is sacred and deserves our care and protection,” Archbishop Smith said. “As Catholics, we mourn the loss of each life, in particular of those who die in the womb, and pray to God to be merciful to all who die. May Our Lord help us all to find the best ways to aid those who are suffering and in need.”

Experts meet in Mexico for conference on Shroud of Turin

Wed, 29 May 2013 13:03:00 -0600

Mexico City, Mexico, May 29, 2013 / 01:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Experts from around the world gathered in Mexico for a conference on the Holy Shroud of Turin in light of the latest studies indicating that the linen bears the characteristics of Jesus’ burial cloth.

The conference, entitled “The Holy Shroud and the Year of Faith,” took place May 24-25 in Mexico City as the Mexican Center for the Study of the Shroud marked its 30th anniversary.

The center is led by Dr. Adolfo Orozco, who is dedicated to studying and making known the burial cloth “that is presumed to have enveloped the body of Jesus of Nazareth and was a witness to the moment of the resurrection.”

In addition to the conference at the Marian Plaza at the Basilica of Guadalupe, an exact replica of the shroud was also on display.

Among the characteristics of the shroud discussed during the conference were its three-dimensionality, the first-century style weaving of the linen and the impossibility that it could have been the work of Leonardo Da Vinci, as historical records show that it was exhibited in Europe 92 years before the artist was born.

The blood on the shroud is human and was absorbed into the cloth before the image was imprinted upon it, experts said. The scientific analysis of the shroud fits with the Gospels’ narration of the historical facts, along with research on Hebrew customs from that time period.

Although it is unknown how the image was imprinted on the cloth, it can be compared to a radioactive reaction, which would coincide with the moment of the Resurrection, experts explained.

Speakers at the event included Dr. Bruno Barberis, director of the Shroud of Turin Musuem; Father Eduardo Chavez Sanchez, postulator of the cause of canonization of St. Juan Diego; Dr. John Jackson, director of the Center for the Study of the Shroud in Colorado Springs; and Dr. Rafael de la Piedra, a lay consecrated member of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and the director of the Center for Catholic Studies of Lima.

San Lorenzo soccer team honors Pope on Marian feast

Tue, 28 May 2013 12:02:00 -0600

Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 28, 2013 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The San Lorenzo de Almagro soccer team celebrated the feast of Mary Help of Christians on May 24 by unveiling a plaque honoring one of their most famous “fans,” Pope Francis.

The feast is marked each year by a special Mass. Two years ago, that Mass was celebrated by then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, who is now Pope Francis.

At the end of this year’s Mass, the club’s secretary Marcelo Vasquez joined manager Alejandro Maccio in presenting the plaque in honor of the Holy Father.

The plaque features an image of the Pope and the San Lorenzo team banner with an inscription underneath that reads, “Thank You Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. May 24, 2011. We are praying for you, Pope Francis. May 24, 2013.”

The Catholic faith has deep connections to the San Lorenzo team, which got its colors from its founder, Lorenzo Massa, who was inspired by the red and blue mantle of Mary Help of Christians. The jersey Massa designed in her honor was first used by the team in 1908.

During the Mass he celebrated with the team in 2011, the future Pope asked the players to “never kick Mary Help of Christians off the team, because she is your mother and San Lorenzo was founded at (the oratory) of St. Anthony under the protection of the Virgin Mary.”

Canada's politicians targeted for 'failure' to protect children

Fri, 24 May 2013 04:04:00 -0600

Calgary, Canada, May 24, 2013 / 04:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A pro-life group in Canada is renewing its efforts to ignite discussion and conversion in their country by calling out major politicians who support abortion.

“We very much want to change public opinion so that we can change public policy,” Stephanie Gray of the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform told CNA May 21.

The campaign called “Face the Children” consists of postcards featuring images of some of Canada’s most powerful politicians alongside graphic pictures of aborted children.

“Our experience has been that when people see the pictures it does change their minds,” Gray explained.

With a team made up of volunteers, summer interns and staffers, the organization has been scouring neighborhoods with the postcards and distributing them door-to-door.

“We’ve seen a range of reactions,” Gray said. While some recipients have called their office with words of encouragement and suggesting that they target more pro-choice politicians, others have been angry and upset.

“The point we make is that the images are disturbing,” Gray said, “but what’s more disturbing is that the picture of the politician next to the image has failed the children.”

“If we just had leaders who would implement laws to protect the pre-born, then these images wouldn’t have to be circulated,” she added.

So far, the group has revealed two of the five politicians they will be highlighting throughout the summer.

In the first round of postcards, a smiling picture of the Prime Minister is shown next to a baby girl aborted at six months with text that reads “Stephen Harper won’t ban this.”

The second postcard the group began distributing just this week features Michelle Rempel, Member of Parliament of Calgary Centre North, alongside a baby aborted at six months with the words “One of
Canada’s most powerful women failed Canada’s most powerless children.”

Each round of the campaign, which will run for five weeks, distributes 50,000 postcards in each politicians riding – or constituency – amounting to a total of 250,000 postcards circulating throughout Canada.

“So, if you think just that on average, say two people see a postcard, that’s basically half a million people that will be targeted with the pro-life message in four months,” Gray said.

Just as the murder trial of Kermitt Gosnell – the late-term abortionist who was convicted of first-degree murder for three babies who survived botched abortions and third-degree murder of one mother – has brought the images of abortion to the public eye in the United State, so too will this campaign in Canada.

“We need to bring what’s in darkness into light because if it remains in the dark, it will carry on,” she said, “but if it comes into the light those with functioning consciences will respond accordingly.”

This is not the first campaign featuring graphic images that the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform has conducted.

The group frequently gathers outside of high schools with poster board-sized images of aborted babies and engages in conversation about what abortion actually is.

Venezuelan Church to start year-long campaign against abortion

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:09:00 -0600

Caracas, Venezuela, May 20, 2013 / 12:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Venezuelan bishop said his country's 13th annual pro-life campaign will extend for the whole year, aiming to defend life and reject abortion “as the killing of a weak and defenseless human being.”

In a statement sent to CNA, Bishop Rafael Conde Alfonzo recalled that for several years the Week for Life has begun on March 25.

However, this year it was postponed because the date fell on Monday of Holy Week and because of political controversy following former president Hugo Chavez's recent death.

Bishop Conde Alfonzo, who serves as president of the Venezuelan bishops' committee on Family and Childhood, said an international campaign exists to impose abortion locally under the pretext that it is a woman’s right.

These organizations do not like the Church’s position in support of the unborn and would prefer the Church adapt herself “to the different trends they are seeking to impose and thus contravene basic principles that are not only religious, but in many cases simply humane,” he said.

However, the “Church’s defense of life is based on the teachings of the Lord, who said that he had come that we might have life and have it in abundance,” Bishop Conde Alfonzo emphasized.

“This statement of Jesus shows us that life is a gift from God...For this reason, it is a contradiction to consider the extinguishing of a life that has just begun as a right. God is the only author of life and He alone has power over it.”

In his statement, Bishop Conde Alonzo called on Christians to fulfill their duty to “be defenders and promoters of the gift of life.”

“Let us ask God that all human beings, especially believers, will learn to be thankful for the gift of life that God has given us and that those who govern the destinies of the nations will establish laws that respect and defend that gift.”

“Jesus, who died and rose, is the Lord of life and wants us to have it in abundance,” the bishop said.