CNA Daily News - Americas

Bolivian bishops urge against passage of gay union law

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:05:00 -0600

La Paz, Bolivia, May 24, 2012 / 04:05 pm (CNA).- The bishops of Bolivia told the country's lawmakers that the State has the duty to protect marriage between a man and a woman, urging them to not adopt a that a bill allowing same-sex unions.

In a statement issued May 23, the bishops warned that the bill is “a grave threat to the family” as it has been understood throughout Bolivian history and society. The proposed bill is currently in committee and no date has been set for it vote before the full congress.

In their remarks, the bishops noted that the country’s Constitution recognizes marriage as “only between one man and one woman.”

Marriage is defined by the fact that it is “a social institution based on sexual complimentarity. This makes the fulfillment of the two equal ends of marriage possible: the mutual love between the spouses and the procreation of children.”

In addition, they added, Christ raised it “to the level of a sacrament, as a sign of his love for the Church.”

Homosexual unions, on the other hand, are incapable of “generating life, ensuring the full development of children and ensuring the continuity of society,” the bishops said.

“Allowing children to live with such couples poses a danger to their normal psycho-social development and is an attack on their rights.”

The bishops also noted that the fact that same-sex relationships are not recognized as marriage does not equal discrimination.

“The civil rights of homosexuals should be regulated by common law, like those of any other citizen. Every human being, as a child of God, deserves to be recognized and respected in his or her dignity and fundamental rights,” the bishops said.

They encouraged Bolivians to “defend the principles and values of marriage and the family as institutions” that bring “true human happiness and contribute to the stability and continuity of society.”

Archbishop urges peace in El Salvador amid rival gangs

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:03:00 -0600

San Salvador, El Salvador, May 23, 2012 / 04:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador supports efforts to mediate a local truce between two rival gangs, stressing that the country must work together to achieve peace.

“We are now at a stage in which society as a whole needs to take action in order to guarantee that the progress achieved with the gangs is not frustrated,” Archbishop Escobar Alas said.

The two gangs, known as Mara Salvatrucha and Mara-18, are considered the main instigators behind the violence that has plagued El Salvador in recent years. With 65 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, El Savaldor has become the second most violent country in Latin America.

In recent comments to reporters, Archbishop Escobar Alas praised the work being carried out by Archbishop Fabio Colindres of the Military Archdiocese, who worked with former guerilla leader Raul Mijango on March 9 to achieve a truce between the gangs.

However, while the rate of violence in the country has declined, he said, this does not mean that both gangs have disappeared.

“The efforts of Archbishop Colindres, with all due respect, were only an act of mediation,” Archbishop Escobar Alas added.

“I sincerely don’t think the solution to the problem of gangs is in the Church’s hands. Society as a whole and the government, with the support of various social sectors, have the responsibility.”

Ecuador judge won't register British lesbian as 'father' of child

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:06:00 -0600

Quito, Ecuador, May 22, 2012 / 04:06 pm (CNA).- Temporarily ending a heated debate over the legal recognition of a British lesbian couple as “father and mother” of a baby girl, a judge in Ecuador ruled on May 22 that only the biological mother can be affirmed as a legal parent.

The baby girl, Satya Amani, was born in Ecuador to Nicola Susan Rothon by artificial insemination. Rothon lives in Quito –Ecuador’s capital – with Helen Louis Bicknell. Both are British citizens who legalized their union as a same sex “marriage” in England in 2010.

Last December, with the support of international Gay and Lesbian organizations, the couple sued Ecuador’s Civil Registry, demanding the right to register Satya Amani under both last names.

In Ecuador, as in most Latin American countries, children are legally registered under the father’s and mother’s last names, in that order.

On Tuesday, however, Judge Vicente Altamirano issued a ruling stating that the legislation in Ecuador “does not contemplate a double maternal affiliation.”

“The laws pertaining civil registry specifically speak of ‘father and mother,’ ‘paternity and maternity,’ ‘man and woman’ in the Civil Code and even the Constitution.”

Altamirano’s ruling also stated that the decision does not translate as discrimination against the lesbian couple, since “no civil servant or public official has denied the right of Nicola Susan Rothon, mother of Satya Amani, to register the child under her name.”

“The minor is the daughter of Nicola Susan Rothon, meaning that the two, mother and child, share the same blood, so they must share the same last name, as clearly expressed by our legislation.”

“But what does Helen Louise Bicknell represent to the child that will be named Satya Amani?” the ruling added. “The answer is: nothing, since this British citizen has no kinship of affinity or blood.”

The judge's ruling can now only be appealed by the couple to the Constitutional Court, the highest judicial authority in the country.

Group launches tour to end abortion in Canada

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:59:00 -0600

Denver, Colo., May 22, 2012 / 12:59 pm (CNA).- A Canadian pro-life group is retracing the steps that abortion activists took in the country during the 1970s, but with the goal of repealing local abortion laws.

“We want to take the language for choice and then expose it,” Stephanie Gray, executive director of the Canadian Center for Bio-ethical Reform, told CNA May 16.

The group, which is dedicated to “making abortion unthinkable” by engaging the public in discussions about the reality of abortion, will undertake its most ambitious campaign yet on May 29 with a cross-country educational tour.

The New Abortion Caravan will follow in the footsteps of abortion activists who engaged the public with a nearly identical campaign, called the Abortion Caravan, in the summer of 1970 to gain free abortions on demand and repeal pro-life laws.

By using disturbing imagery, having women to share emotional accounts of their experience with illegal abortion and presenting the act as a fundamental women's right, the abortion advocates were able to achieve their goal.

The original Abortion Caravan, which visited provinces from Ottawa to Vancouver, significantly contributed to the repeal of anti-abortion laws 18 years later, resulting in free abortions on demand, paid for with Canadian taxes, through all nine months of pregnancy.

Gray is confident that the new tour – which follows the same route and is part of the organization's larger campaign called End the Killing – will contribute to Canadians overturning abortion laws in the year 2030, precisely 18 years from now.

“We can end the killing and we can end it in our lifetime,” Gray said.

She noted that using similar rhetoric as abortion advocates is key, adding that the New Abortion Caravan hopes to “shift the debate from an abstract notion of choice” to the reality of abortion as “an act of violence which kills a baby.”

During their tour, the group will use graphic imagery, give educational talks and provide testimonies from women who have had abortions to expose the reality of the violence of the procedure.

Whereas the original campaign ended on Mother's Day in order to present the movement as a women's rights issue, the new campaign will end on July 1, Canada Day, to frame abortion as a violation of human rights.

“If someone would harm a toddler, wouldn't you intervene to stop that act of injustice from occurring?”

In the same way, abortion, is simply the killing of children who “are just a little bit younger, less developed and more dependent than toddlers,” Gray explained.

Although the tone and imagery of the campaign may seem extreme, Gray said that her staff must be “good ambassadors” of the truth and love.

Above all, they need to, “communicate that harshness, which can't be changed, because abortion is harsh,” while at the same time practicing empathy, compassion and being good listeners.

Founded in 2001, the center now employs a team of 19 young Canadians who are dedicated to “making abortion unthinkable in our lifetime.” To that end, the group sponsors talks, demonstrations, and campaigns throughout the year that are meant to “engage the culture directly about who the pre-born child is.”

The organization has had surprisingly favorable feedback from various programs, especially with their high school talks.

“We find that we get such a positive, transformative response from students because they typically haven't been exposed to the pro-life message.”

Brazilian lawmakers consider anencephaly abortion ban

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:15:00 -0600

Brasilia, Brazil, May 22, 2012 / 12:15 pm (CNA).- Lawmakers in Brazil have put three bills up for debate in an attempt to overturn a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court on April 12 that legalized abortion in cases of anencephaly.

The Supreme Court voted 8-2 last month to legalize abortion in cases of unborn babies with the condition, which causes the brain to develop only partially or be completely absent.

Over 80 percent of Brazilians have said they do not support abortion in such cases and the country’s bishops have repeatedly voice opposition to any such proposals.

In response to the ruling, Evangelical congressman Marco Feliciano introduced the first bill on May 9 which specifically aims to curtail the power of the Executive Branch to promulgate Supreme Court rulings.

He claims that Justice Marco Aurelio Mello, who wrote the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, announced his position to the media beforehand and violated the court’s norms for confidentiality.

On May 10 congressmen Roberto de Lucena, Salvador Zimbaldi and Joao Campos announced a bill similar to Feliciano’s, arguing that the high court has no authority to legislate from the bench.

The third bill, announced on May 14 by Congressman Nazareno Fonteles, calls on the Brazilian Congress to overturn the ruling. Fonteles said the court has “repeatedly” violated the Brazilian constitution, which states that only Congress has the power to enact laws.

“Rulings by the Supreme Court on matters that are clearly to be decided by the Legislative Branch have become increasingly more common,” his bill states.

According to Catholic attorney Ives Gandra Martins, who was cited in the first of the three bills, the bill put forth by Congressman Fonteles “could overturn this ruling, if the National Congress had the courage to do so.”

Pro-life leaders praised the sponsors of the three measures and called for support especially for the measure by Congressman Feliciano.

Abortion doctor says women who undergo procedure live with guilt

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:02:00 -0600

Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 21, 2012 / 04:02 pm (CNA).- German Pablo Cardoso, a well-known abortion doctor in Argentina, said that every woman who undergoes an abortion is burdened with “sorrow” and guilt.

In an interview with MDZ Radio, the 54-year-old Cardoso, who markets himself online as “Doctor Abortion,” called the procedure “a burden, a sorrow in the soul, and there is no woman who does not live with guilt.”

Cardoso was detained by Argentinean authorities in June 2011 for performing illegal abortions, but was eventually released by a judge. The doctor has been performing abortions since 2000 at a cost of $786 U.S. dollars each.

During the radio program, Cardoso said he continues to carry out abortions despite seeing its negative affects on women and has joined an advocacy group in calling for the legalization of the practice in Argentina.

He said he uses the “surgical method” of dilation and aspiration to perform abortions and that some 500,000 abortions are performed each year in the country. “Not even half of these are carried out by doctors,” he claimed.

Cardoso said his family supports him as an abortion doctor. “If we were in Europe or the United States, we would not be talking about ethics or guilt. It’s a matter of passing laws that we need.”

Young order invigorates Colo. parish

Sat, 19 May 2012 13:10:00 -0600

Denver, Colo., May 19, 2012 / 01:10 pm (CNA).- St. Mary’s Parish in Littleton, Colo. played a key role last weekend in an international event—the 25th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious order established a quarter-century ago by five young men in a small Spanish town.

“This is an example of the fruits of the new evangelization—a young, new movement in the Church which has sprung out of the call of Blessed John Paul II,” said Bishop James Conley, archdiocesan apostolic administrator, who spoke during the festivities May 12.

The reception, which followed a thanksgiving Mass, drew in many of the parish’s several thousand families, who were treated to an impromptu serenade by their pastor, Father Alvaro Montero, and his pastoral team. Accompanied by accordion and guitar, the “band” included parochial vicars, all members of the order, Father Javier Nieva and Father Leopoldo Vives; Father Armando Marsal, who is in residence at the parish; and theology student, Brother Juan Espino. The entertainment also included the Disciples’ visiting superior general from Spain, Father Jose Noriega, who is also one of the order’s five founders.

St. Mary’s is one of only two parishes in the world led by the Disciples—the other parish is in Madrid, Spain. Yet the parishes represent an explosive growth of the order. Today, the order has 30 members, 19 of them priests, six of them stationed in Colorado. Its university professors are based in Madrid and Rome. The order’s mission is to provide family and youth ministry, strong Catholic education from elementary school to the university level, and to help each individual and family develop a personal friendship with Jesus, using the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola as the foundation.

“This is something God put in our hearts,” Father Noriega said. “We were poor people in the beginning, without resources but a strong friendship with Christ and each other. So for something to grow this big, the way seemed impossible. We wanted to be fruitful, to share with others what we received from Christ, although it was not clear how when or where. But God always surprises us.”

One of the biggest surprises is how the Spanish order found its way to a suburban parish in Colorado. That was the work of former Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., who was alert to authentic new movements in the Church and keen on bringing them to Denver, Bishop Conley said. In this case, it meant placing one of the archdiocese’s largest parishes into the care of a pastor who had been a priest for only about two years.

Father Montero had met the order in 1992, when he was in college in Madrid. He was struck by the Disciples’ youth and friendship—first their friendship with Christ, and then with each other.

“And that’s how the mystery of a vocation unfolds,” Father Montero said.

Years later, in 2007, came the invitation from Archbishop Chaput.

“Archbishop Chaput did run a risk with us, but this is the way God works—he works with creativity and trust,” said Father Montero. “I told Archbishop Chaput, ‘You realize I have been a priest a little over two years and you are giving me faculties to run a big parish?’ He said, ‘You’ll make mistakes, but don’t worry—you’ll correct them!’”

The result has been an invigorated and involved parish.

“I knew they were special as soon as we got here,” said Mary Jo Rakowski, who joined St. Mary Church in 2007, virtually the same time as the Disciples arrived. Immediately she and her husband, Paul, enrolled their children, Aidan, now 8, and Keelee, 7, in the parish school.

“The Disciples really are disciples—true friends of Jesus,” Rakowski said. “They have this very clear desire for each person in the community to grow in holiness, and they make you desire it, too. They preach the truth with enthusiasm. My children love all of them. They are highly intelligent and educated, but still approachable, and that is really a gift.”

Since the Disciples arrived, the parish has experienced a lively growth in volunteering and programs. In the Encounters with Christ program, schoolchildren are awakened to friendship with Jesus using the methods of St. Ignatius. Friends of the Disciples has grown to 700 members who help support the priests with their “time, talent and treasure,” including a lively newsletter. A new exchange program welcomes Spanish students to the parish for summer visits, and will send St. Mary’s youth to Spain.

The Disciples also issue constant invitations to young people to consider a religious vocation. The results are already paying off: the parish has produced three religious sisters and one potential seminarian. Now Father Montero has a new marketing pitch: Who wants to become the first American-born Disciple?

His call-out has already reached the ears of Cameron Schimmoller, 14.

“I’m thinking about it,” Schimmoller said, with a grin. “I think that would be pretty cool.”

Posted with permission from Denver Catholic Register, official paper for the Archdiocese of Denver, Colo.

Vatican laicizes Canadian bishop convicted for child pornography

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:32:00 -0600

Ottawa, Canada, May 17, 2012 / 12:32 pm (CNA).- The Vatican has dismissed from the clerical state a Canadian bishop who pleaded guilty to the possession of child pornography.

“Raymond Lahey has accepted the Decree of Dismissal, which also requires him to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in reparation for the harm and the scandal he has caused, and for the sanctification of clergy,” the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said May 16.

Bishop Raymond Lahey of Antigonish, Nova Scotia was arrested in 2009 after Ottawa airport workers found hundreds of images of child pornography in his possession on his return from a trip abroad.

In May 2011 he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was immediately jailed.

After the disgraced bishop was jailed, the Vatican responded to the case with a condemnation of “sexual exploitation in all its forms, especially when perpetrated against minors.” It also voiced pastoral concern for those who experienced “great pain” as a result of the scandal.

The latest Vatican decree is the response to the bishop’s crime under Church law.

The bishop’s dismissal from the clerical state means that he loses the rights and duties of the priestly state, except for his obligation of celibacy. He is prohibited from exercising any priestly ministry, except in case of emergency.

In January the former bishop was sentenced to 15 months in jail and two years of probation. However, he was given double credit for his time in custody before sentence and was released upon probation at the close of his trial, CTV News reports.

Bishop Lahey’s successor, Bishop Brian J. Dunn, in January announced a diocesan gathering scheduled for October 2013 to address questions and concerns about the direction of the Church and to give a clear focus for pastoral care.

Bishop Dunn said the gathering will give “a new impetus and new direction as we live out our faith.”

“The recent events that have touched every person in our diocese have led to a great deal of reflection upon the Church’s need to bring justice, compassion, healing, hope and new life to the people of God,” he said Jan. 6.

Lima archdiocese issues clarification on priest stripped of faculties

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:08:00 -0600

Lima, Peru, May 17, 2012 / 12:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Lima issued a statement clarifying the decision by Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani to strip local priest Father Gaston Garatea of his ministerial faculties.

On May 16, the archdiocese condemned what it called a “campaign of misinformation and discredit” launched against the cardinal by some in the media, stating that the priest is still able to exercise priestly ministry outside the cardinal's jurisdiction.

Father Garatea – a member of the religious order titled the Congregation of the Sacred Heart – was privately sanctioned in recent days by Cardinal Cipriani over his public support for homosexual activists and criticism of priestly celibacy.

The priest has also maintained a tense relationship with Church officials in Lima over his promotion of liberation theology.

Adding to the controversy, the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru named Fr. Garatea an honorary professor on May 14, saying his new role would be as an advisor to the school on “social responsibility” due to “his commitment to the defense of human rights, equality and tolerance.”

The archdiocese clarified that the cardinal's handling of the case and the decision to strip the priest of his faculties “has been conducted with utmost prudence regarding the Church’s norms, and in a climate of charity.”

Below is the full statement from the archdiocese:

“In response to the obvious campaign of misinformation and discredit that has been launched over the decision not to renew the ministerial faculties of Father Jorge Gaston Garatea Yori, SS.CC., in the Archdiocese of Lima, out of respect for the truth and for his own good, we feel obliged to state the following:

According to the proper norms of the Catholic Church, religious priests who belong to a religious Institution of consecrated life report to their Superior General, with regard to the internal regimen of the religious community in question.

However, in order to carry out pastoral work in a specific jurisdiction, they require that the local ordinary, the bishop, grant them the corresponding ministerial faculties (cf. Canon 265). In this sense, the local bishop, for sufficient reasons made known ahead of time to the Superior General of religious community in question, may determine that a religious priest can no longer work in his ecclesiastic jurisdiction. This action, as in the case of Father Jorge Gaston Garatea Yori, SS. CC., does not suspend the religious priest or prohibit him from exercising his priestly ministry in other places.

The universal praxis of the Church is fully recognized by Canon Law and is a very important expression that reinforces the unity of priests with their own pastor and local ordinary (cf. Canons 273 and 275).

We disapprove that some persons, whose aims are totally unrelated to this situation that has been handed with utmost prudence regarding the Church’s norms, and in a climate of charity, now seek to victimize a priest for the sole purpose of sowing confusion, damaging his priestly identity and at the same time in order to publicize the ideological reasons that motivate them and distance them from fidelity to the Church, with statements and manifestations that reflect their rejection, or at least, their lack of respect, for the Magisterium of the Church and her pastors.”

Church condemns Colombian terrorist attack that killed five

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:04:00 -0600

Bogotá, Colombia, May 16, 2012 / 12:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishops of Colombia condemned the terrorist attack that took place in the capital city Bogota on May 14 that left five people dead and nineteen wounded.

The attack took place on 74th Street and Caracas Avenue on a public bus, moments after another car bomb was deactivated in the Eduardo Santos district in downtown Bogota. Two other explosive devices on the bus failed to detonate.

Bishop Juan Vicente Cordoba, secretary general of the bishops' conference, told CNA that the local Church “deplores and rejects these terrorist acts that are an attack on the peace that should reign in our society.”

“We are disturbed by these acts of violence that have just taken place,” the bishops said. “It is a shame that we are returning to this terrorist escalation that only leaves behind death and sorrow.”

According to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, those wounded in the attack included former interior minister Fernando Londono, who was sitting in a gray van that was parked nearby. His driver was killed by the blast.

Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, also condemned the attack “in the strongest terms.”

“We don’t understand what the purpose was behind this, but be assured that the Government will not be derailed by these terrorist acts,” he said.

The bishops’ conference released a statement expressing solidarity with the victims, the wounded and their families, as well as with former minister Londono.

Bogota Police Chief Luis Eduardo Martinez said all the evidence suggests that the Marxist rebel group FARC was responsible for the attack.

Young activists swell the ranks of Canada's 15th March for Life

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:03:00 -0600

Ottawa, Canada, May 15, 2012 / 11:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Canada's 15th annual National March for Life has broken attendance records by a dramatic margin, due in part to rising youth participation in the country's pro-life movement.

“It's been growing every year by thousands. Last year we had 15,000, and this year we had 19,500,” Campaign Life Coalition National Coordinator Mary Ellen Douglas told CNA on May 14.

“It is a significant increase,” she said, noting that the pro-life movement was “constantly growing” in Canada. The May 10 march to Parliament Hill was part of a three-day event in Ottawa, which also included a candlelight vigil, prayer services and Masses, banquets and a youth conference.

Local marches also took place in at least four other provinces, protesting the 1969 legislative act that made abortion legal in Canada as well as the 1988 decision that left the country with no abortion restrictions.

“Over 60 percent of the people who attended the march were under 30,” Douglas said. “It was alive with young people, with lots of enthusiasm, and with other people who are long-term veterans.”

In addition to the remarks delivered by pro-life and religious leaders, 17 members of Parliament also addressed the crowd. Population Research Institute President Steve Mosher, a prominent opponent of China's one-child policy, gave an address at the Rose Dinner on Thursday evening.

On that same evening, an 800-strong crowd attended the youth banquet with an address by Reformed Presbyterian minister Reverend Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition. A day-long youth conference followed on Friday.

“It's getting the attention of the media, who are shocked by the numbers,” Douglas observed. “Even though they try to diminish them all the time, they notice. They know that we're there in force.”

Douglas, a 40-year veteran of the movement, said the timing of this year's march was “providential,” coinciding with a motion in Parliament by Conservative MP Steven Woodworth.

“This motion is calling on Parliament to bring together science and the law – because the law of Canada says you're not a human being until you're fully emerged from the womb.”

Woodworth's motion calls for a science-based examination of the legal question of life's beginning. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is said to oppose the motion, in keeping with his past statements that the abortion question should not be reopened in Canada.

Douglas noted that life's beginning at conception “cannot be decided by a committee. It's a scientific fact … and it can't be deviated from by a committee who decides that it might be better to have a law protecting babies after 20 weeks, or after 12 weeks.”

“If it ever gets to the committee, that will be our next battle: to ensure that all unborn children are protected, from the time of conception.”

At a press conference kicking off the March on May 9, Campaign Life Coalition Youth Coordinator Alissa Golob declared: “Whether you like it or not, the abortion debate is on.”

The group's national coordinator agrees, and says she is hopeful for the next generation of activists and their determination to shape attitudes and public policy.

“I think there's a sense of the terrible injustice going on here,” Douglas observed. “In general, we may see more bills going forward – as more MPs find the courage to stand up, in different ways, until we have all the unborn children protected.”

“We hope next year the numbers will keep increasing, until we have so many people on Parliament Hill that they have to respond. And we'll be there as long as we have to be.”

Canadians' religious freedom in danger, bishops warn

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:39:00 -0600

Ottawa, Canada, May 15, 2012 / 08:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Freedom of religion and conscience are in danger of disappearing from Canadian society, the country's bishops warned on May 14.

“In the past decade in Canada there have been several situations that raise the question whether our right to freedom of conscience and religion is everywhere respected,” the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops observed in Monday's pastoral letter.

“At times,” the bishops observed, “believers are being legally compelled to exercise their profession without reference to their religious or moral convictions, and even in opposition to them.” They pointed to the dangers of “radical secularism” and an “aggressive” relativism that opposes all claims of truth.

The Canadian bishops also highlighted the anti-religious nature of some “anti-discrimination” laws, as well as the tendency of advocacy groups to use provincial Human Rights Tribunals to promote a radical agenda and block believers from speaking and acting freely.

These “acrimonious procedures,” they said, “would be better replaced by a civilized and respectful debate” that offers “a voice in the public forum to religious believers.”

“If that voice is suppressed in any way, believers should view this as a restriction on their right to freedom of religion, one which should be forcefully challenged,” the bishops stated.

Billed as a “pressing appeal” to people of all religions and outlooks, the Canadian bishops' “Pastoral Letter on Freedom of Conscience and Religion” cites the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which numbers “freedom of conscience and religion” among the fundamental Canadian liberties.

However, the bishops' message also makes it clear that religious freedom is not a right given by the government. Rather, it is a human right that the state “acknowledges and respects” but “does not grant.”

The Canadian bishops cited the Second Vatican Council's document on religious liberty, “Dignitatis Humanae,” which declared that a person should not be “forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.”

As they called attention to national and global threats to this right, the bishops also offered four points for reflection and action. In an introduction to the letter, conference president Archbishop Richard W. Smith of Edmonton summed up its advice to Catholics and “everyone of good will.”

The archbishop explained that Catholics, non-Catholics, and even non-believers have a shared interest in “the right of religion to be active in the public square.” Both groups should also seek “healthy Church-State relations” that distinguish between the two without pushing the Church out of public life.

Canadians were also urged to form their consciences “according to objective truth” – rather than personal preference or the will of the majority – and to safeguard the right of conscientious objection, especially in areas “linked to the dignity of human life and the family.”

In some Canadian provinces, the bishops warned, these rights have already been compromised or lost.

“For example, some colleges of physicians require that members who refuse to perform abortions refer patients to another physician willing to do so,” they noted.

“Elsewhere pharmacists are being threatened by being forced to have to fill prescriptions for contraceptives or the 'morning after' pill; and marriage commissioners in British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan must now perform same-sex marriages or resign.”

Under these circumstances, they said, Christians have both a right and a duty to stand against laws that violate the moral order.

The bishops also affirmed parents' right “to educate their children in their religious convictions and to choose the schools which provide that formation.” The state, meanwhile, “has the obligation to protect this right … and to create a suitable environment where it can be enjoyed.”

In the course of upholding their principles, believers may also be forced to suffer for them. The Canadian bishops cited the example of Saint Thomas More, an English patron saint of Catholics in political life, who chose martyrdom when asked to put his country above his faith.

Believers who defy an unjust state decree, they warned, “must be prepared to suffer the consequences that result from fidelity to Christ.” If they are not given an accommodation or reprieve, they should receive “the effective solidarity and prayerful support of their religious communities.”

“The Church’s vitality has often been nourished by persecution,” the bishops noted. “Our era is no exception.”

Lawyer says Pontifical University can't control who represents Church

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:01:00 -0600

Lima, Peru, May 14, 2012 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- The attorney for the Archdiocese of Lima, Natale Amprimo, said Peru's Pontifical Catholic University has no right to tell the Vatican it must replace Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani as the negotiator between the Church hierarchy and university officials, as rector Marcial Rubio is requesting.

As controversy continues over the university's refusal to follow Vatican directives, Rubio sent a letter on May 9 to the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

In the letter, Rubio argues that the removal of Cardinal Cipriani as negotiator is “the only way to achieve the full peace that the University and the Peruvian bishops desire.”

As one of several moves that has caused concern among Vatican officials, the university had defied a ruling by the Peruvian civil courts to give the Archdiocese of Lima a seat on its board of directors.

An investigation of the university was carried out Dec. 5 -11, 2011 by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Budapest, who found the Lima-based institution to be at odds with the Catholic Church in several significant areas of policy.

University officials have been refusing to comply with the Church’s guidelines for Catholic universities, which were laid out the papal document “Ex Corde Ecclesiae.” The apostolic constitution was promulgated in 1990 by Pope John Paul II to clarify what is expected of an authentically Catholic university.

The Vatican had given the school until Easter 2012 to comply with the Church’s requirements for Catholic colleges, marking the first time the Holy See has set a deadline for a university to reform. However, the university has yet to fully comply, arguing that an unrelated dispute with the archdiocese over property rights is delaying the process.

In remarks to CNA, Amprimo criticized Rubio over the ongoing controversy, saying the “only thing left is for the University to say that it gets to decide who represents the Church in Peru.”

Amprimo lamented that the rector has described Cardinal Cipriani as a troublemaker and has accused him of offending the Pontifical University. The truth, he argued, is that university officials “do not want to modify anything, they don’t want to regularize their situation.”

“Rather, they wish to continue looking for a way to validate an irregular situation.”

Rubio, who said Cardinal Bertone has not responded yet to his previous letter from April 13, said a “comprehensive” solution to both the conflict over the university’s statutes and the lawsuit with the Archdiocese of Lima over the administration of the property donated by Jose de la Riva Aguero should be the goal.

The archdiocese has repeatedly rejected this proposal and has argued that the issues are separate. One refers to the modification of the university’s statutes and the other to how to interpret the wishes of Riva Aguero, who wanted the Church to be able to have control over the land he donated to the university under certain circumstances.

This last point has not been accepted by university officials, even though Peru’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Archdiocese of Lima.

Amprimo said she believes Rubio is trying to confuse the public. “Instead of giving a clear and transparent explanation, the PCUP only offends and insults. When there is doubt, a resolution comes from clarifying things.

“It is very pretentious of them to say to the Holy See who should represent it and who the Cardinal of Peru should be.”

Cuban dissident detained for third time this year

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:04:00 -0600

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, May 10, 2012 / 04:04 pm (CNA).- The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation denounced the Castro regime for jailing prominent Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer for the third time so far in 2012.

Spokesman for the Commission, Elizardo Sanchez, told the EFE news agency that Ferrer was detained on his way to the Czech Republic Embassy in Havana to use the internet, which is strictly controlled by the Cuban government.

Ferrer, who leads the Patriotic Union of Cuba, was intercepted by “three police cars of the State security force.”

Henry Perales, a member of the Patriotic Union, witnessed the detention and said it was videotaped by police. He noted that Ferrer did not offer any resistance.

Sanchez said Ferrer had been in Havana for several days meeting with diplomats from the European Union. “I took him there, and he was brought back to my house by a diplomat,” he explained. Sanchez said the Cuban dissident was “accompanied by someone at all times.”

This is the third time in 2012 that Ferrer has been detained after being released from prison in 2011 thanks to the intervention of the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega. However, the Communist government only agreed to grant him permission to leave prison instead of suspending his sentence.

Ferrer was detained first in February and later on April 2. The government released him 27 days later but has charged him with “public disorder.”

His brother, Luis Enrique Ferrer, who represents the Patriotic Union of Cuba abroad, warned that the charges could mean he might be sent back to prison. In a video for the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, Luis Enrique said his brother could face another prison sentence on top of the 16 years remaining from his initial sentence.

State police are threatening him with having to spend “the rest of his days in jail,” Luis Enrique said.

Bolivian bishops call for end to violent protests

Thu, 10 May 2012 12:04:00 -0600

La Paz, Bolivia, May 10, 2012 / 12:04 pm (CNA).- In response to recent violent protests in the country, the Bishops of Bolivia called on public authorities to avoid confrontations in order to bring about authentic and responsible dialogue.

Conflict broke out after public transportation workers went on strike for 48 hours. The situation was made worse by a simultaneous strike by doctors and paramedics in the public health care system.

In a statement posted on their website, the bishops underscored the need to reach agreements “out of respect for the common good of all Bolivians.”

They stressed that negative attitudes such as intolerance, confrontation or the imposition of ideas or laws do not contribute to the building of the democratic society that Bolivia needs.

“The country’s problems are profound and need to be resolved by taking into account the views and contributions of all those who live here,” the bishops said.

They also defended the right of the indigenous community to hold an upcoming march to demand respect for their legitimate aspirations.

“We hope that initiatives that divide people, provoke confrontations and fundamentally falsify the truth will be avoided. Once again we strongly reaffirm that the only path is honest, sincere and transparent dialogue, oriented towards the common good,” they added.