CNA Daily News - US

Boys Scouts of America lifts ban on openly gay members

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:22:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 23, 2013 / 04:22 pm (CNA).- The Boy Scouts of America has voted in favor of a resolution that lifts the ban on openly gay members but will not allow gay adult troop leaders.

During its annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas, some 1,400 Boy Scouts delegates voted on whether or not the groups should lift its ban on openly homosexual youth members.

The resolution, which allows gay youth members, was passed with an over 60 percent majority of votes.

In a May 22 op-ed for USA Today, Boy Scouts of America President Wayne Perry said the resolution to lift the ban on openly gay scouts “reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and that any sexual conduct, heterosexual or homosexual, is contrary to the virtues of Scouting.”

The resolution, he explained, will not allow “the use of the organization to promote or advance any social or political positions or agendas.”

The announcement of the resolution follows several months of policy review after the Boy Scouts lost funding from high-profile donors such as UPS, Merck and Intel over the old rules, which barred openly gay members. In 2000, the Supreme Court upheld this policy as a constitutional expression of free speech.

The organization decided to delay a vote on the issue back in February, citing the complexity of the issue and need for dialogue and review.

The new resolution, which will go into effect Jan. 2014, will continue to prevent gay adults from serving as troop leaders.

The resolution affects only the national policy and allows each local unit to set its own guidelines, allowing “the religious, civic, or educational organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting to determine how to address the issue.”

Many pro-family groups, including Concerned Women for America, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute and Family Research Council, had urged the scouts to continue their old policy, arguing that it helps to protect scouts from sexual abuse and aligns with the group’s founding morals.

US bishops praise immigration bill's advance in senate

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:02:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 23, 2013 / 02:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops welcomed a U.S. Senate committee's passage of a major immigration bill as an “important step,” urging the full senate to consider the bill as soon as possible.

Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chair of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration, lauded the Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

The committee approved the legislation May 21 by a vote of 13-5.

“I applaud Chairman Patrick Leahy and the committee members for their efforts and strong bipartisan cooperation,” the archbishop said May 23.

He urged the senate to amend the bill to widen “the path to citizenship” and maximize the number of people who can “come out of the shadows.”

“To leave a large population behind would defeat the purpose of the bill, which is to bring persons into the light so they can become full members of our communities,” he said.

The senate's 867-page immigration bill would allow the estimated 11 million illegal residents of the U.S. to obtain provisional immigrant status six months after the bill if they meet certain conditions, the Washington Post reports.

Those eligible must have arrived in the U.S. before Dec. 31, 2011 and must have maintained continuous physical presence since then. They must also pay a $500 fine every six years.

After 10 years of provisional status, immigrants can seek a green card and lawful permanent resident status if they meet certain conditions, including paying a $1,000 fine, keeping current on their taxes and learning English. Additionally, they must meet work requirements. Those with a felony conviction or three or more misdemeanor convictions are ineligible.

These conditions are also dependent on whether the Department of Homeland Security develops and enacts adequate border security and fencing plans. Residents may obtain provisional immigrant status six months after the bill passes only if the plans are developed.

They may obtain a green card and legal permanent resident status only if border security “triggers” have been met and if the government has processed all legal immigrant applications pending upon the date of the bill’s enactment.

If passed, the bill would allow those brought to the country as youths to get green cards in five years and citizenship immediately afterward. Those deported for non-criminal reasons may apply to re-enter the U.S. with provisional status if they have a spouse or a child who is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. Deportees may also apply for reentry if they were brought to the U.S. as a child.

The bishops’ conference has worked to shorten the waiting period for individuals who want to apply for permanent residency and to expand the cut-off date for eligibility. They have also asked for a relaxation of income and work requirements.

The senate bill bars citizens from sponsoring their siblings and allows them to sponsor their married children only if their children are under age 31.

In his statement Thursday, Archbishop Gomez criticized cuts to the family-based aspects of the immigration system.

“We must not abandon our focus on families, which are the backbone of our society,” he said. “Family unity, based on the union of a husband and a wife and their children, must remain the cornerstone of our nation's immigration system.”

The U.S. Senate is expected to consider the legislation in June, though its passage is not certain.

The senate bill’s counterpart in the House of Representatives faces opposition over whether federal healthcare should be prohibited for undocumented immigrants as they transition to legal resident and permanent resident status, Reuters reports. Several House Republicans have said that the senate bill will not pass the House.

US bishops ask government to reassess drone policy

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:03:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 22, 2013 / 05:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In letters to top government officials, the U.S. bishops' conference urged a public discussion on the use of unmanned targeted killings, also known as drones, and their moral implications.

“Targeted killing should, by definition, be highly discriminatory,” wrote Bishop Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, in the May 17 letter.

“The Administration’s policy appears to extend the use of deadly force to alleged 'signature' attacks and reportedly classifies all males of a certain age as combatants,” he asked.

“Are these policies morally defensible? They seem to violate the law of war, international human rights law, and moral norms,” the bishop said.

Bishop Pates is the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

The letters were sent to National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon and to leaders of the Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform and the Select and Permanent Select Committees on Intelligence in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The bishop requested that these organizations reassess the use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, in carrying out targeted killings.

The policy has come under public scrutiny for its use in civilian areas against non-military targets, low cost to the United States, and thus risk for overuse, increased risk of civilian casualties, and for whether or not it is a proportional response to a risk of terrorist attacks.

Bishop Pates noted that the United States and other countries have a right to defend themselves, but stated that the success of “a counter-terrorism campaign cannot be simply measured in terms of “combatants killed.”

He urged the organizations to consider the “serious moral questions” raised by drone use and requested that the administration open a “broader discussion” with the public about the morality and consequences of the drone policy.

The bishop also warned that unjust policies and high civilian casualties related to drone use “are likely to exacerbate anti-American sentiment, encourage recruitment by extremists, and undermine the international collaboration necessary to combat terrorism.”

Instead, the United states “should employ non-military assets to build peace through respect for human rights and addressing underlying injustices that terrorists unscrupulously exploit,” and help to advance “international norms, standards and restrictions” for the use of drones.

Bishop Pates challenged the government officials to create “a more comprehensive, moral and effective policy to resist terrorism,” and hoped that expressing the bishops’ concerns “will contribute to the formulation of a more comprehensive, moral and effective policy to resist terrorism.”

Author finds Catholic themes in Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:03:00 -0600

Greenville, S.C., May 22, 2013 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Editor and author Joseph Pearce's new work, “Shakespeare on Love,” sees the Catholic presence in “Romeo and Juliet” and corrects popular interpretations of the play, which see the pair only as victims.

“If we're not prepared to treat it as a cautionary tale, with Romeo and Juliet being in the wrong, the play is unsettling, because somehow they're the good guys and yet they finish so badly, and surely it's not fair,” Pearce, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts' writer-in-residence, told CNA May 20.

“But once you understand that actually the outcome is the consequence of their own actions, decisions, and choices, and also sins of omission of the lack of parental guidance – parental bad influence actually – all of a sudden it is seen as a profoundly Christian, cautionary tale.”

Pearce explained that his motivation for writing “Shakespeare on Love,” released in March by Ignatius Press, was to “correct the misreading of 'Romeo and Juliet' by the modern academy.” Some interpret the lovers as victims of fate, with no one at fault in their death because fortune and fate eradicate free will.

Since the 19th century and the Romantic era, when emotion was exalted over reason, the play has been read overwhelmingly through that lens, seeing Romeo and Juliet as heros for love and victims of their families' hatred for each other.

The Romantic reading of “Romeo and Juliet” distorts the meaning of love, Pearce said, making it “really about feelings, and that feeling usurps reason where romance and love is concerned, and it's become the norm for critics to read 'Romeo and Juliet' in that way.”

“But of course 'Romeo and Juliet' was not written in the light of Romanticism...but in the light of a profoundly Christian understanding of morality and love, with love being something that is connected to reason and will, and the necessity of laying down one's life for the beloved.”

“Shakespeare on Love” is meant to “rectify the non-Christian understanding” of “Romeo and Juliet,” analyzing the play's text to demonstrate how Shakespeare portrays the pair as culpable for their outcome, stuck in a self-indulgent passion that ultimately harms them both.

Pearce shows that Shakespeare portrays both Romeo and Juliet as lacking prudence and temperance, but that their elders, who ought to guide them in the virtues are similarly lacking. Pearce then sees the play as a tool for teaching morality and the nature of true love.

Since “Romeo and Juliet,” together with “Julius Caesar” is one of the most widely taught texts of Shakespeare in high schools, Pearce considered it important to correct its interpretation, saying it is “almost invariably taught badly.”

“Shakespeare is a powerful voice, a voice that's been distorted by the secular academy, and that's something that needs to be rectified,” Pearce concluded.

His reading of the the text of “Romeo and Juliet” is meant “to have Shakespeare understood as Shakespeare understood himself.”

American named deputy head of global Catholic knights group

Wed, 22 May 2013 02:03:00 -0600

New Orleans, La., May 22, 2013 / 02:03 am (CNA).- The International Alliance of Catholic Knights has named as its deputy president F. DeKarlos Blackmon, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Peter Claver.

Blackmon, 36, said he will use his new role to deepen the faith of alliance members and all Catholics while encouraging “active and generous participation in the life and mission of the Church,” the New Orleans-based Knights of Peter Claver reported May 16.

Gene A. Phillips, Sr., past Supreme Knight of the Knights of Peter Claver, said the organization is “extremely proud to have the United States represented in the leadership of this vital organization.”

The International Alliance of Catholic Knights has 15 member orders with a combined presence in 27 countries. It was founded in Glasgow, Scotland in October 1979 to advance mutual cooperation between member orders and to help expand Catholic knighthood, the alliance’s website says. It is a Vatican-recognized association of the Catholic faithful.

The coalition aims to help evangelize the world for Jesus Christ and to support the Pope and all bishops, priest and religious. It intends to fulfill the vision of Father Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus.

The Knights of Peter Claver and the Knights of Columbus represent the United States in the alliance.

Blackmon is a pastoral associate and director of liturgy and music at St. Joseph Parish in Huntsville, Ala. He is a Benedictine oblate and a former U.S. Army chaplain.

His election drew congratulations from Auxiliary Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of New Orleans and Auxiliary Bishop Martin D. Holley of the Archdiocese of Washington, chaplain of the Knights of Peter Claver.

He has headed the only historically black Catholic fraternal organization in the U.S. since 2010. The Knights of Peter Claver take as their model the seventeenth-century Jesuit priest who ministered to Colombian slaves. They are present in about 39 U.S. states and South America.

Blackmon will serve under the International Alliance of Catholic Knights’ new president, Brother David Huppatz, a past Supreme Knight of Australia’s Knights of the Southern Cross.

Both were elected to a two-year term. Their installation will take place at the end of the alliance’s September 2013 international council meeting in The Gambia, home of alliance member the Fraternal Order of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Other member orders include the Knights of St. Columba in the U.K. and the Knights of St. Columbanus in Ireland. The alliance’s website is www.iack.org.

Supreme Court could give landmark ruling on public prayer

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:05:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 22, 2013 / 12:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a move that could have national consequences for prayer in public life, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a federal case challenging the constitutionality of opening prayers at the town council meetings of Greece, New York.

“It is perfectly constitutional to allow community members to ask for God's blessing according to their conscience,” Brett Harvey, Senior Counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA May 21.

“A Supreme Court ruling reaffirming this historic tradition and making clear that prayer givers are permitted to pray consistent with the dictates of their own conscience would both uphold the original understanding of the Constitution and provide needed clarity to put an end to these attacks on our American heritage.”

Greece is a Rochester suburb with 90,000 people. The Alliance Defending Freedom is supporting the town’s defense against two plaintiffs, Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens.

The two claim that the public prayers which open local town council meetings unconstitutionally privilege Christianity. Since the prayers began in 1999, they objected, almost all of those who delivered prayers have been Christians.

Non-Christians who have delivered prayers include a Jewish layperson, a local Baha'i leader, a Wiccan priestess and an atheist.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the town. Judge Guido Calabresi, who authored the opinion, said that although the town allows anyone to volunteer it did not solicit volunteers or inform the general public that volunteers would be considered or accepted.

He emphasized that the court did not say that government bodies can never open a session with prayer, Reuters reports.

Rev. Barry Lynn, a United Church of Christ minister who heads the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, opposed the prayers. He said that a town council meeting is not a church service and “shouldn’t seem like one.”

Harvey, however, said the case “defends a historic practice of opening public meetings by seeking divine guidance.” He added that the Supreme Court has ruled public prayer a part of the “history and tradition” of the United States.

“The founders prayed while drafting our constitution’s Bill of Rights,” he said. “America continues this cherished practice, and a few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like.”

Harvey said there have been 20 different federal lawsuits filed against local governments asking that they abandon their traditions of prayer.

“A ruling against the Town of Greece would multiply the attacks on the historic practice of seeking divine guidance at public meetings and would suggest that the authors of the Bill of Rights were violating the Constitution, even as they were writing it,” he said.

A decision on the case will likely take place during the court’s next term, which lasts from October 2013 to June 2014.

Church, political leaders extend prayers to Oklahoma victims

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:05:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 21, 2013 / 05:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Following a devastating tornado in Oklahoma on May 20, Church leaders and national figures from the offered their prayers and condolences for those affected by the disaster.

“The experience of loss of family members, homes, neighborhoods, and even the local hospital, shows a devastation that impels us to stand with you and all the good people of Moore both in prayer for comfort and in efforts for disaster relief to ease the suffering of those whose lives have been affected by this dreadful disaster,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York said to Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City in a May 21 letter.

“May the words of Jesus, 'Behold I am with you always,' and who calmed the storms, bring hope and comfort at this sensitive moment in the history of your diocese,” said the cardinal, who serves as president of the U.S. bishops' conference.

“May all those affected by such pain feel the strength God offers them and the compassion of all who stand with them, be it in their hometown or miles away.”

On the afternoon of May 20, a EF-5 tornado traveled through central Oklahoma. As of Tuesday afternoon, 24 individuals were confirmed to be dead, including nine children, and over 230 people have reported injuries.

The majority of the damage occurred in Moore, Okla., in the northwest suburbs of Oklahoma City. This is the fifth significant tornado to strike the town since 1998.

President Barack Obama also offered his condolences and prayers, and vowed that the American people would “back up those prayers with deeds for as long as it takes.”

“For all those who’ve been affected, we recognize that you face a long road ahead,” Mr. Obama said. “In some cases, there will be enormous grief that has to be absorbed. But you will not travel that path alone. Your country will travel it with you, fueled by our faith in the almighty and our faith in one another,” the president said.

Obama has also approved a Major Disaster Declaration, authorizing emergency funds for the state, and has sent the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, W. Craig Fugate, to personally supervise the disaster response.

Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R- Ohio) also offered prayers for those affected by the tornado. “Our hearts and our prayers go out to those in Oklahoma who were victimized by this storm, especially our colleague Tom Cole,” said Boehner in a press conference. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) is from Moore, and is currently in his home state.

Boehner also ordered that flags be flown at half- mast “in honor of those who have suffered through terrible storm.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took the floor to express her sympathy and condolences to those in Oklahoma, and offered prayers and words of support as well.

“We’ve seen natural disasters come and go,” she said, adding that in the face of disasters, “it’s very hard to see how people can be made whole, but we are always hopeful that they will be.” She noted that people can “have hope in the charity of others, that we can work together to come through this.”

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, promised that all donations collected would go towards relief efforts in Oklahoma.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and the damage caused by the tornadoes in Oklahoma,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson in a May 21 statement.

“We will work with our state and local councils to help the people of Oklahoma recover from this disaster, and we ask all members of the Knights of Columbus to keep those affected in their prayers.”

Oklahoma bishop supports those grieving in Moore

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:15:00 -0600

Oklahoma City, Okla., May 21, 2013 / 03:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City traveled to Moore today to give his support and concern to those devastated by the tornado that swept through the town yesterday, May 20.

“I feel, as the archbishop, as a shepherd, I need to be there,” Archbishop Coakley told CNA while on his way to the suburb of Oklahoma City on May 21.

“I'm not sure…there's anything very practical I can do when I arrive, other than to show my pastoral concern and support, and give the assurance of my prayers to those who are indeed suffering.”

He added that “people are in such shock right now, we just want to accompany them in their suffering at this point.”

The tornado, which was two miles wide at its greatest, touched down mid-afternoon yesterday, and lashed the area for 45 minutes with winds of up to 200 mph. It destroyed homes, businesses, the local hospital and other buildings, including Plaza Towers Elementary School.

Officials have reported 24 dead, including nine children. Earlier reports of as many as 91 deaths were attributed to the double-reporting of some corpses.

The archbishop said that he and Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City will be assessing the needs of the situation. “We're organizing to provide immediate relief as well as long-term assistance in terms of people beginning to rebuild their lives, their homes.”

“We want to be available to provide ordinary pastoral care under the extraordinary situations.” He reported that the city's parish was undamaged, “so as soon as they have power and water restored in the parish, they can continue providing pastoral care to those who are in the area.”

He called the situation in Moore “hectic” and “chaotic,” and said that “at this point we're still in the process of assessing needs, is probably the most honest thing I could say.”

The archdiocesan Catholic Charities will focus on long-term response to the tornado, offering case management and counseling, he said.

William Banowsky, the agency's development director, told CNA that they are setting up a plan, coordinating with state, federal and local agencies “to work together on a cohesive plan.”

He said Catholic Charities “works with those affected long-term, so we're there for their immediate needs, finding shelter and clothing and things like that, but we work with them for up to three, four years, however long it takes for them to get back on their feet.”

Archbishop Coakley said, “what I'm suggesting to people who are wanting to do something immediately, is to go to the Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City website (http://catholiccharitiesok.org/), and they can donate online for the tornado disaster relief, and that will go completely to assist the victims.”

“And pray, please…we urge them to pray, to be mindful of the suffering individuals and families, and community of central Oklahoma.”

Archbishop Coakley said he's been “overwhelmed” by the support and prayers of those from across the country and the world, and that Oklahomans are “mindful and very grateful for that.”

Tina Dzurisin, archdiocesan communications director, said that the prayers and warm wishes the community has received from the world-wide Church have been “really encouraging and uplifting, even in a time of tragedy.”

The archbishop also expressed gratitude to the first responders in Moore, many of whom have been there for 24 hours now, “who are really to be admired and appreciated. They are giving their all, and we want to remember them in our prayers, because they're dealing with some very difficult situations on the ground, there's terrible human suffering they're having to deal with, and they're doing it beautifully.”

Carson Krittenbrink, a seminarian of the Oklahoma City archdiocese who has been to Moore to assist those in need, said there are “police, firemen, and ambulance workers everywhere” in the city, and the National Guard is present.

He told CNA that there are injured people all over Moore. At least 200 were injured in the tornado.

Krittenbrink has family in Moore, and their home has “a big hole in the roof” and “it ripped brick off the side of house, broke every window in the house.”

That damage, however, was a “glancing blow” from the tornado. “The houses just across the street are clean to the foundation, nothing left.”

While going with his parents to help their relatives, Krittenbrink said, “we were running over powerlines, we were having to skirt chunks of roof in the road.”

A long-time resident of Oklahoma, Krittenbrink said this is “the worst tornado damage I've ever seen.”

The storm did damage proper to the strongest category of tornado, EF-5, and may be the areas worst tornado seen in some 30 years.

Former Newark priest arrested after breaking court agreement

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:03:00 -0600

Newark, N.J., May 21, 2013 / 02:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After violating the terms of an understanding with local prosecutors, a priest who recently resigned from ministry with the Newark archdiocese was arrested May 20.

Father Michael Fugee was accused of sexually abusing a minor in 2001, and in 2007 made an agreement with local prosecutors that allowed him to remain in ministry so long as he was not around children unsupervised and did not engage in youth ministry.

In late April, it emerged that the priest had participated in youth retreats and pilgrimages, though without the knowledge of the Newark chancery.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, with whom Fr. Fugee had come to the 2007 agreement, arrested him at Saint Antoninus parish in Newark, where he was living since his resignation from ministry. He was charged with seven count of contempt of a judicial order.

Conviction for the charge can carry a prison term of up to 18 months. Fr. Fugee's bail was set at $25,000.

Fr. Fugee submitted his resignation to Archbishop John J. Myers May 2, who promptly accepted it.

In 2001, Fr. Fugee told police he had twice groped a teenage boy's crotch while they were wrestling in the presence of the boy's family members. One instance took place while he was on vacation with the boy's family in Virginia in 2000, he said, and the other was about a year prior to that.

He was charged with criminal sexual contact and endangering a child's welfare. A jury convicted him of aggravated sexual contact in 2003, but in 2006 an appellate court reversed the conviction, saying the trial court had given inadequate guidance to the jury. During his trial, he had protested that his confession to the police was false and that he had lied.

The priest came to an agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor and the Archdiocese of Newark's vicar general in 2007 requiring him to undergo two years of “sex-offender specific counseling/therapy.”

Fr. Fugee has attended two youth retreats, in 2010 and 2012, and has gone on pilgrimages which included youths.

The retreats were held by St. Mary's in Colts Neck, which is in the Trenton diocese. Fr. Fugee was called to assist at the retreats by the parish's youth ministers, with whom he is good friends.

He has heard the confessions of minors on these retreats, according to The Star-Ledger. The article included Facebook photos of Fr. Fugee with minors taken on the retreats.

Fr. Fugee's agreement with Bergen County prosecutors said he could remain in ministry so long as “he shall not have any unsupervised contact with or any duties that call for the supervision/ministry of any child or children under the age of 18...as long as he is a priest and/or employed/assigned within the Roman Catholic Church.”

“It is agreed and understood that Michael Fugee shall not accept any position...that allows him to have any unsupervised contact with or to supervise or minister to any child/minor under the age of 18 or work in any position in which children are involved,” the agreement adds.

“This includes, but is not limited to, presiding over a parish, involvement with a youth group, religious education/parochial school, CCD, confessions of children, youth choir, youth retreats and day care.”

Cloning shows science must dialogue with philosophy

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:05:00 -0600

Portland, Ore., May 21, 2013 / 04:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The recent production of stem cells from cloned human embryos has prompted a researcher to consider the need for scientists to take other disciplines into account before engaging their work.

“Scientists...do not consider bio-ethical issues to be issues at all; they don't see the bio-ethical argument, or any philosophical argument,” Massimo Bionaz, assistant professor of animal sciences at Oregon State University, told CNA May 17.

The May issue of the journal “Cell” included a paper from scientists at Oregon Health and Science University announcing they have produced embryonic stem cells by transferring the DNA of a human skin cell into a human egg to produce an embryo.

After the egg's own nucleus was removed, the nucleus from another person's skin cell was added into the egg, and with electricity and caffeine the researchers were able to induce the normal development of an embryo. The embryos were thus genetic copies – clones – of the persons whose DNA was inserted into the eggs.

The harvesting of the embryonic stem cells necessarily included the destruction of the embryos.

“This,” Bionaz reflected, “is the problem. Those scientists, they went ahead and did the cloning; they thought this was absolutely fine and justified because based on their criteria there was no reason not to do that. So, they jump completely the question of what a human is.”

Bionaz, a member of the Euresis Association as well as the Catholic ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation, said that scientific researchers often see arguments of philosophy or bioethics as “problems to be overcome.”

He warned of “scientism,” which he called the “presumption that science is the only discipline which can say something true about reality.” This, Bionaz emphasized, is “dangerous.”

For scientism, “any argument outside the utilitarian argument” is seen as being “of no use.” Too many, he said, view that “whenever something is possible to do, I ought to do it.”

While the aim of the research was good: to produce stem cells for therapies to treat diseases which will not be rejected by patients' bodies because they will be genetically identical, it required an evil, the destruction of human beings.

“It's the paradox of the short sight of science. They begin in this way, with the justification of providing tissue, maybe even life-saving tissue, but they don't care about destroying” another human being, said Bionaz.

Aside from lacking “a clear bio-ethical judgement,” he said, “those scientists didn't even ask the question.”

Rather than presuming to do any research which is “possible, technically, to do,” researchers should take the time to ask ontological questions, about the nature of the human being.

“It goes to the point of understanding what a person is, of what is a human being.”

While noting that scientists “are trained very well on the technical side,” they “lack completely the way of thinking of the philosopher, or bio-ethicist, or any other discipline,” Bionaz said.

He emphasized the importance of different fields of study working together to paint a complete picture of existence.

“Reality is very complex, and every aspect of reality requires its own discipline. It's against reason to try to study or assess a reality with a discipline that does not conform to the method of that specific reality.”

“Science can study the material phenomenon, what it is possible to reproduce, to measure.” But, Bionaz added, science cannot address “the ontological significance of a human life...because it's not the proper discipline for that area of reality.”

“That pertains to philosophy, to theology, even to bioethics in some way.”

Without the perspectives of these fields, science will regard the human person as “only a mass of cells to which you can do whatever you want,” which is why respect for the human person “now is falling apart.”

The researchers who produced the cloned human embryos “want to provide tissue to help or to save a human being,” but they “didn't consider the significance of what they were doing.”

Bionaz attributed his thought about the importance of considering philosophy and other disciplines when doing scientific research to Blessed John Henry Newman's “The Idea of a University.”

In those lectures, Newman “described exactly” the follies of using the wrong discipline to study a given segment of existence, and that when this happens “reality can get confused, and we misunderstand it.”

“For instance this one of the human being: to understand what is a human person, you need several disciplines,” Bionaz said. “Science is not enough; it allows you to unravel a part of the human being of course, but not the totality of the human being.”

“For this reason, it is so important as scientists to have the humility to understand our limits, and we should actually have deep discussions with people of other disciplines.”

Dialogue with philosophy, he said, will remind researchers that “the human being has a value, and then we scientists will work for the human being, not against it.”

The manufacture and subsequent destruction of a human embryo for the production of embryonic stem cells, is an instance of “destroying the human being and not helping him.”

“Even though the purpose is to help someone else, because of course the idea is to help human beings, the problem is if the end justifies the means,” Bionaz concluded.

“It's not an issue that scientists can assess. You need a bio-ethicist together with a philosopher.”

Global rosary relay to encourage prayer for priests

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:04:00 -0600

New York City, N.Y., May 21, 2013 / 02:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Global Rosary Relay for Priests’ fourth annual event will take place this June 7, providing an opportunity for worldwide prayer to support priests in their ministry.

“It’s unifying the whole world. It really is a very beautiful way for the laity to offer this spiritual bouquet of thanksgiving for our priests,” Marion Mulhall, founder and CEO of the event organizer WorldPriest, told CNA May 20.

“Our Lady has hugely blessed us. It was her inspiration. It is her rosary,” Mulhall said. “It is her priests that we’re praying for on this rosary relay for priests.”

Participants in the relay will say a rosary at a scheduled time for one half hour to thank God for priests and to ask the Virgin Mary’s protection for priests. This means the same continuous rosary will be prayed around the clock.

The day of prayer will begin with the Joyful Mysteries at the Basilica of Our Lady of Victories in Melbourne at 11 a.m. local time June 7. It will then progress westward through Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Europe and Africa before reaching the Americas.

The relay will conclude at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in New Franken, Wis. with a rosary at 7 p.m. local time.

Other participating U.S. churches include the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C, the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass., Our Lady Star of The Sea Catholic Church in Staten Island, New York City, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and the Monastery of Our Lady of the Desert in Blanco, N.M.

The relay has drawn support from Cardinal Raymond Burke and Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam. Mulhall said that in the last four years the event has become “the largest day of prayer in the world.”

Rosary locations and start times are available at the relay’s website www.worldpriestday.com/rosaryrelay.

Texas abortionist accused of killing babies born alive

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:02:00 -0600

Houston, Texas, May 21, 2013 / 12:02 am (CNA).- A Houston doctor is under investigation on charges that he performed illegal late-term abortions after former employees alleged that several babies were born alive and then killed in gruesome ways.

Deborah Edge, a former assistant to Dr. Douglas Karpen, gave her account of Karpen’s abortion work in a video produced by the pro-life group Life Dynamics.

“When he did an abortion, especially an over 20 week abortion, most of the time the fetus would come completely out before he either cut the spinal cord or he introduced one of the instruments into the soft spot of the fetus in order to kill it ... or actually twisting the head off the neck with his own bare hands,” she said.

Edge emphasized that the babies were still alive, moving and breathing. Another former employee in the video, Gigi Aguliar, said one baby opened its eyes and grabbed the abortionist’s finger before he killed it.

One employee said she did not know what Karpen was doing was illegal.

The allegations concern deaths in 2011 at the Aaron Women’s Clinic in Houston. A third former employee appears in the Life Dynamics video, while another anonymous staffer has filed an affidavit Texas Department of State Health Services, the Daily Mail reports.

The former employees took cell phone pictures of babies with gashes in their necks after they were allegedly killed at the clinic, LifeNews.com says. They allege that Karpen killed babies well after 24 weeks into pregnancy, at a cost between $4,000 and $5,000.

Karpen also runs two other abortion clinics in Texas.

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he read “with disgust” about the allegations that Dr. Douglas Karpen performed “illegal late-term abortions surrounded by appalling sanitary conditions in his clinic.”

“The Harris County authorities should perform a full-scale investigation and take action against those who broke state law,” he said in a May 15 statement.

Sara Marie Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney, said several district attorney employees are looking into the allegations.

Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told the Houston Chronicle the agency is aware of the allegations and investigating it with “a very high priority.”

Dewhurst invoked the case of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist convicted last week on three charges of first degree murder for killing babies who survived abortions.

The pro-life group Operation Rescue has said it has been investigating Karpen for three years.

“For nearly three years, authorities have ignored our complaints and done nothing while horrific late-term babies continued to be aborted in an apparently illegal and barbaric manner,” group president Troy Newman said May 16.

“Now, thanks to the outpouring of public pressure that has been brought to bear by the pro-life community, the authorities in Texas are finally beginning to act. It’s a big step in the right direction.”

International religious freedom report notes persecution

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:05:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 20, 2013 / 05:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Secretary of State John Kerry released on May 20 the annual International Religious Freedom Report for 2012, which documents violence and persecution towards global religious minorities.

“Whether it be a single deity, or multiple deities, or no deities at all, freedom to believe – including the freedom not to believe – is a universal human right,” the reports said of the freedom of religion.

“The search for this freedom led the Pilgrims to flee Europe for America’s shores centuries ago, and is enshrined in our own Constitution. But it is by no means exclusively an American right,” it added.

“The right to religious freedom is inherent in every human being. Unfortunately, this right was challenged in myriad ways in 2012.”

An annual report on the state of religious freedom around the world is required by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

The 2012 analysis follows the recommendations submitted to the State Department by the independent United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, released in April.

The document notes trends of governments promoting violence against persons of faith, government restriction of religious practice, persecution of minority religions or sects, and failure to hold responsible citizens who themselves persecute persons of faith, and marks steps the United States took during 2012 to promote religious freedom.

Additionally, the report designated eight countries as “Countries of Particular Concern” for the “severe violations of religious freedom committed by these governments:” Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uzbekistan.

In these countries, as well as others whose offenses were not as severe, the the most prominent offenses against religious liberty were: government restrictions on the practice of a person’s faith, use of the law to target specific groups, forced conversion, societal violence against members of a given faith, and lack of accountability for violations of religious freedom.

Religious freedom leaders in the House of Representatives, however, criticized the report for not expanding the list of “Countries of Particular Concern” since 2011.

In a letter released May 20 before Secretary Kerry released the report, Representatives Chris Smith (R- N.J.), Frank Wolf (R- Va.), and Joe Pitts (R- Pa) asked Kerry to abide by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and designate new “Countries of Particular Concern” in its yearly report.

Rep. Smith is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, and Wolf co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. In addition, Smith and Pitts are members of the Human Rights Commission.

In their letter, the congressmen noted that the report released in 2012 covering abuses of 2011 did not designate any “Countries of Particular Concern.” They asked that the State Department re-designate the eight countries that were listed in the May 20 report, saying that if these countries were not re- designated, sanctions placed on these nations would expire in August 2013.

However, they also asked that the department designate another eight countries that the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom found to commit serious offenses to religious liberty: Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.

The report also noted a rise in anti-Semitism around the globe that was particularly notable and violent in Venezuela, Egypt, and Iran.

The document also listed a number of ways in which the United States is attempting to advance religious liberty. These efforts include criticizing of unjust laws across the globe, working through diplomatic avenues to promote religious freedom and “rescind unduly and inappropriately restrictive laws,” and using a variety of avenues to promote respect and tolerance for religious freedom in countries around the world.

Secretary of State John Kerry called the report an “important step” in global diplomacy and urged “all countries, especially those identified in this report, to take action now to safeguard this fundamental freedom.”

Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Suzan Johnson Cook, also spoke on the report, saying the document “makes clear” that there is “much work remains to be done” to promote and protect religious freedom.

She also noted, however, that there have been improvements since last year’s report, saying that while the Vietnamese government still restricts religion, “the government took a step forward by allowing large-scale worship services,” and that Turkey has “loosened its restrictions on religious attire,” allowing headscarves in certain Islamic schools and classes.

Helicopter ministry offers unique perspective for faith

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:01:00 -0600

Denver, Colo., May 19, 2013 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Hovering 500 feet above the ground, a ride in the Prayer One helicopter offers community leaders the opportunity to join in fellowship – and prayer – above their beloved Mile-High City.

What was born from a conversation during a “boys' boondoggle in the Bahamas” some nine years ago has now turned into a unique way for Denver’s faith leaders to join in prayer and camaraderie in the skies.

When Jeff Puckett – a Colorado-native and private pilot – was asked by his friend, Pastor Tom Melton of Greenwood Community Church, what he would pray for if he could pray for anything, Puckett wasn’t sure he should say what he was really thinking.

“Most people said they’d pray for world peace,” he told CNA May 15, “I said, ‘Can you pray for a helicopter?’”

Although he could afford one, Puckett was unsure of whether or not it would be “good stewardship of money.”

“I didn’t have a reason to have it business-wise,” he explained.

However, his friend assured him that just as a father would never get angry with his son for asking a question, God would not be offended by such a prayer.

“I think our God is the same way; He delights in answering our prayers,” the pilot said. “Sometimes the answer is ‘no’ and it bums us out, but a lot of times the answer is ‘yes’ and He delights in seeing us happy with the answer.”

Puckett purchased his first helicopter shortly after that trip, but had not used it much until just before Christmas when many of his friends were facing serious difficulties in their lives.

One friend had just lost his wife in a tragic snowmobiling accident while another friend’s wife had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was just a crazy time for everyone,” he said.

Puckett suggested that his friends let him take them on a helicopter ride over the city to take a break. Although it was just a short flight, the friends came back feeling rejuvenated.

It just so happened that the next day Melton was meeting with then-Mayor John Hickenlooper to talk about new visions for the city while Puckett was set to have dinner with Tom Forston of Promise Keepers, a Christian group that hosts and organizes men’s conferences.

Puckett shared that he was thinking about giving people involved in ministry the opportunity to see their city from a new perspective with free rides in his helicopter.

Promise Keepers gave support by helping schedule groups to come in on Monday mornings, since those in ministry typically work on Sundays. Now the group Confluence Ministries handles scheduling and sends groups over other week or once a month.

So far, he has taken some 6,000 people for prayer rides over Denver. Puckett does not charge for his helicopter rides and says Prayer One has “no agenda.” All he asks is that people “have a nice break.”

The name comes from one of the early trips when a passenger asked if he could share a prayer over the headset. From then-on, Puckett has began his flights with a prayer and allowed others to join in if they wish. Before and after each trip, the groups of passengers meet to mingle and “debrief.”

Puckett said each time he takes passengers up; he comes down with a different perspective. In one trip, a passenger was a young woman who had been rescued from sex-trafficking in Denver but had moved to Colorado Springs to escape what she called “the darkness” of that city.

“This was her first time back (in Denver) and being in a helicopter,” he said. The young lady told him being up in the helicopter was as if God were saying “Let there be light.”

“All of a sudden,” she told Puckett, “it was like a curtain opened up and I could see Denver the way it was supposed to be again.”

“That’s obviously a perspective I’ve never had,” he said.

Recently, he started bringing kids from rival gangs up on Saturdays to allow them to see their city without boundaries.

“They come in here and they’re kind of that cocky teenager,” he said. However, “when they get into that helicopter, boom, they’re kids again.”

Puckett likens the bond that takes place during the helicopter ride as going into battle with another soldier.

“You don’t know the guy next to you in the foxhole, but all of a sudden, he becomes your brother because you’ve gone through this stress together; the same thing happens in a silly helicopter.”

What this ministry has taught Puckett is that everyone has something to give and God can use whatever it is someone is passionate about.

“There’s a lot of people that would love to give back to their communities and to do things for others. A lot of times they get stifled because they think, well what can I do for somebody?”

Whether that’s knitting, cooking or making shoes God can use it so long as we are willing to do the unexpected. As Puckett puts it, “What’s your helicopter?”

“The helicopter happens to be my thing,” he explained, “I’d love to sing in a choir, but I can’t sing. All I can do is kind of live my life and hopefully it’s good in God’s eyes.”

Ultimately, the pilot said the ministry he does is “not about me” and “not about a silly yellow helicopter.”

“It’s about Him,” Puckett said.

Church to celebrate St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:02:00 -0600

Denver, Colo., May 19, 2013 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On May 25, the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, an Italian noblewoman of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries who became a Carmelite nun distinguished for her intense prayer life and devotion to frequent Holy Communion.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI marked the 400th anniversary of St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi’s death in a letter to the Archbishop of Florence, her birthplace. He described her as “a symbolic figure of a living love that recalls the essential mystical dimension of every Christian life.”

“May the great mystic,” the Pope wrote, “still make her voice heard in all the Church, spreading to every human creature the proclamation to love God.”

Born on April 2, 1566, the future “Mary Magdalene” was given the name of Caterina at the time of her birth. She was the only daughter of her parents, who both came from prominent families. Caterina was drawn to the Holy Eucharist from a young age, and she resolved to serve God as a consecrated virgin shortly after receiving her First Communion at age 10.

Late in the year 1582 she entered a strictly traditional Carmelite monastery, where Holy Communion was – unusually for the time period – administered daily. Receiving her religious habit the next year, she took the name of Mary Magdalene.

From March to May of 1584, Mary became seriously ill and was thought to be in danger of death. On May 27 of that year she made her religious vows while lying sick upon a pallet. Her recovery marked the start of an extended mystical experience, which lasted 40 days and involved extraordinary experiences taken down by her religious sisters in a set of manuscripts.

Mary served the monastery in a series of teaching and supervisory positions, while also contributing to her community through manual work. Her fellow Carmelites respected her strict sense of discipline, which was accompanied by profound charity and practical wisdom. Her experiences of suffering and temptation helped her to guide and inspire others.

Extraordinary spiritual occurrences were a frequent feature of this Carmelite nun’s life, to a much greater degree than is typical in the tradition of Catholic mysticism. Many of her experiences of God were documented by others in her community, although Mary herself disliked the attention and would seemingly have preferred for these events to remain private.

She did wish, however, to call attention to God’s love, which she saw as tragically underappreciated and unreciprocated by mankind. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi is remembered for making dramatic gestures – running through the halls of her monastery, or ringing its bells at night – while proclaiming the urgent need for all people to awaken to God’s love, and respond in kind.

Her earthly life came to an end on May 25, 1607, after an excruciating illness lasting nearly three years. Pope Clement IX canonized St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi in 1669.