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St Charbel for Life News for Jan 2002
POPE SAYS
FIGHT DIVORCE, "IT IS WORTH IT!"
PRO-LIFE MASS
CELEBRATED BY 7 CARDINALS, 50 BISHOPS, 260 PRIESTS, 8,000
FAITHFUL
PRESIDENT BUSH'S
PHONE CALL TO MARCH FOR LIFE PARTICIPANTS - text
U.S. CARDINAL SPEAKS ON ABORTION PRIOR TO MARCH FOR LIFE
PRESIDENT BUSH PLACES UNFPA FUNDS ON HOLD, PRO-LIFERS HOPEFUL
QUEBEC BANS DESTRUCTIVE RESEARCH ON HUMAN EMBRYOS
ABORTIONIST SENTENCED
TO LIFE FOR MURDER, ORDERED TO PAY JAIL COSTS
ENVIRONMENTALIST
GROUP LAUDS IRAN'S PLUMMETING BIRTHRATE
PHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENT BANS MORNING-AFTER PILL BECAUSE IT CAUSES ABORTION
CLONING
FEARS HEIGHTENED AS FIRST CLONED SHEEP HAS ARTHRITIS
BC COUPLE
MURDER DISABLED SON AND COMMIT SUICIDE
POPE SAYS FIGHT DIVORCE,
"IT IS WORTH IT!"
Pope Addresses Fear of "Imposing" Morality
VATICAN, January 29, 2002 (LSN.ca) - In an address to the Roman Rota (Vatican tribunal that handles annulment appeals) yesterday, Pope John Paul II said the church must work to combat divorce and uphold the indissolubility of marriage.
"It is important to present in a positive way the indissoluble union, in order to rediscover the good and the beauty of it," said the Pope. "Above all," he continued, we "must overcome" the perception of the "indissolubility of marriage as a limit to the liberty of spouses and as a burden sometimes unbearable." He also stressed that Christians need to overcome the widespread notion that indissoluble marriage belongs only to believers, therefore they cannot 'impose' it on the civil society as a whole".
"It would almost seem," the Pope went on, "that divorce is so much rooted in certain circles of society, that it is not worthwhile to go on opposing by advocating a mentality of indissolubility in social customs and civil legislation. Indeed it is worthwhile!".
The Pope called for "strong opposition to all legal and administrative measures introducing divorce or that make equal to marriage defacto unions, even homosexual union." Rather, he said juridical measures should improve the "social recognition of true matrimony."
Addressing lawyers, he said, they "must always decline to use their profession to an end contrary to justice, such as divorce," noting that "they can only collaborate in such an activity when it, in the client's intent, is not aimed at the breaking of the marriage, but to other legitimate effects" such as care for the children. Judges, said the Pope, while having less discretion as to what cases they are called on to adjudicate, "must find effective means to favour the marriage union."
See the coverage of the Vatican Information Service (available
today only) and the Catholic News Service:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20020128.htm
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/d2_en.htm
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=23158
PRO-LIFE MASS CELEBRATED BY 7
CARDINALS, 50 BISHOPS, 260 PRIESTS, 8,000 FAITHFUL
Cardinal: "To be Christian Should Mean We Are Pro-Life"
WASHINGTON, January 22, 2002 (LSN.ca) - At the annual U.S. Pro-Life Vigil Mass celebrated yesterday, on the eve of the Roe vs. Wade anniversary, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. Pro-life chair of the U.S. Bishops Conference said, "The assault on human life in our age has become a crisis of culture, a crisis of civilization. In this crisis in the defense of human life, neutrality is not an option, silence is not a choice."
In his homily to the estimated crowd of 8,000, the Cardinal said, "To be Christian should mean we are pro-life. In more direct language, it must be said that no one can consider himself or herself a true Christian who consciously supports abortion or euthanasia." Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia also said, "If the weak and marginalized continue to be exploited, by our silence we betray not only our Christianity, but our humanity."
President George W. Bush sent his greetings and best wishes to the thousands of pro-life Catholics attending what is the largest annual Catholic Mass in the U.S., saying in a statement, "During these extraordinary times, we realize more than ever the beauty of life, the blessings of family and friends, and the enduring resolve, generosity, and compassion of Americans."
Concelebrating the mass with Cardinal Bevilacqua were seven U.S.
Cardinals, 50 Bishops and 260 priests. Twenty-eight deacons were
also present.
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020122.html#2
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 -- The following is a transcript of remarks by the President in phone call to March For Life participants:
12:08 p.m. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Nellie, thank you very much. I want to thank you very much, and I want to wish everybody a good afternoon. I'm calling from the state of West Virginia. (Applause.)
I want to begin, Nellie, by praising you and your dedication to the cause of human life. For almost 30 years, Americans from every state in the Union have gathered in the Washington Mall in order to march for life. This march is an example of an inspiring commitment and of deep human compassion.
Everyone there believes, as I do, that every life is valuable; that our society has a responsibility to defend the vulnerable and weak, the imperfect and even the unwanted; and that our nation should set a great goal that unborn children should be welcomed in life and protected in law. (Applause.)
Abortion is an issue that deeply divides our country. And we need to treat those with whom we disagree with respect and civility. We must overcome bitterness and rancor where we find it and seek common ground where we can. But we will continue to speak out on behalf of the most vulnerable members of our society.
We do so because we believe the promises of the Declaration of Independence are the common code of American life. They should apply to everyone, not just the healthy or the strong or the powerful. A generous society values all human life. A merciful society seeks to expand legal protection to every life, including early life. And a compassionate society will defend a simple, moral proposition, life should never be used as a tool, or a means to an end.
These are bedrock principles. and that is why my administration opposes partial-birth abortion and public funding for abortion; -- (applause) -- why we support teen abstinence and crisis pregnancy programs; adoption and parental notification laws; and why we are against all forms of human cloning. (Applause.)
And that is why I urge the United States Senate to support a comprehensive and effective ban on human cloning, a ban that was passed by an overwhelming and bipartisan vote of the House of Representatives last July. (Applause.)
We are a society with enough compassion and wealth and love to care for both mothers and their children, and to seek the promise and potential of every single life. You're working and marching on behalf of a noble cause, and affirming a culture of life. Thank you for your persistence, for defending human dignity, and for caring for every member of the human family.
May God continue to bless America. Thank you very much.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=23062
U.S. CARDINAL SPEAKS ON ABORTION PRIOR TO MARCH FOR LIFE
WASHINGTON, January 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, chairman of the Pro Life Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the press he will be in Washington next Tuesday for the annual March for Life. There he will say Mass, the largest annual Mass in the U.S., in commemoration of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision Roe vs. Wade.
"Abortion is an absolute evil about which no exceptions are permitted," said the Cardinal in an interview. AP reports that Cardinal Bevilacqua, 78, says he will expand a pro-life advertising campaign that ran last year in his city and bring an aggressive lobbying effort to elected officials. He said that while he sympathizes with women in difficult circumstances, "The personal circumstances don't change the horror of the act." The Cardinal warned of the detrimental effect of Catholic politicians who say they personally oppose abortion but support policies that guarantee a right to the procedure. "These people are respected and their positions confuse people," he said.
See the AP coverage at:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020117/us/religion_today_1.html
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020118.html#6
PRESIDENT BUSH PLACES UNFPA FUNDS ON HOLD, PRO-LIFERS HOPEFUL
WASHINGTON, January 14, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Pro-lifers are encouraged that US President George W. Bush is considering removing funding from the pro-abortion United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) due to their promotion of abortion in contravention of the Mexico City Policy. That Bush is contemplating withholding the funds was revealed after he signed the $15.4 billion foreign aid bill containing the allotted $34 million UNFPA grant. The President made a point of noting in an accompanying statement that it gives him "additional discretion to determine the appropriate level of funding for the United Nations Population Fund."
Over the past two years alone the Washington-based Population Research Institute has obtained evidence that:
1) UNFPA supports and funds coercive abortion, coercive
sterilization and destruction of homes with jackhammers in China,
and seeks to cover up these abuses;
2) UNFPA supports coercive sterilizations in Peru, and seeks to
cover up these abuses;
3) UNFPA promotes chemical and manual suction abortions in
Kosovar refugee camps, and in Kosovo, at the expense of the
health and informed consent rights of Kosovar women, and sought
to cover up this promotion of abortion;
4) UNFPA promotes chemical and manual suction abortions in Afghan
refugee camps in Pakistan at the expense of the health and rights
of traumatized refugees.
The most recent incident, the promotion of abortion among Afghan refugees was independently confirmed by the Pakistan News Service (PNS). The November news service report said "The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is distributing abortion devices and chemicals, disguised in kits marked for safe delivery in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, a survey conducted by PNS at a refugee camp in border town of Chaman revealed." Malik Khan, an elderly Afghan refugee told PNS, "I have informed the authorities concerned about the distribution of pills among the women, but no action has so far been taken in this regard."
With the annual U.S. March for Life only days away (Jan. 22)
pro-lifers are hoping and praying President Bush will announce,
perhaps even at the March, a denial of funds for the UNFPA due to
the overwhelming evidence of its complicity with abortion. Pro-life
US House Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) wrote the President
encouraging him to "provide zero funding" to UNFPA. He
expressed hope the President would do so. "I am thankful
that our country now has a president who will listen to the
plight of persecuted women and children in China and other
countries where the UNFPA operates," Smith wrote. Some have
suggested that Bush may decide the matter this Wednesday. Pro-lifers
are encouraged to call the White House and request zero funding
for UNFPA. (See action item for details)
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020114.html#3
ACTION ITEM - PRI CALLS ON PRESIDENT BUSH TO ZERO-FUND UNFPA
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/dec/011221.html#7
See related coverage by the Pakistan News Service and AP:
http://paknews.com/specialNews.php?id=212&date1=2001-11-22
http://www.nando.com/politics/story/217007p-2093419c.html
QUEBEC BANS DESTRUCTIVE
RESEARCH ON HUMAN EMBRYOS
"The Best Pro-Life News I've Heard In Thirteen Years"
Says Pro-Life Leader
MONTREAL, January 11, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The province of Quebec has announced a ban on all destructive research involving human embryos. David Cliche, Quebec's Minister of State for Science and Technology, unveiled new guidelines on ethical research yesterday in which the creation and use of stem cells extracted from human embryos (resulting in the death of the embryos) is "forbidden." Moreover, the ban is subject to all research including that which is privately funded. This puts the province far ahead of many other national and international governments in resisting powerful corporate and ideological pressures to allow the socially dangerous and immoral "research".
Cliche dismissed a possible conflict with upcoming federal legislation on the matter which proposes to allow embryonic stem cell research. ''There is currently a debate about the possibility of allowing research on human stem cells taken from embryos that were left over from in vitro fertilization. In Quebec, this is forbidden. It is not practiced. We'll see down the road, but as of now, it is forbidden."
The guidelines also forbid all human cloning, including cloning supposedly for research purposes only. The creation of animal-human hybrids or chimeras is also forbidden. The government promoted research into adult stem cells. Many breakthroughs in the area of adult stem cells have come from Quebec.
Quebec researchers and ethicists agreed with the decision. Margaret Somerville, an ethicist at the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law, said she approves of the Quebec position. "I happen to agree with it," she said, calling it a "respect-for-all-stages-of-life position - from the earliest embryo to when we are dead." Francois Pothier, a researcher from the University of Laval told Le Devoir, "Personally, I have too much respect for the human embryo to dismantle it for research ends." Francois Auger, a director of research at the University of Laval refuses outright to do research on human embryos because "to create a life for the purpose of curing a life shows disrespect for life."
Campaign Life Coalition Quebec (Campagne Quebec Vie) President
Gilles Grondin commented on the news to LifeSite saying, "It
is the best pro-life news I've heard in thirteen years." Jim
Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition, said,
"Finally a province has the courage to oppose the
destruction of human life. Embryonic stem cell research requires
the killing of the embryo to obtain the stem cells. Adult stem
cell research is the route to follow. It is viable and does not
involve the death of a human being." "It is the sincere
hope of Campaign Life Coalition that other provinces will follow
Quebec's lead and refuse to allow embryonic stem cell research",
said Hughes in today's CLC press release to Canadian media.
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020111.html#1
See the coverage in the Gazette and Le Devoir (French):
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id={40EF58C4-3DA2-4B97-88C2-
43EA1FDD187C}
http://www.ledevoir.com/public/client-css/news-webview.jsp?newsid=7331
ABORTIONIST SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR MURDER, ORDERED TO PAY JAIL COSTS
OKLAHOMA CITY, January 8, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Abortionist John B. Hamilton, 53, was sentenced today to in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife Susan on Valentine's Day. The Oklahoman reports that Hamilton was also ordered to pay $11,104 for the cost of his incarceration in the Oklahoma County jail. The ruling marks the first time an inmate in County has been ordered to pay for his stay.
A medical examiner revealed that Susan died of blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation brought on by something being tied or pulled tightly around the neck. As the investigation into the case gained steam, the life of Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane was threatened in a letter demanding he drop charges against Hamilton. Oklahoma City NewsChannel 4 received a letter in July warning that Lane would die if he did not drop charges against Dr. John Hamilton. The letter also said Lane's witness would also die and warned that the threat was "very serious."
See the coverage in The Oklahoman:
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=807153&pic=
none&TP=gethamilton
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020108.html#2
ENVIRONMENTALIST GROUP
LAUDS IRAN'S PLUMMETING BIRTHRATE
Muslim religious leaders mandate contraceptive education for
marriage licence
NEW YORK, January 7, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The environmentalist group Earth Policy Institute (EPI), whose prominent founder and President, Lester. R. Brown, was also the founder and 26-year president of the Worldwatch Institute, has lauded Iran's plummeting birth rate. In a December 28 release, entitled, "Iran's Birth Rate Plummeting at Record Pace: Success Provides a Model for Other Developing Countries," EPI gleefully reports that "Iran's population growth rate dropped from an all-time high of 3.2 percent in 1986 to just 1.2 percent in 2001, one of the fastest drops ever recorded."
EPI reports that from 1986 to 2001, Iran's total fertility-the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime-plummeted from seven to less than three. EPI praises the coercive nature of Iran's mandated contraception propaganda. Iran is the only country in the world that requires both men and women to take a class on modern contraception before receiving a marriage license. This is very unexpected in a Muslim nation because of the usual strong support among Muslims for large families. Muslim nations have been at the forefront along with the Vatican and a few other family-friendly nations in opposing the UN's sexual liberation, contraception and abortion policies.
Under the current president, Mohammad Khatami, the government
maintains a strong anti-natalist policy. EPI claims "Religious
leaders have become involved with the crusade for smaller
families, citing them as a social responsibility in their weekly
sermons. They also have issued fatwas, religious edicts with the
strength of court orders, that permit and encourage the use of
all types of contraception, including permanent male and female
sterilization-a first among Muslim countries." This appears
to follow a policy long ago promoted by racist and eugenicist
Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. Sanger advocated that
black religious leaders be hired to promote acceptance of birth
contol and thus lower the birth rate of the "inferior"
black race.
http://lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020107.html#2
See the EPI release at:
http://www.earth-policy.org/Success/SS1.htm
See Planned Parenthood using Religion to Promote Abortion (and
birth control)
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/1999/may/990519.html#2
Top UN Official Tries to Split Muslims and Christians on Abortion
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/1999/june/990625.html#1
Indonesia Gets Morning-After-Pill After Islamic Group Concedes to
UN
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2000/dec/001207.html#1
PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT BANS
MORNING-AFTER PILL BECAUSE IT CAUSES ABORTION
New Pressure from International De-Population Forces Highly
Likely
MANILA, January 4, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The Bureau of Food and Drugs of the Philippines recently de-listed the so-called morning-after pill, Levonorgestrel (750 mcg.) from its Registry of Drug Products and directed the recall of all existing stocks in the country after finding that it is an abortive drug. Bureau Circular No. 18 issued on December 7 cancelled the certificate of registration for the drug, marketed in the Philippines as an "emergency contraceptive" under the brand name Postinor by its local licensee, Schwarz Pharma. The drug is manufactured in Hungary by Gedeon-Richter.
The Circular, issued by Bureau Director William Torres and approved by Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, M.D., also prohibited further importation of the drug, including its use and sale in the country. The directive comes on the heels of a finding by the Bureau that the drug, taken within three days after intercourse, inhibits the implantation of the already fertilized ovum (technically the blastocyst) into the mother's womb by rendering the womb inhospitable.
The Bureau's finding in October last year cited medical testimonies from local and foreign authorities gathered by ABAYPAMILYA FOUNDATION (Family Front International), a pro-life non-government organization which initiated a complaint about the drugs. Dr. Dianne Irving and Dr. Chris Kahlenborn of the United States submitted extensive studies on the subject. Mr. John Wilkes of Australia likewise made a scholarly contribution. Other testimonies came from Dr. Gil Fernandez, President of the Philippine Medical Association, Dr. Corazon Lim, President of the Philippine Obstetrical & Gynecological Society, and several local pharmaceutical associations.
Acccording to ABAYPAMILYA lawyer and spokeman, Jo Imbong, the continued importation, prescription, sale and use of the drug will result in heavy penalties under the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, the Consumer Code of the Philippines and the country's Penal Code. Government and private physicians who prescribe it also risk criminal liability, she added. "In this country, abortion has always been a serious criminal offense even before the 1987 Constitution expressly protected the life of the unborn from the moment of conception. This makes the Philippines the only country in Asia to ban the morning-after pill after it was first banned in August last year in the Republic of Chile."
Canadian pro-lifers were thrilled with the news but warned that the Philippines would come under heavy pressure to reverse the decision from de-population forces such as the UN, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the European Union, International Planned Parenthood and Canada. LifeSite reported in December 2000 that Indonesia caved in to pressure from the United Nations and the World Health Organization to permit the sale of the morning-after-pill despite opposition by the country's Muslim majority.
See LifeSite's expose on the International Consortium pushing
the morning-after pill at:
http://lsn.ca/ldn/1999/dec/991210a.html
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020104.html#1
CLONING FEARS HEIGHTENED AS FIRST CLONED SHEEP HAS ARTHRITIS
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, January 4, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Dolly, the cloned sheep which gave the world its introduction to a completed cloning, has developed arthritis at only five and a half years old. Professor Ian Wilmut, a member of the team at the Roslin Institute which created Dolly, could not rule out that the condition may be related to genetic defects caused by cloning. But Wilmut promotes the continuation of cloning research.
Meanwhile, animal welfare groups have protested that cloning is irreversibly fraught with abnormality. Joyce D'Silva, director of Compassion in World Farming, told the BBC "I think of the hundreds and hundreds of other cloned lambs who have been born and had malformed hearts, lungs or kidneys. They have struggled to survive for a few days and then had their lungs filled with fluid and gasped their way to death or had to be put our of their misery by their creators. That is the real story of cloning."
See the BBC report at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1741000/1741559.stm
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020104.html#5
BC COUPLE MURDER DISABLED SON AND COMMIT SUICIDE
VANCOUVER, January 4, 2002 (LSN.ca) - A BC couple has been found dead along with their disabled son in an apparent murder suicide. Maurice and Belva Baulne who were in their 50's and their mentally disabled adult son, Reece, aged 34, were found in a motorhome parked outside their house with a hose hooked up from the vehicle's exhaust which caused carbon monoxide poisoning.
A note to family and friends explained their despair and concerns that their declining health would leave them unable to care for their son. The couple refused to place their son in a home. According to neighbours they had asked the government to provide remuneration to them for attending to the care of their son but instead the government offered the services of a respite worker a few hours a day.
One neighbour who refused to provide her full name said the sad case could have been avoided if the community recognized the stress and came to the couple's aid. "I say shame on the community for not helping. I include myself in that," she said. She said Mr. and Mrs. Baulne never asked for help, but known family hardships made the distress evident.
For more see the coverage in the National Post:
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020104/1031938.html
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020104.html#3
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