Arabic|search|Abortion | Euthanasia|The lies of Abortion|This is my body|In-vitro Fertilization
News for March 2002
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO BE IN PLACE BY JULY
VANCOUVER
ARCHBISHOP GRANTS VICTORY TO PARENTS IN SEX-ED BATTLE
CANADIAN CATHOLIC
BISHOPS CONFERENCE SLAMS CATHOLICS FOR A FREE CHOICE
UK STUDY FINDS SEX
ED AND MORNING AFTER PILLS ENCOURAGE PROMISCUITY
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS
RADICAL FEMINIST RESOLUTION BASHING CATHOLICISM
2001 CENSUS
REVEALS LOWEST EVER INCREASE IN CANADIAN POPULATION
CANADIAN HEALTH RESEARCH
AUTHORITY DOES "END RUN ON PARLIAMENT" OVER EMBRYO
RESEARCH
The Greek-Melkite
Archeparch of Canada, Bishop Sleiman Hajjar died
Pro-Abortion
Worker Is Massachusetts Catholic Charities Official
BABY PARTS SCANDAL REVEALS HEARTS
REMOVED FROM ABORTED BABIES WITHOUT CONSENT
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO BE IN PLACE BY JULY
NY Times says any crime committed after this July 1 is
eligible for prosecution
UNITED NATIONS, March 26, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Panama was the latest country to
ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which, when
ratified by 60 countries will bring the ICC into being. Panama became the
56th nation to ratify on March 21. UN officials have predicted the final
ratifications to come within a month.
Speaking last week at the United Nations, UN Undersecretary General for Legal
Affairs Hans Corel said the remaining ratifications needed for the court's
establishment are already, secured but are "just sitting," because "everyone
wants to be number 60." ICC Convenor William Pace predicted that the final
ratifications would take place during the opening days of a meeting to discuss
the court's budget and other matters, beginning on April 8.
If the ratifications arrive at that time the ICC would be formally established
by July 1 and operations would likely begin a year later. However, the New
York Times reports that "the court's jurisdiction will begin on July 1 in the
sense that any crime committed after that date is eligible for prosecution."
Pace expressed surprise at the rapid realization of the ICC. "When we
started in the mid-'90s, and even right up until Rome in 1998, people thought it
was going to take 50 or 100 years before governments would be willing to create
a permanent international criminal court," Pace said, referring to the adoption
of the statute by a conference of nations in Rome. "Yet here, less than
four years later, we will have achieved the 60 ratifications."
The ICC has been of great concern to pro-life and pro-family lobbyists at the
international level since UN activists have pushed for the courts to define
discrimination against homosexuality and the outlawing of abortion as crimes
within the ICC. Moreover, the current setup of the ICC tramples the sovereignty
of nations. A nation's own laws are counted as inferior to the ICC. Explanatory
material on the ICC released by the Canadian government during its hasty passage
of ICC ratification stated: "It would not be a defence that an offence was
committed in obedience to the law in force at the time and in the place of its
commission."
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/020326.html#1
See related LifeSite coverage:
POPE COULD FACE CHARGES UNDER INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/feb/020212.html#2
See coverage from the New York Times and CNN:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/26/international/26TRIB.html
http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/03/25/un.criminal.court.ap/index.html
VANCOUVER ARCHBISHOP GRANTS VICTORY TO PARENTS IN SEX-ED BATTLE
VANCOUVER, March 25, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Catholic parents across Canada have long struggled with the issue of sex-education programs in Catholic schools. Two of the texts most commonly used in Canadian Catholic schools, "Fully Alive" and "Growing in Love", have come under intense criticism by concerned Catholic parents for their controversial presentation of human sexuality even to very young children. However, a breakthrough in the struggle has occurred for the first time in a Canadian diocese.
Archbishop Adam Exner of the Diocese of Vancouver has announced that his diocese will follow the directives of the Holy See on the matter and leave parents in charge of educating their children on sexual matters.
Parents in more than nine parishes with the support of their priests rallied against the mandated use of Fully Alive and Growing in Love. Petitions were sent to priests and the archbishop objecting to the programs and quoting the text of the Vatican document "The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality." Those involved with the struggle told LifeSite that the 1995 document, from the Pontifical Council for the Family was indispensable in making their case.
While the Office of Religious Education in the diocese had rebuffed parents' requests, Archbishop Exner ruled definitively on the matter Wednesday March 20. He called a meeting of the priests of the archdiocese and responded positively to the parents' requests.
Archbishop Exner said that:
-the diocese recognizes the primary role of parents in education on matters of
sexuality
- No classroom teaching on sexuality is to be given at all in Catholic schools
before grade 7 - and in grade 7, if anything is to be used in the classroom, the
only acceptable material would be the Love and Life program by Ignatius Press (a
program favoured by faithful Catholics)
- Every parish is to have training sessions to prepare parents for their tasks
in educating their own children on these matters and provide them with resources
to that effect.
To see the document The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality see
the Vatican website at:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_
family_doc_08121995_human-sexuality_en.html
Congratulations to Archbishop Exner for his leadership may be
sent to the Chancery office at:
Chancery@rcav.bc.ca
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/020325.html#1
Ford, Rockefeller, Turner, Playboy Anti-Catholic Front Organization Exposed Again
OTTAWA, (LSN.ca) 20-Mar-2002 - The Canadian Catholic Bishops Conference (CCCB) has denounced the group 'Catholics For a Free Choice' (CFFC). In a letter written March 15, and addressed to World Youth Day 2002 National Director Rev. Thomas Rosica, CCCB President Bishop Jacques Berthelet wrote that CFFC is "usurping the Church's name; indeed, it is in no way recognized as Catholic."
The letter, concerning the slanderous anti-Catholic Billboard Campaign by CFFC, notes that the "roots and funding of Catholics for a Free Choice are found in the United States." By this the bishop is referring to the fact that CFFC is a very low membership front group for a number of powerful anti-Catholic U.S. foundations that vehemently oppose the Catholic Church's international influence on population-related and moral issues. Through CFFC, the Rockefeller, Ford and Playboy Foundations, Ted Turner and International Planned Parenthood, have been attempting to spread a great deal of confusion about the church's position on these issues and to undermine the credibility and authority of legitimate, faithful church leaders and institutions.
The CCCB letter quotes a similar statement by the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: "Because of its opposition to the human rights of some of the most defenceless members of the human race, and because its purposes and activities deliberately contradict essential teachings of the Catholic faith, we state once again that Catholics for a Free Choice merits no recognition or support as a Catholic organization."
The CFFC billboard campaign accuses the Church of being responsible for deaths due to its stand against condoms. The CCCB responds "The notion that the Church is in any way thwarting efforts to bring solutions to the AIDS crisis is ludicrous. What of course is the ultimate solution to this epidemic is a change of heart, one that puts human dignity front and centre and does not insult the resolve of people to live their sexuality according to God's will."
The letter suggests using the CFFC situation as a "teaching
moment" at World Youth Day. "What better way of dealing with this matter than
young spokespersons affirming the Church's teaching regarding sexual relations?"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/020319.html#1
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=24909
More abortions follow increased use of morning after pill
LONDON, (LSN.ca) Mar 19 2002- Dr David Paton, a leading expert on teenage fertility at the University of Nottingham, has released a study suggesting that candid sex education and the availability of the morning after pill have increased promiscuous sex. The study confirms the findings of studies conducted in 1999 and 2000 which found that use of family planning information did not lead to a decrease in unwanted pregnancies, and that found that young people who were prescribed the morning-after pill were much more likely to have abortions.
The current study examined figures from the Office of National Statistics for 2000 showing that 4,382 girls under the age of 16 had abortions, up 200 on the year before and up 20% since 1992, during the last Conservative Government. The current Government's policy of looking to decrease teen pregnancy with sex ed and availability of the morning after pill "is a failed policy, looking at all the available evidence," Paton said.
"It is clear that providing more family planning clinics, far from having the effect of reducing conception rates, has actually led to an increase," he said. "The availability of the morning-after pill seems to be encouraging risky behaviour. It appears that if people have access to family planning advice they think they automatically have a lower risk of pregnancy."
Dr. Paton explained the failed reasoning of the Government's current policy. "Basically, you are sending out mixed messages. On the one hand, sex under the age of 16 is illegal; on the other, you are giving information which says, 'Well, if you are going to do it, here's how you go about it'."
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=24881
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
ADOPTS RADICAL FEMINIST RESOLUTION BASHING CATHOLICISM
Includes Article to Subject Religious Freedom to United Nations Conventions
BRUSSELS, March 13, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The European Parliament (EP) voted yesterday, March 12, to adopt a radical feminist resolution that attacks pro-life religious beliefs and Catholicism specifically. The report on "Women and Fundamentalism" was first proposed in October 2001 by María Izquierdo Rojo and was unsuccessfully challenged in the EP by Ireland Independent MEP Mrs Dana Rosemary Scallon.
Scallon warned that article 4 of the resolution could be used to oblige the Catholic Church to ordain women. Article 4 says that the European Parliament "condemns the administrations of religious organisations and the leaders of extremist political movements who promote racial discrimination, xenophobia, fanaticism and the exclusion of women from leading positions in the political and religious hierarchy."
Another Article of concern for Scallon in the report was a section which would prevent countries which protect the unborn child from joining the European Union. Article 23 says the EP "Insists that the Commission ensure that in negotiations for accession, cooperation or association agreements the Community 'acquis' in the field of women's rights is upheld."
Article 31 of the resolution says the EP "Calls on all believers of whatever creed to promote equal rights for women, including the right to control their own bodies and the right to decide when to have families of their own, their lifestyles and their personal relationships; calls on the Member States to adopt legislation to outlaw any practice which endangers the physical or mental integrity and health of women." Moreover, Article 33 singles out the Pope and the Romanian Patriarch to alter their stance on homosexuality. It says the EP "Expresses support for the difficult situation of lesbians who suffer from fundamentalism, and calls on religious leaders. including the Romanian Patriarch and the Pope, to change their attitudes towards these women."
With another article of the resolution the EP seeks to circumscribe church and state relations and restrict religious freedom to make it subject to United Nations conventions. Article 29 says the EP "Considers the separation of church and state to be the only acceptable form of government in a democratic society; calls on the Member States to remain neutral vis-à-vis the various religious creeds, to retain their secular character, ensuring a complete division of responsibilities between Church and State, and to abolish any legal and practical obstacles to the performance of religious duties and the use of religious symbols, insofar as religious precepts are compatible with national legislation, the rule of law and international conventions."
See the EP release on the resolution's passage and the full
resolution at:
"> http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/OM-Europarl?PROG=PRESS-DAILYNB&L=EN&PUBREF=
-//EP//TEXT+PRESS-DAILYNB+DN-20020313-1+0+DOC+SGML+V0//EN&LEVEL=1&REFERER=X&NAV=X#SECTION15
">
http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/OM-Europarl?PROG=REPORT&L=EN&PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+
REPORT+A5-2001-0365+0+DOC+SGML+V0//EN&LEVEL=3&NAV=S
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/020313.html#1
2001
CENSUS REVEALS LOWEST EVER INCREASE IN CANADIAN POPULATION
Canada Contracepting and Aborting Itself Into Oblivion
OTTAWA, March 12, 2002 (LSN.ca) - 2001 Census results released today by Statistics Canada reveal that for the first time in Canada's history population increased by only 4% since the last census, with more than half of the increase due to immigration rather than births. Canada registered a population growth of about 1.16 million people between 1996 and 2001. At just over 30 million inhabitants, the country remains one of the most sparsely populated in the world.
The report noted that there have been only two other periods in which the population grew this slowly: during the Depression of the 1930s and the period between 1981 and 1986. It added that the low increase between 1981 and 1986 was due to exceptionally low levels of immigration - unlike the current situation.
The report indicates that the five years leading up to the 2001 Census were marked by a decline of about one-third in natural increase compared to the 1991 to 1996 period. "The number of deaths rose primarily because Canada's population is aging," said the report. Also, the number of births declined, mostly since "the already low fertility rates dropped even further in the late 1990s."
For the first time in 100 years, the demographic growth rate in Canada was lower than in the United States. This is due to the American fertility rate, which is exceptionally high for a developed country. The annual average number of births for each woman has remained above 2.0 in the United States for the last 10 years. The population of Mexico, the other member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), increased 8.5% between 1995 and 2000, about double that of Canada.
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/020312.html
See the Census Report at:
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/020312/d020312a.htm
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, 12-Mar-2002 -(CWNews.com) - The Greek-Melkite Archeparch of Canada, Bishop Sleiman Hajjar, died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday, apparently drowning in the ocean.
The 51-year-old archeparch, who was appointed to lead the 50,000-strong Archeparchy of St. Sauveur of Montreal, which covers all of Canada for the Melkite rite, was on vacation with friends who found him floating unconscious near the shore. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. He had arrived in Florida on Saturday.
Hajjar was a well-known figure in Canada, despite the small size of his Church. Last July, he baptized the newborn son of pop star Celine Dion. The Melkite Catholic Church in Canada has 10 parishes and 11 priests. An archeparchy is the equivalent of an archdiocese.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=24624
CANADIAN HEALTH RESEARCH AUTHORITY
DOES "END RUN ON PARLIAMENT" OVER EMBRYO RESEARCH
OTTAWA, March 4, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) today released guidelines for funding for stem cell research. The guidelines allow for immediate funding of destructive research on human embryos, despite the lack of federal legislation on the matter. Canadian Alliance leadership candidate Stockwell Day, the Canadian Alliance Party and Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) condemned the move.
CLC, Canada's national political pro-life organization, condemned the guidelines as "inhumane and presumptuous." "This government agency is quite aware that legislation governing stem cell research is pending and that Parliament is in recess but they have chosen this time to present their agenda to people," says Karen Murawsky, Director of CLC's Ottawa Lobby Office. "The use and killing of human beings for the purpose of scientific research was condemned at Nuremberg after the actions of Nazi doctors were revealed," said Mary Ellen Douglas, National Organizer of Campaign Life Coalition. "The scientists of today know full well that adult stem cell research has a proven track record and does not kill a human being. Yet the opportunity of having available victims, human embryos, appears to be too tempting to pass up," she continued.
Under the guidelines, research on embryos left-over from fertility treatments is permitted, with consent of the parents. However the guidelines do not allow funding for human cloning, including cloning for research only. CIHR also said it will establish a Stem Cell Oversight Committee to review funding decisions.
Canadian Alliance Leadership candidate Stockwell Day denounced the new guidelines. "After years of a voluntary moratorium, the CIHR has chosen to allow controversial research which destroys human embryos to proceed," said Day. "They did this despite the fact that Parliament is still waiting for legislation on assisted human reproduction which will likely regulate in this same area. The CIHR has taken an end run around Parliament, hoping to get the embryonic stem cell research genie out of the bottle before MPs have a democratic chance to stop it." Day urged the Health Minister to quickly table legislation on assisted human reproduction and called for a free and open Parliamentary debate, including a free vote, before the CIHR guidelines come into effect. He outlined the dangers of embryonic research and their futility given the availability of adult stem cells. "Adult stem cell research has huge potential for treating disease and saving lives, without raising the terrible e! thical dilemmas posed by embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic stem cell research requires human life to be sacrificed in the name of science, and opens the door to cloning and other possible abuses."
Rob Merrifield, Official Opposition Senior Health Critic also criticized the guidelines. "Today's announcement by the CIHR circumvents the parliamentary process," said Merrifield. "The CIHR is making rules on controversial embryonic stem cell research before Parliament has even debated the subject. This is legislation through the back door; it shows contempt for the democratic process. Canadians deserve to have their views on these issues of life and death debated in Parliament before any decisions are made."
See the complete CIHR guidelines:
http://www.cihr.ca/about_cihr/ethics/stem_cell/stem_cell_guidelines_e.shtml
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/020304.html#1
AUCKLAND, NZ, (LSN.ca)1-Mar-2002 -- LifeSite News - An unfolding scandal at a New Zealand hospital has revealed that hundreds of hearts from aborted babies have been kept in storage after having been cut out of their bodies without consent or notification of their parents. The New Zealand Herald reports "Hundreds of abnormal hearts stored for up to half a century at Auckland's Green Lane Hospital are unlikely to be returned to family members because they were taken from aborted foetuses."
The hospital's clinical director of children's heart surgery, Dr Kirsten Finucane, has revealed "quite a large proportion" of the up to 1300 hearts were from aborted foetuses and most were taken without family knowledge. The move follows a review of the hospital's heart collection and informed consent procedures.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=24329
Back to Top
Saint
Charbel for Life
Back to Home page
E-mail us: info@lilhayat.com