Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog

Walking for Beauty

Photo by John Herreid

Walking for Beauty | John Herreid | CWR blog

Growing larger every year, the Walk for Life West Coast is anchored in a sense of fruitfulness, responsibility, and joy.

When I first moved to San Francisco in April of 2000, one of the first places I visited was the magnificent gallery of Rodin sculptures at the Legion of Honor. The range of pieces there run from some massive bronzes to small intimate plaster and terracotta pieces. Every time I visit, I see something new, something that speaks to the pain, joy, grandeur, misery, and wonder of the human experience. Beauty has that effect on people.

Showing the beautiful is difficult. If it isn’t genuine beauty on display, it’s usually the counterfeit gloss of the prettily sentimental—a much easier thing to create.

San Francisco is home to many public demonstrations and parades, from the Bay to Breakers to the annual, much-hyped Pride Parade. But none of these demonstrations capture sheer beauty like the Walk for Life West Coast. And that’s why it keeps drawing people back, like that gallery of Rodin.

The first Walk was in 2005 and drew around 7,000 people. I volunteered for security that first year, which also marked the most violent opposition the Walk ever faced. Abortion rights activists stripped and made obscene gestures in front of the pro-life crowd. They threw condoms filled with fake blood, eggs, and coat hangers. I was spat upon a few times, and got tackled from behind by one activist. But remarkably, even the normally rather hostile mainstream press coverage reported how the pro-life marchers were striking a friendly, even joyful tone, ignoring the opposing voices, singing and praying as they made their way from the Embarcadero along Fisherman’s Warf down to Fort Mason.

As the Walk grew, the location moved to Civic Center Plaza. We now walk from City Hall down the broad stretch of Market Street, walking almost two miles to the Embarcadero. The opposition experienced the first year has dwindled to a handful of activists overwhelmed by the number of pro-lifers. This year the walkers were so numerous as to cover the entire length of the route; as the lead group arrived at Embarcadero the last few people emptied out from the plaza. During one recent Walk, groups of young people led a joyous shout that echoed down through Market, a wave of sound that turned heads from onlookers.

In the years since the first Walk I’ve grown a lot; getting married and being blessed with three children, the youngest of whom was born on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

Walk for Life West Coast: “Bigger, younger, and more energetic every year”

The crowd of Walkers at Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco (Photo: Darwin Sayo)

Walk for Life West Coast: “Bigger, younger, and more energetic every year” | Gibbons J. Cooney | CWR

The annual pro-life event, which drew an estimated 50,000 Marchers this past Saturday, is one of the five largest public events in San Francisco

On Saturday, January 24, downtown San Francisco echoed with pro-life chants, the rosary in English and Spanish, the Salve Regina, and joyful mariachi music at the 11^th Annual Walk for Life West Coast. As always, the day began at 9:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral, where Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, joined by 11 brother bishops, celebrated the Walk for Life Mass. The Cathedral was over-packed, with nearly 5,000 people—standing room only. “Our goal is not simply to make abortion illegal,” Cordileone told the worshippers, “but to build a culture of life.” He took one of the themes of the youth in attendance and made it his own: “My young people, you are the prolife generation.”

Tens of thousands of pro-lifers overflowed the city’s Civic Center Plaza as the pre-Walk Rally took place. The invocation was given by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. The Archbishop also shared a message of thanks and support from Pope Francis to “…all who came out to the Walk for Life West Coast and all who supported it through their sacrifices and prayers.” The Holy Father called the inviolability of the right-to-life the “essential condition” for the building of a just society. The audience responded with cries of “Viva Papa!”

A poignant moment came at the presentation of the annual St. Gianna Molla award for pro-life heroism. The recipient was the late George Wesolek, who had served for years as the Director of the Office of Public Policy for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and who was instrumental in the creation and success of the Walk. The award was presented to Wesolek’s grandchildren by Vicki Evans, the Director of the Pro-Life Ministry of the Archdiocese, and a decades-long friend of Wesolek.

Speakers included Julia Holcomb, who told the story of her abortion during a relationship as a teenager with Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, and Rebekah Buell, a young woman who attempted to abort her second child with the abortion pill RU486.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Powerful testimony of RU486 abortion pill reversal to be shared at the Walk for Life West Coast

Pro-lifers rally and stand up for life in San Francisco on January 24, 2015

San Francisco, January 5, 2015 – Twenty year old Rebekah Buell never imagined that she would be a pro-life speaker. At only seventeen years old, she became pregnant with her first child, and despite all odds, finished high school, married the baby’s father, and started a promising college education.

However, a few months later, after her marriage became troubled and she and her husband separated, she also found out she was pregnant again. Feeling ashamed, alone, and afraid of losing all she had worked for, she went to an abortion clinic and took the first part of the RU486 abortion pill.

Buell explains, “I instantly knew this was a mistake.  I found Culture of Life Family Services and called the hotline. The nurse, Debbie Bradel calmed me down and literally saved my baby’s life by finding me the wonderful doctor that reversed the abortion pill. I truly believe God knew I was going to take that pill so he set many barriers that allowed my baby to reach 8 weeks so he could survive the pill. When I told Planned Parenthood I was not returning for them to check to make sure the fetus was ‘removed’ and explained what I planned to do, they told me it was dangerous and would result in my baby being born deformed, but I didn’t listen.”

Seven months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who she named Zechariah. Rebekah Buell is currently continuing her college education as a third year English major and raising her two beautiful sons.

Buell now feels compelled to share the pro-life message, saying, “I have a special place in my heart for young women who feel abortion is their only option. It is all too easy to assume the worst but in reality, it often all works out. The family that swore they’d disown you becomes your support system, and the life you thought would be impossible with a baby becomes possible and better than ever. It is heart wrenching to think about how many mothers took the RU486, unaware that their babies survived only to be expelled by the 2nd pill, misoprostol. But abortion clinics leave that part out.”

The 11^th annual Walk for Life West Coast will take place on January 24, 2015. Rebekah Buell will share her amazing story of hope and life at the rally, which will begin at 12:30 PM in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza. Organizers expect to produce a bigger, more dynamic, grassroots Walk for Life West Coast that will demonstrate a growing trend: America is becoming more pro-life.

Founded in 2005 by a group of San Francisco Bay Area residents, the Walk for Life West Coast’s mission is to change the perceptions of a society that thinks abortion is an answer. Walk participants are expected from throughout the Bay Area and across the United States and Canada.

More details and the most up-to-date information about the walk is available at: www.walkforlifewc.com

To set up an interview with Rebekah Buell, or any of the Walk for Life West Coast’s dynamic speakers or event organizers, please contact:Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Walk for Life West Coast, [email protected]or (239)867-4180.

Catholic Medical Professionals Urged to Evangelize Culture with Courage

Cardinal Raymond L. Burke praises Catholic physicians' "noble mission" to uphold their faith in the service of medicine in Sept. 25 speech at the Catholic Medical Association's 83rd annual educational conference in Orlando, Fla. (CNS photo/Jacque Brund)

Catholic Medical Professionals Urged to Evangelize Culture with Courage | Mary Jo Anderson | CWR

The Catholic Medical Association’s annual conference offered encouragement and fellowship for medical professionals in an often-hostile field.

More than 600 Catholic medical professionals, priests, and bishops gathered in Orlando, Florida for the Catholic Medical Association’s 83rd educational conference, September 25-27. This year’s theme, “Courage in Medicine: Defending and Proclaiming the Faith in the New Evangelization,” asked doctors to “examine the grave threats posed by radical and progressive secularization of our society and its impact on the practice of medicine.”

Speakers chosen from medicine, law, journalism, and theology were invited to “highlight the ways in which healthcare professionals are on the front lines of a battle between good and evil—a battle that has raged throughout all of salvation history and that is still waged daily in the choices made by Catholic physicians.” Doctors, nurses, and counselors see first-hand the dehumanizing ravages of modern medical ethics where even euthanasia and “gender reassignment” surgery are approved medical services.

Peter Morrow, MD, president-elect of CMA and chair of the conference, reminded members that Catholic professionals “bear public moral witness to the critical medical issues of our time.” Members, drawn from 86 regional guilds, accepted the challenge as an urgent call to evangelization within their disciplines.

Cardinal Raymond Burke opened the conference with a spirited call to faith under fire, titled “Physicians as Standard Bearers in the New Evangelization.” The cardinal urged medical professionals to live their convictions, a “noble mission,” in the front-line battle against the redefinition of marriage, eugenics, gender theory, euthanasia, and research that destroys human embryos.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

“Lack of confidence in the family is the first cause of the crisis of the family.”

Cardinals and bishops at the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

“Lack of confidence in the family is the first cause of the crisis of the family.”| Carl E. Olson | CWR

Further thoughts on the Synod, reporting on the Synod, and having a long-term perspective

• "The Synod of Bishops on Friday entered its decisive second phase," states a report from CNA/EWTN, "with the formation of small groups which are to come to decisions which will be synthesized into the synod's concluding 'relatio.'" That relatio will provide the basis for what will be discussed next year at the ordinary synod on the family; it will "be presented Oct. 13 by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, who is serving as general rapporteur for the Synod of Bishops."

John Thavis reports that "Pope Francis has named six additional prelates to help write the revised relatio for the Synod of Bishops, to be released Monday." The six includes Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, DC; they "will assist Cardinal Peter Erdo, the primary drafter of the relatio, and two other synod officials, in the task of summing up the first week of spirited synod debate in a document that will form the basis for future discussion."

Thavis adds: "At the risk of oversimplifying, they all seem to be on the pope’s wavelength when it comes to promoting pastoral mercy." Because—wink, wink—there are a number of bishops who don't really care about pastoral mercy. They choke on the word "mercy." They hate mercy so much they refuse to dine in French restaurants, for fear they may have to say, "Merci," which apparently sounds a lot like "mercy".

• If that sounds like an overreaction to Thavis' oversimplification, consider the veteran Vatican reporter also wrote, in another post today, that Cardinal Raymond Burke, "has become the 'Dr. No' of this synod..." How so? Because he had the audacity to express concern about how families might be put in positions where they are pressured to condone same-sex relationships and homosexuality. Thavis also takes a jab at some of the married couples, from various Catholic lay movements, who have addressed the synod: "They have endorsed church teachings, saying sexuality should reflect the 'plan of God' and not the consumerist and selfish model of the world. No one doubts their sincerity, but perhaps the synod might have invited some other voices as well." Perhaps Andrew Sullivan? Good grief.

LifeSiteNews.com reports that Cardinal Burke said the following:

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

Old Liberals, Young Liberals, and the Breakdown of the Family

(Photo: © peshkova | us.fotolia.com)

Old Liberals, Young Liberals, and the Breakdown of the Family | Dr. James Hitchcock | CWR

Why and how the rejection of Humanae Vitae made all the difference among Catholics

A recent study by the Pew Research Center finds significant differences between younger and older liberals, differences that are not encouraging either to orthodox religious believers or to the older liberals.

The Next Generation Left (NGL) are at one with older liberals on the social issues, notably abortion and homosexual marriage, and it is primarily those issues which hold the Democratic constituencies together. But the NGL is notably less liberal on economic issues. Only nine per cent of older liberals think America’s economic system is fair, while 36 per cent of the NGL does. Over 8o per cent of older liberals think the government should help the needy, as opposed to only 39 per cent of the NGL, 32 per cent of whom think the poor lack initiative and rely on handouts.

As R. R. Reno of First Things says, the Pew study seems to show that the NGL “…marry free market individualism with an affirmation of lifestyle freedom unhindered by and sometimes antagonistic to religion, morality, and social solidarity.”

Older liberals vs. younger liberals

These findings ought not to be surprising, given the meritocratic nature of elite education in America. Intense competition has formed the NGL and confirmed for them that they have arrived at success through hard work and personal merit and have nothing to apologize for.

There is some unease over this among older liberals. Universities still celebrate students and alumni who are successful in worldly terms, but in their publicity they feature equally those engaged in various kinds of social service. At every commencement ceremony speakers congratulate the new alumni on their accomplishments but urge them not to forget the less fortunate. Being involved in social action of some kind is a good career move both before and during college, but how many graduates—burdened by sometimes overwhelming debts—remain committed is doubtful.

The NGL are not eager to sacrifice even for what they consider to be the common good, a small but telling statistic is that, while the NGL consider themselves environmentalists, many also favor the Keystone XL pipeline.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Non-Negotiables in a Relativistic, Media-Driven Age

Non-Negotiables in a Media-Driven, Relativistic Age | CWR staff | Catholic World Report

Veteran journalist Sheila Liaugminas's new book tackles the roots and meaning of hot button issues from abortion to social justice

Sheila Liaugminas is an Emmy Award-winning, veteran journalist who has worked in both print and broadcast media. She reported for Time magazine in its Midwest Bureau for over 20 years, and co-hosted the Chicago television program “YOU”. Based in Chicago, Liaugminas is a regular contributor to MercatorNet.com, and has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago Business, Crisis, National Catholic Register, and National Review Online. She currently hosts the daily radio program “A Closer Look” on Relevant Radio.

Her new book, Non-Negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture, was published recently by Ignatius Press. It has been widely praised, with Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., saying, "Combining the passion of personal conscience and the convictions of reason and faith, Sheila Liaugminas analyzes conflicted points in our culture in the light of first principles. It's a good tool in skilled hands."

Sheila recently took time from her busy schedule to talk with Catholic World Report about her book, the culture and the Church, relativism, human dignity, social justice, and Catholic social doctrine.

CWR: Let’s start with the very first sentence, in your Preface: “We the people are losing our ability to think clearly or reason well.” You also state that we have lost the “art of argument.” There’s surely a lot of blame to go around, but what are some of the foundational factors? And what is the trajectory you’ve witnessed in your years working in secular and Catholic media? Is it simply getting worse?

Sheila Liaugminas: We can look back at any number of periods in the past century, but at least to the Sixties and the rupture in the culture and the Church that seemed to happen suddenly in the chaos of that decade to see where and how the current confusion was sown. It was a revolutionary time when authority was not only questioned but ridiculed and rendered irrelevant, and we rapidly and all too easily lost our reference points to absolute truth and the Judeo-Christian ethics that formed this nation.

It ushered in Roe v. Wade which led to all that Pope Paul VI predicted in Humanae Vitae, redefining life itself and the terms for living a good life to fit the new secular orthodoxy. From then on, we’ve been plummeting further into the ‘dictatorship of relativism’ Pope Benedict XVI warned of, in which things become what culture shapers decide, changeable with the times. Words have been so distorted through that cultural disruption that ‘Choice’ covers abortion, ‘Compassion’ covers euthanasia, and ‘Equality’ covers the redefinition of marriage in law. It is getting worse with each successive movement claiming as its mantle a word that designates empathy and freedom and human ideals. These are persuasive to a population unable to counter with questions that challenge their premises.

CWR: There are, as your book emphasizes, certain truths “so foundational for our life and flourishing that they are simply not open to debate or mitigation—they are non-negotiable.” And yet those truths are, of course, not only debated, they are even dismissed. Why so? How did we arrive at this spot?

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

The Global Sexual Revolution and the Assault on Freedom and Family

German sociologist Gabriele Kuby is the author of "The Global Sexual Revolution: The Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom" (Photo courtesy of Dr. Benjamin J. Vail)

 The Global Sexual Revolution and the Assault on Freedom and Family | Dr. Benjamin J. Vail, OFS | CWR

German author and sociologist Gabriele Kuby discusses “gender mainstreaming”, the new totalitarianism, and being called a "homohater"

In early April 2014, German author Gabriele Kuby visited the Czech Republic to give a number of public presentations promoting her new book, The Global Sexual Revolution: The Destruction of Freedom in the Name of Freedom, recently translated to Czech. During her visit to Brno, I had a chance to interview Kuby about her book and ask how her Catholic perspective helps her understand one of the most important issues of our time: the continuing sexual revolution that is leading not only to private lifestyle changes but a new legal understanding of sexuality and the family.

Kuby warns that the global trend of “gender mainstreaming” threatens the fundamental understanding of our very human nature, with dire consequences for children, families, and society as a whole. For example, until 2014 users of Facebook had to indicate their sex – whether they are a man or a woman. But now the popular internet social network gives users 58 different options to indicate their gender. Also in 2014, the winner of the popular “Eurovision” song contest was an Austrian man named Thomas Neuwirth, known by his stage name Conchita Wurst, who attracts curiosity by cross-dressing in women’s clothing while wearing a thick beard. Kuby points out that these kinds of situations create confusion and real psychological and spiritual harms for individuals and society.

CWR: For the benefit of our readers, would you please summarize the main thesis of your new book?

Gabriele Kuby: After my conversion to the Catholic faith, and given my background in the study of sociology and interest in political and social developments, I began to realize that sexuality is the issue of our time. We live in a time when sexual norms are being turned completely upside down, which is unique in human history. No society does has done this. No society has ever said, “Live out your sexual drive any way you like,” but our society does. I think this issue of sexuality is the main attack on the dignity of the human being, and on society as a whole, because if a society lets go of its morality in general, and especially in the area of sexuality, it tumbles into anarchy and chaos, and this can result in a new totalitarian regime by the state.

CWR: A main theme of your book is “gender mainstreaming.” Can you educate our readers about gender mainstreaming, and explain why it is dangerous?

Kuby: The term “gender” was a grammatical term used to differentiate the genus of a word, before it was used for a political agenda. Then radical feminists discovered this word and used it to create a new ideology. I marvel at the strategic far-sightedness of knowing that you need a term to promote a new idea, and this is the term “gender.” Gender now means there is a “social sex” which can differ from you biological sex. Of course, there are cultural and historical differences in the ways people live their masculinity and femininity. But the feminist theory is, there is a social construction of sex which can be different – indeed, need not be identical to – your biological sex. And if we give up our identity as a man or a woman, and say there is no such identity, then of course the whole sexual order collapses, and anybody can have sex with anybody – which is not just a theoretical claim, but a practical claim of this movement: there are not two sexes, or two genders; there are many genders, like heterosexual men and women, homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, transgender, intersexual and queer people (“queer” being a term for any kind of sexual deviance from heterosexuality).

Gender theory says our sexual orientation is the main criterion for our identity. The main value by which this is promoted is freedom. Our hyper-individualized society claims that we have freedom to choose our sex, whether we are man or woman, and it is our freedom to choose our sexual orientation. Society must not only tolerate but positively accept any kind of sexual orientation. But in fact, heterosexuality is the natural condition of our human existence, and more than 97 percent of the population of this earth is heterosexual and has an instinctive rejection of homosexuality. The people who push the gender agenda around the world of course have to start with very young children and teach them that any kind of sexual orientation is equally valid.

The whole thing is “sold,” so to speak, as ever more rights for women.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

The Labor Movement, Teachers Unions, and Catholic Social Teaching

(Images: © ComZeal - Fotolia.com; © Adrian Hillman - Fotolia.com)

The Labor Movement, Teachers Unions, and Catholic Social Teaching | Rev. George E. Schultze, SJ | CWR

Labor Day is an opportunity to reflect on nature of work and the proper role of unions in the light of Catholic social teaching

Catholic religious leaders have long supported the labor movement in the United States because it has promoted the economic wellbeing of workers and their families. The Irish, Italian, and Slavic immigrants of the past, and the Latino immigrants of the present, have gained from the efforts of countless Catholic and non-Catholic labor leaders and supporters who have organized workers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.

A plethora of Catholic men and women have learned to organize workers and engage both the economic powers that be and the wider civil society through labor unions, often climbing to the pinnacles of labor power. Workers and their families recall self-professed Catholics such as Terrence Powderly of the Knights of Labor, Philip Murray and the United Steel Workers, George Meany and John Sweeney, presidents of the AFL-CIO, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta (co-founders of the UFW), and the present day Maria Elena Durazo of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Catholic social teaching in the wake of the industrial revolution contributed reason and faith to organized labor’s activities, even if indirectly, through participation of Catholic union members and the clergy who helped form them.

In recent years, numerous government, academic and media sources have documented the declining numbers of unionized workers in the United States in both relative and absolute numbers; 12% of the workforce is organized and 6% of the union members are public sector workers. While the number of unionists has declined the political strength of labor has grown, especially in its lobbying, political fundraising, and volunteer campaign work. The public sector unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the National Education Association (NEA), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are at the apex of their political influence. These service and education unions, as well as the building and trades and health care unions, have a distinct advantage over manufacturing unions. Construction, health care, the hospitality industry, and schools remain state-side with little risk of capital flight; furthermore, the young, the ill, and the elderly normally remain close to home. Similarly, the government (the public sector) tends not to set up shop offshore.

While one can laud, for example, the desire and activities of teachers unions that promote students and their families, serve immigrants, and advocate for economic justice, the union leaders and their allies are tragically promoting anti-life and anti-family initiatives as part of their activism. As significant players in public education, they are encouraging cultural perspectives that reject the values of a great number of Americans, including Catholics and other people of good will. This was not always the case in American education and the union movement.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Former PP clinic director Abby Johnson: Texas Planned Parenthood clinic had abortion quotas

From the Daily Caller site:

Former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson says she has proof that a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic had abortion quotas — target numbers of abortions it needed to perform in order to meet its budget.

Johnson, who left the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas in 2010, released a budget statement for the 2010 fiscal year she said shows that the clinic was expected to perform at least 1,135 abortions that year.

Johnson’s group, And Then There Were None, whose stated goal is “to provide financial, emotional, spiritual and legal support to anyone wishing to leave the abortion industry,” released a photograph a few weeks ago of a Colorado clinic receiving an award for having performed more abortions in the first half of the 2013 fiscal year than they had in the second half of the 2012 fiscal year.

Read the entire article.

Watch Abby's powerful 3-minute video talking about the agenda of Planned Parenthood.

Abby's story is told in her book UnPlanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader's Eye-Opening Journey Across the Life Line, which is available in paperback from Ignatius Press.
 
Plus, the powerful 60-minute DVD, "Changing Sides: How a Pro-life Presence Changed the Heart of a Planned Parenthood Director", about her journey from Planned Parenthood director to pro-life activist is available now for only $3.00.

Unveiling the Tactics (and Tantrums) of Tyrannical Feminists

Supporters of legal abortion and the federal contraceptive mandate demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington June 30. (CNS photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)

Unveiling the Tactics (and Tantrums) of Tyrannical Feminists | Carrie Gress | Catholic World Report

The concocted “war on women” is sheer marketing genius; it is also angry, irrational, and dishonest.

The Hobby Lobby case pass set off an unabating, shrill firestorm. Late last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued this warning about the Supreme Court: “We should be afraid about this court … five men can decide if a woman can use a diaphragm.” Somehow, poor Nancy misread the case.

Among the publishable screeds – many others are too crass to even quote – there is an odd, recurring pattern: like Pelosi, very few actually address the real issues of the case. Hillary Clinton, a lawyer whom one would hope had actually read and understood the Supreme Court ruling, contributed this dire warning to the debate: “It’s very troubling that a salesclerk at Hobby Lobby who needs contraception, which is pretty expensive, is not going to get that service through her employer’s health-care plan because her employer doesn’t think she should be using contraception.” Even the Washington Post, recognizing the unbelievable misfire on the topic, gave Clinton “two pinocchios” for this comment, stating that “Clinton was leaping to an assumption about the impact on employees.”

A Slate article, adding to the sensational rhetoric, resorted to an ominous tone: “The Supreme Court term wrapped up nice and neat last week. Unless you are a woman.” The decision, the author claimed, still has women reeling over its implications. Reeling? Really? Because a few very select bosses in the country aren’t required to pay for your abortifacients?

One often hears about the “fog of war” that comes about in battles, in which the truth is difficult to discern, only clarified later by time and distance. Somehow, however, the fog around the so-called “war on women” seems to be self-imposed and self-perpetuating.

Ours is an age of tyrannical feminists. Using shrill voices, dialed up to the highest pitch possible, these women warn of impending catastrophe from anything that might not align with their current allegiances, while actively drowning out dissent.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Memory: Wired for God in the Eucharist

Memory: Wired for God in the Eucharist | Dr. Joseph R. Hollcraft | Homiletic & Pastoral Review

As we reflect on the principle of memory, we are drawn into what lies at the center of it all, Christ and his words in the institution of the Eucharist: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor.15:25).

No Ordinary Pilgrimage

In the winter of 2007, I got in a car with a close friend of mine, and we made the three-hour drive to the third annual “Walk for Life West Coast” in San Francisco. As I explained to my friend, this trip was not just about going on a “three-hour” pilgrimage to “Assisi by the Bay” (as it was coined by then Archbishop Levada) to witness on behalf of the unborn, but it was also to be a journey into the past. During my adolescence, I lived in the East Bay, and up to that point, I had never gone back to spend any significant time in my old neighborhood. So, it was after the conclusion of walking down Embarcadero Street, and praying on behalf of the unborn—which in itself was a profound experience—that we then set off for my old neighborhood, San Ramon, California.

Initially, my plan was to spend the late afternoon and evening in a few spots where I had a great deal of fond memories growing up. My plans quickly changed. As we drove onto the highway, I was thinking about my childhood, and surprisingly, the first thing that had come to mind were the many days I spent at the local junior college running track. Consequently, we decided to take a pit stop at Chabot Junior College. As we drove up to the college, and I looked over to see the same set of bleachers that were there 25 years ago, something happened to me, quite unexpectedly. I immediately remembered particulars of my time at Chabot that I had not thought of in a very long time—and there was more. As I walked through the entrance into the stadium, and smelled the fresh cut grass, it was almost as if the grass remembered me: calling out to me, as it were, “Do you remember me?” Once again, I remembered details of things that had happened to me long ago at Chabot Junior College. These moments left me overwhelmed, and I dare say, emotional. I could not help but ask myself—what is happening? Why am I being filled with so many memories and emotions, at the sight of a stadium, and the smell of grass? Such an experience was all very new to me. It was then that I started to think about the life of Pope John Paul II, and his reflections on the meaning of a pilgrimage.

John Paul II once spoke of the power of going on a pilgrimage, but not the conventional pilgrimage in which we journey to a holy destination with the hopes of being refreshed and experience renewal.

Continue reading at www.HPRweb.com.

Sheila Liaugminas discusses "Non-Negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture"...

... with Catholic New World (Archdiocese of Chicago) and CatholicMom.com.

First, from the interview with Catholic New World:

CNW:What are the non-negotiables?

Liaugminas: Catholic social teaching covers a broad spectrum of principles we must not capitulate on or abrogate in caring for human life and needs. It’s not negotiable that we must feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, relieve suffering, protect the vulnerable, seek justice wherever it is denied, work for peace.

But some rights are so fundamental to all others that they take pre-eminence as first principles for a free, just and virtuous society to exist and flourish. They are life from the biological beginning to life at the most dependent final end, marriage between one man and one woman for the sake of their children and the role of family in society, and the protection of conscience and religious freedom to carry out the social gospel in public life.

CNW: You write that the right to life underlies all of the non-negotiables. Some critics say the Catholic Church focuses too much on abortion over other issues. How do we respond to that?

Liaugminas: If you can’t guarantee the right to life, no coherent argument can be made for any other right for human beings. Our popes, each in succession, have taught this immutable truth repeatedly and forcefully. We should never be defensive of such a fundamental truth. It’s not an “either/or” proposition of abortion or other important human rights. It’s a “both/and,” beginning with protecting human life from the youngest, most vulnerable stage through to human life in the final, often vulnerable stage. Every abortion ends a human life. Full stop. ...

CNW: What’s the value of the Christian witness in today’s world?

Liaugminas: When lived out, ours is a countercultural witness to transcendent truths about human dignity inherent to every person, deriving not from a State or government but from the Creator. Christians throughout the ages have witnessed to those eternal truths in the face of grave dangers, and we are the modern inheritors of that tradition and the teaching of the church. G. K. Chesterton said there are many ways to fall, but only one way to stand. It is with the truth found in the Christian faith. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “The end of life is not to achieve pleasure or avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.” These are timeless truths and we have to be courageous, unafraid, calm and charitable in debating, defending or sharing them with people in the modern world.

Our recent popes have given us the moral grammar to talk about these issues with clarity and charity in a society that has given rise to “the culture of death” as Pope John Paul II stated it, an increasingly secular society that is “increasingly growing hostile to Christianity,” as Pope Benedict XVI stated it, a “throwaway culture” that has grown into a “culture of indifference” as Pope Francis stated it.

He calls us continually to “go out to the existential peripheries” and “create a culture of encounter.” That can be across the world in developing countries, or across the street, the office space or even your kitchen table at home in this country. Complacency is not an option. We have been given the knowledge, the words and the tools, and certainly the continual encouragement, to go out and reach the world with the love and mercy of Christ.

I end the book on what I pray is a hopeful note. Early in his papacy, in one of his compelling daily homilies, Pope Francis said “Christians are called to do the great work of evangelizing to the ends of the world … she goes forth with Jesus…This is the magnanimity that Christians should have … this magnanimity is part of the Christian vocation: always more and more, more and more, more and more, always onwards.”

And from CatholicMom.com:

Q: Please briefly introduce yourself and your family to our readers.

Ever since early childhood, I knew I wanted to be a journalist, making my own newspapers while following daily news reporting in the newspaper and network television. I’m a cradle Catholic raised in an environment imbued with the sense of transcendent truth, and the Social Gospel of caring for ‘the least of these’, which informed everything I did as a professional journalist. While reporting for Time Magazine, I married and had two sons, rededicated myself to the faith for their sake, and committed to family and work, in that order. Raising my sons was a wonderful blessing and loads of fun, with lots of family travel that brought us in touch with other cultures and global realities. My firstborn son discerned a call to the priesthood and was ordained in 2010. He’s studying in Rome for his doctorate, and is scheduled to teach on faculty at Mundelein Seminary in a few years. He’s an amazing priest and scholar. My younger son is a gifted writer with a postgraduate degree, struggling as most writers do to find his place while doing unrelated work that feeds his imagination for future fiction pieces. My husband is a physician who loves his family, travel and the always-trying Chicago sports teams. ...

Q: What prompted you to write this book and what do you hope that readers will take from their experience with Non-Negotiable?

The book started as a response to a long perceived need of such a reference, since the bishops issued ‘Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,’ and yet so many Catholics don’t access it. We need an accessible book in hand that distills Church teaching, provides specific points and links, and helps us to ‘be prepared to give an explanation for what you believe’ (a liturgical reading just before Pentecost). Writing it was finally precipitated by a parish Respect Life group’s need for a resource that states clearly what the Church teaches on the top issues of the day, and why. But early on, I prayerfully discerned that the book needed to cast a wider net and drew from the nation’s founding documents, universal human rights declarations and civil rights struggles as well as Church teaching. My intent was to show that these aren’t truths because the Catholic Church teaches them. The Catholic Church teaches them because they’re true.

Q: You cover some critical issues that are complex yet timely in today’s society. Which portions of the book were most challenging to write?

Given the social, cultural and political climate today, fostered by frequent media distortions, the chapter on marriage was probably a tougher one to navigate. I always seek what I call ‘clarity with charity,’ and there’s not much charity in that debate today. With the focus on human dignity of all persons, and the reason for laws and their social ramifications, I wanted to keenly clarify Church teaching and long standing social policy, while upholding dignity for everyone concerned in the debate, which is all of us at this moment in our history. But then, the chapters on when life begins, the euthanasia movement, and religious liberty dealing with the government mandate that violates conscience rights, all presented their challenges.

More about the book:

Non-Negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture

by Sheila Liaugminas

• Also available in Electronic Book Format

What gave Abraham Lincoln the authority to declare the freedom and choice to own slaves as immoral? After all, the law of the land allowed it. What gave Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King the authority to lead a whole movement calling civil laws immoral and demanding new civil rights laws that recognized the equal dignity and worth of "all God's children" without exception? After all, segregation was legal. What gave the United Nations the moral authority to claim and designate absolute human rights in an international declaration, though some member nations were already violating them?

Principles. First principles. In their founding documents, the United States and the United Nations recognized the principles that all men have inherent dignity and that they deserve equal rights. They both have declared those principles the conditions fundamental to freedom, justice, and peace. Yet both the United States and the United Nations have within them powerful political forces passing laws or resolutions that violate first principles and put at risk the most vulnerable populations.

This book goes beyond the politics of pragmatism and cultural relativism to reacquaint the reader with first principles. It demonstrates what the Church has to say about the most important issues of our time and why. It anticipates the questions readers will ask and provides the answers they will need in the struggle to restore respect for human dignity.

Sheila Liaugminas is an Emmy Award-winning Chicago-based journalist in print and broadcast media. She reported for Time magazine in its Midwest Bureau for over 20 years, and co-hosted the Chicago television program YOU. She has appeared on Fox Chicago News and the BBC. Liaugminas is an established contributor to MercatorNet.com, and has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago Business, Crisis, National Catholic Register, and National Review Online. She currently hosts the daily radio program A Closer Look on Relevant Radio.

Praise for Non-Negotiable:

"Sheila Liaugminas is an articulate voice of the New Evangelization and as she demonstrates in this powerful book, being seriously Catholic today means being part of a culture-reforming counterculture."
- George Weigel, Author, Evangelical Catholicism

"Combining the passion of personal conscience and the convictions of reason and faith, Sheila Liaugminas analyzes conflicted points in our culture in the light of first principles. It's a good tool in skilled hands."
- Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. Archbishop of Chicago

"Sheila Liaugminas stresses in her fine book that 'Complacency is not an option,' and she hammers home that point with brilliant insight into the past, present and future of all the so-called 'social issues' that continue to divide America. This book is a must-read for every person of faith who understands that action is needed – now – if we ever hope to build a free, just and humane society."
- Dr. Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach, Priests for Life

"I truly admire Sheila Liaugminas. She is an outstanding journalist. We have dialogued extensively on her radio program about the rights of conscience and the protection of what we call our 'first principles.' Sheila has laid out in great breadth and depth the need for a revived understanding of the essentials of human dignity and societal organization."
- Jeff Fortenberry, Member of Congress

"Both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have spoken of the 'dictatorship of relativism' in our world today and its negative impacts not just on our faith, but to the common good of society. Shelia Liaugminas draws upon the universal principle of natural human rights and dignity to address several contemporary moral issues which have suffered as a result of a relativistic mindset. Her book is a valuable resource in the struggle to restore a true, just and virtuous society."
- Most Reverend Thomas Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, Illinois

"Sheila Liaugminas brings her keen insights on applying timeless truths to important issues of the day. She demonstrates how 'first principles' have made free, just, and humane society possible and explains why these principles must be non-negotiable. As America grapples with issues of freedom and justice today, Sheila's book is a must-read for those who want to understand why it is critical that we do not back down from "human truths" – affirmed by the Catholic Church and others – if we want a society that protects every individual's life and dignity."
- Dan Lipinski, Member of Congress

Book Trailer:

In Canada, Pro-Lifers on the Brink

Left: Justin Pierre James Trudeau MP, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, in 2009 (Wikipedia.com). Right: Rev. Stefano Penna (Twitter).

In Canada, Pro-Lifers on the Brink | Michael Coren | Catholic World Report

Catholic Church’s leaders in Canada have for too long appeared to prefer establishment acceptance to standing firm and loud on central issues

A letter from Canada, as it were. Those in the United States who assume that Canada is irrelevant should realize that the social and moral policies of the country tend to move south rather quickly. In other words, what begins in Canada often spills over to the U.S. and is eventually embraced by Americans.

The abortion issue is particularly pertinent because many politicians on the American political left and within organized liberalism revere the Canadian model and want to replicate it. That model includes publicly funded abortion at any stage of a pregnancy. If a woman is under age and living at home, the medical authorities have no obligation to inform her parents—and may be prosecuted if they do so. To publicly question this now-established wisdom is to risk media and political crucifixion, and even the country’s Conservative Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has said that he has no intention of reopening the abortion debate.

Until recently it looked as though it couldn’t get any worse. But we were wrong.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Church and State in Ireland: Improved Relations or Deepened Hostilities?

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny receives Communion at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, during a St. Patrick's Day Mass at the cathedral March 17, 2014. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Church and State in Ireland: Improved Relations or Deepened Hostilities? | Michael Kelly | CWR

The positive rhetorical of many political leaders is undermined by push against Catholic schools, hospitals, and pro-life teachings

When the Irish Government announced in November 2011 that it would close the Embassy to the Vatican, it marked an all-time low in relations between the traditionally staunchly Catholic country and the Holy See.

It was a far cry from the time when Msgr. Giovanni Battista Montini (later Pope Paul VI) told Irish officials in 1946, “you are the most Catholic country in the world!”

But, now, less than three years after the closure, the Government has announced the appointment of a new ambassador who will shortly take up residence in Rome and present her credentials to Pope Francis. Emma Madigan will be responsible for getting relations between Ireland and the Vatican back on an even keel.

A new era?

So, does the opening of the embassy mark a new era of warmer relations between Church and State? The country’s Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, certainly thinks so. Speaking in Rome last month after attending the double canonization ceremony for Saints John XXIII and John Paul II, Mr. Kenny expressed his view that there now exists a “closer and healthier relationship between Church and State” following tensions over the handling of abuse allegations against priests and religious.

But, is Mr. Kenny’s view backed up by the evidence on the ground? Many dispute it. “This Government is incredibly hostile towards the Church,” says David Quinn, Director of the pro-religious freedom think-tank The Iona Institute.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

My Afternoon with the Atheists

(© James Steidl - Fotolia.com)

My Afternoon with the Atheists | Dr. Eric Cunningham | CWR

Note to self: Next time, bring Christ

Shortly after Christmas, I was invited to take part in a “friendly discussion” at the monthly meeting of a local chapter of self-described “freethinkers.” I’m not sure how they decided to approach me. Possibly they went window shopping on the websites of local universities, saw my name somewhere on the Catholic Studies page, and figured that I would be a suitable target—I mean, honored guest. I learned from Mr. F., the nice fellow who contacted me, that this meeting would be a special one: It would be graced by the presence of Dan Barker, internationally known atheist-convert and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), the parent organization of their own group.

A wary acceptance

I told Mr. F., by way of declining his offer, that I didn’t think any group of people so stridently bent on the eradication of free religious speech would really be capable of free thought or friendly discussion. I also shared with him my impression (formed from the FFRF website and several YouTube videos) that Dan Barker was a manipulative propagandist who seemed more interested in preaching the gospel of atheism than in exchanging ideas. “Thanks,” I said, “but no thanks.” As a person who says “yes” to almost every request and winds up regretting it too often, I was impressed with myself for so decisively sidestepping this engagement.

However, Mr. F. was politely persistent, and true to my nature, I did reconsider the invitation, thinking that maybe some good could come of my going to this meeting. For a week I exchanged e-mails with Mr. F. and did further research on the Freedom From Religion Foundation. I was struck by the contrast between the cheerful goodwill of Mr. F.’s e-mails and the one-dimensional bigotry that suffuses Barker’s website. There is a great deal more to the FFRF than its purported civic mission to promote the separation between church and state. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a full-fledged anti-crusade, not content with merely articulating the philosophical basis of atheism—which it does embarrassingly poorly—butrather seeking to vilify the religious worldview and the people who hold it. Having lived my life in a confused, divided, and often dysfunctional Church, I can understand why people get upset with religion and want to check out—but for the life of me I don’t know why anybody would spend his life trying to destroy something he thinks isn’t real.

I tried to get Mr. F. to tell me what the format of the event would be. I’ve participated in public lectures, conference panels, round-tables, keynote addresses, after-dinner talks, and debates,and I’ve learned that it’s very important to know exactly what’s going to happen when one is speaking on potentially hostile turf. Unfortunately, I could get no solid answer, so I proposed a format of my own: I would speak for 15 or 20 minutes on a variety of themes related to consciousness, virtual reality, and the spiritual world, all under the provocative title “Christianity Is the Only Truth,” and let the chips fall where they may.

A confession

I want to make clear that the purpose of this reflection is not to bash or belittle the “freethinkers” of my community, or even Barker—although he is indeed a manipulative propagandist by any measure—but to make a public confession of my own shortcomings as a Christian.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

New: "Non-Negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture"

Now available from Ignatius Press:

Non-Negotiable: Essential Principles of a Just Society and Humane Culture

by Sheila Liaugminas

• Also available in Electronic Book Format

What gave Abraham Lincoln the authority to declare the freedom and choice to own slaves as immoral? After all, the law of the land allowed it. What gave Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King the authority to lead a whole movement calling civil laws immoral and demanding new civil rights laws that recognized the equal dignity and worth of "all God's children" without exception? After all, segregation was legal. What gave the United Nations the moral authority to claim and designate absolute human rights in an international declaration, though some member nations were already violating them?

Principles. First principles. In their founding documents, the United States and the United Nations recognized the principles that all men have inherent dignity and that they deserve equal rights. They both have declared those principles the conditions fundamental to freedom, justice, and peace. Yet both the United States and the United Nations have within them powerful political forces passing laws or resolutions that violate first principles and put at risk the most vulnerable populations.

This book goes beyond the politics of pragmatism and cultural relativism to reacquaint the reader with first principles. It demonstrates what the Church has to say about the most important issues of our time and why. It anticipates the questions readers will ask and provides the answers they will need in the struggle to restore respect for human dignity.

Sheila Liaugminas is an Emmy Award-winning Chicago-based journalist in print and broadcast media. She reported for Time magazine in its Midwest Bureau for over 20 years, and co-hosted the Chicago television program YOU. She has appeared on Fox Chicago News and the BBC. Liaugminas is an established contributor to MercatorNet.com, and has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago Business, Crisis, National Catholic Register, and National Review Online. She currently hosts the daily radio program A Closer Look on Relevant Radio.

Praise for Non-Negotiable:

"Sheila Liaugminas is an articulate voice of the New Evangelization and as she demonstrates in this powerful book, being seriously Catholic today means being part of a culture-reforming counterculture."
- George Weigel, Author, Evangelical Catholicism

"Combining the passion of personal conscience and the convictions of reason and faith, Sheila Liaugminas analyzes conflicted points in our culture in the light of first principles. It's a good tool in skilled hands."
- Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. Archbishop of Chicago

"Sheila Liaugminas stresses in her fine book that 'Complacency is not an option,' and she hammers home that point with brilliant insight into the past, present and future of all the so-called 'social issues' that continue to divide America. This book is a must-read for every person of faith who understands that action is needed – now – if we ever hope to build a free, just and humane society."
- Dr. Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach, Priests for Life

"I truly admire Sheila Liaugminas. She is an outstanding journalist. We have dialogued extensively on her radio program about the rights of conscience and the protection of what we call our 'first principles.' Sheila has laid out in great breadth and depth the need for a revived understanding of the essentials of human dignity and societal organization."
- Jeff Fortenberry, Member of Congress

"Both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have spoken of the 'dictatorship of relativism' in our world today and its negative impacts not just on our faith, but to the common good of society. Shelia Liaugminas draws upon the universal principle of natural human rights and dignity to address several contemporary moral issues which have suffered as a result of a relativistic mindset. Her book is a valuable resource in the struggle to restore a true, just and virtuous society."
- Most Reverend Thomas Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, Illinois

"Sheila Liaugminas brings her keen insights on applying timeless truths to important issues of the day. She demonstrates how 'first principles' have made free, just, and humane society possible and explains why these principles must be non-negotiable. As America grapples with issues of freedom and justice today, Sheila's book is a must-read for those who want to understand why it is critical that we do not back down from "human truths" – affirmed by the Catholic Church and others – if we want a society that protects every individual's life and dignity."
- Dan Lipinski, Member of Congress

From Anti-Catholic Atheist to Church-Loving Convert

From Anti-Catholic Atheist to Church-Loving Convert | Catherine Harmon | CWR

“And what I saw was that the Church was right, and that nobody else was right—no one else on the face of the planet was speaking these truths.”

Jennifer Fulwiler is a popular Catholic blogger and homeschooling mother of six who writes about faith, family, media, and culture at her website, Conversion Diary. Fulwiler, whose memoir about her spiritual journey from atheism to Catholicism is titled Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It and is available today from Ignatius Press, has been published in America, Our Sunday Visitor, Envoy, and National Review Online and has appeared on Fox and Friends and Life on the Rock. She was also the subject of the reality show Minor Revisions with Jennifer Fulwiler for New York’s NET TV. She recently spoke with Catholic World Report'smanaging editor Catherine Harmon about the new book, blogging through the process of conversion, and the personal challenges she faced when the practice of the Faith became more than an intellectual pursuit.

CWR: Let’s start with the title of your book, Something Other Than God. Where did the title come from and why did you choose it?

Jennifer Fulwiler: The title came from this wonderful C.S. Lewis quote, which is particularly meaningful because C.S. Lewis is also an atheist-to-Christian convert. The full quote says, “All that we call human history…is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” And the reason I chose that is because at first, I thought this story was just a standard conversion story, but as I got into the writing I realized this was more of a story of a search for happiness. So that’s why I chose that quote, because it talks about how we’re all searching for what will really make us happy, and we can only find that in God.

CWR: In the book you describe the very intense, almost arduous intellectual process you went through of coming to understand Christianity and what Christians believe. During that time what was your attitude toward “cradle Christians” or those who believed in Christ in a perhaps somewhat unreflective—or at least less intellectually rigorous—way?

Fulwiler: It changed over time. When I was younger, because I had had some bad experiences with Christians, I was very disdainful of “cradle believers” and just thought that they bought into these lies for self-serving reasons. As I got older, though, I began to see it as just a cultural thing. I didn’t think that people’s religion actually meant anything to them; I thought that’s what they did because it was the tradition in their family, or whatever.

CWR: At what point do you think your attitude started to change?

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

Youth and Technology Revitalize the Pro-Life Movement

Youth and Technology Revitalize the Pro-Life Movement | Mary Beth Smith | Homiletic & Pastoral Review

Why are college campuses “ground zero” for pro-life activism? Because Gallup Poll statistics report that upon entering college, 47 percent of women were pro-life, but by graduation 73 percent said they were pro-choice.

The equation “40 = 50m.” was the theme of the 2013 March for Life. The numbers are significant as they represent the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, causing the loss of millions of lives due to abortion. Reflected in the numbers is the lack of respect for the life and dignity of the human person. My intention here is to look at the new momentum in the pro-life movement found in both the “March for Life” and “Students for Life of America” organizations through the lens of different generations, motivation factors, impact of technology, and messages of hope, interwoven with the themes of human dignity and intergenerational solidarity.

Since the landmark case of Roe v. Wade in 1973, pro-life groups have been active on college campuses. While many of the activists from those early days retain their pro-life position, they are now in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, part of an “aging” population. Due to work, family commitments, and age, most have limited their involvement in the pro-life movement to making donations to pro-life organizations, voting in favor of pro-life issues and for pro-life candidates, forming human chains to show respect for life, and occasionally participating in sidewalk awareness campaigns and prayer vigils. Involvement in these pro-life activities, regardless of age, reflects the characteristics of faithful
citizenship.  1

One exception to age slowing down a person in political activism against abortion was the founder of the March for Life, Nellie Gray, who died in August 2012, at the age of 88. A Washington Post article states that she organized the annual March for Life almost single-handedly from her home right up to her death. 2 Perhaps, Nellie’s legacy will be her “example of connections between generations, (as) a resource for the well-being of the family and the whole of society.”  3

Nellie’s successor is 40-year-old Jeanne Monahan, who resigned from the Department of Health and Human Services Council as head of the outreach on abortion and issues of “human dignity.”

Continue reading at www.HPRweb.com.

The POTUS and the Pope: Leaders headed in very different directions

U.S. President Barack Obama and Pope Francis exchange gifts during a private audience at the Vatican March 27. (CNS photo/Gabriel Bouys, pool via EPA) (March 27, 2014)

by Carl E. Olson | CWR blog

Today's meeting between Francis and Obama accentuated differences as much or more than it did similarities

How quickly things change. It wasn't that many years ago that Barack Obama—as a candidate, and then as President of the U.S.—was lauded with praise and descriptives that, if applied to a pontiff, would have caused many to wonder, "Has the Church declared the Pope to be the Fourth Person of the Trinity?" In 2008—which in the Age of the Internet is roughly 259 years ago—the victorious Obama told an ecstatic crowd in St. Paul, Minnesota, "America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love."

And then these rather famous lines:

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals.

Those were the good 'ol days, before reality—in the form of daily governance and a dubious reworking of the nation's healthcare system—set in. There are many other factors, of course, all of which have led to a steady decline in the President's popularity, to the point that the Pope is, percentage-wise—twice as popular, as The Daily Caller notes:

Pope Francis currently enjoys an 85 percent approval rating among American Catholics and a 63 percent approval rating among all Americans, according to a new poll from the Saint Leo University Polling Institute.

Just 5 percent of American Catholics and 8 percent of all Americans have a negative view of Pope Francis’ job performance.

Meanwhile a new AP-GfK poll found that just 41 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, which is the second lowest point the poll has ever hit, according to the Washington Post. Some 59 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama, which is a percentage point greater than the previous high in December.

To be fair, Obama was elected by a generally fickle block of voters, and most Presidents suffer a steady decline in popularity, in part because the Age of Celebrity cannot long bear to be engaged, never mind married, to yesterday's savio—er, celebrit—uh, once-in-a-lifetime leader. (Remember when Justin Bieber and Tramp GaGa were the hottest items around?) The vigorous and often vicious 24/7 grind of news and commentary tends to eat up nearly anything of transitory character, including statements long on promise but short on clarity and, in many cases, sound principles.

The irony, in short, is that President Obama has been losing clout and stature, in part, because he is now drowning in the waters of instant celebrity and cult of personality that he once strode upon like a post-modern, post-political messiah.

Continue reading on the CWR blog.