Calif. gay therapy law erodes parental rights, critics charge
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| Ned Dolejsi, director of the California Catholic Conference. |
This Catholic News Agency story reports that pro-family and parental rights groups are saying a new California law banning therapy for minors who struggle with same-sex attraction is disrespectful of both personal choice and parents' rights.
"Parents have the best interests of their children in mind, and if they determine that particular types of therapies or interventions are needed, that's certainly their right, and this law doesn't respect that," Ned Dolejsi, director of the California Catholic Conference, told CNA Oct. 2.
"The attack on parental rights is exactly the whole point of the bill, because we don't want to let parents harm their children," the bill's sponsor, Ted Lieu, has said.
Bill May, president of Catholics for the Common Good, is concerned about the law's effect on youths' well-being.
For
full story see
The B.C. Catholic website.
Catholic Family Services spearheads training of practitioners
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Catholic Family Services hopes to have a minimum of 30 instructors in
Natural Family Planning methods by the end of the year. Pavel Reid,
CFS director, sees the instruction as a necessity for young couples
preparing for marriage. Dreamstime photo. |
The B.C. Catholic recently caught up with Pavel Reid, director of
Catholic Family Services, to discuss Natural Family Planning:
New Natural Family Planning (NFP) services are coming to the Archdiocese of Vancouver. Catholic Family Services (CFS) recently announced they will be establishing an NFP centre and offering training for NFP practitioners.
"We are part of the marriage preparation process in the archdiocese, and I discovered we didn't have the capacity to provide full training for couples in Natural Family Planning," said Pavel Reid, director of Catholic Family Services.
CFS met with representatives from three different NFP groups: NaPro/Creighton, WOOMB, and Serena, and set a goal of training a minimum of 10 instructors for each method by the end of 2012, said Reid.
Website for Syriac Catholics to find information on the monumental year
It's called Baghdad al Īmān (Baghdad of the faith) and the website (in Arabic) is promoted by the Council of Catholic Bishops in Iraq, led by the Syriac Catholic Bishop Abba Ephrem Yousef of Baghdad, to promote the Year of Faith.
Read the full story
here.
Mo. business appealing ruling against its HHS mandate lawsuit
This Catholic News Agency story reports that a federal district court in Missouri has dismissed a Catholic businessman's lawsuit that contends that the HHS mandate violates his religious freedom. His lawyers say the decision is so flawed that it takes a position more extreme than the Obama administration and will not stand on appeal.
"Obviously we're disappointed in this judge's decision, but this is just the end of round one. No one expected that this case would end at the district court level, no matter who won," Francis J. Manion, senior counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice, told CNA Oct. 1.
The lawsuit was filed March 15 on behalf of Frank R. O'Brien and his 87-employee company O'Brien Industrial Holdings in St. Louis, Mo. He said his right to religious freedom is threatened by a federal Department of Health and Human Services mandate that requires most employers of 50 employees or more to offer health insurance plans that offer no co-pay coverage for sterilization and contraception, including drugs that can cause abortions.
The Becket Fund, a religious liberty legal group, says that over 30 federal lawsuits representing over 80 individual and institutional plaintiffs are challenging the HHS mandate.
For
full story see
The B.C. Catholic website.
Catholic speaker hopes to reveal God's dream for us
The B.C. Catholic recently caught up with Catholic speaker, and author of "Rediscover Catholicism,"
Matthew Kelly to talk about his upcoming seminar Oct. 13 at Good Shepherd Church in south Surrey:
Catholic motivational speaker Matthew Kelly hopes his upcoming seminar at Good Shepherd Church will bring passion and purpose to the attendees in their everyday lives.
The author of the bestseller Rediscover Catholicism is a world-renowned public speaker, motivating Catholics to become the "best versions of themselves."
"I think those who attend can expect an experience that encourages them to step back and take another look at who they are and where they are in their lives and their spiritual journeys," Kelly told The B.C. Catholic.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Cardinal says aid organizations pushing 'reproductive rights' for women do not pursue their best interests
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Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace,
speaks at a news conference Sept. 29 at St. Paul University in Ottawa. |
The B.C. Catholic has a story by Deborah Gyapong about
Cardinal Peter Turkson, who says abortion in the third world might be race based:
Programs pushing contraception and abortion on the developing world under the guise of women’s health care and “reproductive rights” may have an underlying racist agenda, Cardinal Peter Turkson said in a Sept. 28 interview.
“The program being pushed does not reflect the true situation of women in the third world,” the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said. “It derives from a certain thinking that you deal with poverty by eliminating the poor.”
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Former abortion clinic workers detail conversion stories
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| Ann Scheidler |
Here is a Catholic News Agency story about a recent conference in Illinois, where former abortion workers told the stories of the work that they once thought was helping women, and how they were converted to the pro-life position.
"We wanted to better understand the mindset of people who work in the abortion industry," said conference planner Ann Scheidler, the vice president of the Pro-Life Action League. The conference was titled "CONVERTED: From Abortion Provider to Pro-Life Activist."
While the lack of resources has made this transition especially difficult in the past, a new ministry by former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson is now helping those who wish to leave the abortion industry but are struggling in their decision to do so.
For
full story see
The B.C. Catholic website.
Mark Warawa pushes to have sex-selective abortion made illegal
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| Conservative MP Mark Warawa |
Conservative MP
Mark Warawa recently introduced
Motion 408 to Parliament, calling to have sex-selective abortion made illegal for Canadian women.
After the defeat of
Motion 312 the day prior, a proposal that sought to redefine the moment a fetus becomes a human being, Warawa took a stand against the prevalence of female-feticide in Canada. In a statement released on Friday he noted, “92% of Canadians believe sex-selective pregnancy termination should be illegal.”
Mike Schouten, director for WeNeedaLaw.ca,
supports the need for the criminalization of sex-selective abortion. "(It) violates the high standard of human rights Canada is known for upholding and it’s appropriate for Parliamentarians to condemn this misogynistic practice." WeNeedaLaw.ca is a Langley-based organization that advocates the need for some form of gestational legislation regarding abortion.
Schouten added that many studies have been conducted on the prevalence of this practice. Some studies have shown that it is more common with some immigrant communities.
“The Canadian Medical Association found that many more boys than girls are being born in some Canadian ethnic communities. They found that by the time a third child was born the male-to-female ratio for Indian-born mothers was as high as 136 boys for every 100 girls,” said Schouten.
An inspection of these findings led to an
investigation by the CBC that aired in June. The study found that many women were abused and subsequently pressured into having an abortion if the sex of the pre-born child was found unfavourable.
Schouten says many Canadians recognize the need for federal abortion legislation and will support Warawa in his pursuit of Motion 408.
Pray, attend Mass regularly, and spray your house with holy water to stop the 'evil one'
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Robert Canton says if the devil is after you, pray,
attend Mass regularly, and sprinkle your house
with holy water. Ramon Gonzalez / CCN. |
The B.C. Catholic has a story from Ramon Gonzalez of the
Western Catholic Reporter about an evangelist who gave several talks to Alberta Catholics on how to know and defeat Satan:
If you have been cursed by someone or think the “evil one” is after you, pray, attend Mass regularly, and spray your house with holy water.
“Prayer works; prayer is power,” Robert Canton said as he spoke to about 280 charismatic Catholics Sept. 22. “Pray until something happens.”
Canton also urged his audience to be people of worship in order to keep Satan away. “If you are a praising person you become pleasing to God,” and thus “the evil one will not be able to stand you,” he said.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Father Daws used his past life of addiction to counsel afflicted
The B.C. Catholic has a story about the life of beloved Yukon priest Father David Daws:
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Father David Albert Daws struggled with alcoholism as a
young adult but cleaned up and used his experience to
help counsel other addicts. Photo submitted. |
There isn't always a direct path from altar server to pastor. Father David Albert Daws certainly proved that, walking one of the more obscure paths as he turned from a life of addiction to become a priest. Father Daws died Aug. 11 in Abbotsford. He was 64.
David Daws was born in Whitehorse into a troubled family. His father was an alcoholic and abusive.
He struggled with his own alcohol addiction and bounced around from job to job during his 20s. During this time he broke both his legs in a car accident.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Commentators say pro-Obama Catholics misrepresent record
This Catholic News Agency story says Catholic commentators Deacon Keith Fournier and Deal Hudson, in their new column to run daily through the upcoming elections, have warned that some Catholic supporters of President Obama are misrepresenting his record.
Deacon Fournier said "too many Catholics and other Christians have not figured out the consequences we face Nov. 6, 2012, if we do not properly inform our decision on who we will elect to lead us and vote accordingly."
He and Hudson said in a Sept. 27 column at Catholic Online that despite their own differences they have joined together to "do absolutely everything we can" to influence "the most important election in our lifetime."
Deacon Fournier is the editor-in-chief of Catholic Online, and Hudson is the president of the Pennsylvania Catholics Network and a former Republican consultant on Catholic outreach.
For
full story see
The B.C. Catholic website.
Woodworth's motion gets unexpected support
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Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth, author of Motion 312, holds a press conference
after the motion's defeat in the House of Commons. |
The B.C. Catholic has Nathan Rumohr's and Deborah Gyapong's coverage of the Motion 312 vote and reaction:
As many pundits expected, Stephen Woodworth's Motion 312 was defeated in the House of Commons Sept. 26. However, many were surprised that the vote was not defeated by a bigger majority. The result was 203 against to 91 for, or just over 2 to 1.
MPs from all parties voted against the motion, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and most of his cabinet.
While many of the motion's supporters were disappointed with the result, they saw a silver lining in how the motion has sparked a national debate on the rights of children in the womb.
Read Rumohr's story
here and Gyapong's
here.
Congress narrowly passes law legalizing pregnancy terminations up to 12 weeks
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Life-size models of babies at 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 weeks after conception. The Uruguayan
congress passed a law by one vote Sept. 25 legalizing abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy. Sxc.hu. |
Catholic News Agency reports the Uruguayan congress has passed a law legalizing abortion:
The legislation now goes to the senate for approval and must be signed by President Jose Mujica, who has already voiced his support for the measure.
It passed after more than 13 hours of debate and one day after thousands of pro-life advocates marched in the capital city of Montevideo, urging lawmakers to vote against the bill.
The law holds that a woman who wishes to obtain an abortion must appear before a commission of doctors and social workers who are to provide her with information about her choice. After a five-day waiting period, she will be free to decide whether to proceed with the abortion.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Don Spratt and Cecilia von Dehn to continue to dispute their 2011 convictions
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Cecilia von Dehn being arrested outside the Everywoman's Health Centre
in 2009. Special to The B.C. Catholic |
After more than two years of fighting, pro-life activists Don Spratt and Cecilia von Dehn have been granted leave to appeal their convictions for breaching the Access to Abortion Services Act, known commonly as the "Bubble Zone Law."
B.C. Court of Appeal Judge David Franklin Tysoe ruled Sept. 10 that Judge Barbara Fisher might have incorrectly defined the law when she convicted Spratt and von Dehn in June 2011.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Father Ochaya sensed a lot of solidarity among parishes during his summer mission appeal trip
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Three students from the Diocese of Juba in South Sudan. Father Martin Ochaya
Lino came to the Archdiocese of Vancouver during the summer to raise money for students there to go to school. Special to The B.C. Catholic. |
The B.C. Catholic has a story about the recent
mission appeals trip of Father Martin Ochay Lino from South Sudan. He visited the
Archdiocese of Vancouver over the summer, raising money for projects for his Diocese of Juba, which is the main provider of education for South Sudanese children:
Many Canadians associate education with the government, but for the youth of South Sudan, the Catholic Church is almost the only education provider.
Father Martin Ochaya Lino, from the diocese of Juba in South Sudan, made this clear during his mission appeal trip to the Archdiocese of Vancouver during the summer. The priest is raising funds to help individual students pay tuition at schools in his home diocese and to establish a rehabilitation centre for orphans affected by war and disease.
His trip was successful; Lower Mainland Catholics responded.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana speaks at bishops' plenary
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Bishop Fred Colli of Thunder Bay presents Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana
with a special stole to mark the canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in October.
Deborah Gyapong / CCN. |
Religious freedom is the subject of today's story from the
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' plenary. CCN's national correspondent Deborah Gyapong reports:
Canada’s apostolic nuncio warned Canadian bishops about threats to Catholic education in Canada and urged the bishops to “remain aware of developments in our society that jeopardize religious freedom.”
Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, the Holy See’s ambassador to Canada, addressed the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at their annual plenary Sept. 24.
“Many Catholic institutions are in danger of losing their Catholic character,” Archbishop Lopez Quintana said. He added that the Pope has spoken of an “educational emergency” worldwide in the face of rampant individualism that “reduces reality to something to be manipulated."
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Conscience rights for pharmacists upheld in Illinois ruling
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| Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world; Gloria Estefan, a latin pop
singing sensation; and Etsuro Sotoo, a Japanese architect, are all to be
speakers at the 2013 religious freedom conference in the Vatican. Read more. |
This Catholic News Agency story says an Illinois appeals court's ruling on the conscience rights of pharmacists is being hailed as a victory for religious freedom and could offer hope to current lawsuits challenging the federal contraception mandate.
"Government can't force pharmacists and pharmacies to violate their religious beliefs to stay in business," said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has been co-representing the pharmacists for seven years.
Rienzi told CNA on Sept. 24 that the ruling provides a "useful" parallel in examining the controversial Health and Human Services mandate that forces many religious employers to violate their sincere beliefs by providing health insurance coverage of contraception, sterilization, and early abortion drugs.
"I think the same principle would apply," he said.
For full story see
The B.C. Catholic website.
More than 100 servers from 54 parishes attend
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Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, poses with the 108 altar servers from 54 parishes
after the seventh annual Archbishop’s Altar Server Awards Mass Sept. 15
at Holy Rosary Cathedral. Nathan Rumohr / The B.C Catholic. |
Altar servers from around the Archdiocese of Vancouver gathered at Holy Rosary Cathedral recently for the seventh annual Archbishop's Altar Server Awards:
"It is certainly encouraging for me, and inspiring, to see you, because for the whole archdiocese you are signs of inspiration and encouragement to us who are older, and you are a hope for the Church," Archbishop Miller told the award recipients during his homily. "We are honouring you because you are the good fruit."
He thanked the altar servers for their commitment to the altar. He said serving at the altar is not only a duty or a service but also a great honour.
"I know, often, serving at Mass can be inconvenient," he said. "You have to give up a lot of things. You give up those things to be faithful servants of the Lord."
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Warns of the subtle spiritual danger of secularism
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Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk receives a standing ovation from the
Canadian bishops after his address at the bishops' annual plenary Sept. 25
in Sainte-Adele, Que. Deborah Gyapong / CCN. |
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk got a standing ovation after speaking about the dangers of secularism to the
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at their annual plenary:
The first head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church to address the plenary, Archbishop Shevchuk said the Church must find “new courage” to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to contemporary society to provide “an anchor and compass.”
“We live in societies where virtue and goodness are frequently a veneer for religious intolerance, personal gratification, and moral decay,” he said. “Secularism would like us to be closed in a little box of Sunday worship.”
The former Soviet Union used that approach to religion, he said.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
Canadian bishops to discuss clerical sexual abuse, immigration, and social justice
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Msgr. Patrick Powers, CCCB general secretary, and Archbishop Richard Smith
of Edmonton, CCCB president. Deborah Gyapong / CCN. |
The B.C. Catholic has Deborah Gyapong's coverage of the annual plenary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Sainte-Adele, Que:
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is examining the prevention of clerical sexual abuse as one of the many issues of its packed five-day annual plenary Sept. 24-28.
The 90-plus bishops gathered from across Canada will receive the updated guidelines prepared for submission to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, the CCCB president, said in his annual president’s address at the Mont-Gabriel Hotel Sept. 23.
“Of course our ongoing response must extend far beyond the articulation of protocols and procedures to an embrace in love and compassion of any person, family, or community affected by this scourge,” he said.
Read the full story at
The B.C. Catholic website.
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