in Pennsylvania's First Congressional District
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania's_1st_congressional_district http://archphila.org/pastplan/MAPS/Arch.pdf
and the Central Garden State

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

PENNSYLVANIA: Urge Gov. Wolf to Veto the Gambling Expansion Bill! (Family Policy Alliance, 10/27/17)

https://secure2.convio.net/cl/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=693

Free to Serve (USCCB, 10/31/17)

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1100920568270&ca=3d2b7506-9409-48eb-8a7b-a305f1c5c7ba

Monday, October 30, 2017

It's WRAP Week! Get Involved! (NCOSE, 10/30/17)

https://t.e2ma.net/message/hscrid/lj8c3cb

Sunday, October 29, 2017

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

  • Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton

 On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/29/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/29/17 update).

  • Clamoring for Hippocrates (Judie Brown, American Life League, 10/27/17)
    • Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17God Help Us!
      • re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17) (10/22/17God Help Us!
      • So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
        • Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)
  • Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (Catholic Standard, 10/17/17)
    • USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)
  • "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17

Federal Issues, 10/29/17 update

USCCB's Action Center

USCCB's and CRS' Catholics Confront Global Poverty / Action Center 

USCCB's Justice for Immigrants' Action Alerts 

USCCB's Marriage Unique for a Reason

  • "The USCCB continues to support the First Amendment Defense Act, the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, and the Healthy Relationships Act in Congress." (USCCB, 11/3/17)
  • "The USCCB continues to support the First Amendment Defense Act and the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act in Congress....In September, Archbishop Chaput, Chairman of the Bishops' Committee for Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, sent a letter of support to Representative Randy Hultgren for the Healthy Relationships Act of 2017. The act would authorize the federal government to award grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities providing education in sexual risk avoidance (voluntarily refraining from nonmarital sexual activity)" (USCCB, 10/2/17).

Pa Catholic Conference's Current Alerts
(two federal)

National Center on Sexual Exploitation

  • On EWTN News Nightly (9/20/17), the National Center on Sexual Exploitation's Haley Halverson explained why Congress must amend Communications Decency Act, Section 230.
    https://www.youtube.com/embed/0BiKPAszOok?autoplay=1
    Kudos to Brian Fitzpatrick, who is joined by fellow U.S. Representatives from Pennsylvania Barletta, Brady, Evans, Kelly, Rothus, Shuster, and Smucker as co-sponsors of HR 1865 (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017), while Senator Casey (but NOT Senator Toomey) is a co-sponsor of S 1693 (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act)
    • "'Expeditious passage of H.R. 1865 Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA) and S. 1693 Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) will move the country closer to striking a blow against the online havens that facilitate sex trafficking'" (National Center on Sexual Exploitation, 9/7/17). 

Human Life Action Action Alerts

    Current Action Alerts

  • Assisted Suicide is Not Healthcare
  • Urge Congress to Enact the Conscience Protection Act of 2017!
    [As per a 9/20/17 email from Human Life Action: "This is 'appropriations season' on the Hill. That means Congress must pass funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2018.... Last Thursday, the House of Representatives approved HR 3354, Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018. It includes the full text of the Conscience Protection Act (CPA) of 2017! It also includes other provisions which we have taken action on such as the nullification of the DC law that legalized assisted suicide and the DC Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA), a DC law....There are many other pro-life provisions (both longstanding and new) in the funding bill as well, such as a prohibition on funding elective abortions for detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and against funding for research involving human fetal tissue from abortions....Of the new provisions, our top priority is to ensure that the CPA is included.... rather than finalizing the FY 2018 appropriations legislation by the end of the fiscal year (September 30), both the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government at its current levels with current policies until December 8, 2017....continue contacting your members of Congress...."]

    Previous Action Alerts

State Issues, 10/29/17 update

Support HB 1388 as amended

Pa Catholic Conference

  • Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Religious Liberty
    "Changing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious beliefs....proposals like these expose even more Pennsylvanians to discrimination based solely on their religious beliefs. Simply put, this legislation is intolerant and prejudiced against people of faith." 
  • Support a Better Life for Human Trafficking Victims 
    [While the Pa Catholic Conference is supporting SB 554, doesn't the  fact that Senator Daylin Leach is one of its prime sponsors suggest that there should be careful assessment of  whether this legislation and its implications are truly consistent with Catholic teaching?]

Pa Pro Life Federation 

As per the 9/29/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,
    "Please call and email your state Senators and urge them to support House Bill 1139, which strengthens our Newborn Protection Act."
As per the 9/7/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,
  • Support Senator Scott Martin's resolution to condemn the abortion of babies who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome.
  • Support Senate Bill 3.
  • Oppose House Bill 111.
  • Oppose Senate Bill 238.

Pa Family.org Citizen Action Center

11/5/17, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110517.cfm

http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_11_05.mp3

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VLOP36umSsg

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

  • Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton)
http://faithfulinthe8th.blogspot.com/2017/10/102917-30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html


  • Clamoring for Hippocrates (Judie Brown, American Life League, 10/27/17)
    • Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17God Help Us!
      • re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17) (10/22/17God Help Us!
      • So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
        • Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)
  • Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (Catholic Standard, 10/17/17)
    • USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)
  • "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

www.usccb.org/pray

Saturday, October 28, 2017

White Ribbon Against Pornograhy Week Starts Tomorrow (NCOSE, 10/28/17)

https://t.e2ma.net/message/pawoid/lj8c3cb

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

  • Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton)
http://faithfulinthe8th.blogspot.com/2017/10/102917-30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html


  • Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17God Help Us!
    • re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17) (10/22/17God Help Us!
    • So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
      •  Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)
  • Madeleine P. Jones, defender of pre born children, RIP (10/27/17)
     
  • Taking a stand against the harms of p*rnography and prostitution (NCOSE, 10/25/17
  • Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (Catholic Standard, 10/17/17)
  • USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)
  • "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17

On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

www.usccb.org/pray

Friday, October 27, 2017

Congress Urged to Remember the Poor and Strengthen Families in U.S. Bishop’s Letter on Tax Reform (USCCB, 10/25/17)

http://www.usccb.org/news/2017/17-194.cfm

Catholic Hospital Group Grants Euthanasia to Mentally Ill, Defying Vatican (Wall Street Journal, 10/27/17)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/catholic-hospital-group-grants-euthanasia-to-mentally-ill-defying-vatican-1509096600

Madeleine P. Jones, defender of pre born children, RIP

http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/obituaries/bcct/madeleine-p-jones/article_063d152e-b7a7-5812-bf51-435f68c74bc3.html

Irish Catholics Planning Massive Rosary Rally (Women of Grace, 10/25/17)

http://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=61105

Support HB 1388 as amended

Does Your Senator Want to End Your Funding of Child "Sex Change" Surgery? [Roll Call] (PaFamily.org, 10/26/17)
https://pafamily.org/2017/10/hb1388rollcall/


Senate Committee Approves Bill to Reauthorize CHIP; Maintains Funding is Used for Intended Purpose (Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, 10/18/17)
http://www.pacatholic.org/advocates-lawmakers-stand-up-for-safe-harbor-at-state-capitol-2/

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Taking a stand against the harms of p*rnography and prostitution (NCOSE, 10/25/17)

https://t.e2ma.net/message/pubmid/lj8c3cb

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

RE: Action Alert: Call for Public Comment to HHS by Thursday

________________________________________
From: NCHLA: Human Life Action [info@nchla.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 4:32 PM
To:
Subject: Action Alert: Call for Public Comment to HHS by Thursday

Call to ActionDear Friend, I write today to encourage you to respond to a call for public comments. Every four years, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS), updates its strategic
[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/hla_banner.png]

Call to Action
[https://humanlifeaction.org/contribute]
Dear Friend,

I write today to encourage you to respond to a call for public comments. Every four years, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS), updates its strategic plan to define its mission, goals, and how it will measure its progress in addressing specific national problems over a four-year period. There are some solid, pro-life provisions in the recently released plan and we should thank the Administration encourage them to adopt them. Time is short, as comments will close this Thursday, October 26. Won't you take action now to support this pro-life plan?

[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/action_take_action_button_large_red.png]<https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/SrjxlGZOja7JlbaY7wtZJQ>

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has recently submitted comments in support of this HHS mission statement calling them "commendable and important goals" and notes that there are several praiseworthy elements:

First, the Plan helpfully recognizes and endorses the need to promote the health of human beings at every stage of life, "from conception to natural death."

Second, the Plan helpfully recognizes the need to reduce burdens on the free exercise of religion, and to promote the equal participation of individuals and organizations of faith in the delivery of health care and other services and in HHS programs.

Third, the Plan helpfully supports the implementation of programs to protect and strengthen marriage and family.

Fourth, the Plan includes many praiseworthy features intended to extend the reach of health services to underserved populations. However, the Plan would benefit from additional clarity on care for those in poverty, especially in ensuring the integrity and reach of existing poverty-related programs.

You can see the USCCB comments in full here<https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/JRzhhiZbUe3Wj-1Jbx137g>. Thank you for always standing with us. Together we will be heard.

[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/amci_sig_121516.png]
Amy McInerny
Executive Director

[https://d3dkdvqff0zqx.cloudfront.net/groups/nchla/images/dh2.png]<https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/B3CUas4_ACN7QkdMy6lO1w>
________________________________







How could The Los Angeles Times dodge faith in a story about Kershaw family, mission work? (Terry Mattingly, 10/25/17)

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2017/10/25/how-could-the-los-angeles-times-dodge-faith-in-a-story-about-kershaw-family-charity-work

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

10/29/17, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102917.cfm

http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_10_29.mp3

Monday, October 23, 2017

Cardinal Wuerl's letter urging solidarity with persecuted Christians (10/17/17)

http://www.cathstan.org/Content/News/News/Article/Text-of-Cardinal-Wuerl-s-letter-urging-solidarity-with-persecuted-Christians/2/2/8163

Sunday, October 22, 2017

re: "Donor eggs, sperm banks and the quest for ‘good’ genes" (Washington Post, 10/21/17)

God help us!
    "....The multibillion-dollar fertility industry is booming, and experimenting with business models that are changing the American family in new and unpredictable ways. Would-be parents seeking donor eggs and sperm can pick and choose from long checklists of physical and intellectual characteristics. Clinics now offer volume discounts, package deals and 100 percent guarantees for babymaking....

    "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 percent of American women 15 to 55 — 7.3 million — have used some sort of fertility service; the use of assisted reproductive technologies has doubled in the past decade. In 2015, these procedures resulted in nearly 73,000 babies — 1.6 percent of all U.S. births. The rate is even higher in some countries, including Japan (5 percent) and Denmark (10 percent)....

    "The donor-egg industry, in particular, has taken off in the past decade....The number of attempted pregnancies with donor eggs has soared from 1,800 in 1992 to almost 21,200 in 2015.

    "Yet in the United States, the industry remains largely self-regulated. Questions abound about the recruitment of donors; the ethics of screening and selecting embryos for physical characteristics; the ownership of the estimated millions of unused eggs, sperm samples and embryos in long-term storage; and the emerging ability to tinker with embryos via the gene-editing tool CRISPR.

    "Earlier this year, a group of donor-conceived adults documented numerous ethical lapses in the industry, including donors who lied to prospective parents about their health histories and other qualifications, and clinics that claimed to have limited donations from some individuals — while permitting those individuals to submit hundreds of samples. They called on the Food and Drug Administration to provide more oversight of the 'cryobanks' that gather, store and sell the most precious commodities in the industry — sperm and eggs.
    The agency said it is reviewing the matter, but cannot predict when it will have a response 'due to the existence of other FDA priorities'....

    "the California IVF Fertility Center is pioneering what some refer to as the 'Costco model' of babymaking, creating batches of embryos using donor eggs and sperm that can be shared among several different families.

    That model has served to highlight a preference among many would-be parents for tall, thin, highly-educated donors....

    "Prospective parents can filter and sort potential donors by race and ethnic background, hair and eye color, and education level. They also can get much more personal information: audio of the donor’s voice, photos of the donor as a child and as an adult, and written responses to questions that read like college-application essays....

    "A prescreened vial of sperm sells for as little as $400 and can be shipped via FedEx. A set of donor eggs — as many as 30, depending on the donor — can cost $10,000 or more to compensate for the risky and invasive medical procedure required to harvest eggs from the donor’s ovaries.

    "Fertility companies freely admit that specimens from attractive donors go fast, but it’s intelligence that drives the pricing: Many companies charge more for donors with a graduate degree.

    "Talent sells, too....

    "When the time is right, ...[one woman] will explain [to the children] that they are 'high-tech babies' and impress on them the importance of memorizing their donor number, in case they happen to 'run into another donor-egg kid.'

    “'I know it’s a really slim chance,' she said. 'But I want them to be aware, just in case'” (Washington Post, 10/21/17).
God help us!

Beware of the Cult of Santa Muerte (National Catholic Register, 10/20/17)

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/beware-of-the-cult-of-santa-muerte

Saturday, October 21, 2017

"....I am the Lord and there is no other...."

  • Come Walk with Us! Procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Dec 2 (Diocese of Trenton)
http://faithfulinthe8th.blogspot.com/2017/10/102217-29th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html
    • So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers (10/21/17)
      •  Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)
    • "The Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment 'would appear to have long since made up its mind' on repealing the constitutional ban on abortion, Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran has said....Earlier Bishop Doran told the conference that the manner in which conscientious objection was being interpreted 'in the so-called Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act gives rise to real concern'.  Doctors and nurses 'are allowed under the Act to opt out of providing or participating in abortion, provided they refer the patient to someone else who will perform the procedure', he said. 'In other words, they are still required to participate in what they believe to be fundamentally immoral. Healthcare administrators have no recourse to conscientious objection.'.... (The Irish Times, 10/20/17)
      • Our Lady of Knock and Marriage/Family (3/5/16)
    • USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)
    • "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17

    On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

    http://www.usccb.org/pray

    So called egg "donation" and the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers

    Some reminders from the Vatican's New Charter for Health Care Workers:

    http://www.eggsploitation.com/

    Friday, October 20, 2017

    Dáil committee not open-minded on Eighth Amendment, says bishop (The Irish Times, 10/20/17)

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/d%C3%A1il-committee-not-open-minded-on-eighth-amendment-says-bishop-1.3263547

    App developed by Phila. nun teaches how to pray in sign language (CatholicPhilly.com, 10/20/17)

    http://catholicphilly.com/2017/10/news/world-news/app-developed-by-phila-nun-teaches-how-to-pray-in-sign-language/

    Thursday, October 19, 2017

    "Help them get the joy missing from their lives" (?????).

    • The above ad was spotted this morning on the northbound platform of the Metro Park, NJ train station.  In 2008, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith provided us with Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions, which certainly made clear the absolute moral wrongness of IVF procedures.  Compounding this wrongness is when sperm or eggs of non-spouses are "donated"!  Why is no one talking about the IVF industry's shameful exploitation of young women? (cf, https://www.eggsploitation.com/story-cb.htm )
    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/come-walk-with-us-guadalupe-procession-dec-2-free-registration-tickets-38670037122?aff=es2 
    (Click image for additional information.)
      • Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17
      •  USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)
      •  "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17

      On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

      http://www.usccb.org/pray

      Wednesday, October 18, 2017

      Pope Appeals for Somalia (Zenit, 10/18/17)

      Feast of St. Luke [10/18/17] the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers

      • Feast of St. Luke [10/18/17] the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17) - This is BIG!
      http://faithfulinthe8th.blogspot.com/2017/10/102217-29th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html
      • Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs (10/19/17)
        • Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, Auriesville, NY (9/9/16
          • USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)
          • Pope Marks 800 Years Franciscans in Holy Land (ZENIT, 10/17/17)
          • "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17

          On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

          https://www.eventbrite.com/e/come-walk-with-us-guadalupe-procession-dec-2-free-registration-tickets-38670037122?aff=es2 
          (Click image for additional information.)

          Pope Marks 800 Years Franciscans in Holy Land (ZENIT, 10/17/17)

          https://zenit.org/articles/pope-marks-800-years-franciscans-in-holy-land/

          Tuesday, October 17, 2017

          "giving you a title, though you knew Me not" (10/22/17)

          http://faithfulinthe8th.blogspot.com/2017/10/102217-29th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html
          • Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs (10/19/17)
            • Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, Auriesville, NY (9/9/16
            • Feast of St. Luke [10/18/17] the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers (10/17/17)
              • Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (10/17/17)
              • USCCB Migration and Refugee Services Release Report Recommending Extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador and Honduras (USCCB, 10/17/17)
              • "The United States, Poland, and more than one hundred other governments and non-governmental organizations barraged the UN Human Rights Committee with briefs, pleading them not to declare abortion a human right....The UN committee is finalizing a legal commentary that excludes unborn children and the terminally ill from the right to life in article 6 of the UN treaty on civil and political rights, one of the earliest and most widely ratified UN treaties. The commentary will not be binding but could be influential" (C-Fam, 10/13/17

              On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on federal matters (10/17/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/17/17 update).

              https://www.eventbrite.com/e/come-walk-with-us-guadalupe-procession-dec-2-free-registration-tickets-38670037122?aff=es2 
              (Click image for additional information.)

              State Issues, 10/17/17 update

              Pa Catholic Conference

              • Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Religious Liberty
                "Changing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) will jeopardize many churches and their charitable outreach if they continue to adhere to their religious beliefs....proposals like these expose even more Pennsylvanians to discrimination based solely on their religious beliefs. Simply put, this legislation is intolerant and prejudiced against people of faith." 
              • Support a Better Life for Human Trafficking Victims 
                [While the Pa Catholic Conference is supporting SB 554, doesn't the  fact that Senator Daylin Leach is one of its prime sponsors suggest that there should be careful assessment of  whether this legislation and its implications are truly consistent with Catholic teaching?]

              Pa Pro Life Federation 

              As per the 9/29/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,
                "Please call and email your state Senators and urge them to support House Bill 1139, which strengthens our Newborn Protection Act."
              As per the 9/7/17 PA Pro-Life Legislative Alert,
              • Support Senator Scott Martin's resolution to condemn the abortion of babies who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome.
              • Support Senate Bill 3.
              • Oppose House Bill 111.
              • Oppose Senate Bill 238.

              Pa Family.org Citizen Action Center

              Federal Issues, 10/17/17 update

              USCCB's Action Center

              USCCB's and CRS' Catholics Confront Global Poverty / Action Center 

              USCCB's Justice for Immigrants' Action Alerts 

              USCCB's Marriage Unique for a Reason

              • "The USCCB continues to support the First Amendment Defense Act and the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act in Congress....In September, Archbishop Chaput, Chairman of the Bishops' Committee for Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, sent a letter of support to Representative Randy Hultgren for the Healthy Relationships Act of 2017. The act would authorize the federal government to award grants on a competitive basis to public and private entities providing education in sexual risk avoidance (voluntarily refraining from nonmarital sexual activity)" (USCCB, 10/2/17).

              Pa Catholic Conference's Current Alerts
              (two federal)

              National Center on Sexual Exploitation

              • On EWTN News Nightly (9/20/17), the National Center on Sexual Exploitation's Haley Halverson explained why Congress must amend Communications Decency Act, Section 230.
                https://www.youtube.com/embed/0BiKPAszOok?autoplay=1
                Kudos to Brian Fitzpatrick is joined by fellow U.S. Representatives from Pennsylvania Brady, Evans, Kelly, Rothus, Shuster, and Smucker as co-sponsors of HR 1865 (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017), while Senator Casey (but NOT Senator Toomey) is a co-sponsor of S 1693 (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act)
                • "'Expeditious passage of H.R. 1865 Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA) and S. 1693 Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) will move the country closer to striking a blow against the online havens that facilitate sex trafficking'" (National Center on Sexual Exploitation, 9/7/17). 

              Human Life Action Action Alerts

                Current Action Alerts

              • Assisted Suicide is Not Healthcare
              • Urge Congress to Enact the Conscience Protection Act of 2017!
                [As per a 9/20/17 email from Human Life Action: "This is 'appropriations season' on the Hill. That means Congress must pass funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2018.... Last Thursday, the House of Representatives approved HR 3354, Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018. It includes the full text of the Conscience Protection Act (CPA) of 2017! It also includes other provisions which we have taken action on such as the nullification of the DC law that legalized assisted suicide and the DC Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA), a DC law....There are many other pro-life provisions (both longstanding and new) in the funding bill as well, such as a prohibition on funding elective abortions for detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and against funding for research involving human fetal tissue from abortions....Of the new provisions, our top priority is to ensure that the CPA is included.... rather than finalizing the FY 2018 appropriations legislation by the end of the fiscal year (September 30), both the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government at its current levels with current policies until December 8, 2017....continue contacting your members of Congress...."]

                Previous Action Alerts

              Feast of St. Luke the Physician and the updated Charter for Health Care Workers


              Apparently just in time for the Feast of Saint Luke (10/18/17), an English translation of the updated Charter for Health Care Workers is now available.  In its original and beautiful Charter for Health Care Workers, the Vatican had made clear that
                this noble calling applies to "doctors, nurses, hospital chaplains, men and women religious, administrators, voluntary care givers for those who suffer, those involved in the diagnosis, treatment and recovery of human health....

                "To serve life is to serve God in the person: it is to become 'a collaborator with God in restoring health to the sick body'[16] and to give praise and glory to God in the loving welcome to life, especially if it be weak and ill.[17]....

                "the
                therapeutic ministry of health care workers is a sharing in the pastoral[21] and evangelizing[22] work of the Church....

                "In fidelity to the moral law, the health care worker actuates his fidelity to the human person whose worth is guaranteed by the law, and to God, Whose wisdom is expressed by the law....
                "The present charter wants to guarantee the ethical fidelity of the health care worker: the choices and behavior enfleshing service to life."
              In reporting on the update earlier this year, Vatican Radio (2/6/17) noted that "The new references of the Magisterium, after 1994, that appear in the Charter are:



            • The Charter for Health Care Workers and Conscience Protection (9/24/17)
            • What's happening with the English translation of the Vatican's Charter for Health Care Workers? (8/13/17
            • The Revision and Updating of the Charter for Healthcare Workers (Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, 5/6/15)
            • Vatican: Revised charter for health care workers to be out next year (CNS, 11/13/12)
            • home page links

              The 10 Commandments

              The Beatitudes (from "Jesus of Nazareth")