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Many are invited, but few are chosen.
- "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.
"A bicameral and bipartisan coalition of 51 members of the U.S.
Congress, led by Chris Smith of New Jersey, also wrote to the committee,
'As lawmakers, we believe we have a duty to protect the weak,
disenfranchised, unwanted and vulnerable from violence and abuse.
Therefore we write to affirm that the most elemental human right of
all—the right to life—includes unborn children'....
"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.
"While the official statement of the U.S. did not address euthanasia,
and did not rule out the possibility of a human right to abortion under
other UN treaties that had not been ratified by the United States, it
wrote that 'any issues concerning access to abortion […] are outside the
scope of Article 6.' The U.S. described the draft commentary as
'expansive' and 'inconsistent with a proper interpretive analysis'...." (C-Fam, 10/13/17)
- "Exactly 100 years ago, the sun danced....
"the historical record
is clear. The sun danced. And up to 70,000 people saw it. Secular
newspapers reported it. Skeptical journalists and scientists who were
present affirmed what they deemed to be impossible: the sun danced....
"At
Fatima, Our Lady had a message for the world that was so urgent that she
resorted to extraordinary means to grab our attention....
"Amend our lives, and ask pardon for our sins!....
"I have written before about visionary Sr. Lucia’s warning to Cardinal
Caffarra that the 'final battle' between God and Satan would be the
battle over marriage, and her assurance that 'Our Lady has already
crushed its head.' What I have not so far mentioned are the messages
later given privately to some of the visionaries, which show that Our
Lady was deeply concerned with the attack against morality, the
consequences of which touch directly on the family....
"The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about modesty:
"Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It
encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires
that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and
woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s
choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident
risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet. – CCC, ¶ 2522....
"100 years
ago, the sun danced. And the promise that Our Lady made that summer to
Lucia and the children is the same promise she makes to us: 'I will be
with you always, and my Immaculate Heart will be your comfort and the
way which will lead you to God.'
"It is only up to us to heed Our Lady’s message at Fatima, and to put
it into effect in our lives....
"Our Lady of Fatima: Pray for us" (Rev. Shenan Boquet, Human Life International, 10/13/17).
- "....My Delegation would like to underline in particular...that poverty is one of the tragic outcomes of social, economic
and political exclusion. These are artificial barriers that block the
participation necessary for integral human development and concentrate
the opportunities and benefits in the hands of a privileged few. Pope
Francis has emphasized that 'a way has to be found to enable everyone to
benefit from the fruits of the earth, and not simply to close the gap
between the affluent and those who must be satisfied with the crumbs
falling from the table.'[2] [link added]....
"The obvious antidote to exclusion is a concerted, strategic
developmental focus on inclusion, replacing barriers with pathways to
participation; foremost among them is investing in early child
development and in health and education....
"Another inclusive pathway out of poverty is the implementation and
expansion of social protection policies, like pensions for seniors,
child benefits and cash transfers to indigent families....
"Programs of inclusion must have a preferential focus on women and
girls, since they are disproportionately among the poorest....To achieve parity and equity in
the labor force, there must be recognition of women’s informal work and
the expansion of social protections for them....Economic inclusion is crucial
also to combat human rights abuses like trafficking in persons for labor
or sexual exploitation, and widespread exploitation of female domestic
and migrant workers.
"The Holy See would like to encourage the United Nations to mainstream
the eradication of poverty, and the social, political and economic
inclusion necessary for it to occur, into all aspects of its mission.
Without ending poverty, all the other development goals become
unattainable...." (Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, 10/12/17)
- "The
Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocations
Awareness Week, November 5-11, 2017. This annual event is a special time for
parishes in the United States to actively foster and pray for a culture of
vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life" (USCCB, 10/11/17)
- "[Clericalism] does much to
explain the apparent shortage of new vocations to the priesthood and
religious life and the persistent failure of carefully planned programs
to recruit them....Like others before him (St. Francis de Sales and John Henry Newman,
for instance), Pope John Paul II gave a compelling account of personal
vocation. In fact, it was one of his central themes. 'God calls… each
one individually by name," he wrote. "In this sense the Lord's words,
'You go into my vineyard too,' directed to the Church as a whole, are
specially addressed to each member individually' (Christifideles Laici, 28)....In the context of American Catholicism today, it's a bit of a shock
to realize that Vatican II, while strongly encouraging lay apostolate,
had next to nothing to say about 'lay ministries'" (Russell Shaw, 5/6/08).
On the right side of the home page is a link to email the White House and the Pa Delegation on
federal matters (10/11/17 update), as well as a link to email Bucks County's Delegation in Harrisburg on state matters (10/11/17 update).
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