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, March 29, 2011

"No" to Planned Parenthood; "Yes" to HR 212, 217, 358, & 361

Please contact Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, letting him know that you want him to oppose "any future continuing Resolutions that do not contain the Pence Amendment to defund Planned Parenthood."


As per Priests for Life, please ask Congressman Fitzpatrick to co-sponsor and support HR 212, 217, 358, & 361. Please thank him for co-sponsoring HR 3.

Senator Casey

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera Bishop of Scranton
300 Wyoming Ave

Scranton, Pennsylvania 18503


Your Excellency:


As per my 2/26/11 email to Senator Robert Casey of the Scranton Diocese, "When I called your office the other day, it was disturbing to hear your young aide spout the supposed benefits of Planned Parenthood's self-serving promotion of contraceptives. Your dad and Dorothy Day would have been appalled. Please do not let the memory of your late, great dad's noble fight in Casey v. Planned Parenthood become muddled with Casey for Planned Parenthood in our own time. Embracing that great heritage of your dad and Dorothy Day, please defund Planned Parenthood. Also, please co-sponsor and support





    As you know, Senator Casey subsequently voted against the "budget bill that contains the Pence Amendment de-funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business." To also be noted, Senator Casey is NOT a co-sponsor of S. 91, NOR is he a co-sponsor of S. 165.


    As per Bishop Samuel Aquila (3/18/11), "The continual reception of Holy Communion by those who so visibly contradict and promote a grave evil, even more than simply dissent, only creates grave scandal, undermines the teaching and governing authority of the Church and can be interpreted by the faithful as indifference to the teaching of Christ and the Church on the part of those who have the responsibility to govern." Exacerbating Senator Casey's situation is the fact that he actually identifies himself as "pro life"!




    Sincerely,

    Re: Sen McIlhinney - No Time for Constituents

    Dear Senator McIlhinney,

    If I was looking to have it explained that Senate Bill 3 is "An Act amending Title 40 (Insurance) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for compliance with Federal health care legislation" or to learn its current status, I could have simply obtained that information from the Pennsylvania General Assembly web site. Instead, I wished (and continue to wish) to have a discussion with you, as to why Senate Bill 3 is so vital. Isn't that my right as your constituent?

    As per the Pennsylvania Family Institute, Senate Bill 3 "would ensure that no taxpayer funds are used to subsidize abortion coverage in health insurance plans mandated by the controversial federal healthcare law." In contrast to the Pennsylvania Family Institute, Planned Parenthood (with an obvious financial interest) is firmly opposed to Pennsylvania Senate Bill 3. It is certainly of great concern to me that Project VoteSmart indicates you to have a long history of "100%" ratings from Planned Parenthood.

    Senator, I am opposed to even one penny of my tax money going to Planned Parenthood - the nation's #1 abortion provider.

    Sincerely,

    Sunday, March 27, 2011

    “Not only no, but HELL NO!” (Rev. Frank Pavone, 3/27/11)

    (Click the image to be linked to the full piece....)

    Senator Lautenberg actually says that pro life individuals don't deserve constitutional protections!


    • Most Reverend John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark

    • Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson

    • Most Reverend Paul G. Bootkoski, Bishop of Metuchen

    • Most Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M., Bishop of Trenton

    • Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, Bishop of Camden

    Your Excellencies:


    At a gathering in Englewood this past Tuesday, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg indicated that pro life individuals don't deserve constitutional protections! Lautenberg's words have been posted on YouTube. What sort of response will come from the Catholic communities of New Jersey?

    Sincerely,

    Saturday, March 26, 2011

    What "only creates grave scandal, undermines the teaching & governing authority… & can be interpreted by the faithful as indifference"?

    While snippets of Bishop Samuel Aquila's 3/18/11 keynote at Philadelphia' own Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary are circulating widely on the internet, the entire address is also available.
    • "One must honestly ask, how many times and years may a Catholic politician vote for the so called ―'right to abortion,' ―'murder' in the words of John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae (58), and still be able to receive Holy Communion? The continual reception of Holy Communion by those who so visibly contradict and promote a grave evil, even more than simply dissent, only creates grave scandal, undermines the teaching and governing authority of the Church and can be interpreted by the faithful as indifference to the teaching of Christ and the Church on the part of those who have the responsibility to govern. If we honestly pray with the Gospel we can see that hesitancy and non-accountability is not the way of Jesus Christ, but rather it is a failure in the exercise of governance.
    • "Bishops and priests, as an act of loving obedience to Christ, must return to a full exercise of the governing authority of Christ witnessed in the Gospel. If we do not exercise that authority, are hesitant to exercise it, or doubt it, then it only leads to the ―'father of lies' taking hold of the minds and hearts of the faithful, and their continuing to act in the ways of man and not the ways of God."

    May we expect to see Canon 915 followed in the archdiocese & in the Bucks County vicariate, in particular?

    Tuesday, March 22, 2011

    Take a Major Step in Stopping Pornography
















    Mail












    Take a Major Step in Stopping Pornography



    Tuesday, March 22, 2011 12:12 PM








    From:











    To:






























    Call To Action



















    3-22-11



    Take a Major Step in Stopping Pornography



    We need your unique cooperation TODAY. For months, our allies at Morality in Media and Porn Harms have been working diligently with Congressional Members to motivate the U. S. Department of Justice and FBI to enforce existing Federal laws against illegal adult pornography (obscene material).



    THERE HAVE BEEN NO NEW OBSCENITY INDICTMENTS SINCE PRES. OBAMA TOOK OFFICE AND UNDER PRES. BUSH, THERE WERE JUST A FEW.



    Look around you at the great harm from pornography.



    You can take a major step to stop it.



    U. S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R. UT) and U.S. House Representatives Mike McIntyre (D. NC) and Randy Forbes (R. VA) have written a letter to the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urging that the FBI and Department of Justice vigorously prosecute major producers and distributors of illegal adult pornography. They are circulating this letter to all Members of Congress and asking them to sign it. We want to have these letters to the Attorney General co-signed by as many other Members of the Senate and House as possible and that is why we need you to help. Please contact your two U.S. Senators and your Member of the U.S. House of Representatives to tell them to co-sign the letter.



    Even as the spread of obscenity gets worse, the current federal Department of Justice has made obscenity enforcement a low priority.



    Contact your own congressman:

    Ask him to sign onto a congressional letter to Attorney General Eric Holder calling on the Department of Justice to begin vigorous enforcement of existing federal obscenity laws. Urge them to contact the office of Rep. Forbes or Rep. McIntyre. Use our Citizen Action Center.



    Contact both of your U.S. Senators, Pat Toomey and Bob Casey, Jr.:

    Ask them to sign onto the letter by Sen. Orrin Hatch to Attorney General Holder, asking for stepped-up enforcement of obscenity laws. Use our Citizen Action Center.



    Sample Message to convey to your members of Congress:

    I am certain that you as an elected official do not favor the widespread distribution of illegal adult pornography and that you care about the terrible harm that illegal pornography is causing.



    We urge you, as a member of Congress, to add your name to a letter from Congressmen J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Mike McIntyre (R-NC) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to Attorney General Eric Holder. Please contact either congressman’s office to co-sign this important letter. Your colleague, U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA 16) has already signed on.



    As the letter indicates, “(W)e know more than ever how illegal adult obscenity contributes to violence against women, addiction, harm to children, and sex trafficking. This material harms individuals, families, and communities and the problems are only getting worse.”



    On behalf of my family and many others in Pennsylvania , thank you.



    Please forward this email to family and friends!



    The Pennsylvania Family Council is a non-profit organization made possible through financial donations from our supporters. To donate to Pennsylvania Family Council, click here.



    23 N. Front St. Harrisburg, PA 17101 ~ Phone: 717-545-0600 ~ Fax: 717-545-8107 ~ www.pafamily.org





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    Sunday, March 20, 2011







    Mail

    Action Alert: Tell Congress to De-Fund Planned Parenthood


    Sunday, March 20, 2011 8:30 PM




    From:





    To:







    Action
    Alert: Tell Congress to De-Fund Planned Parenthood


    Dear LifeNews.com Readers,


    This week, several leading pro-life
    organizations are calling on Congress to keep pressing forward with efforts
    to de-fund the $1 billion-dollar
    Planned Parenthood abortion business, which receives $363
    million
    from federal, state and local government.


    LifeNews.com is proud to join forces
    with dozens of pro-life groups for this weekly promotional and we're delighted
    to work with our friends at the Susan B Anthony List to sponsor this action
    alert urging your calls on Monday. Please read the following message and take
    action on Monday by flooding Congress with calls!


    As you know, the House of Representatives
    voted for the Pence
    Amendment
    in a bill providing long-term funding for the federal government.
    However, Senate
    Democrats rejected the legislation
    and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid
    indicated he would reject any House Republican funding bill that yanks Planned
    Parenthood funding -- saying not only no, but "hell
    no
    ."


    This week, pro-life groups are looking
    to you to make the difference. We need to encourage the pro-life advocates in
    the House who have already voted for the Pence Amendment by thanking them and
    telling them to press forward and insist that Senate Democrats accept a funding
    bill that de-funds Planned Parenthood. We also need you to contact members of
    the Senate and insist that they support a bill that removes Federal funding
    from Planned Parenthood.


    With statistics showing Planned
    Parenthood is the biggest abortion business
    in the nation and that it provides
    only abortion to almost every pregnant woman who walks in its door, and with
    videos showing
    it looking the other way as helpless sexually-trafficked
    young girls are subjected to abortions after being victimized -- there's no
    reason to continue funding this organization.


    The buzz on Capitol Hill is that
    pro-life lawmakers are growing tired of short-term Continuing Resolution bills
    and are ready to dig in and fight hard for a long-term Continuing Resolution
    bill that completely defunds Planned Parenthood – which means the next
    three weeks are the most critical yet in this fight. This week is an especially
    good week to contact members of Congress who are in their districts as the House
    will be on Recess. From talking with Congressional members, we know that one
    call into a district office of a member of the House or Senate can be enough
    to raise concern and is weighted higher than a call into their Washington, D.C.
    offices.


    Here's what we need you to do:


    1. Locate the number and call
    the district offices of your House and Senate members and urge them to support
    de-funding Planned Parenthood
    in the a long-term continuing resolution (budget)
    bill. You can find district office information at the main House.gov
    or Senate.gov web site linking to your elected
    officials or by going to ExposePlannedParenthood.com.


    2. Pass this action alert on to
    every pro-life person you know
    and urge them to join you this week in calling
    their elected officials.


    3) Make
    a donation today
    online to support LifeNews.com. We keep nearly 500,000
    pro-life advocates informed each and every week with the latest pro-life news
    and information on battles like this. We can't do it without you.


    Thank you for your help
    and I look forward to hearing how you are jamming the phone lines to demand
    de-funding Planned Parenthood. Together we can do it!


    For Their
    Lives,

    Steven Ertelt


    P.S. You
    can use the link above to make
    an online donation via credit card or check
    or use the form below to
    send us a check by mail. Thank you for supporting LifeNews.com!





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    Saturday, March 19, 2011

    Please call Congressman Fitzpatrick tomorrow, March 21!

    The Susan B. Anthony List is asking for calls - This is some background information, which you may want to consider....

    Shortly after being elected to return to the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman-elect Mike Fitzpatrick addressed the crowd at the annual Stand Up for Life Dinner of the Pro Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania. He made a brief reference to prayer witnesses for life outside Congressman Patrick Murphy's office. "Come January 5th" (referring to when he'd be sworn in), Fitzpatrick told the enthusiastically approving crowd that the witnesses would need "to find a new gig."

    On 2/15/11, Congressman Fitzpatrick spoke from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives: "The consideration of spending cuts must be careful and deliberate. The budget of every department must be scrutinized while keeping in mind the promises made to my constituents in the Eight District of Pennsylvania and the millions of Americans who showed concern with our growing deficit." To allow continued funding of Planned Parenthood goes against his promises of fiscal and moral

    As per Congressman Fitzpatrick's 2/16/11 op-ed in the Intelligencer: "Many members of Congress, myself included, campaigned on reducing spending by $100 billion, which would return federal spending to 2008 pre-stimulus levels. Making these reductions is about more than just keeping a campaign promise; it is fundamental to the health of our economy and the future security of our nation....In order to put our country on a path to sustainable spending, tough choices will have to be made. This week, the heavy lifting begins."

    As explained by LifeNews.com, "Some 54 Republicans voted against the measure because they wanted to see the Pence Amendment de-funding Planned Parenthood and the pro-life riders that stop abortion funding in various instances included in the measure." It boggles the mind as to why Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick voted for this Continuing Resolution, instead of standing firm with Mike Pence, Joe Pitts, Chris Smith & the 51 others in that group. All the more disturbing is that this vote is coupled with pro life legislation, which Fitzpatrick has NOT (as of 3/19/11) co-sponsored:

    • HR 217 - "To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit family planning grants from being awarded to any entity that performs abortions, and for other purposes." As per Catholic Advocate, "If passed, this legislation would have a huge impact on Planned Parenthood that reported having performed 324,008 abortions in 2010, the same year they received $368 million in U.S. government grants and contracts....this type of federal funding needs to end. This effort will be helped by Abby Johnson’s recently released book Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line. The story of Johnson’s resignation as a clinic director could help dampen public support for taxpayer money being doled out to Planned Parenthood." As Congressman Fitzpatrick did support an earlier Continuing Resolution which called for defunding of Planned Parenthood, this can be confusing. As of 3/19/11, Congressman Fitzpatrick is NOT among the 172 co-sponsors of HR 217.

    • HR 358 - "To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to modify special rules relating to coverage of abortion services under such Act." As chairman of the USCCB's pro life activities, Cardinal DiNardo wrote to Congress on 1/20/11: "I...urge members of both parties who support rights of conscience and the policy of the Hyde amendment to support and co-sponsor the Protect Life Act. Please help give us a reformed health care system that respects the life, health and conscience of all." As of 3/19/11, Congressman Fitzpatrick is NOT one of the 140 co-sponsors of HR 358.

    • HR 361 - "To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain abortion-related discrimination in governmental activities." As chairman of the USCCB's pro life activities, Cardinal DiNardo wrote to Congress on 1/20/11: "Passage of ANDA is urgently needed to protect the civil rights of health professionals and other health care entities. This bill reaffirms a basic principle: No health care entity should be forced by government to perform or participate in abortions." As of 3/19/11, Congressman Fitzpatrick is NOT one of the 65 co-sponsors of HR 361.

    • HR 374 - "To implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person." As of 3/19/11, Congressman Fitzpatrick is NOT one of the 65 co-sponsors of HR 374.

    Also, in light of the Obama Administration's disregard for DOMA and federal obscenity laws, what - specifically - will be Congressman Fitzpatrick's response?

    We need to ask Congressman Fitzpatrick whether he is still up "for the heavy lifting"? Is he still up to the fight of standing up for Truth?

    • District Office
      1717 Langhorne Newtown Rd. Suite 400
      Langhorne, PA 19047
      Phone: (215) 579-8102
      Fax: (215) 579-8109

    Tell Mike Fitzpatrick to Stand Firm - No Tax Dollars for Planned Parenthood

    Whether or not you agree with their methods, the investigative work of very young pro life activists like Lila Rose has opened a window on the heinous practices of Planned Parenthood. In addition to being the nation's # 1 abortion provider, their investigative work has revealed Planned Parenthood staff who are open to aiding human trafficking and the sexual abuse of minors! We have been afforded a unique opportunity and the momentum to insist that no more tax dollars go to this huge and wealthy organization. As per Rep. Mike Pence, "It's time to pick a fight." We need to stand with the next generation and encourage our brothers and sisters, who may be getting intimidated by this prospect....

    As per the Susan B. Anthony list, "On March 15, 2011, the House of Representatives passed a three-week Continuing Resolution which failed to defund Planned Parenthood of all taxpayer dollars. Enough is enough. If Congress can't cut off taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, a willing partner of the exploitation of women and young girls, then how can it be serious about cutting spending anywhere else?"

    As explained by LifeNews.com, "Some 54 Republicans voted against the measure because they wanted to see the Pence Amendment de-funding Planned Parenthood and the pro-life riders that stop abortion funding in various instances included in the measure." It is a great disappointment that our own Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick voted for this Continuing Resolution, instead of standing firm with Mike Pence, Joe Pitts, Chris Smith & the 51 others in that group. For many of us, this was an absolutely confusing vote, which just leaves us scratching our heads!

    Starting Monday, members of Congress are expected to be in their home districts. Please contact Mike Fitzpatrick, letting him know that you want him to oppose "any future continuing Resolutions that do not contain the Pence Amendment to defund Planned Parenthood."

    • District Office
      1717 Langhorne Newtown Rd. Suite 400
      Langhorne, PA 19047
      Phone: (215) 579-8102
      Fax: (215) 579-8109

    Wednesday, March 16, 2011






    Mike Pence Won't Vote For CR: 'It's Time to Take a Stand'








    Are We Willing to Suffer the Consequences of Being Pro-Life?


    by Father Frank Pavone LifeNews.com 3/15/11 7:26 PM


    An 11-year old girl who is a supporter of Priests for Life sent me the following email very recently: “My mother and I are taking a bus and will be coming to the March for Life. My teacher said that I will receive zeroes on any work that I miss and it can’t be made up. I told her missing a day at school in order to stand up for life is more important and I’m willing to suffer the consequences.”


    That’s what the pro-life movement needs most – people who say, “I’m willing to suffer the consequences.”


    The children living and growing in the womb right now endure a great risk without having chosen it. They live in a place that has become more dangerous than any battlefield or terrorist target, and their lives hang in the balance at every moment. They did not choose this risk; someone else chose it for them.


    We who defend these children have to choose to accept a share in that risk. That is solidarity. We bear willingly the risk that they bear unwillingly. Many ask what they need to do to stop abortion. But most know the answer already. They see the next step they can take, but are just trying to muster up the courage to do it. Risk is involved, and there’s no way around it. We’re afraid to speak and to act.


    Perhaps it’s because our pastor is not supportive, or we might get in trouble at our job; perhaps it’s because family and friends may not like our pro-life stance, or because it may lose business or votes; perhaps we fear it will impact our health. We make a continuous calculus in our minds and hearts, and often end up in paralyzed inaction.


    We are always told of reasons why we can’t speak up against abortion. If we speak in Church, we’re told it’s too political; if we speak in the political arena, we’re told it’s too religious. If we speak in the media we’re told it’s too disturbing; in the educational realm, it’s too disruptive. On the public streets, it’s too distressing for children; in the business world it’s too controversial, in the family it’s too divisive, and in social settings it’s just impolite. So if abortion is wrong, where do we go to say so?


    The answer is that we have to stop looking for a risk-free place to fight abortion, and speak up in all those arenas! There is a calculus in the heavens that says, “Greater love than this nobody has, than to lay down his life for his friends.” If we want to protect the unborn, then let’s be willing to give our lives for them. Let’s stop counting the cost for ourselves if we speak up and start counting the cost for them if we are silent. The pro-life movement does not need a lot of people; it needs people who are willing to take a lot of risk.


    LifeNews.com Note: Father Frank Pavone is the national director of Priests for Life.

    Monday, March 14, 2011

    Fathers & Monsignors - Come Out Swinging!

    In the Courier Times of March 13th, we were reminded that "If you're a devout Catholic, and maybe even if you're not, headlines like the one that topped our Thursday and Friday editions - 'Suspended priests are named' and 'Suspended priests have Bucks ties' respectively - must tear at your soul." The Courier Times is delighted to stick in a dagger, twist it, and then disingenuously ask whether it hurts! Edgar Allen Poe was on the money, when he said that: "We should bear in mind that, in general, it is the object of our newspapers rather to create a sensation - to make a point - than to further the cause of truth.”

    It is unbefitting the Church of Jesus Christ, for her sons and daughters to cower in the face of calumny, gossip, and innuendo; it also makes absolutely no sense! Under pressure from the media and the Philadelphia D.A., some at "222" appear to be overreacting and unwittingly playing into the hands of those who oppose everything the Church counter-culturally proclaims about human life and marriage/family. What sort of dollar store attorneys are giving advice? Throwing men to the wolves NEVER satisfies the wolves. It simply makes them more bloodthirsty.

    We must stand in opposition to any whitewashing of alleged child sexual abuse by priests - or anyone else, for that matter. Yet time and again, history has taught us the dangers of the media and/or government pushing the Church around. We've got your back, Fathers & Monsignors - Come Out Swinging!

    There are enemies of the Truth who are using this moment, to try to silence you from speaking out against the onslaught of the Culture of Death. We need you to speak up, when Catholics in political life (e.g., U.S. Senator Robert Casey, Jr.; Pa. State Senator Chuck McIlhinney, Jr.) take positions which are absolutely inconsisent with the Truth which the Church proclaims.

    We've got your back, Fathers & Monsignors - Come Out Swinging! In other words, Be Not Afraid. We need you to be fearless about proclaiming the Truth!

    Re: Sen McIlhinney - No Time for Constituents?

    Several years ago, I met with Senator McIlhinney in his Harrisburg office and was taken aback to see a Masonic symbol prominently displayed.

    It is more than a quarter century, since the Vatican confirmed that Masonic membership is absolutely inconsistent with being Catholic, reminding us that "The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion. It is not within the competence of local ecclesiastical authorities to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would imply a derogation from what has been decided above"

    Does Senator McIlhinney fully comprehend that Masonic membership, and espousing positions antithetical to Catholic teaching on human life and marriage/family, are absolutely inconsistent with being Catholic? It is my opinion that clarifications on such matters should regularly appear in parish bulletins. It would certainly NOT be pastoral - either to Senator McIlhinney or to other Catholics - to disregard Canon 1364 and Canon 915. Eternal Salvation is no light matter!

    Saturday, March 12, 2011

    Fw: School Choice Action Alert - March 11, 2011

    Very, very happy to forward & share this alert. At the same time, hope to see the Pa Catholic Conference issuing alerts on specifics concerning the sanctity of human life (e.g., Pennsylvania Senate Bill 3), the defense of marriage/family, and religious liberty, similar to this alert on school choice. Thank you.

    Friday, March 11, 2011

    Sen McIlhinney - No time for constituents?

    Advance of Bucks County
    Bristol Pilot
    Bucks Local News
    Courier Times
    Holy Spirit Radio

    Intelligencer
    Morning Call
    New Hope Gazette
    Yardley News

    Greetings:

    Many Bucks County adults do not pay close attention to our representatives and senators in Harrisburg. In fact, I would venture to guess that many Bucks county adults could not correctly identify their own representative and their own senator. This situation works in the favor of someone like Senator Charles T. McIlhinney, Jr.

    Because he runs for office as a Republican, identifies himself as Catholic, and dodges straightforward questions, many people INCORRECTLY assume that Senator McIlhinney supports Pro Life positions. Planned Parenthood Pennsylvan PAC certainly knows better! They counted Senator McIlhinney as one of their 42 endorsed candidates and celebrated his reelection.

    The below string of emails represents my latest attempts to communicate with Senator McIlhinney. Though he has an office in my own town of Morrisville, as well as one in Doylestown, his Bucks County office hours are inflexible and inconvenient for working adults. Though I offered to travel to Harrisburg on a Tuesday to meet with him, my offer was ignored. Is this standard treatment for those who have caught on to Senator McIlhinney's duplicitous ways?

    Regardless of whether or not you agree with my positions, I hope that the local media considers Senator McIlhinney's disrespect for constituents to be worthy of attention.

    Sincerely,

    Joan Andrews Bell

    Please see the forwarded email from Good Counsel Homes, which was founded by Father Benedict Groeschel & Chris Bell. Please note that Chris Bell's wife is the former Joan Andrews, who has been imprisoned numerous times for her efforts to defend preborn children. In Joan Andrew Bell's own words,
    • "Jesus was right when He told us that our brothers and sisters are all lovable, every one of them, because they are of Him, of God....
    • "hardness of heart is certainly not only with the abortionists. Probably a much deeper hardness of heart is with those who are practicing Christians and people of good will in any religion who consider themselves believers in God and believers in goodness, who are just ignoring this holocaust....
    • "God gives us all a conscience and deep in our heart we do know right from wrong, but it sure helps to have good parents to spell things out....When we have good parents there helping to lead us, and good church leaders... I was a Catholic at a time when all priests preached the same thing about every evil. There was no such thing as one priest telling you one thing and another priest telling you another thing. They all told you adultery was wrong. They all told you that divorce was wrong. They all told you that abortion was wrong....
    • "Even as messed-up as so many Catholics are these days, the teaching of the church is consistent, as it has been throughout the centuries, condemning abortion and all the evils. There is a faithful remnant in the church holding it together....But these people are the ones God is asking to sacrifice much because they have been greatly blessed. They have had graces beyond those the others have had....
    • "The whole reason this abortion holocaust has gone on as long as it has and has devoured our whole society the way it has and has gone right into infanticide and euthanasia and fetal experimentation and pornography--its tentacles reach all of us, into our families, the whole of society and Satan has come into the church--is because those who knew better and who proclaim the name of the Lord have done nothing, or have done very, very little. I think the bottom line is that we were not willing to sacrifice and suffer, and even die for the Lord, the Truth, goodness, for love....
    • "What we really are concerned about is doing God's will, and if it means suffering, we'll embrace that suffering and count ourselves blessed, deeply blessed for the privilege of suffering just a little bit for the Lord. I don't care how great the suffering is, if it's only just a little bit, it will never be what the babies have suffered because they're so young and defenseless. Even if we were ripped apart ourselves, we have lived a life on this earth, we will never experience the rejection they have experienced. Primarily, the rejection at our own hands and those who are like us, who proclaim the name of the Lord....
    • "When I was a little kid I read a lot about the Nazi Holocaust in Germany, and even though it was over by the time I was born, I still could not get rid of the oppression of what happened just a few years before my time....The vast majority of the population was Christian, even though many good Christians stepped forward and rescued the Jews, and it was the Evangelicals and the Catholics and a few others who were rescuing the Jews and the other so-called outcasts of Germany and then all of Western Europe. They still were a minority doing it, and I knew as a kid that mass murder could not take place in any society without that society turning its back on the killing and allowing it to take place....
    • "when the abortion holocaust came, when I was 25 years old, I was overwhelmed by shock....Had the church stood up and said, no way are you going to kill little babies, if it were pronounced from every pulpit and people were told to not just pray, but prayer and action, and get out there and stop the killing, it wouldn't happen....
    • "We have to be there in gentleness and in love, but in firmness....I think we have to approach our brother and sister abortionists in gentleness and love and forgiveness, but in firmness....
    • "There was a remnant, a few people who were rescuing the Jews and others who were victims in Nazi Germany and Europe. It's the same in our country....we have to be able to influence the others and the way we're going to be able to influence them is by becoming more and more sacrificial. More and more Christ-like....
    • "I'm a Catholic and they refused to allow me to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass while I was in prison. One of the things as I sat there in my cell day after day and week after week, and then a couple of years went by, was that I felt very lonely. One of the impressions of prison is that you're very, very lonely. I just wanted to hug somebody. I pictured in my mind hugging my nieces and nephews often. I just had to picture it in my mind because it became such a craving. It really hurts. And suddenly I began to realize that Jesus..., in the real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, so lonely. No one goes by to visit Him. Not only year after year, but century after century. He stays there because He loves us so much. I was taught something about real love. Being there for someone, even if they ignore you.
    • "How many felt ignored at an abortion mill? Especially when other Pro-Lifers never came out, when you feel that many of your churches have turned their back on you. You don't ever see a collar out there or a habit. You feel all alone. You're the only one out there day after day, week after week, year after year. You get lonely. Well, think of the Lord Jesus and He can give you the strength to continue, even if you're the only one."

    This Sunday evening, the Bells and two of their children will be on EWTN with Father Groeschel.

    Thursday, March 10, 2011

    The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera
    Bishop of Scranton
    300 Wyoming Ave
    Scranton, Pennsylvania 18503

    Your Excellency:

    As reported by LifeNews.com, "The Senate rejected, on a 44-56 vote, the House-approved long-term budget bill that contains the Pence Amendment de-funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business." Among those whose vote is helping to perpetuate Planned Parenthood's crimes against pre-born children and families is Senator Robert Casey of the Scranton Diocese.

    I would certainly hope that Senator Casey has enough awareness to NOT present himself for Holy Communion. If that is NOT the case, will Canon 915 be followed in the Scranton Diocese (as well as in the other dioceses of Pennsylvania)?

    Thank you,






    "Becket" & Its Lessons for Our Day

    A USCCB review explains that 1964's Becket is
    • "The 12th-century saga...of the deep friendship and later conflict between England's King Henry II...and his friend, Sir Thomas a Becket..., and how their days of drinking and womanizing came to an end when the monarch decided to appoint Becket archbishop of Canterbury. Much to Henry's surprise, Becket was transformed into a deeply spiritual man of God, who took his new responsibilities very seriously....The film charts how Becket went head-to-head with the king over the vigilante murder of an erring priest by one of Henry's knights. Henry's famous despairing cry, `Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?' -- leads to Becket's martyrdom in his cathedral."

    Becket starred Richard Burton, at the peak of his film career, as well as Peter O'Toole. It received 12 Academy Award nominations & the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. As per a 2007 review (which originally appeared on Amazon.com), "While the Catholic Encyclopedia agrees [with the USCCB review] on much of the details, there are several noteworthy differences:

    • "The Catholic Encyclopedia seems to indicate that Thomas' conversion was somewhat less dramatic, and that his pre-archbishop years were chaste (or at least more so than what the movie indicates).
    • "The Catholic Encyclopedia mentions nothing about the unnamed priest's alleged crime. Yet, it does indicate that Thomas strongly opposed Henry's effort 'to bring clerics guilty of crimes under the jurisdiction of the secular courts.' Looking back over the scandals of the past few years, one result seems that - in our own time - the secular world is again exercising too much jurisdiction over clerics (My own opinion, of course).
    • "The Catholic Encyclopedia mentions nothing about Henry's famous line. It also indicates that Henry's culpability for Thomas' murder is not clear."

    Under pressure from the media and the Philadelphia D.A., 21 priests - none of whom, to my knowledge, has been criminally charged - have been placed on administrative leave by the archdiocese. Now, St. Thomas was absolutely NOT in favor of whitewashing alleged crimes committed by priests, but he was not about to let the King push around the Church! "It was with him simply a question of principle. St. Thomas seems all along to have suspected Henry of a design to strike at the independence of what the king regarded as a too powerful Church."

    Parish promotion and discussion of Becket would seem to be incredibly timely.

    Saturday, March 5, 2011

    Governor Corbett - "Family Planning" needs to stay out of Pennsylvania's budget!

    "Family Planning" needs to stay out of Pennsylvania's budget!

    As a registered Democrat who voted for you because of your pro-life platform, I am deeply disturbed by reports that you intend to keep "Family Planning" in Pennsylvania's budget. In addition to flying in the face of sound fiscal judgment, the funding of "Family Planning" simply caters to the financial interests of those who promote contraceptives and so-called contraceptives (i.e., abortifacients) with cavalier disregard for public health and morality.

    Take condoms as just one example: "condoms crowd pharmacy shelves and restroom walls, leering at potential users and proclaiming the merits of 'family planning' and 'safe sex' on their vividly-colored packages. Unfortunately, members of the public uncritically accept the government, and the condom manufacturers, at their word....If condoms are so effective at preventing pregnancy and AIDS transmission, why do nations that stress their use continue to experience a rapidly-escalating rate of teen pregnancy and an exploding AIDS epidemic?....The only way to completely eradicate all STDs is to follow God's plan for our sexual lives: Abstinence before marriage and fidelity after....If parachutes had the abysmal safety record that condoms do, skydiving would have been outlawed long ago....Good Housekeeping Magazine will not even accept condom advertisements, because they are not reliable enough for its 'Seal of Approval.'[60]" (Brian Clowes, Ph.D., Death by Latex, 2006)

    Tuesday, March 1, 2011

    excerpts from "The Basis of Civilization" (The Distributionist Review, 2/28/11)

    "'Ideals,' says G.K. Chesterton, 'are the most practical thing in the world.' This is why we still defend the family. This is why we insist on the ideal of marriage as a permanent union between one man and one woman, which creates the only proper setting for bringing new souls into the world, and that this purely natural act should not be interfered with....

    "An economy built on massive lending and spending cannot be sustained. But the reason it cannot be sustained is not merely economic, it is moral. It regards material wealth as the ultimate goal, and people as merely a commodity to achieve that goal. It is selfish and therefore self-destructive.

    "An economy based on the family is self-sustaining. Its focus is on the nurturing and training of children and not on the mere acquisition of goods....Chesterton’s ideal was the productive home with its creative kitchen, its busy workshop, its fruitful garden, and its central role in entertainment, education, and livelihood. Unlike the industrial home, life in a productive household is not amenable to scheduling and anything but predictable....

    "When social security was instituted, each retiree was supported by 15 workers. Now each retiree is supported by only three workers....

    "Our lack of domestic life is reflected in the fact that we don’t have a domestic economy. We don’t produce anything....

    "But the younger generation cannot pay the older generation because we have committed demographic suicide. We are paying a high price not only for slaughtering our unborn children but for contracepting them....

    "We have seen the natural consequences of unnatural acts. We have witnessed a monumental economic disaster that is not the result of inflation or recession but of the devaluation of children.
    "Chesterton says that every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things. The obvious things are the ordinary things, and we have forgotten them. The modern world that we have created has brought with it great strain and stress so that even the things that normal men have normally desired are no longer desirable: 'marriage and fair ownership and worship and the mysterious worth of man.' Those are the normal and ordinary things. Those are the things we have lost, and we need to recover them."

    Fw: Call Your State Senator, Ask to Support Banning Taxpayer-Funding of Abortion






    Mail

    Fw: Call Your State Senator, Ask to Support Banning Taxpayer-Funding of Abortion


    Tuesday, March 1, 2011 1:55 PM




    From:





    To:

    undisclosed-recipients







    --- On Mon, 2/28/11, Pennsylvania Family Council <citizenactioncenter@gmail.com> wrote:














    Call To Action










    2-28-11

    Call Your State Senator, Ask to Support Banning Taxpayer-Funding of Abortion.
    Your state senator needs to hear from you in order for Senate Bill 3 to pass. This bill, a measure that would ensure that no taxpayer funds are used to subsidize abortion coverage in health insurance plans mandated by the controversial federal healthcare law, is waiting for a vote in the senate. The state Senate Banking and Insurance Committee approved SB 3, but it needs to pass the full senate to move to the house and then the governor's desk.

    Senate Bill 3 Sponsor on PCN Live TODAY.
    Senator Don White (R-Indiana), lead sponsor of Senate Bill 3 will be on PCN Live TODAY, Monday, February 28,
    7:00pm to 8:00pm. Call in at 1-877-726-5001 to ask a question in support of Senator Don White and SB 3.


    Pennsylvania Family Council hopes to see Senate Bill 3 pass the senate and sent on to the House for final passage.

    Take Action!
    Call or E-mail
    your own state senator and ask them to vote YES on Senate Bill 3 when it comes up for a vote.

    Remember to tune in tonight, on PCN to call in and show your support for Senate Bill 3.

    Please forward this email to family and friends!

    The Pennsylvania Family Council is a non-profit organization made possible through financial donations from our supporters. To donate to Pennsylvania Family Council, click here.

    23 N. Front St. Harrisburg, PA 17101 ~ Phone: 717-545-0600 ~ Fax: 717-545-8107 ~ http://www.pafamily.org/



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    Congressman Fitzpatrick - THANK YOU for Voting to Defund Planned Parenthood! (sent on 2/19/11)

    The Honorable Michael Fitzpatrick
    United States House of Representatives
    Washington, DC 20515

    Dear Congressman Fitzpatrick:

    I am delighted to learn of your "aye" in yesterday's roll call vote, to stand with Rep. Pence in efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. A long struggle remains, and your co-sponsorship and support of HR 217, Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, is still absolutely needed. I know that many of your constituents are deeply grateful for yesterday's vote, as well as your co-sponsorhip of H.R. 3, No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.

    In addition to HR 217, I request that you add your name as a co-sponsor and support these pieces of legislation:

    • H.R. 358, Protect Life Act: "I...urge members of both parties who support rights of conscience and the policy of the Hyde amendment to support and co-sponsor the Protect Life Act. Please help give us a reformed health care system that respects the life, health and conscience of all" (Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, USCCB, 1/20/11).
    • H.R. 361, Abortion Non-Discrimination Act: "Passage of ANDA is urgently needed to protect the civil rights of health professionals and other health care entities. This bill reaffirms a basic principle: No health care entity should be forced by government to perform or participate in abortions" (Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, USCCB, 1/20/11).
    • H.R. 374, Life at Conception Act, would specify that "The terms `human person' and `human being' include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being."
    Also, I request that you add your signature to those of Representatives Forbes and McIntyre in requesting that Attorney General Eric Holder "vigorously... enforce federal obscenity laws."

    Sincerely,

    RE: Defund Planned Parenthood (sent on 2/26/11)

    The Honorable Robert Casey
    United States Senate
    Washington, DC 20510

    Dear Senator Casey,

    As per your biography, you "graduated from The College of the Holy Cross in 1982 and spent the following year teaching fifth grade and coaching eighth grade basketball in inner city Philadelphia for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps." That very same year, the young woman who became my wife volunteered full time in Center City for Mercy Corps, working with formerly homeless women. Spending much time in Philly's small, social circle of full time Catholic volunteers, it's highly likely that you and we crossed paths and/or knew people in common.


    In that small circle of idealists of a quarter century ago, we spoke fondly of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker; Dorothy had died in 1980. While we recognized Dorothy as a great champion of impoverished people, few of us were aware of her disdain for manipulative, wrongheaded efforts that disrespected their human dignity.

    • "Day After Day - November 1933": "....Mrs. A. with her four children and unemployed husband living on $1.50 a week, is trapped by economic circumstances and everyone is so indifferent that it took three or four afternoons of Mike Gunn’s time to see to it that the Home Relief came to the rescue....Three little pigs are crowded into a too-small cage, the case is brought into court, the judge’s findings in the case being that pigs should not be crowded the way subway riders are. And a family of eight children, mother and father, are crowded in three rooms and the consensus of opinion is that they’re lucky to have that and why don’t they practice birth control anyway...."
    • "The Family vs Capitalism", January 1936: "....it is to the re-creation of the Catholic family, that microcosm of society and type of the Mystical Body, that we must look now if we expect later generations in this country to see Catholicism, instead of Marxism, a vital force in the nation, if we hope to maintain 'the freedom of the children of God' against the diabolic forces of fascism. if we wish our posterity to enjoy the peace which is their heritage from Christ instead of the strife of wars and hatreds between nations and classes...in New York..., there is no diocesan provision whatsoever for the poor who are trying to observe the teachings of the Church against birth control and raise families despite their economic circumstances! We would suggest that as a first, even though inadequate, step toward realizing out ideals of family life our Catholic lay-people and clergy show the sincerity of their conviction by raising their voices in loud agitation for Catholic provision of such care."
    • "Disgraceful Plight Of Migrant Workers On California Farms", May 1940: "....I must say that my first view of the government camps made me anything but happy....Margaret Sanger has sent her agents around, and there are birth control clinics at every camp....Here there is room indeed for farming communes, for missions modeled on those the Franciscans started in the beginnings of California. As it is, there is nothing so beautiful that man has made in the entire state as the remains of those very missions which non-Catholic as well as Catholic point out with pride. Here there is room for personal responsibility, for the 'Christ’s room' in every house and on every ranch that the early Father’s talked of, instead of leaving everything to the government, which in spite of all they have done that is good, still think in terms of corporation farming and birth control clinics for the rural proletariat."
    • "On Pilgrimage - July/August 1962": "....I seldom speak at state universities or non-Catholic colleges without the question of overpopulation, birth control, abortion, and euthanasia coming up. The entire question of man’s control over the life of others, over the life forces within man, is one of the most profound importance today...."
    • "On Pilgrimage - September 1963": "....It is one thing not to judge others, and it is still another thing to expect men and women to live according to right reason, to seek wisdom and live by it....there has been a pamphlet published in England by the Quakers which is said to condone premarriage sexual intercourse 'if the parties are responsible.' My reaction to this is that of a woman who must think in terms of the family, the need of the child to have both mother and father, who believes strongly that the home is the unit of society. Sex is a profound force, having to do with life, the forces of creation which make man god-like. He shares in the power of the Creator, and, when sex is treated lightly, as a means of pleasure, I can only consider that woman is used as a plaything, not as a person....the act of sex in its right order in the love life of the individual has been used in Old and New Testament as the symbol of the love between God and Man. Sexual love in its intensity makes all things new and one sees the other as God sees him...."
    • "Chastity," 12/10/66: "How presumptuous it is to try to treat of such a subject in a short article, when great books (like Dietrich von Hildebrand's In Defense of Purity ) have been written on the subject....the marriage act purged of impurities is the nearest thing to the beatific vision we can know....To offer the suffering of celibacy, temporary or permanent, to the Lord is to make use, in the best possible way, of man's greatest joy...."
    • "On Pilgrimage - December 1972": "....birth control and abortion are genocide...."
    • "On Pilgrimage - May 1980": "....I have lost my sister, who had always been my closest friend and confidante....One difference of opinion between my sister and me came strongly to my mind a few nights ago as I watched, on television, the story of Margaret Sanger....My sister...went to work for Margaret Sanger, whom she revered as a great pioneer. After Della’s own marriage, she had three beautiful children, and, as she explained to me 'We are true believers in planned parenthood, and only had those to whom we could give five years of college, or even more for research.' When she went on to exhort me on another occasion, that I should not urge, as a catholic, Tamar, my daughter, to have so many children, I got up firmly and walked out of the house...."

    When I called your office the other day, it was disturbing to hear your young aide spout the supposed benefits of Planned Parenthood's self-serving promotion of contraceptives. Your dad and Dorothy Day would have been appalled. Please do not let the memory of your late, great dad's noble fight in Casey v. Planned Parenthood become muddled with Casey for Planned Parenthood in our own time. Embracing that great heritage of your dad and Dorothy Day, please defund Planned Parenthood. Also, please co-sponsor and support

    Sincerely,

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