Holy Saturday and Jesus' Tomb

• "a major international story — one involving at least 10 acts of vandalism at Catholic churches in France — went largely unreported (underreported, really) for weeks. The vandalism included everything from Satanic symbols scrawled on walls to shattered statues....
  
  "This brings us to Monday’s fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, where a massive blaze engulfed the 12th century gothic house of worship. It’s too early to tell if this incident is part of the earlier wave of vandalism, but it certainly comes at a strange time....
  
  "the [earlier] spate of vandalism was picked up by a major outlet when it was published as a feature story by RNS on April 2. The nut graph — what journalists refer to as the part of the story that tells the reader why they’ve even bothered to write this thing — is the third paragraph. Here’s how the story opened:
  
  
  Sometimes it’s a cross of human excrement smeared on a church wall, with stolen Communion hosts stuck at the four corners. Other times, a statue of the Virgin Mary lies shattered on the floor.
  
  Now and then, a fire breaks out in a house of prayer.
  
  Roman Catholic churches have increasingly come under attack in France, a country so long identified with Christianity that it used to be called 'the eldest daughter of the church.'
  
  A recent fire at St. Sulpice, the second-largest church in Paris, has shed light on a trend that has become commonplace in many smaller towns.
  
  'Who has heard of the sacking of the monastery of Saint Jean des Balmes in Aveyron? Of those teenagers who urinated into the holy water font of the church at Villeneuve de Berg in Ardèche?' the Paris daily Le Figaro asked last week in an article highlighting some of the lesser-known profanations around the country this month.
  
  Incidents such as these get a brief mention in the press, complete with quotes from Catholics shocked at the sight of scattered hosts or beheaded statues, and sometimes a short video clip on national television.....
  
  "The American press in particular has been negligent on this one. In fact, one of the first websites to write about the incidents for American audiences was Breitbart. Did coverage on the politically conservative site dated March 20 suddenly make this a right-wing story? It shouldn’t have. Vandalism, no matter who the potential culprits are, should be reported by journalists. Is there a conservative or liberal way to cover a fire? I never thought so — until now.
  
  "The Brietbart story ends with several key statistics, further proving that these cases aren’t isolated, but part of a terrifying trend:
  
  
  The Catholic hierarchy has kept silent about the episodes, limited themselves to highlighting that anti-Christian threat and expressing hope that politicians and police will get to the bottom of the crimes.
  
  Reports indicate that 80 percent of the desecration of places of worship in France concerns Christian churches and in the year 2018 this meant the profanation of an average of two Christian churches per day in France, even though these actions rarely make the headlines.
  
  In 2018, the Ministry of the Interior recorded 541 anti-Semitic acts, 100 anti-Muslim acts, and 1,063 anti-Christian acts" (GetReligion, 4/15/19)


• The possibility of Notre Dame's fire being anything but accidental is getting downplayed.  It seems healthy to remember that society has long been in denial of anti-Christianity.  As per the late James Schall, SJ, for example, "The Crusades were not signs of Christian aggressiveness but of a final, usually desperate effort to protect themselves" - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was very much part of what was being protected....

Within Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre is Jesus' tomb!

 

• Born-Alive Legislation Deserves a Vote in the People's House (USCCB) (HLA)
• The Discharge Petition to bring the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act to a vote in the House 
• Further Action Needed to Save Babies Born Alive! (USCCB)

• Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (USCCB)
  

• Contact your senators and representative today and urge them to oppose the [so-called] Equality Act! (USCCB)
  • Here Are The Two Republicans Who Co-Sponsored A Bill To Allow Male Athletes To Compete In Women’s Sports (The Daily Caller, 4/11/19)
    "Fitzpatrick won a close race last fall in his re-drawn Pennsylvania district and has frequently voted with Democrats....He was also one of the earliest Republicans to declare his support for gay marriage."
  • In the USCCB's 3/20/19 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, Brian Fitzpatrick and his colleagues were advised that the so-called "Equality Act would impose sweeping regulations to the detriment of society as a whole. The Act’s definitions alone would remove women and girls from protected legal existence. Furthermore, the Act also fails to recognize the difference between the person – who has dignity and is entitled to recognition of it – and the actions of a person, which have ethical and social ramifications. Conflating the two will introduce a plethora of further legal complications" 

• Save the Hyde Amendment (March for Life Action)

• Life at Conception Act Petition (National Pro Life Alliance) 

• Contact your U.S. senators and representatives today and ask them to support the LIFT for Charities Act! (USCCB)

• "Senator Lindsay Graham...[has] introduced the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a nationwide ban on abortion after 20 weeks....Senator Graham has introduced this bill or one similar every year since 2013. Although it has never received the 60 votes necessary for cloture, there is some hope that if enacted, it could now be upheld in an inevitable legal challenge due to the majority conservative Supreme Court (Live Action News, 4/11/19).
• I Cherish Life: I call on Congress to ban late term abortions when babies feel pain!(Family Policy Alliance)
  

• Tell the Senate to Reject Religion Tests for Judicial Nominees (USCCB)

• Ask the Department of Homeland Security to Rescind the "Remain in Mexico" Policy and Support Asylum Seekers by Following Existing Law (USCCB)  

• Stop Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (Click for Pa Pro Life Federation petition)

• Sign the Petition to Repeal the Abortion Law (NYS Catholic Conf)

• Call your [Pa State] Senator to oppose assisted suicide (Pa Pro Life Federation, 4/2/19)

• Please Urge Lawmakers to support an increase in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/26/19)

• Please urge your [Pa] Representative or Senator to support or co-sponsor Down Syndrome Protection Legislation (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/13/19) 

• Please ask your State Representative to Co-Sponsor the "Heart-Beat Bill" proposed by Stephanie Borowicz (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/11/19)

• Urge your State Senator to co-sponsor Sen. Judy Ward's bill on Keystone Scholarship Program (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/8/19)

• Urge your lawmakers to support [Pa] House Bill 51 which helps individuals looking to receive nursing care (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/4/19)

• [Pa] Lawmakers want to take away our right to vote for judges (Pa Pro Life Federation, 1/28/19 email

• NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed assisted suicide into NJ law. To express your outrage, Murphy can be reached at 609-292-6000 or https://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact."

• Ask Legislators to Increase Non Public School Funding (NJ Catholic Conference)

• Protect Viable [New Jersey] Babies in the Womb – Equal rights for children who can survive outside the womb (http://protectviablebabies.com/).

On the right side of the home page, you will find links to email Church leadership about "Catholic" health care, Bucks country representation in DC, Bucks County representation in Harrisburg, Central NJ representation in DC and Central NJ in Trenton.