Pope Francis’s Disordered Exhortation

From Pope Francis's Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exusultate:

101. The other harmful ideological error is found in those who find suspect the social engagement of others, seeing it as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist. Or they relativize it, as if there are other more important matters, or the only thing that counts is one particular ethical issue or cause that they themselves defend. Our defence of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection...

102. We often hear it said that, with respect to relativism and the flaws of our present world, the situation of migrants, for example, is a lesser issue. Some Catholics consider it a secondary issue compared to the “grave” bioethical questions …

Emphasis added. The New York Times correctly noted that Francis’s argument here is: 

“consistent with a view articulated by Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, the archbishop of Chicago who died in 1996, and who called for a ‘consistent ethic of life’ that wove issues of life and social justice into a ‘seamless garment.’”

Before you can have a garment (seamless or otherwise) you have to have cloth. The right to life is not part of the seamless garment—it is the cloth from which the garment is made. To put the right to life on the same level as “the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection” as Francis does, is disordered.

Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust in the Bay Area!

The Survivors are in San Francisco for a boot camp-and they are making their presence known.

Their Facebook page has videos of them spreading the pro-life message to UC Berkeley, Pier 39 in the City, and I heard they were at Justin Herman Plaza at noon today. Bless their brave hearts!!

Check out the videos on their Facebook page.

Walk for Life West Coast JANUARY 23!

San Francisco's Walk for Life West Coast, one of the two largest pro-life events in the country, will take place on January 23, 2016 at Civic Center Plaza. Check out the great promo video:

As always, there are many events surrounding the Walk: it's the biggest Catholic weekend (outside of Christmas and Easter, of course) in the Bay Area. At Saints Peter and Paul Church we will have all-night Adoration for Life beginning at 8 PM on Friday, January 22. 

EVERY Catholic, EVERY American who takes the founding principles seriously should be at the Walk. 

For a full list of events, go here: http://www.walkforlifewc.com/event-info/event-schedule/

Great News! Papal Nuncio to bring message from Pope Francis to Walk for Life West Coast!

Valerie Schmalz has the story in today's Catholic San Francisco:

Papal nuncio to bring message from Pope Francis to Walk for Life Jan. 24

January 14th, 2015
By Valerie Schmalz

The pope’s diplomatic representative to the U.S. will read a message of support from Pope Francis at the Walk for Life West Coast Jan. 24.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States, will attend the Walk for Life this year, according to the office of San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone.

“What an honor! We are so excited—this is the next best thing to having the Holy Father himself with us!” said Eva Muntean, a co-founder of the walk. Archbishop Viganò, appointed on Oct. 19, 2011, the feast of the North American Martyrs, is the 14th papal representative to the United States. The diplomatic post was established in 1893.

Archbishop Viganò will read Pope Francis’ greeting, said Karen McLaughlin, executive assistant to Archbishop Cordileone.

Pope Francis also sent greetings to the Walk for Life in 2014. Archbishop Viganò first attended the walk in 2013 where he told participants: “You can’t imagine how happy I am to be here with you today. To see so many people love life … You are the best of the United States of America!” 

Read the whole thing.

For all information about the Walk, visit http://www.walkforlifewc.com/

Does Archbishop Cupich believe in the Real Presence?

On November 30, Archbishop Blaise Cupich of Chicago was interviewed by Norah O'Donnell on Face the Nation. O'Donnell asked about giving communion to pro-abortion politicians--that is, Catholics who are persisting in grave sin:

“So, when you say we cannot politicize the communion rail, you would give communion to politicians, for instance, who support abortion rights.”

Cupich responded:

I would not use the Eucharist or as they call it the communion rail as the place to have those discussions or way in which people would be either excluded from the life of the church. The Eucharist is an opportunity of grace and conversion. It's also a time of forgiveness of sins. So my hope would be that that grace would be instrumental in bringing people to the truth."

This reasoning obviously applies to any mortal sin: murder, rape, sodomy, you name it.

Speaking as an all-too-frequent sinner, I DO NOT receive communion when in a state of mortal sin. My frequent sinfullness has given me the opportunity to reflect on why:

Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is in the same situation as Jesus on the Cross. As was the case at Golgotha, He is utterly defenseless, helpless For me, or anyone else, to receive Jesus when in a state of serious sin, is to attack an utterly defenseless Person.

That of course is presupposes a belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament. And reading the Archbishop's statement, I remind him  that the "time of forgiveness of sins" is during the sacrament of penance.

Hobby Lobby's "Landmark victory for freedom" clarifies sides in Culture War

More positive fallout from the Hobby Lobby ruling are being noticed. Dennis Saffran, writing at City Journal calls it "a landmark victory for freedom" and notes that it may be used to defend "creative professionals" (read: bakers and photographers who do not want to be forced into supporting counterfeit "marriages").

Saffran writes:

"In sum, the immediate impact of Hobby Lobby—providing a religious accommodation to a handful of covered employers who object to a handful of covered contraceptives—will almost certainly be negligible. No hands will 'reach into a woman’s body,' and no one will be denied their free IUDs. Yet the decision may nonetheless prove a landmark victory for freedom, especially if it helps bring an end to other coercive efforts, such as the cases involving the creative professionals. At the least, Hobby Lobby carves out space for objections to modern political orthodoxy, thus infusing real meaning into the progressive mantras of 'tolerance' and 'diversity.'” 

Saffran seems to be correct--or at least some people are acting as if he is.

Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle reported:

Alarmed by Hobby Lobby, LGBT groups dump job-rights bill

"Several leading gay advocacy groups said Tuesday they are abandoning the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, commonly known as ENDA, following the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision last week."

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are moving to pass a bill that would reverse the Supreme Court's ruling, according to Talking Points Memo:

"Senate Democrats are poised to introduce legislation as early as Tuesday to reverse the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling which exempted for-profit corporations with religious owners from the Obamacare mandate to cover emergency contraceptives in their insurance plans.

The legislation will be sponsored by Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Mark Udall (D-CO). According to a summary reviewed by TPM, it prohibits employers from refusing to provide health services, including contraception, to their employees if required by federal law. It clarifies that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the basis for the Supreme Court's ruling against the mandate, and all other federal laws don't permit businesses to opt out of the Obamacare requirement.

The legislation also puts the kibosh on legal challenges by religious nonprofits, like Wheaton College, instead declaring that the accommodation they're provided under the law is sufficient to respect their religious liberties. (It lets them pass the cost on to the insurer or third party administrator if they object.) Houses of worship are exempt from the mandate."

Catholics who support the Democratic Party face an irreconcilable conflict between being Catholic or a member of that party. In my opinion, that's been the case for a long time.

Will the Holy Father be called a bigot? You bet.

By the disordered standards of this day and time, the Holy Father is a bigot. Why? Because he thinks it best that a child be raised by a mother and a father:

"Pope Francis also spoke about the importance of defending children's right 'to grow in a family with a mother and father able to create a healthy environment for their growth and affective maturity,' which includes 'maturing in relationship to the masculinity and femininity of a father and a mother.'"

It's called reality. His Holiness also took aim at the indoctrination of children in government run (and, scandalously "Catholic") schools:

"Parents have a right to determine the appropriate 'moral and religious education' of their children, he said, and should not be subject to school curriculums that are thinly veiled courses of indoctrination into whatever ideology is strongest at the moment.

The pope said he wonders sometimes whether parents are 'sending a child to school or to a re-education camp' like those run by dictatorial governments."

I don't think he really "wonders" if that's the case. He knows it is, he's just choosing a nice way to say it.

He also reiterated Catholic/Natural Law teaching on abortion, calling it an unspeakable crime:

"Pope Francis on Friday reiterated human life is sacred and inviolable during a meeting with Italy’s Pro-Life Movement (Movimento per la Vita), adding every civil right is based on the 'first and most fundamental right,' the right to life: which is not subordinate to any condition, neither qualitative, nor economic, much less ideological.

The Holy Father said one of the most serious risks of the present age is the divorce between economics and morality, so that as the market gives us every technical innovation, it neglects more and more elementary ethical standards.

'It is must be therefore reiterated the strongest opposition to any direct attack on life, especially innocent and defenseless life, and the unborn child in the womb is the most concrete example of innocence,' said Pope Francis. 'Let us remember the words of the Second Vatican Council: From the moment of its conception, life must be guarded with the greatest care while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes.' ( Gaudium et Spes, 51).

Video for the Bicentennial of Don Bosco's Birth Marred by President Obama

Here's a video in preparation for the bicentennial of Don Bosco's birth in 2015. It's well done, but it is marred by the producers' decision to use the words of the loathsome Barack Obama, who twice voted against the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act, in the intro.

Perhaps they were so thrilled by having a U.S. President mention Don Bosco that they were willing to overlook this. I don't believe that Don Bosco, the patron saint of the young, would have made that mistake.


 

“Massive and Diverse”...Walk for Life West Coast Continues to Grow

On Saturday, January 25, the 10th Annual Walk for Life West Coast was held at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza. The event, the second-largest pro-life event in the United States, was the biggest yet. Life News headlined its coverage “60,000 pro-lifers line the Streets of San Francisco During West Coast Walk for Life.” Although organizers of the Walk did not give a numerical estimate of attendance, co-chair Eva Muntean said "We are so proud to have the largest number of people and the largest number of youth showing the pro-life face of the West Coast.” The Associated Press reported “San Francisco police did not immediately provide an official crowd estimate, but at one point marchers stretched across more than a mile of Market Street, the liberal city’s main thoroughfare.”

One photo of the Walk (below) was taken from a high-rise building in the area of Civic Center Plaza and posted on the San Jose Mercury News “social media reaction” page. It showed two city blocks around the plaza still densely packed with those waiting to start, while the body of the Walk stretched beyond visual range down Market Street towards the Walk’s end at the Ferry Building.

The day began with 17 Catholic Bishops joining San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore in concelebrating a special Mass at 9:30 AM at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The cathedral was filled to overflowing. At the pre-Walk rally, speakers included "October Baby" actress Shari Rigby, Lamb of God Maternity Home founder Grace Dulaney, and Monica Snyder of Secular Pro-Life. Ms. Snyder, introduced by Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, said “This is a debate about life and death. When you peel away the glossy wrappers, the pro-choice movement is about death." The final speaker was Walk for Life West Coast mainstay the Reverend Clenard Childress, Director of LEARN and founder of Blackgenocide.org, who told the crowd, by then overflowing the Plaza: “Never surrender conscience, even if the state demands it. This walk sends a message to the state, to the government, to Washington, D.C.—I will not surrender conscience."

In honor of the Walk’s 10th Anniversary, nineteen speakers from previous years were in attendance, including Father Pavone, former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson, Frank Lee of Asian Americans Pro-Life, and San Francisco Hispanic pro-life activist Alfredo Abarca.

San Francisco's Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone read a letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Papal Ambassador to the United States, sending "the affectionate greetings and spiritual closeness of Pope Francis" and continuing "Indeed, the Holy Father is most grateful to you for your readiness to show solidarity with the most innocent and vulnerable members of the human family."

In an effort to pull and end-run around the media’s habitual failure to give the Walk the coverage its magnitude deserves, organizers decided this year to launch a twitter campaign in the week before the Walk to “End the Media Blackout.” The idea, well-tailored to the Walk’s youthful demographic, was the brainchild of a young employee at the Archdiocese. Joanna Dasteel reported in LifeSiteNews: “So this year, when 50,000 smart-phone-toting pro-life activists descend upon the city, organizers will be asking them to tweet pictures of the events with the official event hashtag #WalkForLife and to include @CNN, @FoxNews, @USAToday, and local news outlets @sfchronicle, @abc7newsBayArea, @nbcbayarea, and @KTVU.”

The campaign may have worked. On the morning of the Walk, the Associated Press ran a wire service story about the event, and followed that with another from the Walk, quoted above. The wire service story was picked up by ABC News, NBC News, NPR, Yahoo News, the Washington Post, and scores of other outlets. From the story: “A massive and diverse crowd of protesters rallied in front of City Hall before marching down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza for the 10th annual ‘Walk for Life West Coast’…San Francisco police did not immediately provide an official crowd estimate, but at one point marchers stretched across more than a mile of Market Street, the liberal city’s main thoroughfare.” The San Francisco Chronicle picked up the AP story, but its own coverage of this major event in its own city consisted of a large photograph with a caption.

This year’s Walk was enlivened by the response of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors to the Walk’s “Abortion Hurts Women” banners which lined Market Street in the month prior to the event. A pro-abortion group had labeled the banners “hate speech” and asked San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to have them removed. He declined, citing the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, on January 14, the Board introduced a resolution in opposition to the banners. But the Board may have bitten off more than they could chew. Their action gained national attention, and even the Chronicle expressed opposition to the resolution. The ensuing publicity did nothing to harm the Walk.

The weekend of the Walk has turned into one of the busiest Catholic weekends of the year in the Bay Area. Special masses in both the Novus Ordo and Extraordinary Form were celebrated, special adoration vigils observed. There was also a youth rally with the Sisters of Life, the Law of Life Legal Summit, a training session for sidewalk counselors, and the first ever West Coast Students for Life Conference held at the Cathedral.

The Walk began in 2005 with 7,500 participants. It seems to be growing at about 15-20% annually. A writer at the New Feminism blog commented “The air literally sizzled with joy, happiness and gratitude.” Walk co-chair Dolores Meehan had a similar take: "It's great to see so many joyous people bringing love and peace to the streets of the city of St. Francis."

"It is not “progressive” to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life"

In the first Apostolic Exhortation of his Pontificate, “Evangelii Gaudium” (Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis writes about abortion:

"Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defence of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be. Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, “every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offence against the creator of the individual”.

Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question. I want to be completely honest in this regard. This is not something subject to alleged reforms or “modernizations”. It is not “progressive” to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life. On the other hand, it is also true that we have done little to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish, especially when the life developing within them is the result of rape or a situation of extreme poverty. Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?"

Belgium Debates Whether to Euthanize Children

An all too believable article from the the Washington Post:

"Should children have the right to ask for their own deaths?

In Belgium, where euthanasia is now legal for people over the age of 18, the government is considering extending it to children — something that no other country has done. The same bill would offer the right to die to adults with early dementia.

Advocates argue that euthanasia for children, with the consent of their parents, is necessary to give families an option in a desperately painful situation. But opponents have questioned whether children can reasonably decide to end their own lives.

Belgium is already a euthanasia pioneer; it legalized the practice for adults in 2002. In the last decade, the number of reported cases per year has risen from 235 deaths in 2003 to 1,432 in 2012, the last year for which statistics are available. Doctors typically give patients a powerful sedative before injecting another drug to stop their heart.

Only a few countries have legalized euthanasia or anything approaching it.

In the Netherlands, euthanasia is legal under specific circumstances and for children over the age of 12 with parental consent. (There is an understanding that infants, too, can be euthanized, and that doctors will not be prosecuted if they act appropriately.) Elsewhere in Europe, euthanasia is only legal in Luxembourg. Assisted suicide, where doctors help patients to die but do not actively kill them, is allowed in Switzerland."

And the justification is (what else) the elevation of equality above all other considerations:

John Harris, a professor of bioethics at the University of Manchester. “It’s unfair to provide euthanasia differentially to some citizens and not to others (children) if the need is equal.”

Texas to Pass Pro-Life Bill?

That's what Politico is reporting. The Texas Senators are preparing to vote now, God bless them!

Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press, the supporters of the culture of death had brought bottles of urine and feces, presumably to throw at people. The bottles were confiscated by state troopers. Similar to the culture of death demonstrator's who chanted "Hail Satan!" last week.

What's that about the First Amendment, Mrs. Huffington?

Ariana Huffington, owner of the Huffington Post, complained about Obama's henchman Eric Holder today on Meet the Press

"This is about the First Amendment, this is about freedom of the press..."

The first amendment to the Constitution reads:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Congress didn't make any law about seizing phone records of journalists--that was strictly a solo endeavor by Obama's justice department. But Congress did make a law prohibiting the free exercise of religion--it's absurdly called the Affordable Care Act. The HHS contraception mandate is a direct violation of the First Amendment. Where were Huffington and the rest of those Democratic "journalists" when that passed? Where is their outrage now?

Doc Hendershott Victim of IRS Audit

Some highlights from the article at the The Blaze, but be sure and read the whole thing.

 

‘Very Frightening’: Prominent Catholic Prof. Claims IRS Audited Her After Speaking Out Against Obama and Demanded to Know Who Was Paying Her

 

In the midst of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scandal, individuals and groups, alike, are continuing to come forward with ever-startling allegations. On Wednesday, Dr. Anne Hendershott, a devout Catholic and a noted sociologist, professor and author, exclusively told TheBlaze that she believes she may have been one of the IRS’s targets.

 

According to Hendershott, the IRS audited her in 2010 and demanded to know who was paying her and “what their politics were....

 

Hendershott was surprised she was being audited on business grounds considering she does not operate an entrepreneurial endeavor in the traditional sense. In addition to her academic work, she told TheBlaze that she occasionally freelances for Catholic outlets and for the Wall Street Journal. But can this really be considered “business” activity?

 

“I don’t make a lot of money from writing. In fact most years I don’t show a profit,” she told TheBlaze.

 

In fact, Hendershott said some of the outlets and organizations she has written for haven’t paid her a cent.

 

But the circumstances surrounding the irregular nature of the experience don’t end there, though. Hendershott noted it was particularly surprising that she, alone, was audited. Her husband, who brings in the vast majority of the family’s income, was not included in the IRS’s inquiry — even though the Hendershotts always files jointly....

“Every question had to do with bank deposits we made. Every single question,” she said. “What is this money? And I didn’t know a lot of it. We had to go to our bank and get deposits back. We had to get records showing where the money came from.”

While asking about the deposits, the agent wanted to know if the monies came from groups and, if so, what the organizations’ politics were."

Obama Addresses Murder., Inc, Worries About Return to Horrible 1950's

On Friday, Obama became the first sitting president to ever address Planned Parenthood--as Mark Shea aptly titled them "Murder, Inc." That the evil President Obama should address such a group is not particularly notable, except for his statement "The fact is, after decades of progress, there's still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century." Any President who could restore the social capital of America in the 1950's would be equal Washington, Lincoln, FDR and Reagan rolled into one:

Yeah, the horrible 1950's. They were so bad that when murder rates drop, writers measure progress by noting that we are getting close to the rate of the 50's: 

"According to FBI analysis, the homicide drop would mean that nearly 280 fewer Americans were murdered last year, which would be the lowest homicide death toll since the mid-1950s."

Yeah, the horrible 1950's, when over 90% of children were born to married parents. Today the rate is moving towards 50%:

Yeah, the horrible 1950's (well, 1965), when Daniel Patrick Moynihan predicted the destruction of the black family because the out-of wedlock birth rate was 25%. As of 2010 it was 72.5%.

Yeah, the horrible 1950's. Here's a chart from the Bureau of Justice Statistics showing the percentage of Americans behind bars. It speaks for itself:

Yeah, the horrible 1950's when diseases like syphilis were nearly eradicated. Here's an August 25, 2012 report from Digital Journal:

"The resurgence of syphilis has risen dramatically over the past 20 years in the United States and Canada --- from 177 cases in 1993 to 1,750 cases in 2010. It is temporarily shutting down the porn industry in Southern California."

Not to mention HIV, which may not even have existed then. And did we even have a "porn industry" in those horrible 1950's?

I guess Obama's audience are young people who, just by the laws of nature, can't understand much. As I get older one of my saddest experiences (and this is just one example) is encountering young people who will never even realize that it was once possible to walk around San Francisco without encountering the homeless, drug addicts, drunks, and mentally ill people as an everyday occurrence. That there was a time when people did not always defecate and urinate on the street is not something within their experience.In 1948, Richard Weaver wrote:

"We approach a condition in which we shall be amoral without the capacity to perceive it and degraded without means to measure our descent."

Sisters of Life to Honor Walk for Life West Coast Co-chairs

Dolores Meehan, Eva Muntean to receive Cardinal O’Connor Award in NYC April 19 

On April 19, the Sisters of Life will present the John Cardinal O’Connor award to Dolores Meehan and Eva Muntean, the co-chairs and co-founders of San Francisco’s Walk for Life West Coast. The Sisters write of the recipients:

“As women of faith in the forefront of a transformative movement, their commitment and vision have inspired new voices in the public square to proclaim that every human life is a sacred gift; and that the dignity and vocation of woman can only be realized without violence – when brothers and sisters step forth in the solidarity of love and communion.”

The two were leaders in the group which founded the Walk for Life West Coast in 2005. Despite ongoing opposition from San Francisco’s political establishment, and unethical negligence on the part of San Francisco’s media establishment, the Walk has grown every year. It is the second largest annual pro-life event in the United States, and in 2012 counted over 50,000 in attendance. Ms. Meehan and Ms. Muntean join previous honorees who include Timothy Cardinal Dolan (2012); Maria Marchetti, Gene D’Agostino, and Tom Kolenberg , pro-life parishioners of the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist in Stamford, CT (2011); Mary Ann Glendon J.D., LL. M., United States Ambassador to the Holy See, and the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University (2010); Supreme Knight of Columbus Mr. & Mrs. Carl Anderson, Knight of Columbus, (2009); and Professor Robert George (2007).

Another co-founder of the Walk for Life West Coast, Lisa Hamrick, who serves as the Walk’s liason with the Sisters, said: “We had long known of the Sisters and their work, yet we wanted to have this more personal connection to them in and through the Walk for Life. So, at the Third Annual Walk for Life in 2007, the WFL committee members used their airline miles to fly six of the Sisters of Life out from New York. The Little Sisters of the Poor and the Carmelite Nuns graciously offered to lodge the Sisters for us, and we are very grateful to them… Just as the Walk for Life has continued to grow and expand through the years, so has the presence of the Sisters of Life. In 2009, Mother Agnes Donovan, the Superior General of the Sisters was one of our speakers. At the last Walk for Life on January 26, 2013 we had eleven Sisters of Life participate with us -- they took up the Gifts at the Offertory at the WFL Mass, they host a table at the WFL Info Faire, and of course marched with us. The WFL participants love to see the Sisters and they have even had some vocations to their Order as a result of their participation. And this year the Sisters established a new tradition: the night before the Walk, they hosted "A Vigil for Life." It consisted of talks, time for quiet prayer and adoration, reflective music, confessions, and Mass celebrated by Bishop Daly of the San Jose Diocese.”

Eva Muntean said “While I am humbled and honored beyond belief to receive this award, I accept it only on the behalf of all my brothers and sisters at the Walk for Life West Coast. We are anything but a two-woman operation. The Walk was founded by a group of us and it is continued by that same group and others too. This honor is for us all!”

The evening begins with a 5:15 PM Mass of Thanksgiving at the Church of Our Savior at 38th Street and Park Avenue. Cocktails will follow at 6:30 PM and dinner at 7:30 PM at the Union League Club, 38 E. 37th Street, New York City. For further information or tickets, please contact Carol Stockley at 732.530.8799. RSVp’s due by April 5. All proceeds benefit the work of the Sisters of Life. The Sisters were founded by John Cardinal O’Connor in 1991, for the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of human life. 

Donation information may be found by going to: www.sistersoflife.org/donations or by mail to Friends of the Sisters, 100 Leedsville Drive, Lincroft, NJ 17738.

Walk For Life: "You can avoid the truth, but you can't avoid the traffic!"

A shorter version of this article appeared in today's California Catholic Daily.

Apostolic Nuncio, 50,000+ Pro-Lifers at SF’s Walk For Life West Coast
“You can avoid the truth, but you can’t avoid the traffic!”

On Saturday, January 26, more than 50,000 pro-lifers overflowed San Francisco’s Civic Center and Market Street for the Ninth Annual Walk for Life West Coast. Pope Benedict XVI’s representative to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano delivered a message from the pope along with his papal blessing. Pope Benedict’s message, which was also sent out on a Vatican Twitter feed, said, His Holiness “is grateful to all those who take part in this outstanding public witness to the fundamental human right to life and the moral imperative of upholding the inviolable dignity of each member of our human family, especially the smallest and most defenseless of our brothers and sisters.”

“You are a powerful witness that God’s truth cannot be silenced,” said San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, who blessed participants to begin the event. “Yes, we are here to stay because life is good and life is holy.”

The speakers at the Walk included Lacey Buchanan, the mother of a disabled child; Elaine Riddick, who was forcibly sterilized by the state of North Carolina at age 14; Kelly and Matthew Clinger who regret their abortions; and the Rev. Clenard Childress, Jr., who has spoken at nearly every walk since its founding in 2005.

The rally closed with an impassioned speech by Reverend Childress, Director of L.E.A.R.N. and one of the country’s leading crusaders against (especially) the holocaust of African-American babies slaughtered by abortion. Rev. Childress shared the story of St. Telemachus, a fifth century monk, who attempted to stop a gladiatorial combat in a Roman Colliseum. Telemachus was stoned to death by the crowd, but his example moved the Emperor Honorius to put an end such contests--permanently. Three times Childress quoted the Saint: “The killing must end!”

“Truth is rising up and you are the picture of that truth,” said Rev. Childress to loud cheers. “We will not draw back until every child is free.”

As always there were small counter-protests. A 10:00 AM counter-rally held at Justin Herman Plaza, drew “more than 300” pro-abortion demonstrators, according to ABC. The rally featured San Francisco Supervisors Eric Mar, David Chiu, and David Campos, as well as state Senator Mark Leno, and free-contraception advocate Sandra Fluke. According to the Bay Guardian, Magalie Bonneau-Marcil, director of Oakland nonprofit Dancing without Borders, was to attend the opposition rally with a “flash mob” and expected “… between 400 and 500 dancers to descend upon the plaza.” That apparently did not happen.

By all accounts the rally and Walk were the largest in the event’s history. ABC TV gave a figure of more than 40,000; Walk organizers would only give an estimate of “more than 50,000.” An observer at the corner of Kearny and Market Street, about halfway down the Walk’s route, said that walkers took 50 minutes to pass. That squares with ABC accounts that it took “the better part of an hour” for pro-lifers to empty Civic Center Plaza and enter Market Street. Confirmation of the Walk’s magnitude came from unusual sources.

Commenting on the media’s downplaying of the Walk, co-founder Eva Muntean said: “We got some decent coverage from our local ABC affiliate. The San Francisco Chronicle’s and KTVU television coverage attempted to ‘balance’ the two events. While that appears to show objectivity, it doesn’t really, because it ignores the difference in magnitude. It’s like giving equal time to kids playing a pickup game and the Super Bowl, just because they’re both football games. When the media does not report on an event the size of the Walk for Life West Coast they are objectively not doing their job, with consequences for the citizens. We saw a post yesterday on an online message board from a man who was complaining about being stuck in traffic because of the Walk. He said he had not known about the Walk, and that he was ‘shocked’ at the number of people in attendance, and that he was stuck in traffic for two hours. Well, why didn’t he know? Why was he ‘shocked’? Every year the Walk For Life West Coast is here. We are one of the largest annual events in San Francisco. And every year we hear the same thing—these are actual quotes: ‘I’m shocked’, ‘I ran into this absolutely enormous anti-abortion march,’ and ‘I never heard of this!’ That’s the media failing their responsibility.”

Co-founder Dolores Meehan added “You can avoid the truth, but you can’t avoid the traffic!”

Fr. Malloy (& Fr. Armand) in the Washington Post

Today's Washington Post had a story about the upcoming inauguration of President Obama, and specifically about those who oppose his agenda. One of those honorable opponents is the great Reverend Clenard Childress, Directer of LEARN. The photo they used for the story was from the first Walk for Life West Coast in 2005, and shows Fr. Malloy (and his confrere Fr. Armand Oliveri, in the cap and scarf) at the lower left. God Bless the young priests--they were only 82 and 85 then!

The Reverend Childress was quoted:

“Let’s face it, this is a man very deep into an ideology that is not American,” says the Rev.Clenard Childress, a New Jersey minister and antiabortion activist who says black and white voters alike returned Obama to office “to feel better about ourselves and get the guilt of racism off us.”

To say Obama is "very deep into an ideology that is not American" is not rhetoric, but a simple statement of fact. Obama came in saying his aim was "fundamentally transforming the United States of America," and since then he has shredded the First Amendment to the Constitution and is now working on the Second.

God bless Reverend Childress! He's a little older now too, but he will be firing up the Walk for Life West Coast as the closing speaker on January 26. Be there for Life!

(Photo: Dino Vournos; AP)

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Catholic Lady Maintains Standards at St. Peter's Square

Some women decided to take their shirts off at St. Peter's Square yesterday. This good Catholic lady was having none of it. This normal outrage is good to see.

Photo: Vincenzo Pinto, Reuters.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

NY Times Covers Pregancy Centers

An even-handed approach from what FR. Z refers to as "Hell's Bible." Credit where credit is due!

Pregnancy Centers Gain Influence in Anti-Abortion Arena

WACO, Tex. — With free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, along with diapers, parenting classes and even temporary housing, pregnancy centers are playing an increasingly influential role in the anti-abortion movement. While most attention has focused on scores of new state laws restricting abortion, the centers have been growing in numbers and gaining state financing and support.

Nasya Dotie, who had considered an abortion, visited Care Net with the son she decided to have.

A truck sponsored by an anti-abortion group in Waco was parked across the street from a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Largely run by conservative Christians, the centers say they offer what Roland Warren, head of Care Net, one of the largest pregnancy center organizations, described as “a compassionate approach to this issue.”

As they expand, they are adding on-call or on-site medical personnel and employing sophisticated strategies to attract women, including Internet search optimization and mobile units near Planned Parenthood clinics.

“They’re really the darlings of the pro-life movement,” said Jeanneane Maxon, vice president for external affairs at Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion group. “That ground level, one-on-one, reaching-the-woman-where-she’s-at approach.”

Pregnancy centers, while not new, now number about 2,500, compared with about 1,800 abortion providers. Ms. Maxon estimated that the centers see about a million clients annually, with another million attending abstinence and other programs. Abortion rights advocates have long called some of their approaches deceptive or manipulative. Medical and other experts say some dispense scientifically flawed information, exaggerating abortion’s risks.

Jean Schroedel, a Claremont Graduate University politics professor, said that “there are some positive aspects” to centers, but that “things pregnant women are told at many of these centers, some of it is really factually suspect.”

The centers defend their practices and information. “Women who come in are constantly telling us, ‘Abortion seems to be my only alternative and I think that’s the best thing to do,’ ” said Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, which she described as a “Christ-centered” organization with 1,100 affiliates. “Centers provide women with the whole choice.”

Read the whole thing.