Friday, June 08, 2007

Dennis Prager Is Wrong

Sometimes, instead of listening to Rush, I listen to Dennis Prager,
another conservative (I thought) talk show host.

Unfortunately today he was talking about how it didn't make sense to choose a president based on his pro-life (or lack thereof) stance.

He said that electing a pro-life president is a waste of time because the only two things he can do is sign legislation and appoint justices
to the Supreme Court.

Therefore, Rudy Guiliani is an acceptable Republican candidate worth consideration.

Sigh.



Update: I found the transcript(?) of the portion of Mr Prager's show in which he said this...

...let’s be honest, pro-life presidents have done nothing, nothing with regard to abortion, and the reason is they can’t do anything. It’s not the executive’s place. Ronald Reagan was pro-life, George W. Bush is pro-life. The only thing they can do is appoint Supreme Court justices, and Rudy Giuliani has essentially sworn on his mother’s life, or on his mother’s grave, if she’s not with us, that he would appoint people just like George W. Bush appointed, and I believe him.


It's not an exact transcript. He said there's only 2 things a president can do and he didn't mention Reagan at this particular point...

Source

I know many of us are not happy with President Bush right now for
various reasons but here is a partial list of what a pro-life
president can do (and has done).



January 22, 2001 President Bush Reinstates Mexico City Policy (bans
use of U.S. money for organizations that promote abortion overseas)
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/articles/01-29-01/mexicocity.html

March 22, 2001 President Bush Helps Dedicate Pope John Paul II
Cultural Center

http://www.nrlc.org/news/2001/NRL04/

"The Pope reminds us that while freedom defines our nation,
responsibility must define our lives," the President said. "He
challenges us to live up to our aspirations, to be a fair and just
society where all are welcomed, all
are valued, and all are protected. And he is never more eloquent than
when he speaks for a culture of life. The culture of life is a
welcoming culture, never excluding, never dividing, never despairing
and always affirming the
goodness of life in all its seasons."

March 28, 2001 Reuters reports "Bush issues abortion rule order,
outflanks Senate"
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/bush_abortionrights010122.html


April 17, 2001 President Bush Restricts RU-86 Funding and Close White
House Feminist Office
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/apr/01040303.html

April 24, 2001 Bush Bans Sex Films from Air Force One
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_270918.html

April 25, 2001 President Bush appoints Fatherhood proponent
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/dynpage.cfm?DPID=65

April 30, 2001 Proclamation - National Day of Prayer
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/04/20010430-2.html

May 16, 2001 U.S. House Backs President Bush in Denying Funds to
Overseas Groups That Promote Abortion Legalization
http://www.consistentlife.org/US%20House%20Upholds%20Pro-life%20Mexico%20City%20Policy.htm

May 17, 2001 Bush Administration Begins Effort to Put Pro-Life
Advocates on International Panels Source: Washington Post

May 21, 2001 Further Analysis Shows Bush's First Judicial Picks
Promising Source: Pro-Life Infonet

May 26 Bush Overrules Powell on Nominee Appoints Pro-lifer to
Important State Department Post
http://tennesseerighttolife.org/news_center/archives/05262001-03.htm

June 1, 2001 Bush Won't Issue Gay Proclamation, Opts Out of Gay Pride
Day Source: Associated Press

June 21, 2001 Bush Supports Strongest Pro-Life Ban on Human Cloning
Source: Associated Press

July 6, 2001 Bush Administration Awards Abstinence Grants to CPCs,
Pro-Life Groups

August 13, 2001 Bush Would Veto Any Funding of Additional ESCR

August 16, 2001 Attorney General John Ashcroft recently warned that
less than 10 % of judges nominated by Bush have even had a hearing
before the Democratically led Senate Judiciary Committee

August 28, 2001 Bush Won't Back Down to the United Nations on Abortion
Source: Reuters

October 15, 2001 Bush Administration Awards Adoption Awareness Grants-
HHS Press Release

November 7, 2001 White House and Lawmakers Fight Pro-Abortion Amendments

November 7, 2001 Democratically Led Senate Attempts to Weaken Pro-Life
Policies Are Blocked by Veto Threats and Pro-Life Lawmakers

December 5, 2001 Bush Selects Pro-Life Ex-Gov to Head Republican Party

December 10, 2002 Changes in the White House (from the Patriot's Herald)
http://www.patriotsherald.com/content/changed.php

January 31, 2002 Bush Administration Proposes Coverage of Unborn
Children in Health Insurance
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/02013106.html

February 26, 2002 President Bush's Remarks at St. Luke's Catholic Church
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/images/20020226-11.html

September 27, 2002 Bush Administration Finalizes Coverage of Unborn
Child in Health Insurance
http://www.vshl.org/press/2002/nrlc_20020927.shtml

January 18, 2002 Bush Declares Sanctity of Life Day January 20, 2002
http://www.priestsforlife.org/government/02-01-18bush.htm

January 22, 2002 Remarks By President Bush in Phone Call to March For
Life Participants http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jan/020122a.html

January 20, 2002 President Bush Seeks Increased Abstinence Funding
Source: Associated Press

January 31, 2002 Bush Administration Classifies Developing Fetus as
Unborn Child Source: Associated Press

States may classify a developing fetus as an "unborn child" eligible
for government health care, the Bush administration said Thursday,
giving low-income women access to prenatal care and bolstering the
arguments of
abortion opponents.

February 1, 2002 President Bush has chosen an advocate for the aging
who once worked with Mother Teresa to head his revamped effort to
provide federal funds to religious charities. See the interview with
Jim Towey in Crisis Magazine
http://www.crisismagazine.com/june2002/feature6.htm

February 2, 2002 President Bush's Sincere Appreciation For Prayers
Said For Him http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/bushprayerreq.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/624592/posts

February 26, 2002 The President's Welfare Reform focuses on families,
abstinence and work http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0019805.html

March 6, 2002 Bush's National Institute of Health Nominee Supports
Complete Ban on Human Cloning Source: Washington Post, Baltimore Sun

March 14, 2002 Democratically led Senate quashes Nomination of
Pro-Life Judge Charles Pickering
http://www.reclaimamerica.org/PAGES/NEWS/newspage.asp?story=918

April 8, 2002 President Bush Will Speak to Pro-Life Leaders Wednesday
Source: National Right to Life News

April 10, 2002 President Bush's Remarks in Opposition to Human Cloning
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020410-4.html

April 11, 2002 President Bush Calls on Senate to Back Human Cloning
Ban http://www.nrlc.org/nv041102.html

April 11, 2002 UN Decides Against Cairo+10, Fears Bush Administration
Source: Friday Fax

May 2, 2002 Proclamation National Day of Prayer
http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/media/president.cfm

May 2, 2002 Bush Administration Opposing Abortion at UN Child
Conference Source: Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute

May 23, 2002 Pro-Life Judge D. Brook Smith confirmed for Third Circuit
Court of Appeals
http://www.reclaimamerica.org/PAGES/SHAKE/shakeHome.asp

May 26, 2002 Atheist loses bid to halt Bush's faith references
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/2882530p-3704157c.html

May 31, 2002 Crisis Magazine Editor Evaluates Bush's Relations With U.S.
Catholics

http://www.cin.org/archives/cinjub/200206/0009.html

July 9, 2002 Pro-Abortion Groups Attack Bush Judicial Nominee- Priscilla Owen
Source: Reported by Associated Press

July 22, 2002 Bush Administration Withholds UNFPA Money Source: Associated Press

July 24, 2002 Bush Announces Initiavtive to Encourage Adoptoin of
Children in Foster Care
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020723.html

July 29, 2002 Bush Inherited a Weak Economy: By January 2001 when Bush
took office Nasdaq tumbled 46% off its peak and the GDP had
decelerated to 1.9% in the quarter just ended from 5.7% just six
months earlier.
Source: Editorial in Investors Business Daily

August 5, 2002 Bush Signs Born-Alive Infants Protection Act Source:
National Right to Life Committee
http://www.nrlc.org/Federal/Born_Alive_Infants/

September 17, 2002 NARAL Opposes Michael McConnell's Nomination to the
Tenth Circuit Court Of Appeals
Statement of NARAL President Kate Michelman
http://www.naral.org/mediaresources/press/2002/pr091702_mcconnell.html

October 3, 2002 Democrat-Controlled U.S. Senate Kills Pro-Life Bills
Favored by President Bush and Passed by U.S. House
http://www.nrlc.org/Federal/LegUpdates/Congressionalwrapup100302.html

* The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (H.R. 4965), passed by the House
on July 24, 2002, 274-151.

* The Weldon-Stupak-Brownback legislation to ban all human cloning,
including the cloning of human embryos (H.R. 2505, S. 1899), passed by
the House on July 31, 2001, 265-162.

* The Unborn Victims of Violence Act (H.R. 503), a bill to recognize
as a legal victim any unborn child who is injured or killed during
commission of a federal crime, passed by the House on April 26, 2001,
252-172.

* The Child Custody Protection Act (H.R. 476), to make it a crime to
take a minor across state lines for a secret abortion, if this
abridges her parents ' right to be involved under their home-state
law, passed by the House on
April 17, 2002, 260-161.

* The Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 4691), to prohibit state
and local governments from discriminating against hospitals and other
health care providers for refusing to participate in abortions, passed
by the House
on September 25, 2002, 229-189.

October 6, 2002 President Bush Building Strong Pro-Life Record
Source: Boston Globe

October 14, 2002 White House staffers gather for Voluntary Bible
Study Voluntary Meetings
Source: USA Today

October 17, 2002 Germany Attacks Bush Administration Position Against
All Human Cloning
Source: Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute

October 29, 2002 Pro-Abortion Group and Senator Daschle jointly
appeal for pro-abortion Senate- Reported by National Right to Life
Source: Email Sent From NARAL

October 29, 2002 Pro-Abortion Group opposes nomination of Dr. W. David
Hager to chair the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee.
Hager is a member groups like Christian Medical Association and
Physicians
Resource Council for Focus on the Family Source: California Abortion
Rights Action League

http://www.caral.org/alert_current.html

October 30, 2002 Bush Directs Advisory Committee to Protect Human Embryos
Source: Associated Press,Washington Post

October 31, 2002 Pro-Life Groups Applaud Bush Decision on Human Embryos
Source:Cybercast News Service

November 1, 2002 Bush backs away from reproductive health pact
Source: Knight Ridder Newspapers
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/4424134.htm

November 8, 2002 Bush Administration Fights for UN to Oppose All Human Cloning
Source: Reuters

November 8, 2002 Bush Right to Oppose Abortion at International Meetings
Source: Population Resource Institute

November 14, 2002 White House Pressures Congress to Keep Military Abortion Ban
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

Novermber 18, 2002 Pro-Abortion Senators May Filibuster Pro-Life
Judicial Nominee
Source: NY Times, National Review

November 19, 2002 Senate Approves Pro-Life Judicial Nominee
Source:Associated Press

November 19, 2002 Bush Administration Opposition Continues to Derail
Fake UN Cloning Ban
Source: Associated Press

November 21, 2002 Bush Nominee for FDA Panel Says RU 486 Unsafe
Source: Cybercast News Service

November 25, 2002 Abortion Advocates Bash Bush's Pro-Life Foreign Policy
Source: Cybercast News Service

November 26, 2002 Don't Believe the Media Portrayal of Bush as Not Pro-Life
Source: by Paul Weyrich Cybercast News Service

November 27, 2002 Radicals Attack Bush Because of UN Pro-life Stance
Source: Austin Ruse of Friday Fax

December 3, 2002 Ralph Neas of the Pro-Abortion Group People For The
American Way President Bush for Nominating Pro-Life Judges
Source: People For the American Way

December 9, 2002 Bush Administration Cracks Down on Illegally
Imported Abortion Drugs
Source: Associated Press

December 10, 2002 Bush May Nominate Pro-Life Supreme Court, Appeals
Court Justices
Source: New York Times, U.S. News and World Report

December 12, 2002 Bush Srongly Condemns Racism While Promoting Faith
Based Initiatives
See the President's Remarks at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/12/20021212-3.html

December 12, 2002 Congressional Letter Supports Bush Opposition to
International Abortion Advocacy
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

December 15, 2002 UN Population Summit Begins, Bush Administration
Battles Abortion Advocates
Source: Associated Press, Knight Ridder Newspapers

December 17, 2002 Bush Admin. Called 'Heroic' For Opposing Abortion
At Population Summit
Source: Cybercast News Service

December 20, 2002 The chairman of President Bush's bioethics council , Dr.
Leon R. Kass of the University of Chicago, accused Stanford University
today of trying to conceal the true nature of its stem cell research plan.
Source: Associated Press:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15872-2002Dec20?language=printer

December 26, 2002 Bush Admin Appoints Pro-Life Doc to FDA Panel
Source: Associated Press

December 27, 2002 US Attacked for Pro-life Stance at UN Conference in
Bangkok
Source: Friday Fax

December 31, 2002 Abortion Opponent Is Named to Panel On Women's Health
Source: Associated Press

January 3, 2003 Pro-Abortion Groups Hope Bush Won't Renominate Owens
Source: Associated Press

Lt Col. Rick Jones HQ USAF/ILMY speaks about meeting Bush at the Pentagon:
http://www.ahherald.com/window_redbank/wrb011101_close.htm

January 7, 2003 Bush Renominates Pro-Life Judicial Candidates
Source: Associated Press

Planned Parenthood Attacks Bush on Pro-Life Record
Source: Planned Parenthodd's Website:
http://www.saveroe.com/wow/chronology/wow_chronology_dec00.asp

January 14, 2003 President Bush Declares Sanctity of Human Life Day
Source: Associated Press Also see:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030114-13.html

January 22, 2003 Bush Addresses Pro-Lifers Assembled For March For Life
http://www.righttoliferoch.org/nmfl2003bush.htm

January 22, 2003 Bush Admin Diverts UNFPA Funds to Maternal Health Programs
Source: Reuters

January 25, 2003 Abortion Advocates Attack Another Bush Pro-Life Judicial
Nominee
Source: Los Angeles Times

January 27, 2003 Pro-Abortion Feminist Majority Opposes Bush's Latest
Pro-Life Woman Judicial Nominee
Source: Feminist Daily News Wire:
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=7465

January 28, 2003 President Bush Calls for Ban on Partial-Birth
Abortion and Human Cloning in His State of the Union Address Source:
Pro-Life Infonet See also:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html
"By caring for children who need mentors, and for addicted men and
women who need treatment, we are building a more welcoming society - a
culture that values every life. And in this work we must not overlook
the weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at the very hour of
birth, and end the practice of partial-birth abortion. And because no
human life should be started or ended as the object of an experiment,
I ask you to set a high standard for humanity and pass a law against
all human cloning."

January 28, 2003 NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE APPLAUDS BUSH STATEMENTS ON
PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION, HUMAN CLONING, AND HEALTH CARE RATIONING
Source: Press Release from the National Right to Life Committee

January 30, 2003 Pro-Abortion Democrats Block Aid to Women in Afghanistan
Source: Friday Fax

January 30, 2003 PRESIDENT BUSH ANNOUNCES NEW $300 MILLION MENTORING
PROGRAM FOR DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN
Source: Press release from the U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/01-2003/01302003a.html

February 1, 2003 Pro-Abortion Groups Urge Filibuster of Bush Judicial
Nomination
Source: National Right to Life

February 6, 2003 Bush Will Veto Spending Bill That Doesn't Ban
Abortion Funding
Source: Washington Times, Washington Post

February 11, 2003 Senate Democrats Say They Can Block Bush Judicial Nominee
Source: Associated Press

February 12, 2003 The new guidelines, part of President Bush's No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001, will affect schools across the country.

The guidelines state:Students may express their beliefs about religion
in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from
discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions.
Source: Courier Post Online
http://www.southjerseynews.com/issues/february/m022303d.htm

Max Lucado with President Bush (Bush says he feels stronger than ever
because of all the people praying for him:
http://www.stjohnsmarysville.org/notes-n-news.htm

February 17, 2003 Bush may tap California Supreme Court Justice Janice
Rogers Brown, a conservative judge who ruled against affirmative
action and abortion rights, if a spot opens on the U.S. Supreme Court
Source: Newsweek

February 17, 2003 President Bush May Deny AIDS Funding to Pro-Abortion Groups
Source: Associated Press

Why and How the Military Salutes President Bush Source: The
Patriot's Herald

http://www.patriotsherald.com/content/salute.php

February 26, 2003 White House condemns "human embryo farms" amendment
Source: National Right to Life

February 26, 2003 President Bush Urges Congress to Vote for Pro-Life
Cloning Ban
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

February 27, 2003 California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action
League Urges Senators to Oppose Bush's Pro-Life Nominees to U.S. Court
of appeals: Miguel Estrada and Jeffrey Sutton Source: email from
California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League

March 4, 2003 Paige lauds Stanford school-reform plan

Education Secretary Rod Paige yesterday applauded a report by a
Stanford University think thank that calls on federal and state
governments to "explore additional forms of school choice, pushing far
beyond the boundaries of within-district public school choice."
Source: Washington Times

March 5, 2003 Newsweek Profiles Bush as Most Religious President of
Recent Times
Source: Newsweek

March 11, 2003 Bush Administration Issues Statement Supporting
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

March 13, 2003 Senate G.O.P. Holds Firm as Vote on Abortion Nears
Source: New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A10FA385A0C708DDDAA0894DB4
04482

March 13, 2003 Senate Passes Partial-Birth Abortion Ban by Wide Margin
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

March 13, 2003 Bush Pro-Life Judicial Nominee Texas Supreme Court Judge
Priscilla Owen May Receive Vote Soon
Source: Associated Press

March 24, 2003 Bush Administration Provides Record Funding for Abstinence
Education
Source: Washington Times

March 20, 2003 Another Bush Pro-Life Judicial Nominee - Carolyn Will Be
Smeared By Liberals
Source: Traditional Values Coalition
http://traditionalvalues.org/print.php?sid=818

March 27, 2003 Senate Judiciary Committee Confirms Bush Pro-Life Judicial
Nomineee - Priscilla Owen
Source: Associated Press

March 31, 2003 California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
Urges Senator Feinstein to Oppose Bush's Pro-Life Nominee to the Court of
the Appeals - Judge Carolyn Kuhl
Source: email from California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League

April 8, 2003 California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
Urges Senators to Oppose Bush Pro-Life Judicial Nomineee - Priscilla Owen
Source: email from California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League

April 12, 2003Touching Story About Bush Praying For Wounded Troops on Visit
to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Source:
http://www.heinvites.org/fullStory.php3/0615.html

and
http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/injured.asp

April 10, 2003 Senate Committee Will Vote This Month on Next Bush Pro-Life
Judicial Nominee - Carolyn Kuhl Source: Pro-Life Infonet

April 10, 2003 President Bush Nominates Another Pro-Lifer for Judicial
Spot - Alabama's Pro-Life Attorney General Bill Pryor
Source: Mobile Register

April 15, 2003 God-Free School Zones U.S. Education Secretary Rod
Paige is under fire for defending religious freedom
OpinionJournal.Com

April 15, 2003 President Cites the "Power of Prayer" in POW Safety
Returning from Camp David on Sunday, President Bush was asked after
gettingoff the helicopter what role faith and prayer had in the rescue
of the POWs and in comforting their families. He said, "A lot of them
told me they had been sustained by prayer, been comforted by the
Almighty during what had to have been very difficult times. They told
me that they felt their prayers had been answered. Prayer is powerful
Source: Presidential Prayer Team [PrayerTeam@PresidentialPrayerTeam.org]

April 17, 2003 Schumer: Catholics Need Not Apply: Ken Connor
President of Family Research Council Criticizes New York Senator Chuck
Schumer for Opposing Bush's Catholic Pro-Life Judicial Nominees

April 17, 2003 President's Easter Message
For Christians, the life and death of Jesus are the ultimate
expressions of love, and the supreme demonstrations of God's mercy,
faithfulness, and redemption. Since Christ's miraculous Resurrection
on Easter, more than 2,000 years ago, Christians have expressed joy
and gratitude for this wondrous sacrifice and for God's promise of
freedom for the oppressed, healing for the brokenhearted, and
salvation. For the full message see:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030417-3.html

April 18, 2003 Another Judge Comes Under Attack Summary:
Pro-abortion Democrats now have another Bush judicial target to smear:
Leon Holmes. Source: A Note From Traditional Value Coalition's
Executive Director Andrea Lafferty

April 19, 2003 Bush Admin Allows States to Insure Unborn Children Through CHIP
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

April 22, 2003 The Constitution Be Damned: Democrats try to impose a
religious test on judges.
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

April 24, 2003 Bush's Pro-Life Judicial Appointments Need Your Help
Source: Pro-Life Infonet

Over the last few months, the Pro-Life Infonet has reported on several
pro-life nominees President Bush has appointed to various judicial
positions.

Some of these nominees have track records of upholding pro-life
legislation or publicizing their view that Roe v. Wade is bad law.
Others have pledged to uphold the rule of law and not legislatie from
the bench -- attributes
that call for respecting the right of state legislatures to pass laws
that limit abortion.

Below is an overview of eight judicial nominees that deserve your
support and backgrounds on them and their nominations:

Miguel Estrada -- Nominated for the Circuit Court of Appeals for
Washington D.C., the second highest court unde the Supreme Court and a
stepping stone to a later Supreme Court appointed, Estrada was brought
to the Senate floor earlier this year. He does not believe that the
Constitution guarantees a right to abortion. Some senators are
blocking Estrada's confirmation vote by engaging in a filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) failed in four attempts to
cut off debate (known as cloture), garnering only 55 of the 60 votes
needed. It is unclear whether he whether he will try again. Tell your
Senators to stop the filibuster.

Jeffrey Sutton -- Sutton was nominated for the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals, and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February.
The full Senate began consideration of the Sutton nomination before
the Easter
recess, but did not vote. They will resume debate on Tuesday, April
29th and probably vote that same day. The pro-abortion Religious
Coalition for Reproductive Choice joined other organizations in a
letter which says, in
part, "Jeffrey Sutton's ... confirmation to a lifetime position on the
federal bench threatens to dismantle the important gains that have
been critical to women's success and we urge you to reject his
nomination."

Priscilla Owen -- Nominated for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals,
Owen was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March in a
straight party-line vote. As a Texas Supreme Court justice, Owen
frequently voted to uphold Texas' parental notification statute and
refused to allow teen girls to have abortions without their parents'
knowledge. Unable to get opponents to agree not to filibuster Owen,
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has been indefinite about
when he will seek a confirmation vote, but it may be in early May.

John Roberts -- Roberts was nominated for the Circuit Court of Appeals
for Washington D.C., and was approved by the Senate Judiciary
Committee in February. As a Justice Department official in the 1990s,
he argued that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and actively promoted
efforts to get that decision overturned. In one brief he argued that
pro-life protesters outside abortion businesses did not discriminate
against women. He
supported a pro-life measure prohibiting federally-funded family
planning facilities from referring for abortions. The Roberts
nomination has not yet come to the Senate floor, but could come up in
May.

Deborah Cook -- Cook was nominated by President Bush for the Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals, and approved by the Senate Judiciary
Committee in February. As an elected justice of the Ohio Supreme
Court, Cook's candidacy was endorsed by Ohio Right to Life. Her
nomination is expected to come to the Senate floor in May.

Carolyn Kuhl -- Nominated for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The
Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet to act on her nomination, but
is expected to do so in May. As a Justice Department official in the
1980s Kuhl aggressively argued for the outright reversal of Roe v.
Wade. As an attorney in private practice in the early 1990s she
represented a pro-life physicians group and argued in support of
limiting abortion referrals at
federally-funded family planning facilities.

Charles Pickering -- He has been nominated for the Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals. The Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet brought him in
for a hearing, but is expected to do so in May. He once chaired a
national
Republican initiative that approved a plank for the party platform
decrying the Roe v. Wade decision "as an intrusion into the family
structure," and calling for a right-to-life amendment to the
constitution. His son Chip
Pickering is a pro-life Congressman from Mississippi.

J. Leon Holmes - Holmes has been nominated for the Federal District
Court in Arkansas. The Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet acted
on his nomination, but could do so in May. He is a strong pro-life
advocate and
the former president of Arkansas Right to Life.

April 25, 2003 WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF THE UNBORN
VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE ACT "THIS YEAR"-- PRESIDENT BUSH BELIEVES THAT WHEN AN
UNBORN CHILD IS INJURED OR KILLED IN A CRIME OF VIOLENCE, "SUCH A CRIME HAS
TWO VICTIMS"
Source: National Right to Life Committee

April 28, 2003 Pro-Abortion Feminists criticize female court picks
Source: Washington Times:
http://www.WashTimes.com/national/20030428-81797318.htm

April 30, 2003 Bush Selects Another Pro-Life Appeals Court Nominee
Extending his streak of picking pro-life advocates, or those willing
to uphold pro-life legislation, for important U.S. Appeals Court
positions, President Bush on Monday nominated Claude Allen to the
Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
Source: Washington Post, Richmond Times Dispatch

(Allen helped draft Virginia's parental notification law and supported
a pro-life law requiring abortion facilities to give women information
about abortion's risks and alternatives 24 hours prior to performing
an abortion.
Similar laws in other states have significantly reduced the number of
abortions.)

May 1, 2003 Democrat Senators Block Bush's Pro-Life Judicial Picks Source:
Associated Press

May 5, 2003 Senate Approves Pro-Life Judicial Nominee, Continues Filibuster

Judicial nominee Deborah Cook, denied even a hearing let alone a vote
by the previous Democratic-led Senate, won confirmation on Monday from
the Republican-controlled Senate.

Cook was nominated by President Bush for the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals, and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February.
As an elected justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, Cook's candidacy was
endorsed by Ohio Right to Life, and she cast a pro-life vote in one
case that reached the state's top court.

On a largely party-line vote of 66-25, the Senate approved Cook's
nearly two-year-old bid to elevate the Ohio Supreme Court justice to
the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The court would
handle appeals of
legislation, including pro-life bills, from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee
and Michigan.

Also on Monday, Republicans tried and failed for a fifth time to stop
a Democratic filibuster of another long-stalled judicial nominee,
Miguel Estrada.
Source: Reuters, CBS News

May 19, 2003 Pro-Abortion National Organization of Women Opposes
Pro-Life Bush Judicial Nominee Judge Leon Holmes Source: NOW's
website http://www.now.org/issues/legislat/nominees/holmes.html

May 5, 2003 Bush Administration Deserves Credit for Abstinence Victory

The White House got personally involved in last week's passage of
pro-abstinence amendments to a global AIDS bill and the result was
good news for pro-life advocates.

Pro-family groups were delighted last week when two
abstinence-friendly amendments were attached to an otherwise
disappointing Global AIDS bill. Now they're finding out what turned
the tide: The White House did some heavy-duty lobbying.
Source: Focus on the Family

May 16, 2003 Senate Will Reconsider Another Pro-Life Judicial Nominee Soon

Republicans plan in coming weeks to take up the nomination of pro-life
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi, who likely
faces a filibuster on the Senate floor by Democrats.

Judge Pickering's nomination to the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
was spiked last year on a party-line vote in the Senate Judiciary
Committee, which was controlled by Democrats at the time. President
Bush renominated
him in January.

Pickering once chaired a national Republican initiative that approved
a plank for the party platform decrying the Roe v. Wade decision "as
an intrusion into the family structure," and calling for a
right-to-life amendment to the constitution. His son Chip Pickering is
a pro-life Congressman from Mississippi.
Source: Washington Times

June 12, 2003 Bush Judicial Nominee Pryor Condemns Abortion in Senate
Hearing

President Bush's latest Appeals Court nominee Bill Pryor told the
Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that abortion is "murder" and
that the court case legalizing it is "the worst abomination in the
history of constitutional law."
Source: Washington Times

June 12, 2003 The Judicial Nominee Who Wouldn't Back Down - Bill Pryor
Source: Byron York columnist for National Review Online

June 12, 2003 Catholic Bishops' Spokesman Testifies at Presidential
Commission
Today the President's Council on Bioethics heard testimony on the
values and principles that ought to govern policy on human embryo
research. Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the Secretariat for
Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, was among the expert witnesses for the meeting.
Source: Pro-life Infonet

June 12, 2003 Pro-Abortion Groups Create Coalition to Oppose Pro-Life Nominees

Nine pro-abortion groups, including NARAL Pro-Choice America and the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, have formed a joint
not-for-profit organization aimed specifically at opposing a
potential Supreme Court nominee who does not support abortion.
Source: Roll Call, Wall St. Journal

July 20, 2003 Foes Halt Vote on School Vouchers; Democrats Reject Senate's
D.C. Bill
Source: Washington Post

July 21, 2003 Pro-Abortion Democrat Senators Stall Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban

http://www.lifenews.com/nat49.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

July 22,2003 Bush Administration Renews Support for Zero UNFPA Funding
Source: LifeNews.Com

July 22, 2003 Bush Administration Signals Zero for UNFPA
Source: Population Research Institute Weekly Briefing

July 23, 2003 Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Pryor Nomination,
Filibuster Likely

http://www.lifenews.com/nat53.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

July 27, 2003 Bush Nominates Pro-Life Black Woman to Nation's Second Highest
http://www.lifenews.com/nat57.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

July 29, 2003 Senate Rejects Vote on Owen for Third Time
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- For the third time, members of the
Senate rejected an attempt to close off debate and take a vote on one
of President Bush's pro-life judicial nominees.Pro-abortion Senators
were able to deny the 60 votes needed to stop debate on the nomination
of Priscilla Owen to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals. The 53-43
vote proved, once again, that a majority would back Owen's
confirmation if debate could be stopped. All Republicans were in favor
of the vote to end debate and were joined by Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA)
and pro-life Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE). Presidential candidates John
Edwards (D-NC), Bob Graham (D-FL), John Kerry (D-MA), and Joe
Lieberman (D-CT) were not present for the vote. Owen is opposed by
abortion advocates because she voted to uphold a Texas parental
notification law that prohibited teenage girls from having
abortions without the involvement of their parents.
http://www.lifenews.com/nat59.html


July 30, 2003 Senate Votes Against Cloture on Estrada Nomination
http://www.lifenews.com/nat61.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

July 31, 2003 Bill Pryor Becomes Latest Victim of Senate Filibuster
http://www.lifenews.com/nat62.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

July 31, 2003 ADF Special News Alert: Thank You Mr. President for Supporting
Marriage!
Source: Alliance Defense Fund

August 6, 2003 Knights of Columbus Condemns Treatment of Catholic
Judicial Nominees

http://www.lifenews.com/nat68.html

Source:
LifeNews.Com

August 6, 2003 Minnesota Plan to Cover Unborn Children Receives Bush
Administration Approval http://www.lifenews.com/state75.html

Source:
LifeNews. Com

August 10, 2003 Group Will Spend $75M to Defeat Bush, Elect Pro-Aborts in
2004

http://www.lifenews.com/nat72.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new political group, funded by
billionaire George Soros and run by a former employee of a leading
pro-abortion organization, plans to spend $75 million in grassroots
activism
to target pro-life President George W. Bush for defeat in 2004.

August 10, 2003 Civil Rights Leader Quits NAACP Over Bush Judicial Nominees
http://www.lifenews.com/nat73.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

August 13, 2003 Presidential Commission Discusses Regulation of In
Vitro Fertilization

http://www.lifenews.com/oped10.html

Source:
Austin Ruse, President of the Culture of Life Foundation

August 14, 2003 Catholic Theologian Michael Novak Praises President Bush
http://nationalreview.com/novak/novak081403.asp

Source: National
Review Online

August 27, 2003 Bush Administration Defunds AIDS Program Over Abortion
Group's Participation

http://www.lifenews.com/nat88.html

Source:
LifeNews.Com

August 27, 2003 State Department Defunds British Abortion Provider
Source: New York Times

August 29, 2003 State Department Defunds Large Abortion Provider
Source: Friday Fax

August 29, 2003 Bush Orders United States Agency for International
Development to Stop Funding Organizations That Promote Abortion
Source: Copy of Memo From the White House

September 1, 2003 Bush Administration Expands Pro-Life Mexico City Policy
http://www.lifenews.com/nat93.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

September 5, 2003 Bush Orders State Department To Stop Funding Foreign
Abortion Groups
Source: Friday Fax

September 5, 2003 Miguel Estrada Withdraws Name From Consideration
http://www.lifenews.com/nat99.html

Source: LifeNews.Com (This shows
the importance of electing pro-life Senators who will vote to end the
Democrats filibuster of President Bush's pro-life judicial nominees.)

September 6, 2003 Pro-Abortion Democratic Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
introduces measure to overturn the Mexico City Policy Reinstituted By
President Bush (The Mexico City Policy prevents our federal tax
dollars from
being used to promote abortion overseas.) Source: LifeNews.Com

September 18, 2003 Bush Administration Pursues Total Human Cloning Ban at U.N.
Source: LifeNews.Com

September 28, 2003 Department of Health and Housing Services Gives
$100 million in Bonuses to States for Reducing Abortions HHS Secretary
Tommy G. Thompson today announced the award of $100 million
in bonuses to four states (Maryland, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas), the
District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands for achieving the
nation's largest decreases in out-of-wedlock births between 1998 and
2001. Source:
LifeNews.Com

October 1, 2003 Bush Administration Denies UNFPA Funding Again
http://www.lifenews.com/intl21.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

October 2, 2003 Pickering Nomination Approved by Committee, Moves to Full
Senate

http://www.lifenews.com/nat148.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

October 3, 2003 Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry (D-MA) Says
Bush Judicial Appointments Would Hurt Abortion Rights
Source: LifeNews.Com

October 3, 2003 President Bush Proclaims Oct. 12-18 Marriage Protection Week
President Bush said:
"Marriage is a sacred institution, and its protection is essential to
the continued strength of our society.Marriage is a union between a
man and a woman, and my Administration is working to support the
institution of marriage by helping couples build successful marriages
and be good parents.Research has shown that, on average, children
raised in households headed by married parents fare much better than
children who grow up in other family structures.We must support the
institution of marriage and help parents build stronger families."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031003-12.html
Source: White House


October 6, 2003 FDA Investigating Holly Patterson's RU 486 Abortion Death
http://www.lifenews.com/nat152.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

October 26, 2003 President Bush's Bioethics Commission Warns of
Human-Animal Babies

http://www.lifenews.com/bio112.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

November 7, 2003 President Bush Proclaims November National Adoption Month
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031107-12.html
Source: White House

July 23, 2002 President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush
announced a new initiative to increase public awareness and encourage
Americans to consider adoption of children in foster care.

Helping Children and Building Families Through Adoption

President Bush announced a new public service advertising campaign,
featuring First Lady Laura Bush and actor Bruce Willis, to encourage
Americans to adopt children in foster care. The President also tapped
Bruce
Willis to serve as a national spokesperson for children in foster care.

The President also announced the creation of the first federal and
only national web site that focuses on waiting children -
www.AdoptUSKids.org - that will reduce the geographic barriers and
waiting time needed to connect
children from across the country with adoptive families. In its first
year, it will feature pictures and profiles of over 6,500 children
from 46 states who are available for adoption, as well as a database
of approved adoptive
families. Background on Today's Presidential Action

More than 130,000 of the 565,000 American children in foster care,
ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers, are waiting to be adopted.
On average, these children have been in foster care for almost four
years. Most of these children have special needs that limit their
ability to be adopted, such as being part of a sibling group that
wishes to stay together, belonging to a particular ethnic group, or
having physical or emotional challenges. These
children are adoptable; in fact, in 2000, over 50,000 children in
foster care were adopted. But recruiting a family that can meet the
special needs of a particular child can be challenging, especially
when the right family may live in a different state or county.

President Bush believes that every child in America deserves to live
in a safe, permanent and loving family. Today, the President
announced:

Adoption Public Service Advertisement (PSA): The adoption PSA will
feature the First Lady and actor Bruce Willis. It will also highlight
a new website and toll-free number for interested families to receive
adoption information and be referred to their State adoption
specialist. Additionally, President Bush has asked Bruce Willis to
serve as a national spokesperson for children
in foster care.

First Federal Adoption Web Site and Internet Photolisting:
www.AdoptUSKids.org,

an Internet adoption photolisting service, will
help connect waiting children from across the country with loving
adoptive families. The site provides prospective adoptive parents with
a private, secure place to communicate interactively with other
families and adoption experts - especially useful for families living
in rural areas. Social workers will be able to follow inquiries from
families approved to adopt and respond to them instantly through the
site. AdoptUSKids is an initiative of the Children's Bureau of the
Department of Health and Human Services, and it is currently operated
by the National Adoption Center. President Bush's Commitment to
Promoting Adoption

Promoting adoption and supporting families who adopt: On January 17,
2002, the President signed the Promoting Safe and Stable Families
Amendment Act to help States provide services to promote adoption for
children in foster care and provide post-adoption support to families
so that they can stay strong and their children reach their potential.
The President's FY 03 budget strongly supports the Promoting Safe and
Stable Families program with an increase of more than $130 million
over FY 02 levels.

Adoption Tax Credit: The tax relief bill that the President signed
last year permanently extends and increases the adoption tax credit
from $5,000 per child to $10,000 per child for qualified adoption
expenses. For special needs adoptions, it increases the credit from
$6,000, for qualified adoption expenses, to $10,000, regardless of
expenses.

October 25, 2003 President Bush Proclaims Protection From Pornography Week
Source: White House

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031025-1.html

October 28, 2003 President Bush Says Restoring Terri's Feeding Tube Was
Right Decision

http://www.lifenews.com/bio116.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

October 31, 2003 Pro-Abortion [Democratic] Lawmakers Filibuster Pickering
Nomination

http://www.lifenews.com/nat178.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

November 3, 2003 Bush Administration Still Pushing for UN Cloning Ban,
VoteThursday

http://www.lifenews.com/intl25.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

November 5, 2003 President Bush Signs Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of
2003 Source: LifeSite News lsn@lifesite.net also see
http://www.lifenews.com/nat189.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031105-1.html

Priests for Life on Partial-birth Abortion: 'We Have Turned A Corner'
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=108-11052003

November 5, 2003 Pro-Abortion Groups Start Ad Campaigns Blasting
President Bush

http://www.lifenews.com/nat188.html

Source:
LifeNews.Com

November 6, 2003 Democrats Filibuster Pryor Nomination, Judiciary
Approves Brown

http://www.lifenews.com/nat194.html

Source:
LifeNews.Com

November 7, 2003 President Bush Shows Strong Pro-Life Beliefs in
Private Meetings

http://www.lifenews.com/nat197.html

Source:
LifeNews.Com

November 7, 2003 Pro-Abortion Democratic Senators Again Filibuster
Judicial Nominees. Sen. Majority Leader Frist Announces All Night
Session Next Week to Force Pro-Abortion Democratic Senators to
defend
their filibuster. Source: Marie Tasy, Legislative Director of New
Jersey Right to Life

November 7, 2003 President Bush targeted for defeat by one of the
richest men in world George Soros Targets President Bush Source:
Marie Tasy, Legislative Director of New Jersey Right to Life

See also: [Pro-Abortion] Billionaire Soros Overthrows Georgian Gov't -
Sets Sights on Bush & Croatia Source: LifeNews.com
See also the Zenit report and the Globe coverage:
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=45785
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031126.wxsoros1126/BNStory/Front/

Billionaire De-Populationist George Soros Donates $10 Million to Defeat Bush
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/aug/03081109.html

November 7, 2003 President Bush Proclaims National Adoption Month Source:
White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031107-12.html

November 11, 2003 Bush Administration Seeks to Speed Up Partial-Birth
Abortion Lawsuits Source: LifeNews.Com

November 12, 2003 Senate Will Hold Marathon Debate on Pro-Life Judicial
Nominees

http://www.lifenews.com/nat205.html Source: LifeNews.Com

November 13, 2003 Senate Debates Pro-Life Judicial Nominees, Bush Demands
Vote

http://www.lifenews.com/nat207.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

November 14, 2003 Millionaire Plans to Spend $12 Million to Defeat Bush in
2004 Source: LifeNews.Com

November 17, 2003 [Colin] Powell reveals he teaches sexual abstinence to
girls

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=464467

November 18, 2003 Pro-Abortion Groups at UN Criticize Bush Resolution
Promoting Women

http://www.lifenews.com/intl29.html

Source: LifeNews.Com

November 19, 2003 First Lady Laura Bush Backs Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Source: LifeNews.com

November 25, 2003 The new Health Savings Accounts (HSA) provision
included in the Medicare bill just passed the Senate 54-44 and soon
will be signed by the President. The new law will go into effect
January 1, 2004. All 250 million non-elderly Americans will now have
access to a Medical Savings Account, and one that is far more
attractive than the Archer MSAs that were enacted in 1996. Source:
Mike O'Dea of CHRISTUS MEDICUS FOUNDATION

November 25, 2003 Discovery of Internal Memos Details Opposition to
Pro-Life Judges
Source: LifeNews.com http://www.lifenews.com/nat227.html
The memo asks senators to oppose former Bush judicial nominee Miguel
Estrada because "he has a minimal paper trail [meaning that nothing
has been unearthed that can be used to question his character], he is
Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme
Court appointment."

November 25, 2003 U.S. economic growth revised up GDP grew at a
blistering 8.2 percent pace in the third quartrer, faster than
originally thought. Source: CNN Money

December 5, 2003 THE GROWING IRAQI SUCCESS STORY by Rod D. Martin,
Vanguard of the Revolution

http://www.theVanguard.org
One example from the story: "So, too with health care. The Coalition
has delivered more than 22 million vaccination for Iraq's children,
while pharmaceutical distribution has risen from 700 tons in May to
12,000 by
October. All of Iraq's 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are
open, and doctors' salaries are more than eight times higher than
under Saddam's Ba'athist regime."

December 5, 2003 Bush Administration Pushes UN to Reconsider Human Cloning
Ban Delay
Source: LifeNews.com

http://www.lifenews.com/bio169.html

December 08, 2003 Bush Signs Sweeping Medicare Bill

WASHINGTON - Recognizing the efforts by seniors groups in helping him
deliver a three-year-old campaign promise, President Bush signed a
comprehensive bill Monday that marks the first major overhaul of the
nearly
40-year-old federal Medicare program. "With the Medicare Act of 2003
(search), our government is finally bringing prescription drug
coverage to the seniors of America," Bush said before signing the
10-year, $395 billion legislation. "With this law, we're giving older
Americans better choices and more control over their health care so
they can receive the modern medical care they deserve."

December 20, 2003 Libya agrees to halt arms programs US, Britain
secure pledge for inspections Libya agrees to halt arms programs
Source: Boston Globe
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/digest/story/3258358p-2913271c.html

January 2, 2004 NGO Calls on Pro-abortion Europe to Counter "Christian"
White House Source: Friday Fax

January 7, 2004 Pro-Abortion Group Criticizes Bush's Pro-Life
"Christian" Foreign Policy
Source: LifeNews.com

http://www.lifenews.com/intl41.html

January 9, 2004 President Unveils School Choice Incentive Fund At a
meeting this afternoon with leaders of Catholic education, President
Bush said he will call on Congress to establish a $50 million national
choice incentive fund "to help more parents to send their children to
the school that is best for them, no matter what kind of school it
is."

The White House transcript of the president's remarks is available at
Source: Council for American Private Education (CAPE)
http://www.capenet.org


January 9, 2004 President Bush Celebrates Catholic Education Source:
Martin Gillespie Director of Catholic Outreach Republican National
Committee
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040109-10.html

January 13, 2004 Bush Plans $1.5 Billion Drive for Promotion of Marriage
Source: New York Times

January 16, 2004 President Bush Declares Sunday, January 18, 2004 Sanctity
of Human Life Day Source: New Jersey Right to Life
http://capwiz.com/njrtl/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=4749646

January 16, 2004 President Bush nominates [pro-life] Charles Pickering to
Federal Bench President Sidesteps Obstructionst U.S. Senators including N.J.
Senators Corzine and Lautenberg Source Associated Press:
Bush installs controversial judge on court (from New Jersey Right to Life
http://capwiz.com/njrtl/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=4752501

)

January 16, 2004 President Bush Uses Recess Appointment to Confirm
Pickering
Source: LifeNews.com

http://www.lifenews.com/nat282.html
See also: FRC [Family Research Council] Praises Recess Appointment of
Charles Pickering to Federal Bench

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR04A05

January 20, 2004 President Bush Supports the Federal Marriage Amendment in
his State of the Union address
Source: New Jersey Coalition to Defend Marriage
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html

January 21, 2004 Housing Starts Increase Residential construction
activity picked up in December, helping to make all of 2003 the best
year for home builders in a quarter-century and underscoring the
critical role
the sector played in the economy's resurgence.

The Commerce Department reported today that housing construction
increased by 1.7 percent last month from November _ ending 2003 on a
high note. For all of last year, the number of housing units that
builders broke ground on totaled 1.85 million, up from 1.70 million in
2002.

The total for 2003 marked the strongest performance since 1978, when
housing construction came to 2.02 million. Source: Associated Press

January 21, 2004 George Bush Stands Up for Marriage
Source: Alliance Defense Fund alansears@alliancedefensefund.org

January 21, 2004 President Bush Wants Abstinence Program Funding Tripled
by 2005 Source: LifeNews.com

http://www.lifenews.com/nat291.html

January 22, 2004 President Bush Calls March for Life Participants
"Above all, we must continue with civility and respect to remind our
fellow citizens that all life is sacred and worthy of protection. I
know as you return to your communities you will redouble your efforts
to change hearts and minds, one person at a time. And this is the way
we will build a lasting culture of life, a compassionate society in
which every child is born into a loving family and protected by law."
Source: White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040122-3.html

January 29, 2004 UNFPA Permanently Loses $59 Million ..... For the
past two years, the Bush administration has, in fact, determined that
UNFPA supports forced abortions in China, and is therefore ineligible
for US funding. A high ranking congressional staff member told the
Friday Fax that the current bill follows this same procedure, and
"since Kemp-Kasten has not changed, and since UNFPA's actions in China
have
not changed, we fully expect the administration to take the same
action it has taken for the past two years regarding UNFPA."
Source: Friday Fax


January 29, 2004 Pro-Life Groups Say President Bush's Record Strong,
Deserves Re-Election
Source: LifeNews.com

http://www.lifenews.com/nat312.html

February 2, 2004 NRL PAC announces endorsement of President Bush
Source: Press Release issued by the National Right to Life Political
Action Committee For further information, call Laura Echevarria,
202-626-8825,
send e-mail to mediarelations@nrlc.org, or visit the NRLC website at
www.nrlc.org.

February 3, 2004 Congress Reallocates UNFPA Money, Abortion Funding
Battle Continues Citing the UN Population Fund's (UNFPA) failure to
convincingly show that it is not participating or condoning coercive
family planning and abortion programs in China, Congress has
permanently reallocated the $56 million earmarked for the UNFPA over
the past two years to other programs.

The money will now go to programs to improve maternal health and
combat sex trafficking.

We commend the Bush Administration for its continued strong
enforcement of the Kemp-Kasten Anti-Coercion law -- a law that was
completely disregarded during the Clinton Administration, Douglas
Johnson, Legislative Director for National Right to Life Committee,
told LifeNews.com. Any agency that collaborates in China's brutal
compulsory abortion program should not receive U.S. taxpayer funds.
Source: LifeNews.com:

http://www.lifenews.com/nat323.html

February 4, 2004 Statement by President Bush Regarding the
Deplorable Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Ruling Today's ruling
of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is deeply troubling.
Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. If
activist judges insist on re-defining marriage by court order, the
only
alternative will be the constitutional process. We must do what is
legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage. Source: White
House:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040204-9.html

February 9, 2004 Abortion Advocates Ready to Defeat Bush, Support John Kerry
Source: LifeNews.com

www.lifenews.com/nat329.html


Source for all of the above

Saturday, June 02, 2007

A Rise in ordinations

Number of new priests expected to rise in 2007
But study shows ordination classes still not keeping pace with Catholic population
[can't let the pew-sitters get too hopeful, eh?]

AP

WASHINGTON — This year's new crop of Roman Catholic priests in the United States averages 35 years of age and includes a large number of foreign-born priests and men who entered the seminary with college degrees, a study shows.

The survey, closely watched because of the country's well-documented priest shortage, was conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Researchers gathered information from 282 seminarians, or about 60 percent of the 475 candidates for the priesthood in 2007.

Although final numbers will not be available until next spring, a rise in ordinations is possible.

This year's projected class would be an increase over 431 ordinations in 2006, according to Georgetown researchers.

Even so, ordination classes remain smaller than in decades past.
[Since the start of, say, Vatican II?]

The total number of priests serving in the United States has declined 29 percent in the past 40 years, while the Catholic population has grown 40 percent. [self-declared cultural Catholics or the ones who sit in the pews every Sunday?]

Among the characteristics of the 2007 class:

•: One in three candidates for the priesthood was born outside the United States, with the largest numbers coming from Vietnam, Mexico, Poland and the Philippines.

•: Seven in 10 report their primary race as white or European-American. Asian priests are overrepresented when compared with the U.S. Asian population. The survey found that Hispanic priests are underrepresented.

•: The average age of 35 is approximately the same as in 1998, the first year for which data are available.

•: More than six in 10 completed college, and one in five had attained a graduate degree in fields such as law, medicine and education.

The surveyed seminarians included 221 men studying to serve for dioceses and 60 studying to join religious orders.

One respondent did not indicate an affiliation.


Source


Trinity Sunday tomorrow

There's a wealth of information about Trinity Sunday on the website, Women for Faith and Family. Explore the whole page as they have some wonderful ideas about sharing the concept of the Trinity with your family.

Saint Patrick attempted to illustrate the "Three-in-One and One-in-Three" by using a three-leaf shamrock. At this time of year, many people have a stand of new green clover in their lawns. You might illustrate the Saint Patrick story by taking children outside to find clover so that they can see that the structure of the one leaf consists of three parts. One part cannot be removed without destroying the wholeness of the leaf.


They talk about the three Creeds, Apostles, Nicene and the Athanasian. The last one we almost never hear in church, probably because of its length but it is thought its author was possibly St Athanasia. Others believe that the Athanasian Creed may have been formulated by another Doctor of the Church, Saint Ambrose. It is also called the Quicumque, an important Trinitarian formula dating from the 4th Century, intended to address the Arian heresy which denied the two natures of Christ.

Here's the Athanasian Creed in its entirety.

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith.

Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity,

Neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.

The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated and the Holy Ghost uncreated

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal.

And yet they are not three Eternals, but one Eternal.

As there are not three Uncreated nor three Incomprehensibles, but one Uncreated and one Incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty.

And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God.

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord.

And yet not three Lords, but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord,

So are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say, There be three Gods or three Lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.

And in this Trinity none is before or after other; none is greater or less than another;

But the whole three Persons are coeternal together and coequal, so that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped.

He, therefore, that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man;

God of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of His mother, born in the world;

Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting,

Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood;

Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ:

One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into God;

One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell; rose again the third day from the dead;

He ascended into heaven; He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty; from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give an account of their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.

This is the Catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

Catholic summer reading!

Catholic Summer Reading Logo




A great idea from Aquinas and More, the online Catholic store extraordinaire!

Catholic Summer Reading

Introducing The Catholic Summer Reading Program

This summer, why not take some time to discover the rich treasure of Catholic literature?

Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, the official sponsor of the Catholic summer reading program, would like to invite you to join in a book discussion at your parish, local Catholic store or online at CatholicBookDiscussion.com. Kids can also get involved by downloading our Catholic Kids Reading Path and filling it in as they read Catholic books during the summer.

Friday, June 01, 2007

a Columbine Poem

This poem was written by Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado. He recited it in front of a House Judiciary subcommittee which he was invited to address.

Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs --politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

Father Malloy has more excerpts from Mr. Scott's address but here is the poem...

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"

You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed,
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

Spam-alot

I've gotten several spam comments lately, perhaps because traffic is inching its way up (you like me, you really like me!) so I've decided to turn on word verification.

Hope it's not too burdensome for my non-spam commenters...

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

What's Going on at St John's Seminary? - Update

This doesn't sound good...

The leader of St. John's Seminary in Brighton resigned abruptly last week, saying he is unhappy with the Archdiocese of Boston for selling the seminary's library and one of its halls as part of a $65 million sale of church headquarters to Boston College.


What role will BC (a nominally Catholic college) play in the day-to-day operations of the seminary?

Update:

Carol, from Catholic Pundit Watch, has the letter which Cardinal Sean hastily sent out to the priests in the archdiocese.

The "About Me" meme

Jayne, from So Many Devotions...So Little Time, tagged me. So, better late than never, I always say. Thanks Jayne!

1. Male or Female: Female.

2. Married or Single or Religious: Married (in October it will be 19 years).

3. Dream vacation: 2 weeks in Italy and/or a tour of the Holy Land by
Stephen Ray.

4. Birthplace: Holyoke

5. Area I live in currently: north of Boston (Archdiocese of Boston)

6. Someone you wish you could meet: Padre Pio.

7. Biggest "pet-peeve": Stop-and-go traffic.

8. Favorite Religious devotion: Divine Mercy Chaplet.

9. Favorite Saint (besides the Blessed Mother): Padre Pio

10. Favorite sport that you play: Sports?! Is quilting a sport?

11. Favorite food: a hot fudge sundae (or pecan pie)

12. Tridentine or Novus Ordo: N.O. currently but I'm looking for a
reasonably close TLM.

13. Would you (or are you) home schooling or public school: Given that
I live in Massachusetts, there's no way I want my child in public
school (unless it was a charter school) so she's in a Catholic High
School. I love the idea of homeschooling but I don't think I would
have been disciplined enough to do it well.

14. How many kids do you have: 1 daughter here, a few in heaven due to
miscarriages.

15. Ever been in an auto accident: yes but nothing serious

16. Ever seen a Pope in person: Not yet (see #3 above).

17. Languages that you know fluently: English.

18. Last movie you saw in theatres: ???

19. Favorite Blog: That's really difficult but lately I've raced to
see "What Does The Prayer Really Say"...you know why...

20. Your thoughts on Barney, the Easter bunny, and Santa Claus: I
can't stand Barney, although I did allow my daughter to watch him.
The Easter Bunny is okay but I love Santa.

I tag...anyone who wants to do it...

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Catholic Dictionary

Ma Beck of WardWideWeb fame, has a neat new word...

Praydar: (prā-dahr), n. 1) A gut feeling which allows a person to identify an individual who might have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life by appearance and demeanor alone.

WardWideWeb

My favorite new blog

This team has only been blogging since April but they have lots to say about being Moms and being Catholic.

Their title says it all, Mothers of Many Saints.

What a beautiful perspective on raising children.

How the Pill Works as an Abortifacient



(H/T Jean from CatholicFire)

They have more info on www.myspace.com/stopabortifacients

Friday, May 25, 2007

It's All the Curt Jester's Fault!

I haven't had a chance to blog since he recommended the new-and-improved Google Reader! I began to move my RSS feeds from MyYahoo and it was so easy to keep up with all the blogs that I had to add more, a lot more and then it wasn't so easy to keep up with them.

And then work got insane...

But, I'm all alone this weekend, my DH and DD went away for 2 nights, to NY, so I promise, I will post lots (er, several, okay, at least a few) thoughts this weekend.

Unless the Curt Jester does something again to distract me.



Monday, May 14, 2007

Charity

Last week, Happy Catholic talked about ways of being charitable. They were good ideas but I don't see homeless people in my sleepy little community (and I no longer work in Boston).

However, people who need our help are all around us.

What about the widow who is having trouble making ends meet? She's your neighbor and you know that she is not well off. Buy a gift card from the local supermarket and slip it under her front door when she isn't home.

What about the friend who just took in 2 of her neices because their mother is using drugs and can't (won't) get clean? Offer her some help, anonymous or otherwise.

Use your imagination!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Friday, May 04, 2007

Dr Keroack left his post

Looks like they got to him and so he was forced to resign from his top federal family planning position.

Keroack resigned last week as head of the US Office of Population Affairs, which is responsible for providing low-income women with access to contraceptives, after he was notified that the state's Medicaid office had launched an investigation into his private practice. The office, whose investigations generally focus on Medicaid fraud, declined to provide specifics about what it is investigating but confirmed there was a pending case dating back a "few years."


source

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Hymn to Mary

 


Beth Nielsen Chapman has a lovely album of Catholic hymns (called Hymns), 10 of which are in Latin. However, "Oh God of Loveliness" and this one, "Hymn to Mary", are in English. She was raised Catholic but has since fallen away from the faith. Here are the words to "Hymn to Mary" which she wrote,

Holy Mary draw through my heart the sweetest arrow of thy praise.
Lift my sorrow's deepening shadow, so that I may may see your face.
I know I will not be forsaken, gently held in your embrace.
Blessed Spirit, whispering softly, cool the fires of my shame.
Even as I run from your arms, my soul keeps calling out your name.
You were always right here inside each tear of joy, every drop of rain.

New clinic addresses intersex and gender issues - for children

On February 23, a new multidisciplinary clinic at Children's Hospital Boston's saw its first patients with what are called disorders of sexual differentiation (DSD). The program primarily serves infants, children, adolescents and young adults with genitourinary or hormonal disorders or other medical issues that may make it difficult to
determine their sex, and that may interfere with sexual and
reproductive function.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Why am I not surprised?

That almost every heretical book in our parish library was previously owned by a nun?

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Virtual Lourdes Tour

It's been a Lourdes kind of weekend...

At St Pat's in Stoneham, MA, they had a virtual tour of Lourdes with a woman from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers along with a chaplain from Lourdes. They presented a slide show of Lourdes and spoke of St. Bernadette, the thousands of miracles that have occured there and the Shrine/Basilica at Lourdes.

Coincidentally, I had rented "The Song of Bernadette" from Netflix and have begun reading the book by the same name. The movie highlighted how difficult a private revelation is on the person who experiences it and their family.

For those of you who would like your own personal tour of Lourdes, the official Lourdes website has several different webcams set up. They are preparing for the upcoming 150-year anniversary of the apparitions in 2008.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Divine Mercy

 



A gift for fellow bloggers from A Catholic Mom in Hawaii.

Thanks!
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You Can't Legislate Morality

That slippery slope better known as Texas versus Lawrence continues its downhill slide. It is being used as the basis for arguments for gay adoption, polygamy and now incest.

"When we first read some of the language about dignity and how the state doesn't have a right to impose its moral code on its citizens, we thought this decision would be extremely powerful and widely followed," Katine told TIME. "I am disappointed that the lower courts have not followed some of the language that is contained in Lawrence."

Note the argument in the Times article that society cannot "legislate morality".

Oh really? Catholics know that argument is nonsense. For an excellent refutation of that argument, listen to Mark Shea's 6-minute podcast on this very topic. His talk was so clear and easy to understand that I loaded it onto my iPod and brought it into the nineth grade CCD class I was teaching.

Here's the link to Catholic Exchange's Rock Solid podcast archive page, look for the podcast on January 15th.

(H/T to In God's Image on Long Island for the Times article)

Saturday, April 14, 2007

President Bush at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast



President George W. Bush talks with Mother Assumpta Long after addressing the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast Friday, April 13, 2007, in Washington, D.C. "One of the reasons that I am such a strong believer in the power of our faith-based institutions is that they add something the government never can, and that is love," said the President in his remarks.

Send a Birthday Greeting to the Pope

From Salve Regina's blog,

Salve Regina: Send a Birthday Greeting to the Pope

The Pope will be 80 on April 16th.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Dave Barry blogs 24

I knew Dave Barry blogged about 24 during each episode of 24 (but forgot).

Here, read, enjoy!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

The Dark Before Dawn

From CatholicExchange.com, written by Sylvia Dorham

April 6, 2007

It's Friday night, after they have hastily entombed the body.

John brings Mary back to the house. He puts her downstairs in a sleeping room, and climbs the ladder to the Upper Room.

Peter is sitting on the floor against the wall. John tells him what happened. Peter curls into fetal position on the floor and sobs.

John looks up to see Mary climbing unsteadily into the room. Peter's cries have roused her.

Mary, consoling Peter, sits with him on the floor, wiping tears from his beard and staunching his running nose. She sops his sweat with her mantle, and he sees blood on it. He bursts into a fresh paroxysm of tears. She hugs his head to her, rocking him. Petting his head, reminding him to strengthen his brothers.

He is ashamed that she is nursing his weakness as she only recently nursed her son's strength, but it is without bitterness that he climbs to his feet and, with her encouragement, begins to welcome each of the disciples as they trickle furtively back into the Upper Room, each as ashamed as Peter at their betrayal.

It is the Sabbath.

Like criminals, stealthily, they have returned to the place they were last together. Peter seats them at the table. He breaks the bread and blesses the wine, serving each. They choke it down, remembering.

Peter has John tell what happened.

He tells them how Mary is their mother now. They must care for her.

The others relate what they heard during the night. Plans to hunt down and kill the disciples. Earthquake damage reports. Rumors about Judas' suicide. Anger and disbelief over what he did. Incomprehension. In fury, they cry.

Peter tells them to sleep, and they curl up on the floor, miserable but together.

All day, the Sabbath, they sleep, eat when they can, pray quietly, and make Mary comfortable. Everyone is very quiet for fear someone will come and drag them away to be crucified.

Each disciple glances at Mary, now their special charge, who, looking dazed, spends much time holding John's hand. She is very quiet. At mid-day, she puts a veil over her face. An occasional caught breath is the only indication of her emotion.

James travels covertly through the city and brings other women to the upstairs chamber to sit with her. They try to get her to eat.

The women plan a proper burial. Too hasty, last night. The men quietly slip into the streets to obtain supplies. They cannot travel far. Several friends provide the hundred pounds of herbs, ointments, and spices. The women will stay overnight.

Peter doesn't want to go. There is a guard detail at the tomb, he's heard. They'll arrest him the moment they see him. No one will bother an old lady and her companions as they embalm a dead body, but him! He fights the urge to run.

The day creeps into evening, and the pit in Peter's stomach grows heavier. He decides to go home. To Capernaum. At least he can still fish, even if the townspeople laugh at him for his itinerant preaching days.

In the morning. He'll go in the morning.

A distant roar wakes John. It's a heavy noise which reverberates like a living sound over the sleeping city. He gets up and tiptoes past the somnolent disciples to waken the women. It is still dark, but the sun will be up and the Sabbath over by the time they are ready. Each woman will carry a heavy jar of ointment. Mary will take the spices.

John opens the front door furtively, peering up the street before beckoning with his hands to the women, a silent black parade who follow him as far as the edge of the garden, where Mary insists he return home. John is almost back to the house when he is overtaken by running soldiers. They are disheveled with wild eyes. Some are missing their equipment.

John presses himself against a house, hoping to be overlooked, but the soldiers fly past as if the very gates of hell were loosed at their heels. John steals back to the Upper Room, not missed by the sleeping disciples.

The sun creeps up. Peter's been asleep. Warm. Comfortable. It's the moment between waking and remembering.

The door is flung open by a wild, round-eyed woman, yelling! The disciples are dazed. Half asleep, they tell her to calm down. Dust dances in the streams of sunlight pouring through the windows she's thrown open.

They shield their eyes, annoyed. Wondering at her impropriety.

From the ashes of anguish in Peter's heart, there leaps a bolt of ecstatic hope at her words. Oh God! Can it be?

Exchanged looks with John. This would be just like Jesus! Their eyes meet in wordless agreement. They bolt from the house, clattering down the ladder past the woman who is breathing hard, too excited to say more.

She follows Peter and John and the other apostles who are struggling into coats and straggling after them through quiet, early morning streets.

A million thoughts fly through Peter's brain — "Son of Man will rise again," is this what he meant? Oh God! Oh God! Please! Please!

John gets to the garden first and runs to Mary, who is standing, still and beautiful, a look of profound peace on her countenance. He stands with her, looking into the tomb.

Peter stumbles to them, and stops short, gasping, digging fingers into his side against the cramp. He tries to make sense of the massive boulder flung like a child's toy away from the entrance. It is fifty cubits UP the hill, lodged behind a clump of trees.

Several spears and helmets are scattered about as if abandoned in great haste.

Impulsively, unable to think, he shoulders past Mary and John and plunges into the cool darkness of the tomb.

The cave is deep, but light pours in through the entrance. Peter gives a strangled cry and falls to his knees, clutching at the burial shroud.

It is empty.


Sylvia Dorham is a mother of eight, freelance writer and voice over artist from Maryland. She and her husband are converts to the Catholic Faith.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Because Mass is not a soap opera

More from Father Z regarding the status of the motu proprio.

Sometimes we just need to realize that it's not all about us (Americans), as we wait for the announcement of the motu proprio.

My favorite quote in the article, "Because Mass is not a soap opera, it is not necessary to understand the words; it is a rite of communion with God and not an instruction sheet for installing a washing machine."

Novena to The Divine Mercy Chaplet

It's not too late to start (it is typically started on Good Friday).

From EWTN...

(updated to correct the title)

Conqueror of Death

 
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Source

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Massachusetts Interdict?!

From the Curmudgeon's Cave, an idea whose time has come...

Pope Leo XIV has declared that, in response to events over the last decade within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States, and particularly in response to events in the last three months, the entire Commonwealth will be placed under prohibition, beginning on the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, July 31, 20xx. Beginning on that date, no sacraments of the Church may be celebrated in the Commonwealth, except for the benefit of those in danger of death.


Happy April 1st!

Saturday, March 31, 2007

A Tale of Two Vocations Videos

Update! See below...

Watch these 2 videos and vote for your favorite below...

Jesuits - Holy Boldness




Grassroots Films - Fishers of Men

Actually, this is just a trailer of the video. The entire video is about 19 minutes in length.



The original Jesuit video has been removed from Youtube and replaced(?) with this one.



I still think this can be an interesting comparison.



Which video did you like better?
Jesuits, Holy Boldness
Grassroots Films, Fishers of Men
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Take "Care" of Your Soul!

C.A.R.E. - Confession, Adoration, Rosary and Eucharist!

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Archdiocese of Boston and Harcourt Press Provide Cover for “Talking About Touching.”

I just discovered this.

she [Claudia Glaze] states that the Committee for Children has “collaborated” with Harcourt Religion Publishers and “religious educators from the Boston Archdiocese” to publish a “Call to Faith – Talking About Touching Correlation Guide.” She goes on to state that correlation guide, “is a wonderful breakthrough for Catholic educators who are teaching the Talking About Touching program within a religious-education context.” In other words, we will now be able to wrap TAT in Catholicism. However, for those who oppose the use of TAT and other like programs in our Catholic schools, this “Correlation Guide” will not quiet the outcry to remove these programs from our Catholic schools and religious education programs.


It's a little short on details but it's nice to know that the Archdiocese of Boston is making it easier for our children to learn about sex.

If I find more info, I'll post it here. Maybe Cardinal Sean's blog has more details...

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Father Fessio on the Family (the Monastery of the New Dark Ages)

This was from an excellent speech he gave at the 1996 Wanderer Forum...

So I think that the home is already, but must continue to be and grow in numbers to be the monastery of the new Dark Ages. Each family must be a monastery.

The speech, over 10 years' old, is very prescient. Go read the whole thing!

Ouch!

 
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Bishop Sheen's famous quote

I've read part of it before but never the whole thing. Crossed the Tiber posted the whole quote on his blog a few weeks ago...

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing.

These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics “adore statues;” because they “put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God;” because they “say indulgence is a permission to commit sin;” because the Pope “is a Fascist;” because the Church “is the defender of Capitalism.” If the Church taught or believed any one of these things, it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates.

My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. ... the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness..."

Dr Spitzer in the news again

Dr Robert Spitzer, the psychiatrist who identified attention deficit disorder (ADD), is now saying that many children (maybe 30%) are misdiagnosed.



This is an interesting news story but this isn't the first controversy that Dr Spitzer has been involved in. From his bio on Wikipedia...

He was chair of the task force of the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) which was released in 1980. He has been referred to as a major architect of the modern classification of mental disorders which involves classifying mental disorders in discrete categories, with specified diagnostic criteria...
He was controversial in 1973 for arguing that homosexuality is not a clinical disorder. The mainstream psychiatric community agreed, and declassified homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

In 2001, Spitzer delivered a controversial paper at the 2001 annual APA meeting arguing that "highly motivated" individuals could "successfully" change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual.


A recent article by the publisher of Venus Magazine (a magazine geared towards black gays and lesbians) stated that she has given up the lifestyle and wants to encourage others to do so.

Redeemed! 10 Ways to Get Out of the Gay Life, If You Want Out
by Charlene E. Cothran, Venus Magazine Publisher

Over the past 29 years of my life I have been an aggressive, creative and strategic supporter of gay and lesbian issues. I’ve organized and participated in countless marches and various lobbying efforts in the fight for equal treatment of gay men and lesbians. I have kept current on the issues and made financial contributions to those organizations doing work about which I was most passionate.

As the publisher of a 13 year old periodical which targets Black gays and lesbians, I have had the opportunity to publicly address thousands, influencing closeted people to ‘come out’ and stand up for them selves, which is particularly difficult in the African-American community.

But now, I must come out of the closet again. I have recently experienced the power of change that came over me once I completely surrendered to the teachings of Jesus Christ. As a believer of the word of God, I fully accept and have always known that same-sex relationships are not what God intended for us.


Go read the whole article!

God bless Ms. Cothran for speaking the truth.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

A Report Card (updated)

A report card on Cardinal Sean, based on his hirings and those with whom he surrounds himself... These items are in no particular order.

August 2005

Massachusetts Catholic Conference – new head

The selection of Edward F. Saunders, a longtime credit union lobbyist and Massachusetts Turnpike Authority appointee, as the new executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference has provoked controversy among pro-life and pro-family activists.
Just days after the official announcement was made by Boston’s Archbishop Sean O’Malley on July 7, press reports revealed that Saunders had been a political contributor to numerous left-wing politicians who support abortion, homosexual marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, and “emergency contraception.”
The “culture of death” politicians that Saunders contributed to include Massachusetts Senate President Robert Travaglini, Boston City Council President Michael Flaherty, Massachusetts State Sen. Marian Walsh, State Rep. Michael Rodriguez, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Shannon O’Brien
When asked by The Boston Globe, Saunders declined to say what his personal views on such “social issues” as abortion were.

Saunders was selected by a search committee led by Fr. J. Bryan Hehir, former dean of the Harvard Divinity School and a longtime staffer at the United States Catholic Conference, where he authored pastoral letters critical of the Reagan administration on nuclear defense and the economy.
Before going to the United States Catholic Conference, Fr. Hehir had made a name for himself as a leader of the revolt against Humanae Vitae at St. John’s Seminary in Boston. In 1974, in an important article for Theological Studies, Fr. Hehir argued that the Church should stay silent on contraception issues, suggesting that “contraceptive practice [be left] as an issue of private morality which the Church continues to teach for its members, but not an issue of public morality.”Also in 1974, when he was associate secretary for the International Justice and Peace office at the USCC, critics accused him of undercutting the Vatican’s attempts at the UN’s Population Conference in Bucharest by urging the Holy See to take a “low profile” on the question of means of population control. This was at a time when the Holy See, represented by the then Archbishop Edouard Gagnon, was rallying Third World countries against population control mandates urged by the Henry Kissinger’s National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM 200).
Recently, Fr. Hehir, who was appointed cabinet secretary for social services for the archdiocese in 2004, has emerged as an influential clerical adviser to Archbishop O’Malley.


March 2007

Boston is represented at the LA Religious Ed Conference
(period 5)
5-25 DANCING IN THE LIGHT
This workshop will offer participants an experience of a prayer service using gesture, movement and dance. This session is for those who are looking for ways to incorporate embodied prayer in their parish life and religious formation programs. The prayer service will be inspired by the Gospel of the Transfiguration and will use the music of Bernadette Farrell and Paul Melley.
Robert VerEecke, SJ
Fr. Bob VerEecke has offered workshops on movement prayer in the United States, Jamaica, Canada, Australia, France and England. He has served for nearly 20 years as Pastor of St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Fr. VerEecke is also Director of the Boston Liturgical Dance Ensemble and is Jesuit Artist-in-Residence at Boston College.
Jamie Huggins
Jamie Huggins, Associate Artistic Director of the Boston Liturgical Dance Ensemble, received his formal dance training from the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. He has danced with the Louisville Ballet, the Berkshire Ballet, and numerous other dance companies. Huggins co-teaches the Summer Study in Sacred and Liturgical Dance at Boston College, and has worked with Fr. Bob VerEecke for more than 20 years.


The Ongoing Battle Against TAT

TAT – Talking About Touching
Still forced upon children and parents in the Archdiocese of Boston

This particular problem came to a head in 2005

Our Lady Help of Christians
Father Walter Cuenin - problem not addressed until financial improprieties arose
Often spoke at Gay Pride events in Boston


Our Lady Help of Christians

2006 - more problems at Our Lady, Help of Christians

Father John Sassani

A parishioner recently posed a good question at a meeting: Is it possible to belong to the church without believing in every teaching of the church? His [co-pastor Father John Sassani's] answer is YES. God’s hospitality is embodied in tangible ways among us and beyond parish boundaries. Hospitality embodies desire for growth.


December 2005

Boston Catholic Charities planned to honor a pro-abortion politician (Menino).
It wasn’t till there was a huge out-cry by the Boston pro-life community that the Cardinal decided to not attend.

Boston archbishop pulls out of Catholic Charities fundraiser

Boston, Nov. 23, 2005 (CWNews.com) - Boston's Archbishop Sean O'Malley will not attend a December dinner honoring the city's Mayor Thomas Menino. The dinner is a fundraising event for the local office of Catholic Charities.
The archbishop's withdrawal from the December 9 event follows a series of protests from lay Catholic leaders, who have pointed to Mayor Menino's record on key moral issues. C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, cited the mayor's "relentless opposition to the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church" in a November 17 statement urging the archbishop not to attend the dinner. Doyle pointed out that although Menino is a Catholic, he has consistently supported legalized abortion on demand and has been a stalwart proponent of homosexuals, even sponsoring a "gay prom" for local high-school students at City Hall. When a Massachusetts court cleared the way for legal recognition of same-sex marriages, Mayor Menino personally welcomed the first homosexual applicants arriving at City Hall for marriage licenses.
Mayor Menino was chosen as the honoree for the December fundraiser because of his support for Catholic Charities.
The Boston arm of Catholic Charities came under fire in October when it was revealed that the office was actively helping homosexual couples to adopt children, despite Church teaching that such adoptions are "gravely immoral." Father J. Bryan Hehir, the head of Catholic Charities in Boston, explained that the Church agency assisted in homosexual adoptions in order to qualify for state funding that underwrites other adoption services. "If we could design the system ourselves, we would not participate in adoptions to gay couples, but we can't," he said; "We have to balance various goods."

Boston Catholic Charities Board Members Resign over Church Defence of Children

by Hilary White

BOSTON, February 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Seven members of the board of Catholic Charities of Boston have resigned in “outrage” over the Catholic Church’s opposition to homosexual adoption. The Massachusetts bishops are in the midst of a legal battle to have the Catholic Church exempted on grounds of religious freedom from the state law that says homosexuals must be allowed to adopt children.
In a unanimous vote in December, the 42-member board of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston refused to accede to the request by Archbishop Sean O’Malley and the Catholic Conference of Massachusetts to cease including homosexual partners as adoptive parents.
President of Catholic Charities in Boston, Rev. Brian H. Hehir, a prominent academic and social liberal, said at the time that the board’s decision to continue placing children with homosexual partners was taken in order to allow Catholic Charities to continue, within the state law, to find loving, normal families for needy children.
“If we could design the system ourselves, we would not participate in adoptions to gay couples, but we can't,” said Hehir. “We have to balance various goods.” The Catholic Church, however, has repeatedly made it clear that there is no “good” to be found in either allowing children to be placed with homosexual partners, or in lending legitimacy to the homosexual “lifestyle.” A document from the Vatican said plainly that homosexual adoption is a form of child abuse.



Jean Marchant


Am I to understand that those of us whose dying parents and relatives who have been foolishly charmed into believing that what she is doing is valid sacramentally, and died without the Last Rites of our Church (the pardon for all the sins they had committed in their lives), that you "greatly value" what she has done and you consider her contributions "vital" to the life and mission of Christ's Church?


If you are unaware of how traumatizing that statement is to people who understand the authentic faith, I certainly would be happy to give you my own personal experiences with my mother who was medflighted to Brigham & Women's hospital in a coma with a broken neck. She was "blessed" by a priest who had been removed from a parish by Cardinal Law for working with a woman in a ministry together which had feigned sacraments. I luckily had access to a priest who was willing to come and administer the official sacrament of the Church to her. As bad as I knew things were, I had no idea this was going on. When I explained my experience to the undertaker, he told me this was the norm in hospitals in Massachusetts - lay chaplains have wormed their way into positions where they can hijack the Sacrament of the sick. It's frightening that you greatly value these kinds "contributions" by feminists stampeding our faith.



July 2006

"Appreciate Ms. Marchant's many years of service"? Sorry. I don't.
Last year, the director of healthcare "ministry" for the Archdiocese of Boston lied about her name and pretended to be "ordained" a priest. She came clean recently, quit her job, and got a lovely, flattering spread in the Boston Globe for doing it.

Spokesman Terrence Donilon:

"We greatly appreciate Ms. Marchant's many years of service in healthcare ministry. The archdiocese greatly values the ministry of lay and religious women. Their contributions are vital to the life and mission of the church."

I think this is a load of bleep. In any case, I do not "appreciate" Jean Marchant's "service."

I do not appreciate that, as far back as 2001, while in the Archiocese's employ, Jean Marchant attended the 2001 "ordination " of Mary Ramerman of Spiritus Christi Church, Rochester, New York. (Google this "church" if you can stomach it.)

I do not appreciate that the Archdiocese's employee, Jean Marchant, said that she "always seen my role as to stay within the church and to push the boundaries."

But far more seriously, I do not appreciate the fact that, since her "ordination," Jean Marchant has "quietly `anointed' some sick people and privately `consecrated the Eucharist'."

In fact, I find it worse than appalling.

Understand that I do not judge Jean Marchant. However, I strongly condemn the statement of "appreciation" released by the Archdiocese.

May God have mercy on us.


August 2006

Archdiocese of Boston Entertains Dissenters by Deal W. Hudson

The Boston Globe reports that on Friday Cardinal Sean O'Malley will meet with members of the dissenting group Voice of the Faithful. A spokesman for the Archdiocese, however, explained that the meeting does not represent a change in policy regarding VOTF.

Voice of the Faithful is presently forbidden from meeting in Boston parishes.

Catholics in the Boston area, who have been battling the Voice of the Faithful since its inception, are concerned that this meeting will give the group credibility. Leaders of Voice of the Faithful are already claiming a symbolic victory.

Carol McKinley, a founder of the group Faithful Voice, has been Boston's leading lay critic of Catholic dissent. She is deeply disturbed by the Cardinal's decision: "Boston Catholics are appalled by continued statements from the Archdiocese giving the appearance that the Cardinal welcomes a group with a side-car mission that is heretical and invalid sacramentally. We're in real trouble."

Voice of the Faithful began in Boston over four years ago during the sex abuse scandal. From the beginning the group was closely associated with dissenters and leaders of the far left in the Catholic Church. For example, Jim Muller, the VOTF founder, issued a public letter calling for a national convention to ratify a constitution for an American Catholic Church separated from the authority of the Vatican.

Subsequent leadership, notably president Jim Post, tried to address similar issues under the banner of seeking "structural change." But most ecclesial leadership had already recognized VOTF's true intent and shut their doors. Only a handful of chanceries and parishes in the United States will host their meetings.

The latest reinvention of VOTF, as represented by their Web site, is an attempt to recover the outrage generated by the sex abuse scandal. The Web site also contains clear assurances of VOTF's obedience to Church teaching and Vatican authority. Their long-awaited statement on the meaning of "structural change" is innocuous and reflects nothing of the debate the group has expressed through its media coverage over the past four years.

C. J. Doyle, another leading critic of dissent in Boston, heads the Catholic Action League. Doyle says VOTF has little life outside its coverage in the Boston newspaper: "I hope the Archdiocese will do nothing to extend life support to this dying organization of left wing revolutionaries posing as Catholics. This organization has no public existence outside of Michael Paulson's articles in the Boston Globe."

VOTF has retained some presence in Boston because it receives moral support from institutions like Harvard and Boston College and financial backing from well-connected Catholic business leaders who agree with their dissenting attitude toward Church authority. A good example is O'Malley's appointment of Jack Connors, Jr., a prominent businessman and highly vocal critic of the archdiocese, to oversee the renewal of parochial education. Business leaders like Connors also sit on the board of Boston's Catholic Charities, an organization necessary to the survival of archdiocesan social ministries.

The appointment of Connors by Cardinal O'Malley was the first of several notable appointments that have been questioned by lay Catholics in Boston. Another example is the appointment of Dorothea Masuret, CSJ, as director of the office of Pastoral Ministry. She is a well-known heterodox nun who has worked closely with Jean Marchant, who earlier this week resigned from a position in O'Malley's cabinet. Marchant revealed that she had been secretly ordained last year and has been "quietly blessing" the sick and performing "Masses."

On the Cardinal’s meeting with VOTF

William Cousins, a long-time resident of the Boston area and Knight of Malta, comments, "I am hoping that Cardinal O'Malley will tell them what the rules are. In other words, that their desire to change the structure and doctrines of the Church is out of bounds. I am also very concerned about what he's saying to the relatives of the people who were given invalid sacraments by the woman health-care cabinet officer."

Whether the Archdiocese will release any information on the meeting is unknown. However, you can be sure that Voice of the Faithful will be telling the press how much their point of view is appreciated by the Cardinal.

Cardinal O'Malley's meeting with VOTF not only gives them credibility but also gives them the opportunity to represent the meeting any way that serves their purpose.

Jesuit Urban Center

VOTF Winchester Area, MA (representing 22 towns)

The highlight of our activities in July was an Evening of Prayer on July 28 [2003] for the new Archbishop of Boston, Sean O’Malley. The service focused on the possibility for renewal and reconciliation, from the opening hymn (“We Will Rise Again”), the first reading (Jeremiah 23:1-6, “I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble”), the psalm (Psalm 23, in a version written by John Baldovin, S.J. of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology), the communal song (“Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”), and the prayers of the faithful. Members had been encouraged to write prayers or the service, or to post them on our web site. One of the prayers read at the service was written by Svea Fraser, and perfectly captured our hopes and aspirations: “Dear Lord, please continue to make our new servant leader Sean O’Malley a channel of your peace; and may all your people in Boston join hands and hearts in mutual support for Your glory and the good of all the Church.” Regina Pontes with assistance from Mary Lou Burke, Judy Eisel, Clare Keane, John Mahoney, and others prepared the brilliant order of worship. Bonnie Rogers of our group presided. After the service, attendees signed a card for the new Archbishop. Bonnie thereafter delivered the card, prayers for the new Archbishop posted on our web site, as well as a stole made for him, to the Archdiocese’s offices in Boston. (Some of the prayers submitted appear in this issue under “Prayers for a new Archbishop”)
We welcomed two guest speakers in July. On July 7, Sister Betsy Conway CSJ, and Sister Dorothea Masuret, CSJ, Assistant Director of the Office for Pastoral Ministries for the Archdiocese of Boston, discussed their different perspectives on their experiences in the sisterhood, and the challenges ahead for Sisters and the Church. Sisters Betsy and Dorothea provided a wonderful example of dialogue and respect for those in the Church who do not see eye to eye on a number of issues. On July 14, we welcomed Edward Vacek, S.J., Professor of Moral Theology at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Fr. Vacek addressed the Church’s teachings on sexual ethics, and explained how teachings on a wide variety of issues have changed over time.


Why is someone who works in the Archdiocese speaking at VOTF meetings?!

Does Cardinal Sean have 2 sides? A blogging/podcasting, beautiful homilies side and a side which hires (and/or retains) heterodox staff...

Update:

To add a bit of balance, Cardinal Sean is well-respected by many orthodox young Catholics in the Boston area. He is also highly thought of by Father Benedict Groeschel, some one I have immense respect for. And last, but not least, if he is disliked by someone like this, can he be all bad?

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Psalm 23 (for work)

received via email (thanks Rita)...

The Lord is my real boss, and I shall not want. He gives me peace, when
chaos is all around me. He gently reminds me to pray and do all things without
murmuring and complaining.

He reminds me that he is my source and not my job. He restores my sanity
everyday and guides my decisions that I might honor him in all that I do.

Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mails, system crashes, unrealistic
deadlines, budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers, discriminating supervisors
and an aging body that doesn't cooperate every morning,
I still will not stop--for He is with me! His presence, His peace, and His power will see me through.

He raises me up, even when they fail to promote me. He claims me as His own, even when the company threatens to let me go. His Faithfulness and love is better than any bonus check.

His retirement plan beats every 401k there is!

When it's all said and done, I'll be working for Him a whole lot longer and for that, I WILL BLESS HIS HOLY NAME.