Our Church


30 churches threatened in Indonesia in past year
Thirty Christian churches in the world’s largest Muslim nation have been burned down, attacked, or threatened with being closed by authorities, according to Theophilus Bela, the Catholic president of the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum. In the city of Bogor in West Java, thousands of Catholics have been prohibited from attending Mass at their parish on Christmas, Easter, and Ascension Thursday; instead, Mass has been held at the city hall. . . .
—
Islamic protestors burned the Pope in effigy in Afghanistan
In a demonstration prompted by charges that Christian relief agencies were seeking to convert Muslims. The demonstrators also shouted, “Death to America!” The protest was sparked by charges against charitable agencies that are neither Catholic nor American. . .
—-
Afghan Christians detained as politician calls for converts’ execution
Afghan authorities have detained over 20 of the nation’s Christians after Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a deputy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s National Assembly, called for the execution of converts to Christianity. Khawasi’s comments followed the broadcast of adult baptisms on Afghan television. . . .
—-
If Hollywood honored Christian heroes…

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6752

Weary of blockbuster films that distort the history of the Church and/or focus on the negative, Michael Cook, the editor of the Australian site MercatorNet, muses on how many compelling films could be made about saints and heroes of the Church. He mentions, for example, Walter Ciszek, Charles Lwanga, Margaret Clitherow, and Robert Schuman . . .
—
12.3 million [are] in slavery as human trafficking expands
Catholic Relief Services, the US bishops’ humanitarian agency, has drawn attention to the US State Department’s recent annual report on human trafficking, which estimates that the number of “adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world” is 12.3 million. The State Department recently honored Brother Xavier Passat, a French Dominican, for his efforts to combat human trafficking in Brazil. . . .

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6796

—
Killings of Church workers soared worldwide in 2009 May 27, 2010
There were 37 Catholic priests, religious, seminarians, and lay catechists killed on pastoral assignments in 2009: the largest number in the past 10 years.
The Fides news service has provided an annual accounting of all the Church workers who died violently last year: 30 priests, 2 nuns, 2 seminarians, and 3 lay volunteers. The list includes Church personnel who died in the course of other criminal activities, such as apparent robbery attempts, as well as those who were killed out of hatred for the faith.
—
Panama: Archbishop blasts government decision to abandon Sunday rest
During a Corpus Christi address, Panama’s leading prelate strongly criticized a government decision to eliminate Sunday as a day of required rest for workers. “The dignity of man and woman is what must be upheld, if we do not want to become victims of economic interests,” said Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta. “For all men and women, not only for Christians, this has a great importance and significance, and this recognition should not be just formal but real, allowing the Sunday rest for all workers.”
—
Turkey: bishop’s murder was political, Church leaders fear
Church leaders in Turkey are raising serious questions about the murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese, and rejecting the official explanation that the bishop’s assailant was emotionally disturbed. . . .
—
Chinese authorities demolish parish
Government authorities in Ordos City, a city of 1.6 million in northern China, demolished the city’s only parish on June 7 in order to make way for a larger road. Authorities also handcuffed the parish priest and a lay leader. The parish had been registered with the government and was not part of the underground church; the local Inner Mongolian bishop has been approved both by the Holy See and by the Communist government. . . .
—
Vatican newspaper denounces ‘handi-phobia’
The June 10 edition of L’Osservatore Romano has published an article by neonatologist and bioethicist Carlo Bellieni denouncing “handi-phobia”: a fear of handicapped persons that has led to the widespread abortion of children with Down syndrome and the euthanasia of the disabled. Flirting with eugenics, a society that has begun to reject racial discrimination, writes Bellieni, nonetheless practices widespread genetic discrimination, spending billions for prenatal diagnoses that lead to abortion rather than making similar investments seeking cures.
—
Involuntary euthanasia found widespread in Belgium
A new report on legal euthanasia in Belgium has found that a significant number of “terminations with request or consent.” Although the country’s law requires the patient to give informed consent for euthanasia, a number of nurses admitted to researchers that they had ended the lives of patients who had not asked for an earlier death. About 2% of the deaths in Belgium are classified as euthanasia; it is not clear how many of those deaths are involuntary.
—
Columnist denies that contraception has improved lives
Jenn Giroux, the executive director HLI America, gives a spirited rebuttal of the claim that contraceptives have enriched the lives of American women. An ugly record of disease and depression shows otherwise, she argues. —-
Pakistan: rape and torture are penalty for Christians’ failure to renounce faith

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5795

In a brutal display of Islamic extremism, a Pakistani Christian who refused to renounce his faith was set on fire by Muslim militants. When police arrived on the scene, rather than helping the man, they raped his wife while the couple’s children watched the atrocities.
—-
Pakistani Christian girl enslaved by police officer, burned alive

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5803

A Christian girl from the eastern Pakistani city of Sheikhupura was enslaved by a Muslim police officer and burned alive. “The girl had been enslaved by a woman, Sama, a ‘dealer’ of youth sold as prostitutes or slaves to wealthy Muslim families,” according to Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. “Once she convinced Kiran’s mother (with false promises and illusions) to take her, Kiran was forced to file a complaint against her own parents (for non-existent violence), threatening that otherwise they would be killed.”
—-
Church official in Pakistan: Christians are ‘treated like animals,’ subject to rape and slavery

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5824

An official of the Pakistani bishops’ conference has called upon the international community to exert pressure upon the nation’s government and defend the nation’s beleaguered Christian minority.
—–
Bangladesh: 50 Christians injured in Muslim attacks

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5825

Armed with knives, bricks, and sticks, a group of Muslims attacked Christian villagers in Bangladesh on March 20, injuring 50.
“It is perhaps the harshest trial that the Church is going through at this moment.”
….the lukewarmness, lack of zeal and apostolic inertia” on the part of the clergy “weakens the Church even more than the occasional scandals of some priests that make more noise and against whom it is easier to hasten to take measures.”
—-
Our Country

Massachusetts Senate committee approves abortions at military hospitals
In a quiet May 27 vote, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 15-12 to permit abortions at US military hospitals. The provision is now an amendment to an 852-page bill which, if approved, will repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and allow openly homosexual men and women to serve in the military. .
—-
US bishops: Don’t permit abortions in military hospitals
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged senators in a June 29 letter to remove a committee amendment that would permit abortions in military hospitals. . . .

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6795

—
Resort town approves condoms for elementary school
The town of Provincetown, Massachusetts has approved a new policy providing free condoms to students at public schools. The policy extends to both high schools and elementary schools. The policy requires school personnel to give out condoms on request, regardless of parents’ objections, and to keep the childrens’ requests secret from their families. . .
—-
Obama Administration Eases Ban on Funds for Sex-Trafficking Groups
Posted 6/14/10 REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel (ROMANIA)
WASHINGTON — A new regulatory rule that went into effect May 13 modified a policy of President George W. Bush that barred U.S. international aid for organizations that supported either prostitution or sex trafficking.
The new rule does not drop the funding restrictions, which are required by federal law, but the change allows “affiliated entities” — including a separate part of the organization receiving federal funds — to conduct actions in support of prostitution or sex trafficking.
Anti-human trafficking leaders in Congress and some feminists are concerned about the new Obama administration rule. –
– 12.3 million adults and children are in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world, with 56% of these victims being women and girls.
– The value for traffickers of this trade is estimated at $32 billion annually.
– The prevalence of trafficking victims in the world is calculated to be at the level of 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants. This varies by region with it reaching 3 per 1,000 in Asia and the Pacific.
– There were 4,166 successful trafficking prosecutions in 2009, a 40% increase over 2008.
– There are still 62 countries that have yet to convict a trafficker under laws in compliance with the Palermo Protocol (a document adopted by the United Nations on human trafficking).
- No less than 104 countries are without laws, policies, or regulations to prevent victims’ deportation.
—-
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama for a seat on the US Supreme Court, inserted a crucial phrase into a 1996 document that was used to defend the legality of partial-birth abortion, National Review reports.
Kagan, who was working on the White House staff in 1996, amended a statement from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to say that the partial-birth abortion procedure “may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman” in some cases. Although Kagan has no medical training, the group accepted her amendment.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6810

—-
Research shows homosexuality more common among children of broken families

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6471

Patrick Fagan of the Family Research Council– whose “Mapping America” project has provided a steady stream of revealing statistical insights into the connections between religious faith and social stability– has found that lesbian relationships are disproportionately common among women raised in broken families.
—
US government study finds $1 billion in federal support for abortion advocates
RSS Facebook June 17, 2010
American taxpayers have provided about $1 billion in funding for organizations that promote legal abortion in the US and abroad, according to official statistics furnished by the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion provider in the US, received the greatest share of federal support. The GAO found that $657 million in federal funding had gone to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in the years 2002- 2009, and another $94 million to the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Federal law bars the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions or to promote the legalization of abortion in other countries. However the organizations listed in the GAO report receive federal funding for general operational expenses, allowing them to free up other funds for abortion advocacy.
—-
Supreme Court declines to hear Vatican appeal; abuse victims’ suit will proceed
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the Vatican’s appeal of an Oregon judge’s decision allowing a sex-abuse victim to proceed with a lawsuit against the Vatican. . . .

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6771

—-
Religious freedom not an Obama priority, former US official charges
A former US State Department official, Thomas Farr, notes that the Obama administration has shown no special interest in religious-freedom questions, waiting 16 months to nominate an ambassador to handle those issues.
—
Archbishop Chaput denounces Catholic groups that supported Senate bill

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5811

Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput has charged that the political actions of groups like Catholics United– and, even more seriously, the Catholic Health Association– did serious damage to the pro-life cause by supporting the Senate version of the health-care reform bill, which allowed for funding of abortions. The legislation, he said, “remains unethical and defective on all of the issues pressed by the U.S. bishops and prolife groups for the past seven months.”
—-
US fertility rate drops below replacement level

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5942

The birthrate in the United States fell 2% in 2008 and is now below the population replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, according to a report released April 6 by the National Center for Health Statistics. “The 2008 preliminary estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) was 2,085.5 births per 1,000 women, 2 percent lower than the rate in 2007 (2,122.5),” according to the report.
Let Us Pray