Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Holy Communion. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Holy Communion. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday 28 December 2009

Traditional Anglican Communion will strengthen Catholic pro-life witness

Whilst in Australia for our son's graduation at Campion College, I had the pleasure of speaking with Archbishop John Hepworth (pictured right), the primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, and bishop ordinary in the Anglican Church of Australia.

I have no doubt that part of the impact of Pope Benedict's Apostolic Constitution for “former Anglicans to enter into the fullness of communion with the Catholic Church” will be greatly to strengthen Catholic witness on pro-life matters.

In a post today on The Anglo-Catholic, we can find a message from His Grace Archbishop Hepworth for Holy Innocents Day which bodes well for the Catholic Church. It includes the following:
" ... Our bishops have realised from the start of our separation from the Anglican Communion that it was a separation of pilgrimage.  Pilgrimage must have a goal.  Our goal was the healing of catholic disunity, that Anglicans had sought and then abandoned.

"There is great integrity in being a pilgrim.  If the destination be holy, God sustains on the journey.  We will not be rushed or stampeded.  Nor will we falter.  So in our waiting as the vision of our destination becomes clearer in the mists of our wandering, let us take clear sight of the martyrs who are our Octave companions.  Their echoes are all around us, in the destruction of innocent life, in the failure of episcopal teaching, in the denial of the Christ Child’s godliness, in the transformation of love into hate, even within the company of those who bear His Name ... "
Please forgive my self-indulgence in highlighting the text above. As we prepare early in the new year to face "government legislation which threatens both children and families as never before in our country" in the Children Schools and Families Bill, the Catholic church in England and Wales urgently needs the kind of strong witness we see in the Archbishop's words, delivered with a welcome Aussie bluntness.

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Saturday 20 February 2016

The appointment of Cardinal Nichols to head Vatican dicastery on laity family & life would endanger families worldwide

Voice of the Family noted recently reports from credible sources that Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, is being considered as a candidate to head a Vatican’s new dicastery, which will be responsible for Laity, Family and Life.

Voice of the Family further notes that:
"Cardinal Nichols’s approach to Catholic teaching on human sexuality has caused the pro-life, pro-family movement grave concern for many years. Serious questions have been raised about his approach to issues as diverse as abortion, contraception, the rights and status of the embryo, sex education, homosexual unions and the reception of Holy Communion for the 'divorced and remarried'."
The appointment of Cardinal Nichols to head a Vatican dicastery on the laity and family and life would endanger families worldwide. I invite visitors to my blog to consider the Voice of the Family's plea:
"Voice of the Family asks all our readers to pray that the Holy Father will appoint a courageous witness to Catholic teaching on life and the family to this new position. The family today is under sustained attack. The victims of this crisis – unborn children, the disabled, the elderly, children at risk from corrupting sex education, parents struggling to bring up their children according to the moral law – need a strong voice to speak on their behalf. This will not be provided by the appointment of a steadfast opponent of orthodox Catholic teaching."
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Monday 20 October 2014

Synod’s final report “fails to resolve confusion”, says pro-family coalition

The final report issued by the Extraordinary Synod on the Family fails to resolve the confusion caused by the Synod, says Voice of the Family http://voiceofthefamily.info an international coalition of pro-family groups.

Paragraphs containing controversial ideas on sexual morality remain in the published document, even though these paragraphs did not receive the required two-thirds majority of Synod members. The Vatican’s spokesmen made clear that these paragraphs remain subject to discussion at next year’s Ordinary Synod. Although the final report contains some significant improvements on the original draft, the voting numbers reveal that most Synod Fathers remain open to proposals contrary to Catholic teaching, such as Holy Communion for Catholics in invalid ‘second’ marriages.

Maria Madise, Voice of the Family’s coordinator, said:
“The architects of the Extraordinary Synod are responsible for deepening the confusion that has already damaged families since the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s. This confusion will now continue from today through to next year’s Ordinary Synod.

There has been much talk about ‘welcoming’ and ‘accompanying’ people, but this is impossible without the clarity of the truth.

Several Synod Fathers protested openly in the past days against manipulation by liberals among the Synod’s officials, such as Archbishop Bruno Forte. Gratitude and admiration is due to those Synod Fathers who – despite manipulation – voted to uphold Christ’s doctrine on Holy Matrimony and sexual purity.

We thank the many concerned Catholics who have told us that Voice of the Family is speaking up for them. We urge all those concerned to defend the family to join us as we start the long preparation for next year’s Ordinary Synod on the Family.”
 Related press releases by Voice of the Family:
Follow Voice of the Family via:
Voice of the Family is an international lay coalition of major pro-life and pro-family organizations that has formed to offer expertise and resources to leaders of the church, the media, NGOs, and governments before, during, and after the Catholic Church’s Synod on the Family.

Voice of the Family consists of 18 member organizations from nine nations on five continents. Members include:
The following truths are at the heart of Voice of the Family’s work:
  • Sacramental marriage, binding parents together in an indissoluble union, is the greatest protector of children both born and unborn.
  • The artificial separation of the unitive and procreative dimensions of the sexual act is a major catalyst of the culture of death.
  • Parents are the primary educators of their children and it is through the education and formation of parents, and future parents, that the culture of life will be built.
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Thursday 19 March 2015

Over 2 million IVF embryos killed since 1990

frozen embryos at risk
Over 2 million IVF embryos killed since 1990
The number of embryos killed in the UK has increased almost every year since records began, now amounting to 170,000 a year, according to new figures. The same figures also show that 2,053,656 embryos have been killed since 1990. The figures are held by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and were released in a parliamentary answer to Lord Alton. [Catholic Herald, 11 Mar]

France considers "deep sleep" bill
A bill to allow patients to halt treatment and be given general anaesthesia until death will be debated in the French parliament tomorrow. Jean Leonetti of the UMP party said: "The patient has to be at the end of their life and suffering despite the treatment given...When these elements are present, I (the doctor) am obliged to start sedation that is deep and continues until death". Representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities in France have opposed the legislation. [France 24, 10 Mar]

Dublin rally challenges media's pro-abortion bias
A rally in Dublin against the media's basis against the pro-life cause was attended by 300 demonstrators in Dublin last week. The rally, entitled "33 to 1: Challenging Media Bias" was organised by the Pro-life Campaign. Wendy Grace of the Pro-Life Campaign told The Irish Times that the title of the rally was chosen because 33 pro-abortion articles had been published in the Irish media compared to just one pro-life article within a period of two weeks. [Irish Times, 11 Mar]

Pro-abortion buffer-zone campaign is money-driven and anti-women
The abortion industry's "Back-Off" campaign is a money-driven exercise designed to stop women receiving help to avoid abortions. Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, said: "The campaign against these pro-life counsellors is being supported and run by private abortion clinics and others with financial interests in abortion. They do not want women getting help to avoid abortions." [SPUC, 4 Mar]

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology
Euthanasia
Population
Family issues
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Monday 26 January 2015

Cardinal Baldisseri is undermining Catholic teaching

Patrick Buckley, SPUC's international
envoy, speaks out at Vatican conference
Voice of the Family*, a coalition of leaders of 23 pro-family and pro-life groups worldwide, has issued a statement criticising Cardinal Baldisseri, the organizer of the forthcoming Synod on the Family, saying that his comments last week have further undermined Catholic teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. SPUC is co-founder of Voice of the Family.

The cardinal was speaking at an international conference in Rome organized by the Pontifical Council for the Family.

Voice of the Family reports:
[Cardinal] Baldisseri defended the right of Walter Cardinal Kasper to assert that divorced persons living in unions not recognised by the Church should be permitted to receive Holy Communion. Baldisseri, in response to a concerned pro-family advocate, told delegates that we should not be 'shocked' by theologians contradicting Church teaching.
The Cardinal said that dogmas can evolve and that there would be no point holding a Synod if we were simply to repeat what had always been said. He also suggested that just because a particular understanding was held 2,000 years ago does not mean that it cannot be challenged.

Patrick Buckley (pictured), international envoy for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, commented: “The Church teaching on the indissolubility of marriage is founded on the words of Jesus Christ. These words may have been spoken 2,000 years ago but for Catholics they remain nothing other than the unchanging commands of God.”
Patrick Buckley and Philomena, his wife, are the parents of seven children and they have twenty grandchildren.

 *Voice of the Family is an initiative of Catholic laity formed in support of the Synod on the Family 2014 - 2015.

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Wednesday 12 January 2011

Archbishop Nichols should stop causing confusion regarding homosexuality

According to The Tablet and other sources, Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme at Christmastide:
“When it comes to understanding what human sexuality is for, there is a lot that we have to explore. Because I think what is at one level in the broad perspective clear, is that there is an intrinsic link between procreation and human sexuality. Now how do we start from that principle, not lose it, and have an open ongoing conversation with those who say, well, that’s not my experience?”
Regarding Catholic teaching on homosexuality*, the archbishop is reported to have said:
“How do we bring together some principles that if you like are written into the broad book of nature, and individual experiences? That’s the area that we have to be sensitive and open to, and genuinely wanting to explore."
These comments have been welcomed by Clifford Longley of The Tablet and by Terence Weldon, the openly practising homosexual who helps organise the Archbishop Nichols-backed Soho Masses for dissenting homosexuals. Archbishop Nichols' latest comments are in tune with his comments last year (see my blogs of 4 April, 21 April, 4 July, 9 September, 11 September and 23 September) which clearly undermined Catholic teaching on homosexuality. His approach appears to be to make half-hearted acknowledgements of official Catholic teaching whilst softening up opinion among Catholics to allow practices contrary to that teaching. Those practices include "gay civil partnerships", Holy Communion for practising homosexuals and "openness" to the "experiences" of homosexuals.

This duplicitous approach is the motif of the Catholic bishops' conference of England and Wales, reflected in its approach to major pro-life/pro-family issues in recent times: abortion and contraception (e.g. Connexions in Catholic schools), euthanasia (e.g. the Mental Capacity Act), assisted suicide (e.g. prosecuting guidelines), sex education (e.g. departmental guidance) etc. How very different from the words of our Lord, Who instructed His Apostles to make their "yes, yes" and their "no, no" (Matt.5:37). Or Pope John Paul II who said:
"Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: 'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness' (Is 5:20)." (Evangelium Vitae , 1995, para.58)
When will our bishops, the successors of the Apostles, give us clear Christ-like leadership on pro-life/pro-family issues?

*The late Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, taught (Evangelium Vitae, 1995, para.97) it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

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Tuesday 13 October 2009

Stop calling abortion promoters "Catholics"

Michael Moore, the left-wing American film-maker, has claimed in a recent television interview to be
"an unapologetic Christian"
and said that
"we'll be judged according to how we treat the least among us".
Following Mr Moore's interview, Dr Austen Ivereigh, former director of public affairs to Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, claims in yesterday's Guardian that Mr Moore is
"a committed Catholic".
Dr Ivereigh also claims that Mr Moore's latest critique of capitalism is based on the principles of Pope Leo XIII's (pictured) encyclical Rerum Novarum. Neither Mr Moore nor Dr Ivereigh make any mention of Mr Moore's ardent support for abortion. To quote but one example of Mr Moore's pro-abortion writings: in July 2000 Mr Moore wrote that:
"About the only reason I voted for [Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton] was because of [their support for abortion]".
Neither do Mr Moore nor Dr Ivereigh mention the Catholic Church's historic upholding of the right to life. In the same year as Rerum Novarum (1891), Leo XIII wrote:
"Clearly, divine law, both that which is known by the light of reason and that which is revealed in Sacred Scripture, strictly forbids anyone, outside of public cause [JS: e.g. war], to kill or wound a man unless compelled to do so in self-defence."
In the encyclical Centesimus Annus marking the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope John Paul II condemned
"the scandal of abortion".
It is not for nothing that automatic excommunication is the penalty for procuring an abortion, and that Holy Communion is (sometimes) denied to politicians who vote for legal abortion. As Mr Moore rightly says, "we'll be judged according to how we treat the least among us". Are not the unborn "the least among us"?

Dr Ivereigh's description of Mr Moore as "a committed Catholic" reminds me of the constant descriptions in the media of Cherie Blair as a "devout Catholic", despite Mrs Blair's opposition to Catholic teaching on sexual ethics and her endorsement of pro-abortion organisations. It also reminds me of the constant descriptions of Tony Blair's "conversion to Catholicism", even though he refuses to repudiate his anti-life political record, and attacks papal teaching on homosexuality, telling the Church it must change its "entrenched attitudes" to homosexuality.

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Wednesday 17 October 2012

SPUC Scotland protests against abortionists' conference

venue of abortionists' conference
Top stories:

SPUC Scotland protests against abortionists' conference [Edinburgh Evening News, 16 October]

SPUC youth and student newsletter published
SPUC has today published a youth and student newsletter. In its history, SPUC has consistently sought to support pro-life young adults and students. This has included support for pro-life societies, speakers, conferences, public acts of witness, and campaign materials. In the last few years we’ve seen a resurgence of pro-life youth societies in the UK. Our international youth conference has gone from strength to strength, making it the largest pro-life youth event in the UK. We felt that it was a good time to re-launch a straightforward, action-focused newsletter, about how we can work together for the culture of life. Please forward this newsletter to a friend. It features information about:
  • SPUC's 9 Million Children campaign
  • SPUC's pro-life speaker taster training day
  • SPUC's youth blog
  • SPUC's internship scheme
  • SPUC's campaign to inform people about abortion-inducing forms of birth control
  • SPUC's campaign to defend marriage, which protects unborn children
  • SPUC's universities speaker tour
  • SPUC's international youth conference
  • news of other pro-life events and resources
Abortion poster campaign move condemned as cynical by SPUC
Responding the announcement that the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), one of Britain's main abortion providers, is launching a national billboard poster campaign, Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, commented: "BPAS, which is a lucrative abortion enterprise, is cynically exploiting the hype over the upper-limit debate to drum up more clients. BPAS knows very well that there is no realistic prospect of new abortion limits getting past Parliament's large pro-abortion majority. Instead of pursuing the red herring of time-limits, ministers should instead cut off the tens of millions of pounds the government hands to BPAS in NHS contracts." [SPUC, 15 October]

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Sexual ethics
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Friday 15 April 2011

Today's must-read pro-life news-stories, Friday 15 April

Abortion
Euthanasia
Sexual ethics
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Saturday 26 April 2014

My interview by Michael Voris

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by Michael Voris, the great American Catholic apologist, on his Mic'd Up! programme on ChurchMilitant.TV. You can watch the interview below or on YouTube. I spoke about:
  • the fine work of my colleagues at SPUC
  • the successes and expertise of the pro-life movement
  • the importance of Catholic Church leadership to winning the pro-life fight
  • the geo-political significance of pro-life battle in English-speaking world
  • the effect of international anti-life agencies on developing world
  • the scandal of Holy Communion for pro-abortion politicians
  • the importance of marriage and families for protecting unborn children
  • the need for Catholic Church leaders to speak out against contraception and abortifacient birth control
  • the scandalous appointment of dissenters as Catholic officials


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Wednesday 29 December 2010

We must speak out for children abused by homosexual parenting

The late Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, taught (Evangelium Vitae, 1995, para.97) that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer our children an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

This morning's newspapers carry extensive coverage of the news that Elton John and David Furnish are now the legal parents of a baby boy. Full details have not been confirmed, but it seems that Mr Furnish provided sperm which was used to fertilise a donated egg, and the resulting child was gestated by a surrogate mother. Sir Elton and Mr Furnish evaded UK restrictions on surrogacy by paying for the surrogacy arrangement in California.

In May 2006 Sir Elton blamed the Catholic Church's perennial prohibition on all condom use for AIDS-related deaths among his friends. Later that year he said that he would "ban religion completely". Earlier this year he claimed that Jesus was gay. Most disturbing was Sir Elton's 1999 concert celebrating the 10th anniversary celebration of Stonewall, the UK’s main homosexualist organisation. Sir Elton's performace featured homo-erotic dancers dressed as Boy Scouts. That performance was attended by Tony and Cherie Blair who, like Sir Elton, continue to attack the Catholic Church's teaching on sexual ethics.

Sir Elton's acquisition of a child is thus deeply disturbing. We have a duty to speak out against surrogacy and against homosexual parenting on behalf of the children involved, who are voiceless. Silence on our part would be consent. I hope that religious leaders will speak out in defence of the newborn child - including Catholic bishops. Please let me know if you hear anything. Unfortunately Catholic bishops in England and Wales have given vocal support to homosexualist goals, groups and publications. Both Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Bernard Longley have attacked faithful pro-life/pro-family Catholics for telling inconvenient truths about the Soho Masses. One of those truths is the support for homosexual parenting among the Soho Masses organisers. Terence Weldon, a member of the Soho Masses Pastoral Council who distributes Holy Communion at the Masses, is also a homosexualist blogger who writes in favour of homosexual parenting.

Well-informed parents - not least those active locally or nationally in the pro-life movement - must make their voices heard with or without episcopal support. We owe it to the children.

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Friday 8 April 2011

This morning's must-read pro-life news-stories, Friday 8 April

Cancer patient Lisa Bender & child
Abortion
Embryology
Euthanasia
Population
Sexual ethics
General
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Monday 27 May 2013

Ireland's dangerous abortion bill will be used as model for Catholic world

I have no doubt that the Irish government's legislative proposals on abortion will be used by the international pro-abortion lobby, worldwide, as a "model" for majority Catholic countries. It's essential that pro-life citizens, politicians and church leaders worldwide study this Bill - not least SPUC's full analysis of it http://www.spuc.org.uk/documents/papers/2013/ireland20130524

Deceptively entitled Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013 (my emphasis) the Irish Government’s legislative proposals strip the right to life from children before, and even during, birth in a broad range of circumstances.

Their Bill will compel all maternity hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, to provide abortions. It will greatly increase the small number of abortions of questionable legality which are performed annually in Ireland.

It is urgently necessary that Catholic politicians are warned that support for the legislation would be contrary to Catholic teaching. In particular Catholics supporting these legislative proposals should be warned not to receive Holy Communion. Furthermore Catholic hospitals should be forbidden by Ireland’s bishops to provide abortion, if the legislative proposals are enacted.

In brief:

The Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill (2013) if passed will mark a radical change in Ireland's abortion law. In many aspects the Bill is more permissive than the British Abortion Act (1967):
  • It repeals the comprehensive protection of unborn children under the Offences Against the Person Act (1861). It strips the right to life from children before, and even during, birth in a broad range of circumstances. Threats to life need not be inevitable or immediate.
  • It permits abortion on the grounds of suicidal ideation – once again, even when a threat of suicide is neither inevitable nor immediate.
  • Its numerous inconsistencies and ill-defined terms (eg "good faith", "reasonable opinion" and "due regard") render the Bill's limited protection of children virtually unenforceable.
The Bill fails to consider developments in science and legal precedent:
  • Its arbitrary and unscientific definition of "unborn" excludes all unimplanted embryos conceived naturally or by artificial means leaving such embryos vulnerable to exploitation.
  • This definition ignores the implications of recent Irish case-law which identifies the point of genetic fusion of parental DNA (ie fertilisation, not implantation) as decisive in establishing motherhood.
The Bill violates rights guaranteed by the Irish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, including the equal right to life and freedom of conscience:
  • It will compel medical personnel to participate in abortion in some ways, while offering no protection to other professionals.
  • It will compel maternity hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, to provide abortions.
  • It legalises abortion without the consent of a pregnant woman in undefined “emergency” situations.
This Bill is so dangerously and deeply flawed that successful amendment of it is impossible. It should therefore be withdrawn in its entirety. If passed, this Bill will hugely increase the number of abortions carried out in Ireland. It is, without doubt, a Bill proposing a clearly unjust law and it must be resisted at every level.

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Friday 6 June 2014

Report of my address to Nigeria's Catholic bishops

Below is SPUC's press release about my address last night to Nigeria's Catholic bishops:

Nigerian bishops give standing ovation for UK pro-life leader's tough words

Abuja, Nigeria, 6 June 2014: Nigeria's Catholic bishops have given a standing ovation for tough words in a speech last night given by a veteran UK pro-life leader.

John Smeaton, chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) www.spuc.org.uk last night addressed (full text) the bishops at a dinner in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, following a pro-life march and conference organised by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (photographs below).

Mr Smeaton started by praising Nigeria's pro-family culture:
"Compared with Nigeria, Britain is a poor nation. I am not measuring wealth by the criteria of the International Monetary Fund ... Nigeria’s true wealth, compared with Britain’s, can be found in its fertility rate, which is more than five children per woman of child-bearing age, in contrast to the UK's rate of less than two. That’s why many politicians and institutions in powerful Western nations are afraid of Nigeria and want to interfere with laws and policies in [Nigeria] which affect women and children in particular."
Mr Smeaton also praised Nigeria's Catholic bishops:
"Nigeria's wealth is also reflected in the moral leadership given by Catholic Church leaders in Nigeria. Your opposition in 2010 to the African Union’s pro-abortion Maputo Protocol, led by His Eminence John Onaiyekan, the cardinal archbishop of Abuja, reverberated around the world ... Earlier this year, you, the Catholic bishops of Nigeria publicly thanked Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, for signing into law the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2011".
Mr Smeaton continued:
"As a pro-life leader, as a Catholic parent, I am very grateful to the Nigerian Catholic Bishops for your defence of our families. You are following the example of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. Standing up against the worldwide homosexual agenda is crucial for the protection of children and it is a fundamental pro-life issue. Bishops around the world should follow the Nigerian bishops' lead and speak out for strong policies against the subversion of the truth and meaning of human sexuality."
Warning again about Western interference in Africa, Mr Smeaton said:
"British Prime Minister, David Cameron has threatened to withhold UK aid from poor countries that do not conform saying in connection with the homosexual rights agenda, and I quote: 'British aid should have more strings attached'." Just a few weeks ago, last April, Nigeria’s permanent representative at the UN, Ambassador Joy Ogwu, came under attack from International Planned Federation for opposing abortion on behalf of the Nigerian delegation at the UN."
Pointing out that "the pro-life movement cannot defeat the culture of death on our own", Mr Smeaton called for:
"pro-life organizations and the wider community [to] be fortified by unequivocal, unyielding voices of Catholic Church officials and bishops throughout the world. I implore all Catholic bishops throughout the world to speak out clearly and categorically that politicians who vote for and publicly support abortion legislation must publicly retract and refute the position they have adopted before receiving Jesus Christ in Holy Communion".
Mr Smeaton observed that:
"many leaders of faithful Christian and pro-life, pro-family organizations have found" absoluteness "severely lacking in Catholic leadership today ... In its place we have weakness and compromise."
This lack of absoluteness on the teaching of Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI's encyclical against contraception) has had a negative impact on the pro-life fight, because "the use of contraception undermines respect for the sanctity of human life from conception and makes abortion an option", said Mr Smeaton.

John Smeaton (centre, in white shirt) with student-delegates from Benin University:

Benin students 20140605
Nigeria's Catholic bishops marching for life and family:

bishops marching 20140605 #2
bishops marching 20140605 #1
Jos marching 20140605
SPUC's communications department can be contacted on:
  • email news@spuc.org.uk
  • mobile 07939 177683
  • direct dial landline 020 7820 3129
  • Twitter @spucprolife
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Monday 15 April 2013

Must-read pro-life news-stories, Mon 15 Apr

Top story:

The Telegraph's adulation of IVF pioneer Robert Edwards is nauseating
SPUC has criticised the adulatory obituary written by The Telegraph newspaper following the death of Professor Sir Robert Edwards, the inventor of IVF. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, said: "The most notable things about Edwards is that IVF has resulted in the ending of the lives of millions of embryonic children, outnumbering over twenty-fold the number of children born following IVF. SPUC has often claimed that IVF is not primarily about helping couples with fertility problems but is driven by a desire of some scientists to 'play God' with human life."  [John Smeaton, 11 April]

Related story: I wish IVF had never been invented, says heartbroken journalist [Mail, 15 April]

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology
Euthanasia
Sexual ethics
  • Argentina: Catholic priest expelled from church for supporting equal marriage [Pink News, 13 April]
  • US Republican Party votes to reaffirm opposition to same-sex marriage [Pink News, 13 April]
  • Same-sex marriage would end role of mother and father, says Irish Catholic bishop [Evening Echo, 13 April]
  • Uruguay Congress approves gay marriage bill [BBC, 11 April]
  • Archbishop says that Catholics who support same-sex marriage shouldn't receive Holy Communion [John Smeaton, 9 April]
Population
General
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Saturday 15 January 2011

Durex advertises Mass for dissenting homosexuals

Earlier this week I mentioned that Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, continues to cause confusion regarding Catholic teaching on homosexuality. I mentioned that the archbishop's most recent comments had been welcomed by Terence Weldon, the openly practising homosexual who helps organise the Archbishop Nichols-backed Soho Masses for dissenting homosexuals.

As if to reinforce my concerns, I see that Durex, the makers of barrier contraceptives, have advertised one of those Soho Masses, taking place last month, on their website for healthcare professionals.

The Durex website contains material of a character deeply hostile to Catholic teaching on human sexuality. It's not suprising, then, that they would promote the celebration of a Mass, the organizers of which are openly hostile to Catholic teaching on human sexuality and where attendees receive Holy Communion in spite of openly admitting they are and intend to stay in homosexual relationships.

What's so deeply shocking about the Durex advert for the Mass in Soho is the further evidence it provides of episcopal betrayal - the tragic betrayal of young people and Catholic families by Archbishop Nichols and his failure to give clear witness to the the truth on this matter and related matters. The late Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, taught (Evangelium Vitae, 1995, para.97) it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

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Tuesday 24 September 2013

Senior US cardinal laments the silence of Catholics on pro-life, pro-family issues

Cardinal Raymond Burke, the most senior US cardinal and head of the Catholic Church's highest court, has lamented the silence of Catholics on pro-life and pro-family issues. In an interview he said: "There is far too much silence — people do not want to talk about [issues such as same-sex marriage] because the topic is not ‘politically correct. But we cannot be silent any longer or we will find ourselves in a situation that will be very difficult to reverse." He said that pro-abortion politicians must be denied Holy Communion, honours by Catholic universities and public Catholic funerals. [LifeSiteNews.com, 19 September]

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Embryology
General
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Friday 14 March 2014

Summary and photos of SPUC's greatly successful youth conference

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Last weekend's SPUC 7th International Pro-Life Youth and Student conference was a great success. For a full report, read "Want to see how good the 2014 SPUC youth conference was?" on SPUC's youth blog "Why I am Pro-Life". You can also see a full slideshow of photos on SPUC's new Flickr photostream. Below is a summary of all the talks taken from SPUC's live Twitter feed of the conference. We hope to post videos of all the talks and other parts of the conference on SPUC's YouTube channel in the near future.

7 March:

Opening and introduction:
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    Dan Blackman
  • 7th SPUC Int'l Pro-Life Youth conference, starting this eve in Telford and concluding Sun, is fully-booked. Live tweets of conf to follow.
  • Good evening from start of the 7th SPUC International Pro-life Youth conference, Telford, England. Great venue, nice dinner & now 1st talk.
  • SPUC's Anthony McCarthy introducing our youth conference. Conference serves youth, to educate them & help advance cause of truth. #prolife
  • Robin Haig, SPUC's chairman, encouraging dialogue & networking between #prolife youth. New ideas, new friendships will result.
  • Dan Blackman, SPUC youth officer, encourages #prolife youth to train as SPUC speakers in schools, using our modern presentation.
SPUC School's talk, given by Huda Alfardus:
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    Huda Alfardus
  • Huda Alfardus, Nottingham student, now giving SPUC schools presentation. Slavery precursor of abortion: unborn deemed non-persons.
  • Human beings genetically complete at conception (fertilisation); separate, unique, human. Heart, spine, limbs, brain etc forms very rapidly.
  • "Foetus", medical term for unborn child at 9 weeks, is Latin for "little one". Movement in womb, taste, hair etc all develop quickly now.
  • Facts from Langman's Medical Embryology, 2004. Despite these moving facts, 200k abortions in UK p.a. Abortion methods chilling.
  • RU486 chemical abortion designed to kill baby & expel his/her body. Mother involved in whole process, which is very traumatic, admit makers.
  • Abortion in Britain allowed in law up to birth since 1990, including of disabled babies. #discrimination
  • Morning-after pill can cause early abortions. Makers say 1 mode of action is to prevent implantation, thus killing newly-conceived embryos.
  • Mother's health & wellbeing harmed by abortion. Possible risks may incl. blood loss, infertility, breast cancer, emotional harm→suicide.
  • Over 500 abortions every day in Britain. We never judge women who have abortions, but give them truth, support, alternatives. #LoveThemBoth
  • Huda is Princeton-educated geneticist. Young, brave, educated #prolife woman.
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Bumper Pro-Life Quiz
Now Bumper #Prolife Pub Quiz! Heavyweight speakers tomorrow.

8 March:

Good morning from 2nd day of 7th SPUC Int'l Pro-life Youth Conference, Telford, England. Great pub quiz last night and top breakfast!

Top Catholic academic Dr William Newton on 'Contraception and Abortion: Humanae Vitae and Evangelium Vitae".
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    Dr William Newton
  • Fact: Big increase in contraceptive use was paralled by big increase in abortion in Spain, Turkey etc.
  • Contraceptive mentality is: more sex, no kids. Leads to unplanned kids being seen as unwanted, thus leveraging abortion.
  • Contraception not practical solution to abortion, let alone moral solution.
  • Contraception is a game-changer in how society thinks about sex, human life, the person, science and morality.
  • Contraception trivialises sex by removing the profound aspect of it, which is procreation.
  • Contraception leads to people taking risks with sex, and sleeping with people they wouldn't want to have children with. More teen pregnancy
  • Contraception enculturates mentality that pregnancy is like a disease. If "drug" of contraception fails, one kills the "disease" (unborn)
  • Contraception treats humans as if they are animals e.g. sterilising them if they breed too much. Tells people they can't control themselves
  • Science increasingly uninterested in question of its relationship with common good. Contraception wants power to neuter (not aid) nature.
  • In teaching of moral theology in most Catholic colleges, contraception is core issue which has corrupted thinking about moral absolutes.
  • Connection of the virtues: Lack of temperance inherent in contraception leads to selfishness, removes motivation to be sexually selfless.
  • Moral blindness caused by selfishness of contraceptive (i.e. loveless) sex, porn etc leads to failure to recognise humanity of the unborn.
  • Deep logical links between contraception and abortion.
Dr Helen Watt of Anscombe Bioethics Centre on "Cooperation with evil: how to think about the issue"
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    Dr Helen Watt
  • Pro-lifers must remember: ends don't justify means. All our intentions must be good, not just some. One area of concern: abortion law reform
  • Regulation of legal abortion (as distinct from selective banning of some abortions) inevitably involves formal cooperation in evil. Wrong to tell women how to prepare for abortion, says Dr Watt
  • Material (as distinct from formal) cooperation in evil often (but not always) wrong. Depends on how close and on goods/harms at stake.
  • Avoiding scandal (e.g. giving impression of weak/absent opposition to abortion) requires prudence. Again, can depend on closeness/remoteness
  • Matters what type of people we become through our actions. Aim to follow our vocation w/out wrongful cooperation in evil, concludes Dr Watt.
Q&A with Dr Newton and Dr Watt:
  • Natural family planning (NFP) differs from contraception because NFP is open to life, simply making use of infertile part of cycle.
  • Extra-marital sex endemic in today's world, partly due to contraception. Illicit sex common in some eras, but esp. rampant today.
  • Contraception leads to dualistic view of human person, denying essential unity of soul and body.
  • Contraceptive sex doesn't give full soul-body union to sexual partner. Also, gift of fertility to spouse different to other gifts to others.
  • Dr Helen Watt: Men have everything to do with abortion because they have everything to do with how women get pregnant.
  • Very important to provide emotional support to women considering abortion or post-abortion, says Dr Helen Watt.
RT @CCFather: Bernie reports from @spucprolife youth conference: excellent morning, esp William Newton.

Robin Haig, SPUC chairman, ex-chairman of Association of Lawyers in Defence of the Unborn (ALDU), dispelling myths re British abortion law:
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    Robin Haig
  • Myths: all abortion banned before '67, when abortion legalised. Facts: some abortion allowed '40s - '60s, abortion still crime in law.
  • Children of women who considered but didn't choose abortion have thanked SPUC for saving their lives. SPUC gave support, love. U can too.
Dr Thomas Ward on "Parents, the first pro-life teachers":
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    Dr Thomas Ward
  • Pays tribute to SPUC as unrivalled in Europe in importance for pro-life
  • UN Declaration of Human Rights upholds parents' rights as primary educators as safeguard vs child indoctrination e.g. Nazi schooling.
  • Saul Alinsky was anti-family radical who dedicated book to Satan. Obama, Hillary Clinton are Alinsky's disciples.
  • Other anti-family radicals: Karl Marx, Lady Helen Brook. Agenda: take away children from parents' influence and give them to State instead.
  • Enemies of pro-life know that parents as 1st educators are bulwarks vs abortion agenda. Pro-life movement slow to catch-up with this fact.
  • Unlike pro-aborts, pro-lifers slow to realise that culture of death is underlined by contraception and homosexuality as well as abortion
  • Dr Tom Ward to young pro-lifers: don't make same mistakes of previous generations in ignoring role of parents.
  • Apart from a few brave bishops past & present, most bishops have failed to protect parents, thus damaging individual families, says Dr Ward.
  • In Germany, home-schooling families arrested, children taken away, forced into exile. Good parents just protecting their kids from bad ideas
  • Parents will become victims of the very ideas which they treat with indifference. John Paul II: all policies for the family, not at its cost
RT @spucscotland: Project Truth stall @ the SPUC Youth Conference pic.twitter.com/KDwp6ohyIl
    Project Truth stall
John-Henry Westen, co-founder & editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com, on "Sexuality: Communicating the truth with love"
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    John-Henry Westen
  • Pro-abortion and anti-family movements have long been cooperating. Media totally misrepresenting prayer vigils as angry, condemnatory.
  • Young pro-lifers called to be heroic, just like good people during the Holocaust. Abortion holocaust: 10s of millions killed every year.
  • Both founders of LifeSiteNews.com used to live pro-abortion, sexually liberal lifestyle.Soon realised it was a narrow hell.
  • Pro-life message of love for both mother and child is having beautiful effect.
  • Women like http://www.rebeccakiessling.com have found love, healing, hope in #prolife cause. Pro-lifers using love to move beyond standard debates
  • Pro-family movement is movement of love, though unpopular; gets false accusations of "hatred", "bigotry"; also anti-faith hostility.
  • Satan attacks married love cos God has made married love the exemplar of Heaven.
  • Cardinal Ratzinger told US bishops: pro-abortion politicians must be denied Holy Communion, out of love for their souls and truth re life.
  • Love is the easiest way for pro-lifers to get through to our opponents, esp. those hurt by harmful lifestyles (abortion, homosexuality etc)
  • Printers, sports presenters et al. in Canada being sacked for not going along with gay agenda. Some Catholic bishops complicit in agenda.
RT @crismunozbe: Around 140 young adults attending the Youth Prolife Conference at Telford,England cc @spucprolife

Panel discussion on male & female perspectives on abortion. Fiorella Nash, John-Henry Westen, Robin Haig, Anthony Ozimic (chair)
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    Anthony Ozimic
  • Many men hurt, angry, emasculated by partner's abortion. Women patronised by abortion lobby, as incapable of responsible motherhood.
  • Abortion providers doling out operations, pills, drugs, devices which give men cover, excuses to abuse women further. Women deserve better.
Dr Helen Watt and Anthony McCarthy, mock debate on "Is abortion always wrong?":
    _MG_9237 _MG_9234
  • Dr Watt giving #prolife side. Pregnant women = mothers
  • Society must change to accommodate fertility, not make women non-mothers to fit society's perceived needs.
  • Anthony McCarthy giving (mock) pro-abortion side
  • Pro-aborts argue not all human beings are persons. Right to life not in play for unborn cos not persons.
  • Argument: direct abortions and double effect causing of miscarriage not really that different, so why not give jail time for both? Dr Helen Watt to reply
  • Distinction between killing and letting die. Legitimate choices about resource allocation not intentional homicide.
  • Mock debate now going through arguments around twinning, ensoulment. Aquinas good on soul-body but used now-outdated embryology
  • Ethical use of double-effect re abortion requires strong justification. Is pregnancy a special case?
  • Dr Helen Watt now answering question by rebutting Judith Jarvis Thompson's famous violinist scenario. Pregnancy very different situation.
  • Abortion is a violent separation of child from mother, not simply decision not to support another's life. Abortion = deliberate bodily assault on child.
  • If unborn was not a human being, it couldn't develop those capacities which are identifiably human. Mother's body welcomes human being.
  • Argument that unborn human is parasite never used by scientists to describe unborn of animal species. Shows anti-human bias.
  • Religious arguments not essential to show wrongness of abortion but can help give deeper, broader context for understanding wrongness.
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Eve Farren
Now hearing from Eve Farren of the Alliance of Pro-Life Students; SPUC Scotland's Project Truth and pro-life roadshow.

SPUC's Pro-Life Chains on 27 April, anniversary of Abortion Act coming into effect. Call SPUC on 020 7091 7091 for more info.

RT @AdamCC92: SPUC conference has been absolutely amazing! They do such great work

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Ceilidh (Irish dancing)

9 March:

Good morn. from SPUC's 7th Int'l Pro-Life Youth conference, Telford, England. Great dinner & dancing last nite, religious services this a.m.

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Fr Tony Kiely

SPUC's Fiorella Nash on "Men and abortion".
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    Fiorella Nash
  • Abortion centre staff have reported horror stories re reality of killing babies.
  • RU486 is hit-and-run abortion, leaving women to deal with the appalling trauma of delivery & disposal of dead baby.
  • Men suffering from partners' abortions of their children, mocked by pro-abortion feminists. Depression, substance abuse, helplessness.
  • "Silent No More" help both men & women after abortion experience. One Army veteran: "I still grieve for [my aborted son]." Lost chances.
  • Abortion leads to relationship breakdown, contrary to promises of abortion advocates. Denial of abortion loss common early-stage bereavement
  • How should men work to stop abortion? Live life of personal integrity, not selective morality, don't sleep around, don't abandon women
  • Be with women during crisis pregnacies; speak respectfully to and about women; be confident in giving pro-life opinion, show compassion
  • Be concerned about common good; work with others; find common ground; don't be scared
  • Be bold, be active, be compassionate, be a man.
RT @JackStukel: People like Fiorella Nash restore my faith in human sanity and compassion @spucprolife #fourthwave #feminism

Patrick Buckley on "Ireland and the Global Pro-Abortion Agenda"
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    Pat Buckley (right) with Irish delegates
  • John Smeaton, SPUC's chief exec, now introducing Pat Buckley, SPUC's man in Ireland; with Peter C Smith, one of SPUC's representatives at UN
  • Nuremberg trials declared abortion (whether voluntary or forced) to be "crime against humanity", "act of extermination"
  • UN human rights declarations, conventions etc actually protect unborn children from abortion but pro-aborts at UN misrepresent them
  • John Paul II, who lived thru Nazi occupation, said pro-abortion culture of death is more insidious & evil than Nazi culture of death
  • Ruling of Euro Court of Human Rights in Tysiac v Poland case was used later in same court in A, B & C case to pressure Ireland over abortion
  • PM Enda Kenny broke pre-election promise not to legislate to allow abortion. Pro-abortion lies re Savita case increased pressure on Dail
  • New Irish abortion law allows abortion up to birth in some cases; forces medics & hospitals to be complicit in abortion.Pro-abortion, anti-family Estrela report in Euro Parliament was defeated cos it exceeded Euro Parl's competence, plus big pro-life push-back
  • Pro-abortion lobby identifies Catholic Church, esp. Holy See delegation at UN, as main roadblock to advance of global anti-life agenda
Heartfelt thanks to Pat Buckley & Peter C Smith for their sterling work at UN for SPUC & helping Holy See et al. to fight for life & family

John Smeaton, SPUC's chief executive, on "The Pro-Life Battle"
    _MG_9416
    John Smeaton
  • Thanked youth delegates from Romania, US, Scotland. Youth part of pro-life movement much more advanced 2day
  • Some pro-life orgs (incl. SPUC in past) wasted efforts arguing for wrong legislation e.g. compromise bills. Let's never make mistake again.
  • As Dr William Newton showed, contraceptive mentality is at root (not merely fruit) of culture of death e.g. abortion.
  • SPUC defended pro-life counsellors when they were spied upon & defamed by pro-abortion groups via media fellow-travellers.
  • Right that SPUC concerned re what happens in Catholic Church b/c Church incl. some great clergy gives great strength to pro-life movement
  • Obama made abortion promotion worldwide, incl. to schoolchildren thru sex ed, one of his 1st priorities. We need strong RC Church to help us
  • Pro-life orgs can't defeat culture of death on our own. We need global strength & reach of Catholic Church leadership to back us solidly
  • Theologians who dissent from Catholic teaching on abortion undermine pro-life fight. Failure of bishops to discipline them thus harms cause.
  • Youth called 2 speak truth 2 power, secular or religious. Need 4 declaration of total resistance 2 abortion. Emergency calls 4 open prayer.
  • Some courageous pro-life bishops: Davies of Shrewsbury, Egan of Portsmouth, Olmsted of Phoenix.
  • "Work with the spirit you danced with last nite in the ceilidh and you'll dance with your grandchildren", John Smeaton to SPUC prolife youth
RT @nickmurf: Fantastic weekend at @spucprolife youth conference! Met great people who are paving the road toward a pro-life society.

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Nick Murphy @nickmurf

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