Joint Letter of Three Southern Bishops

"Worthy to Receive the Lamb"



From the Archdiocese of Atlanta site:

As bishops, we have the obligation to teach and guide the Catholic Faithful whom we shepherd in the Body of Christ. A fundamental teaching of our Church is respect for the sacred gift of life. This teaching flows from the Natural Law and from Divine Revelation.



Life is a gift bestowed upon us by God, a truth underscored by the commandment: "You shall not kill" (Deut 5: 17 ). The Old Testament also teaches us that human life in the womb is precious to God: "...I formed you in the womb..." (Jer 1: 5). The right to life is a value "which no individual, no majority and no State can ever create, modify or destroy, but must only acknowledge, respect and promote" (Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae, 71a). A law, therefore, which legitimizes the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion is intrinsically unjust, since it is directly opposed to the natural law, to God's revealed commandments, and to the consequent right of every individual to possess life, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.



Catholics in political life have the responsibility to exemplify in their public service this teaching of the Church, and to work for the protection of all innocent life. There can be no contradiction between the values bestowed by Baptism and the Catholic Faith, and the public expression of those values. Catholic public officials who consistently support abortion on demand are cooperating with evil in a public manner. By supporting pro-abortion legislation they participate in manifest grave sin, a condition which excludes them from admission to Holy Communion as long as they persist in the pro-abortion stance (cf. Canon 915).

Amy in the LA Times

From In Spite of It All, St. Christopher Hangs In There:



"For young believers, the dichotomy between the historical man and his legend is neatly explained in a children's book, 'Loyola Kids Book of Saints,' which is sold in the cathedral gift shop.



In it, author Amy Wellborn writes, 'We don't know much about Christopher... but the stories we tell most often about Christopher [are] stories we've invented to help us figure out the best ways to serve God.' "

Coming in September--Order Now!

Horrible Tragedy the Result of Greed?

From ThisisLondon:



"Hundreds of people were left to die inside a blazing supermarket after security staff locked doors to prevent customers from running out without paying, it emerged today.



Initial reports suggested as many as 340 people were killed when the fire tore through a large shopping centre in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion after an industrial propane tank exploded.



Police have charged the store's owner Juan Pio Paiva and his son Daniel with homicide after they allegedly ordered security personnel to lock down every exit. Firefighters had to batter down the locked main entrance to the complex before they could reach hundreds of trapped shoppers. "

In New York-- Holland Tunnel Closed To Inbound Truck Traffic

From wnbc.com - News - Holland Tunnel Closed To Inbound Truck Traffic:



"The Holland Tunnel closed to commercial traffic heading to New York at 12:01 a.m. Monday, officials said Sunday evening.



The ban was "correlated to the warning about the downtown financial districts," said Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.



He said commercial vehicles should use the Lincoln Tunnel and George Washington Bridge as alternative routes. The ban would definitely affect trucks, said Ciavolella, but it was not immediately clear whether commercial vans would be prohibited.



The ban was not slated to affect vehicles leaving New York City. No ending date for the ban was set."

Goward Supports Pope on Women

From The Australian: Goward supports Pope on women [August 02, 2004]:



"Pope John Paul II won unexpected praise from Australia's leading feminist bureaucrat yesterday, when Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward branded the new papal document on women 'a small step forward for man but a great step forward for womankind'.



The Vatican document celebrates sexual difference, attacks extreme feminism for promoting a conflict between the sexes and calls for 'a just valuing of the work of women within the family', so that mothers who work don't have to choose to 'relinquish their family life'. 'What I think the Pope is recognising is that if we don't help women to work and have children we are going to see a continuation of the decline in the fertility rate and in the happiness of women,' Ms Goward told Sky News.



'When the Pope says let's get on with it and support women in both those roles, I think the game's over.'



An advocate of paid maternity leave, Ms Goward said the papal document - a Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World - could even help reverse the falling birthrate.



'We love being different and we love having children,' Ms Goward said. "

The Angry Reaction...

Over the Vatican Letter (see below)...



From Top News Article | Reuters.com:



"'This letter could easily have been written by an imam of al-Azhar,' she said referring to Sunni Islam's most respected institution of religious learning in Cairo.



'To be fair to the Catholic Church, no religion is a great friend of women,' she told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. 'They pay you a lot of compliments but when push comes to shove they ask you to stay in your place: wife, nurse, mother and grandmother.' "