| Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carambula Interim President, Human Life International HLI's Mission Moves Forward Dear Faithful Supporters of Human Life International, Thank you, first of all, for the many offers of prayer for HLI during this transition. As many of you have heard, I will be acting as interim president while our board of directors searches for a candidate to replace Fr. Euteneuer. On Wednesday, September 1, I arrived from Rome, where I have served for nearly 12 years as Executive Director of HLI's Rome office - a position to which I hope to return after a permanent president is selected by our board. The last ten years under Fr. Euteneuer have been a time of great growth and accomplishment for HLI, and he has assured us that he will keep you, HLI's supporters, and our life-saving mission in prayer as he returns to his home diocese. I am honored to have been chosen by the board to keep everything moving forward while the search for a new president goes ahead, but truth be told, our regional coordinators are already doing so much that a big part of my job right now is catching up with them! Dr. Ligaya Acosta continues tirelessly in her many tours around Asia and Oceania, and has received many requests from local bishops and community leaders to return. Her energetic presentations have led to many conversions and have inspired many new champions for life. In Africa, Emil Hagamu and George Wirnkar have not slowed down in reaching out to seminarians, families and the media and communicating the urgency of the Gospel of Life, as the culture of death is so well funded in this beautiful pro-life continent that there is not a moment to lose. The urgency of a commitment to the cause of life in Africa can be seen after Kenya's recent approval of a constitution that puts their unborn children in great jeopardy. This constitution was put in place with a massive intervention of pro-death forces, including $23 million dollars from the current US administration. We see the same anti-life assault on the nations of Latin America, where our own Mario Rojas and Fr. Jose Chavez continue to rally our many allies from the tip of Argentina to our own southern border. Mr. Rojas and Fr. Chavez are collaborating with our longtime stalwart pro-life heroes Magaly Llaguno and Adolfo Castaneda of Miami-based Vida Humana Internacional, whoseWeb site is by far the most popular and valuable Spanish language pro-life resource. Joannes Bucher, whom we must congratulate along with his new bride, Iris, is taking the fight to the enemy all around Europe, and helping HLI make truly amazing progress with some new friends in post-communist Eastern Europe. These countries are only now realizing the terrible havoc wrought by abortion and contraception on their dwindling native populations. Like the countries of Western Europe, they are becoming more and more concerned about the population problems brought about by abortion and contraception, and they are starting to take some measures to reverse the current demographic winter. And HLI America, led by Jenn Giroux, is already making waves here at home, spreading the truth about the consequences of the widespread acceptance of contraception and abortion. But HLI America's message is not only one of warning, it is one of hope, in particular the hope being lived bylarge families across America. Everywhere HLI goes, we will continue to defend all human life from the moment of conception until natural death; and as we have seen recently, this mission is ever more crucial. It seems we cannot read the news without hearing of some new assault on the most basic human right, the right to life, or some new offense to the dignity of traditional marriage. We also recognize that so much of this culture of death is planned and financed right here in America. Prayer and education are our greatest tools in this fight. We trust in Our Lord, through the intercession of our patroness, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to move the mountains that we cannot move; yet we still must continue to form ourselves and others in all of the truth about life; and as a consequence, we must be ready to fight for life. This is why it remains so important to engage in the culture and politics of the most powerful nation on earth. It is easy to forget how influential the United States is to the rest the world, and how this fundamental fact requires us to be informed about our faith and about the consequences - political, social and cultural - of our faith. For this reason, this column will continue to engage and challenge those in power to respect truth, life, and traditional marriage. Our Church gives us a wealth of teachings to help inform consciences, and we must lovingly and without ceasing proclaim the truth. We will not enter into partisan politics. We will constantly remind Catholics and all people of principle that life and traditional marriage have to be defended always. Sincerely,  Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carambula Interim President, Human Life International |
| |
 HLI LifeLines #2: Abortion ViolenceIn this new video, HLI's Raymond DeSouza makes the case for a needed correction in how the media portrays pro-life and pro-abortion activists, especially when crimes are perpetrated by one side or other. The simple truth is that abortionists have a truly terrifying track record of violence, and the pro-life movement is one of the most peaceful and non-violent sustained human rights movements in history. See the video here... |
