FROM CALIFORNIA CATHOLIC DAILY:

Maybe they just needed to fill up space

Orange County diocesan newspaper publishes disturbing poll numbers, but doesn't bother to offer moral guidance to its readers

The last page of the November 2008 edition of Orange County Catholic carries a graphic with some disturbing statistics, published without comment by the newspaper's editors. The graphic, entitled "Voting and Values," shows that a majority of Catholics believe it is ok to vote for politicians who support embryonic stem-cell research, the death penalty -- and abortion.

The publisher of Orange County Catholic is Bishop Tod Brown; the editor is Elisabeth Deffner.

The image, bearing the copyright of Catholic News Service, appeared on the bottom right corner of a page encaptioned, "The Month in Pictures." The figures cited are attributed to a telephone survey of 1000 "self-identified Catholics" for the LeMoyne/Zogby "Contemporary Catholic Trends Poll."

Here are the results:

"U.S. Catholic adults who say people can be good Catholics if they vote for a candidate who…

Supports embryonic stem-cell research – 60%

Supports the death penalty – 55%

Supports abortion rights – 53%

Supports same-sex marriage – 45%

Supports euthanasia – 36%

Supports human cloning – 19%"

FROM CALIFORNIA CATHOLIC DAILY:

"A grave mistake, probably a grave sin"

Modesto priest says those who voted for pro-abortion politicians should consider confession, but his bishop publicly undercuts him

Catholics who knowingly voted for a pro-abortion candidate – like President-elect Barack Obama -- in the Nov. 4 General Election may need to go to confession before receiving the Blessed Sacrament, a Modesto priest has told his parishioners.

Fr. Joseph Illo, pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto, first made the observation at a Mass after the election, then followed up with a Nov. 21 letter to his parishioners explaining his thinking.

But the priest is getting no support for his views from Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire, who told the Modesto Bee Catholics are under no obligation to discuss how they voted with their priest and are free to consider many issues before deciding how to cast their vote. The only circumstance in which confession might be warranted, Bishop Blaire told the newspaper, is "if someone voted for a pro-abortion or pro-choice candidate -- if that's the reason you voted for them."

In fact, the bishop told the Bee, "There were probably many priests, and I suspect many bishops, who voted for Obama."

Below is the full text of Fr. Illo's letter to the 15,000 parishioners of St. Joseph's, dated Nov. 21, 2008, the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

"Recently I said at Mass: 'If you voted for a pro-abortion candidate on November 4, and you knew what you were doing, you need to go to confession before receiving communion.' Have I spoken out of turn? I will answer that question, as best as I can, at the end of this letter.

"All Catholics have the grave obligation to defend every innocent human life, but in particular the poorest and neediest. Jesus said: 'What you did to the least of my brothers and sisters, you did to me.' There are many kinds of poor in Stanislaus County. The homeless, the incarcerated, the elderly poor, the infirm and those in nursing homes all need our special love. I am privileged to pastor a parish that lovingly serves all of these types of needy people. But there is an entire class of Americans who are targeted for focused attack, a people with no rights, whose very lives are at the whim of judges and politicians. I of course speak about Americans before they are born. The abortion industry, and our legal system, refuses to recognize the humanity of the human fetus. But if a human fetus is not human, what is it?

"We Catholics, and all people of good will and sound reason, must defend the lives of these poorest of the poor. Protecting unborn people from abortion is the defining issue of our time, as constantly clarified by our Church: 'Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable,' wrote John Paul II in the Gospel of Life (1995). '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.'

"Many Catholics voted for candidates on November 4 who stated clearly that they would promote abortion. President-elect Obama, for example, promised Planned Parenthood that the first thing he would do upon taking office is to sign the so-called 'Freedom of Choice Act,' which would grant unlimited access to abortion in all 50 states up until the moment of live birth. Many Catholics voted for such pro-abortion candidates thinking that their good positions on other issues, such as the war or health care, outweighed their deplorable stand on abortion. Many discount 'one-issue voting,' but if the issue is grave enough, no one would object to 'one-issue voting.' For example, if the issue were legalizing slavery, no one would hesitate to vote against a candidate on this one issue. In fact, this election was a largely one-issue vote anyway, and that issue was the economy. What we Catholics, and all people of sound reason, must understand, is that a refusal to protect all human life is a deal-breaker. Abortion is a much graver issue than slavery.

"My dear brothers and sisters, I know many were confused about the issues. It is a difficult time for us all, and we are facing new social and cultural issues. Neither have your pastors and bishops spoken clearly and with one voice on these issues. But one thing is clear and certain: we can never vote for a candidate who promises to promote abortion. No one who promotes the killing of unborn people can be entrusted with the public good. 'The greatest destroyer of peace in the world today,' wrote Mother Teresa, 'is abortion.' It is not the economy, war, health care, poverty, or terrorism. It is abortion. 'Human life,' according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 'must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception… the inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of civil society and its legislation.' In other words, this is a civil rights issue. We have to speak for those who have no voice. We must demand honesty from our public officials, who are clearly dishonest when they pretend that the human fetus is not human.

"If you are one of the 54% of Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate, you were clear on his position, and you knew the gravity of the question, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion. Don't risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously. I appeal to your conscience, grounded in Church teaching. To some degree we all have the blood of these children on our hands. I myself have confessed sacramentally, and I confess to you now, that I have not done enough to defend these children. Their blood is on my hands too. We will see them in the next life, and they will ask us why we let them die.

Pope Benedict wrote in 2004 (as Cardinal Ratzinger) that Catholic public officials who 'consistently campaign and vote for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws' are guilty of grave evil. If they have been warned to abstain from Holy Communion and persist in promoting abortion, he wrote, 'the minister of holy Communion must refuse to distribute it' to them. In 2002 he had written that 'a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program… that contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals.'

"If you voted for a pro-abortion candidate, I cannot say for certain if you should refrain from Holy Communion. I don't know what you were thinking. But voting for a candidate who promises 'abortion rights,' even if he promises every other good thing, is voting for abortion. It is a grave mistake, and probably a grave sin. No issue can compare with the legalized destruction of a mother's child. I am writing to you because I love you and I care about your relationship with God. I am also writing because God requires this of me as a Catholic priest…

"We do not have to settle for 'pro-abortion' candidates. We can and must demand that our public officials protect the inalienable right of all Americans to live and flourish. If every Catholic told assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, for example, that we support him and most of his policies, but that we will not vote for him unless he defends all human life, he would change his position. All of us Catholics, all people of sound reason and good will, can and must simply require our public officials to act reasonably and responsibly in respect to human life.

"If you need to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our priests hear confessions on Fridays from 6:30-7:30pm, and Saturdays from 8:30-9:30am and 4-5pm. May God bless you, our families, our parish, and our nation.

Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Joseph Illo
Pastor"

Muslim Convert to Catholic Faith Founds Pro-Life Political Party in Europe

By Deacon Keith Fournier
12/2/2008

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The "Protagonists for Christian Europe" is committed to promoting and defending Europe's Christian Values.

Magdi Cristiano Allam and this new party serve as an example to many of us in Nations such as the United States of America who share these same convictions. His example calls us to bold initiatives to further the true common good by building a new culture of life and civilization of love. Perhaps it is time for a new Political Party here as well.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - At the Easter Vigil in Rome in 2008 Magdi Allam, the popular Italian journalist and former Muslim, received the Sacraments of Christian Initiation through the priestly ministry of Pope Benedict XVI. He also took a new name,"Cristiano".

Speaking of his encounter with Jesus Christ and entry into the Catholic Church, Magdi Allam wrote: "I converted to the Catholic Christian religion, renouncing my previous Islamic faith. Thus, I finally saw the light, by divine grace. On my first Easter as a Christian I not only discovered Jesus, I discovered for the first time the face of the true and only God, who is the God of faith and reason."

Magdi Allam chooses to be very public about this encounter with the true and only God.He does this knowing full well that he is placing his life at risk. He has received numerous death threats since his Baptism into Christ. His Christian courage in the face of such opposition should challenge all of us who bear the name Christian. He honored Pope Benedict XVI for inspiring this bold witness when after his reception into Christ and His Church he wrote of : "...the courageous and historical gesture of the Pope, who, as soon has he knew of my desire, immediately agreed to personally impart the Christian sacraments of initiation to me.

Continue reading this article here: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814

PRIESTS FOR LIFE

Herod slaughters the Innocents

Planned Parenthood's Christmas Gift Certificates -- Irredeemable Says Dr. Alveda King

ATLANTA, Dec. 1 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today criticized Planned Parenthood of Indiana for selling Christmas gift certificates that can be used for goods or services, including abortions.

"The word inappropriate hardly describes Planned Parenthood's scheme," said Dr. King. "To give someone a gift card from the nation's largest abortion business is to give death for Christmas. Planned Parenthood really should call these 'King Herod certificates' after the Roman ruler who slaughtered tiny babies in his vain attempt to kill the baby Jesus. Better yet, it should just leave Christmas, a celebration of birth, hope, and life, completely alone."

"Planned Parenthood's selling of Christmas gift certificates that can be redeemed for abortion is an irredeemable act," added Dr. King. "No amount of spin can turn this promotion into anything other than an abomination. Congress gave Planned Parenthood $300 million last year and now a chapter of this group is defiling the celebration of our Savior's birth. As one of America's taxpayers, I want my money back."

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

GOD IS PRO-CHOICE ACCORDING TO NUN

There is a definite schism in our Church today! It may not be out in the open but nevertheless it is real and very ugly. Here is an example of of someone who has lost the True Faith and is totally sick. The sad part is that these people corrupt the minds and souls of many others. Let us pray that God, in His mercy, will bring these people back to their senses and orthodoxy.

Deacon John 

By Judie Brown

I couldn't believe the e-mail that I recently received from a pro-life friend living in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She told me about a letter written by a nun to the archdiocese.

My friend told me she was "disturbed" to read this letter. She said, "I cannot fathom how a religious sister could not only advocate abortion, but also place her pathetic, misguided ideas into print! What a disgrace! And why would our archdiocesan newspaper even print such garbage?"

The Milwaukee archdiocese published this letter in its newspaper, The Catholic Herald. I also answered my pro-life friend on the EWTN web site.

GOD IS PRO-CHOICE

Even though Catholic bishops are already pressing President-elect Barack Obama on the issue of abortion, it is time they begin to realize that 54% of Catholics who voted for him do not agree with the bishops telling people how to vote.

Obama may be pro-choice, but so is God. God gave everyone a free will and he does not pressure people into using that free will to do what is right. Obama promised to do what he can to prevent abortion. What more need he do when so many other pressures to make changes are upon him?

Yes, abortion is the killing of an innocent life. So is war and violent killing on the street. I have often seen many starving babies in hospitals in Honduras and witnessed their pain. In these cases, abortion might have been the lesser of two evils, and even the most merciful alternative.

I challenge our bishops to dwell more on unjust economic issues that both create and perpetuate the need for children to die of starvation, and for women to choose abortion. It would be better to aim at eliminating poverty rather than focus only on abortion. Poverty in our country and the world at large is a disgrace that cries to heaven for vengeance.

Sr. Arlene Welding, SSSF; Campellsport, WI

Well, I am as upset by this as anyone who reads it should be, and on several levels, it contributes to the ongoing confusion that reigns within Catholic circles across this nation. The first and perhaps most obvious problem with this nun's letter is that she is clearly not only pro-abortion but feels fine attributing her views to God, the Author of Life!

To suggest to the readers of a Catholic newspaper that the Catholic bishops are out of line for standing up for the innocent preborn child is ludicrous. But it certainly is not as ludicrous as her comments about the number of Catholics who voted for Barack Obama, as opposed to the opinions bishops might have on the direct murder of preborn children by abortion!

To equate the direct murder of a preborn baby with the "lesser of two evils," thus suggesting that some preborn children would be better off dead than to have to be born into poverty, is about as misguided and ill-conceived a notion as I have ever seen in print. It tops many of the comments I have seen from pro-abortion leaders.

It is astounding to me that a Catholic newspaper would print such garbage and expect silence from all those in the Catholic community who know the truth, defend the truth, and expect to read the truth in a newspaper labeled Catholic! So here is an assignment for you.

First: contact Sister Arlene Welding's religious congregation and demand an apology from them for her public dissent from the truth of Catholic magisterial teaching.

School Sisters of St. Francis
http://www.sssf.org/
Central Offices of the U.S. Province
1501 S. Layton Boulevard
Milwaukee, WI 53215

You can also e-mail, though I think letters are best. The e-mail address is generalate@sssf.org.

The phone number is (414) 384-4105

Second, please contact the Executive Editor/General Manager of the archdiocesan newspaper and let him know how shocked you were to read this screed in his newspaper.

Brian T. Olszewski
The Catholic Herald
3501 S. Lake Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53235-0913

The phone number is (414) 769-3466

Mr. Olszewski's e-mail address is olszewskib@archmil.org.

Finally, it would be a very good idea to send copies of your e-mails and/or your letters to the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, whom I honestly believe would be as shocked as you and I about what was published in his newspaper.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
3501 S. Lake Dr.
P.O. Box 070912
Milwaukee, WI 53207-0912

Phone: (414) 769-3497

Email: archbishopdolan@archmil.org

May you find peace of mind and joy of soul by writing your messages, and feel comfort in knowing that no matter how clearly wrong some things are, even when labeled Catholic, they are all a part of living in a world steeped in the culture of death. Be of good heart, for we are assured of God's love, regardless of the muck in our midst.

Judie Brown is president of American Life League and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Respond to Judie
http://www.all.org/newsroom_judieblog_response.php?id=2412

FROM OPERATION RESCUE:

Advisory: Background Of Troubled CA Abortion Chain Available As Jury Selection Begins December 1st, 2008 Los Angeles, CA - As jury selection begins today in the Los Angeles trial of unlicensed abortionist Bertha Bugarin, some history is in order concerning her shoddy and illegal abortion business, Clinica Medica Para La Mujer De Hoy. The narrative contained in the link below was prepared by Operation Rescue to help readers better understand the people and the circumstances that have led to the current criminal proceedings against Ms. Bugarin. While we have included some details of the horrific nature of her abortion business, the information Operation Rescue has on file is far too voluminous to be included in total. What you are about to read is just the tip of the iceberg. Background: History Of The Notorious Clinic Medica Para La Mujer De Hoy Abortion Chain

________________________________ About Operation Rescue® Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates. Click here to support Operation Rescue. ________________________________ Web site: www.operationrescue.org E-mail: info@operationrescue.org

Personnel is Policy, Especially in Washington, D.C

Personnel is Policy, Especially in Washington, D.C. Susan B. Anthony List President and Team Sarah Co-Founder Comments on Obama's Appointment of Senator Hillary Clinton, other Abortion Advocates WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today the president of the Susan B. Anthony List commented on President-Elect Barack Obama's appointment of abortion advocates to key administration posts: "President-elect Barack Obama spoke of finding 'common ground' on abortion policy, but so far his personnel picks preclude this policy," said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "Senator Hillary Clinton and EMILY's List Executive Director Ellen Malcolm are consistent, headstrong advocates of a no-exceptions, abortion on- demand policy. Personnel is policy, especially in Washington, D.C. And these abortion advocate picks speak louder than words. "Women and children deserve authentic common ground that affirms the lives of both. It is hard to see how these aggressive abortion advocates, so out of the mainstream woman's view, would help forge such ground." Senator Hillary Clinton has a 100% pro-abortion voting record in the U.S. Senate. Her Presidential candidacy was heavily supported by EMILY's List, the nation's leading pro-abortion women's organization. Senator Clinton will serve as President-elect Obama's Secretary of State. She will oversee U.S. foreign assistance, including the U.S. taxpayer funding of international abortion providers and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which supports China's coercive one-child family planning policy. "The trouble is, President-elect Obama has made two mutually exclusive promises. He promised Planned Parenthood that passing the Freedom of Choice Act - legislation to strike down every single pro-life regulation and law in the nation - would be the first thing he'd do as president. He also promised to forge 'common ground' on the issue. One hopes that he is sincere. However, it will be a non-starter to find common ground with a no-exceptions abortion policy that refuses to allow a single protection at any stage in pregnancy for unborn boys and girls. The personnel Obama has chosen clearly would back up his first promise, not the second." Obama also appointed EMILY's List Executive Director Ellen Moran as White House Communications Director and former NARAL Legal Director Dawn Johnsen to his Justice Department Review Team. Also, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards was named immediately after the election as part of an informal, trusted "kitchen cabinet" of advisors to the Obama transition team. Since its founding, the nonpartisan Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund has helped elect 79 pro-life candidates to the House, seven to the Senate, and nine to other statewide offices across the country. The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of Americans, over 151,000 residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process. Team Sarah is a grassroots coalition of diverse women founded to advance Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential candidacy. Its political networking website has grown to 60,000 activists in the last two months.