Colorado Dems kill anti-pedophile bill

Democrats in the Colorado legislature blocked a Republican bill aimed at protecting the state’s children from sex traffickers and other predators. The bill would have mandated minimum sentences for people caught purchasing children for rape. “Democrats in Colorado have now become the party of pedophile rapists,” said CatholicVote President Brian Burch.  READ

Dallas mayor explains his decision to leave Dems

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson explained that his Christian faith played a role in his decision to switch his party registration from Democratic to Republican. Johnson is a devout Christian, and he noted that “I had more phone calls with people distraught about this party switch than I ever would have gotten if I had told people that I was actually leaving the church.”  READ

Abortion Pill Is a “Tool of Modern-Day Eugenics” says law group

WASHINGTON D.C. – Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine arguing how the chemical abortion drug Mifepristone, half of a two-drug protocol used to end pregnancies in early stages, has become a “tool of modern-day eugenics” to inexpensively abort millions of unborn lives through widespread abortion. The High Court will hear oral arguments in the case on March 26, 2024.  

Over the last eight years, the FDA has relaxed numerous restrictions making it easy to access the drug, most notably by illegally allowing mail-order delivery into the hands of pregnant women without in-person doctor visits. Now, chemical abortions account for the majority of all abortions in the nation – one-third of those abortions involving African American women despite being just 13 percent of the adult female population. In addition, an estimated 67 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with down syndrome are aborted across the country. Liberty Counsel argues the drug is being used to continue the abortion industry’s longstanding agenda of targeting “minority and disabled communities for eugenic ends.”  

This is the first case since the High Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned a constitutional right to an abortion, that U.S. Supreme Court justices will weigh in on the abortion issue. The case centers around how the FDA illegally removed critical safeguards allowing near-unfettered access to Mifepristone despite the drug’s questionable safety record. Even with serious side effects harmful to women’s health, the FDA removed Mifepristone’s safety measures and health protections such as adverse event reporting, in-person doctor visits, follow-up care, and mail-order restrictions. Pro-life doctors are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold an appeals court ruling that found the FDA acted unlawfully by removing the safeguards and determined the FDA should reinstate the restrictions. The Biden Administration argues the ruling should be overruled because the drug is “safe” and the loosening of the restrictions have not been proven as harmful. SCOTUS has temporarily halted reinstatement of any Mifepristone restrictions allowing the drug to remain widely available until it reviews the case. Liberty Counsel argues for reinstating the drug’s restrictions.   

Liberty Counsel’s brief states that this “dangerous” abortion-inducing drug is being used by “pro-eugenic organizations” to eliminate unborn children “based on race, sex, and disability.” As the brief explains, the eugenics movement gained momentum in the 1920’s when notable figures like John D. Rockefeller, Margaret Sanger, Theodore Roosevelt, and many other progressives, academics, and medical professionals put their power, money, and time into the effort.  

According to eugenicists of that time period, the goal of eugenics was to eliminate “unfit” and “undesirable” people, such as those with mental and physical disabilities as well as certain races. Many eugenicists drew a distinction between the “fit” and “unfit” along racial lines. Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood and committed her life to eugenic population control, stated the “unfit” was a “code word” for the poor, blacks, and other minorities who were a “menace to society.” She personally set-up birth-control clinics in minority communities and advanced the “Negro Project,” an initiative to propagandize birth control in black communities to curtail their population growth. Today, 86 percent of Planned Parenthood abortion facilities are in or near minority neighborhoods.  

Sanger’s eugenics legacy is clearly visible with the advent and use of Mifepristone. The patent for Mifepristone belongs to the Population Council, a nonprofit public health research organization with deep ties to eugenics. When the eugenics movement fell out of favor with the fall of Nazi Germany, John D. Rockefeller III in 1952 founded the Population Council as a means to still advance eugenic population control, but under different guises it still uses today such as “reproductive health,” “reproductive choice,” and “family planning.”  

After decades of funding and researching population control programs, the Council received the patent to Mifepristone. The drug was developed by the French company Roussel-Uclaf, who later donated the rights to the drug to the Population Council after the company was unable to find a buyer. With an opportunity for an inexpensive and widespread abortifacient drug to further its mission, the Population Council facilitated clinical trials, obtained FDA approval in 2000, and identified a manufacturer. During the FDA approval process, the Population Council transferred the rights to produce and distribute Mifepristone (RU-486) to Danco Laboratories, a “‘secretive and obscure’ entity formed in 1995 in the Cayman Islands, in return for undisclosed royalties.” Danco Laboratories then used the Chinese firm Hua Lian Pharmaceutical Co. to manufacture the compounds for the drug.  

Liberty Counsel raises the question of why a “dangerous” abortion-inducing drug is owned by the Population Council. 

“…the answer is clear: The Population Council’s advocacy for the easy availability of Mifepristone—despite the drug’s serious health risks—derives from the same eugenic ideology that motivated the Council’s founding,” stated Liberty Counsel. “Indeed, presenting abortion as a matter of ‘my body, my choice’ simply conceals the underlying motive of widespread abortion: shaping the composition of society through the selective elimination of preborn persons. As seen by the Population Council’s history and research interests, by emphasizing ‘reproductive freedom,’ the eugenics agenda is advanced under the guise of promoting women’s autonomy without overtly ackndging the abortion movement’s historical connection to population control.”  

“In the final analysis…[a]llowing the unlawful distribution of Mifepristone by mail would enable the Population Council’s ongoing experiments on reducing birth rates and eliminating [what they consider] ‘undesirable’ persons,” wrote Liberty Counsel.  

In this case, even the FDA has submitted “expert” testimony from Texas A&M University declaring that without chemical abortion more children will be born who will likely experience social, economic, and behavioral difficulties.  

“Put simply, the FDA—a federal agency—submitted a supporting declaration that claims that children should be aborted because they are more likely to be unfit for school, for adulthood, and for society,” stated Liberty Counsel.   

Liberty Counsel concluded that the links between abortion, racist eugenics, and the plot to kill millions of unborn babies via Mifepristone seems “lifted straight out of a pulp apocalyptic thriller, but sadly it is true.”   

Liberty Counsel filed the brief on behalf the Frederick Douglass Foundation and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which are a broad group of faith organizations, churches, nonprofits, and individuals. The groups have a strong interest in exposing the “undeniable links” between the racist and eugenic history of the abortion movement and the FDA’s chemical abortion regimen, which have had catastrophic effects on their communities.   

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Abortion is directly rooted in the eugenics movement. Today, chemical abortions have become a disturbingly effective tool to murder unborn babies in the womb, especially in minority communities, thus continuing the discriminatory practices of eugenics. Chemical abortions harm women physically and emotionally and cruelly kill defenseless children in the womb. The FDA can no longer be allowed to circumvent safety laws to allow a eugenic drug to destroy more innocent lives.”  

Admin ‘operative’ involved in Fulton County case against Trump?

Breitbart News is reporting that the Biden administration planted a Democrat operative inside a Fulton County office to target former President Donald Trump. “If the Biden administration planted the operative, as the sources say, it would present a strong argument that the administration interfered in the 2024 presidential election,” wrote Breitbart’s Wendell Husebø.  READ

Study: ‘trans’ surgeries do not solve youth suicide

A new Finnish study contradicted the central pro-LGBTQ talking point that subjecting children to so-called “gender-affirming care” reduces suicide rates. “Clinical gender dysphoria does not appear to be predictive of all-cause nor suicide mortality when psychiatric treatment history is accounted for,” the study concluded.  READ

DEMS POUNCE AFTER ALABAMA IVF RULING

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-IL, in January proposed a federal bill that would create a “right” to in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Duckworth is now pushing the bill in the wake of an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that recognized the humanity of frozen human embryos. CatholicVote’s Tom McClusky said the bill would let the “IVF industry wantonly destroy human embryos with no repercussions.”  READ

A short history on the Stations of the Cross

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) -- As I mentioned last week, this is Lent. And after the first week marking the faithful with ashes in the sign of the cross, we now turn our attention to an ancient devotion, the Stations of the Cross, in order to commemorate Jesus’ path to his death on Good Friday.

          I should say that the stations, for me, are much more welcome than the scattering – a good description of what I do – of ashes over the people. It seems that no matter how hard I try to be neat I can’t help but to leave bunches of ashes all over the floor, myself, and sometimes the folks I serve. This year I took my scattering to the hospitals and nursing homes in our area.

          I think each staff will now be searching me to see that I’m without the dreaded container of ashes. I promise to do better next year.

          Anyway, back to the topic: the stations.

          As we all know the devotion celebrated in churches world-wide are meant to invoke the memory of Christ’s passion through the representation of 14 points in his trip to Calvary. What most of us do not know is that the origins of this devotion goes back to the early Christians in the Holy Land that first memorialized Christ’s passion by retracing his steps. 

          Originally the early Christian pilgrims tried to follow Christ’s steps where they actually happened. But in 70 AD the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and those early pilgrims could only guess at the true locations of the events of the first Good Friday.  But they did congregate at Pilate’s praetorium where Christ was sentenced to death and later at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher erected by Constantine in 335.  Early steps (they weren’t called “stations” until 1462) contained as few as seven points of devotions.

          In the Fifth Century, as the devotion grew when pilgrims began bringing back relics from the Holy Land, St. Petronius, bishop of Bologna, built a series of chapels which reproduced some of the more important shrines in the Holy Land, including several of what we now call stations.

          In 1342 the Franciscans were given the responsibility as protectors of the shrines in the Holy Land and pilgrims were given indulgences for visiting Pilate’s house, the place where Jesus met his mother, where he met Simon of Cyrene, where he was stripped of his garments, nailed to the cross, and his tomb. 

          In 1462 an English pilgrim, William Wey, coined the term “stations” and numbered them at 14; however, only five corresponded to the ones used today.  He also turned the stations around, beginning with Christ’s condemnation and ending at the tomb, prior to that time pilgrims followed the path in reverse.

          When the Moslem Turks blocked access to the Holy Land, reproductions of the stations were erected by the Franciscans; the number of stations varied between seven and 30, although the number of stations at seven was the most popular.

          In 1686 the stations moved indoors when Pope Innocent XI granted the Franciscans the right to erect stations in their churches and granted indulgences to those affiliated with the Franciscans the same as if they had traveled to the Holy Land.  In 1726 Pope Benedict XIII extended the indulgences to all and in 1731 Pope Clement XII allowed the stations to be erected in all churches, provided a Franciscan erected them, and fixed the number at 14.

          In 1851 under Pope Pius IX, the bishops of England were authorized to permit the erection of stations in churches not affiliated with the Franciscans, and in 1862 Pius expanded that permission to all churches.  During the 19^th Century the question arose about which side of the church should the stations begin.  In 1837 the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, while not taking sides on the issue, suggested that beginning on the side where the Gospel is read was the most appropriate.

          Of the current 14 stations used today, the three stations representing Jesus falling, Jesus meeting his mother and Veronica wiping Jesus’ face have no scriptural foundation.  In recent times some have added a fifteenth station: Jesus is raised from the dead.

          A plenary indulgence is still available to the faithful who “devoutly make the Stations of the Cross,” according to The Handbook of Indulgences; Norms and Grants, as promulgated by The Holy Sea, Catholic Book Publishing Company edition.

          The usual conditions apply: a sacramental confession, reception of the Holy Eucharist, and prayers for the pope’s intentions. When I conduct the stations I announce these conditions and lead the congregation in three Hail Marys for the pope’s intentions, announcing what they are for the current month.   

          Additionally, there are a few other requirements that should be mentioned. First, the stations must have been lawfully erected which should cover most church erected stations, however you might not qualify if the stations are home-made or erected in a manner or place where they are not authorized, such as by a rogue group with little, if any, connection to a legitimate house of faith.

          The 14 stations should be accompanied by images representing the events in Jerusalem, with pious readings “to which are joined some vocal prayers.” In addition, as the faithful move from one station to the next, the congregation should physically move along as well. However, if that is impractical, only the leader need move from station to station. In some cases I have seen the priest or deacon leading, go from station to station along with the children from the congregation.

          Friday night stations followed by a fish fry. Sounds very Catholic to me. In case you are interested, there are two possible dates during Lent which, if falling on a Friday, are considered solemnities and no fasting or abstinence (no-meat day) is required: March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and March 25, the Annunciation of the Lord.

          I once ended the stations by bidding the crowd to enjoy their steaks and hamburgers. I got a lot of funny looks over that. I’d write a little more on this but I need to get my vestments to the cleaners before Sunday. For some reason there are ashes all over them.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)

Liberal states plot abortion pill push

The New York Times released two articles Thursday, highlighting efforts in six blue states to promote chemical abortion in pro-life states through “shield laws.”  According to Pam Belluck, these laws “promise to protect doctors, nurse practitioners, and midwives licensed in those six states who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in the nearly two dozen states” that have enacted pro-life laws.  READ

Catholics: prosecute ‘hate crime’

CatholicVote President Brian Burch called on New York officials to prosecute those who “profaned” the holy St. Patrick’s Cathedral and “mocked the Catholic religion.” Burch said: “Video footage shows that transgender activists intentionally used deception to obtain permission to enter St. Patrick’s and the facts show that access was used to desecrate that sacred space and mock Catholic faith and morals.”  READ

CBS withholds personal files from fired reporter

Catherine Herridge, a veteran news reporter and formally with FOX News, was investigating the Hunter Biden laptop story when she was among 20 CBS News staffers let go during budget cuts from its parent group Paramount Global. Her firing apparently stunned co-workers, but the network’s decision to seize her confidential documents and files has left staffers shaken, according to the New York Post.  READ

This week on FOT: illegally aborted baby cover-up; frozen embryos protected as “children”

Podcast is up, you can listen now: https://faith-on-trial.simplecast.com/episodes/martin-cannon-and-david-schmidt-401-2-24-2024-udtuKLNo?share=true

BREAKING: Washington bill that would have forced priests to break Seal of Confession is ‘dead’

‘SB 6298 has not been scheduled for an executive session, and thus will not be moving forward this session,’ Washington State Catholic Conference spokeswoman Adrienne Joyce told LifeSiteNews

By Matt Lamb

OLYMPIA, Washington (LifeSiteNews) — A bill in Washington that would force priests to violate the Seal of Confession is dead.

“SB 6298 has not been scheduled for an executive session, and thus will not be moving forward this session,” Washington State Catholic Conference spokeswoman Adrienne Joyce told LifeSiteNews this afternoon.

Under the proposed law, “clergy [have] a duty to warn the department or law enforcement when they have reasonable cause to believe that a child is at imminent risk of being abused or neglected, even if that belief is informed by information obtained in part as a result of a penitential communication.”

Breaking the Seal of Confession is an excommunicable offense.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him. He can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents’ lives. This secret, which admits of no exceptions, is called the ‘sacramental seal,’ because what the penitent has made known to the priest remains ‘sealed’ by the sacrament.

Legislative staffers confirmed the bill’s status in phone interviews with LifeSiteNews prior to Joyce’s email, as did the Diocese of Spokane. The diocese said the bill was “dead.”

Democratic Senator Noel Frame wrote the “compromise” bill this year alongside the WSCC, according to comments she made during last Friday’s hearing. While she wanted to eliminate all exemptions, she said this was the strongest bill she could currently pass.

Her communications director told LifeSiteNews this afternoon that the bill is all but dead.

“Today is the deadline for it to be passed out of committee,” Alex Bond said in a phone interview. “So, if it does not pass out of committee by the end of the day today, it is dead.”

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While there is “one committee meeting” left today, it is “currently not on the schedule to do so.”

Republican Senator Phil Fortunato, a Catholic, opposed the bill. A staffer in his office told LifeSiteNews the bill is almost dead too.

It is “at a standstill” and has not been reassigned to a different committee since the February 16 hearing. “When it’s not referred, it should be considered dead,” the staffer told LifeSiteNews on a phone call today, saying the bill has until Friday to officially die. LifeSite had asked for comment prior to getting the conference’s response.

Fortunato had criticized the Catholic Conference’s advocacy in support of the bill.

He wrote a letter, reviewed by LifeSiteNews, that shared his “grave concerns” about the conference’s “neutral” position on a provision that would require priests to violate the Seal of Confession in some circumstances.

The WSCC stated that it took “a neutral position on the ‘in part’ language because the broader exemption for penitential communications in the bill is critical to protect the Sacrament of Confession from state intrusion.”

“The duty to warn is such an intrusion,” the conference acknowledged, but claimed that it “can be avoided by following Safe Environment policies and pastoral care of a penitent confessing to ongoing sinfulness.”

The conference also said that a priest could ask a penitent who confesses to abuse to “visit with him or another mandatory reporter outside of the confessional.”

Fortunato questioned this logic in his letter to the conference.

“Why would someone ‘visit’ with a mandatory reporter if they knew they would be turned in? They simply would not go to confession and therefore not get the counseling to make amends for their actions,” he wrote. “If a priest hears something in confession and then gains other knowledge outside the confessional that together with the knowledge from confession, they now have a ‘duty to-warn.'”

He said this duty “is totally unenforceable, subjective and requires the priest to know who the penitent is.”

Fortunato failed to get his amendment passed that would “[affirm] that the knowledge which provides the basis for a duty to warn is not obtained in the context of a penitential communication.”

Catholic Conference doesn’t represent views of all bishops

Though the Catholic Conference purports to represent the views of the bishops, Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly opposed Senate Bill 6298.

Bp. Daly criticized a “misunderstanding” about the Seal of Confession, noting that a priest can withhold absolution if there is not a clear sign of “remorse,” last Friday on the Dr. Tom Curran Podcast.

Confession is “not a way to protect criminals,” the prelate said.

Priests are already required by the bishops in Washington and by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops rules to report child abuse allegations obtained outside of the confessional.

“I’m always amazed when, for example, laws look specifically focusing on the Catholic Church, and yet we have institutions that have contact with far more young people, for example, the public schools – where is the scrutiny in the public schools on the protection of children?” the bishop asked.

“I think this is the wrong path to protect children,” he said.

He called on the “lay faithful” to “please contact your elected official and tell them your feelings about this thing” and to say this is the “wrong path” to “protect children.”

“No one provides more care for young people in education, in health care, social services than the Catholic Church. And yet our voice, I think at times, is dismissed,” he said.

He reiterated that SB 6298 is “not the path to follow.”

Though the Catholic Conference worked alongside Frame on the bill, the two took diverging views.

Sen. Frame said that a bill without exemptions for priests could not pass this year.

Yet, the Catholic Conference said “advocates are pushing for an amendment to this bill that would eliminate the exemption altogether, placing the priest in violation of the law in all circumstances where there is a confession of past or present abuse,” suggesting a no-exemptions law could pass.

 

Teachers sue California officials over ‘trans’ rule

A pair of teachers have sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, both Democrats, over pro-“trans” policies that the teachers say compel them to lie to parents. The suit alleges that a local school district requires teachers to hide it from parents when kids adopt new "gender pronouns" or names.  READ

Texas attorney general sues Catholic immigration org

Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Annunciation House, a Catholic nonprofit that describes itself as a volunteer organization that “offers hospitality to migrants, immigrants, and refugees.” Paxton alleges the group aids illegal immigration via a stash house. He is seeking to revoke the organization's registration to operate.  READ

More on that LGBT funeral in St. Patrick's

‘TRANS’ GROUP PLAYS VICTIM IN CATHEDRAL SCANDAL 

The LGBTQ organization behind the scandalous “funeral service” at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is now demanding the church apologize for not holding a full Mass at the raucous event. CatholicVote’s Josh Mercer said: “They invaded our house of worship, mocked our teachings, and shouted obscenities in our most sacred space… And now they're demanding we apologize? They really want to rub it in our faces.”  READ

And 

CATHEDRAL PRIEST CANCELED MASS AT LAST SECOND

Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Tuesday defended the administrators of St. Patrick’s Cathedral for their quick thinking in handling the unexpectedly disorderly funeral service last week. Dolan especially singled out the priest who decided at the last moment to refuse to say Mass for the wild pro-LGBTQ crowd.  READ

Cardinal Cupich on Traditiones Custodes: Traditional Latin Mass ‘Impoverishes’ the Church

Cardinal Blase Cupich

CV NEWS FEED // In a recent column, the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, insisted that the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass as approved by the late Pope Benedict “impoverishes” the Church.

In his op-ed published last week on the Chicago Catholic, Cardinal Cupich tried to summarize the meeting Pope Francis had on February 6 with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship, of which Cupich is a member.

According to Cupich, the Pontiff  insisted that the purpose of Vatican II was 

to reform the Church in her fundamental dimensions: to make the Christian life of the faithful grow more and more every day; to adapt the institutions subject to change better to the needs of our time; to foster that which can contribute to the union of all believers in Christ; to reinvigorate that which serves to call all to the bosom of the Church. It is a task of spiritual, pastoral, ecumenical and missionary renewal.

“As Pope Francis observed: ‘It is like saying: Without liturgical reform, there is no reform of the Church,’” Cupich wrote.

“Why is the liturgical reform central in bringing about the reform of the church? Because the baptized are formed in and from the liturgy,” wrote the Chicago Cardinal.

“It is in this context that we come to appreciate Pope Francis’ clear teaching offered nearly three years ago,” wrote the Cardinal, insisting that “the liturgical books promulgated by St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the ‘lex orandi’ of the Roman Rite,” quoting Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.

Traditionis Custodes in effect dramatically limited the celebration of the Mass in what is known as the “extraordinary form,” or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).

“Absent our celebration of the reformed liturgy, we risk impoverishing the Christian way of life and the life of the entire church,”  Cupich claimed in his op-ed.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI granted universal authorization for the celebration of the TLM in all dioceses around the world with his Apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum.  

Alabama Supreme Court: frozen embryos are human beings

The Supreme Court of Alabama ruled Friday that frozen human embryos conceived in vitro fertilization (IVF) are children, with human rights under state law. In the court’s opinion, Justice Jay Mitchell cited the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. He wrote that the state law “applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation” and “regardless of their location.”  READ

[Editor’s note: This weekend on Faith On Trial Attorney David Schmidt of Liberty Counsel will discuss this case.]

American Life League Calls Out NAACP Over Death of 20 Million Black Babies

 Black Women Deserve Better than “Ultimate Racism” of Abortion

(Fredericksburg, Virginia) An open letter to NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, condemns the civil rights organization for its support of abortion. The February 15, 2024, letter signed by American Life League Founder and President, Judie Brown, called out Johnson over NAACP’s advocacy of a so-called “fundamental right to abortion” in light of the almost 20 million Black babies killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade was enacted.

 

As head of the American Life League, which in March 2024 marks 45 years of advocating for the preborn, Brown told Johnson, the national leader of the 300,000-member group that claims to fight racism, that “abortion is the ultimate racism.” 

 

Brown pointed to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s 2023 document entitled “Women’s Rights to Reproductive Freedom and Health,” which identifies “abortion access” as “a racial justice issue.”

 

“Where is the justice” asked Brown, for Black mothers and their babies, who are targeted by organizations like Planned Parenthood for abortions? She shared data from the Center for Disease Control’s latest Abortion Surveillance Report which found that almost 42% of the abortions in America are committed on Black babies. Brown declared, “Abortion is truly one of the greatest injustices of our time. Black women and Black babies deserve better.”

 

Read An Open Letter to Derrick Johnson, the President and CEO of the NAACP, from Judie Brown

President, American Life League, dated February 15, 2024, here [https://www.all.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/An-open-letter-to-DerrickJohnson.pdf ]

 

About American Life League

American Life League has been part of the pro-life abortion debate since its inception. Since 1979, American Life League has committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death with a pro-life integrity that stands up for every innocent human being whose life is threatened by the culture of death. For more information 

SAN FRANCISO APPOINTS NON-CITIZEN TO ELECTION COMMISSION

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to place illegal immigrant Kelly Wong on the city’s Elections Commission last week. San Francisco passed a measure in 2020 removing the citizenship requirement to serve on city boards, commissions, and advisory bodies.  READ

Soros buys up huge chunk of U.S. radio

A George Soros company is poised to take a massive stake in the nation’s second-largest radio company, which owns more than 220 stations nationwide. A source close to the situation told the New York Post he believed Soros will use the stations to influence public opinion in the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election.  READ

DOJ sues Tennessee over law against spreading HIV

The Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday sued the state of Tennessee over a law protecting people from the spread of HIV. The law heavily penalizes people who engage in prostitution while knowingly infected with HIV. The DOJ claims the legislation violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.  READ

This week on Faith On Trial: Fighting for religious liberty at state level; protecting the advances the pro-life movement has made

 Podcast has been posted at:

https://faith-on-trial.simplecast.com/episodes/lance-kinzer-and-alexandra-snyder-400-2-17-2024-DR500iDe

Kansas may erect statue of holy priest at capitol

A Kansas state senator recently introduced legislation to place a statue of the Servant of God and heroic military chaplain Fr. Emil Kapaun in the state capitol building. Kansas Catholic Conference Executive Director Chuck Weber told CatholicVote that the idea “stemmed from a desire to provide a much needed positive role model for Kansans and others to reflect upon.”  READ

Credit card companies to track gun buying in California

Several major credit card companies have decided to move forward with a plan to track purchases made at gun retailers in California. American Express, Visa, and Mastercard will implement a new merchant code allowing banks to track "suspicious" purchases.  READ

Ashes And Fasting, It’s Here Again

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) -- This week we begin our annual journey to Easter via Ash Wednesday. But there is an interesting story around how our practice of Lent has evolved.

                In the early Church the celebration of the Resurrection was not celebrated as an annual event, thus the Sunday liturgy was a weekly reminder of the Resurrection and the preceding Friday was the commemoration of the Crucifixion.

                The practice of fasting before the celebration of the Resurrection can be traced back almost to apostolic times. We know from a letter from Irenaeus, a disciple of John the Apostle, to Pope Victor I (189-199) that Irenaeus tells Victor about his church’s Easter celebration and the fast preceding it:

                “Some think that they ought to fast for one day, some for two, others for still more; some make their ‘day’ last 40 hours on end,” he wrote. The 40 hours referenced was in response to the early Christian belief that Christ spent 40 hours in the grave before His Resurrection.

                Many of the earliest Lenten fasts were associated with the preparation of catechumens for their Easter Baptism. While the fasts were very strict, some allowing only one meal per day, the length and severity of them varied greatly from region to region. Gradually Fridays were set aside for the abstinence from meat. After Christianity was legalized by Constantine (313), the Council of Nicaea (325) took up the issue of a 40-day Lenten season of fasting, but it is not clear whether the intent was that it was to be applied to all or just those preparing for Baptism.

                A 40-day period was ultimately chosen not only to represent Jesus’ 40 days of fasting before his public ministry, but, also the 40 days Moses stayed on Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy) and Elijah’s 40-day fast on His way to Mount Horeb (1 Kings).  But how those days were chosen was still open to dispute.

                The East only fasted on weekdays, making Lent last for eight weeks; but in the West, Lent was six weeks because it included Saturdays. Both observed a strict fast: only one meal per day in the evening, no meat, fish, or animal products. Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) wrote to St. Augustine of Canterbury, stating: “We abstain from flesh, meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese and eggs.”

                It was Gregory who moved the start of Lent from Sunday to Wednesday — including Saturdays — to produce an exact 40-day period. Sundays were always excluded from fasting since it is considered a festive day celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death.

                By the ninth century, Lenten fasting practices were becoming more relaxed. Eating was allowed after 3 p.m. and by the fifteenth century that became noon. Finally, some foods previously forbidden, such as fish, were allowed. Currently, fasting is required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, with the Fridays during Lent days of abstinence — no meat.

                Ashes for Ash Wednesday are a sign of public repentance and they were mentioned in connection with Easter preparation as early as the third century by Tertullian. In the Old Testament, the custom of receiving ashes on the head was a reminder of humility and mortality and a sign of sorrow and repentance for sins. Use of the ashes was mandated throughout the Western Church by the Synod of Benevento (1091).

                The use of ashes as a symbol of repentance and humility can be traced back over 3,000 years and can be found in many cultures. Homer, in his epic The Iliad, wrote about it in 800 BC and other evidence demonstrates that it was also used by the Greeks and other cultures along the Mediterranean.

                In the Old Testament ashes were not only a sign of repentance, but a sign of mortality and sorrow and are referred to in many passages including those found in Job (4:6), Daniel (9:3), Esther (4:1), and Jonah (3:5-6). So, it was only natural that the early Church encouraged the use of ashes. Tertullian (d. 220) wrote that the penitent must live “in the squalor of ashes.”

                Later the practice of sprinkling was replaced by making a Sign of the Cross with the ashes on the foreheads of the faithful. The practice of “marking” or “sealing” the individual was also a symbolic reference to the Book of Revelation and passages from Ezekiel which spoke of sealing God’s servants for their protection. “Go through the city (Jerusalem) and mark (with an X) the foreheads of those who moan and groan over the abominations that are practiced within it” (Ezekiel 9:4).

                Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday.  That day begins the Easter Triduum, which ends with the evening prayer of Easter day.  However, fasting continues through Holy Week, which is included in the traditional 40-day Lenten fast, even though Lent liturgically ends on Holy Thursday. 

                The word “Lent” itself was not used in the Latin speaking world. The word Lent comes from the German or Teutonic “Lenz” which means “long” and was originally meant to identify the season of spring.

                And so, we begin another Lent, a season dedicated to prayer, fasting and works of charity.  And as we do, we might remember the words of Pope Benedick XIV who in 1741, a year after assuming the papacy, wrote: 

                “The observance of Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare.  By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the Cross of Christ.  By it we gain strength against a prince of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help.  Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to the Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, or public calamity and of private woe.”

                May you find peace and comfort in this healing season.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial).

Two more states to vote on abortion in November

Pro-abortion activists in nine states are currently working to collect enough signatures to get a “constitutional right” to kill unborn children on the ballot. Seven states have added amendments enshrining the “right to abortion” in their constitutions since the repeal of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Now, abortion will officially be on the ballot in both Maryland and New York in November.  READ