Ash Wednesday

“Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in 

love and good works”

-Pope Benedict's Theme for Lent 2012

Sisters of Mary Issue Statement on President Obama’s So-Called Compromise

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist
Issue Statement on President Obama’s So-Called Compromise

Ann Arbor, Mich. – In response to President Obama’s remarks regarding the final rule for individual and group health plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Mother Mary Assumpta Long, O.P., the Superior of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist released the following statement:

“Regarding the so-called compromise by President Obama on the Department of Health and Human Services rule for “preventative” services that mandate coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and artificial contraception for their employees, the mandate still compromises religious, economic, and political liberty.

“Despite the assurances by President Obama that separating the premiums paid by religious institutions to insurance companies somehow protects the religious liberty of Catholic and other religious institutions, the bottom line is these institutions will still have to pay the insurance company that is mandated to provide these services for free to any employee who wants these services.  It is insulting for President Obama and his administration to suggest the so-called compromise ‘should be net cost neutral.’

“It is simply impossible to ensure that the insurance companies will not pass on those costs to the organizations and individuals who conscientiously object to their insurance policies covering abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and artificial contraception. In short, not only does the Administration not comprehend Catholic moral reasoning and the full-meaning of the principle of religious liberty, it does not even understand the basic economics of health-care insurance. The fact that Planned Parenthood has so quickly expressed satisfaction with these arrangements only confirms that nothing has changed in substance.

“As the Second Vatican Council declared in paragraph four of its Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae:

‘religious communities rightfully claim freedom in order that they may govern themselves according to their own norms, honor the Supreme Being in public worship, assist their members in the practice of the religious life, strengthen them by instruction, and promote institutions in which they may join together for the purpose of ordering their own lives in accordance with their religious principles.’

“Moreover, as citizens of the United States we are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to fully and vibrantly live our Catholic faith according to the teachings of the Church.  We as Catholics demand that our institutions not be required to formally or materially cooperate in acts that the Church has always taught to be intrinsically evil.

“The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist plead with God to protect the ability for all Americans to freely exercise their religious liberty.  The Sisters of Mary will offer up daily prayers with the intention that this unjust mandate be overturned, and we will do so until it is overturned.”

The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic community of women religious based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Our primary apostolate is the education and formation of young people. We remain open to engaging the modern culture with new forms of evangelization in order to preach the Gospel and teach the Truth.   In 15 years, the Sisters have grown to over 100 in 14 years, the average age is 28 and the average age of the women who enter is 21.  Sisters represent most of the States across the U.S., various Provinces in Canada, and countries in Europe and Asia.


Courtesy: catholicvote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=26678

Papal Class, now with more leg room

What's Planned Parenthood to Do Now Without Komen's?

How 'bout a reality check, hm?  Fact #1:  Planned Parenthood is currently under investigation by Congress over their use of all those federal dollars we taxpayers are obligated to provide them.  And let's not be obtuse here, folks - funds are fungible.   Funds that pay the electric bill for the abortion mill are funding abortion.  Planned Parenthood EXISTS to do abortions.  Period.  If they had to cease killing babies tomorrow, they'd close up shop the day after that.  They are not a benevolent medical organization interested in women's health.  They are not philanthropists.  They are interested only in profits, and abortion means BIG profits.  Those "blobs of tissue" may be small, but getting rid of them is a multi-million dollar industry.  Breast cancer screenings?  Not a money-maker.  (Hence the cry for grants from generous folks like Komen.)

Fact #2:  Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms.  There is not a single PP clinic in the U.S. that can give a woman a mammogram.  Planned Parenthood does not offer any direct cancer treatment services.  PP does a physical breast exam, and then they are merely a referral center.  They send women to hospitals and health care facilities that do provide mammograms.  And for this, they demand the generous support of charitable contributions.

Fact #3:  Planned Parenthood performed less than 5% of the breast examsthat Komen grants funded in 2011.  Clearly, Komen has not abandoned women to suffer without needed care.   Quite the contrary.  Brinker explained that Komen's goal is to direct their funding toward providers who - imagine this now - actually provide mammograms and cancer treatment!!

And last but certainly not least:  It was not the Komen Foundation that issued a statement about their decision to discontinue funding PP, butPlanned Parenthood who leaked the news to the media first in order to stir up the necessary outrage toward Komen.  And the mainstream media was only too eager to oblige.  Poor, poor Planned Parenthood!  One ABC News story set it up this way:  "Witch Hunt or Policy Shift?"  With "reporting" like that, how can anyone question the allegiance of the media to PP?

So began the smear campaign against Komen, accusing them of politicizing women's health.  Have you noticed that a decision to not fund Planned Parenthood is always about politicizing women's health, but mandated funding of PP is never political, just noble and necessary?  In the world where Planned Parenthood is sainted and adored, any citizen who doesn't ...

bow and pay homage (literally, pay) is punished and if necessary, crushed for their transgression.

That's the lesson of this Komen story:  Planned Parenthood has friends in high and useful places, and if you dare cross them, you.will.be.destroyed.

In the most ironic statement of the month, Cecile Richards griped that Komen's decision was the result of bullying by the pro-life community:

"It's hard to understand how an organization with whom we share a mission of saving women's lives could have bowed to this kind of bullying," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told the Associated Press.


Courtesy: www.catholic.org
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=44661

Kudos for Komens

In the wake of this week’s announcement that Susan G. Komen for the Cure will no longer be awarding grants to Planned Parenthood, the breast cancer organization’s donations have gone up 100 percent in the last two days.

On a Thursday conference call Nancy Brinker, the founder and CEO of the Komen Foundation, told reporters that the organization is “singularly focused” on combating breast cancer, and that the politics of the decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood has been distracting from their mission.

Nevertheless, since cutting ties, Brinker announced that Komen’s donations have gone up in the last two days — by 100 percent.

“Our donations are up 100 percent in the past two days. With all of the emotion around these issues — which we understand, we get emotional too, we do this every single day of our lives,” Brinker said, explaining that they do not make decisions to be popular, they make them to fight cancer.

On Wednesday Planned Parenthood reported that since Komen ended the relationship, the abortion provider has pulled in $400,000. According to CNN, following the announcement 6,000 donors gave to Planned Parenthood through online contributions.

While pro-choicers believe the decision to sever the relationship was based in politics, Komen continues to argue that the decision was based on internal policy changes which dictate more stringent criteria for grants — which Planned Parenthood does not meet, including the fact that Planned Parenthood is under congressional investigation and does not offer on-site screening, having to refer patients for mammograms, treatment and diagnosis elsewhere.

“We regret that these new policies have impacted some longstanding grantees, such as Planned Parenthood, but want to be absolutely clear that our grant-making decisions are not about politics,” Komen said in a statement Wednesday. “Throughout our 30 year history, our priority has always been and will continue to be the women we serve. As we move forward, we are working to ensure that there is no interruption or gaps in services for the women who need our support most in the fight against breast cancer.”

Since its founding in 1982 Komen has invested more than $1.9 billion in breast cancer treatment and research.

Courtesy: www.dailycaller.com
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/02/after-cutting-ties-with-planned-parenthood-komen-donations-up-100-percent/#ixzz1lK7ze5tN

Papal condolences for passing of Card. Bevilacqua

2012-02-01 Vatican Radio
Please find, below, the full text of Pope Benedict XVI's telegram to the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, expressing condolences for the passing of the Archbishop emeritus, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.
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To the Most Reverend Charles ChaputArchbishop of Philadelphia
Having learned with sadness of the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, I offer my heartfelt condolences to you and to all the faithful of the Archdiocese. I join you in commending the late Cardinal=s soul to God, the Father of mercies, with gratitude for his years of episcopal ministry among Christ=s flock in Philadelphia, his longstanding commitment to social justice and the pastoral care of immigants, and his expert contribution to the revision of the Church=s law in the years following the Second Vatican Council. To you, and to all the clergy, religious and laity of the Church in Philadelphia, and to the members of his family, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Support Cardinal-designate Dolan Sign the Religious Freedom Petition

The Obama Administration announced that Catholics MUST pay into insurance policies that cover abortion, contraception, and sterilization — NO conscience clauses will be accepted.


Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan released this video: http://bcove.me/ob5itz9v


Please go to http://stmichaelsociety.com/2012/01/22/support-cardinal-designate-dolan-stand-for-religious-freedom/ and sign the petition.