Saturday, September 27, 2008

National Catholic Leadership Conference Releases Statement on Catholics and Voting

Thank You to John Rischiotto - Multnomah County Chairman

The "Catholic Leadership Conference" unanimously passed its statement of ten obligations and guidelines in time for Catholics to seriously consider the implications as it relates to their own exercise of what the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has called "Faithful Citizenship."
Catholic Leadership Conference Releases Statement on Catholics and Voting
By Deacon Keith Fournier 9/16/2008 > http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08091508.html
"No prudential judgment can justify certain acts, such as direct abortion, euthanasia, and the killing of unborn life for medical research. These acts are intrinsically evil and violate the Natural Law."
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Catholic Online) - On September 11th and 12th, a group of leaders of national Catholic organizations, missions, ministries, apostolates and institutions gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina for prayer, networking, strategic planning, informational and formative talks and panel discussions. The group, called “The Catholic leadership Conference”, was begun in 1998. Its stated mission “is to encourage cooperation and collaboration among national Catholic lay apostolates while providing venues for those leaders to exchange ideas, strengthen personal relationships and take unified action as desired.” The CLC is composed of the heads of national Catholic organizations and “other known Catholics who are in a position of influence in business, education, science, politics and the arts and who are loyal to the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church.” The conference is held annually and is attended only by invitation. This year, in addition to the numerous lay leaders in attendance, two religious sisters, two Bishops, several priests and this deacon were also present. It was an extraordinary event packed with excellent presentations of great importance to Catholics who are dedicated to infusing the culture with the values informed by the Catholic Christian faith. The action taken by the Conference was equally important. The CLC unanimously passed the following statement concerning the obligations of Catholic voters as we approach the 2008 elections in the United States of America: As Catholic voters, we acknowledge the following ten obligations and guidelines: 1. Catholics must participate in the political process and do so responsibly by being faithful citizens, informing the exercise of their citizenship by the teaching of their Church, and casting their votes in every election. 2. Catholics who vote should always be guided in their political participation by the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church, especially those more strongly insisted upon by the Magisterium. 3. Catholics should recognize that not all moral and social issues have equal weight in determining how to cast their vote because there is a hierarchy of values and their application. Additionally, on some matters affecting public policy there is room for the exercise of individual prudential judgment. 4. On such prudential matters Catholics of goodwill can disagree, although all Catholics should be able to trace their reasoning back to the shared principles of Catholic moral and social teaching. 5. In regard to the “life issues,” no prudential judgment can justify certain acts, such as direct abortion, euthanasia, and the killing of unborn life for medical research. These acts are intrinsically evil and violate the Natural Law, since they always involve the direct and intentional taking of innocent human life. Such acts are always to be avoided and abhorred in positive law and public policy. 6. Catholic voters are morally obliged to make decisions about their vote based primarily on issues which admit of no prudential judgment, such as direct abortion, the obligation to protect marriage between a man and a woman, and the family as the first social institution. 7. Catholic voters should also take into account other important social issues which concern the common good, always seeking to properly inform their exercise of faithful citizenship with reference to the truths taught by the Catholic Church. In so doing, they should acknowledge that there is no single "Catholic" position on issues like immigration, taxes, education, and delivery of medical care, in the sense of a specific policy approach, which all Catholics must espouse. However, there are Catholic principles, such as the dignity of the human person and fundamental rights, which should always be considered. Those principles are set forth in the body of Church teaching referred to as the "Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church.” 8. The role of the Church and her official teachers is to instruct and to remind Catholic voters of the moral obligations and moral-social principles that should guide their exercise of faithful citizenship and voting. The Church does not intend to tell Catholic citizens for whom they should vote but seeks to help them understand the moral and social issues involved. 9. Catholics rightly insist that their voice be heard in the political process. They affirm that their positions on many seemingly purely political issues are properly informed by their faith and by the moral teachings of that faith. They further affirm that many of those positions are also found within the Natural Law, which is knowable through the exercise of reason and binding on all men and women. Finally, they assert that religious faith and its exercise, though personal, is never private, and its free exercise is guaranteed and protected by the founding documents of the American government. 10. Catholics recognize that while some matters enjoined upon them by their faith are not relevant to positive law or public policy, the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church are, and the principles of these teachings can be directly applied by reasoned argument to public policy. These teachings should be publicly espoused in such a way that they can inform the making of positive law and public policy and must never be artificially limited to the private domain of individual belief.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Who Am I

Who Am I? submitted by Mary Rigert Washington Co. Chairman


I am under 45 years old,
I love the outdoors,
I hunt,
I am a Republican reformer,
I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,
I have many children,
I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor's office.


Did you guess?




I am Teddy Roosevelt in 1900

Make phone calls for McCain-Palin from home

Catholics for McCain/Palin....here's an email from the National Campaign. You can do this from home. Call three friends that would not be able to get out and help..here is a great opportunity. Just do a little and get a lot. The calls will be in your area code in Oregon.. God Bless America. Carolyn
Team,

Last week, our campaign launched a grassroots effort to put you in touch with voters all across the country through our online phone bank.

The polls all show this election is in a dead heat, and we expect the polls to stay close until Election Day. That's why it's so important for you to get involved today. This election will be won by turning out key voters all over the country. You can help the McCain-Palin campaign win by taking 30 minutes out of your evening to make 20 calls for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Follow this link to make calls: www.JohnMcCain.com/PhoneBank

The Obama-Biden campaign has hired hundreds of paid staff and is spending millions of dollars bombarding undecided voters with advertisements filled with negative, misleading and false information about John McCain and Governor Palin. We need your help to combat this and get the truth out to these voters. You are the most effective surrogate we have in this campaign. By reaching out to undecided voters, one by one, you are taking a crucial step towards our victory.

Today, we are only six weeks away from Election Day and we need your help right now. In such a close election, taking 30 minutes to make 20 calls for John McCain and Governor Palin can make the difference.

Follow this link to make calls: www.JohnMcCain.com/PhoneBank (Please copy and paste)

As always, I appreciate your hard work and dedication to our team!

Sincerely,

Christian Ferry
Deputy Campaign Manager

P.S. John McCain and Governor Palin are ready to lead our country and ready to challenge the status quo. Please do your part to elect the McCain-Palin ticket in November by making calls today through our online phone bank. The work you are doing today will make a big difference on Election Day. Thank you.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

There were a couple of pro-life letters to the editor in the Catholic Sentinel this week:

To the Sentinel:

The Church teaches that there is a prioritized list of political issues to consider, and the life issues — including abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem-cell research and cloning — are at the top. The Church teaches that these are always immoral. On the other hand, the Church does not teach that war and the death penalty are always immoral; indeed, the Church teaches that these issues are not at the same level of moral concern as life issues. Catholics must properly form their consciences according to Church teaching in order to cast a truly Catholic vote. Vote pro-life. Always.

Jay Boyd
Baker City


To the Sentinel:

The archbishop’s Aug. 15 column, “Political responsibility among Catholics,” is a guideline for everyone. The archbishop makes it clear that it is intrinsically evil to treat the destruction of innocent human life as a matter of individual choice. Also that the weak and vulnerable must always be protected and human rights and dignity defended. This is a universal moral teaching of the Church. It is up to the voter’s conscience to apply these guidelines to the applicable candidates and issues.However, there are issues that do not carry the same moral authority of the church. For example, these include terrorism, health care and immigration. These issues are up to the individual to decide. Research and prayer are necessary to determine how one is to vote.

Mike Fajer
Salem


Saturday, September 20, 2008

Supreme Knight's Letter to Biden


"Today, Children of All Races Are Denied Recognition as 'Persons'"

WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is an open letter addressed to Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for vice president, from the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl Anderson.
It was published today as a full-page ad in various U.S. newspapers.


* * * Dear Senator Biden:
I write to you today as a fellow Catholic layman, on a subject that has become a major topic of concern in this year's presidential campaign.

The bishops who have taken public issue with your remarks on the Church's historical position on abortion are far from alone. Senator Obama stressed your Catholic identity repeatedly when he introduced you as his running mate, and so your statements carry considerable weight, whether they are correct or not. You now have a unique responsibility when you make public statements about Catholic teaching.

On NBC's Meet the Press, you appealed to the 13th Century writings of St. Thomas Aquinas to cast doubt on the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion.

There are several problems with this.

First, Aquinas obviously had only a medieval understanding of biology, and thus could only speculate about how an unborn child develops in the womb. I doubt that there is any other area of public policy where you would appeal to a 13th Century knowledge of biology as the basis for modern law.

Second, Aquinas' theological view is in any case entirely consistent with the long history of Catholic Church teaching in this area, holding that abortion is a grave sin to be avoided at any time during pregnancy.
This teaching dates all the way back to the Didache, written in the second century. It is found in the writings of Tertullian, Jerome, Augustine and Aquinas, and was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which described abortion as "an unspeakable crime" and held that the right to life must be protected from the "moment of conception." This consistent teaching was restated most recently last month in the response of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Statements that suggest that our Church has anything less than a consistent teaching on abortion are not merely incorrect; they may lead Catholic women facing crisis pregnancies to misunderstand the moral gravity of an abortion decision.

Neither should a discussion about a medieval understanding of the first few days or weeks of life be allowed to draw attention away from the remaining portion of an unborn child's life. In those months, even ancient and medieval doctors agreed that a child is developing in the womb.

And as you are well aware, Roe v. Wade allows for abortion at any point during a pregnancy. While you voted for the ban on partial birth abortions, your unconditional support for Roe is a de facto endorsement of permitting all other late term abortions, and thus calls into question your appeal to Aquinas.
I recognize that you struggle with your conscience on the issue, and have said that you accept the Church's teaching that life begins at conception - as a matter of faith. But modern medical science leaves no doubt about the fact that each person's life begins at conception. It is not a matter of personal religious belief, but of science.

Finally, your unwillingness to bring your Catholic moral views into the public policy arena on this issue alone is troubling.

There were several remarkable ironies in your first appearance as Senator Obama's running mate on the steps of the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois.

His selection as the first black American to be the nominee of a major party for president of the United States owes an incalculable debt to two movements that were led by people whose religious convictions motivated them to confront the moral evils of their day - the abolitionist movement of the 19th Century, and the civil rights movement of the 20th Century.

Your rally in Springfield took place just a mile or so from the tomb of Abraham Lincoln, who in April 1859 wrote these words in a letter to Henry Pierce:

"This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it."

Lincoln fought slavery in the name of "a just God" without embarrassment or apology. He confronted an America in which black Americans were not considered "persons" under the law, and were thus not entitled to fundamental Constitutional rights. Today, children of all races who are fully viable and only minutes from being born are also denied recognition as "persons" because of the Roe v. Wade regime that you so strongly support. Lincoln's reasoning regarding slavery applies with equal force to children who are minutes, hours or days away from birth.

The American founders began our great national quest for liberty by declaring that we are all "created equal." It took nearly a century to transform that bold statement into the letter of the law, and another century still to make it a reality. The founders believed that we are "endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights," and that first among these is "life."

You have a choice: you can listen to your conscience and work to secure the rights of the unborn to share in the fruits of our hard-won liberty, or you can choose to turn your back on them.

On behalf of the 1.28 million members of the Knights of Columbus and their families in the United States, I appeal to you, as a Catholic who acknowledges that life begins at conception, to resolve to protect this unalienable right. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues personally with you in greater detail during the weeks between now and November 4.

Respectfully,

Carl A. Anderson
Supreme Knight

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Vatican Official: Palin "Dream" for Pro-Lifers

Monday, September 8, 2008 4:19 PM From Joan Chipman..Lane Co. Chairman
By: Edward Pentin




Sarah Palin’s firm opposition to abortion and her status as a mother of five prompted a Vatican official to describe the Republican vice president nominee as a “dream candidate.”

“I couldn't be more happy,” a U.S. church official at the Vatican told Newsmax on the condition of anonymity. “She is, in many ways, a dream candidate, at least among Americans here.”

It is impossible to speak of a collective “Vatican view” about Palin, a member of the Assemblies of God, because not all Vatican officials have the same opinions or authority. And, although the Alaska governor’s pro-life position has earned praise in the Vatican hierarchy, the church officials also say they don’t know her stances on other issues.

Archbishop Raymond Burke, who was archbishop of St. Louis until Pope Benedict XVI recently appointed him to head the Vatican’s highest court, confessed to knowing little about Palin. But he said he would be “very interested to learn more about what she thinks.”

Church officials in Europe and other parts of the world laud the pro-life credentials of Palin and Sen. John McCain at the top of the GOP ticket. But they also express uncertainty about some of her other policy positions. They refuse to specify them on the grounds that the church does not participate in electioneering.

“The church certainly supports her pro-life position,” one European official said. “But, as ever, we avoid focussing (sic) on a single issue and have to look at the wider spectrum.”

Burke also stopped short of explicitly endorsing any candidate and agreed that abortion should not be the only issue to concern Catholic voters. But life issues are the critical ones, he said.

“We cannot accept for ourselves a political leadership which does not safeguard the inviolable dignity of human life,” he said. “Are there other issues? Of course there are, but the primary issue has to be the question of human life.”

Those other moral issues, such as immigration reform and the death penalty, are connected to life questions and must be taken into consideration, he said. But they are not on the same level as procured abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage, which he said are “always and everywhere wrong.”

Society has few politicians who “are completely coherent with regard to respect for human life, so we (Catholics) try to find those candidates who will most support the restoration and respect for human life in our society,” the archbishop said. “And we continue to work at the same time to encourage all political leaders to promote a civilization of life and help to overcome the culture of death.”

The Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, support abortion rights. Some Democrats have come under fire for their comments about abortion.

Biden, a Catholic, said on “Meet the Press” Sunday that, although he agrees with church teaching, he does not want to “impose” his belief on others.

His comments followed the highly controversial remarks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made on the same program two weeks ago. She described herself as an “ardent Catholic,” but made what church officials said were erroneous remarks about church teaching. Almost 30 bishops criticized her.

Increasing numbers of Americans, particularly the young, are growing sympathetic to the pro-life cause, say Burke and others, which may bode well for the Republican Party.

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved

Friday, September 12, 2008

Saul Alinsky + Obama + Dems from Turkish News

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=51465

Click on above link to see an interesting article published in Turkish News about the Catholic Church in America and its social-justice relationship to Industrial Areas Foundation and presidential candidates Barak Obama.

This feature is about a call for concern, as reported in Turkish News about the political presidential election in the United States and how The Churches in America continues to boost the liberal leftist Democratic Party.

Under a guise of good, IAF has led mainstream America and its faith-based groups into a left-wing mentality a way of life. It promotes abortion, gay marriage, immoral sexism, and feminism. Throughout the world it works closely with the international giant Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions. IAF has zero tolerance of religion except as a financial contributor and supplier of volunteers stemming from organized churches. If IAF tolerates religion at all, it has to be a religion of liberation theology. Its proponents talk about working for the poor, but totally and deliberately ignore the injustice done to the unborn. This would not be so bad if politics were not involved, but politics is at the heart and purpose of IAF. IAF is heavily composed of church-going people and it continues to target unsuspecting voters throughout the country to vote in IAF style. And with Hispanic immigrants growing in numbers in the U.S., IAF influences more voters to vote for the liberal left, which sets itself up in direct contradiction to traditional church doctrine. Currently, IAF is holding Accountability Sessions with political candidates. Candidates are asked only questions of IAF's liking. No questions about abortion!
Why does the Church use its organizational structure and finances to help one political party get ahead, especially one that is anti-life and anti-religion? Presidential candidate Barak Obama learned his leadership ideology from IAF. He debated that an infant born alive from a failed abortion should be left on a table to die. If IAF ideology takes control of the U.S. there will be more pro-abortion legislation that will spread to the rest of the world; there will be growing disrespect for life, more violence, and more condemnation of the precepts of religion. Who is helping whom? No response is necessary, but it would be nice if the Church were to remain autonomous and independant of any political partisanship. The Church seems to have become the foot soldier of Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Party.

We are in a spiritual battle...

The Longer Version of the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer, composed by Pope Leo XIII, 1888

O glorious Archangel Saint Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil. Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Fight this day the battle of our Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in heaven. That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the Name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay, and cast into eternal perdition, souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. That wicked dragon pours out. as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity. These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on Her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck the sheep may be scattered. Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious powers of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

Verse: Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.

Response: The Lion of the Tribe of Juda has conquered the root of David.

Verse: Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.

Response: As we have hoped in Thee.

Verse: O Lord hear my prayer.

Response: And let my cry come unto Thee.

Verse: Let us pray. O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as suppliants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin, immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel Saint Michael, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of our souls.

Response: Amen.