Saturday, December 31, 2022

BREAKING: Pope Benedict XVI dies at the age of 95 - Lifesite News

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-pope-benedict-xvi-dies-at-the-age-of-95/?utm_source=email_123122

BREAKING: Pope Benedict XVI dies at the age of 95

Pope Benedict XVI had been living a life of retirement in the Vatican grounds since he resigned from the papacy on February 28, 2013. His reign as pope was just under 8 years.

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died aged 95.

The Holy See Press Office announced the news this morning, with director Matteo Bruni writing: “With sorrow, I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.” Bruni added that “[f]urther information will be provided as soon as possible.”

The late Pontiff’s remains will rest at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery until January 2, at which point Benedict’s body will be on display in St. Peter’s Basilica during the days of Monday through Wednesday. Pope Francis will celebrate the funeral at 9:30 am, January 5, in the basilica.

Pope Benedict had been living in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican gardens since he resigned on February 28, 2013.

He was the last of his parents’ three children still alive, with his brother and sister Georg and Maria having died in 2020 and 1991 respectively.

Ratzinger’s ecclesial career was long and noteworthy, even from his early days as a priest. Following his ordination in 1951, Ratzinger served as advisor to Cardinal Joseph Frings during Vatican II, acting as a member of the influential and highly organized liberal lobby seeking widespread change.

He then spent five years as Archbishop of Munich and Friesing from 1977–1982, before being moved by John Paul II to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1982. Made cardinal in 1978, Ratzinger served as Vice-Dean and later Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1998.

He was elected Pope on April 19, 2005, taking the name Benedict XVI. He is arguably more famous for making history 8 years later by being the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years.

One of his now more famous actions was the 2007 promulgation of his apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, outlining broad permission for priests to celebrate the ancient form of the Roman liturgy. That document has since become the target of Pope Francis’ moves against the traditional Mass, with Francis abrogating it in 2021.

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict had been living in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican gardens since he resigned on February 28, 2013.

He was the last of his parents’ three children still alive, with his brother and sister Georg and Maria having died in 2020 and 1991 respectively.

He was elected Pope on April 19, 2005, taking the name Benedict XVI. He is arguably more famous for making history 8 years later by being the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years.

Pope Benedict XVI

He was soon elected as Pope on just the second day of the conclave, on April 19, 2005, aged 78, and took the name, Benedict XVI. In his first Mass as Pope, he said during his homily “pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.”

Less than one month later, on May 13, 2005, he waived the customary five-year waiting period outlined in Canon Law and announced the beginning of the beatification process for his predecessor John Paul II. He canonized over 40 saints during his pontificate.

During his near 8 years as Pope, he wrote three encyclicals – Deus Caritas Est, Spe Salvi, and Caritas in Veritate – 13 motu proprios, 68 Apostolic Letters, and 4 apostolic exhortations. He created 90 cardinals in five consistories and made 25 official trips outside of Italy.

In two documents released in 2007 and in 2013, he modified the rules governing the papal conclave – which had been somewhat eased by his predecessor – restoring the necessary majority of two-thirds of the papal electors and declaring excommunication the automatic punishment for breaking the oath of secrecy surrounding a conclave.

Pro-life stance

Throughout his pontificate, Benedict made a number of statements opposing abortion, which built upon his legacy as Prefect of the CDF to prevent pro-abortion politicians from receiving Holy Communion.

READ: Will Pope Francis fulfill Benedict’s legacy on abortion and Communion?

At the very outset of his pontificate, Benedict stated, in reference to abortion, that a Pope cannot “proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism.” This adherence to Divine Law was shown by John Paul II, said Benedict, in his own defense of the unborn.

In his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Benedict wrote: “If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology.”

Condemning the “anti-birth mentality” he wrote that “Openness to life is at the centre of true development.”

Prior to ascending the papal throne, in 2004 Ratzinger intervened into a debate among the U.S. bishops on the issue of Communion for pro-abortion Catholic politicians. He said in his letter titled “Worthiness to receive Holy Communion,” that a Catholic politician who would vote for “permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” after being duly instructed and warned, “must” be denied Communion.

However, Cardinals Burke and Brandmuller, along with Benedict’s secretary Archbishop Gänswein – publicly at least – downplayed suggestions that Benedict somehow remained as Pope. Burke, the former Prefect of the Holy See’s Apostolic Signatura, stated that “I believe it would be difficult to say it’s not valid.”

READ: Did Benedict really resign? Gänswein, Burke and Brandmüller weigh in

Following his announcement, Benedict resigned on February 28, staying briefly at Castel Gandolfo, before moving to his more permanent home of the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens on May, 2 2013.

He made limited public appearances after that, but Pope Francis notably brought the new cardinals to meet Benedict at every consistory, where the new cardinals would receive a blessing from Benedict. He also joined Pope Francis in the March 25, 2022 consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Following the rollout of the abortion-tainted COVID injections, Pope Benedict joined Pope Francis in taking Pfizer’s COVID jab in January 2021, at the start of the Vatican’s vaccine campaign. Gänswein later revealed in December 2021 that Benedict had taken three injections at that point.

In recent years, pictures of the emeritus pope have occasionally emerged, showing a steady decline in his health as he appeared increasingly frail.

Stance on homosexuality

While he was prefect, the CDF issued its letter “On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” noting that a homosexual “inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”

“Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option,” added Ratzinger. “It is not.”

This position he echoed in later documents, and more notably during his 2012 Christmas address to the Roman Curia, when he appeared to denounce same-sex ‘marriage’ and criticized those who “dispute the idea that they have a nature, given by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being.”

After his resignation, he issued an essay in which he explicitly spoke against “homosexual cliques” in seminaries, “which acted more or less openly and significantly changed the climate in the seminaries.”

READ: Benedict said what Vatican abuse summit dared not: ‘Homosexual cliques’ ruined seminaries

Two years later, he again attacked the rise of same-sex ‘marriage’ saying that “the legalization in 16 European states of ‘homosexual marriage’” has led to a “deformation of conscience” that extends beyond the secular realm, having “penetrated deeply into the world of marriage in sectors of the Catholic people.”

Resignation

On February 11, 2013, Benedict shocked the world when he announced his resignation from the “Petrine office.” In a short speech delivered in Latin to the assembled cardinals, Benedict cited declining health and advancing old age as the reason for his resignation.

READ: Benedict’s renunciation and the wolves within the church

The announcement took the Church and the world by storm, with many expressing doubts as to the publicized reasons for his resignation. The text of his resignation address prompted debate as to its legitimacy which continued in many corners of the Church until his death – debate fuelled by his continued use of the white cassock, and title Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

READ: Did Benedict really resign? Gänswein, Burke and Brandmüller weigh in

In recent years, pictures of the emeritus pope have occasionally emerged, showing a steady decline in his health as he appeared increasingly frail.

However, footage from even as recently as early September, showed the late Pope being taken around the Vatican gardens in a wheelchair with Gänswein and a number of others in attendance.

Regensburg address

Early in his pontificate, the new Pope made international headlines for his September 12, 2006 address at the University of Regensburg – an address which enraged Muslims and prompted death threats against the Pope.

He quoted from a Byzantine emperor who had negatively described Muhammed, saying “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

Following widespread media controversy and particular outrage from Muslims, Benedict said a few days later that the words quoted “do not in any way express my personal thought.”

Summorum Pontificum

On July 7, 2007 he issued his motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, outlining and re-establishing the legal right of the traditional Latin Mass, writing that the traditional Mass “was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted.” He described the Novus Ordo Mass as the “normal” or ordinary form of the Roman Rite, and the Latin Mass the “extraordinary form,” saying that they can be “mutually enriching.”

His accompanying letter to the motu proprio contained the line which has since been made famous by devotees of the traditional Mass: “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” The document was warmly received by newly emboldened devotees of the traditional Mass, and led to a large increase in Latin Masses being offered around the world.

READ: Pope restricts ‘divisive’ Traditional Latin Mass, says 52-yr-old Novus Ordo is ‘unique expression’ of Church’s liturgy

However, the motu proprio became the target of Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio “Traditionis Custodes,” which both contradicted and abrogated Summorum Pontificum.

Relations with SSPX and Anglican Ordinariate

Two years later in 2009, Benedict XVI announced the revoking of the excommunications on the bishops consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in 1988 – excommunications which were always hotly contested by the bishops. The groundbreaking move, altering decades-long relations between the SSPX and the Vatican, was welcomed by SSPX superiors who then highlighted the need for “talks” to address the “doctrinal issues” between Rome and the Society.

Later that same year, Benedict then issued his apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus which allowed for personal ordinariates for Anglicans to enter into the Catholic Church. The document established norms for members of both the Anglican laity and clergy to convert and then live as Catholics. It resulted in an influx of converts to the Catholic Church, with personal ordinariates being established in England, the U.S., Australia.

By 2019, members of the three ordinariates numbered in excess of 9,000, with nearly 200 priests and 94 parishes.

The Deadliest Poison of our Times is Indifference

https://sites.google.com/site/faithfulcatholics/society-must-respect-defend-and-promote-the-dignity-of-every-human-person

Thursday, December 29, 2022

‘Let Love Speak’: No One Should Die Alone| National Catholic Register

‘Let Love Speak’: No One Should Die Alone| National Catholic Register: COMMENTARY: ‘A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God,’ says Benedict XVI, ‘and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak.’

DECEMBER 28, 2022 BY MSGR. CHARLES POPE On The Feast of the Holy Innocents, A Meditation on the Sins Committed Against Children

http://blog.adw.org/2022/12/on-the-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-a-meditation-on-the-sins-committed-against-children-2/

Today, we observe the feast of the Holy Innocents, a feast commemorating the young children, of even younger age who were cruelly murdered by the paranoid and crazed killer known as Herod “the Great.” So paranoid was he that others might usurp or limit his power that he killed three of his own sons, and his wife. He ruthlessly killed many others as well. As his own death drew near, according to Josephus, Herod decreed that in order that the nation properly mourn his death, one member of each family should be killed in his honor, and thus the mourning in all Israel for him would be sincere. His last and final act as King was to rise from his death bed and sentence to death a group of Jewish zealots who had removed an Eagle he place over the entrance of the temple. They had thought the image a desecration. Having killed them, he himself died (in bed) the next day.

Herod was a cruel tyrant and a ruthless and paranoid killer. Calling him “the Great” can only be a reference to his skill in architecture and building and to his headship of the equally cruel Herodian dynasty.

Yet here Christ was born and found, in the midst of crisis and disaster. More than ever, the Christmas message is relevant. For despite our cruelty and despite the crises of this world, Christ is still to be found. He was born in one of the most crisis-torn regions of the world. He bids us to find him in just these sorts of places and times, as if to say, there is still hope: The mercies of the Lord are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent; it is renewed each morning (Lam 3:22-23).

That he was willing to be born in such circumstances is clear, and from this we see his mercy.

But from our perspective he should not have to have been born like this. And thus our call to repentance remains. This crisis at Christmas was our human doing, our insensitivity. As Scripture says, He came unto his own, and his own received him not (Jn 1:11). That’s us the scriptures are talking about, No room in the inn.

And while Herod may be said to have acted alone, we cannot evade all responsibility, for to some extent we all participate in making and maintaining a cruel world where such ignominies routinely happen.

Children have much to suffer in this world of our collective making. And while not all of us are equally guilty of contributing to the suffering of children, none of us are wholly innocent either, if for no other reason than our silence.

- - Our culture has sinned against children by sexualizing them, robbing them of their innocence at an earlier and earlier age, and exposing them to all sorts of indoctrination and experimentation in schools. The most recent horrors center on exposing even kindergarteners to confusing sexual messages and practices related to transgenderism, homosexuality, “drag-queen story hours” and many other practices that desensitize and groom little children in sexual matters about which they need not know so far before puberty. We used to have discretion about this; we used to protect little children from sexual matters, rightly concluding that they were too young to understand and that such matters could trouble and confuse them. Adults speaking to little children about these matters used to be considered a grave and even criminal violation. What is wrong with so many today? And how is it legal for doctors to administer puberty-blocking drugs and even perform mastectomies and genital mutilations on minors (with or without parental permission)? Imagine the health complications in stopping puberty, a natural and essential stage of growth! How can a minor make such life-altering and often permanent decisions? It is a sin against these children to incite sexual confusion, indulge it and even cooperate in dangerous hormonal and surgical interventions in service of a lie that one can alter their sex. All this used to be obvious to us until about five minutes ago in our culture.
- - Next, consider that most children born today are no longer born into the lasting family units they deserve with a father and mother committed to one another till death do them part. The problems begin with fornication, which is rampant in our culture. And while most do not think of this as a sin of injustice, it is. It is so because of what it does primarily to children.
- - Many children are also conceived of fornication. Tragically most of these children who are thus conceived are outright killed by abortion. 85% of abortions are performed on unmarried women. And for all the vaunted declarations of how contraception makes every baby a wanted baby, nothing could be further from the truth. Abortion has skyrocketed with the availability of contraception. This is because the problem is not fertility, it is lust, promiscuity, fornication and adultery. And contraception fuels these problems by further enabling them. The promises associated with contraception are lies, it does the opposite of what it promises.
- - So, fornication and the contraceptive mentality (founded on lies) cause grave harm to children, beginning with death, in huge numbers. And the children, conceived of fornication who do (thankfully) survive are, nevertheless subjected to the injustice of usually being born into irregular situations. There are single mothers, some single fathers, and many other irregularities.
- - Add to this picture the large number of divorced families. And make no mistake, these shredded families cause great hardships and pain for children that include: children being shuttled back and forth between different household each week, having to meet “daddy’s new girlfriend” or mommy’s new “live-in boy-friend” and all sorts of other family chaos. Blended families also dramatically increase the likelihood of sexual and emotional abuse, since legal relationships seldom have the built-in protections of natural relationships. To be sure, not all people are divorced in the same way. Some tried to prevent it but their spouse was unwilling, etc. Still the harm caused to children remains.

All of this misbehavior, individual and cultural, harms children. Not being raised in a traditional marriage dramatically increases a child’s likelihood of suffering many other social ills, starting with poverty.

The chief cause of poverty in this country, is the single motherhood, absent fatherhood.
71% of poor families are not married.
Children of single parent homes are 2 times more likely to be arrested for juvenile crime,
2 times more likely be treated for emotional and behavioral problems,
Twice as likely to be suspended or expelled from school,
33% more likely to drop out of school,
3 times more likely to end up in jail by age 30.
50% more likely to live in poverty as adults,
And twice as likely to have a child outside of marriage themselves. [*]

Not all of us do all these things personally and to the same degree. We should further note that abortion is complex and some women have recourse to it out of despair, others are pressured and so forth. But the point emphasized in this reflection is that all of us do contribute to the sort of culture that is increasingly poisonous and unjust to children if not downright deadly.

If nothing else, too many of (starting with clergy) are far too silent about the sins of injustice committed against children. Many remain quite silent while the bad behaviors adults pile up in our culture. Our silence is largely the product of fearing to offend other adults. Meanwhile children suffer, and the injustices pile higher, beginning with the body count of aborted babies and watered by the tears of surviving children who have had much to suffer.

Something to think about on the feast of the Holy Innocents.

I put the following video together to honor these young martyrs. The musical setting is by Michael Haydn of the hymn for the Feast of the Holy Innocents: Salvete Flores Martyrum The Latin text of this ancient hymn is quite beautiful. I produce here the Latin text followed by a fairly literal translation.

Salvete flores martyrum, – Hail Martyr Flowers
quos lucis ipso in limine – On the very threshold of the dawn (of life)
Christi insecutor sustulit – Christ’s persecutor destroyed (you)
ceu turbo nascentes rosas. – like the whirlwind does the budding roses.

Vos prima Christi victima, – You Christ’s firstfruits
grex immolatorum tener, – A flock of tender sacrificial victims
aram sub ipsam simplices – right up by the very altar
palma et coronis luditis. – now play with your palms and crowns

Iesu, tibi sit gloria, – Jesus to you be glory
qui natus es de Virgine, – who were born of the Virgin
cum Patre et almo Spiritu, – with the Father and loving Spirit
in sempiterna saecula. Amen. – unto to eternal ages. Amen.

Monday, December 26, 2022

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Shawshank Redemption actor Tim Robbins says demonizing the unvaccinated was ‘incredibly dangerous’ Lifesite News

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/demonizing-the-unvaccinated-was-incredibly-dangerous-shawshank-redemption-star-tim-robbins/?utm_source=popular

Shawshank Redemption actor Tim Robbins says demonizing the unvaccinated was ‘incredibly dangerous

Dec 21, 2022 - 7:18 pm EST

Listen to this article

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BeyondWords

(LifeSiteNews) — An Academy Award-winning actor denounced the demonization of the unvaccinated during the COVID-19 outbreak and regrets his own anger toward those resisting standard anti-COVID policies such as masking.

Tim Robbins, famous for his leading role in the beloved film The Shawshank Redemption, decried the effect that COVID health “doctrine” “had on us as human beings” on British comedian Russell Brand’s December 18 podcast.

“We turned into tribal, angry, vengeful people,” Robbins said. “I don’t think that is something that is sustainable for the earth. That we start demonizing someone who doesn’t agree with our particular health policies and turn them into monsters. Turn them into pariahs. Say that they don’t deserve a hospital bed.”

He suggested that such a stance from someone who considers vax refusal unwise is hypocritical considering that we still “take care of” people who have made “bad mistakes,” like those who overdose on drugs.

“Because we’re compassionate. Because we want to make sure that people live. And this turned into ‘You should f—ing die because you have not complied.’ That’s incredibly dangerous.”

Robbins, however, said he himself used to have this vengeful mindset, explaining to Brand how he initially accepted the prevailing COVID narrative to the hilt and without question.

“I bought into it. … I was masking everywhere. I was keeping my social distance. I was adhering to the requests made of me, and I felt angry at people that didn’t do that,” the liberal actor told Brand.

It was not until he traveled to the United Kingdom, where he said he saw many people defying health protocols, that Robbins began to question government health policies.

His perspective further shifted when he walked amid an anti-lockdown protest in London out of curiosity.

“I saw the way that they were being described in the press, and it wasn’t true,” he said. “These were not, you know, National Front Nazis. These were liberals and lefties and people who believed in personal freedom.”

Robbins cited two incidents that were particularly “disturbing” to him.

“One was when the CDC … changed the definition of a vaccine on their website,” Robbins said. In September 2021, the CDC changed its definition of vaccine from “a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease” to “a preparation that is used to stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases.”

Robbins also found health authorities’ denial of the sufficiency of “natural immunity” to be troubling.

“My alarm bells went off,” Robbins said.

When Brand proposed that “there is a lot more political ideology at play than is perhaps wise,” and more than is being admitted, Robbins pointed out, “At first, if you were a Democrat, when Trump was president, well, you weren’t going to take that vaccine because it was Trump’s vaccine, and then that seemed to somehow change.”

“It was kind of Orwellian. It was like we are no longer at war with East Asia,” said Robbins, alluding to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, in which government propaganda required that history be erased in order to promote the state’s latest objectives.

Robbins went on, “However after the political winds shifted and Democrats assumed power during the pandemic, if you didn’t take the vaccine, you were a Republican.”

Robbins’ interview with Brand echoed previous statements he made to reporter Matt Taibbi.

“You go from someone that is inclusive, altruistic, generous, empathetic, to a monster. Where you want to freeze people’s bank accounts because they disagree with you,” he said, appearing to refer to the Canadian government’s freeze on the assets of Freedom Convoy demonstrators for protesting government COVID measures.

“That’s a dangerous thing. That’s a dangerous world that we’ve created. And I say ‘we,’ because I was part of that. I bought into that whole idea early on.”

Pro-Life Groups Demand DOJ Records After FBI Ignores Attacks on 178 Churches, Pregnancy Centers - LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Groups Demand DOJ Records After FBI Ignores Attacks on 178 Churches, Pregnancy Centers - LifeNews.com: A coalition of pro-life organizations called on the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) to address the “ongoing violent attacks against pro-life organizations.” Led by former Vice President Mike Pence and his Advancing American Freedom initiative, the inquiry seeks to determine whether the Justice Department is intentionally ignoring the attacks on pro-life groups. Pregnancy centers, pro-life […]

Monday, December 19, 2022

Run With Life: "I understand that the Liberal party is pro-abortion"

Run With Life: "I understand that the Liberal party is pro-abortion": My first ATIP to the Department of Finance (DOF) revealed no records on Justin Trudeau's discriminatory hateful promise to revoke th...

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Can Catholics Support Affirmative Action?

Monday, December 12, 2022

What Our Lady of Guadalupe Means to a Former Abortionist| National Catholic Register

What Our Lady of Guadalupe Means to a Former Abortionist

The story of Guadalupe is an icon for our moment when mainstream women’s health care proclaims — with callousness and absurdity — that elective abortion is essential health care.

What Our Lady of Guadalupe Means to a Former Abortionist| National Catholic Register:

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Run With Life: Part 1 - CRA ATIP - two bureaucrats question pro-l...

Run With Life: Part 1 - CRA ATIP - two bureaucrats question pro-l...: The Liberals' latest witch hunt against anything and everything pro-life is a really bad idea for pro-life charities. We all know this.

In my latest ATIP to CRA I asked for:

"All records including but not limited to internal/external correspondence, memos, briefings, work plans, and meeting notes related to the Liberal campaign promise to no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations."

(My last ATIP to CRA on this subject is here.)

Most of the correspondence I received back, were copies of media articles and letters to the editor about the proposed changes. There are also a couple of pro-life letters/articles in the package. But most of what is included are media articles from progressives.

There is one letter to the editor where we are compared to the Taliban. Really.

There is one long article that is not unfavorable to our position, and the author makes some noteworthy points.

What is absent from the ATIP is any proof of the so-called "dishonest counseling" from any pro-life organizations. To date, our prime minister has failed to give us any proof of his allegations. That's because this is a totally made-up idea, dreamt up by him to continue his unrelenting attack on pro-life groups.

A few excerpts below. More to come later.

--------------------------------------------------

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mandate Letter states:

• "introduce amendments to the Income Tax Act to make anti-abortion organizations that provide dishonest counselling to pregnant women about their rights and options ineligible for charitable status, and to expand the Medical Expense Tax Credit to include costs reimbursed to surrogate mothers for IVF expenses. You will be supported in this work by the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth [no kidding]."

--------------------------------------------------

Minister for Women and Gender Equality [what a ludicrous name for a department] and Youth Mandate Letter states:

• "Support the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in introducing amendments to the Income Tax Act to make anti-abortion organizations that provide dishonest counselling to pregnant women about their rights and options ineligible for charitable status..."

--------------------------------------------------

Notice how the DPM and the Minister of Women and Gender Equality fall into lock step with the PM, agreeing without question, this discriminatory policy

But I do like the following comments below embedded in the ATIP. They are notes taken from a meeting of bureaucrats. No names. Only initials. But have a look at BM's and DW's comments. These are about the only comments I found in the document where a bureaucrat questions this stupid policy from our you know who.

BM • "Talking at Muttart about proposed amendment r.e. anti-abortion groups, giving dishonest info refused charitable status. Concern about naming one type of organization can set a dangerous precedent. Becomes a subjective discussion about what's dishonest info, future gov'ts might target pollution, or critical race theory. Does CRA not have tools around providing dishonest info already?" (emphasis added)

DW • "Mandate letter was concerning, especially given provisions in ITA to deal with dishonesty, and subjectivity around dishonesty (environment, anti-abortion,etc.) Nothing in B2022, but no clarity or further statements about what's happening." (emphasis added)

And DW again:

DW • "Mandate letters re ITA, and anti-abortion orgs providing dishonest counselling. Concerns about status being dependent on certain views, and the linking of gov't funding and those views. No consultation or info on the details. (emphasis added)

Did BM and DW not get the memo? Ouch

Saturday, December 10, 2022

Killing the Homeless - Canada's New Form of Mercy

Friday, December 9, 2022

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: What Euthanasia Has Done to Canada

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: What Euthanasia Has Done to Canada:

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

The New York Times published an opinion column by Ross Douthat on December 3, 2022 titled: What Euthanasia Has Done to Canada.

Douthat begins by writing about the pro-euthanasia ad by Simons, a Canadian fashion designer, and retailer. Douthat states:

In an interview quoted in Canada's National Post, the chief merchant of Simons stated that the film was "obviously not a commercial campaign." Instead, it was a signifier of a public-spirited desire to "build the communities that we want to live in tomorrow, and leave to our children."

For those communities and children, the video’s message is clear: They should believe in the holiness of euthanasia.

In recent years, Canada has established some of the world’s most permissive euthanasia laws, allowing adults to seek either physician-assisted suicide or direct euthanasia for many different forms of serious suffering, not just terminal diseases. In 2021, over 10,000 people ended their lives this way, just over 3 percent of all deaths in Canada. A further expansion, allowing euthanasia for mental health conditions, will go into effect in March 2023; permitting euthanasia for “mature” minors is also being considered.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has been urging its supporters to boycott Simons.

Douthat asks the states that the advance of euthanasia presents a different question: What if a society remains liberal but ceases to be civilized? Douthat continues:

The rules of civilization necessarily include gray areas. It is not barbaric for the law to acknowledge hard choices in end-of-life care, about when to withdraw life support or how aggressively to manage agonizing pain.

It is barbaric, however, to establish a bureaucratic system that offers death as a reliable treatment for suffering and enlists the healing profession in delivering this “cure.” And while there may be worse evils ahead, this isn’t a slippery slope argument: When 10,000 people are availing themselves of your euthanasia system every year, you have already entered the dystopia.

Douthat then comments on the concept of euthanasia as a human right.

The idea that human rights encompass a right to self-destruction, the conceit that people in a state of terrible suffering and vulnerability are really “free” to make a choice that ends all choices, the idea that a healing profession should include death in its battery of treatments — these are inherently destructive ideas. Left unchecked, they will forge a cruel brave new world, a dehumanizing final chapter for the liberal story.

Douthat acknowledges that there are Liberals who oppose euthanasia but he suggests that a potent Conservatism is needed to prevent euthanasia from spreading. He writes:

Yes, there are liberals, Canadian and American, who can see what’s wrong with euthanasia. Yes, the most explicit cheerleading for quietus can still inspire backlash: Twitter reactions to the Simons video have been harsh, and it’s vanished from the company’s website.

But without a potent conservatism, the cultural balance tilts too much against these doubts.

Conservatism is not required to oppose euthanasia but we need to call it what it is. Calling euthanasia MAiD takes away the reality that euthanasia is an act of killing. You don't need to be religious or Conservative to oppose killing.

After 56 Years, ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Still Offers the True Meaning of Christmas| National Catholic Register

After 56 Years, ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Still Offers the True Meaning of Christmas| National Catholic Register: ‘That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.’ —Linus Van Pelt

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

‘Staggering’ rise in anti-Catholic hate in Canada

https://www.catholicregister.org/item/34715-staggering-rise-in-anti-catholic-hate-in-canada

BY TERRY O’NEILL, CANADIAN CATHOLIC NEWS

September 1, 2022

Canadian and international observers are condemning media, politicians, and other opinion leaders for turning a blind eye to a startling new report that shows a 260-per-cent increase in anti-Catholic hate crimes in the past year.
The increase is almost 10 times higher than for all hate crimes combined and was by far the single largest percentage growth recorded in any category in the numbers released by Statistics Canada.
At the same time, experts and activists are also calling for Catholics to more forcefully respond to the sort of prejudice and bias that the media blackout epitomizes.
“We should stop talking and take action against it,” said Marc Vella, president of the Christian Civic Affairs Committees of Canada.
StatsCan reported on Aug. 2 that the number of police-reported, hate-motivated crimes in Canada increased by 27 percent last year, to 3,360 from 2,646 in 2020. Hate-motivated crimes targeting religion grew by 67 percent, to 884 from 530.
The number of anti-Catholic hate crimes grew to 155 in 2021 from just 43 the year before. Crimes directed at Black persons accounted for the largest number of all incidents. Anti-Jewish incidents topped the hate-crime list in the religion category, up 47 percent with 487 reported incidents.
While StatsCan provided no explanation for the huge anti-Catholic crime increase, the figures correspond to an explosion of arson, vandalism, and threats directed at Catholic institutions last summer following inflammatory news reports about the existence of possible graves at an abandoned cemetery at Kamloops Indian Residential School.
A search of Canada’s largest mainstream media outlets did not find a single reference to the surge of anti-Catholic hate crimes.
“It’s disappointing that the mainstream media did not responsibly cover the staggering rise in anti-Catholic hate crimes,” said Christian Elia, executive director of the Catholic Civil Rights League.
“It’s even more disappointing that they covered the StatsCan report in general terms, alarmed at the overall 27-per-cent increase in all police-reported hate-motivated crime, yet they did not acknowledge the eye-popping 260-per-cent increase against Catholics specifically.”
“Government officials have been equally silent or made dismissive comments about this violence,” said Janet Epp-Buckingham, a professor at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., and director of the Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa.
“The reality is that these churches are where Christians worship and find their identity as believers. Attacks on them are attacks on all Christians.”
Madeleine Enzlberger, executive director of the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, said the Canadian numbers “are truly worrying” and probably represent only the tip of the iceberg.
“Unfortunately, we have seen similar trends of anti-Christian and -Catholic hatred in other Western countries as well,” said Enzlberger. “It is a dynamic in which violence against Christian buildings, churches or even people to some extent is perceived to be a legitimate form of protest against what the Church said, did or represents.”
Enzlberger warned that legitimizing violence against the Church by ignoring it “could lead to a normalization that could socially legitimize the further escalation of violence to even more severe levels.”
“This spiral of violence needs to be broken at its earliest stages before it gets out of control,” she said.
The news media’s failure to report on the rapid rise of anti-Catholic hate crime is part of a pattern, she said.
Enzlberger said research conducted by the British Parliament found a prevailing anti-religious and specifically anti-Christian bias, as well as a high level of religious illiteracy among media.
“This bias often manifests itself in a toxic narrative that only allows for Christians to fit the role of the perpetrators and not the victim.”
Things are much the same in Europe, said Enzlberger. She pointed out that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s most recent report revealed that anti-Christian hate crimes grew the most compared to other religions and also all other protected groups defined by gender, race and ethnicity.
Ian Dowbiggin, a professor in the Department of History at the University of Prince Edward Island and a writer on Catholic issues, said “there’s always been anti-Catholic sentiment down through Canadian history, leavened by anti-French and anti-Irish bigotry, for example, and the coverage of the Church’s sexual abuse scandals of the 1980s and 1990s.”
He has been warning of the problem for decades. Writing in the Globe and Mail in 1995, Dowbiggin said, “Anti-Catholicism is as alive as it ever was, but now it’s less recognizable.
The new anti-Catholicism expresses itself in the form of a hip discourse that tries to reduce a worldwide Church with hundreds of millions of parishioners to a handful of trendy slogans of dismissive contempt.”
Twenty-seven years later, Dowbiggin said he believes Catholics are themselves somewhat responsible for the ongoing problem.
“If anti-Catholicism and hate crimes against the Church still occur today, and the media won’t report them, it is due to a large extent because Catholics themselves don’t push back and defend their faith,” he said.
“Canada’s Jews rightly fight back when there is evidence of anti-Semitism, so why can’t Catholics in the face of things like the church burnings of 2021 and the orchestrated humiliation of the Pope in recent days?”
Vella, a member of St. James Parish in Abbotsford, B.C., is one Catholic who is fighting back. He said the mainstream news media has been pushing an anti-Catholic narrative for decades.
“We Catholics should not bellyache and complain about how unfair our treatment in the press is,” Vella said. “Rather, we should stop talking and take action to fix the problem.”
He suggests Catholics need “to become far more savvy” in response to the media, be better informed on issues confronting the Church and not rely on mainstream media, and to get involved in public affairs and politics.

Light and Darkness at Catholic Colleges| National Catholic Register

Light and Darkness at Catholic Colleges| National Catholic Register:

Patti Maguire Armstrong BlogsDecember 5, 2022

In the United States, there are many Catholic colleges that teach students to know and defend the Faith. There are many other colleges that hide behind a love-and-inclusion banner while encouraging human degradation. The difference couldn’t be more stark.

Some Catholic colleges have been embracing drag queen shows, Planned Parenthood events and other celebrations of lower inclinations. Why would any serious-minded Catholic support a façade of Catholic education that encourages sampling forbidden fruits? Adam and Eve did not just taste-test in the Garden of Eden but rebuked God. So it is at Catholic-in-name-only schools.

CNA reported on a drag show last spring at Philadelphia’s St. Joseph University, which was performed in their student center and put on by their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office.

“The mission of Catholic education,” said the Cardinal Newman Society — an organization that promotes faithful Catholic education — to CNA, “is to evangelize and witness to the truth of God and the world through complete integral human formation.” It’s certainly not to recruit student drag queens, as St. Joseph University’s diversity and inclusion office has been doing annually for five years.

for the rest of the article

https://www.ncregister.com/blog/light-and-darkness-at-catholic-colleges