CHRISTIANS MUST HAVE RECOURSE

TO CONSCIENCE, VATICAN
CONFERENCE CONCLUDES

Vatican City, Feb. 28, 2007 / 01:27 pm (CNA). - Christians must have recourse to conscientious objection to abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, said the President of Pontifical Academy for Life, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, at the conclusion of a conference last week.

“Until now we were familiar with objection of conscience in two fields, against military service and war and against abortion and sterilization”, he said, but there are many other cases today. “For example, the morning-after pill, or chemical abortion, and other methods including vaccines used in the third world”, he said.

The bishop was speaking at a two-day general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life at the Vatican, Feb. 23-24. About 400 participants from around the world participated. The theme was: “The Christian Conscience Supports the Right to Life”.

“The conscience is often called the sanctuary of the person, the most secret nucleus which decides man’s action”, Bishop Sgreccia said. “Since it is a sacred place the conscience can also be profaned, destroyed - but like the temple, it can be rebuilt”.

“Conscience seen as a source of water must remain pure, upright, certain. It can be polluted but returning to the source it is purified”, he said.

During the conference Cardinal Lozano Barragán, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral, also spoke, examining the relationship between conscience and culture and exposed his reflections on writings of John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI on conscience.

Bishop Jean Laffitte spoke about “the history of conscientious objection and different views of the concept of tolerance”.

“An ideologically tolerant society, in the present day sense of the term, cannot tolerate conscience objection because this escapes its control: in fact it cannot tolerate the idea that there is a truth to be found”, he said, referring to the paradox. “To escape this totalitarian undertaking, the only response is the positive affirmation of human dignity as a truth valid for all”.

Professors also gave overviews on relevant legislation in Europe and personal and social responsibility in the context of the protection of human life.

Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, gave the closing address. He spoke the commitment to promote life in developing countries.

The prefect highlighted three fundamental principles which should guide Christians in the promotion of life: the primacy of charity, the formation of conscience, and the necessity to renew efforts to announce God’s absolute and universal Lordship over all creation.n

Founded in continued response to Pope John Paul II’s call for a “New Evangelization,” the Catholic News Agency (CNA) has been, since 2004, one of the fastest growing Catholic news providers to the English speaking world.

 

 

 

 

AN INFORMED CONSCIENCE: WALKING WITH GOD

 

by Rev. Joseph Hattie, OMI
 

 

 

 

Order this timely 40-page booklet on the important topic of “properly informing the conscience” written by Priests for Life Canada, Member of the Board, Rev. Joseph Hattie, OMI.

 

This booklet is excellent for engaged or newly married couples.
 

Fr. Hattie is presently Natural Family Planning & Weekly Marriage Preparation Coordinator, Office of Programming Services for the Archdiocese of Halifax. He can be reached at: Phone: 902-429-9800, x330; Fax: 902-423-5201; jhattie@catholichalifax.org

This booklet is available free with a $35 donation to Priests for Life Canada or can be purchased at the special price of $2.00 (regular price: $3.00) plus $1.25 shipping per copy. A response coupon is included with this mailing.

See the contents of the booklet at: An Informed Conscience: Walking with God

Salt and Light Television

In the month of December, Priests for Life Canada conducted an advertising campaign on Salt and Light TV.

We encourage our supporters to check
with their Satellite or Cable TV provider
for access to Salt and Light TV.

www.saltandlighttv.org

We also thank EWTN Television for providing free coverage to

Priests for Life Canada.

Priests for Life Canada

ESSAY ON LIFE CONTEST

For students in Grades 9 through High School*

(See Rules Below)

"Win prize money for the winner and the winner's school".

THE PRIZES:

STUDENTS:

SCHOOLS:

POSTERS:

CONTEST RULES:

LAST YEAR'S WINNING ESSAYS:

For more information about the Essay on Life Contest, contact:

Priests for Life Canada

at:

toll free: 1-888-300-2007

Ottawa are: (613) 834-2226

or E-mail:

essay@priestsforlifecanada.com


 

Students:

If you are a student in grade 9 through high school,

write a Pro-life Essay of up to 1,500 words in length

on one of the following four topics:

CHASTITY

EUTHANASIA

CONTRACEPTION

STEM CELL RESEARCH
 

Winning Prizes

1st Place: $500.00 to the writer and $500 to the writer’s school*

2nd Place: $250.00 to the writer and $250 to the writer’s school*

3nd Place: $100.00 to the writer and $100 to the writer’s school*

All contestants will receive a “Precious Feet” Lapel Pin.

* Entries from home-schooled students who are at the same grade level are also accepted in which

case the winner may designate the recipient’s home-schooling association.

Contest Rules

Submit your essay by June 30, 2007 to:

Priests for Life Canada

P.O. Box 43

Cumberland, Ontario  K4C 1E5

or e-mail your essay to:

essay@priestsforlifecanada.com

SCHOOLS:

The winner's school gets a cash prize equal to the winner's prize.

Registering for the contest:  It is not necessary to register your school for the contest but we would appreciate knowing if you will be participating. Students do not need to register for the contest.

Submitting the Essay:  Students can send in their essay by June 30, 2007 via postal or Email (see Contest Rules above). The school may prefer to collect student’s essays and send them collectively.

 

POSTERS:

You can also print your own posters by clicking here (pdf files):

 

Letter size:

Colour

Black and White

 

Legal size:

Colour

Black and White

 

Or contact Priests for Life Canada to have posters post mailed to you. 

essay@priestsforlifecanada.com

For more information about the Essay on Life Contest, contact:

Priests for Life Canada

at:

toll free: 1-888-300-2007

or E-mail:

essay@priestsforlifecanada.com

POPE CALLS ON MEDIA TO PROMOTE THE DIGNITY OF MAN, MARRIAGE, AND THE FAMILY

VATICAN CITY, Mar. 9, 2007 (CNA) .- Today in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which is presided over by Archbishop John P. Foley. Addressing them in English, the Pope expressed his thanks “for your commitment to the apostolate of social communications, the importance of which cannot be underestimated in our increasingly technological world.

“The field of social communications is fast-changing”, the Pope added. “While the print media struggles to maintain circulation, other forms of media such as radio, television, and the internet are developing at an extraordinary rate. Against the backdrop of globalization, this ascendancy of the electronic media coincides with its increasing concentration in the hands of a few multinational conglomerates whose influence crosses all social and cultural boundaries”.

Couldn’t make it to the Priests for Life Canada

2006 Symposium in Ottawa, ON?

For your donation of $35.00 or more, we will send you a copy of the four talks on audiotapes, given at this year’s “Life and Family Symposium” on Revolution of Death or Revelation of Life.

[If you prefer to purchase the tapes, they are available for $5.00 each, or $15 for the set of four, as follows:]

1. Fr. Jim Whalen, National Director Priests for Life Canada: Relativism and the Gospel of Truth

2. Elsie Wayne, former Member of Parliament, Family Under Siege and the Gospel of Values

3. Fr. Louis Di Rocco, Priest of the Archdiocese of Kingston: Violence and the Gospel of Peace

4. Alex Schadenberg, Euthanasia Prevention Coaliton: Euthanasia and the Gospel of Love
   
   Please email your order to Priests for Life Canada.

YOUTH UNDER ATTACK:
PRO-CONTRACEPTION SEX-ED

 by Fr. Jim Whalen

Due primarily to the sexual revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, which promoted sex outside of marriage, as well as multiple sexual partners, teen sexual activity has multiplied and has resulted in increased sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), as well as the spread of teen pregnancy. Each day in America over 42,000 cases of STDs occur: 10,000 of them among teenagers. Each day over 2,500 teen girls become pregnant. The situation rapidly went out of control. Until the 1970s there were only two primary STDs, and both were curable. Today there are over twenty-five STDs and many of them arc incurable. Teens have been sold a bill of goods by being told that a piece of latex or a pill will protect them from the devastating consequences of STDs and unwanted pregnancy.

Understanding what goes on in the teen brain will help clarify the picture. There are two different approaches. Two main branches are actively involved: the amygdala a lower portion of the brain, which is active at the level of feelings, impulses, and emotional responses, and the pre-frontal cortex, which is active in planning, decision-making, seeing consequences, moral intelligence, rational behavior, and abstract thinking. During adolescence, brain pruning takes place where strong connections are made in the brain based on whether they are used or not. Parts that are used are strengthened. Parts that are not used are eliminated. The so-called comprehensive or condom-based sex-ed teaches to the amygdala. The false reasoning is that since teens can’t seem to control their sexual urges, something must be done to protect them. Abstinence education and character development programs teach to, and help to develop, the pre-frontal cortex. Abstinence is the safest and healthiest lifestyle, providing emotional, cultural, social, and physical benefits for today’s youth. Youth are capable and mature enough to make healthy choices for their lives. Abstinence programs also teach to the amygdala by using stories, activities, and action-based learning.

Youth are under attack in pro-contraceptive sex-education programs. There is a need to clarify whether sex-ed is protection or promotion. In America, national studies of the most popular so-called comprehensive programs of sex-ed, a mere 4.7% of their content focused on abstinence. These programs include exercises such as: condom relay races, shopping assignments for condoms, fantasizing in class about sexual activity, encouraging alternative sexual activities, and acceptance of alternative life styles (e.g.: experimentation with various partners, showering together, fantasizing with or without a partner, etc.). The current message being taught in regard to responsibility is: (1) don’t rape or pressure anyone into sexual activity; (2) don’t make a baby; and (3) don’t catch or spread a sexually-transmitted disease. No comprehensive sex-ed program has been found to reduce the rate of STDs or pregnancy in program participants. The one program that reduced pregnancy involved injecting participating teens with the Depo Provera birth control. The National Institutes of Health reports that there is insufficient evidence that condoms offer protection against the most common STDs in America today, including Human Papillomavirus, Genital Herpes, Chlamydia, Trichomoniasis, Chancroid, and Syphilis. The fact is that teen sex produces far more pain than pleasure. “No sex outside marriage” is the golden rule that should be taught and followed. Wait until marriage is still sound advice as well as the wisdom of our Creator.

Teaching teens about contraception has not worked. Teens who do not exhibit self-control by engaging in sexual activity are not likely to exhibit self-control in the use of contraceptive devices (e.g., six steps to correct condom use). According to research, teens are more likely to act in the moment, impulsively, without thinking about consequences, especially when strong emotional and physical feelings are involved. Studies have shown that the typical use of condoms is inconsistent with teens and STD rates have increased significantly during the same time condom use has increased. Condom use can only reduce - not eliminate the risk of STDs. The consequences are very damaging (i.e.: each year 100, 000 to 200,000 females become infertile as a result of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PIV) caused by Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.

The overwhelming majority of young people who have had sex regret their decision and wish they had waited. Research data shows the connection between teen sex, depression and suicide. Oxytocin, the bonding hormone that is released during sexual arousal is not stopped by contraception. Broken hearts are not protected by condoms. The majority of young people want to have lifelong stable marriage relationships. In a national poll, 95% stated they wanted a strong message to be delivered to abstain from sex until marriage.

A personal witness to a teenage break up reveals the emotional trauma experienced: “I was fifteen and we had been going out for a year. We went all the way. A few days after we broke up, it was the most painful time in my life. I was depressed, moody, nervous… I felt like a failure. I dropped out of sports. My grades weren’t terrific. I didn’t go out again until college. I’ve had mostly one night stands in the last couple of years. I’m afraid of falling in love” (college senior).

Waiting until marriage to be sexually active is possible for youth. It means starting out with a firm resolution with no exceptions. Abstinence is the healthy means to a chaste and happy lifestyle doing the will of God. It means tuning out the opposite messages and pressure from peers. It means making sure that when you date the person, your date understands your decision and respects it. It means showing real love means waiting. It means being responsible for each other, according to God’s law.

When teens are challenged by the truth, and by the facts, they can respond accordingly: “Treating the other sex with special consideration and high regard stems from choosing abstinence. An individual who desires to stay abstinent is rewarded a thousand times over. It feels good not to fret about STDs, and about not having to take care of a child while in high school. …My belief of sex involves two people who give their body and soul to each other for a lifetime” (Daniel Shallcross, age 17, Teens Speak Out essay contest winner).

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. Parents, priests, and educators should examine abstinence and sex-ed curricula being taught in their local school systems.

2. Offer positive options where needed to make necessary changes.

3. Contact local officials, school administrators, and legislators to let them know your opinion on this important issue.

Permission to use research info has been granted by Libby Gray Macke, Director, Project Reality, Co-author of A. C. Green Game Plan Abstinence Program & Navigator: Finding Your Way to a Healthy and Successful Future).

On the Internet, see Project Reality: Leaders in abstinence education since 1985 - http://projectreality.org
 

"COUPLES FOR CHRIST” INVITES
FR. JIM WHALEN TO SPEAK

“Couples for Christ” is a work of Christ which raises up Christian couples and establishes Christian families committed to the work of evangelization and winning the world for Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. As such, CFC is a servant and lay arm of the Church in the work of renewal, fully recognized by and operating under the authority of the Parish priests and the Bishop.

CELEBRATING LIFE
Eastern Pro-life Conference
March 17 & 18, 2007
Toronto, Ontario
www.cfc-canada.org

CHANGING THE DEFINITION OF “WHEN LIFE BEGINS”

In the early 1960's, officials from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology teamed up with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and they simply redefined the word "conception." They said it would no longer be the time of union of sperm and ovum, but rather would be the time, one week later, when this new human plants inside the lining of the mother's womb. "Fertilization" would still be the word used for the time of union of sperm and ovum. The interesting thing was though that no one knew of this change except an inner circle of medical and drug people. And so what has happened? Well, just what they planned.

Today a physician can call the IUD a “contraceptive”, and mean that it prevents implantation in the wall of the uterus, while his patient, hearing him use the word, “contraception”, will understand it to mean “the prevention of the union of sperm and ovum”. And so, presto! An abortifacient is called a “contraceptive”, and everybody is fooled. A classic example of double speak, or the perversion of language.

That slight of hand definition change happened 30 years ago. Today only a few physicians know that many so-called contraceptives really act as abortifacients.

(From the article By J. C. Willke MD: “American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Changes The Definition Of When Life Begins”.)