New Hampshire man charged under new fetal-homicide law (CNA)
A New Hampshire man has been charged with two counts of murder in the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child. William Kelly will be the first defendant to face charges under a new state law that allows for criminal prosecution of someone whose violent act causes the death of an unborn child […]
Pharmacist’s refusal to dispense abortifacient violated Minnesota’s human rights law, court rules (Courthouse News Service)
A Minnesota pharmacist’s refusal to dispense Ella, which can cause abortions, violated the pregnancy-discrimination provision of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, a state appellate court has ruled. “[George] Badeaux refused to dispense [Andrea] Anderson’s valid prescription because Badeaux believed she may have been pregnant,” the court ruled. “Thus, pregnancy was a substantial causative factor in […]
Irish doctors’ group rejected assisted suicide (Catholic Vote)
The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has taken a strong stand against the legalization of assisted suicide, saying that it would be “contrary to the best medical practice.” Rejecting the claim that assisted suicide would be “dying with dignity,” Dr. Diarmuid O’Shea, the group’s president, said: “Dying with dignity in our society is made […]
Congo cardinal raps restoration of death penalty (CNA)
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa has decried the restoration of the death penalty in the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying it is a “step backwards.” The country’s justice minister, Rose Mutombo, said that execution is a proper punishment for “acts of treachery or espionage.” But Cardinal Ambongo countered: “when I look at the reality here […]
Haitian bishops plead for peace, reject government role (Aid to the Church in Need)
The Catholic bishops of Haiti have issued a joint statement pleading for an end to the violence that has caused chaos in their country. “Let us put an end to these violent acts that cause so much suffering, because violence breeds violence, hatred breeds more hatred, and death breeds more dead,” the bishops said. “Each […]
US weakness creates ‘intolerable’ situation in Gaza, prelate says (Vatican News)
The situation in Gaza today is “objectively intolerable,” says Cardinal Gianbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin-rite Patriarch of Jerusalem. Life in Gaza “has always been very fragile, but there has never been hunger before,” the cardinal says. He goes on: The weakness of the United States creates a great dilemma, because until now there has always been […]
Documentary covers FBI file kept on Archbishop Sheen
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Nearly 75 years after he stopped teaching at The Catholic University of America in Washington, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) can still fill a campus auditorium. The occasion was a March 7 screening of “Follow That Bishop!” a half-hour documentary made last year in support of Archbishop Sheen’s sainthood cause and […]
US pushes for ceasefire in Gaza
The US Secretary of State is in Israel for talks on a ceasefire plan for Gaza. Read all
A perfect week, ironic invites, and the social network…
I took a day off this week, which I rarely ever do. My wife was out of town for a family event over the weekend, so, for a whole glorious couple of days, my daughter and I got to spend some true quality time together. Her current favorite movie is the 1995 classic “Babe,” which […]
A Lenten Refresher on the Parts of the Mass…
The liturgy, most especially the Mass, is the central act of the Church. Vatican II reminds us that the liturgy, through which the work of our redemption is accomplished, most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives and manifest to others […]