Call from a Foreigner Working in Malta

Call from a Foreigner Working in Malta

One day we received a call from a foreigner working in Malta…she was troubled as her boyfriend had just left her…the reason behind the breakup was an unexpected pregnancy, and her refusal to abort their child.
She called us for help and soon after we went to visit her in a tiny cramped apartment. She decided to collaborate with us and our team helped and supported her in every possible way: we booked her prenatal care, assisted her during delivery, after child’s birth – with baby materials, babysitting and so on.
Now that 18 months have passed, she is happily settled in a shared rental apartment with her baby daughter… and while mummy is working her precious one is taken care of in a child’s centre.

Pope Francis Opposes Argentina Bill Legalizing Abortions: Don’t “Eliminate Human Life to Solve a Problem”

Pope Francis Opposes Argentina Bill Legalizing Abortions: Don’t “Eliminate Human Life to Solve a Problem”

Pope Francis, answering the pleas of Argentine women who are fighting for the rights of unborn babies, wrote a public letter to his home country this week urging its leaders not to legalize abortions.

According to the National Catholic Register, the grassroots group of pro-life women recently wrote to the pope, urging him to “help us by making our voice heard” in opposition to a new pro-abortion bill. Their letter and the pope’s response both appeared in the newspaper La Nacion on Wednesday.

“Is it fair to eliminate a human life to solve a problem? Is it fair to hire a hitman to solve a problem?” the pope wrote, adding that the pro-life women “know what life is.”

Argentina is facing renewed pressure to abandon its protections for unborn babies and legalize abortion on demand. Earlier this month, President Alberto Fernandez announced plans to introduce a bill to legalize abortions up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Buenos Aires Times.

Wide-spread public opposition stopped a similar bill from passing in 2018, and pro-life advocates hope to do so again.

In his letter Wednesday, Pope Francis praised the women who have been fighting for years to prevent the violence of abortion in Argentina.

“The country is proud to have such women,” he wrote. “Please tell them for me that I admire their work and their testimony; that I thank them from the bottom of my heart for what they do, and that they keep going.”

REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.

The women who wrote to Pope Francis began meeting in 2018 to fight pro-abortion misinformation and advocate for the lives of women and babies in their country. One survey that they conducted found that 80 percent of Argentines oppose abortion, according to the report.

They told the pope that poor women and their children will be hurt the most if the pro-abortion bill passes.

Here’s more from the report:

The women told Pope Francis about being filled with “cold terror” after the abortion bill was introduced to the legislature last week, “just thinking that this project is aimed at adolescents in our neighborhoods.”

“Not so much because in the villa [shanty town] culture abortion is thought of as a solution to an unexpected pregnancy (Your Holiness knows well our way of assuming motherhood between aunts, grandmothers and neighbors),” the women wrote, “but because [the law] is oriented to cultivate the idea that abortion is one more possibility within the range of contraceptive methods and that even the main users must be poor women.”

They urged Pope Francis to use his voice to help them fight against the idea that “our life is the unwanted one and that we do not have the right to have children because we are poor.”

Currently, Argentina protects unborn babies from being killed in abortions. Exceptions are allowed in cases of rape or threats to the mother’s life. Most countries in Central and South America protect unborn babies from abortion, but Fernández wants Argentina to change that.

“Legalizing abortion saves women’s lives and preserves their reproductive capabilities, which are often affected by unsafe abortions, but it does not increase the number of abortions or promote them,” he said earlier this month.

None of this is true. Abortions destroy lives, they do not save them, and pro-abortion laws jeopardize the lives of more unborn babies by putting the government’s approval on killing them. Pro-abortion groups often overestimate the number of illegal and unsafe abortions that occur in countries across the world, and some have admitted to lying about the numbers. Growing research also indicates that access to basic health care, not abortion, is what really helps improve women’s lives.

Pro-lifers have been making their voices heard to lawmakers. In 2019, approximately 2 million Argentines participated in the country’s March for Life in Buenos Aires. Thousands more protested in March after Fernandez first announced his plans to legalize abortion on demand.

A similar proposal to legalize the killing of unborn babies in Argentina failed in 2018 because of strong public opposition. But pro-abortion groups, backed by some of the richest men in the world, continue to put intense pressure on Argentina and other countries to legalize abortion on demand.

This is a Righttolife.org.uk opinion piece

Ref: https://www.lifenews.com/2020/11/25/pope-francis-opposes-argentina-bill-legalizing-abortions-dont-eliminate-human-life-to-solve-a-problem/

 

President urged to safeguard right to conscientious objection

President urged to safeguard right to conscientious objection

The Chamber of Pharmacists has written to President George Vella asking for his intervention to safeguard the right to conscientious objection for pharmacists and other health care professionals.

The request was made in view of the current debate in parliament on the Equality Bill which the chamber views as breaching this right.  It did not specify any examples, but over the past weeks Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar insisted that every pharmacy in Malta should sell the morning-after pill.

In September, fourteen associations representing various medical specialities in a statement also called for the inclusion of a conscientious objection clause in the Bill, endorsing a draft amendment proposed by the Medical Council.

“Doctors should not be faced with clinical situations where they are forced to act against their ethical convictions or be deemed liable if they exert their freedom of conscience,” the associations said.

They argued that doctors should be allowed to refuse to prescribe treatment or perform procedures that violate their ethical convictions, even if such interventions are deemed legal by the state.

Malta’s bishops in a statement in September had also warned that the proposed law aimed at achieving equality and eradicating discrimination would have serious implications on individual freedom.

The Chamber of Pharmacists said on Sunday it had also written to the prime minister, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Justice and the Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms.

“The Kamra reiterates that under the watch of these persons who serve the Constitution and the people, pharmacists and other health care professionals must not be stripped of their right to freedom of thought and conscience in the context of legal health care.

“The Kamra which is a professional association and also a trade union takes a serious view of this matter and expects the State to be a guarantor of this right,” it said.

Click to view the letter to the President

This is a timesofmalta.com opinion piece

Ref: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/president-urged-to-safeguard-right-to-conscientious-objection.833725  

US States Passed 19 Pro-Life Laws in 2020 Saving Unborn Babies from Abortion

US States Passed 19 Pro-Life Laws in 2020 Saving Unborn Babies from Abortion

Despite the coronavirus shutdowns and limited legislative sessions, 13 states still made protections for unborn babies a priority in 2020.

A new report from Americans United for Life recently highlighted the life-saving laws and resolutions that state lawmakers passed this year – doing what they could to end the human rights abuse of abortion against unborn babies in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.

According to Americans United for Life, 13 states passed 19 pro-life laws in 2020, including measures to require abortion facilities to give mothers accurate information and to protect underage girls from secret abortions without a parent’s knowledge or consent.

“While state lawmakers hit the ground running in January, pursuing dozens of life-affirming bills, efforts stalled in March when the COVID-19 global pandemic prematurely ended the legislative sessions in most states,” the pro-life organization said.

Thankfully, the shutdowns meant that states also passed fewer pro-abortion laws; only Virginia and the District of Columbia voted to expand abortions, AUL noted. Currently, Massachusetts also is considering a last-minute amendment tacked onto its budget that would expand late-term abortions in the state.

HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a year-end donation!

The states that passed pro-life laws were: Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Idaho and Utah passed legislation that would ban abortions when Roe v. Wade is overturned or the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to begin protecting unborn babies again, according to the report.

Three other state legislatures passed bills to protect newborns from infanticide, but only the one in West Virginia became law. The governors of Kentucky and Wyoming vetoed the Born-Alive Infant Protection Acts in their states.

Meanwhile, Florida passed a law to strengthen parental involvement when an underage girl has an abortion. The state now requires a minor to have a parent’s consent prior to aborting her unborn baby. Such laws not only protect young girls and their babies from abortion, but they also can help prevent and expose sexual abuse.

Four other states, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Kentucky, moved forward with ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments to protect unborn babies, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Louisiana voters just overwhelmingly passed a pro-life amendment to their constitution on Nov. 3. It states, “To protect human life, nothing in this constitution shall be construed to protect a right to abortion or the tax payer funding of abortion.”

Pro-life laws do save lives. Americans United for Life pointed to research by Dr. Michael New, professor of social research and political science at the Catholic University of America and associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. New’s research found a direct correlation between increasing the number of state pro-life laws and reducing the number of abortions.

As a result, “the national abortion rate continues its downward trend, and it is now the lowest rate since 1973, when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion,” the pro-life organization said.

There were 862,320 abortions in the U.S. in 2017, down from a high of about 1.5 million annually in the early 1990s, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

The declining abortion rate comes as states pass a record number of pro-life laws. In 2019, the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute reported 33 states passed a record 479 pro-life laws since 2011. To put that number into perspective, states have passed 1,271 pro-life laws since 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade. This means more than one third of all pro-life laws in the U.S. were approved in the past decade.

However, the abortion industry is challenging many of these laws in court. Because of Roe v. Wade, states have very limited power to protect unborn babies and mothers from abortions.

Many state lawmakers recognize that their constituents want unborn babies to be protected.

Polls consistently show strong support of abortion restrictions. A 2019 Hill-HarrisX survey found that 55 percent of voters said they do not think laws banning abortions after six weeks – when an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable – are too restrictive.

Another poll out of Harvard University found that just 6 percent of Americans said abortions should be allowed “up until the birth of the child,” while 8 percent said they should be permitted up to the third trimester. It also found that a majority of Americans want the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit Roe v.Wade.

This is a LifeNews.com opinion piece

Ref: https://www.lifenews.com/2020/11/17/states-passed-19-pro-life-laws-in-2020-saving-unborn-babies-from-abortion/

 

 

Abortionist Forced Woman to Have Abortion: “Don’t Scream, You’ll Scare the Other Patients”

Abortionist Forced Woman to Have Abortion: “Don’t Scream, You’ll Scare the Other Patients”

Crystal’s abortion was like a horror story in real life.

Pressured by her boyfriend and then forced into it by the abortionist and his staff, the young woman never fully recovered from the trauma of her unborn baby’s abortion death, Live Action News reports.

However, she went to a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat where pro-lifers helped her begin to heal from the pain and abuse that she experienced and grieve the loss of her baby. She shared her story in the book “Shockwaves: Abortions Wider Circle of Victim,” by Janet Morana.

According to the report, Crystal became pregnant at age 18 to her 22-year-old boyfriend. She said he quickly began pressuring her into an abortion, and she consented to go to the abortion facility.

“I was never asked what I wanted to do about the baby, he decided for me,” she said.

The abortion facility staff confirmed that she was 13-weeks pregnant when they did an ultrasound, the report continues. Crystal said she had to beg them repeatedly before they finally let her see her unborn baby’s image.

“Finally, they turned the screen toward me. I could see my BABY, not a ball of tissue or clump of cells, but my BABY moving around. Face, hands, and even the heart beating. I got to see the tiny child turning somersaults in my belly,” she remembered.

REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.

Crystal said she began to argue with her boyfriend again about the abortion, and again he insisted that she go through with it. Because they did not have $1,200 for the abortion and anesthesia, she paid for the abortion without pain relief, the report continues.

She did not want to abort her unborn baby, but the abortion staff did nothing to empower her to make her own choice. Instead, she said they gave her “one-sided opinions, no medical facts.”

“I was lied to! I was told that there were rarely any side effects. ‘Most women go out that night,’ I was told. ‘It’s really no big deal. It will all be over soon…’” she continued. “After filling my head with lies, they took me to a cold room for the procedure.”

Feeling a renewed urgency to save her baby’s life, she told the abortionist that she did not want the abortion, according to the report. Instead of listening, he told the abortion workers to hold her down, she remembered.

Crystal said she yelled at him and told him “no” several times, but he ignored her. At one point, she said she screamed at him to stop. To which he responded: “Don’t scream. You’ll scare the other patients.”

She said she felt “violated and threatened” as he began, and the pain was excruciating.

The horrific experience traumatized her. Crystal said she began to drink to numb the pain. Eventually, she said she dropped out of school and married her abusive boyfriend to “punish” herself.

“Abortion took my soul, and now I didn’t deserve happiness,” she said. “I felt unlovable. I hated myself, and I was unworthy of forgiveness. I deserved to be punished for what I did. I murdered my baby!”

Crystal was physically traumatized as well. She said she passed out during a pap smear because she experienced a painful flashback to her abortion.

Eventually, she connected with pro-lifers who run Rachel’s Vineyard, a post-abortion healing ministry that counsels women and men across the world. Through the retreat, she said she began to heal, but the trauma may never be gone.

Crystal’s horrific experience is not unique. Abuse is commonly connected with abortion, and women frequently say they felt pressured or even forced to abort their unborn babies – sometimes under threat of violence or death. As LifeNews previously reported, one study found that as many as 64 percent of post-abortive women say they felt pressure to have an abortion.

LifeNews has been keeping track of stories involving allegations of forced and coerced abortions, as well as abuse connected with women who refuse to abort their unborn babies. They include:

England – Man Threatens to Slit His Baby’s Throat if His Ex-Girlfriend Didn’t Have Abortion

England – Husband Orders His Wife to Kill Their Unborn Baby in an Abortion

Florida – Jeffrey Epstein Rape Victim Says She Was Pressured to Have Abortion

California – U.S. Swim Coach Accused of Sexual Abuse, Pressuring Girl into Abortion

Pennsylvania – Man Allegedly Used Abortion Pills to Hide Sexual Abuse of Daughter and Stepdaughter When They Got Pregnant

India – Woman’s Parents Allegedly Strangle Her to Death After She Refuses to Kill Her Baby in an Abortion

Philippines – Police Officer Charged with Raping Intern, Forcing Her to Abort Her Unborn Child

Uganda – Man Stabs 18 Year-Old Girlfriend to Death After She Refuses to Have Abortion

India – Teacher Rapes 13-Year-Old Student, Then Forces Her to Have Abortion

England – Pastor Raped Multiple Women and Children From His Congregation, Forced Them to Have Abortions

Wales – Man Accused of Brutally Strangling His Pregnant Girlfriend, Demanding She Get an Abortion

Texas – Man Jailed for Life After Killing His Pregnant Girlfriend Because She Wouldn’t Abort Their Baby

California – Man Reportedly Forced His Girlfriend at Gunpoint at Take Drugs to Kill Her Baby in Abortion

Wisconsin – Man Allegedly Slipped Abortion Drugs into Pregnant Girlfriend’s Drink

England – Man Allegedly Tries to Force Girlfriend to Abort Their Disabled Baby: “It Would be Cruel to Have a Baby Like That”

Indiana – Teen Kills Pregnant Girlfriend After She Waited Too Long to Get Abortion: “I Took Action, I Took Her Life”

Tennessee – Man Kills Girlfriend and 4-Month Old Baby, She Refused to Abort So He Could Escape Child Support

New York – Attacker Kills Woman 5 Months Pregnant, New York’s New Abortion Law Says Her Baby Isn’t a Human Being

Utah – Man Reportedly Killed His Pregnant Ex-Girlfriend Because She Refused to Have Abortion

Virginia – Doctor Convicted of Spiking Pregnant Girlfriend’s Drink with Abortion Drugs

Hawaii – Man Stabs His Girlfriend More Than Two Dozen Times Because She Refused an Abortion

California – Man Hired Hitman to Kill His Girlfriend and Unborn Son Because She Refused Abortion

Florida – Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Tricking Pregnant Girlfriend into Taking Abortion Drugs

Norway – Man Convicted of Killing Unborn Baby after Slipping Abortion Drugs into Girlfriend’s Drink

Indiana – Man Charged with Attempted Feticide for Allegedly Spiking Girlfriend’s Drink with Abortion Herbs

New York – Man Convicted of Attempted Murder after Secretly Giving Girlfriend Abortion Drugs

Pennsylvania – Abortion Doc Allegedly Tried to Force His Girlfriend to Abort Their Baby, Then Beat Her When She Refused

Colorado – Man Uses a Skewer to Force His Girlfriend to Abort After She Refuses Demand to Have an Abortion

Indiana – Man Tries to Force Pregnant Girlfriend to Have Abortion By Poisoning Her Drink

England – Man Jailed for Tying Up His Girlfriend, Forcing Abortion Drugs Into Her Vagina

This is a LifeNews.com opinion piece

Ref: https://www.lifenews.com/2020/11/17/abortionist-forced-woman-to-have-abortion-dont-scream-youll-scare-the-other-patients/

 

50 UK Palliative Care Doctors Speak Out Against Introducing Assisted Suicide

50 UK Palliative Care Doctors Speak Out Against Introducing Assisted Suicide

Over fifty doctors working in palliative medicine and care for dying patients have signed a letter to The Times in opposition to any proposed changes in the assisted suicide law.

In the face of continual attempts to legalise assisted suicide, fifty doctors have signalled their continued support for protections in the law for the most vulnerable. In particular, the doctors have called attention to a recent British Medical Association survey on assisted suicide which shows the unwillingness of doctors to participate in assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Most doctors would not participate in assisted suicide or euthanasia

In the letter, the doctors point out that whatever marginal support there is for the idea of assisted suicide, it remains the case that a “majority of doctors licensed to practise would not agree to prescribe lethal drugs (assisted suicide) and a larger majority would not administer them (euthanasia).”

In other words, when the doctors who answered the survey were asked if they would personally “participate in any way in the process” of assisted suicide, 45% said ‘no’, as opposed to 36% who said ‘yes’. When asked if they would personally “participate in any way in the process” of euthanasia, 54% said ‘no’, and only 26% said ‘yes’.

The same BMA survey showed that 84% of doctors in palliative medicine would not be willing to perform euthanasia on a patient should the law ever change.

The letter also notes that supposed safeguards in euthanaisa and assisted suicide laws are regularly breached. “Every legislature that allows ‘safeguarded’ assisted dying has seen its safeguards breached, starkly illustrating the gap between principle and practice.” In the Netherlands, for example, reports indicate that the requirement for explicit consent is frequently ignored, as is the required reporting of all instances of euthanasia.

The signers of the letter also emphasise the role medical professionals, which “if ever assisted dying were to be legalised… must be limited to the provision of an opinion on the applicant’s medical condition. It should be for the courts alone to make decisions – as they do now – on life-or-death issues.”

Being a burden

Calls for the legalisation of assisted suicide come at the same time as countries that have already legalised the practise reveal that the motivations for assisted suicide are social and not medical.

For example, in 2019 Canada reported that more than a third (34%) of those who opted for “medical assistance in dying” cited concerns of being a burden to family or carers. A further 13.7% cited “isolation or loneliness” as their reason for procuring an assisted suicide.

Right To Life UK’s spokesperson Catherine Robinson, said: “Once again, this letter shows that the vast majority of those doctors working with dying patients are opposed  to the introduction of assisted suicide.

“The data from Canada shows that ‘isolation or loneliness’ is a reason people choose assisted suicide. With the current COVID 19 lockdowns, loneliness is likely to get worse. This is a serious social problem, not a medical one, and the solution to it is not to end the lives of those suffering.”

This is a Right to Life opinion piece

Ref: https://righttolife.org.uk/news/fifty-palliative-care-doctors-speak-out-against-introducing-assisted-suicide/

A tribute to the fearless and inspirational priest

A tribute to the fearless and inspirational priest

Article written by Katrine Camilleri and Danielle Vella

A free spirit who was larger than life… for us, that is the best way to describe Fr Pierre Grech Marguerat who died in Italy on Friday morning. Since waking up to the news, we’ve been fending off sadness by remembering what made Pierre such a remarkable person. And here it is: Pierre tried to live life to the full despite the debilitating sickness that plagued him.

Life dealt him a raw deal when it came to his health but for as long as he could, Pierre resolutely refused to give in. Where others would have retreated from the world, Pierre persisted. Asked how he kept from falling into despair, Pierre would chuckle and say, “What would you have me do? Hide myself in a corner and cry?”

We knew Pierre through the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Malta over several years. Pierre was a Jesuit priest and pioneer of JRS. He was a passionate advocate for refugee rights and never afraid to speak out; quite the contrary, he delighted in making his voice heard and did not shy away from controversy.

A gifted communicator, Pierre had a way of explaining things to people, so that they listened and understood. He inspired people and made them want to support him and the causes he was advocating. It was about more than just having the gift of the gab. Pierre was respected because he cared deeply about people, and about justice as a natural expression of his faith in God, and this authenticity came across.

Pierre tried to live life to the full despite the debilitating sickness that plagued him

Pierre’s abiding interest in people went beyond his tireless work for social justice. He was a loyal and concerned friend who liked to know what was going on. There were kind and thoughtful gestures, like calling from abroad if he heard that we were sick or searching for and buying Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Bible as a gift because he gleaned from conversation how much it would be valued. Pierre liked food and talking about food. Although there was much he could not eat because of his health, he would really appreciate whatever you prepared when invited for dinner, and recall it for ages afterwards.

Pierre’s irrepressible sense of humour, expressed in a trademark mischievous chuckle, made him fun to be around. He was a gregarious soul, who liked to be around people and in where the action was. When we heard about his death, the first thing that occurred to us was how many people around the world will be sorry to hear the news.

Pierre was known and loved by Jesuits and others in the international JRS family. A colleague of ours in Brussels said: “He was of those people who leave a deep impression on those who cross paths with him. We’ll miss him.” People liked Pierre; it was as simple as that. Perhaps it was because he made you feel like you mattered.

Given that Pierre cared so much about others, it was with a twinge of regret that we received news of his death, because of the missed opportunities to contact him in Italy to see how he was doing. But then our guilt was wiped away by the realisation that Pierre would never dream of holding our failings against us.

Pierre was free from pettiness, he was never one to get offended, or sulk or nurse grudges in his heart. His freedom frees us too, to remember the great times spent together in work and in fun, and to learn from the touch of greatness that made Pierre who he was. Thank you, Pierre, we’ll never forget you.  

This is a timesofmalta.com opinion piece

Ref: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/a-tribute-to-the-fearless-and-inspirational-priest.831841

Equality Bill is not Radical Enough

Equality Bill is not Radical Enough

By Fr Carlo Calleja -November 13, 2020 9:26 AM

I am in full agreement with the thinking behind the proposed Equality Bill. Every human being is created with equal dignity. My only issue with it is that it is not radical enough.

What I mean is that by focusing simply on equality, the Bill is—for want of a better word—ineffective. In his most recent social encyclical issued last October, Fratelli Tutti Pope Francis, impels us to go much further than mere equality, and to embrace fraternity instead.

Five take-aways

Here are five take-aways from Fratelli Tutti applied to the proposed Equality Bill.

First, with the pretext of promoting equality and preventing discrimination, the proposed Bill silences voices that might be interpreted in some way or other as discriminatory. As a result, the only voice that is heard is that which pleases those in power, or as is interpreted by them (206).

Second, the Bill takes on the bold mission of promoting equality. This, however, can never be reached if there is no serious effort to address the removal of economic inequalities (168). This is not done only by providing social services but by creating just structures, a project which leaves much to be desired. A practical example is the increasing number of people who have to depend on different forms of charity to receive their daily bread, a situation that was already existent but which was further aggravated by the pandemic.

Third, equality will remain a nothing but “an abstract proclamation” unless it is supported and encouraged by structures that engender fraternity (104). This can also be brought about through reciprocity and mutual enrichment (103). As the pope himself insists, “the future is not monochrome” (100).

 

Fourth, history has shown us that when a group is silenced, it emerges with much greater voracity. This is perhaps the greatest threat that must be avoided. The risk is not from the mainstream church, but from vociferous fringe groups who defend a certain worldview and feel that they are being persecuted. If such groups rise to power in some way or another, the resulting inequality would be even more pronounced (191).

Fifth, the Bill does nothing to change a mentality. Instead it simply enforces a law. As a result, people act out of fear of not being charged and taken to court. They will circumvent rules and misinterpret laws rather than act out of the conviction that every human being has equal dignity (104).

Post-Enlightenment Europe has sought to engrain liberty and equality in its citizens with poor results. What is really needed is social friendship, a recognition that we all belong to the same family and that I must treat you equally not because the law says so but because I recognise that you are endowed with equal dignity despite our differences.

Fr Carlo Calleja is a member of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Malta and a lecturer in Moral Theology at the Faculty of Theology, University of Malta.

This is a newsbook.com opinion piece

Ref: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/blog/equality-bill-is-not-radical-enough/

 

 

Ban on Celebrating Mass During Lockdown: the French Government’s Abuse of Power

Ban on Celebrating Mass During Lockdown: the French Government’s Abuse of Power

A judge of the Conseil d’État, ruling in summary proceedings, decided this Saturday, November 7, not to restore full freedom of worship, thus rejecting the appeal filed by the Conference of Catholic Bishops, Congregations and Faithful. This decision deserves several comments.

Article published in the French weekly Newspaper Valeurs Actuelles on Novembre, 9.

A first observation is obvious: the decline in the knowledge of Catholicism by public authorities, and the resulting historical choice of the bishops to take the government to court to defend their liberties. This is a cultural change.

For the government, commerce is more worthy than religion; and at no time has the Conseil d’État questioned this axiom. Freedom of worship would be only one aspect of freedom of assembly and would be worth less than freedom of demonstration, which is still permitted.

This is a considerable fall because never before had the drafters of the 1905 law imagined that freedom of worship would be belittled in this way. International law even places this freedom of religion above the other freedoms by admitting “no derogation” from it, even “in the event of a public emergency which threatens the existence of the nation and is proclaimed by an official act.” Surprisingly, the judge deliberately ignored this provision of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Nor did the judge note the government’s abuse of power in deciding which religious ceremonies can be celebrated in a church (marriage and burial with 6 and 30 people respectively) to the exclusion of others (baptisms, confirmations, ordinations, etc.), which clearly violates the 1905 law. The Republic is supposed to ignore religious practices.

However, we can be grateful to the Conseil d’État for providing several useful clarifications:

The faithful may go to places of worship located more than one kilometre away and for a period of more than one hour, by checking the box “urgent family reason” [in the auto-attestation form that is compulsory to go outside during the lockdown in France]. In this regard, the judge in charge of summary proceedings invites the Government to correct the form to “explain” this option.

The ministers of religion may receive the faithful individually, go to their homes and to the establishments where they are chaplains to exercise their ministry. Catholic priests may therefore administer the sacraments in the church, in private homes, as well as in schools, prisons or hospitals, without being subject to the limit of six persons constituting a group when this does not apply.

The faithful may also go to places of worship while the priest is celebrating Mass, provided that they avoid “any gathering with persons who do not share their home.” On this last point, the criteria are still unclear. As the government acknowledged at the hearing, one can be more than six people in a large church without creating a grouping… it all depends on the size of the place of worship. It is regrettable in this regard that France has not adopted an objective criterion of density of faithful per square meter, as many countries have done.

 

Finally, the scope of this decision should be put into perspective.

Like every summary proceeding, it is a decision taken by a single judge, in a state of urgency. It is not final and is only valid “in the state of the investigation and at the date of the present order.”

Thus, the judge may be called again in summary proceedings as soon as new circumstances can be invoked in support of the release of the cult. In this respect, the judge emphasized that the extension of the state of health emergency “presupposes the commitment to a consultation with all the representatives of the main religions, aimed at clarifying the conditions under which these restrictions could evolve.” In doing so, the judge discreetly supports the request of the representatives of the cults to be heard.

Finally, any believer can still appeal to the Conseil d’État against the decree of October 29, 2020, so that the judges, sitting this time in a collegial manner, can decide this question on the merits. A priority question of constitutionality (QPC) could even be added to the procedure. But this procedure will take several months.

In the meantime, it remains possible to declare at the prefecture the holding of demonstrations in public squares, to demand full freedom of worship while celebrating mass. Priests can also celebrate daily requiem Masses with thirty faithful, even in the absence of a body, as the decree authorizes them to do.

This is a eclj.org opinion piece by Grégor Puppinck

Ref: https://eclj.org/religious-freedom/french-institutions/ban-on-celebrating-mass-during-lockdown-the-governments-abuse-of-power

As president, Biden will re-start funding international organizations that promote abortion

As president, Biden will re-start funding international organizations that promote abortion

Biden plans to rejoin Paris Agreement and WHO, undo other Trump decisions on Day 1

He would also reinstate DACA and repeal Trump’s travel ban targeting majority Muslim countries.

President-elect Joe Biden plans, on his first day in the White House, to enact four executive orders rolling back President Trump’s efforts on a number of issues, the campaign told Fox News on Monday.

The executive actions would include rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, rejoin the World Health Organization and repeal Trump’s travel ban targeting majority Muslim nations.

The pledge came after several media outlets, including Fox News, projected Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. As of Monday, the Trump campaign vowed to continue challenging the results, citing issues with ballots and the counting process.  

Monday’s news signaled the beginning of a longer effort to undo a variety of policies pursued by Trump. Biden has vowed to repeal Trump’s tax cuts, for example, and said that he would reverse the Mexico City Policy, which Trump reinstated shortly after taking office in 2017.

FAUCI SAYS HE’S NOT LEAVING JOB AFTER 2020 ELECTION, EXPECTS COVID VACCINES BY END OF THE YEAR

That policy restricts international funding for organizations that promote abortion. Other abortion-related policies and those weakening the Affordable Care Act, will likely be on the chopping block in a Biden-Harris administration as well.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Biden’s decision to re-enter the WHO reflected a broader effort to combat the coronavirus upon taking office. Democrats have decried Trump’s decision to exit the transnational organization in the middle of a pandemic. Trump has defended the move as a way to hold the organization accountable for alleged missteps during the pandemic.

In an official move, the president-elect formed a coronavirus advisory board dominated by scientists and doctors.  

“The challenge before us right now is still immense and growing, and so is the need for bold action to fight this pandemic,” Biden said after being briefed on the virus. “We are still facing a dark winter.”

By Sam Dorman, Hillary Vaughn | Fox News

Ref: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-executive-orders-day-one

The Associated Press contributed to this report.