Posted 12:01 AM by John Mallon | link

05/06/2004: Public dissenters should themselves refrain from Communion: Archbishop John Vlazny

Posted 9:40 PM by John Mallon | link

BISHOPS divisive? It wasn't the bishops who decided men ought to "marry" men and women "marry" women after 4,000 years. This is why "Voice of the Faithful" is not the voice of the faithful.

Lay group says bishops divisive on gay marriage

Posted 2:00 PM by John Mallon | link

Bishop Sheridan's Pastoral Letter (pdf file): pastoralletter.pdf

Posted 1:51 PM by John Mallon | link

CBS News | Colorado Bishop Warns Catholics | May 14, 2004?13:57:54

Posted 1:32 PM by John Mallon | link

Communion tied to Catholic loyalty / Colorado bishop bans sacrament if voters defy church

Posted 4:10 PM by John Mallon | link

PRI Commends FDA for Denying Over-The-Counter Status to 'Morning-After Pill'

Posted 3:57 AM by John Mallon | link

Forum: Abortion trials and tribulations, Cathy Cleaver Ruse - The Washington Times: Commentary - April 25, 2004: " "

Posted 3:55 AM by John Mallon | link

Protecting the Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion
A Trial Notebook by Jay Sekulow

Posted 12:42 AM by John Mallon | link

Anyone wishing to make a donation to Mallon's Media Watch, now would be a great time! Credit Cards accepted, click on PayPal button on the left!

Thanks!

Posted 11:23 PM by John Mallon | link

The Forum: Why I worry when a bishop does the right thing (CWN)

by Leila M. Lawler
special to CWNews.com

May. 11 (CWNews.com) - Here at CWN we view it as our special role to challenge prelates who don’t stand up for the faith. It’s part of our journey, it’s how we grow as members of this vibrant community we call Church.

But on those rare occasions when our clergy do stand up and speak out and tell the truth, I get nervous. Granted, this circumstance doesn’t occur often – maybe it’s not really worth getting used to feeling this way. Still, I wonder.

Will they be able to manage Phase II? Will they survive the more difficult blood-in-the-water test of the next round? Or will they be thrown off the Island for being weenies after all?

Continued...

Posted 5:22 PM by John Mallon | link

Well isn't that Special!

WorkingForChange-Marching Orders (March 9 - April 15)

4.12.04: Webber, my nine month old son, has two choices of what to wear to the March. One, a little yellow t-shirt stating “Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights,” is a hand-me-down from Peggy Kerry, a super political organizer in New York, who also happens to work at the US Mission to the UN and be the sister of presidential candidate John Kerry. This belonged to her daughter Iris, who long ago outgrew the toddler sized t-shirt, and was purchased from the Center for Reproductive Rights. The second option is a onesie from Planned Parenthood that says “Parenthood. Plan it,” which was a gift to Webber from Gloria Feldt, the organization’s president.

Posted 2:37 PM by John Mallon | link

From Culture and Cosmos

Dear Colleague,

Can a faithful Catholic vote for a Catholic politician who aggressively
opposes the dogmatic teachings of the Catholic Church? That is the
question posed by the presidential candidacy of John Kerry. Kerry not only
dissents from the official teachings of the Catholic Church, he actively
works against them. Catholics eagerly await a teaching on this question
from the Bishops.

Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,

Austin Ruse
President

Action item: People of all faiths should pray that the US Conference of
Catholic Bishops arrive at the correct answer to this question.

________________________________________________________________________

CULTURE & COSMOS

May 11, 2004 Volume 1, Number 40

Kerry Candidacy Presents Vexing Problem for Faithful Catholics and Bishops

Within hours of the Food and Drug Administration decision last
week not to allow the morning after pill to be distributed without a
prescription, dozens of press releases went out from individuals and
organizations all over the country. One from the US Conference of Catholic
Bishops praised the decision. Another from the presidential campaign of
Senator John Kerry condemned the decision. The disparity over this issue
once more points to a very dangerous moment for the Catholic Church in
America.

The presumptive Democratic nominee for President, a self
proclaimed faithful Catholic, has made it repeatedly clear that he intends
to work against the doctrinal teachings of his Church on life issues and
has as much as told the Church to mind its own business.

The Catholic Church opposes abortion and insists that Catholics
must assent to this teaching. Senator Kerry dissents from the teaching and
goes so far as to vow he will never appoint anyone other than a
pro-abortion Federal Judge.

The Catholic Church supported a ban on partial birth abortion, the
grisly procedure that delivers a live baby only to have her skull crushed
and brains sucked out. Senator Kerry voted at least six times in favor of
the procedure.

The Catholic Church opposes embryonic stem cell research because
the process kills embryonic human beings. Kerry sponsored the Stem Cell
Research Act of 2001 which would have funded lethal research on embryos.

The Catholic Church opposes the cloning of human beings for any
purpose. Senator Kerry supports the cloning of human beings for the
purpose of lethal medical experimentation.

In a question and answer on his campaign website, Senator Kerry
answers the question about the differences he has with his Church. "I"ve
always kept whatever the doctrine of church or anything else separate from
the decisions that I make. It informs me as a human being. It feeds my
soul and it feeds my spirit but that‚s how you are every day in life, that
is not what affects a choice with respect to a public policy, per se, and
I"ve always separated those."

Kerry‚s open disagreement with Church teachings has placed an
enormous problem into the hands of the American Bishops and the Catholic
voter. Barring some unexpected event, this summer Kerry will become only
the second Catholic to be nominated by a major party for Presidency. And
the question has become, can a faithful Catholic vote for a Catholic
politician who not only dissidents from core Church teaching, but one who,
like Kerry, aggressively works in opposition to the doctrinal teachings of
the Church.

This issue has been confused somewhat by the debate over whether
Kerry himself should receive Communion. Some believe the Communion issue
is being used as a smokescreen that hides the real issue which is whether
faithful Catholics may vote for Kerry.

The voting question is further exacerbated by some liberal
Catholics who seem deliberately to confuse the question of what a Catholic
is required to believe and what they may decide on their own. They seem to
want to place opposition to a doctrinal issue like abortion on a par with
policy decisions such as support for a higher minimum wage. The Church has
always made a distinction between what Catholics must believe and those
things which are considered "prudential," that is, left up to the
individual. The teaching against abortion is doctrine and must be assented
to by faithful Catholics. And even though the Social Development and World
Peace Office of the Bishop‚s Conference advocates for a higher minimum
wage, no Catholic is required to support what is only a policy position.

Copyright---Culture of Life Foundation.
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

Culture of Life Foundation
1413 K Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 289-2500
Fax: (202) 289-2502
E-mail: clf@culture-of-life.org
Website: http://www.culture-of-life.org

Posted 2:20 PM by John Mallon | link

Congresswoman Defends Bush Adviser on Abortion March Comments:

Posted 1:52 PM by John Mallon | link

C-Fam needs Help

Dear Colleague,

I am sorry to say that our fund drive for the Friday Fax is failing. And
our pro-abortion opponents will have a field day with this news.

In the first two weeks of our six week campaign, we have raised only
$4972.00. We absolutely must raise $50,000 in this six week campaign. We
have raised less than 10% of our goal.

Here is what is at stake.

The pro-aborts at the UN have sought to make abortion a universally
recognized human right. They have LOST because we STOPPED THEM.

They have sought to redefine the family to include homosexual marriage and
they have LOST because we STOPPED THEM.

They sought to redefine gender to say that it is not based in nature but
can be changed and they LOST because we STOPPED THEM.

The hard left sexual revolutionaries have lost on every single major issue
they have pushed, wheedled, threatened, bribed. They lost because, along
with our very good coalition of groups from around the world, we STOPPED
THEM.

Will the bad guys give up simply because we have stopped them all these
many years? No! Here are some recent examples:

Just a few weeks ago they were in Geneva trying to get homosexuality
included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights! They lost.

Just a few weeks ago they were in New York trying once again to use a UN
document to make abortion universal.They lost.

Just this week they are back in New York trying it again. They never stop.
They never sleep.

But we have stopped them nonetheless. Even though we are outmanned 1,000
to 1 and outspent 1,000,000 to 1 we have STOPPED THEM!!!

The Friday Fax is an integral part of this effort. The Friday Fax has
gathered a global force of activists, thinkers, government officials who
act together in stopping the sexual revolutionaries from having their way
with the world. The Friday Fax cannot fail financially. That would be
disastrous for our shared concerns, for the unborn.

Next week I will tell you about fresh attacks on the Friday Fax. Just last
week "Catholics" for a Free Choice published their second mammoth report
about little C-FAM and the Friday Fax. Only a few months ago we were
threatened with a law suit by one of the most powerful and, yes, evil
feminist law firms in the world.

Dear friend, do not let the Friday Fax fail. You are needed right now.
Have you given?

Go to http://www.c-fam.org/donations.htm and give as much as you can.

Have you already given? Can you give again? Please get this email into the
hands of all those who can support our work.

We must raise an additional $45,000 in the next three weeks! This amount
is large to us, though the pro-aborts will laugh at it. It is the amount
International Planned Parenthood takes makes in a slow few hours at their
hundreds of abortion clinics. But, it is the amount that will keep the
Friday Fax alive, kicking, exposing the shenanigans of the pro-abortion UN
radicals.

Go to http://www.c-fam.org/donations.htm and give as much as you possibly
can.

Yours sincerely,

Austin Ruse
President

PS Next week we will publish portions of the new attacks on us.

PPS Please know that while the Friday Fax is an integral part of the
pro-life fight at the UN and around the world, we work with many very good
groups that contribute mightily to our ongoing wins.

Posted 4:22 PM by John Mallon | link

Cardinal George, ... really...

RNC/LIFE SPECIAL REPORT - MAY 6, 2004

RNC/Life National Chairman Responds to Remarks by Chicago's Cardinal George

The Chicago Sun Times (4/8/04) reported that Cardinal Francis George,
in an appearance before the City Club of Chicago, addressed the subject of
abortion politics. During his remarks, he said, "One could say, as I have, that
the Democratic Party has lost its soul. . . One could also argue that the
Republican Party never had a soul."

Below is Mrs. Schlafly's response to those comments.

April 26, 2004

His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
155 East Superior Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611

Your Eminence,

Press reports of your appearance at the April 7, 2004 City Club of Chicago luncheon where, in commenting on abortion politics, you said: "One could say, as I have, that the Democratic Party has lost its soul. . . One could also argue that the Republican Party never had a soul," have caused considerable consternation among Catholic pro-lifers who have worked for the past 34 years to promote pro-life public policy and to create, protect and defend the pro-life platform plank in the Republican National Platform and also in state Republican platforms throughout the nation.

Having organized hundreds of thousands of pro-life Republicans into a force sufficient to repel attacks on our principled pro-life plank by the abortion industry and its allies in the media, I can assure you that every single one of our people has a heart and soul full of unselfish commitment to the cause of life. While some wealthy and prominent individuals and groups in our Party are anti-life, the big majority of grassroots Republicans and Republican public officials are pro-life. We work hard to hold all Republican officials accountable to the Republican Party's pro-life principles, and we rejoice that every Republican Platform since Roe vs. Wade has taken a strong pro-life stand.

Page 26 of the 2000 Republican National Platform called "Renewing America's Purpose Together" says, in part, "We say the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions. We oppose using public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life."

This is official Republican Party policy. It is in striking contrast to the
Democratic Party's Platform which states that abortion should be legal at any time, for any reason, performed by any one, paid for by the taxpayers. In compliance with this policy, the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate has resorted to extraordinary procedures to prevent the confirmation of any federal judge who might be suspected of being critical of Roe v. Wade.

On the issue of abortion, there is no moral equivalency between the official positions of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party adopted in national conventions.

Our work is not easy, especially because of the hundreds of so-called
Catholic politicians who support pro-abortion public policies and laws and do so with impunity, without criticism from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, with a few notable exceptions. But we remain steadfast in our pursuit of justice for the unborn, and we work persistently as best we can through the Republican Party which, after all, proved it had a soul when it was founded a century and a half ago on the principle that no human being should be considered the property of another.

Despite the "belly laughs and applause" of many Democrats attending the City Club luncheon, your comment was hurtful to the thousands of pro-life Republican volunteers, all with a soul, who read about them in the April 8, 2004 edition of the Chicago Sun Times and then through numerous e-mails and faxes.

We are currently preparing for the 2004 Republican National Convention
Platform hearings in New York where every pro-abortion advocate both inside and outside of the Republican Party is expected to demonstrate and promote their agenda. Perhaps you and others among your fellow bishops would like to learn more about the history of the pro-life movement within the Republican Party. I enclose a copy of the RNC/Life brochure, "The Republican Party is the Pro-Life Party," for your review.

Respectfully,

Phyllis Schlafly, National Chairman
Republican National Coalition for Life

c.c. - Most Reverend Raymond Leo Burke