International News

News from outside of Canada.

U.S. March for Life founder Nellie Gray, 86, dies

August 16, 2012

WASHINGTON - Nellie Gray, who started the annual March for Life parade to protest the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, has died at age 86. She was found dead in her home Aug. 13 in Washington's Capitol Hill neighbourhood by a March for Life staffer, Gene Ruane, who said the medical examiner will determine the cause and date of her death. The March for Life has grown into one of the signature events of the pro-life movement. After the first march in 1974, Gray, a Texas native, established the March for Life Education & Defense Fund to sustain it. Each year in her remarks, Gray exhorted pro-lifers to promote and adhere to a series of "life principles" that would eliminate abortion and enhance life, to which she said there should be "no exception! No compromise!" Ruane, an administrative assistant with the March for Life, told Catholic News Service Aug. 14 that leadership of the organization would be assumed by Terrence Scanlon, who has been its vice president "since the beginning." Funeral information was not immediately available. Gray was a member of St. Mary, Mother of God parish in Washington. Born June 25, 1926, in Texas, Gray served as a corporal in the Women's Army Corps during the Second World War. She later earned a bachelor's degree in business and a master's in economics. She worked for the federal government for 28 years at the State Department and the Department of Labour, while attending Georgetown University Law School. Gray later practised law before the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 2010 profile, Gray said she wasn't a Catholic as a child, but "I had elements of the Catholic faith in my life." As a young woman, she encountered a priest who brought to light what the Catholic Church was about, and he tutored her until she joined the Church. Gray also spoke of the march's origins. "I received a call from the Knights of Columbus," she recalled. "I didn't even know who they were, but they explained their stance against abortion and needed a place to meet to discuss plans for a march. That place was my living room. About 30 people gathered there and they asked if I could help get speakers for the event since I knew Capitol Hill well. "What I couldn't get was a master of ceremonies for the event," she added. "Politicians didn't want to get involved in a march, and people at that time weren't interested in marches after the civil rights movement and other things. That left the emcee job to me." Tributes to Gray poured in as news of her death spread. "The indelible mark she has left in this world can be seen in the generations of lives saved as a result of her dedicated work on behalf of the unborn," said an Aug. 13 statement from Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. "As we approach the tragic 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are confident her legacy of pro-life activism will continue to inspire and effect change." "As a colleague in national pro-life leadership, Nellie was always an inspiration to the rest of us," said an Aug. 13 statement by Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. "Her devotion was on display that same year, 2008, when, despite being in the hospital during the March for Life, she nevertheless was present at all all-day meeting of national leaders the very next morning." Gray "mobilized millions to protest the injustice of Roe v. Wade and to speak out on behalf of unborn children, who have no voice of their own. While Miss Gray did not see Roe overturned in her lifetime, the movement she helped build — especially its young members — will not rest until the right to life is restored once again," said Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications at the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, in an Aug. 14 statement. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus, called her an "extraordinary pro-life leader" who was unstoppable as emcee of the march "even in the worst of weather and poor health." Because of her leadership, the Roe decision "has been marked annually with a sombre remembrance that gives voice to the defenseless unborn and the women wounded by abortion," Smith said Aug. 14. "In Nellie's name we will continue her legacy of unceasing commitment to defending the unborn." Gray is survived by three nieces and one nephew, all of whom live in Texas.

Syria's increased instability raises fear among Christians

August 15, 2012

Aid is getting to displaced Christians fleeing the fighting in Syria, but there's no telling how Syria's Christian minority will cope as fighting shifts and the country's new reality takes shape. "Based on our frequent contacts with our partners in Syria, I can say that they are still able to meet the demand (for emergency shelter, food, medicine and clothing). However, the question is for how long?" Issam Bishara, Catholic Near East Welfare Association regional director, told The Catholic Register in an e-mail from Beirut. Numbers of internal refugees are on the rise as fighting spreads throughout Syria, Bishara said. CNEWA is delivering aid to Christians and Muslims through the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Damascus and in Akrama-Homs, the Greek Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch in Damascus, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch working with families displaced from Homs and Wadi al Nasarah (Valley of the Christians) and the Melkite Greek Catholic parish in Al Qaa, a Lebanese village on the border with Syria. Christians haven't been targeted in the fighting so far, said Samer Laham, the Greek Orthodox director of ecumenical relations and development. "Christians are affected as well as Muslims in the country," said Laham in an e-mail from Damascus. "In some places they are targeted because they live in one area and that area has been invaded by rebels and is being shelled by government security forces. Rebels in many places tend to go to the Christian areas to find refuge and protection, which is the reason they put the Christian populations at risk." Syrians have seen what happens when a Baathist government falls. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government in 2003 by American-led forces triggered an exodus of close to two million refugees who crossed the Iraq-Syria border. While Middle-Eastern Christians may not have loved the old dictatorships of Iraq, Syria and Egypt, they're fearful of the alternatives on offer. "They are seeing what is happening in other places and have found no success stories of democracy in the Arab world are taking place," said Laham. "Christians are afraid of the new, coming system that is not clear at all." Fundamentalist politics based on an appeal to religion as a bulwark against a corrupt, foreign culture isn't the only problem Christians face in the Middle East. "Christians are always the weaker body and pay the price of other conflicting groups," said Laham. "This is why they might be an easy target for revenge from all other parties." Laham rejects the idea that Syria is engulfed in civil war. "We are not witnessing a civil war yet and hope not to witness that at all," he said. He blames outside forces for an escalation in violence. "The war can stop if the external powers stop arming the so-called Free Army and stop sending terrorists for jihad in Syria," he said. CNEWA Canada has launched an emergency appeal to support Syrian Christians as they deal with fallout from the fighting. "if we could reach $100,000 by Christmas that would be good. If we could get more that would be better," said Carl Hetu, CNEWA Canada's executive director. "The needs are changing and increasing every day as the war intensifies." Syrian Christians have become advocates for peace and dialogue as the conflict rages, said Hetu. "A lot of the good stories are about Christians welcoming the Muslims, sharing their food, praying together," said Hetu. "And Shiites and Sunnis welcoming Christians into their homes. Those are the stories not told, but are happening." The crisis has spurred Syrian churches to work ecumenically for less violent solutions to the political impasse. "They found a new vocation — a vocation of dialogue and peace," Hetu said. "This is the vocation of the Christian in the Middle East, not only in Syria. If there's a lesson learned in Iraq it's that the churches can play a uniting role if they are united and they show that among themselves they can be. The Church, if it continues to play this role when the fighting is over, it can help the healing." But that doesn't mean Christian communities in Syria are secure. "The problem is being a minority and being in villages. When they leave, what will happen to their property? What will happen to them? Are they going to come back?" Hetu asks. "Any kind of disturbance in the daily life of Christian villages or communities, nobody is sure it will be the same once the war is finished. Will they go back to their villages? Will the balance of power be the same?" TORONTO CHRISTIANS UNITE IN PRAYER FOR SYRIA Prayers for peace in Syria have united a large swath of Christians in Toronto. A dozen churches, Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic, came together at St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church Aug. 9 for a three-hour weeknight ecumenical prayer service. St. Mary's in the northeast corner of the city was full to overflowing with Christians who have relatives and friends in Syria and many who immigrated from Syria. Franciscan Friar of the Atonement Father Damian MacPherson represented Cardinal Thomas Collins, who was traveling at the time, at the service. MacPherson contributed the Peace Prayer of St. Francis. Protopresbyter Stavophor Vasilije Tomic of St. Archangel Gabriel Serbian Orthodox Church led about 400 faithful in praying the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II from his May 7, 2001 visit to the Golan Heights in Syria. "May they be inspired to oneness of heart and mind in working for a world that will be a true home for all its peoples. Salam! Salam! Salam!" is the conclusion to the papal prayer. Clergy present at the prayer service represented the Armenian Apostolic Church, Coptic Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Ethiopian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Presbyterian, Iranian Christian, Maronite Catholic, Armenian Evangelical, Anglican and Syriac Orthodox.

Romney's running mate comes from longtime Wisconsin Catholic family

August 15, 2012

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Paul Davis Ryan, whom Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced Aug. 11 as his running mate for the White House, is a lifelong Catholic whose children attend their parish school in Wisconsin. Ryan's inclusion on the presumptive Republican ticket marks the first time both halves of the major party matchup will have Catholics seeking the vice presidency. Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is the first Catholic to hold the post. The last time the Republican nominee for vice president was a Catholic was in 1964, when New York Rep. William E. Miller was the running mate of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater. Ryan, 42, was born and raised in Janesville, Wis., where he lives with his wife, Janna, and their three children. The fifth-generation Wisconsin native graduated from Nativity of Mary Elementary School and Joseph A. Craig, a public high school, both in Janesville. Ryan first ran for public office in 1998, winning election to the 1st Congressional District seat. Ryan has since been re-elected six times and will remain on the ballot for his congressional seat as he seeks the vice presidency. Concurrent candidacy is allowed in Wisconsin. Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer, a priest of the diocese of Madison who was pastor in Janesville for 12 years during Ryan's youth, said Ryan comes from a strong Catholic family. Schmelzer believes Ryan's Catholic faith influences his public life. "He emphasizes that our rights come from God and nature. He has a strong vision for the future," said the priest, calling Ryan "a great gift to our country." Ryan's great-grandfather founded Ryan Incorporated Central, a mass excavation construction business, and his grandfather served as U.S. attorney for western Wisconsin. His father, Paul Davis Ryan, an attorney, died of a heart attack at age 55. His son, Paul, the youngest of four children, was 16. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan is the principal author of a Republican budget plan budget that delineates a decade-long plan to reduce spending on non-military programs as a step toward reducing the country's $15-trillion deficit. The GOP budget also calls for remaking Medicare, establishing Medicaid as a block grant program for states to administer and simplifying the tax code by closing loopholes and lowering individual and corporate tax rates. Ryan cited the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity as keys to securing a future in which everyone has the opportunity to achieve and to preserving the public safety net for those citizens who are truly in need. The principle of subsidiarity as found in Catholic social teaching calls for decisions to be made and actions taken at the most local level possible. Ryan's argument that the budget reflects Catholic social teaching brought criticism from some within the Church, including theologians and social ministry activists. Two bishops who head committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called for a more measured approach to the budget. The congressman co-sponsored the Sanctity of Human Life Act and the Right to Life Act, which both would write into law that life begins at the moment of conception. He has voted to ban use of federal money to pay for abortion or any part of a health plan that covers abortion. He also has voted against allowing same-sex couples to adopt and opposed repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the military, reported The Associated Press. The AP said Ryan has supported a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. He also has supported immigration legislation calling for expanding the fence along the U.S.-Mexican border and backed a 2005 bill passed by the House that would have criminalized the act of offering basic assistance to undocumented immigrants.

Canadian government to match donations for drought-stricken Sahel region

August 13, 2012

Eighteen-million Africans of the Sahel region who face drought-induced starvation now qualifiy for matching funds from the Government of Canada. Donations to qualified aid agencies received between Aug. 7 and Sept. 30 will be doubled with contributions from the Canadian International Development Agency. CIDA gets the ball rolling with a $10 million contribution to the Sahel drought matching fund. "It acts as a stimulus," said Michael Casey, executive director of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. "Of course it's a good thing." Development and Peace has been trying to stir up interest in the eight-country drought for months. It enlisted the help of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in late May. That appeal has pulled in $340,000 so far to help fund a $5-million feeding and agricultural rehabilitation program jointly conceived by Development and Peace and Canadian Foodgrains Bank. In addition, Development and Peace is working with Caritas Internationalis on longer term projects in the region. But the disaster stretching between Senegal in the west and Chad in the east hasn't taken newscasts and front pages by storm. "There's going to be more media now," said Casey. "It's been a slow onset and now we're coming to the starting line." The matching fund may reward tardy parishes that have not yet forwarded money collected so far to Development and Peace. CIDA officials say it doesn't matter when the funds were actually collected. They will be matched if Development and Peace receives them between Aug. 7 and Sept. 30. Matching funds are "an exceptional measure in response to catastrophic disasters striking developing countries," said an e-mail from CIDA's communications department to The Catholic Register. There have been seven matching fund appeals launched since Ottawa pioneered the approach in response to the massive Boxing Day 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. "It sends a signal to Canadians that the government is worried about the situation — that it's serious and they want Canadians to respond," said Canadian Foodgrains Bank spokeswoman Emily Cain. "It leverages people's money. It makes any donation go twice as far." A quiet media response to the crisis has translated into a lukewarm donor uptake so far, said Cain. Over the summer Canadian Foodgrains Bank has collected $25,000 for the Sahel. The partnership between Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Development and Peace has made the most of partnerships both agencies have with local actors in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, said Cain. "The Sahel can be a difficult place to work, but Foodgrains works through local partners. That means these are people who already know the systems, how things work in the country, and already have longer term relationships with communities," she said. Adding Caritas to the mix ensures there also are programs to respond to the drought in other countries, and to respond with programs that last longer than feeding stations and seed distribution. "That's been a really great partnership," said Cain. Because of the early warnings from Caritas, Development and Peace has been planning and working on its Sahel response since Christmas, said Casey. CIDA has so far spent $47.5 million on humanitarian assistance in the Sahel. Development and Peace hasn't had any of that money — which goes largely to direct, country-to-country aid or United Nations agencies. But Development and Peace does plan to apply for future funding CIDA makes available to its proven partners, said Casey. "We would certainly look at collaborating with others because that's all part of the leverage aspect. If we work together on these things with other agencies we can have greater impact," he said. "Our program has been very effective so far."

'Pious' Gabriele says he acted for good of Church

August 13, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Paolo Gabriele, the personal assistant of Pope Benedict XVI accused of illicitly copying private Vatican correspondence and giving it to a journalist, told Vatican investigators he acted out of concern for the Pope and the Church. Documents released by the Vatican Aug. 13 outline the case against Gabriele, including his own statements about his motivations, but also others' descriptions of him and selected quotations from reports filed by psychiatrists and psychologists asked by the Vatican to examine him. The documents explain why the Vatican had decided to formally indict Gabriele and try him on charges of aggravated theft. The trial date will not be announced before late September. Dr. Roberto Tatarelli, a professor of psychiatry at Sapienza University of Rome, reported that Gabriele showed no signs of "clinically significant disturbances" that could explain his actions or cast doubt on his ability to understand what he was doing was wrong. But the doctor wrote that Gabriele had a "simple intelligence" and a "fragile personality with paranoid tendencies, covering up a deep personal insecurity and an unresolved need to enjoy the esteem and affection of others," according to the report by Piero Bonnet, the Vatican's investigating judge. Summarizing what other witnesses told Vatican investigators, Bonnet said Gabriele was described as a believing and committed Catholic, able to carry out his job as a sort of papal valet "with the diligence and reserve it required." One unnamed witness described him as "very pious, attending the holy Mass celebrated by the Holy Father daily, and he prayed often." Another quoted by Bonnet said that while Gabriele worked conscientiously, he did not take the initiative or find better ways to do his job, but "did what he was told." Msgr. Georg Ganswein, Pope Benedict's personal secretary, told investigators Gabriele needed to be "continually guided and directed" and "sometimes it was necessary to repeat things more than once." Nevertheless, after about a year of working together, Ganswein, a German, said he began giving Gabriele simple administrative tasks, including drafting responses to letters and notes in Italian when the subject matter was not particularly sensitive. Two days after an Italian journalist published a book featuring private Vatican correspondence and documents, Ganswein called together Gabriele and the Pope's assistant secretary, the four women who care for the papal apartment and Birgit Wansing, a longtime administrative assistant to the Pope, Bonnet said. The monsignor went around the room, asking each person if they had given the documents to the journalist, Gianluigi Nuzzi. They all denied it, Bonnet said. Then, he reported, Ganswein told Gabriele in front of the group that two of the letters in Nuzzi's book were letters for which the monsignor had asked Gabriele to prepare a response. Ganswein told Gabriele that while he did not have hard proof that Gabriele leaked the documents, he had strong suspicions. "In response, I received a decisive and absolute denial," Ganswein told investigators. Vatican police searched the Vatican apartment where Gabriele lives with his wife and children and found copies of dozens of documents. They found a further 37 documents in the apartment Gabriele used at Castel Gandolfo when he accompanied the Pope to his summer villa, Bonnet said. Gabriele was arrested May 24 and initially declined to respond to questions on the basis of not incriminating himself. However, about 10 days later, he began co-operating fully, Bonnet said. He admitted photocopying the documents, taking them home and giving them to the journalist over a period of months. As time went on and he worried about getting caught, Gabriele would copy the documents on the printer hooked up to his computer rather than use the office copy machine, Bonnet reported. Gabriele also said he had given copies of some of the documents to his spiritual director. Many of the documents speak of power struggles and financial corruption within the Vatican. "From my position, I could observe the double papal function, that as head of the Church and head of the state (of Vatican City)," Gabriele told Bonnet. Particularly the way Vatican City was operating could be a "scandal for the faith," he said. "I was aware that the Holy Father was not informed about some of these things or was misinformed. With the help of others like Nuzzi, I thought things could be seen more clearly," Gabriele said. He said that "seeing evil and corruption everywhere in the Church," he reached "a point of no return" and felt compelled to act. "I was certain that a shock, even in the media, could be healthy in putting the Church back on the right track," Gabriele was quoted as saying. He said he was fascinated by the world of intelligence, or spying, and believed that in some way, the Holy Spirit played that role in the Church, and he was the Holy Spirit's instrument.

Papal assistant indicted on theft charges in Vatileaks scandal

August 13, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Vatican magistrates have formally indicted Pope Benedict XVI's personal assistant, Paolo Gabriele, on charges of aggravated theft and have indicted a computer technician from the Vatican Secretariat of State on minor charges of aiding Gabriele after he stole Vatican correspondence. The publication Aug. 13 of the decision of Piero Bonnet, the Vatican's investigating judge, included for the first time the naming of a second suspect, Claudio Sciarpelleti, the Secretariat of State employee. Vatican police found an envelope from Gabriele in Sciarpelleti's desk and arrested him, according to the documents explaining Bonnet's judgment. While the computer expert gave "contrasting versions of the facts" to investigators, in the end it was determined that there was enough evidence to bring him to trial on a charge of aiding and abetting Gabriele after the fact. The Vatican magistrates did not set a date for the trial or trials, but Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said it would not be set before Sept. 20 because the Vatican court is in recess Aug. 14-Sept. 20. Lombardi said the charge against Sciarpelleti carries a "very light" sentence, which is unlikely to include any jail time. Pope Benedict could have intervened at any time to stop the investigation and legal process and he still has the option of clearing the two laymen without a trial. If the Pope does not intervene, Gabriele and Sciarpelleti would go to trial before a panel of three Vatican judges, all of whom are laymen and professors at Italian universities. Vatican law, like Italian law, does not foresee the use of juries in criminal trials. Gabriele, who will turn 46 Aug. 19, faces a sentence of one to six years in prison. Under the terms of the Vatican's 1929 treaty with Italy, a person found guilty and sentenced to jail time by a Vatican court would serve his term in an Italian prison. Bonnet's report quoted Gabriele as telling Vatican investigators he acted after seeing "evil and corruption everywhere in the Church" and he was sure Pope Benedict was not fully informed about what was going on. "I was certain that a shock, even in the media, could be healthy in putting the Church back on the right track," Gabriele was quoted as saying. "In a certain way I felt infiltrated" by the Holy Spirit, he said. Gabriele also made it clear that he had discussed with a spiritual advisor his concerns about the Church and his thoughts in taking the documents. In fact, Bonnet said, the priest affirmed that Gabriele had given him a box full of documents, which the priest told Vatican investigators he burned because he knew "they were the fruit of an act that was not legitimate" and because he feared they would be stolen from his residence which had been burglarized a few months earlier. Gabriele was arrested May 23 after confidential letters and documents addressed to the Pope and other Vatican officials were found in his Vatican apartment, Bonnet's report said. Many of the documents were the same as those featured in a January television program by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi and later published in a book by him. Most of the documents dealt with allegations of corruption, abuse of power and a lack of financial transparency at the Vatican. Gabriele told investigators how he met Nuzzi in an apartment near the Vatican and described in detail the measures he and Nuzzi took to avoid detection. Bonnet said investigators also found in Gabriele's apartment: a cheque made out to Pope Benedict for 100,000 euros (almost $123,000 U.S.) from a Catholic university in Spain; a nugget — presumably of gold — from the director of a gold mining company in Peru; and a 16th-century edition of a translation of the Aeneid. Gabriele was questioned repeatedly over the two-month period he spent detained in a room in the Vatican police barracks. He was allowed to return, under house arrest, to his Vatican apartment with his wife and family July 21 and will remain under house arrest until his trial. His lawyers had explained in July that the house arrest included a number of conditions: He may not leave his Vatican apartment or communicate, including by telephone or Internet, with anyone beside his immediate family, a spiritual advisor, his doctor or lawyers except with the express permission of the Vatican magistrates. The defense lawyers, Carlo Fusco and Cristiana Arru, have said everything their client did, he did for love of the Church and the Pope. However, whether or not any of those actions were crimes will be up to Vatican magistrates or a Vatican court to determine, they told reporters. Fusco had said Gabriele co-operated with Vatican investigators "very broadly" throughout the investigation. "One thing Paolo repeated to us and to the judge was that he always was and still is motivated by a desire to do something that would be an act of helping, an act of love for the Pope," Fusco said. The lawyers said Gabriele was not part of any network or conspiracy and they insisted he received no money for what he did. At the same time, Fusco and Arru said that Gabriele has expressed a desire to speak to the Pope and ask his forgiveness. Fusco said that did not mean that Gabriele did anything criminal, but the Pope has said he was saddened by what happened and Gabriele is sorry for that. Fusco also revealed that Gabriele had written "a confidential letter to the Pope," asking for his forgiveness and telling the pope he had acted alone. The lawyer said that because it was not part of the legal process, he had not read the letter, which was given to a commission of cardinals carrying out a separate investigation of leaks.

MaterCare drums up support for maternal rights charter

August 7, 2012

MaterCare International has created a “Charter of Maternal Rights” it hopes will be adopted by leaders and decision makers around the world to help stem the high number of maternal deaths. According to MaterCare’s Dr. Robert Walley, mothers in most of the world are treated with neglect, and changing this has “hardly been a high priority with anybody.” Walley is the executive director of the St. John’s, Nfld.-based MaterCare International, an international group of Catholic obstetricians and gynecologists that treat mothers and babies around the world that’s hoping to do something about this. The preamble to the charter makes the case that “Mothers and their babies are among the poorest of the poor and are the most vulnerable physically.” “They’re marginalized,” Walley told The Catholic Register. “There’s about 330,000 mothers (that) die every year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa” from complications during pregnancy, labour and delivery, and the six weeks following. The charter, which pulls its substance from statistics as well as Catholic documents including the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Second Vatican Council, focuses on the human rights of mothers, maternal health care and necessary steps that must be taken by obstetricians and midwives. It says, “The causes of maternal deaths are well known, are readily preventable and can be successfully treated at comparable low cost. Proper measures, availability of skilled personnel at the time of birth and prompt emergency obstetrical care if things go wrong may save the lives of 90 per cent of the mothers.” But Walley said too many world leaders are focused on population control as opposed to making giving birth safer and healthier worldwide, and he is not hopeful that world leaders will hear MaterCare’s message. That said, he does point positively to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s statements at the 2010 G8 Summit in Huntsville, Ont. There, Harper announced Canada would pledge $1.1 billion towards a new global effort to improve maternal and child health in developing countries (dubbed the Muskoka Initiative). In January 2011, the United Nations created the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, co-chaired by Harper and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

U.S. judge upholds Arizona law banning late-term abortions

August 2, 2012

PHOENIX - The executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference praised U.S. District Court Judge James Teilborg for upholding Arizona's recently enacted ban on abortions after 20 weeks except in cases of medical emergency. Ron Johnson said he was "absolutely thrilled with the decision from the federal court." Johnson, who worked with Arizona legislators to help get the measure passed, said that "it's been frustrating at times" when courts overturn hard-won legislation. "It's extremely rewarding when we get the legislation passed and the court upholds (it)," Johnson said, calling the new law "sensible and very positive legislation." In his July 30 ruling, Teilborg wrote that the Arizona Legislature had written the law — known as H.B. 2036 — based on "the substantial and well-documented evidence that an unborn child has the capacity to feel pain during an abortion by at least 20 weeks gestational age." Supporters of the law said that it also protects women from increased risks incurred in late-term abortions. Three doctors who provide abortions, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the New-York based Centre for Reproductive Freedom, had asked the court for a temporary restraining order or an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect Aug. 2. Teilborg's ruling denied both and declared Arizona's law constitutional. The decision sent shock waves through the abortion industry, and opponents of the law said they would immediately appeal the ruling, calling the restrictions "extreme." Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma have similar laws restricting late-term abortions based on the scientific finding that fetuses experience pain. Pro-life organizations throughout the country praised the ruling. Dorinda Bordlee and Nikolas Nikas, attorneys with the Bioethics Defense Fund, advised Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who was named as a lead defendant in the emergency injunction action filed by the abortion providers, the ACLU and the New York centre. "This ruling should be studied by everyone in the pro-life movement," Bordlee said, "because it foreshadows the day that the Supreme Court will return the abortion issue back to the state legislatures to act on their legitimate interests in protecting women and unborn children from the unspeakable violence of abortion." Steve Aden, senior counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, agreed. "Every innocent life deserves to be protected. That certainly includes the most vulnerable of all: children in the womb who experience horrific pain when being torn apart in the womb during a late-term abortion like those this law prohibits," Aden said. "The ACLU and the Centre for Reproductive Rights, who filed this lawsuit, apparently don't care about any of that, preferring to pursue their own agenda. The court was right to thwart their attempts to stop this law." Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life in the United States, similarly welcomed the court's decision and called for an end to "dismemberment abortions" known as "dilation and extraction." "The abortion debate should not be so abstract that we forget we're talking about pulling the arms and legs off of babies," Pavone said. "To those asking for our vote in November, I ask, do you or do you not think dismemberment should be legal? Every voter should ask the same."

Catholics support plan to reduces mother-to-child transmission of HIV

August 1, 2012

WASHINGTON - Catholic health care workers are offering enthusiastic support to an ambitious global plan to stop the transmission of the virus that causes AIDS from pregnant mothers to their children. Discussed during the XIX International AIDS Conference July 22-27 in Washington, the plan involves increasing the availability of the drugs that reduce HIV levels in the body so that transmission does not occur. In wealthy countries, the availability of such drugs has lowered transmission rates to virtually zero, but that's not the case in countries most heavily affected by the HIV epidemic. "We really do have hope that we can stop AIDS in children," said Msgr. Robert Vitillo, a special adviser on HIV and AIDS to Caritas Internationalis who sits on the 15-member international steering committee that is supervising the program. In 2010, 390,000 children were born with HIV and more than 700 children died each day, almost all of them in India and 21 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations. As a result, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS — known as UNAIDS — in 2011 announced a plan to prevent transmission of the disease to children by assuring that pregnant women get the testing, treatment and counselling they need to stop the virus from spreading. With funding from the UN and the U.S. government, The Global Plan towards the Elimination of New Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping their Mothers Alive takes aim at the 22 hardest hit nations. Vitillo said an important key to the program's success is testing women early, so that any who are found to carry the virus can be put on antiretroviral medications. The women then continue the medication through birth and breast-feeding. While initial programs had discontinued women once the child stopped nursing, Vitillo said that approach has been largely discarded in favour of keeping the woman on antiretroviral drugs indefinitely. "We don't want to save the children and then have them lose their mothers," Vitillo told Catholic News Service. Another part of the program involves early testing of children so that if any are infected, they can receive prompt medical treatment. Vitillo said the program faces challenges that bedevil the entire response to HIV. "To make this work, we have to figure out what obstacles women face, why they cannot access testing or if they do get tested why they may not come back for the results. It's often a problem of stigma and discrimination, and we need to combat that by involving the entire community in the HIV response," he said. Health planners say the program can succeed only by becoming "male friendly" in order to prevent male partners from discouraging women of getting involved or from continuing treatment. Men have been a focus of voluntary circumcision programs in several African countries since studies revealed that the procedure drops their susceptibility to infection by more than 50 per cent. Catholic participation in the program was detailed in a report by the Catholic HIV/AIDS Network, released during the conference. According to researcher Becky Johnson, the survey included 40 Catholic programs in the target countries. While 95 per cent of the programs were involved in the national AIDS programs within their respective country and thus follow national guidelines for treating the virus, only 17 per cent of the programs had been previously involved in planning or implementing the global plan. Vitillo, one of four civil society representatives on the global steering committee, said that while the Church's role was well respected both internationally and in local communities, there often was resistance in the middle — national governments — where officials, "concerned about losing funding or losing control of the programs, have a mixed record of including civil society in designing their response." Catholic agencies face several challenges in implementing the program. The survey found a need for resources beyond just what is needed for testing and treatment. Johnson said many of the agencies also need funding to help women travel to testing and treatment. Nutritional support also was identified as a critical need. Maryknoll Father Richard Bauer, who until this year ran a wide-ranging HIV education and treatment program in Namibia, said that country's experience proves that combining the Church's reach with an emphasis on mothers will yield significant results. "With more than 2,500 Catholic AIDS Action volunteers, every time one of them saw a pregnant woman on the street they would grab her and say, 'Do you know where the clinic is? Do you know there's a medicine that can help your baby be born HIV-negative?' It has become a joke of sorts that if you're pregnant you have to watch out for the AIDS volunteers," Bauer said. "But that enthusiasm has made Namibia a success story in combating AIDS." The priest explained that the Church is well-suited to carry out such a program. "In order to inform women of the choices they can make to have their baby be HIV-negative, we need the community's involvement," Bauer said. "We especially need the churches, and we need to preach about this on Sunday. This is the work that the Church has always done well, and its involvement makes me hopeful it will really happen."

Vatican newspaper says Melinda Gates 'off the mark' on contraception

July 31, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Under the headline "birth control and disinformation," the Vatican newspaper took to task Melinda Gates, wife of the Microsoft founder, who announced in early July that the couple's foundation would give $560 million during the next eight years to increase women's access to artificial contraception. Written by Giulia Galeotti, a frequent contributor on abortion and other life issues, the article on the front page of the July 29 edition of L'Osservatore Romano said Gates is free to make charitable donations to whomever she wants, but not to spread incorrect information. In an interview July 10 with The Guardian, a British newspaper, Gates identified herself as a practising Catholic who "struggled" with the idea of publicly opposing Church teaching to promote a project aimed at giving 120 million women in developing countries access to contraceptives by 2020. Gates said she felt compelled to act to "keep women alive. I believe in not letting women die, I believe in not letting babies die." In the Vatican newspaper piece, Galeotti wrote, "The American philanthropist is off the mark," the victim of "bad information and persistent stereotypes on this theme. To still believe that by opposing the use of condoms, the Catholic Church leaves women and children to die because of misogynist intransigence is a baseless and shoddy reading" of reality. Gates told The Guardian that the Catholic Church allows natural family planning, but "for our foundation, well, we promote modern tools because these have the most impact." At the same time the Church can and should continue to teach women how to space births naturally, she said. "Let a woman choose what it is she would like to use." Galeotti said the comment reflected the widespread, but mistaken notion of the ineffectiveness of natural family planning methods that involve teaching couples to recognize the natural signs of a woman's fertility and act accordingly. The "smile of condescension" and descriptions of NFP as unscientific or primitive probably are not completely accidental, Galeotti wrote. No one is getting rich off NFP methods that "do not cost anything, do not damage a woman's health and are considered 98 per cent effective," she said.