Jesus and His Catholic Church need us!

We are ALL Catholics … except that some time in the past some Catholics decided to leave the Church in protest. The Lord gives us the so-called “Freedom of Choice”.

Yes, the Church has had (and it may always have) imperfect people in it; and because of that fact some people inside and outside the Church argued that the Church has failed to fulfill its duties.

Wrong! Some Popes, priests, religious men and women, and lay Catholics – may have failed, but NOT the Church.

The Catholic Church is lead by Christ Jesus.

Just a often forgotten fact: look at the role the Church has played in the development of the best traditions and values of Western Civilization!

Would it have been possible without it? Would had it possible without HIM?

Would it have been possible if we ALL Catholics throughout the centuries until today have been unobservant of our Faith?

Did we Catholics look through our duties with blank unseeing eyes though the centuries?

Did St. Augustine, St. Francis, St. Thomas Aquinas and so many known and unknown Saints of the past and the present remained negligent of their Faith or indifferent to the call of our Lord?

Without doubt the answer is a loud NO!


Now, about human imperfections I ask the following question: If we were perfect would have been necessary our Lord’s first coming to redeem us from our human failures, our sins?

Certainly the answer would have been another loud NO!

Saint Paul in the letter to the… tells us “ “

A priest said to me years ago: “Nate, ask the Lord to make you a Saint;” my first reaction was: “me, a Saint?” Wouldn’t you react the same way?

What that priest was saying to me was that Jesus Christ came to show us The Way to Sainthood! The teaching of our Lord tells us that perfection can only be reached through Sainthood … and that we must humbly beg Him to help us to become one of them!

Catholics arise! Jesus and His Church need us; our Church needs saints!

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S WORST ENEMIES

"Somewhere back in the 1930s, during the Spanish Civil War, and facing other issues in Germany and Italy, Pius XI asked this very question: 'Who are the Church’s most dangerous enemies?'  His answer was as follows:

'The Church’s worst persecutors have been her own unfaithful bishops, priests, and religious. Opposition from outside is terrible; it gives us many martyrs. But the Church’s worst enemy is her own traitors.'

Why is this, we wonder? The mission of the Church ad extra has much to do with the witness to the truth by Christians themselves, especially those in high places, both clergy and laity.

In an analogous manner, John Paul II remarked to European bishops in 1982 that 'the crises of European man and of Europe are crises and temptations of Christianity and of the Church in Europe.' We are wont to think that the drama of the world takes place outside of the redemptive plan of God. It doesn’t.

As quoted By James V. Schall, S. J. in The Church's Worst Enemies

SPAIN - The Church denounces abortions in local hospitals

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Spanish bishop denounces abortions occurring in local hospitals

by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

Fri Jul 13 5:53 PM EST

July 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) -

The Diocese of Terrassa, a city in the Catalonia region of Spain, has issued a statement recognizing that abortions and vasectomies are occurring in two hospitals where diocesan representatives are members of the board of directors.

While Bishop Saiz Meneses “has repeatedly and publicly manifested his revulsion and condemnation of these practices and the legislation that permits them,” the diocese will continue to participate in the administration of the hospitals, according to the statement.

The diocese says that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has affirmed its policy in a communication with the diocese issued last year.

According to the statement, “the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on June 28, 2011, transmitted to the Bishop a ruling that indicated that if the clerics [on the board of directors] have spoken with clarity and have voted with coherence in the meetings of the respective boards, it does not seem that there could be a cooperation in a morally illicit evil.”

“The ruling also indicated that the possible scandal or confusion in the eyes of public opinion due to [the clerics’] presence on the boards can be avoided if they make public their opinion against these practices and also their effort against them,” stated the diocese.

The diocese assures readers that “the Bishop reiterates his condemnation of these practices against Catholic morality and awaits a definitive decision and a positive resolution to the efforts it continues to make with the administrations [of the hospitals]. Meanwhile, it seems convenient to not abandon the boards of said hospitals at this time.”

In the five weeks that have passed since the diocese issued the statement, there has been no indication that the practices have ceased.

One local priest who is leading protests against the pro-abortion practices at several hospitals in the Catalonia region, says he is dissatisfied with the diocese’s approach to the issue.

“The communiqué of the Diocese of Tarrasa…makes it clear that the Bishop is making the Holy See and the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith responsible for his decision to remain on the board of directors of the General Hospital of Granollers, although they are doing abortions there, dispensing abortion pills and sterilizing,” lamented Fr. Custodio Ballester.

Since 2010, various sources in the Spanish media have reported the practice of abortion and sterilization, distribution of contraceptives, and other practices at Catholic hospitals in Catalonia that violate Catholic moral teachings on human life and sexuality. Although Barcelona’s Cardinal Archbishop Lluis Martínez Sístach has said that a pro-life policy has been established at local hospitals, reports continue to appear in the media indicating that the abortions have not ceased.

Copyright © 2012 LifeSiteNews.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

UNITED STATES - Planned Parenthood targets African-American

Planned Parenthood targets African-American music festival: black pro-life leaders furious

by Jean McCarthy

Thu Jul 12 12:29 PM EST

July 12, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Black pro-life leaders are condemning Planned Parenthood’s sponsorship of the African-American 2012 Essence Music Festival, pointing to the abortion organization’s history of involvement in eugenics and targeting minorities.

 

“The 3500 black deaths linked to the Klan pale in comparison to Planned Parenthood’s 15 million plus Black deaths,” said Dr. Day Gardner, the president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, in response to Planned Parenthood’s sponsorship of the music festival. “Both the KKK and Planned Parenthood share the same ‘end game.’”

“Planned Parenthood is using the 2012 Essence Music Festival to portray themselves as an organization that cares about Black women,” said Walter Hoye II, of the National Black Pro-life Coalition. “This satanic stronghold and sadistic sanctuary is the only strategy Planned Parenthood has left to retreat to, in order to maintain their illegitimate air of credibility in the public square.”

According to official U.S. data, black Americans account for approximately 36.9 percent (2007) of the total U.S. abortion numbers, despite accounting for only 12.9 percent (in 2009) of the total U.S. population.

Numerous pro-life campaigns in the past several years have drawn attention to this disparity in the abortion rate, with many singling out Planned Parenthood, the country’s number one abortion provider, for allegedly targeting blacks.

The annual New Orleans music fest lasted four days, from July 5-8, and showcased African-American culture and talent. Planned Parenthood, in addition to sponsoring the event, had a booth where they provided birth control counseling and information. They also screened the film “A Vital Service: African American Stories of Reproductive Health Care.”

“They consider killing our children ‘a vital service’ and even created a film to sell gullible Blacks on the idea that we need to kill our children if we are to have successful and/or fulfilling lives,” Dr. Gardner said.

The twenty-minute film shows clips of black men and women praising Planned Parenthood’s services. Mary, a post-abortive woman in the film, says, “Additional children would have definitely put a strain on my family, my marriage, my children…Three children is a good number. I only have so much lap space, I only have so much arm space, I only have so much time in the day.” Of her consultation with Planned Parenthood she says, “There were some tears.” But, she concludes, “It’s tough, but we have to be brave.”

The movie also shows a clip of Courtney, a Planned Parenthood client, saying, “You can say ‘abstinence’ all day, but it clearly isn’t working.”

Dr. Gardner criticized the film for having “failed to mention the link between breast cancer and abortion,” adding, “abortion is the number one killer of African Americans—killing more Black people than, cancer, strokes, heart disease, violent crime and all other deaths combined!”

Rev. Tim McDonald spoke in the film about the “forces that are trying to destroy” Planned Parenthood, referring to a billboard of a baby with a caption that read, “Black Children Are an Endangered Species.”

“We are not a species,” he said in the form of a rebuttal. “We are God’s children, created in God’s image.”

“It’s sad that so many so called black ‘celebrities’ will sell out our race, our culture and our pro-life heritage in order to obtain or prolong their 15 minutes of fame—even if it means trampling on the tiny bodies of dead black babies,” Dr. Gardner said.

“Many Blacks who are blinded by bling are oblivious to the fact that Planned Parenthood’s founder Margaret Sanger affiliated herself with the Ku Klux Klan and had ties to Hitler’s regime.”

Dr. Gardner concluded with a suggestion to the music fest, “Next year, why not ask the KKK to sponsor your music festival?”

The Concept of Just War

By Natalio A. Yaria

Historical Context
The concept of the Just War was born of a bleak and seemingly intractable paradox: war seen as an ethically perverse phenomenon and, at the same time, to be accepted precisely to avoid greater evils. In that regard, it is a theory that originated from within Christianity: a substantially pacifist religion, but at the same time, exposed for centuries to the task of protecting the West from dangerous threats.

Theoretical framework

In these historical experiences developed functional elements resulting in a Legal Model based on a set of steps and rules of conduct that define a) the conditions under which the war can be an act morally acceptable; b) the rules should be used to lead a military conflict; and c) the steps that must be used to end the hostilities. This model of thought originates with the reflections of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Francisco de Vitoria. Augustine considered necessary defense State although they are morally imperfect, as an alternative to the case, who knew well by having lived at the time of the barbaric invasions on the Roman Empire. The participation in these wars was something the author justified only in case of aggression from a foreign force with acts that would constitute a breach of the peace.

Medieval Christian contributions on the Just War theory evolves into a secular theoretical version after 1648. The Just War theory comes to our days in the form of three stages, and rules of conduct that define under what conditions the war can be morally acceptable act: The Just ad bellum or right to engage in a war is concerned on the behavior of the participants in the conflict.  The Jus in Bello has been created 150 years ago and is in constant evolution. The 1949 Geneva Conventions are its core. The "right in the war" which is aimed, in time of war, at alleviating the conditions of wounded combatants, prisoners, civilians and their property. Carries itself hope, contradictory nature preserve what remains of universal morality in a state of affairs which is situated outside of moral norms.

Jus post bellum or right after the war concerns the terminal stage and peace agreements which must observe a standard of fairness to all the parties involved. At this stage to distinguish between possible reconstruction of the existing conditions before the start of a conflagration, and permanent construction of peace, which includes the right of the war as well as establishing conditions for sustainable peace ethics is establishing long-term conditions economic, cultural, political, legal, educational and media necessary for democratic, just and peaceful resolution of conflicts when they are emerging on the horizon.