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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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Decision May Imply "Better Reasoning" in the Future
NEW YORK, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Catholic dioceses and organizations welcomed what many are calling the pro-life movement's first significant victory in the nation's highest court in 34 years.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision to uphold a federal ban on partial birth abortion.
California bishops hailed the decision, calling it a "ray of hope […] for the nation and for all of us striving to promote respect for life, including life of the unborn."
"It has been over 34 years since the U.S. Supreme Court created the constitutional right to abortion-on-demand, thereby invalidating all existing state laws which banned or curtailed the practice," the bishops explained. "In 2003, Congress passed an act which banned the 'partial birth' abortion procedure -- resulting in lawsuits by abortion proponents challenging its constitutionality in the federal district courts.
"Although the ban was ruled unconstitutional in all the lower court decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court's Gonzales vs. Carhart reverses all of those decisions, and affirms the constitutionality of the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act."
President George Bush also praised the decision.
"The Supreme Court's decision is an affirmation of the progress we have made over the past six years in protecting human dignity and upholding the sanctity of life," Bush said. "We will continue to work for the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law."
Sane and sound
"The Supreme Court decision is important for two different reasons," said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. "First, it's a sane and sound ruling on its own merits. Second, if it implies better court reasoning on abortion and related issues in the future, that's good news for the whole effort to protect human life."
Bishop Victor Galeone, moderator for the Respect Life Committee of the Florida Catholic Conference, lauded the decision, saying that the "court recognized the truth long proclaimed by both science and the Church that the child in the womb is a living human organism."
"At last, our most vulnerable brothers and sisters will be protected from the horrifying and unnecessary procedure known as partial birth abortion," he said.
In October 2003, Congress passed the ban by votes of 281-142 in the House of Representatives and 64-34 in the Senate. Bush signed it into law the following month.
Not a constitutional right
Court challenges kept the ban from being put into effect, but Wednesday's ruling that the partial birth abortion procedure does not deny a woman's so-called constitutional right to abortion meant a victory for pro-lifers.
Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic lay organization, said: "The Supreme Court decision in Gonzales vs. Carhart is a major milestone in the battle to end the destruction of innocent human life in America."
Anderson underlined, "Finally, after nearly a decade of court battles, the way has been cleared to implement the bipartisan judgment of Congress that partial birth abortion is brutal and inhumane, and must be prohibited."
"We also strongly agree with Justice Thomas, who wrote a short, separate concurring opinion reiterating his view 'that the court's abortion jurisprudence, including Casey and Roe v. Wade, has no basis in the Constitution.'"
President and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, Richard Thompson, agreed: "This Supreme Court decision may very well signal the willingness of the court under Chief Justice Roberts to revisit its infamous Roe vs. Wade decision and end legalized abortion in this country."
Out of control
The ban does not restrict performing an abortion but only how it is performed. It bans the particular procedure of "intact dilation and extraction," which involves partially removing the fetus from the womb and then puncturing the baby's skull and extracting the brain, then delivering the rest of the dead body.
Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference, said: "The court action is a victory for common sense and a victory for unborn children and their mothers.
"We believe it will restore some sanity and balance to our legal system by placing reasonable restrictions on the out-of-control abortion industry."
"Finally, we are grateful to the five-member majority of Supreme Court who saw partial birth abortion for what it is -- child abuse -- and let sanity prevail."
Code: ZE07041902
Date: 2007-04-19
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Ministry Involves "Environment for Daily Dialogue"
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Catholic chaplains will gather in Rome to discuss a possible aid in reducing terrorism: airport ministry.
The Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers is hosting its 13th International Seminar for Catholic Civil Aviation Chaplains and Chaplaincy Members, which will take place next Monday through Thursday, and include a meeting with Benedict XVI on Wednesday.
The meeting, "Dialogue in Airport Chaplaincies as an Answer to Terrorism," aims to encourage pastoral work among travelers as increasing terrorist action in the airline industry has increased a feeling of fear.
In the context of the seminar, studies from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will be presented, and U.N. experts and aviation professionals will explain their strategies for protecting airports and employees.
Specific contribution
The seminar "intends to give its specific contribution in the battle against terrorism, through ecumenical and interreligious dialogue in the world's airports," the Vatican dicastery reported. "In fact, this is where the mission of pastoral workers from various Churches and ecclesial communities and great religions comes into play."
Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will speak about airports as an environment for daily dialogue, since peoples of all nationalities and religions pass through.
The chaplain of the Newark airport in New Jersey, the Reverend David Baratelli, will share his experiences from the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers in New York. And the chaplain of Heathrow Airport, the Reverend Paschal Ryan, will speak of his experience when terrorist plans were discovered there.
Code: ZE07041905
Date: 2007-04-19
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Cites '43 Letter by Which Pope Urged Aid for Jews
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican secretary of state says that Pope Pius XII signed a letter asking all religious institutes to open their doors to Jews persecuted by the Nazi regime.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said that Wednesday when commenting on a caption in the Yad Vashem, a Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, which asserted that Pius XII was silent in the face of the persecution against the Jews.
Cardinal Bertone explained that on Oct. 25, 1943, Pius XII signed "a bulletin from the Secretary of State which mandated that religious institutions and even the catacombs be opened to welcome the Jews persecuted by the Nazis."
The president of Yad Vashem, Avner Shalev, has promised to reconsider the way that Pius XII is portrayed in the museum.
While participating in the presentation of a book by Maria Franca Mellano, which documents the rescue of hundreds of Jews who took refuge in the Pius XI Institute of Rome, Cardinal Bertone called such cases "a luminous history of generosity."
"But this was possible, not only in this situation but in any of them, due to the bulletin from the secretary of state signed by Pius XII," the cardinal added. "It is impossible that Pius XII, who signed that bulletin, would not have approved that decision."
Code: ZE07041908
Date: 2007-04-19
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Moscow, Apr. 19, 2007 (CWNews.com) - As Russian legislators take up a proposal to allow physician-assisted suicide, a leading medical figure and a religious authority have voiced their objections.
In an interview for the newspaper Rossijskiej Gaziety, the head of the Russian Academy of Medicine, Michail Davydov, has declared that he is opposed to euthanasia, even though he is a daily witness to the intense suffering of sick people. Euthanasia, he argued, is not a medical response to a patient's suffering.
In the same magazine article, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church also spoke out against euthanasia. Father Vsevolod Chaplin stated: “From the Christian point of view, it is completely immoral to assist someone to commit suicide." The death of every human person is in God's hand, he said: "Doctors and lawyers alone may not decide the issue.”
On April 17, the upper house of Russia’s parliament began debate on a legislation to permit euthanasia for people who are suffering from an incurable illness. The bill would permit euthanasia after a sick person has appeared before a notary to certify his intention and undergone two months of medical examinations.
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Apr. 19, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Ten young men have been arrested for the brutal murder of 3 employees at a Christian publishing house in Turkey. But members of the country's tiny Christian minority remain appalled by media propaganda against the Church.
Halil Ibrahim Dasoz, the mayor of Malatya, announced that 10 suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing of three people at the Zirve publishing house, a Presbyterian firm in the city. The three victims-- a German missionary, Tilnman Geske, and two Turkish converts from Islam, Necati Aydin and Uur Yuksel-- were bound and killed in an April 18 attack.
Several of the suspected arrested by Turkish police have reportedly confessed to killing the three Christians, slitting their throats "to save religion" and as "a lesson for the enemies of Islam." The killers were found carrying a following letter that read in part: “We are brothers. We are going to death. We may not return again…Forgive our debts.”
The young men involved in the killing were obviously motivated by Islamic zeal. There is some speculation that the assault on the Christian publishing house was organized by the Turkish arm of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. According to the director of the publishing house, Hamza Ozant, Zirve has recently been the object of threats. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reports that the publishing house was threatened for publishing the Bible and for proselytism.
Christians living in Turkey report that they have been subject to threats and abuse, reflecting a campaign of propaganda depicting all Christians as threats to the country's Islamic majority. A Protestant minister, speaking to the AsiaNews service on condition of anonymity, said with regret that "no one one is courageous enough to really take a stand, to condemn not only this religious hatred, but also the mass media which with great subtly and cunning continues to brainwash people with propaganda which incites them to believe that we are evil, that we want to wipe them out, to take away their faith and turn them from their beliefs in the God of Mohammad."
The anti-Christian propaganda extends to Turkish government officials, and apparently influenced the public response to the killings in Malatya. AsiaNews reports that the mayor first attributed the killings to "internal clashes" among the Christian employees at Zirve, stressing that it was "not an attack." Local media reports suggested that the killings were prompted by the victims themselves, who enraged neighbors by engaging in proselytism.
Writing in Hurriyet about the latest killings, Ertugrul Ozkok said that "while there is only one handful of actual murderers involved, there are many, many assistants." He was alluding to the media campaign depicting Christians as enemies of the Turkish people.
The city of Malatya, in southeastern Turkey, is the birthplace of the would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II, Mehmet Ali Agca.
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2007-04-19 - Moscow
His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow met with the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin in the Kremlin on 2 April 2007.
During the event V. Putin greeted the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and all Orthodox Russians on the coming Feast of Easter. The President noted the significance of signing the Act of Canonical Communion between the Moscow Patriarchate and the ROCOR – ‘this is really an epoch-making event not only in the Church life, but also in the life of the whole society. I know how much you have done to make it possible and hope that it will be successfully accomplished’ – the President said.
Kremlin.ru reports that in his response Patriarch Alexy thanked the President for the greeting. ‘We have entered the Passion Week which prepares us for the Feast of Holy Easter. We hope that we will be able to see you at the Festive service and greet you on behalf of the whole Orthodox nation’ – His Holiness said.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church confirmed that the Act of Canonical Communion will be signed on 17 May at the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension. Patriarch Alexy underlined that the President of Russia also did much to make the unity possible during his meetings with the Holy Synod of the Abroad Church in New York and invited V. Putin to participate in this historical event’.
‘This is really not only a Church event, but the one which unites Russian people who by the God’s will were separated by the tragedy which struck our nation’ – the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said.
His Holiness is convinced that ‘now when 80 years passed after that and the Church in Russia gained freedom, there are no more obstacles which prevented us from uniting.’
Let us hope that we will overcome the separation which existed for 80 years and the united Russian Orthodox Church will serve her ministry both in Russia and abroad’ – His Holiness Patriarch Alexy said.
DECR Communication Service
Source: www.mospat.ru