Catholic Fire

"The lack of health, and disability are not good reasons to exclude, or worse, do away with a person.” That is the message the Pope sent members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which gathered in Rome in February for its 20th anniversary. Dozens of experts talked about aging and disabilities. Pope Francis reminded them that "the tyranny of an economic logic” turns many people into victims, "starting with the elderly.” MONICA LOPEZ BARAHONA Academic Director, Centro de Estudios Biosanitarios (Spain) "The new idea in this case is to take back the culture of love, of love towards the elderly. To reclaim the value that old age has when it comes to experience gained, and experience that can be passed on.” In the more developed countries, populations are aging fast. In an effort to tackle the "throw-away culture,” experts said the key is in engaging, not excluding family members who cannot fend for themselves. ENCARNACION PEREZ BRET Hospital Centro d...

Late Friday evening, as the legislative session was ending, the Kansas legislature passed three pro-life bills that Kansans for Life is confident pro-life Gov. Sam Brownback will sign. Due to late amendments, all the measures were procedurally re-affirmed by both chambers as "conference committee recommendations" and passed by large margins. Pro-Life House Judiciary chair, Lance Kinzer, (R-Olathe), commented, "These measures represent a significant step forward in our ongoing effort to advance thoughtful and targeted legislation that both defends innocent human life and protects women who are so often exploited by the abortion industry." The Pro-life Protections Act of 2013, HB 2253, passed 90-30 in the House and 28-10 in the Senate. It codifies abortion informed consent materials authorized by the state health department, and removes all tax streams that pay for abortion and give advantages to abortion businesses. The informed consent section has an add...

Via New Advent : Tim Harris, owner of Tim's Place, is the country's only restaurant owner with Down's Syndrome, and the joy he gets from serving people good food carries over into his diner's most famous export: hugs. Aol is a global brand company that develops, grows, and invests in fantastic video production. Originally founded in 1983, Aol now delivers the best in news, sports, tech, entertainment, business, autos, and much more.

This is a beautiful and gracious presentation by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. What a strong contrast it is to what Barack Obama has expressed about the Special Olympics! That is the difference between the culture of life and the culture of death. The culture of life celebrates every human life, whereas the culture of death seeks destruction of human life when it is "inconvenient" or for any other excuse they invent.

This is "a poignant reminder of the unique joy that marks families who embrace life." ~ Via Inside Catholic.

All along the campaign trail, children and adults with Down Syndrome have been drawn to Governor Sarah Palin's openness in how she deals with being a parent of a special needs child.

Judie Brown: THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE UGLY: A DOWN SYNDROME TALE Students for Life: Free speech protects pro-life display IFRL: New Website Details Obama’s Extreme Abortion Record LifeSite News: Jesuit-Affiliated Santa Clara Law to Honor Pro-Abortion Clinton Chief of Staff Flip-flop: Now Biden Supports Homosexual "Marriage US Election News Highlights Catholic Home-Schooled Teens: Student Pro-Life Day of Solidarity (Oct. 21) A Catholic View: McCain supporters rally Hispanics with the Virgin of Guadalupe Joe Biden Guarantees an International Crisis for Obama The Curt Jester: Pro-abortion A Catholic Mom in Hawaii: Roger Hedgecock condemns abuse of those who don't support Obama American Papist: Breaking: US Bishops set the record straight in today's statement Operation Rescue: Kansas Voter Alert: Tiller Crony Nola Foulston EXPOSED! Truth Truck Tours Wisconsin River Towns Exposing Obama’s Abortion Extremism Deception Characterizes Opponents of South Dakota Abortion Ban Pro E...

The Senate approved a measure that requires doctors to give expectant mothers more comprehensive information if they receive a positive test for Down syndrome. The bill is the product of an unusual partnership between Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, an anti-abortion Republican, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, an abortion-rights advocate from Massachusetts. About 90% of women who learn they are carrying a fetus with the genetic disorder have an abortion. Kennedy is a longtime advocate of disabled and children with special needs. The bill requires doctors to give parents information about caring for children with disabilities and about support services. Via Kake News.

This week’s Catholic Carnival is up at This That and the Other Thing . The theme for this week is "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church". Here are a few of my favorite posts there: Denise's post "The Insidious Creep of Evil" in which she writes about pre-natal diagnosis and its all too frequent bedfellow--abortion . Shawn's post " The Glory of Woman", which is about womanhood and femininity , as conveyed through the writings of Pope John Paul II and by Alice von Hildebrand. Kate Wicker's post "Baby's First Close-up", in which shares her first picture of her little one, as well as her thoughts and her feelings. There are some wonderfully inspiring posts at this week's carnival , so be sure to check out all of them!

~ Via John Francis Borra, SFO Used with permission. By guest blogger, John Francis Borra, SFO Barack Obama wants us to believe his words matter. And why not? Other than a brief voting record, he has nothing else to offer. Unfortunately, what figures most prominently in that record is unwavering support for killing our most vulnerable citizens: the unborn, newborn and disabled. It's a sobering comment on our society that someone as contemptuous of human life as Adolph Hitler, Margaret Sanger or Osama bin Laden may well become the next president of the United States. In a country whose majority claims to be Christian, this contest should not be close; indeed, Barack Obama should not even be in the running. Yet ours is a society lost in a pother of relativism, in which the term Christian is applied as easily to the most appalling of today's passing heretics as it is to the Apostles. Contrast Obama's objectification of people with Sarah Palin's affirmation of them. Never h...

This is an inspiring story of true love: In a moving example of paternal love and sacrifice, a man drowned earlier this week after attempting to save his disabled son, who had fallen into a septic tank on the family's Virginia property. 66-year-old Thomas VanderWoude and his 20-year-old son Joseph, who has Down syndrome and who is the youngest of seven sons, were working in their yard in Nokesville, VA when Joseph fell through a septic tank cover that had suddenly collapsed. VanderWoude immediately jumped in after his son and managed to hold his son's head above the surface, saving his life. MORE

Catholic Exchange: Talking to Children about Abortion by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur CNA: Conference examining effects of abortion on fathers held in Chicago Inside Catholic: In Defense of Down's Babies by Irene Lagan Shrine for Victims of Abortion: Place of Prayer - Donna- Marie Cooper -O'Boyle at Daily Donna-Marie: A Dose of Inspiration Insight Scoop: The Meaning and Purpose of Marriage by Alice von Hildebrand The Beauty and the Sacred by Joan L. Roccasolvo, CSJ EWTN: Bishops Correct Biden: Protecting Unborn from Abortion Is "Demand of Justice" The Anchoress: 9/11: Remembrance and prayers Faith and Family: Trig's Moment by Danielle Bean

Every baby brings into the world ... A Song that has never been sung, A Hope that has never been quenched, A chance to love and be loved and A complete faith in us for protection. ~ Richard Frostman "Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed." ~ Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

Jill Stanek's "Obama's biggest lie about supporting infanticide" is a must read and its up at World Net Daily. Down, But Not Out ... Leticia's first article for National Catholc Register: "...is a compilation of the latest research being done for treatment of Trisomy 21 or Down syndrome. I also mention the crucial discovery of the cause of Trisomy 21 by my patron saint, Dr. Jerome Lejeune." At Zenit, we learn that YouTube has pulled a video from their site that unmasks a supposedly unbiased film project as a pro-abortion initiative, and has yet to give any reason as to why it was removed. Check out the story here. In Grave New World -- the Curt Jester discusses the idea of screening embryos for possible cancer-causing genes and the evil idea that cancer patients would be better off had they never been born. Abortion and the Modern Arabs -- Get Religion looks at the difference between Muslims and Arabs on abortion Waiting for Justice: Will the Grand ...

Alaska Governor Sara Palin and her husband are the happy parents of a new baby with Down syndrome. From the story : The doctor's announcement in December, when Palin was four months pregnant, presented her with a possible life- and career-changing development. "I've never had problems with my other pregnancies, so I was shocked," said Palin, a mother of four other children. "It took a while to open up the book that the doctor gave me about children with Down syndrome, and a while to log on to the Web site and start reading facts about the situation." The 44-year-old governor waited a few days before telling her husband, Todd, who was out of town, so she could understand what was ahead for them. Once her husband got the news, he told her: "We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'" There was never any doubt the Palins would have the child, and on April 18 she gave birth to Trig Paxson Van Palin. ...

Bishop says continued attacks on human life will lead to self-destruction Abuja, Jan 25, 2007 / 11:59 am ( CNA ).- The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, denounced this week the different attacks on human life in all its stages, saying mankind is “marching towards a self-genocide of the human race.” “The weakness of the Christian community and the strength of secular society could spell disaster,” Bishop Sgreccia warned, and he urged all European citizens to work at reversing the trend. “Up to now the culture of death has been accepted and this path leads to self-destruction.” He also noted the “widespread mentality that trusts in bio-technological power.” Such powers, Sgreccia said aim “to change the order of the human species” and to create “men in the image and likeness of other men who have power.” Society is embracing this mentality and, “it now defends the selecting of children so that each one is perfect, without defect, and the eliminating of t...