Catholic Fire

 Bishop D'Arcy describes his feelings prior to the 2009 Notre Dame graduation and on graduation day: “I found it an increasingly sad time, and I was convinced that there were no winners, but I was wrong.”      “ As graduation drew near, I knew I should be with the students. It was only right that the bishop be with them, for they were on the side of truth, and their demonstration was disciplined, rooted in prayer and substantive. I told the pro-life rally, several thousand people on a lovely May day, that they were the true heroes. Despite the personal costs to themselves and their families, they chose to give public witness to the Catholic faith…” Read the entire story here at America Magazine.

The president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco , encouraged doctors who defend life and oppose abortion to exercise their right to conscientious objection in response to the decision by health care officials to allow the sale of the abortion drug RU-486. In an interview with the Italian daily Avvenire, Cardinal Bagnasco warned the decision encourages Italians to view “abortion as a contraceptive, something that law 194 absolutely forbids,” and he expressed his “sadness, bitterness and care” over the position of health care officials, which he called a “crack in our society.” Where there is no respect for human life, the cardinal went on, “from conception in its fragility and later during its course, society is less human. That the right of the strongest thus prevails is bitter.” Behind this society, he added, “is an individualistic culture, hidden under respect for the freedom of women,” who “in reality experience a tragedy, live in suffering and worry; w...

“The direct taking of an innocent life can never be negotiated. ... Dialogue is important, but the question is fairly raised, 'May we negotiate about things that are intrinsic evils?' and I think the answer is no.” ~ Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese For more information, read Bishop Finn to Obama: No dialogue possible over 'irreconcilable' differences.

“Abortion under any form is something to be completely rejected." “Parents have rights over their children, and above all, great responsibilities. We cannot act in this manner, without listening to parents, without protecting the rights and responsibilities of their children. A 16 year-old girl can get an abortion, and what about the pain that her parents will experience for the rest of their lives?” ~ Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo , OFM, Archbishop of Seville (Spain) For more information, read this article at CNA: Cardinal Amigo: Unborn child at 13 weeks is a human being

"I've watched the Obama administration tell us how much they care about protecting lives from the flu. If they really want to help make children safer, let me make a suggestion: Start doing all you can to move this country to being pro-life." ~Mike Huckabee at Fox News. H/T: Danielle Bean on Twitter .

"As I speak a word of encouragement today I also want to tell you soberly, dear friends, 'We are at war!'" "The 'battle between believers,' who claim a certain 'common ground' with us, while at the same time, they attack the most fundamental tenets of the Church's teachings, or disavow the natural law - this opposition is one of the most discouraging, confusing, and dangerous." "Occasionally we still hear an elected official speak of his or her personal opposition to abortion, while they support the legal right to an abortion." "We should be very clear: Such a person places him or herself completely OUTSIDE the moral framework, the moral imperative of Evangelium Vitae and other Church teaching on these issues. ... They have abandoned their place in the citizenship of the Church. Quite simply they have become warriors for death rather than life." ~Bishop Robert Finn of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph speaking at...

Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in Heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh. ~ St. John Bosco

"Sexuality is the maximum expression of love between two persons of the opposite sex and that maximum expression means total and absolute donation of one person to another; one person to another forever. And that is called marriage, which in turn, is the origin of the family. For this reason to play around with sexuality is to play around with the source of life, and to therefore destroy the family, which is the source of society, and in the end, to destroy society as well." ~ Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care

Referrring to the soon to come Obama administration , Students for Life of America spokeswoman and executive director Kristan Hawkins, commented: "I think it's going to actually help our movement right now. I think it's going to help unite everybody and bring people back to the fold, get people reinvigorated. I feel like the past eight years, everybody thought, '[Since] we have a pro-life president, we don't have to do that much. He's looking out for us; don't worry about it.' I think it's going to get people back into the fold, being vigilant, watching what's happening in Washington."

“Any one of us here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow–die tomorrow!–to bring about the end of abortion.” –Auxiliary Bishop Robert Hermann of St. Louis, speaking at the 2008 USCCB Fall General Assembly in Baltimore.