Catholic Fire

A popular new film, "The Giver," reveals the surprising key to the authentic renewal of society: the recovery of our lost memory of Christ.

"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...

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville  Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky , as its next president. Archbishop Kurtz, 67, has served as the conference vice president since 2010. Judie Brown, cofounder of American Life League, the nation’s oldest Catholic pro-life group, issued this statement: “We humbly offer our prayers and support to His Excellency Archbishop Kurtz. He has a reputation as placing abortion, euthanasia, and other challenges to protecting the dignity of the human person at the forefront of his priorities as a teacher and shepherd. The fact that His Holiness Benedict XVI appointed this prelate encourages us. “With his experience in social programs, we hope that Archbishop Kurtz will take the reins of social justice programs at USCCB to advance this important work of the Church. His leadership in this area will ensure that social justice is not separated from social moral...

American Life League exposes the euthanasia agenda of the sponsors of HR 3200. Henry Waxman and co-sponsors John Dingell, George Miller, Peter Stark, and Frank Pallone all voted against a federal ban on use of drugs for physician assisted suicide. Not only that, Barack Obama equates physician assisted suicide with "end of life issues" and "the elderly." 

“Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
" ~ Click here to read the entire post at Raymond's blog.

On the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a new blog was born: Catholics Against Obama Care. While health care reform is needed, the current plan proposed is totally unacceptable. To learn more and to add your blog to our roll, please go here.

It's sad that we don't have more doctors in the US who are willing to stand up for what they believe like these courageous gynecologists in Spain. ( The AMA has endorsed Obama's health care reform which advocates abortion and promotes euthanasia.) I applaud them for upholding their convictions. Dr. Esteban Rodriguez, spokesman for the organization Right to Life (Derecho a Vivir) in Spain, responded yesterday to comments by the country’s Minister of Justice, Francisco Caamano, who said there was no room for a conscience clause in the new law on abortion. “We are willing to go to jail rather than following a criminal law, Rodriguez said, “and we are willing to commit the supposed crime of disobedience before the crime of abortion.” “We will not kill our patients, nor will we commit a crime against the public health deliberately harming the heath of women, no matter how much the Minister of Justice threatens us and abuses his power,” the doctor said. “We doctors are not sol...

American Life League president Judie Brown will appear on EWTN’s “The World Over” with Raymond Arroyo to discuss health care reform with Catholic Health Association president Sr. Carol Keehan on Friday, August 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET. When American Life League exposed the Catholic Health Association’s campaign i n support of President Obama’s healthcare plan, Brown and Keehan were thrown into opposite sides of a contentious debate. “Simply put, Catholics cannot support healthcare that includes killing,” Brown said. “The Obama plan includes a mandate for tax-subsidized abortion, euthanasia, contraception, rationed care and sex education. Where is social justice in that? Where is the mercy, love and compassion for the weakest in society?” American Life League exposed the scandal when Catholic Health Association, Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society joined together to support “healthcare reform now.” Their campaign included action alerts to call Congress is support of hea...

Independent voter Mike Sola confronted Democratic Congressman Rep. John Dingel l (MI) at a town hall on Thursday. He was concerned that his son, who has cerebral palsy, would not receive the care he needs under the Obama health care reform plan. Now he is being threatened for speaking out:

~ Via John Francis Bora, SFO, at Veritas the Cartoon.

Related Posts: What's Really in Obama's Health Care Bill? Who are the uninsured? Is Obama Care the solution? Pro-lifers Fight Back as Obama and PP Push Congress to Pass Obama Death Care Oppose Tax - Funded Abortion (Obama Death Care)

From the LA Times , June 25: President Obama suggested at a town hall event Wednesday night that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive and ultimately futile procedures performed on people who are about to die and don't stand to gain from the extra care. Read that again. Obama was subtly promoting euthanasia... Read the entire post Obama promotes euthanasia in healthcare plan at Jill Stanek's blog.

Today is the fourth anniversary of the death of Terri Schindler Schiavo. My heart still aches at the tragic loss of the life of this innocent woman. The nation grieves for her and remembers her gentleness, the love and zest she had for life. God permitted her tragic death for a reason and she was truly a martyr in the pro-life movement. Her death was a dramatic wake-up call to all those in this country -- it alerted us all to the horrible tragedy of euthanasia, which has become so commonplace in our society today. It caused some of us who were indifferent, apathetic, or unaware to take a long, hard look at the reality of what is going on in our society and to become more pro-active to prevent this same situation from happening to ourselves and others in the future. It strenghtened the resolve of those of us who were already actively involved in the pro-life movement to work and to pray even harder and to persevere in our efforts. I am still in awe of her family -- her parents and sibli...

(CNA).- The Paraguayan Catholic weekly “Cristo hoy” published the moving story of Carolina Ramirez who, like Eluana Englaro, has also been in coma for 17 years, after being injured in a car accident in 1991. Her mother says their faith sustains them and that her daughter “is the most beautiful thing I could have.” When Carolina, or Carol, as her friends and family members affectionately call her, suffered her car accident she was studying accounting at college. She was very athletic and often spent time at the gym. Every day since she fell into a coma, her parents have been at her side thanking God for her life. They find the reasons for the death of Eluana in Italy to be incomprehensible. Carol’s mother Ketty said their faith is what sustains their lives. “My daughter is the most beautiful thing I could have.” “I feel especially chosen by the Lord,” she added. Although her daughter will never be normal again, Ketty is grateful for the 21 years she was able to spend with her daughter a...

The following is a statement from Judie Brown, president of American Life League , on the eugenics element woven into the healthcare provisions of the stimulus package agreed upon by the House and Senate Feb. 11 as reported by the Associated Press and San Jose Mercury News. "Our elected representatives have fed on the fears of a nation gripped by economic panic to legislate state-enforced euthanasia. President Obama's economic stimulus package puts a price tag on each of our heads. The package's healthcare provisions threaten the elderly and open the door for euthanasia and nationalized health care. Patterned on a plan outlined by Sen. Tom Daschle in his book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis," the plan will have the greatest impact on seniors and places the country a step closer to mandated euthanasia of the elderly, infirm and those deemed undesirable. This is a disgusting direct attack on the worth and human dignity of all people, regardle...

Euthanasia is a false solution to suffering, the real answer is to testify to the love that helps us face pain and agony in a humane way. That was Pope Benedict XVIs message to the faithful gathered in St Peters square before todays Angelus prayer. The Pope noted that Christ died on the cross for love and in doing so he gave meaning to all human suffering. The Pope said that no tear, from those who suffer and those who are with them, is lost before God. In his greeting to pilgrims after the Angelus, Benedict XVI recalled that today the Church in Italy marks the Day for Life. He also invited the men and women religious to tomorrows celebration in St. Peters Basilica for the World Day for Consecrated Life, held each year at the feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the the temple.

"Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not...with regard to abortion and euthansia." ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Spirit & Life® "The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63) Human Life International e-Newsletter Volume 03, Number 38 Friday, October 03, 2008 This Will Kill Us More is at stake than just the economy in this presidential election season. In fact, the manufactured economic woes of our country are in some ways a smokescreen to keep our minds off the weightier moral issues that are not being talked about to any significant degree or in any depth. There real issues upon which our future as a nation depends are the life issues! To that effect, euthanasia, euphemistically called "physician-assisted suicide," is on the ballot in Washington State, and if we don't support those who are valiantly fighting this pernicious movement, this new virus of the culture of death could kill us all. Actually this is not an entirely new front in the culture wars: Oregon blazed the euthanasia trail in 1997 when their physician-assisted suicide law went into effect. No...

~ 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...

Heart attack victim Janet Rivera, who, like Terri Schiavo, was denied food and water for 11 days in July, was saved from the specter death by starvation Sep. 9 when her brother was named her permanent conservator. "Praise God, this woman was snatched from such an excruciating death," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "Janet was spared the fate of Terri Schiavo, but still we hope this case exposes the threat that hangs over us all - government euthanasia for the sick, elderly and disabled. "The victory marks the final win for the Rivera family who has fought unceasingly for her life since she was placed in the hands of Fresno, California government officials in June. Rivera's public guardian ordered her death by starvation in July and had her feeding tube removed. Public outcry ensued and Rivera's feeding tube was reinserted. The 46-year-old woman suffered a heart attack in 2006. According to Judge Debra Kazanjian, Rivera's husband, Jes...