Catholic Fire

The Vatican has released the prayer intentions of Pope Francis for March 2014. The Pope's general intention is: "that all cultures may respect the rights and dignity of women." His intention for evangelization is: “that many young people may accept the Lord's invitation to consecrate their lives to proclaiming the Gospel."

Vatican City, Feb 6, 2014 (CNA/EWTN News).- Reggie Littlejohn, known for her work opposing forced abortion and gendercide in China, has been named as one of “Inside the Vatican’s” “Top 10 People of 2013” for her heroic efforts in helping women. “This honor came as a complete shock to me.  I did not even know that I was being considered for this,” Littlejohn told CNA in a Feb. 5 interview, adding that “It’s a bit overwhelming to have my photo on the front cover with two Popes, surrounded by the other ‘Top Ten’ people from all over the world, all of whom seem far more heroic than I!” Littlejohn is the founder and president of “Women’s Rights Without Frontiers,” an international coalition aimed at exposing forced abortion, gendercide, and sexual slavery in China. Read more.

September 26, 2013. (Romereports.com) Back in 1983, Pope John Paul II authorized the Vatican to prepare a document that addressed the role of the family in modern society. After months of work, they came up with the Charter of the Rights of the Family.   Three decades later, the Pontifical Council for the Family is getting ready to mark the Charter's 30th anniversary, with a special presentation on how the document impacts women today. DR. HELEN ALVARÉ Professor of Family, Religion and Law (USA) “The Church has a credible witness in our charity, a credible witness in our words and a real balance between what women are actually demanding, between what they actually want, and between what women, children and the poor actually need.” The charter addresses individual rights like the freedom for a man and women to have a family through marriage, and to have children. But it also calls on societies to respect certain rights, like the protection of life from conception to natur...

"How bitter the irony of those who promote abortion as a form of 'maternal' health care! How disconcerting the claim that the termination of life is a matter of reproductive health!" "Particularly disturbing is the crushing yoke of discrimination that women and girls so often endure, not to mention the unspeakable practice of sexual violence and exploitation which causes such humiliation and trauma." ~ Pope Benedict XVI speaking in Africa on March 20, 2009 Pope appeals for African families, condemns promotion of abortion

Yesterday, the Kansas legislature passed the Woman’s Right to Know and See Act, which requires abortion providers to allow expectant mothers to see their unborn child via ultrasound or listen to their heartbeat, and to provide literature on abortion alternatives. The bill also requires each abortion provider to post a notice that it is illegal to force a woman to have an abortion. The bill is now sitting on Sebelius' desk. How will it look to the public if this "promising" nominee for the position of Health and Human secretary vetoes this bill that guarantees women their basic rights to know before making a decision to have an abortion (informed consent) ? It could threaten her chance at gaining more power, prestige, and control. It might shine some truth on who she really is -- a solid supporter of pro-death policies, as someone who doesn't care at all about women or what happens to them. On the other hand, it just might make her look really good if she does sign ...

Few people know about widespread unwanted, coerced or even forced abortions in America. Few fully understand its heartbreaking, even deadly, aftermath for teens and women of all ages — especially when the abortion was unwanted, coerced or forced ... or if family, friends and even experts dismiss widespread coercion, unwanted abortions, injury and heartbreak ... or if they fail even to acknowledge those hurt or killed by pregnancy- and abortion-related violence or to acknowledge families who have lost a loved one in the aftermath of abortion. For decades, many women and couples seeking facts and assistance were denied help when they needed it most, pressured from all sides, or given false or misleading information from trusted health care providers, experts, parents and even pastors. Some were told there was no available help. Others were deceived about fetal development and kept in the dark about alternatives, even though studies indicate the majority felt pressured by others or rushed...

On Saturday morning Pope Benedict XVI received participants in an international congress on the theme: “Woman and man, the ‘humanum’ in its entirety.” During his reflections, the Holy Father called on Christians to promote “a culture that grants women, in law and in everyday life, the dignity that is theirs by right.” The congress, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, takes place in the twentieth anniversary year of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter on the dignity and vocation of women, “ Mulieris Dignitatem .” MORE ( Via CNA )

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be mother." ~Lin Yutang