Ubi Petrus

You mean you didn’t know already? What size rock is that you’ve been hiding under? I suppose I should just be nice and say “tolle, lege“. Even more than that, watch the videos, and donate if you can.

Or probably any of the major networks, for that matter.

Santa Ana, CA – A pro-life man was violently attacked by an abortionist on a public sidewalk outside a Santa Ana abortion clinic on Saturday, August 2, 2008. The man, who wants only to be known as Tim, was first shoved, then battered, punched and choked by the abortionist who objected to his attempts to photograph him. Tim sustained lacerations and muscle pain that impaired his ability to conduct his normal activities as a result of the attack.

Go check out the rest of the story at Catholic Fire. Just remember, the Pro-Life folks are the ones who are constrained as to where they may walk and talk because they’re the “dangerous” ones. Or something…

“Saying you’re Catholic and being pro-abortion is like saying you’re a member of GreenPeace after eating a dinner of Baby Harp Seal stuffed with Whooping Crane eggs.“

Calm down, class, back to work. *chuckle*

LifeSite has found and published a letter sent from the Vatican to all Bishops with a pre-release copy of Humanae Vitae. Even from a distance of these many years it is a hard letter to read knowing the vast distance between what was asked in this letter and the response it was given in return. If this paragraph doesn’t absolutely eviscerate you:

The Holy Father knows full well the bitterness that this reply may cause many married persons who were expecting a different solution for their difficulties. It is precisely the solicitude for those souls in anguish, and the ardent desire to bring them light and solace, which caused the great delay in giving this reply. Mindful of the grave consequences entailed by a decision of this nature, the Common Father wished to study the entire question for Himself and in detail. For a long time He reflected, with respectful consideration, upon the results of the studies and discussions of the Commission charged with examining the various aspects of the problem; for a long time, He prayed. He consulted numerous wise and learned members of the Episcopate, of the clergy, of the laity; and all of this took months and even years.

this one will:

And now He turns to His Brothers, the Bishops of the Catholic world, asking them to stand beside Him more firmly than ever in this circumstance, and to help Him present this delicate point of the Church’s teaching to the Christian people, to explain and justify its profound reasons. The Pope counts upon the attachment of His Brothers in the Episcopate to the Chair of Peter, upon their love for the Church, upon their concern for the true good of souls.

One can almost feel the pain in Pope Paul VI’s heart as he likely knew that even this cover letter would be ignored. We tend to forget that the word “Pope” comes from the same etymological base as the term “Papa”; in reading words like this just how much of a Papa was Papa Montini, and indeed is every Pope, truly comes to light. We have much to do.

To think, this tiny document, this little firecracker, could hold so much power. And yet perhaps the comparison to a firecracker is more than apt. If the world had held itself open to the teachings of Pope Paul VI it would have witnessed a brilliant explosion of light. Instead it chose to tighten the fist of its heart around that firecracker and hope that if it just would squeeze tight enough nobody would notice the firecracker go off.

We know what happens when you close your fist around a firecracker. Broken bones. Savaged flesh. Blood, gore and carnage, pain and embarassment. Does this yet sound familiar? It is proven by history that ignoring those small teachings re-stated in Humanae Vitae has led to all the things Paul VI predicted and even worse.

Do yourself, and the whole world, a favor and read Humanae Vitae again. I first read it after an argument over its teachings and I was shocked at both its brevity and its simplicity. It is, without a doubt, a document you can read in one sitting but well worthy of many more.

I heard this story this morning on Teresa Tomeo’s radio show. It is stories like this that can help remind people who don’t yet understand the religious position of life beginning at conception that short of that we simply cannot define when life is and is not viable. From CNA:

Commenting on the recent birth of a baby who developed outside his mother’s womb, one of the doctors present at the delivery, Waldemir Rezende, said that the extraordinary results of the medical intervention show that it is always possible for science to save both the mother and the child.

Brazilian media has been following the case of Maria Benedita, whose difficult pregnancy could have ended in abortion but instead ended with the birth of a healthy baby.

In an interview with the Catholic News Agency, Dr. Rezende said that in cases such as Benedita’s, (which are 1 in 40,000 pregnancies), “the risks always exist and are great, but nature is wise and can help us find solutions for the different problems we encounter along the way.”

Never give up on life. Never.

This is your friendly neighborhood reminder that tomorrow, May 3, is the day for the One Million Rosaries for Unborn Babies prayer event. I’m certainly hoping the count on that site isn’t the best we can do. C’mon, get the word out folks!

There’s an old saying “no good deed goes unpunished”. Indeed:

DETROIT, March 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of an investigation that discovered bodies of unborn babies and private medical records in an abortion clinic dumpster has been billed by Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the removal of the evidence. In the meantime, the abortionist has himself escaped without any significant punishment. Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, has been billed $1,100 by the DEQ for the removal of evidence against the Lathrup Village Woman Care clinic, operated by abortionist Alberto Hodari. The evidence, discovered in dumpsters behind the clinic and videotaped by Miller, consists of the recognizable remains of at least 18 aborted children, numerous records with personal and detailed information of Hodari’s patients, as well as other bio-hazardous waste material.

…

“That Michigan authorities did not have the courage to bring the maximum penalty the law can afford against this abortionist sends a terrible signal to the abortion industry,” said Brown. “Now that they have gotten away with it once, we can, unfortunately, be sure they will feel more emboldened in their grisly acts of violence against preborn babies.”

It is a dangerous and difficult thing to stand up to evil. And now we can add “expensive” to that list. I so desperately want to be surprised, but it just isn’t happening. How long, O Lord, how long?

I’ve been ruminating lately on this whole debacle with NY Governor Spitzer and his rather pricey dalliances with the “escort service” (aka prostitution ring). There is, I will admit, a certain part of me that wants to join in the schadenfreude of some who have been willing to find joy in finally seeing his hypocrisy bite him. But no, I just can’t find it in myself to catch much joy in this.

Yes, a great enemy of the pro-life movement has been knocked out of the public ring. Yes, this serves as a good reminder that “sin makes you stupid” and a reflection of the reality that public sin is often a image of private sin. It can certainly be argued that Spitzer’s outspoken public support of unlimited abortion rights has had an effect on other aspects of his life, including his predilection for other sins in the same general (in this case, sexual) area. All of these are important points.

For me though, at the end of the day, it’s still a story about a soul who has tragically lost his way and taken others down with him, and for that I cannot be happy. No, when I see Gov. Spitzer now I grieve for his wife and children who have to suffer this public humiliation. Even more, I grieve for him and the utter danger in which he has placed his immortal soul. When I look at him, all I can do is pray to God that he be able to open his heart to the One who is Truth, repent of his ways and reconciled both to Him and His creation. Will it happen? I don’t know, but I have no choice but to hope.

While I’m here, I also have to admit a profound sadness for the young lady, Ashley Dupre, with whom he committed such terrible acts. Not only did she help an untold number of others do serious damage to their souls but she did the same, if not worse, damage to herself. In the temporal order now that her bikini-clad picture has been splattered all over the front-page news right above her name she may never be able, or at least feel as though she will never be able, to move beyond this terrible error in her life. Even if she does find some peace and/or success in her life there will always be a lingering doubt as to whether she earned it on her own or really just got by because of this whole episode. Lingering doubts are the devil’s play area. I hope and pray that she will allow herself to look beyond this period in her life and see the God who loves her enough to will her very existence, and that society will somehow allow her to walk the path that takes her to Him who made her.

No, I find no joy in this, no day of rejoicing. What I do find, however, is the ever-present cause for hope in the knowledge that God himself saw this coming even as He hung on the cross and did not forgo His part. That chance for reconciliation is always there for all of us, great sinners and great saints alike. Maybe, then, there is a small joy in this for the Heavens will rejoice greatly if out of this tragedy souls find their way to God.

CNA has a story that is part of a bigger issue that has caused me no small amount of heartburn in recent times:

Little Rock, Arkansas is the latest diocese asking its members to halt their support for the Susan G. Komen Foundation due to a portion of their proceeds being given to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States.
…

In a February 4 statement, Little Rock diocesan administrator Monsignor J. Gaston Herbert addressed Catholics as a way to inform them of the ties between the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood.

“Due to its policy allowing affiliates to offer financial support to abortion providing facilities and its endorsement of embryonic stem cell research, and the continued denial that abortion may well lead to the development of breast cancer, the Respect Life Apostolate neither supports nor encourages participation in activities that benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.”

It’s not that I’m desperately attached to sending money to the Komen Foundation. What saddens me is thinking about all those women who have unwittingly donated indirectly to Planned Parenthood. Is that an overstatement? Far from it. Money, once it goes in to a sufficiently large organization, becomes an essentially fungible resource – meaning in this case that you cannot donate money to one cause without it indirectly becoming a donation to another cause whether you want it to or not. That’s one of the most disconcerting parts about donating to a large foundation – you just don’t know for sure where all the money goes without a considerable amount of research.

The reply from the Komen Foundation is a classic example of modern relativist and consequentialist thinking:

Rebecca Gibson, a spokeswoman for the Komen foundation, told the AP that the group invested $69.6 million in more than 1,600 community-based education and screening programs during 2007. Of that, Planned Parenthood accounted for less than 1 percent of the funding, she said.

“It’s insignificant in relation to all of the funding we do,” Gibson said. “I think it’s just really unfortunate undue attention is being shed on organizations that are providing vital services in those communities.”

That boils down to “we don’t donate them that much money so stop worrying that we’re helping to fund an untold number of abortions”. Will people like this ever understand that you can never do evil that good may come of it? It’s simply not an option. Perhaps someone should mail a few thousand copies of the Summa to the Komen Foundation so they can learn some proper Thomistic principles…