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eMagazineforFaith,FamilyandLife
Volume3Issue9FirstinTime,FirstinRightSeptember2011

The kingdom suffers violence, violent men take it by force.

CouplesforChristFoundationforFamily&LifeUSA

2 PageVolume3Issue9

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FBI chaplain recalls unparalleled havoc

city and the Long Island Expressway was empty. I did 90 to 100 and got there in a little over an hour." PALMBEACHPOSTStaffWriter At FBI headquarters, about five blocks from the September11,2006 scene of the attack, he glanced in the direction of the On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, FBI towers. Chaplain Paul Wierichs received a vague mes"I saw gaping sky filled with billowing, angry smoke," sage. he says. Some sort of plane crash in Manhattan reIn the FBI office, he found two agents who had run to the trade center after the first plane had hit. quired his immediate presence. He assumed it "They were still shaking, " he says. "They had been was a small aircraft. He tried to call in, but there when the first tower fell and they had almost gotcouldn't get through. At his home on the east ten killed." end of Long Island, he prepared a small bag. Wierichs, in the company of a Lutheran FBI chaplain "I thought I'd be back the next day and I and another agent, headed into that smoke. They packed for only one night," says Wierichs, 62, a reached the blocks of flaming ruins left by the hijackers. "I have been to hell and I have seen the face of evil," member of the Passionist order of the Catholic he says today. Church. "I ended up spending the next two During the following week, Wierichs recalls, 18 peoweeks at ground zero 18 or 19 hours a day. I ple were pulled alive from the wreckage, but hundreds hardly ever left." and hundreds were brought out dead, day and night. One month ago, Wierichs became director "The fire department guys always insisted on carrying of Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center, a retheir own," he says. "Everyone would stop and salute and I would step forward and anoint them." treat house his religious community runs in He also discovered a makeshift morgue established North Palm Beach. He had spent the previous nearby in a Brooks Brothers men's clothing store. three years as a pastor in Scranton, Pennsyl"They had no body bags yet, so they used Brooks vania. Brothers apparel bags to hold the body parts," he says, But before that, Wierichs worked for 14 with a shake of the head and, even now a look of disbeyears as the Catholic chaplain to FBI agents in lief. One day he went to nearby St. Patrick Church, where New York City. He bolstered them as they inmore bodies had been taken. Lying right in front of the vestigated the first World Trade Center bombaltar was a corpse covered by a blanket and a priest's ing in 1993, which killed six and injured more stole draped over it. The stole is the narrow vestment a than 1,000. He offered them spiritual support priest wears over his shoulders for certain ceremonies. as they scoured the grisly remains of TWA The body was that of the Rev. Mychal Judge, a fire Flight 800, which crashed on Long Island in department chaplain who had died with his men inside the World Trade Center. 1996, killing 230 people. He had counseled Sunday, Wierichs, along with the Knights of Columagents who had confronted countless violent bus, hosted an ecumenical Patriot Day Rally at his cencrimes. ter, which included brief speeches by clergy from the "But, of course, there had never been anything like Jewish, Hindu and Muslim faiths, as well as a Presbytethis, neither for me or the agents," he says. rian minister. On his way to Manhattan that morning, Wierichs "I didn't support the invasion of Iraq, but I certainly turned on the radio and learned the extent of the emerdo support our troops who are there," he says. gency. Given what he saw at ground zero, which he seems "It was while I was driving toward the city that the to carry in his eyes even now, Wierichs says he would twin towers fell," he recalls. " They had closed off the have trouble supporting just about any war.

ByJohnLantigua

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The symbol of hope at Ground Zero

byMarkMcElrath
CATHOLICBUSINESSJOURNAL

Out of the rubble of New York Citys Twin Towers on that fateful 9-11 morning emerged a symbol of hope: a perfectly proportioned cross formed from the steel girders of the previously standing towers. The rescue workers quickly understood what it was and, more importantly, recognized the deeper meaning it would come to symbolizehope in the future after the most devastating attack on American soil in history.
This cross was moved to a prominent location above the smoldering pit and was draped in the American flag and as rescue efforts became recovery, the remains of victims were brought before this cross for a moment of prayer before being taken on to the makeshift morgue. This cross remained a point of prayer and refreshment for the workers who were tasked with their unfathomable responsibility. On it, they inscribed their names, wrote prayer petitions and reflections. Later, the cross was relocated from the rubble to a pedestal at the corner of Liberty and Church streets. And later still, when reconstruction efforts required this space, the cross was moved to St. Peters church, which is directly across the street from Ground Zero, and placed on the Church Street side of the property, directly facing the site of the 9-11 attacks. It was to St. Peters church that firefighters brought the body of Fr. Mychael Judge, OFM, victim 0001, to lay before the altar of the Lord. It was here also that served as a staging area for equipment and rescue workers. Since then, the church has become an integral part of the ongoing relationship with visitors who have journeyed to the 9-11 site since October 2006. There it has stood since October 2006, until last month the September 11th Memorial and Museum became its permanent home, to the dismay and protestation of atheists. Realizing that St. Peters church has become a place of pilgrimage, a meaningful site in its own regard for the role that it played that September 11th morning, the Archdiocese of New York commissioned sculptor Jon Krawczyk to make a replacement cross to be erected on the same site where the original 9-11 cross has so long been displayed. Krawczyk annotated his work with this message: The cross is a symbol of hope. It speaks of lifes journey and to lifes limitless potential. For the innocent, whose lives were taken from them, this cross stands as a memorial. For the courageous, who faced death so others might live, this cross stands as a tribute. For all of us, walking the streets today, this cross reflects who we are and who we may choose to become.

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A Pro-Life Response to Bin Laden's Death

ByJamesMartin,S.J.
America,TheNationalCatholicWeekly

On the morning of Sept. 11 2001, I was working at my desk at America magazine in Manhattan. My mother, who lives in Philadelphia, called me to tell me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. When I ran out of my office and looked down Sixth Avenue, I could see the towers smoldering, inky black smoke pouring out of their tops. Already sirens were blaring, and men and women were running through the streets weeping, frantically trying to make calls on cell phones to loved ones. The next few days were a horrible blur for me, and for all New Yorkers. For all Americans. On the night of Sept. 11, I worked at Chelsea Piers in New York, along with firefighters, rescue workers and chaplains. We awaited survivors who never came. On the morning and afternoon of Sept. 12, I sat with numbed family members in a large room at the New School in downtown Manhattan, poring through hospital lists of survivors, of whom there were almost none. Then, on Sept. 13, while working at Chelsea Piers, a police officer offered me a ride to Ground Zero, then called simply the site. There I spent the next few days and weeks, in between my assignments at work, and along with other Jesuits, ministering to rescue workers amid the smoldering and stinking wreckage, in some places still in flames, before the mass grave. We walked over the awful detritus of the attacks; we prayed with firefighters who had lost friends; we counseled EMTs who had seen horrible things; we celebrated Mass in the rubble; and we emerged covered in the gray dust of Ground Zero

As someone who worked at Ground Zero in the days and weeks following 9/11 I rejoiced to hear that Osama Bin Ladens long reign of terror, which had dealt death, destruction and untold misery to millions across the world, had finally come to an end. As a Christian, though, I cannot rejoice at the death of a human being, no matter how monstrous he was.

Time Magazine cover, via artist Tim OBrien

every day. So I am not blind to the death and destruction caused by Osama bin Laden. Yet Christians are in the midst of the Easter Season, when Jesus, the innocent one, not only triumphantly rose from the dead but, in his earthly life, forgave his executioners from the cross, in the midst of excruciating pain. Forgiveness is the hardest of all Christian acts. (Love, by comparison, is easier.) It is also, according to Jesus, something that is meant to have no limit. No boundaries. Peter once asked him how often he was supposed to forgive. Seven times? Not seven times, answered Jesus, "but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. In other words, times without number. Forgive your brother or sister from your heart, he said. This is not to negate the place of judgment and justice in God's eyes, for such a denial would mean that we believe in a God who cares not for human affairs. But judgment and punishment, says Jesus, is up to God. So the question is whether the Christian can forgive a murderer, a mass murderer, even--as in the case of Osama

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bin Laden--a coordinator of mass murder across the globe. Im not sure I would be able to do this, particularly if I had lost a loved one. But as with other life issues, we cannot overlook what Jesus asks of us, hard as it is to comprehend. Or to do. For this is a life issue as surely as any other. The Christian is not simply in favor of life for the unborn, for the innocent, for those we care for, for our families and friends, for our fellow citizens, for our fellow church members or even for those whom we consider good, but for all. All life is sacred because God created all life. This is what lies behind Jesuss most difficult command: I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. It is also what lies behind the Vaticans statement today, which balances the desire for an end to terror with the sanctity of life, no matter how odious the person: Osama bin Laden, as we all know, bore the most serious responsibility for spreading divisions and hatred among populations, causing the deaths of innumerable people, and manipulating religions for this purpose. In the face of a mans death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred. And it is behind the most Christian of acts by Pope John Paul II, beatified on the same day that Osama bin Laden was killed. Perhaps the confluence of events is providential. As someone who lived under Nazism and Communism, John Paul was no stranger to terror or murder. But he also was a Christian who knew the centrality of forgiveness, even for the most grievous of crimes. In 1980, he was the victim of an assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish ultra-nationalist. One of Blessed John Pauls first acts after his recovery was to journey to Agcas jail cell and offer him the costly grace of forgiveness. Osama bin Laden was responsible for the murder of thousands of men and women in the United States, for the deaths and misery of many thousands across the world, and for the deaths of many servicemen and women, who made the supreme sacrifice of their lives. I am glad he has left the world. And I pray that his departure may lead to peace. But as a Christian, I am asked to pray for him and, at some point, forgive him. And that command comes to us from Jesus, a man who was beaten, tortured and killed. That command comes from a man who knows a great

PopeBenedictXIsPrayeratGroundZero

OGodoflove,compassion,andhealing,
lookonus,peopleofmanydifferentfaiths andtraditions,whogathertodayatthissite, thesceneofincredibleviolenceandpain.

Weaskyouinyourgoodnesstogive
eternallightandpeacetoallwhodiedhere theheroicfirstresponders:ourfirefighters, policeofficers,emergencyserviceworkers, andPortAuthoritypersonnel,alongwithallthe innocentmenandwomenwhowerevictimsof thistragedysimplybecausetheirworkorservice broughtthemhereonSeptember11,2001.

Weaskyou,inyourcompassiontobring
healingtothosewho,becauseoftheirpresence herethatday,sufferfrominjuriesandillness.

Heal,too,thepainofstillgrievingfamiliesand
allwholostlovedonesinthistragedy. Givethemstrengthtocontinuetheirlives withcourageandhope.

Wearemindfulaswellofthosewhosuffered
death,injury,andlossonthesameday atthePentagonandinShanksville,Pennsylvania. Ourheartsareonewiththeirs asourprayerembracestheirpainandsuffering.

Godofpeace,bringyourpeacetoourviolent
world:peaceintheheartsofallmenandwomen andpeaceamongthenationsoftheearth.

Turntoyourwayoflovethosewhosehearts
andmindsareconsumedwithhatred.Godofun derstanding,overwhelmedbythemagnitudeof thistragedy,weseekyourlightandguidance asweconfrontsuchterribleevents.

Grantthatthosewhoselivesweresparedmay
livesothattheliveslostheremaynothavebeen lostinvain.

Comfortandconsoleus,strengthenusinhope,
andgiveusthewisdomandcouragetoworktire lesslyforaworldwheretruepeaceandlovereign amongnationsandintheheartsofall.
New York, 20 April 2008

6 P a g e Vo l u m e 3 I s s u e 9

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BEYONDRETALIATION A Gospel Call to Non-Violence

ByScottWright
The death of Osama bin Laden marks the end of a tragic decade of violence. The dramatic raid on his compound in Pakistan and the battle that ensued brought to mind the horrific scenes of the two planes crashing into the World Trade Center and the subsequent collapse of the twin towers. President Obama has said: Justice has been done. But at what cost? Ten years of war with no end in sight; hundreds of thousands of lives lost including 6,000 US soldiers; trillions of dollars wasted and a military budget that has doubled from $350 billion to $700 billion; torture of prisoners and no accountability for those who torture. The global war on terror, which sought to end terror, has instead made war and terror a permanent fixture of our fragile planet. And while jubilant crowds gathered last night and cried USA! USA! our future is more uncertain as we prepare for the next wave of terror or the next war. Ourgriefisnotacryforwar It soon became clear that our nation was preparing to go to war. In the days and weeks between September 11 and October 7, when U.S. initiated the war against Afghanistan, some family members of those killed in the attacks joined together to say: Our grief is not a cry for war. The shock and unconditional condemnation we expressed at these unspeakable acts of violence and terror was soon followed by our shock three weeks later at the war, as bombs rained over Afghanistan. At that time, Pax Christi restated its position that violence, whatever the provocation, cannot end violence or establish peace with justice. The violence of war, once unleashed, is difficult to control. Sadly, these conclusions are borne out by the past ten years of the global war on terror. What we have learned in these past ten years? Amissedopportunity First, we have missed an opportunity to forge a global consensus against the violence of terrorism and war. Ten years ago, we wrote: As people of faith and disciples of the nonviolent Jesus, we must be willing, even now in this darkest moment, to commit ourselves and urge our sisters and brothers, to resist the impulse to vengeance. We must resist the urge to demonize and dehumanize any ethnic group as enemy. We must find the courage to break the spiral of violence that so many in our nation, we fear, will be quick to embrace. What has become known as the global war on terror has itself created a spiral of violence to which there appears to be no end. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us: The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Adefeatforhumanity A second lesson of these past ten years, one that should be clear from the past century, is that war is truly a defeat for humanity. The war in Afghanistan has taken its toll on civilian lives, and the more recent attacks by the unmanned drones have only added to that toll including dozens of family members gathered for a wedding party, or seven young boys gathering fire wood. The war in Iraq, with its shock and awe has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, and torn apart a nation already devastated by two decades of war and economic sanctions that caused up to one million deaths. Six thousand US soldiers have lost their lives, tens of thousands more have been injured, and hundreds of thousands suffer from the long-term effects of posttraumatic stress syndrome. Military families have borne an unjust burden, while the majority of the US population has remained unscathed at best, and indifferent at worst, to their pain. We cannot continue to sanction war as a means of achieving justice or defending the innocent. All too often war does just the opposite: it sows the seeds of greater injustice and it takes the lives of the innocent. John Paul II, whose native Poland was victim to ag-

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September2011Page7

permanent armaments industry of vast proportions, with the potential to acquire unwarranted influence in the halls of government. President Eisenhower said, The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population we pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. Who suffers? One out of every ten Americans are out of work. Poor mothers and children can no longer depend on Medicaid and food stamps to get by. Many homeowners can no longer afford to live in their homes. Children who go to bed hungry. And these cuts in social welfare and in job creation disproportionately affect African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. Even more, the lives of our children is being mortgaged on the back of two wars that have cost more than three trillion dollars, and an economy in shambles because of corporate and financial greed. Eisenhower had words to say about that too: We must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow. Adescendingspiralofviolence A fourth lesson of these past ten years is simply that we are one human family. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: We will either be saved together as brothers and sisters, or perish together as fools. Unless the faith communities exercise prophetic leadership, and call upon the nations to train for war no more, we will continue down this spiral of violence. No one else has the mandate or the credibility to call for an end to war. Just five days after 9/11, a memorial service was held at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. There church leaders and national leaders joined together to remember the victims and to pray for peace. It is perhaps instructive to recall the words that

gression both by German fascism and Soviet communism, was even stronger is his condemnation of war when he said: in his 2000World Day of Peace message: In the century we are leaving behind, humanity has been sorely tried by an endless and horrifying sequence of wars, conflicts, genocides and ethnic cleansings which have caused unspeakable suffering; millions and millions of victims, families and countries destroyed, an ocean of refugees, misery, hunger, disease, underdevelopment and the loss of immense resources... The twentieth century bequeaths to us above all else a warning: wars are often the cause of further wars because they fuel deep hatreds, create situations of injustice and trample upon peoples dignity and rights. . . . War is a defeat for humanity. Only in peace and through peace can respect for human dignity and its inalienable rights be guaranteed. Apermanentwareconomy A third lesson of these past ten years is that a permanent war economy is neither sustainable nor moral. The United States continues to be the biggest arms exporter in the world, exceeding that of all other nations. Paul VI called this enormous expenditure on military armaments a theft from the poor. And our budget is heavily skewed toward military solutions to conflict. The total budget of the United States allocates more the 90 percent to formulating military responses while less than 10 percent is spent on diplomacy, foreign aid, and international cooperation. Is it any wonder we are currently waging two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and supporting a third in Libya? Fifty years ago, as he was leaving office, President Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed concerns about a rising military-industrial complex, which he described as a

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were preached that day by the Rev. Nathan Baxter, the African American dean of the Washington National Cathedral. They provide a word of caution to us today, as the nation is jubilant over the death of a man who has come to embody the evil of terrorism. On that day, in words that could have been spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he said: We must understand that justice is never just about us, no matter what the tragedy of our experience. When it is just about us it becomes vengeance and blind retribution, and more innocents suffer. But true justice is never about revenge, pure retribution or acting without the light of our spiritual values and accountability to the larger community. Justice means the work of repairing Gods vision for a broken world. It is about making decisions and taking actions which are intended for healing, restoration, wholeness and peace for human community. So we commit ourselves to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who showed us the power of redemptive suffering in overcoming death. We must not succumb to the belief that violence be it the violence of terrorism or the violence of war is ultimately redemptive. Rather, let us continue to hear and put in to practice, the Gospel path of Shalom, where justice and peace, nonviolence and wholeness will be bestowed on the entire human family. ScottWrightisamemberofthe PaxChristiUSANationalCoun cil,thePCMDCBBoard,andthe authorofOscarRomeroandthe CommunionofSaints.

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TheWaronTerror
CatholicNewsService August 8 - The deaths of 30 Americans and eight Afghans in Afghanistan are another reminder of the terrible tragedy of war and its toll on all people, said the head of the US Archdiocese for the Military Service. No person of good will is left unmoved by their loss, Archbishop Timothy Broglio said.

Taliban downs Copter, killing 30 Americans

on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak overnight. Wreckage of the craft was strewn across the crash site, a Taliban spokesman said. Geneva Vaughn of Union City, Tennessee, told The Associated Press on Saturday that her grandson Aaron Carson Vaughn, a Tennessee native, was one of the SEALs who was killed. Jon Tumilson of Rockford, Iowa, was also among the SEALs killed in the attack, his father George Tumilson told The Des Moines Register. The deaths bring to 365 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan and 42 this month. The overnight raid took place in the Tangi Joy Zarin area of Wardak's Sayd Abad district, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Kabul. Forested peaks in the region give the insurgency good cover and the Taliban have continued to use it as a base despite repeated NATO assaults.

The Americans casualties, that included 22 Navy SEALs, along with seven Afghan commandos and an interpreter, were killed as Taliban insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook transport helicopter last August 6. It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war. The strike is also likely to boost the morale of the Taliban in a key province that controls a strategic approach to the capital Kabul. The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with a rocket while it was taking part in a raid

ThetwinrotorChinookisalargetroopandcargotransporter.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that the helicopter was involved in an assault on a house where insurgent fighters were gathering. The casualties are believed to be largest loss of life in the history of SEAL Team Six, officially called the Navy Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU. The team is considered the best of the best among the already elite SEALs, which numbers 3,000 personnel. Afghanistan has more U.S. special operations troops, about 10,000, than any other theater of war. The forces, often joined by Afghan troops, carry out as many as a dozen raids a night and have become one of the most effective weapons in the coalition's arsenal, also conducting surveillance and infiltration. From April to July this year, special operations raids captured 2,941 insurgents and killed 834, twice as many as those killed or captured in the same three-month period of 2010, according to NATO. The coalition plans to increase its reliance on special operations missions as it reduces the overall number of combat troops. Night raids have drawn criticism from human rights activists and infuriated Karzai, who says they anger and alienate the Afghan population. But NATO commanders have said the raids are safer for civilians than relatively imprecise airstrikes. The site of the crash, Tangi, is a particularly dangerous area, the site where many of the attacks that take place in the province are planned, said Wardak's Deputy Gov. Ali Ahmad Khashai. "Even with all of the operations conducted there, the opposition is still active."

TheTerrorofWar

Murderer riled against white traitors vs Europe

Norway massacre madman Anders Breivik wrote a 1500page "manifesto" of racist hatred before murdering at least 93 people in his bombing and shooting rampage. The far-right fanatic raged against the white "traitors" he blamed for Muslim immigration to Europe. And he wrote: "We know where you are, where you live and we are coming for you. You will be punished for your treasonous acts against Europe and Europeans." In the wake of two terror attacks in Norway that left at least 93 people dead, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to hatred and ideologies that promote evil. "We are all deeply saddened by the serious terrorist acts," the pope said after praying the Angelus with pilgrims at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo last July 24.
The killer claimed he took nine years to write the ranting manifesto, titled 2083 - A European Declaration of Independence. It is signed "Andrew Berwick" - an English version of Breivik's name. Breivik posted it on the internet hours before he killed seven people

Peoplepaytheirrespectsbyaseaof floraltributesoutsidetheOslocathedral inNorwayJuly25.Atleast93people weredeadafteragunmanopenedfire atayouthcampontheislandhoursaf terabombblastinthegovernmentdis trictinthecapitalofOslo.Amantaken intocustodyadmittedtothebombing andagunrampage.

with a huge bomb at government offices in Oslo, then shot dead at least 86 victims at a youth camp on an island outside the city. Both attacks were aimed at Norway's governing Labour party, who Breivik blamed for Muslim immigration. The camp for 650 teenagers and young adults on Utoya island was organised by the party's youth wing. The lawyer, Geir Lippestad, added: "He thought it was gruesome having to commit these acts, but in his head they were necessary. "He wanted a change in society and needed to force through a revolution. Breivik claims in his manifesto to be a founder member of a panEuropean group of racists, called the Knights Templar in honour of the Christian holy warriors of the Middle Ages. He says the group were set up at a secret meeting in London in 2002.

A Beautiful Story MartinSheenreceives NotreDameshighest awardforCatholics

ByMichaelO.Garvey
FaithandService,NotreDameNews

Actor and human rights activist Martin Sheen has been awarded Notre Dames Laetare Medal. He received the medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, during the Universitys 163rd Commencement exercises on May 18, 2008. As one of our nations most recognizable and accomplished screen actors, Martin Sheen has achieved a level of celebrity that few Americans enjoy, said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., University president. He has used that celebrity to draw the attention of his fellow citizens to issues that cry out for redress, such as the plight of immigrant workers and homeless people, the waging of unjust war, the killing of the unborn and capital punishment. We welcome the opportunity to lift up his example for our Church, our country, and our students." A native of Dayton, Ohio, Sheen was born Aug. 3, 1940, one of 10 children of a Spanish-born father and an Irish-born mother. His legal and baptismal name is Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez, but he later adopted his stage name in honor of the pioneering televangelist Archbishop Fulton Sheen. After his graduation from Chaminade High School in Dayton, Sheen claims to have intentionally failed his entrance examination for the University of Dayton in order to pursue an acting career of which his father disapproved. Borrowing money from a priest friend, he went to New York City, working with Julian Becks Living Theatre and eventually landing a widely acclaimed role in the 1964 Broadway play, The Subject Was Roses. During this period, he became fascinated by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement, visiting and volunteering at the Catholic Workers houses on Manhattans Lower East Side.

Sheen has played numerous awardwinning television and film roles, most notably an amoral young murderer in the 1973 film Badlands, a disintegrating American soldier in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, a bemused journalist in the 1982 biopic Gandhi, and the itinerant French co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Peter Maurin, in the 1996 film Entertaining Angels. From 1999 to 2006, on NBCs widely acclaimed television series The West Wing, he played a soulful American president who was a Notre Dame graduate. A self-described Catholic peace activist, opponent of abortion and student of Catholic social teaching, Sheen acknowledges his spiritual debts to St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Dorothy Day, Rev. Daniel Berrigan, S.J., and the late labor leader Cesar Chavez. He often has been arrested as a participant in nonviolent demonstrations against various U.S. military policies and has enthusiastically donated money, time and his celebrity to such causes as the alleviation of poverty and homelessness, human rights for mi-

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grant workers, and environmental protection. The Laetare (pronounced Laytah-ray) Medal is so named because its recipient is announced each year in celebration of Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent on the Church calendar. Laetare, the Latin word for rejoice, is the first word in the entrance antiphon of the Mass that Sunday, which ritually anticipates the celebration of Easter. The medal bears the Latin inscription,Magna est veritas et prevalebit (Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail.) Established at Notre Dame in 1883, the Laetare Medal was conceived as an American counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal honor which antedates the 11th century. The medal has been awarded annually at Notre Dame to a Catholic whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity. Among the 130 previous recipients of the Laetare Medal are Civil War Gen. William Rosecrans, operatic tenor John McCormack, President John F. Kennedy, Catholic Worker foundress Dorothy Day, novelist Walker Percy, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, and death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean.

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...explains his pro-life views

Gay Byrne. It was released last April 3 on RT, the website of Irelands LifeNews.com,WashingtonDC National Public Service Broadcaster. Actor Martin Sheen has National Right to Life News editor gone against the grain of Hol- Dave Andrusko writes about the inlywood for years with his pro- terview: life views and, in a new interThe nearly 40-minute-long interview, he talked about some of view with the 71-year-old actor is fascinating from beginning to end, the family machinations that led him to the pro-life perspec- but especially (for us) when Byrne delves into Sheens anti-abortion tive. views at the 30 minute mark. He earned the praise of pro Byrne asked Sheen, The liberal -life advocates in April 2004 causes that you espouse are readily identifiable with people in the movie when he backed out of being business, but your anti-abortion listed as an endorser for the pro-abortion march sponsored stance is very strong indeed. Tell me what you told me on the late late by leading abortion advocacy show in 1987 as to why that is. groups. Sheen replied, Well we had pregIn 2001, Sheen was listed by nancies with our grandsons, three specifically. And we welcomed these Feminists for Life, a prochildren and encouraged the mothers woman group, as a to have the children and gave them Remarkable Pro-Life Man, support. The lads [his sons] were not along with actor Ben Stein, happy at the time but they came to Congressman Chris Smith (R- love these children. We have three NJ), and columnist George grown grandchildren, two of them Will. Sheens wife Janet signed are married, theyre some of the greatest source of joy in our lives. off on the article. Byrne noted almost by way of Sheen is best known for his actpassing that there was no ing roles in the movies Badlands, Apocalypse Now, and Gandhi judgment made about their chiland for playing a liberal president in drens unmarried status at the time, to which Sheen shrugs as if to say, the hit television series West why would there be? saying simply, Wing. Born the seventh son of an Irish no. Byrne traces this back to Sheens Catholic mother and a Spanish wife, Janet. Sheen concurs and they Catholic father, Martin Sheen saw move into an even more personal three siblings come after him and later became aware that his mothers discussion. Sheen explains that he and his first two children died at birth. His wife began to have children when own birth was extremely traumatic in that neither mother nor child was they were a young married couple. When suddenly Janet discovered she expected to survive. was pregnant with their fourth child, Sheen gave an interview to Gay Byrne on The meaning of life with she didnt quite know what to

byStevenErtelt

AntiWar,AntiAbortion

1 2 PageVolume3Issue9 do. So, she went to a therapist who said, Well, you have children, you have three very healthy children. Byproecclesia.blogspot.com The appropriateness of the How do you feel about them? award has been called into quesAnd his wife responded, Oh, I tion by some given Mr. Sheen's love them to bits. remarks on abortion that appeared Well then, the therapist answered back, thats your choice, in an interview with The Progressive: isnt it. You know what youre Q: What are your views on aborgiving up. Sheen adds, And that tion? Sheen: I cannot make a choice for a was all she needed, She knew, and women, particularly a black or brown or she had the child, Rene , their poor pregnant woman. I would not youngest daughter. make a judgment in the case. As a father Byrne immediately segues to and a grandfather, I have had experience something they had talked about with children who don't always come on a previous show, evidently a when they are planned, and I have exlong time ago. Was his wife not perienced the great joy of God's presborn because of a rape? Obvience in my children, so I'm inclined to ously uncomfortable, Sheen rebe against abortion of any life. But I am sponded that his wife had not equally against the death penalty or war-anywhere people are sacrificed for some been pleased that hed talked end justifying a means. I don't think about this publicly. But Sheen abortion is a good idea. I personally am nods in agreement when Byrne opposed to abortion, but I will not judge follows up, so you reckon if anybody else's right in that regard bethere had been an abortion she cause I am not a woman and I could would not exist. never face the actual reality of it. Sheen added She even found Notwithstanding Sheen's statements out later that her mother really in that interview, I think it's pretty clear thought about dumping her in that Martin Sheen has promoted and the Ohio River after she was supported various pro-life causes born. Instead she took her back to throughout the years (as well as countKentucky where she was raised by less number of left-wing causes ... none two aunts, whom she loved dearly, of which are contrary to Church teaching, but a few of which - in addtion to until she was six. his naming Howard Dean and Dennis A powerful, powerful pro-life testimony. I would encourage you Kucinich as "elected officials that I admire very much" - expose him as being a to watch.

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littly nutty). Here are some examples of Sheen's pro-life credentials: Sheen backed out of the Million Mom March in DC once he found out that it's primary purpose was to promote abortion. Sheen filed an amicus brief against NOW and in support of Operation Rescue and other pro-life activists in NOW v. Scheidler. Sheen was named by Feminists for Life as one of its Remarkable Pro -Life Men. (The previous two links, by the way, are from Jill Stanek. If Sheen's pro-life enough for her, that ought to settle the matter.) Sheen supports the work of the Consistent Life Network. And I understand that Sheen has donated mucho dinero to crisis pregnancy centers (although I could not find a link to substantiate that assertion, but it could be that this comes under the umbrella of his support for the Consistent Life Network). Finally, it's not like the guy is running for office as a "personally opposed, but ..." candidate (although he played one on TV). If Sheen were a politician instead of an actor, there would be more cause for taking issue against Notre Dame's decision to honor him. But he's not a politician. Furthermore, as noted above, it's pretty clear that the guy in his personal actions (apart from voting) is opposed to abortion and has taken substantive steps to promote the pro-life cause. Surely his actions speak louder than one soundbite. In short, I've got no problem with Notre Dame acknowledging where Mr. Sheen is right on the issue of life. In fact, if we're really serious about winning political liberals over to the pro-life cause, we should all be willing to acknowledge when they are right. For that reason, I support Notre Dame in honoring Martin Sheen for his work on behalf of society's least of these (including the unborn).

faces off detractors

ANADVOCATEANDAPARENTSJOURNEYINVIDEO MartinSheensstandagainstabortion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHneZK9QgU AsksprayersforsonCharlie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvK_jsC73aE AFathersAnguish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMTdvUOdHI8

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Since9/11,atleastamillionpeople havebeenkilledinIraq,Afghanistan
His Voice and proceed, as sheep do, through the opening made by the Shepherd, to be on the side where He is at. The exact moment that Micahs prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus gave up his spirit on the Cross. The violence was by no means a metaphor. Matthew heaven suffers violence, violent men testifies: And when Jesus had cried take it by force out again in a loud voice, he gave up After many revisits to this verse , I his spirit. have finally concluded that its dynamAt that moment the curtain of the ics is sort of oblique. temple was torn in two from top to Alfred Edersheim in his book The bottom. The earth shook, the rocks Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah, crys- split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had tallized the exegetic message: From the time that John (the Baptist) began died were raised to life. They came out to preach the Kingdom, hindrances of of the tombs after Jesus resurrection and[c] went into the holy city and apevery kind had been raised. To overcome them and enter the Kingdom, it peared to many people. When the centurion and those required, as it were, violence like that with him who were guarding Jesus saw to enter a city which was surrounded the earthquake and all that had hapby a hostile army. But whichever way it is interpreted, pened, they were terrified, and exthe verse is equivocally ominous. Vio- claimed, Surely he was the Son of God! Mt27,5054 lence, after all, is a scary word. There could be no more damning It was about this that Jesus spoke in Matthew 11:12. He was not talking show of violence in recent times than about Zealots and Herod's henchmen what happened in New York on Sepnor the enmity of so many including tember 11, 2001, and its aftermath of the Pharisees and the Jews who were genocidal carnage and mayhem. seeking to crash in themselves. At least 919,967 people have been He was speaking of eternal matters killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since the and how God is going to make a way U.S. and coalition attacks, based on for us to get into the Kingdom of the lowest credible estimates. Heavens. http://www.unknownnews.org/ That is how controversial the narcasualties.html row roads leads to. Mind you, remorse is not the motiChrist is the Shepherd who disvation that is driving the United States lodges the rocks and branches being to withdraw from those two theatres. the heavenly door or gate keeping all Of late, talks of troops withdrawal are of the remnant nations out. (Micah primarily motivated by reduction US 2:12-13). Having broken through, The budget deficits and not respect for the Lord himself calls those that are His sanctity of life. and goes before His flock who hears Some readers will hate me for sayThis month, we focus on violence and how it is basically a family issue. When I first encountered Matthew 11:12, I thought as literal could be, it meant that Satan, his demons and violent men were trying to assault and defeat the Kingdom. It reads: The Kingdom of

m Message fro the Editor

is In necessari , in unitas opinabilibus libertas, in omnibus caritas.

LINAWAN ADO PAG

ing that less than 4,000 deaths at the twin towers, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. cannot justify a million of equivalency in Iraq and Afghanistan. A tooth can not be taken for a tooth. Loving our enemies, is not pacifist at all. That is what the Jesus Sermon on the Mount was and is all about. See page 6 of this issue and understand why war is definitely a defeat for humanity. And what about what we have featured earlier on the Arab Spring, that has now reverberated in Norway and England? More and more violence, spawned by Europes embrace of the culture of death and the demise of the family values. We see societies reaping what they have sowed with their lust and appetite for abortion and contraception. The home is definitely not spared from this aberration, for it too has become a dangerous and feisty war zone. The Church does not seek a direct role in politics; the Church forms the people who can shape the culture that makes democratic self-governance work. It is by forming consciences that the Church makes her most specific and valuable contribution to society. It is a contribution that begins in the family.#

THEAUSTRALIANsaystheriotsinBritainareabackhandedtributetothelong termintellectualtorpor,moralcowardice,incompetenceandcareeristoppor tunismoftheBritishpoliticalandintellectualclass.HEADSUPsaysitisthedire consequenceofthedemiseoftheEnglishfamilyandnowsoundingoffitsciti zensaddictiontoentitlementsandthedeathknellofasocialistgovernment.

British rioters toll moral bankruptcy of a dying society

though youth unemployment in Britain is very TheAustralianAugust11,2011 high, that is to say about 20 per cent of those They have somehow managed not to notice aged under 25, the country has had to import young foreign labour for a long time, even for what has long been apparent to anyone who has taken a short walk with his eyes open down unskilled work in the service sector. The reasons for this seeming paradox are obany frequented British street: that a considerable proportion of the country's young popula- vious to anyone who knows young Britons as I tion (a proportion that is declining) is ugly, ag- do. No sensible employer in a service industry gressive, vicious, badly educated, uncouth and would choose a young Briton if he could have a criminally inclined. young Pole; the young Pole is not only likely to Unfortunately, while it is totally lacking in have a good work ethic and refined manners, he self-respect, it is full of self-esteem: that is to say, it believes itself entitled to a high standard is likely to be able to add up and -- most humiliating of all -- to speak better English than the of living, and other things, without any effort Briton, at least if by that we mean the standard on its own part. variety of the language. He may not be more Consider for a moment the following: albyTheodoreDalrymple

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fluent but his English will be more correct and his accent easier to understand. This is not an exaggeration. After compulsory education (or perhaps I should say intermittent attendance at school) up to the age of 16 costing $80,000 a head, about one-quarter of British children cannot read with facility or do simple arithmetic. It makes you proud to be a British taxpayer. I think I can say with a fair degree of certainty, from my experience as a doctor in one of the areas in which a police station has just been burned down, that half of those rioting would reply to the question, "Can you do arithmetic?" by answering, "What is arithmetic?" British youth leads the Western world in almost all aspects of social pathology, from teenage pregnancy to drug taking, from drunkenness to violent criminality. There is no form of bad behaviour that our version of the welfare state has not sought out and subsidised. British children are much likelier to have a television in their bedroom than a father living at home. One-third of them never eat a meal at a table with another member of their household -- family is not the word for the social arrangements of the people in the areas from which the rioters mainly come. They are therefore radically unsocialised and deeply egotistical, viewing relations with other human beings in the same way as Lenin: Who whom, who does what to whom. By the time they grow up, they are destined not only for unemployment but unemployability. For young women in much of Britain, dependence does not mean dependence on the government: that, for them, is independence. Dependence means any kind of reliance on the men who have impregnated them who, of course, regard their own subventions from the state as pocket money, to be supplemented by a little light trafficking. (According to his brother, Mark Duggan, the man whose death at the

hands of the probably incompetent police allegedly sparked the riots, "was involved in things", which things being delicately left to the imagination of his interlocutor.) Relatively poor as the rioting sector of society is, it nevertheless possesses all the electronic equipment necessary for the prosecution of the main business of life; that is to say, entertainment by popular culture. And what a culture British popular culture is! Perhaps Amy Winehouse was its finest flower and its truest representative in her militant and ideological vulgarity, her stupid taste, her vile personal conduct and preposterous self-pity. Her sordid life was a long bath in vomitus, literal and metaphorical, for which the exercise of her very minor talent was no excuse or explanation. Yet not a peep of dissent from our intelllectual class was heard after her near canonisation after her death, that class having long had the backbone of a mollusc. Criminality is scarcely repressed any more in Britain. The last lord chief justice but two thought that burglary was a minor offence, not worthy of imprisonment, and the next chief justice agreed with him. By the age of 12, an ordinary slum-dweller has learned he has nothing to fear from the law and the only people to fear are those who are stronger or more ruthless than he. Punishments are derisory; the police are simultaneously bullying but ineffectual and incompetent, increasingly dressed in paraphernalia that makes them look more like the occupiers of Afghanistan than the force imagined by Robert Peel. The people who most fear our police are the innocent. Of course, none of this reduces the personal responsibility of the rioters. But the riots are a manifestation of a society in full decomposition, of a people with neither leaders nor followers but composed only of egotists. #

Children,obeyyourparents[intheLord],forthisisright.aHonoryourfatherandmother. Thisisthefirstcommandmentwithapromise,thatitmaygowellwithyouandthatyoumay havealonglifeonearth.Fathers,donotprovokeyourchildrentoanger,butbringthemupwith thetrainingandinstructionoftheLord.(Ephesians6:13)

ThisisanallimportantteachinginCouplesforChristFoundationforFamilyandLife,wherefollowingour individualandspousalconversion,weflowintotheevangelizationoffamilies,startingwithourown,andof thelargerchurchandfinallysocietyingeneral. IntheoriginalHebrew,asfoundinExodus20:12,therootwordof"honor"is"tobeheavy."Thewordis usedtodescribesomeonewhowasheavywithwealth;someonewhoisconsideredimportant.Childrenhonor theirparentsbylisteningtotheiradviceandobeyingtheirinstruction.Godlyparentsareatreasuretoachild. Theyhaveawealthofexperiencewhichtheycanpassdowntotheirchildren. However,actualconditionseveninCatholichomes,arefoundwanting.ManyFilipinoparentswhohave migratedtotheUnitedStatesandothersocalledfirstworldcountries,findthemselvesinarealdaytoday battlewithpressuresofthesecularenvironmentthatissostronginsociety,inneighborhoods,inschoolsand eveninsideourveryownhomes.Gadgets,thetelevisionandvideogamesaretakingthebetterofourchil dren,whilemostparentsarebusyearninganhonestliving.Itisnotunlikelythatsomeparentsalreadydread cominghometoyetanotherbattlefield.

Dealing with Oppositional Behavior of our Children

ByJamesLehman
EmpoweringParents

TheWaratHome

When Hunter was a baby, Pat never imagined parenting him would mean becoming trapped in an argument that would last 15 years. From the time he was old enough to express himself, it seemed that he was looking for a fight with her.
Hes a very strong-willed person, says Pat, her polite demeanor belying an obvious understatement. Hes manipulative, and he learned at a very young age how to make that work for him to get what he wanted. "The simplest things always seem to turn into huge problems because Hunter simply refuses to do what he is asked to do, whether it was brushing his teeth at age five, or raking the yard at age 15.

The word 'no' lights his fuse, especially when in response to something he wants to do. Hes always doing these irritating things, Pat explains, as if he enjoys bothering you. Getting out of bed in the morning is the issue around which Hunter and his parents argue the most. Weve had the worst time in the world getting him up in the morning and into the shower. I know this is unbelievable, but he gets in the shower, stretches out in the bottom of the tub with the water beating on him, and goes back to sleep. From that moment on, we have to micromanage his morning to get him to the bus stop. Recently, Hunter was diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Pat finally has a name for the behavior thats been exhausting her all these years. Now, she needs a solution. How does a parent stop the arguments with a child whose primary way of communicating is arguing? A day with a child who has Opposi-

tional Defiant Disorder is a series of battles in an undeclared war. It starts when they wake up, continues at breakfast, intensifies when they have to get dressed, and doesnt end until they fight with you over bedtime. Kids with ODD lose their temper quickly and often. Theyre easily annoyed and frustrated by other people, resentful and hostile with adults, bossy and pushy with other kids. They blame everyone else for their difficulties and make excuses for their inability to cope. They gravitate toward negative peers and tend to be sulking, angry adolescents. Unrestricted free time is a breeding ground for aggressive behavior for these children. In an unstructured environment, they become annoying, threatening or destructive to kids around them and to adult authority figures. They will use this time to deliberately antagonize anyone they see as in charge. As a parent, you cant satisfy a

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gist to your mother-in-law will tell you what this child needs is structure. But no one really shows you what kind of structure and how to put it in place. Its not as simple as giving the child a time out. A child with ODD wont use the time out to change his thinking. Hell use it to plot revenge. Parents need to change their parenting style and method of operation with the child. Children with ODD need structure with an aggressive training component that is built around learning how solve the problems that trigger their defiant behaviors. Your child becomes oppositional when he is confronted with a problem and he cant figure out how to fix it. The problem can be anything from not wanting to get up in the morning (as in Hunters case) to not wanting to do homework. Screaming at the child to get out of bed wont work. You need to show the child that he has a problem that has to be solved and address it as such. Example: Lying in bed after your alarm goes off wont solve your problem. It makes you late and you miss the bus. What can you do to solve your problem? The focus of treatment should be on developing compliance and coping skills, not primarily on self-esteem or personality. ODD is not a self-esteem issue; its a problem solving issue. Theres no evidence that selfesteem leads to compliance, and emotions are not, in and of themselves, a way to kids to cope with their problems. Kids get self-esteem by doing things that are hard for them. Children with ODD need a lot of strong praise and support as well as realistic rewards. They dont benefit from a pat on the back for doing something thats easy for them to do. They should be praised

for doing things that are challenging to them. Dont create false situations for which to praise them to make them feel better. Parents need to learn several different parenting styles that meet the needs of this child. You need to be less of a cheerleader and more of a trainer and coach. Avoid senseless power struggles. Pick your battles with your child carefully and win the ones you pick. Many times you can win fights with child with ODD, since their thinking is this child by not arguing back. When irrational. They clamor for your attention you argue, his resistance gets and then tell you to leave them alone. stronger. Instead of arguing, set limThe sad truth is, kids with ODD its in a businesslike way and expect arent very likeable. Parents often feel compliance. guilty about the fact that they love their Have a plan for managing your kids, but dont like being around them. childs behavior. When youre going Parents get blamed for their childs to the mall, know what youll do oppositional behavior and tend to heap when he acts out in the car. Its imeven more blame on themselves. The portant to lay out the rules ahead of parent of a child with ODD often feels time, when things are calm. incompetent and isolated. They live with For instance, before you go to the the self-imposed shame that other peomall, tell the child, When you lose it ple think theyre bad parents, and that in the car, it becomes dangerous for humiliation grows larger as their world me and for everyone because its disgets smaller. tracting. So if you lose it in the car, Left untreated, Oppositional Defiant Im going to pull over for five minDisorder can lead to Conduct Disorder, utes, and Im not going to talk to a more serious pathology that is a preyou. Youll have five minutes to get cursor for anti-social behavior and crimiyour act together. If, after five minnality. utes, you have not regained control Of course, for many parents, ODD is of yourself, then were not going to not the primary issue. Rather, they are the mall. Were going to turn around dealing with continuous, low-level defiand go home. " ance that is not incendiary and aggresHave a plan youll use if he sive, but is aggravating, annoying and throws a tantrum in the store or if he disruptive to the family. Whether the acts out at a family gathering. And be defiance has turned into a diagnosis of willing to follow through on the plan ODD or has not, the parents approach until the child learns defiance doesnt should be the same. get him what he wants. Parents dealing with ODD need a HowtoStoptheWar powerful mix of determination and andRestorePeaceatHome strength. You can have a child with Most parents lack the tools to deal ODD and a peaceful home. The key with oppositional defiance. So they genis to decide: Are you going to change erally respond to this behavior with a Drop the feel-good strategy. the world for your child or teach him range of responses that includes negotiNothing but truth works, espe- to cope with it? Its not practical or ating, bargaining, giving in, threatening effective to try to change the world and screaming. The problem is when you cially when you confront your for your kid. But by setting limits scream, argue or negotiate, you are giving children with the conseconsistently, concisely and clearly, your childs defiance even more power. quences of their actions. you will teach your child to cope with Everyone from the school psycholothe world and succeed in it.

HighestrateofteenagepregnancyinWesternEurope

UK rioters are not scum, They are fatherless

most of the responsibility for the condition of their children's generawww.crossrhythms.co.uk tion. The destruction is shocking, Scripture declares: 'Train a child the thieving violates us all, and in the way it should go and when it the lack of respect for authority grows up it will not divert from the path'. What we are reaping today is shakes our confidence in our the manifestation of how our chillaw and order values. dren have been 'trained'. Yet something else 'pained' And the single most destructive me at least as much as the effect on how many of our young above: on many news reports it people have been brought up is that they have been fatherless! was the number of times that The effect of fatherlessness is these errant young people were not just to be seen in the violent described as 'scum'. behaviour, it is not just revealed in Sure, fear causes people to the absence of respect for the aureact, and this word is a verbal thority of our Police, it is not just retaliation, but when we do, we expressed through mindless vandalcreate an 'us and them' polariza- ism; the darkness also shouts loud in tion. We disassociate ourselves our teenage binge culture, addictions, abortions, STDs, eating disorfrom our youth as if 'they are ders, self harm, knife crime, suinot really like us'. We want to cides. deal with them as some sort of Let me quote from a 2010 book called I Am Your Father, by Mark alien invasion into our world, as Stibbe, which eerily predicts what some sort of foreign virus or we are now seeing: infection that has entered our 'Britain's record on family body that we need to fight off. breakdown is now the worst in Rubbish. Where do we think Europe. Three quarters of the today's youth came from? Were households on social housing estates in the UK are now headed they born as different babies by lone parents, usually mothers. than you and I? Did they start off somehow as freaky aberra- Only 15% of social-renting households are headed by a coutions waiting to grow up into ple with children. anarchic headcases? Nationwide, 15% of babies are Of course not. They were born currently born without a resident into the world that our older genera- biological father and approxitions have shaped and developed. mately 7% are born with no regThey are the consequence of the val- istered father on their birth cerues we have promoted and allowed. tificate. Older generations should take 'The consequences for chil-

ByJonathanBellamy

dren are toxic. The centre for Social Justice has collated the evidence and now conclusively demonstrated that children who grow up without fathers, in a lone parent environment, are 75% more likely to fail at school, 70% more likely to be drug addicts, 50% more likely to develop an alcohol problem, 40 per cent more likely to have serious problems with debt, and 35% more likely to experience unemployment and a need for social welfare. Fatherlessness is now reaping a whirlwind of destruction in UK society. We should not be surprised to hear: That there has in recent years been a tripling of children murdering children, That 70% of young offenders come from fatherless homes. That in 2008 11,000 children were treated for addiction to drugs and alcohol. The UK has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe, and That it is also witnessing an unprecedented surge in streetgang membership in its inner cities. 'Today the Centre for Social Justice is swimming against the tide of political correctness and declaring we cannot go on tolerating everything and anything. They are reminding us that "healthy marriages build healthy families, and healthy families build healthy society". Where marriage is undermined and fathers are absent, society slips

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towards lawlessness and violence as children resort to gangs as an alternative to family (as a place where they can belong and find value and identity). Broken Britain is a very dark landscape indeed.' It is hard to be a father. It takes character and maturity to teach responsibility and bring discipline. And sadly for too long our high minded, liberal, political correctness has given young fathers too many excuses for their right to run from responsibility. To shy from the courage and backbone required to be a committed partner and a loving father. So often however political correctness is Biblical incorrectness! It takes time, but eventually the outcome of a society believing it knows better than God, is that this society reaps the effects of its pride. There is another scripture in the book of Malachi that declares the importance of allowing the Spirit of God to 'turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers'. It declares that if this does not happen then the land will suffer a curse. What we have seen on our streets in the last week is just the latest in a long line of different manifestations over recent years of the growing levels of brokenness that besets our younger generation. No they are NOT scum! They are the product of the fatherless society that we have created. And we will not see them restored until a Spirit sweeps our nation to nurture, inspire, value and encourage fathers to be fathers once again. BellamyistheCEOofCross Rhythms.HepresentstheCity Drivedailyradioprogramandis marriedtoHeather.

DiNardo: contraceptive exemption too narrow

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities called "so narrow as to exclude most Catholic social service agencies and health care providers," the decision of Health and Human Services' Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for "religious exemption" to the requirement that new or significantly altered health insurance plans cover contraceptives and sterilization for women
Those sections "refer to churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches, as well as to the exclusively religious activities of any religious orders," the interim final rule says. Cardinal DiNardo said that under that rule, "our institutions would be free to act in accord with Catholic teaching on life and procreation only if they were to stop hiring and serving non-Catholics." "Could the federal government possibly intend to pressure Catholic institutions to cease providing health care, education and charitable services to the general public?" he asked. "Health care reform should expand access to basic health care for all, not undermine that goal." Cardinal DiNardo said the Obama administration's "failure to create a meaningful conscience exemption" pointed up the need for Congress to approve the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, H.R. 1179. The bill, introduced by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., and Dan Boren, D-Okla., would allow health insurance plans to exclude procedures that violate the moral or religious convictions of those providing or purchasing the plan. "HHS says the intent of its 'preventive services' mandate is to help 'stop health problems before they start,'" the Cardinal said. "But pregnancy is not a disease, and children are not a 'health problem' - they are the next generation of Americans."

One of the mandated services under the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is coverage of all Food and Drug Administrationapproved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity. In announcing her decision, Sebelius also released an "interim final rule" that HHS said would "give religious organizations the choice of buying or sponsoring group health insurance that does not cover contraception if that is inconsistent with their tenets." But in a footnote to the list of mandated services, HHS defined a religious employer as "one that: (1) has the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets; (3) primarily serves persons who share its religious tenets; and (4) is a nonprofit organization" under specific sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

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Gods call for us to be pro-Life as written in His commandments and later through the teachings of Jesus is mostly unrecognized, misunderstood, or diluted by many in todays culture. In reality, all of the 10 commandments of God and practically all of the teachings of Christ can be traced back to Gods desire for us to love, respect and defend life.
In our CFCFFL community, the pro-Life key words in our Covenant are: building s strong family; and living out and defending the culture of life. This simply means that no one can be a CFC-FFL member without being pro-Life. No practicing Catholic can be against the sanctity of life and the permanence of marriage between a man and a woman. Further, we should realize that God does not work His miracles through disobedient and sinful people. This is why our evangelization and mission work in some areas are not bearing much fruit. In Deuteronomy 30, God says: Choose Life! Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. If you obey the commands of the Lord your God; if you love Him, obey Him, and keep all His laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, then you will be destroyed. How then do we choose Life?

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ProLifeandtheTenCommandments
First, Thou shall not have strange Gods before me. This refers to the sins we commit when we idolize and worship earthly things in our lives that take priority over our relationship with God. We then allow these false gods to control our lives to the detriment of our health, e.g., drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, smoking, gambling, food, and other vices and addictions that are anti-life. These addictions take time and energy away from us that should be devoted to doing things that glorify God or enhance our relationship with Him. Other strange gods are money, power, popularity or the accolades of men, hedonism, materialism, etc. God is the ONLY one that we should worship and focus in life and we surrender our lives only to His will. Second, Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. This is when a person immerses in todays culture of death that disrespects the name of God or His creation and thus the person also starts using swear words or profanities against Gods or Jesus name, or tolerates the use of such swear words by others. This includes four-letter word profanities disrespectful to the marital act, women, and motherhood, including watching or listening and enjoying shows, music, or other performances that aggressively contain these obscene words or actions. Disrespect of priests, nuns and lay servants in the service of God is also a sin against this commandment. Third, Remember to observe holy the Sabbath day. God wants us to rest on the 7th day, although not just to sit around but rather to make Sunday a day devoted to God. In other words, instead of working overtime or a second job in pursuit of the almighty dollar, we rest our bodies so we dont get too busy, or overworked and overstressed as to have no time for

Message from the oPro-Life Chair

Let the children come to me
on Gabr and grands with Margie

MANO MANNY HER iel

God. This commandment not only tells us to hear mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, but it also goes further when it says we need to observe holy the Sabbath; meaning we go to mass ready to receive the Eucharist (therefore going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation beforehand, if necessary), and during the day to spend time to do something that would glorify God, such as reading Scripture and meditating on the word of God, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, doing the Lords work of evangelization and serving others, being with family to celebrate and manifest love, meeting with brethren to give witness to God, etc. This commandment is good for the body as well as for the soul. Fourth, Honor thy father and thy mother. This is a commandment on family relations and obedience and respect for authority, thus it is pro-Life. In the family, it cuts both ways, i.e., not only that the children should respect and love their parents who gave them life, but that father and mother should also raise their children in the love and service of the Lord through their good example. In todays prevailing culture of death, this particularly involves inculcating in our children the teachings of being pro-Life through the model of the way we live our own lives and in the way we serve the Lord. This commandment also includes living our lives in a responsible way as taught by our parents, i.e., by being law-abiding citizens under a good and just govern-

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ment because they focus on the pleasures of the flesh without regard to the responsibilities of the Sacrament of Marriage. The following are also sins against this commandment: same sex marriage and all other abnormal use of sex such as active homosexuality, sodomy, sterility, artificial contraception, condoms, withdrawal, oral sex, test tube babies, etc., because they do not conform to the plan and design of God. Seventh, Thou shall not steal. Stealing from our neighbor is antilife. When one steals, it is always something of value taken from the owner and thus pain and suffering is inflicted on the owner of the stolen property. Stealing or doing dishonest acts is contrary to our identity as Christians commanded by God to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We also steal from the poor and from God when we accumulate material goods for ourselves or live in comfort and luxury without caring for those who have less in life or without helping the cause of the Church. In Malachi 3, it says: Dare a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me! And you say, "How do we rob you?" In tithes and in offerings! When we steal from God, we deprive others of hearing the Good News that could lead to their personal conversion. Eighth, Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Lying is anti-life when it harms another persons reputation, for example in telling gossip or slander. Lies are also usually used to cover up infidelity in marriage or to hide sins against chastity or morality. It is also a sin against this commandment when lies or deception are used in order to achieve lustful intentions, or when fabricated stories are made to obtain personal advantage or with intent to cover up responsibility for a criminal act. Ninth, Thou shall not covet they neighbors wife. This commandment says in no uncertain terms that marriage means being faithful to ones spouse, as God is always faithful in His love for us. To covet means even just lusting and desiring someone elses spouse or another person other than your spouse. This sin even includes lusting for some stranger in a pornographic picture, video or live performance, usually accompanied by pleasuring of oneself. Tenth, Thou shall not covet they neighbors goods. The 10th commandment is complementary to the 9th, since it is also concerned with the inordinate desires of the flesh which is anti-life. It forbids coveting the goods of another because it is the root of theft, robbery, and fraud, which the 7th commandment forbids. Lusting for anothers goods leads to the violence and injustice forbidden by the 5th and 7th commandments. This commandment looks at the intentions of the heart, for example greed elicits the desire to amass earthly goods; and avarice stems from a passion for riches and the power and glory it offers. Avarice or greed also leads one to commit injustice by harming or damaging another persons goods. In summary, we who are in the different ministries of CFC-FFL have promised to be followers of Christ. We can start by always choosing life in observing Gods commandments and directives. Whereas 1John 3:9 says: Whoever is a child of God does not continue to sin, for Gods very nature is in him, and because God is his Father, he cannot continue to sin. Of course we have God the Fathers sweeping proclamation and reassuring promise in Lev 21:8 when He says: I am the Lord; I am holy and I make my people holy. And finally, the ultimate Pro-life message of Jesus thats the key to becoming a saint is when He said: No greater love is there than giving your life for a friend. So as Mother Angelica always ends her programs on EWTN, heres a challenge to all in the community: We're all called to be great saints don't miss the opportunity!

government, and showing respect for others especially older people. Fifth, Thou shall not kill. Whether we kill or harm another person or we do it to our own bodies or the baby inside the mothers body (or participate in such activity), it is a sin because God commands us to love, respect, and defend life. Taking abortifacients or the morning-after pill is a sin against this commandment. This commandment also includes sins when the body is disfigured or defaced because of vanity or sexual motives, including breast implants and other sexual enhancements or piercings, or acts that show disrespect of Gods design of our bodies. Vices that push the body to excess or distort the mind are also against this commandment such as heavy drinking/ smoking, gluttony, drugs, cocaine, marijuana, etc., as well as outright ending of life such as abortion, mercy killing and suicide. Sixth, Thou shall not commit adultery. This is the commandment that tells the world to respect life and family as designed by God when He instituted the Sacrament of Marriage. It is obvious from the physiological makeup of our bodies and from Genesis that Gods design was for man and woman to come together in the Sacrament of Marriage with a vow to stay together for life (let no man put asunder) for the purpose of raising a family (have many children). It is only in marriage that the couple can start having sex (because of the responsibilities it entails), and in doing so the couple should respect and be open to the design of God to bring forth a child from the marital union. Therefore, a boy and a girl who are just going steady should respect each others bodies and not engage in foreplay (e.g., petting or mutual masturbation) or fornication. Even engaged couples should remain celibate. The sin of indulging in pornography and masturbation are also forbidden by this commandment. Lustful thoughts and desires are sins against this command-

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GUESTCOLUMN
invoke the doctrine that there exists a hierarchy of rights, and that other rights are subject and subsequent to the Right to Life. This argument was recognized and accepted by the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986, and it is the sense in which the Philippine Constitution enshrines the equal protection of mother and unborn (Ref. Article II, Sec.12). The US Constitution is NOT the Philippine Constitution. The Philippine Constitution is pro-God, prolife, pro-family, and pro-poor -this was the tagline during the 1987 referendum by which the Filipino people overwhelmingly approved what was then known as the "Cory" Constitution. Using Miriam's US jurisprudential arguments, the implication is that the protection of the unborn in the Philippine Constitution should be aborted, presumably via charter change. When legislation is divorced from sociology and historical facts, the ensuing laws can lead -- as they have led -- entire nations to suffer the very same pitfalls that other nations have experienced. Miriam is living inside her head and inside her law books, narrowing down her vision into the arguments presented by the cabal of foreign interest groups and dummy NGOs (PLCPD, FFPD etc) supported by USAID, UNFPA and the big pharmaceuticals lurking behind the controversy. They have co-opted the academe, medical professionals, the DOH, and the presidency itself, turning the RH machinery into a kind of Goliath that now challenges what could be the last nation with an actively Catholic Christian majority. #

Bill sponsor opens a can of worms SenatorMiriamDefensorprovesabortion followscontraception,likenightfollowsday

line of cases remains controversial, FrontlinePhilippineProLifeAdvocate and has drawn accusations of "judicial activism". Where are you going, Miriam The Griswold to Roe sequence demDefensor? onstrates how even at the highest Miriam cites US jurisprudence to levels of jurisprudence, abortion folargue for the passage of the RH Bill, lows contraception as night follows revealing that it is her intention to day. Moreover, you may notice in put us along the contraception-tothe same sequence, a movement abortion track followed by America. from the destruction of marriage to How crazy is that? The irony is the destruction of human life. that backed by her own authority as The evidence for these two consean expert in the interpretation of law, quences is historical. Contraception she herself demonstrates that the RH and abortion are related as cause is to Bill is in fact what the pro-life moveeffect. You cannot accept contracepment has always suspected: a gateway tion and pretend abortion will not to abortion. happen. Perhaps unwittingly, she is showThe opinion on Roe was written by ing the public where the Philippine Justice Harry Blackmun who declared society will end up if the RH Bill is that abortion is a "fundamental right" passed. under the U.S. Constitution and subMiriam quotes Griswold v. Constantive due process under the Fournecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965). The teenth Amendment. Writing for the case involved a Connecticut law that 7-2 Court, Justice Blackmun held prohibited the use of contraceptives. that abortion is a fundamental By a vote of 72, the Supreme Court right because it falls under the invalidated the law on the grounds "penumbra" of the right to prithat it violated the "right to marital vacy. Roe v. Wade provided reinprivacy". forcement for cases such as Griswold What Miriam did not mention v. Connecticut and Lawrence v. Texas, all was how Griswold was followed-up of which set up spheres of personal eight years later with Roe v. Wade, activity which states cannot regulate 410 U.S. 113 (1973), which provided without "good cause." the legal basis for abortion-onIt was thus, that the deaths of mildemand in America. In Roe, the lions of unborn Americans was based Court ruled that a woman's choice to not on legislation by judicial action, have an abortion was protected as a and that judicial action was based on private decision between her and her a "penumbra" -- a partial and vague doctor. shadow! -- of the constitutional right The Supreme Court effectively to privacy. Justice Blackmun had overturned individual states' laws forced the issue by conjuring a against abortion by ruling them un"ghost" of the right to privacy. constitutional. Since Griswold, the US Against the error of placing priSupreme Court has cited the right to vacy as the supreme right, we should privacy in other rulings. The Griswold ByZoeVidal

the Right to Life is prior and superior to the Right to Privacy. All

President certifies proposal as urgent, Bishops fear railroading

MANILA, Philippines (ABSCBN) August 18, 2011 - Catholic bishops are sounding the alarm over President Benigno Aquino III's prioritization of the Reproductive Health Bill, which could lead lawmakers to railroad the passage of the measure. Fr. Melvin Castro of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Commission on Family and Life called on legislators to give a healthy debate on Malacaangs version of the proposed measure, the Responsible Parenthood bill, a chance. Let the people hear the merits and demerits of the bill, a CBCP News report quoted Castro as saying. Castro said passing the RH bill would promote a "contraceptive mentality." Whatever they call it, in the end and in the final analysis, the core elements that we reject like artificial contraception and sex education are still there, he said. The birth control measure is among the 13 priority measures pushed by Aquino during Tuesdays meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). Aquino expects a expeditious action on the priority measures, saying that by his next State of the Nation Address (Sona) we will be reporting a lot of these as actual laws. Castro has questioned Malacaangs supposed amendments of the RH bill to make it more acceptable to various stakeholders like the ity measures of the LegislativeExecutive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). I personally would like to exhort the many people who believe in the cause of the Lord, the values that the Gospel preaches, and the stand that we have been defending through these months to rally to this cause, he said. He said Catholics should fight the bill if indeed they believe that this is what Christianity asks of us and to believe that our efforts would be rewarded. On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III said he expects debates in the bill, but noted the version proposed is already in response to conflicts with critics, especially the Church. We tried to remove certain contentious provisions [in the original proposed Reproductive Health Bill], including the ideal family size, he said. Malacanangs version also placed at 11 the appropriate age for sex education, which is a compromise to the 12 years of age suggested by the Church. He said the free and unmitigated, and perhaps even unsupervised access to contraceptives and modern methods of family planning is what the Church rejects. We believe that this is a long battle and we trust that with people of goodwill and with God blessing our efforts, the sanctity of human life and marriage would prevail, Palma said. #

Tralala,ReproductiveHealthnow theirresponsibleResponsibleParenthoodbill: Samedog,differentcollar,samemasters

FinaltouchesforanAquinoEffigy deletion of a provision fixing the ideal number of children in children to two. Other provisions that Aquino wants amended are changing the appropriate age for teaching sex education to children at 11 years old and giving parents the option to hold sex education talks by them. The President also wants Church -based hospitals to have the right whether or not they want to distribute artificial or natural family planning methods.

CBCPrenewsfightvsbill
MANILA, Philippines (ABSCBN) - The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it will intensify efforts against the bill on reproductive health now that Malacanang has given the gosignal to make it one of Congress priority measures. In a CBCP News report, CBCP Vice President Jose Palma expressed sadness over news that the bill, formally named as Responsible Parenthood Bill, was included in the prior-

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TheselfrighteousUSgovernmentcallsfortheisolationofautocratslikeAssad ofSyria,fortheisolationoftyrantslikeGaddafiofLibya,fortheprosecutionofmur dererslikealBashirofSudan.Whoarethegreatertyrantsandmurderers?Theyare theUS,EuropeanandUNautocratswhopushabortionandpopulationcontrol.They arethemurderersoftheinnocentandtotallyhelplessunborn.Theyaretheones whoforcetheirdiabolicalagendaonthepoorandweakofthisworld.Theyarethe onescommittinggenocide,notjustontheirownpeoplebutonmanypopulations oftheworld. Thesecriminalsmustbeprosecuted.ThosewhoareCatholicsshouldbeexcom municated("Purgetheevilpersonfromyourmidst"1Cor5:13b).Thegayambas sadortothePhilippinesshouldbetarredandfeathered. WeimploretheGodofjusticeforHismercyuponHispeople.

Quips from the al Servant Gener

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

ILLA FRANK PAD

US and UN diplomats promote Abortion

ByLaurenFunk,CFAM NEW YORK, August 18 -The new book by journalist Mara Hvistendahl on sex selected abortion shows how American diplomats and politicians were active in promoting abortion, often through UN channels, as a means of population control in the developing world. A body of historical evidence connects the advocates of abortion and population control with US development aid policy, organizations such as Planned Parenthood, and the United Nations secretariat. General William Draper Jr., a World War II general turned US diplomat, was a staunch proponent of abortion, Hvistendahl writes in her controversial new book Unnatural Selection. Draper directed the governments interest in population control to coincide with issues of security and international development in the post World War II world by connecting high fertility rates with poverty, and poverty with the possible rise of communism in Asia. He promoted abortion as a viable method of birth control, and encouraged it for the sake of decreased fertility, which was expected to have positive economic effects in the targeted nations, thus avoiding conditions favorable to popular revolutions. The US diplomat continued to advise numerous presidential administrations in the 1950s and 1960s on the threat to US national security posed by explosive populations in the developing world, suggesting abortion and family planning as the solution. Draper was responsible for the first official recommendations that the U.S. government help other nations, on request, to deal with population issues, wrote Planned Parenthood when they honored him with the Margaret Sanger Award in 1966. General Draper also advocated for the creation of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1969. International observers have criticized UNFPA for promoting family planning and access to abortion as a solution to the issue of poverty in countries with large populations and/or high fertility rates. His son, William H. Draper III, became one of the most significant figures at the United Nations during the following decade. Draper III was made head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 1986. Under Drapers tenure, UNDP expanded its fundraising to new levels and began a Women in Development division, a division which now focuses on achieving universal access to contraception, sex rights and HIV, and gender mainstreaming. Draper III is also a member emeritus of Population Action International (PAI) board of directors. PAI was originally founded as the The Population Crisis Committee by General Draper, and continues to play an active role in supporting population-related programs, including activism at the Cairo Conference on Population and Development in 1994. Research from Hvistendahl and others also revealed that prominent politicians like Henry Kissinger also promoted abortion abroad as a tool to reduce fertility around the world. Kissinger claimed in a 1974 government memo that abortion is vital to the solution of world population growth. No country has reduced its population growth without resorting to abortion, stated the memo, which was signed by Kissinger.