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Republicans filibuster premature Democrat attempt to discuss financial reform in USA Senate

(Catholic Watchdog South Africa; c.f. Fox News Radio (Conservative; Secular; American; Independent, but some link it to Republican beliefs) 26 / 04 | April / 2010 (The 5 minute news summary has since been updated); Radio Vaticana (Catholic; Hierarchical with relative independence; Vatican based) 27 / 04 | April / 2010 )

|Download/Stream the Audio of this Article|

|External Note: Republicans fear more bailouts, of the scope of those of Obama and of Bush.|

Article by Marc Aupiais





Title / Heading: Republicans filibuster premature Democrat attempt to discuss financial reform in USA Senate

Financial reform is thought to be Barack Obama’s Democrats’ number one priority, as the approval ratings of the US president have dipped to and even below the psychological 50% mark. Unemployment is just below 10%, and with passing of controversial healthcare legislation without any Republican support, despite mass public concerns, and without much of the vital explanations media believed were due to the public, Obama and his Democrats have much to worry about at the November polls, especially with recent iconic Republican wins in by-elections. One of the Republican wins has insured that unilateral financial reform has been filibustered in Yesterday’s procedural Senate vote. The reform is hoped by some Democrats to be a platform to garner support for Democrats via a focus on helping small rural business, and other reforms which could win Democrats votes in November. Republicans have also noted support for reform, but with some slight alterations to the bill, which they see as necessary.

The Democrats, Yesterday, had 57 votes on their side for the financial reform, while 41 Republican side nay votes opposed a proposal in the American Upper House of Parliament, to open debate on the matter; this was enough in the procedural vote to prevent thus far, financial reform, under the current Democrat proposal.

The Republicans are also concerned to insure financial reform goes through, especially as around two thirds of Americans reportedly are in favour of reforming the financial sector, after the recent aftermath of the hot-point of the financial crisis, and given the bail-outs during the Republican Bush, and Democrat Obama Administrations: of firms which otherwise, in ordinary capitalism, would have failed.

Their concerns relate to small but vital segments of the bill. They believe that the federal government could be over-reaching, and would prefer certain details of what they see as a complex issue to be ironed out more carefully. Despite this, their negotiators have reported to media that they are close to a solution. Fox news, a popular news service in America, accused by some of a sympathy towards the Republican cause has said that it is unlikely the Republicans will delay for much longer, due to a desire to garner the support of public opinion ahead of November elections.

Republican efforts at stricter financial regulations, pushed by Republican John McCain and others: during the 1990’s were blocked by Democrats, and it would seem unlikely for the bill to pass without Republican support, since Kennedy was replaced with Brown: as a representative in the Senate from Massachusetts, once a Democrat stronghold.

While both sides have claimed that they are close to a negotiated solution, the Democrats attempted, Yesterday: to push the bill forward for discussion prior Republican satisfaction, in a move similar to the unilateral overhaul of healthcare pushed through by the Democrats, and in the unilateral manner Barack Obama has pushed through legislation in: for much of his presidency. This despite promises of discussion and at attempting bi-partisan efforts during campaigning against his then Republican rival John McCain. Barack Obama has speeches set up in multiple areas (ending in a spot in Illinois), in order to garner more public support for the overhaul.

The question is whether Republicans will gain their concessions on details they believe should change, before the bill is either voted through or before the though highly unlikely, possible shelving of the legislation. The Democrat position seems to be aiming for a Democrat bill to pass, with as few of the Republic concessions within it as possible. Republicans could make an embarrassment for Obama before November polls, but have much to risk given high public support for financial reform, but also given the cost to public confidence, if they pass an inadequate bill, or are seen as a non-issue, or as betraying their ideals as regards Wall Street and other issues of importance to conservative voters: in the Senate.











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New York Times alleged to have defamed pope

(Catholic Watchdog South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

One of the best sources on British Roman Catholicism Telegraph Blogs' Editor: Damien Thompson has an interesting letter to quote, on alleged bad reporting on the pope:

Hat-tip to the Just B16 blog for this letter sent to The New York Times by Prof John Coverdale, professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey. It wasn’t accepted for publication, you’ll be astonished to learn. Here it is:

Like many other people, I have felt in recent weeks that some news outlets have unfairly targeted Pope Benedict XVI in connection with sexual abuse by priests.

In part this is a question of emphasis, with daily coverage of what may or may not have been minor mistakes in judgment decades ago and almost no attention to the major efforts Pope Benedict has made to remedy what is undeniably a horrible situation.

With some frequency, however, I have observed what strikes me as deliberate distortion of the facts in order to put Pope Benedict in a bad light. I would like to call your attention to what seems to me a clear example of this sort of partisan journalism: Laurie Goodstein and Michael Luo’s article “Pope Put Off Move to Punish Abusive Priest” published on the front page of the New York Times on April 10, 2010. The story is so wrong that it is hard to believe it is not animated by the anti-Catholic animus that the New York Times and other media outlets deny harboring.

Canonical procedure punishes priests who have violated Church law in serious ways by “suspending” them from exercising their ministry. This is sometimes referred to as “defrocking.” (According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary to “defrock” is to deprive of the right to exercise the functions of an office. )

A priest who has been suspended may request that he be released from his vows of celibacy and other obligations as a priest. If granted, this petition to be “laicized” would leave the former priest free to marry. Laicization (which is altogether different from defrocking and which may apply to a priest who has committed no crime but simply wishes to leave the priesthood) is not further punishment. It is something a priest who has already been punished by being suspended might well desire, as do some priests who have committed no crime and who have not been suspended..

The priest who is the subject of the article had already been punished by being suspended long before his case reached Rome. He asked to be laicized. Cardinal Ratzinger delayed his laicization not his “defrocking” as the article incorrectly says. He had been defrocked years earlier when he was suspended from the ministry. All of this is clear without reference to outside sources to anyone who knows something about Church procedure and reads the article with sufficient care. It is anything but clear, however, to a normal reader.

My complaint here is not that the article misuses the word “defrock” but rather that by so doing it strongly suggests to readers that Cardinal Ratzinger delayed the priest’s removal from the ministry. Delaying laicization had nothing to do with allowing him to continue exercising the ministry, from which he had already been suspended.

Not only does the article fail to make these distinctions, it positively misstate the facts. Its title is “Pope Put off Move toPunish Abusive Priest.” [italics added] It describes Cardinal Ratzinger’s decision as involving whether the abusive priest “should be forced from the priesthood” [italics added]. Even a moderately careful journalist would have to notice that all of this is incompatible with the fact (reported in the second paragraph of the article) that the priest himself had asked for what Cardinal Ratziner delayed.

Had the facts been reported accurately, the article would have said that the priest was promptly punished by being removed from the ministry for his crimes, but that when he asked to be reduced to the lay state, which would have given him the right to marry within the Church, Cardinal Ratzinger delayed granting the petition. That, of course, would hardly have merited front page treatment, much less a headline accusing the Pope of “Putt[ing] off Move to Punish Abusive Priest.”

The second half of the article reports that the priest later worked as a volunteer in the youth ministry of his former parish. This is obviously regrettable and should not have happened, but he was not acting as a priest (youth ministers are laymen, not priests).

A careful reader who was not misled by the inaccuracies in the first part of the article would, of course, realize that his volunteering as a youth minister had no factual or legal connection with Cardinal Ratzinger’s delaying the grant of laicization. The article does not say in so many words that it did, but an average reader might well conclude that there was some connection when he is told that “while the bishop was pressing Cardinal Ratzinger to defrock Mr. Kiesle, the priest began volunteering in the youth ministry of one of his former parishes.”

Any one of these errors might be due to carelessness, but their cumulative effect, coupled with the decision to make this front page news accompanied by a two column photo of Cardinal Raztinger’s signature, strongly suggests to me that something worse than carelessness is involved. I urge you to look into whether some major news outlets have indeed been engaged in a campaign to vilify the Pope and into whether their desire to do so has caused them to slip below minimum standards of professional journalism.

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Pope Benedict XVI apologises to victims of sex abuse by clergy in Malta

Heading: Pope Benedict XVI apologises to victims of sex abuse by clergy in Malta

(Social Justice South Africa)

|Download the audio version of this article|

Article by Marc Aupiais




|Clip from South African Catholic channel on Ustream, announcing the breaking news about the pope visiting abuse victims, this short clip, is less detailed than the article and audio of our service on this matter|

Pope Benedict XVI, who largely quashed sex abuse in the Roman Catholic hierarchy when he was given the jurisdiction to do so as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, around 2001, has once again moved against paedophilia in the Roman Catholic church. He did not note the sex abuse crises to reporters on the plane travelling to Malta, rather indirectly referring to actions which had hurt the church, and separating these from the church herself. Yet, surprising some, especially our service’s own editor, Pope Benedict XVI, officially in Malta to celebrate the 1950th year since Saint Paul was shipwrecked in Malta, met with eight (8) alleged victims of sexual abuse by clergy. Four (4) priests were allegedly involved in the abuse, years ago. The victims were all over the age of thirty.

The Associated Press, referencing one of the eight (8), claimed that the Holy Father was driven to tears while meeting the alleged victims. The pope expressed what Vatican Radio termed shame and sorrow: for the abuse suffered at the hands of clergy.

The Holy Father reportedly promised the victims that the church was doing all in its power, to combat the scourge of paedophilia and to protect young people, within the church. He promised it was doing everything to bring abusers to justice. Benedict XVI was noted by Vatican Radio as listening to the stories of the alleged victims, and prayed with them for healing. He noted their suffering, and that of their families due to the alleged abuse.

The move is significant, after some media had brought allegations without adequate evidence against the pope, involving sex abuse cover-up. Notably the New York Times, and additionally the Associated Press, who claim Benedict XVI did not act on a specific case of sexual abuse, despite the issue at hand being a priest’s request to leave the priesthood, and despite this being decades before it was in Joseph Ratzinger’s jurisdiction, to deal with sexual abuse cases.

The pope notably apologized to the victims, not the media, a very papal form of diplomacy and of acting. Benedict XVI has consistently attempted to root out sexual abuse in the church, since being given some jurisdiction over the matter in 2001, and especially since becoming pope. He has apologised for the church, to Australian victims, American victims, Ireland and its victims, and now to the victims in Malta. The Maltese victims, seemed very mature about the affair, and certainly could not have been portrayed as attempting to undermine the church, given their statements, as far as our service has had access to these.












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Earth Day: April 22nd is the 40th annual Earth Day- American Papist

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Vatican sets to blogging press releases

Headline: Vatican sets to blogging press releases

(Media Study South Africa)

|Download/Stream the audio form of this article|

Article by Marc Aupiais

With the success of the Vatican’s Twitter, and YouTube sites, it has now turned to another new forum, that of the blog. VIS, also known as Vatican Information Service, an arm of the Holy See Press office, has now decided to also externally place their articles in blog form, this at official VIS blog: www.visnews.org, which redirects to its blogger hosted site: http://www.visnews-en.blogspot.com/. The move means that VIS headlines will finally be more accessible, and more easily accessed by the average person. The move was announced at the Vatican’s recently inaugurated Twitter accounts, and also in VIS’s own news dispatch.

Will media attention stop Benedict XVI from pursuing justice against paedophile priests and their protectors?

(Catholic Watchdog South Africa)

|Download audio version of this article|

Analytical Article by Marc Aupiais

With high ranking Hierarchical official, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna, having recently claimed, as reported by Reuters, that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was prevented from adequately pursuing at least one case of sexual abuse, under the pontificate of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II: an impression has been made on many Catholics, that Pope Benedict XVI, who on becoming pope, made an effort to apologize for the paedophilic priest scandal cover-up, and to institute reforms, was the man to clear up the crisis. With attacks from anti-Catholic outlets, such as the New York Times, and slanted articles against the church, and papacy, appearing across the world, the question some may be asking is whether or not Benedict XVI, will take the short term risk, of continuing his attempt to revanche the church against those supporting immoral and criminal priests.

His overtures to the FSSPX earlier in his pontificate, suggest a more long term game plan on behalf of Benedict XVI, and while he has had to fight for his own credibility, something which has distracted him from his vendetta, it is certain that however weakened in his fight against these criminal elements in the hierarchy, that he will continue to try and expunge the corrupt elements from the church, though possibly in a more discrete manner, given his campaign’s reception.

Without the power of a loud voice, his efforts, may in fact be somewhat hampered, something the New York Times, and others must have foreseen, when they levelled their unsubstantiated claims of negligence against the Roman Pontiff.

His ignoring of the sexual scandal in recent homilies, could well suggest that the pontiff has decided that it is no longer worth pursuing it to the same extent. This would mean that the one man capable of attacking this issue may have withdrawn. It may also be the case, that having repeatedly apologized, and repeatedly stated his outrage against the conspiracy which allowed abuse, that the pope does not think it prudent to speak at the moment, having already caused the light of day to hit so many cases.

Either way, a wrong focus of media, on the pope, rather than on those who are certainly guilty, could well hamper efforts to root out the corrupt elements that have disobeyed not only civil law, but Canon Law, in their handling of abuse cases.

Most of the cases stem back to previous pontificates, where the issue was quietly swept under the rug, or kept latent, a purposely crafted arcanum.

Fr. Cantalamessa: "Violence is failure"

The Vatican has placed a video online of the homily given to the pope, which caused so much controversy:

[it excludes the letter from his Jewish friend, but notes the context importantly]

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/wyfamayWOH0

Letter read to pontiff, by papal preacher sparks controversy

(Catholic Watchdog South Africa)

|Download the audio version of this Article|

Article by Marc Aupiais

In his Good Friday sermon at St. Peter's Basilica, to Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, who belongs to the Franciscan order, and is the preacher to the pontifical household, the man who’s preaching the pope has to listen to, made some comments which have gained global attention. His job, is not as a policy maker, but as a priest who is to preach to the pope.

Raniero Cantalamessa, compared the attacks in media outlets, such as the New York Times, to the work of the Nazis during the Shoah, or so-called Holocaust of the Second World War if major news services are to be believed. In truth he did not, he simply read a letter from a Jewish friend, which claimed that the alleged mass labelling of Catholics, and the papacy, without due process, was also bigotry and dangerous, and reminded the preacher’s Jewish friend of the work of the Nazis.

In his Homily, as published, by independent Catholic news service Zenit, but missing it seems from the Vatican’s own site, the preacher focused on violence, and how it was losing against what he saw as better forces. His statement noted solidarity with the Jews, while his unnamed Jewish friend’s letter attacked “the whole world”, which his friend claims to have seen as attacking people of faith.

Despite constant mention by some media of the accusations by the New York Times, and others about the papacy and the former Cardinal Ratzinger’s cancelling the ecclesiastical trial of a dying man, who faced no civil charges or sanctions at the time, though suspected of sexual abuse, and those involving Ratzinger’s time as Archbishop of Munich, and other accusations, these have yet to have been proven to contain apathy or conspiracy on the part of the pope, even on a balance of scales. The details are also mostly ignored, only the accusations being made, apart from the cases set out by accusers.

An article by the Associated Press, appearing in the Toronto Star, used the accusation by the Preacher of media allegedly purposely creating a tempest in a teapot: the article determined to recall Christian abuse of Jewish people, and attempted to liken the comparison by the preacher of anti-Catholic sentiment and anti-Semitism, itself to anti-Semitic claims.

The Associated Press is quick to note that Vatican representative, Rev. Federico Lombardi, contacted them afterwards, to distance the Vatican from the alleged claims by the preacher, saying that the comparison was not Vatican policy, and say the Associated Press, that Lombardi claims that the preacher was not speaking as a Vatican official.

The fact remains, that the preacher, whose job it is to mentally stimulate the pontiff, was speaking in his official capacity as Preacher to the Papal Household, though this is not a policy making position. The Associated Press also gives their opinion that the pontiff looked weary during the time in which the preaching occurred.

Vatican Radio, also notes being contacted on the issue by Lombardi, saying:

“The Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi issued a statement to Vatican Radio explaining the position of the Holy See.

Fr. Lombardi said the Holy See does not consider the recent criticism of the Pope over the Church’s handling of abuse of minors by priests to be in any wise similar to anti-Semitism.

He went on to explain that Fr. Cantalamessa himself intended only to share an expression of solidarity from a Jewish brother.”

The Vatican’s run-ins with the New York Times are hardly a new event, with Archbishop Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese located by New York, constantly alleging bias. The Vatican itself, has previously vetted an article alleging a conspiracy against it by the London Times, New York Times and others.

We noted this accusation in our article on the 1st of May 2009: "Vatican" vetted "Jesuit" Paper: "La Civiltà Cattolica" attacks credibility of the "Times", "New York Times" and "The Washington Post", "Le Monde", "the Italian press."

According to Zenit’s rendering of the Homily, the preacher gave to the pontiff, this is what the preacher’s Jewish friend is said to have said, analysis, shows this is the actual focus of news media, these words, allegedly by an unnamed Jewish man:

"I am following with indignation the violent and concentric attacks against the Church, the Pope and all the faithful by the whole world. The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism. Therefore I desire to express to you personally, to the Pope and to the whole Church my solidarity as Jew of dialogue and of all those that in the Jewish world (and there are many) share these sentiments of brotherhood. Our Passover and yours undoubtedly have different elements, but we both live with Messianic hope that surely will reunite us in the love of our common Father. I wish you and all Catholics a Good Easter."

Pope Benedict XVI, and other bishops, have themselves claimed responsibility for a collective guilt, incurred by the clergy, and hierarchy, for the sexual abuse scandal, this was done in many of the papacy’s personal apologies on behalf of the church, to many victims.

The Good about Good Friday

(Journey in a Broken World)

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Article by Marc Aupiais

Last year, when I posted online a possibly slightly edited version of one of my apologies, explaining why Good Friday is good, the article was in my point of view likely well appreciated, or at least, it has been well read. I thought to once again note some important points.

Good Friday is good, because like any martyrdom, in the classical sense, it involves obedience to truth. Jesus did not want to die, as no sane person would, and God is absolutely, verifiably sane. He clearly states his will to live, in the garden, where he cries tears, possibly even of blood.

Good Friday, is good, because Jesus was obedient in love, much as roses, however thorny are good, when given to us from our love.

It is good, because this is how we are saved, it is Christ on the Cross, whom we eat, for the Crucifixion is the source of Eucharistic grace, we drink his blood from his heart, and when we eat his body, we consume his flesh, from his heart. And we eat his soul, his life that is, a perfect, obedient life, of love and empathy and concern.

We may not have sympathy with God, but we always can have empathy, just as he may not have sympathy with us should we sin, but he always has empathy.

It shows us that what hurts now, can aid later, can save later- that Christ dies, for good.

Happy Good Friday, I mean it. Remember to fast from animal meat and fowl and shellfish. Try doing so every Friday, or to do an act of Charity instead, but in Lent, Fast on Fridays, most especially today, from animal meat and fowl and shellfish.

Remember, many dioceses still demand you abstain from these every Friday, while a number, on ordinary Fridays, allow the fasting to be replaced with a deed of charity. Good Friday is not a day of Holy Obligation, thus you need not attend church on this day.

Video: Vatican: Pope on suffering and love

"Pope: The world needs the joy that springs from truth
[...]
vatican — April 01, 2010 — The joy that comes from Christ gives us happiness, but it also gives us the ability to suffer and to continue being intimately happy even when we suffer. This is what Benedict XVI said on Thursday, April 1st, during the homily of the Chrism Mass, which he presided over in St. Peters Basilica with 1,600 priests of the Diocese of Rome and from the Roman universities, who afterwards renewed their priestly promises together with the attending cardinals and bishops. The Pontiff then blessed the oils of the Catechumens and of the Sick and the Holy Chrism, which will be used in the sacraments throughout the year. Let us pray to be capable of bringing the joy of the Holy Spirit Benedict XVI said to t ...

[...]

God Jesus Jesus Christ Pope Benedict XVI Vatican Holy See Catholic Church Christianity "

View video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCz6uvO3HK8

South Africa enters the third millennium with uncapped internet finally enabled

(See What We See News and Archive)

|Download the audio of this article|

Article by Marc Aupiais

With an announcement mid March 2010, by major South African internet provider, Mweb, that it would be providing fixed monthly rate, unshaped, uncapped internet service to South African users, at a cheap rate, the South African internet market has since opened up. According to News24, another group OpenWeb, has also since decided to provide a similar service.

Until now, South African internet use has generally been limited to at most a few gigabits’ download per month, and was largely seen as expensive. Sites such as YouTube, or Ustream.tv were seen as luxuries, to be used in moderation, and a small South African news service such as our own, certainly would not have been placing audio of articles online.

In fact, the IT industry had complained of it being very hard to compete internationally. Many South Africans will have noted being cut off from international internet at least once, having surpassed their cap adequately for the punishment to ensue in the previously toe deep internet environment in South Africa.

The move accompanies Mweb’s new internet infrastructure installed nationally, and independent it would appear, from the government Telkom network. The new, cheap internet will certainly be welcomed during the 2010 Soccer World Cup, when hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to visit the Republic of South Africa.

Sent to our Facebook group: Pope Benedict XVI, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was blocked from looking into abuse by Vatican

Editorial letter to readers

Perhaps some were shocked by our impassioned and vehement support of the Holy Father recently, this is because he is the answer to the sex abuse crisis, the following is what we sent to our Facebook group, of about 58 members: as a justification, of our claims that Benedict XVI was prevented from addressing abuse under John Paul II:

""Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, in defense of the pope, told ORF Austrian television on Sunday that Benedict wanted a full probe when former Vienna Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer was removed in 1995 for alleged sexual abuse of a boy.

But other Curia officials persuaded then Pope John Paul that the media had exaggerated the case and an inquiry would only create more bad publicity.

"He told me, 'the other side won'," Schoenborn said."
says Reuters:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100328/ts_nm/us_pope_abuse

This is to back up our claims in article form, that as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger, was dis-empowered in his attempts to fight sex abuse in the church.

This is why it is so vital that attacks on the pope end, there are powerful forces in the Vatican, who still want to hide this all below the carpet, we do not deny a wall of silence, we have ourselves confronted it as media. We do note that Benedict XVI is not the source. He is the one figure prepared to fight sex abuse in the church, he must be supported!

HT to my favourite British journalist, Damien Thompson, blogs editor of the Telegraph paper, for the link to Reuters!
"

The Telegraph website link, with more information is here:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100031816/pope-john-paul-ii-ignored-ratzingers-pleas-to-pursue-sex-abuse-cardinal/

As per our usual claims, we are oft impressed by the quality of journalism by the Telegraph's Damien Thompson, and by Reuters.

We stand by the Pope

Letter from the Editor

Our service is known for our purposeful use of secular services, to verify facts, and as original sources. We chose this path for their independence, even if they are often antagonistic to the church. As a law student, I must train in argument, and fallacy. I often have to bounce contradicting facts to write, major services contradict, add, and omit. Facts are distorted, manipulation oft pursued for political, religious, or ideological or personal reasons.

If the cases are so black and white, on conspiracy, why not arrests? Because this issue is fudged, and truthfully grey. The New York Times, especially has a history of attacking the church and distorting facts on it and much else. The others involved have hardly proved a case beyond reasonable doubt. And civil cases on abuse, only had to be proved on a balance of scales, far less than the criminal standard.

The evidence against the pope himself is weak at best. This is the one pope, to actually attempt to address this monstrous issue. If anything comes of this, it will be a pope less likely to address sexual abuse in the church. The one man standing up to it, with the power to, is the very man, that some terrible, dishonest or unskilled journalists now attack, along with groups who claim to be about sexual abuse and honesty.

Omission, is so vital in these stories. Let us stop crying wolf, and start addressing the perverts and pervert protectors in our midst.

Our word as a service: shame on the press agencies who have distorted an already horrific issue, making victims' rights less likely to be upheld, for the chance to attack the pope, instead of the bishops and civil authorities who covered up abuse. We ourselves as a service have often encounted odd reactions within the church, there are more than certainly those who do construct a real wall of silence, these people are not pleased with the still new pope, who illuminates the deeds of darkness!

The pope is no civil judge, he has no duty to punish beyond what is wise and necessary as a pastor of souls, and enforcer of truth, and in his previous role, he was subject to a pope who seemingly refused to allow this issue to be addressed. The church is not a corporation, and has no duty to adhere to the will of the people. We are not the entirety of the church: its head- support is Christ, and its blood is his, its mission is his, not that of a society which hates the Christian message: of "sin no more". The saints are of it, and the magisterium, these are of the church. Let us not delude ourselves and say we are church, we are not church, but can choose to be part of it, or to leave it and cease to claim its name!

Perhaps I am wrong, but while reporting the truth as best we have been able, even when negative, while doing so, we at present stand by the pope, as the storm in the teacup continues. The church shall not die!

House of Representatives passes taxpayer funded abortion in America- media sources

(Social Justice South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

With no Republican votes for the massive, controversial, and more recently unpopular healthcare reform pushed through the lower house of the American Congress, the Democrats, given their massive majority since the election of Barak Hussein Obama, were easily able to pass the legislation, with the support of anti-abortion Catholic Democrats, such as Bart Stupak, who had previously claimed that the bill would send federal taxpayer dollars to abortion funding. Bart Stupak, folded in his opposition, following a promise that Barak Hussein Obama, would issue a reversable Executive Order, preventing taxpayer funding of abortion. The Executive Order is likely to be overturned by US courts.

According to the Associated Press, Stupak's attempt to justify his move, was shouted down on the Republican side, with the phrase "Baby Killer". Stupak, has vastly benefited in the past from the influence of the US Catholic bishops, who have often backed his legislative efforts, even during the previous Republican administration. A YouTube video is beginning to appear on conservative websites, of Bart Stupak allegedly claiming at a Town Hall meeting that he would vote for a healthcare bill, supporting wider abortion coverage, as social conservatives begin to respond to the Stupak turnaround. We cannot confirm the veracity of the video.

In 2007, Independent Newspapers (IOL) reported on taxpayer funded abortion in South Africa, then long since passed, whereby 50% of all pregnancies end in abortion in the Republic of South Africa, where abortion laws, while themselves quite liberal, are vastly more restrictive than in the USA as regards time, and where the group reported on long lines at abortion departments of public hospitals, and the fact that many were unable to access the controversial procedure, statistically seen as wrong among the majority of South Africans. The 9th March 2007 article by Sheena Adams was titled "'Half of SA pregnancies end in abortion'", appearing on page 3 of the Johannesburg Star, according to the grouping's (IOL) website.

Multi-billion-dollar abortion firm, Planned Parenthood, while furious at the Executive Order, which due to precident: is unlikely to withstand America's courts, has welcomed the American: Stupak compromise, noting that they are pleased that the Executive Order does not, in their belief, include what they saw as the previous Stupak abortion funding ban. The Stupak amendment, which has been portrayed wrongly as an abortion funding ban, did not in fact ban taxpayer funding of abortion, only did it limit it to the current principle relating of taxpayer funding of abortion in the United States, known as the Hyde Amendment. Under the amendment funding for abortion federally would have still have been increased, but to a lesser extent, covering abortions for rape victims, incest etc.

The pro-life coalition which had allied behind Stupak, have now largely disowned him, notably the influential Susan B. Anthony List. The SBA president: President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who along with other sources has claimed that legal precident would likely see the Executive Order done away with, spoke to media of their disappointment, and planned reaction. The SBA has cancelled plans to honour Stupak. The pro-life SBA, is known for its effectiveness in campaigning for candidates it endorses, and for its campaigns against them if they break their promises on abortion. (Catholic News Agency (Catholic; independent; American- but their parent company is Spanish: ACI Prensa) 21 / 03 | March / 2010)

Bart Stupak, in accepting the compromise, has seemingly parted with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which claimed that the Senate version would fund abortions, and urged Catholics to vote against the bill. In a move linked to the White House, the Catholic Health Association (CHA) and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), via their platform Network, endorsed the Senate version of the healthcare overhaul. CHA had spent a fortune campaigning for the passage of the bill. On the 30th of July, 2009, our own service reported on the then already functioning alliance between the US president, and the CHA, who were already campaigning for this healthcare reform: USA: Catholic Charities USA (Caritas Internationalis), Society of Saint Vincent De Paul, Catholic Health Association: support Universal Abortion plan in America?

We had reported on the odd correlation, that a board member of the Catholic Health Association, following their organizational support of Barak Obama, was then nominated to the position of Surgeon General of The United States of America, by Barak Obama, a position the CHA board member continues to hold:

"Dr. Benjamin is a member of the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She was a Kellogg National Fellow and a Rockefeller Next Generation Leader. Some of her numerous board memberships include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Catholic Health Association, and Morehouse School of Medicine."

(US Department of Health and Human Services | Office of the Surgeon General, undated, quoted on 22nd March by our service )

Catholic Health Association, does not answer to the Vatican or independently to any one of the US bishops, but rather to its own board.

The Leadership Conference, recently was investigated by the Vatican, because of concerns that it was no longer loyal to the papacy and dogmas of the church. The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, another grouping of nuns, representing about 10 000 (ten thousand members), and about 100 religious communities, opposed the current legislation, attacking Network as betraying Catholic beliefs, and supporting the US Catholic bishops. The leadership Conference figures, on how many nuns they represent have also been disputed by the Catholic Bishops in the US, as we do not have an accurate number to go on, we have not mentioned a figure. The healthcare overhaul was also supported by Obama allies Catholics United, whom Michigan Catholic Conference, the Catholic Bishops in that area, have slated as deceiving the American public, according to respected political commentator Thomas Peters, writing for American Papist, which is now part of Catholic Vote Action, a political watchdog of a conservative ethos: 19th March 2010.

Without Catholic support, the controversial health overhaul legislation would not have passed. Not only are many of the senior positions in the Democratic party, held by pro-abortion Catholics, but the votes of the Stupak block were vital to Obama in passing the bill. Catholics were also the swing vote which got Barak Hussein Obama elected as President of the United States of America. While historically the organizational hierarchy of the Democrats has alleged that the Republican party is too closely connected with religion, at least with the campaigning strategies of Barak Obama, allies in groupings claiming to be Catholic, and in America's many so-called Catholic universities, have been a vital part of the Democrat strategy.

It is likely that the current push, once signed into law, by Barak Obama, will have the same effect as taxpayer funded abortion has had elsewhere, a shift in societal views on abortion, something which may have influenced the Democrats to take the massive risk of forcing the overhaul.

When the passage of this health overhaul became less likely late last year, the South African African National Congress (ANC), stopped focussing on their own National Health Insurance plan, which:

"According to Alex van den Heever, a health economist, who was quoted by HASA (The Health Association of South Africa), having spoken at their Durban Conference: the NHI is a ""completely unworkable, unaffordable solution that won't improve health services despite massive increases in expenditure""(News 24 (Secular; Independent; South African) article by SAPA [South African Press Association] (Secular; Independent; South African) 08 / 06 | June / 2009). According to van den Heever: part of the proposal is to increase the Health budget by 100 Billion Rand, an astronomical and unrealistic figure, especially during a recession, and as the ANC has put forward other plans slated as unrealistic by financial experts."

(Archives 03 / 08 | August / 2009

If the choice was because on the American situation, it may result in the NHI option being considered once again in South Africa. The Public Health sector in South Africa, once seen as world class, has largely collapsed under mismanagement under the ANC governments.

Vatican missionary news service: airs voice condemning "Red Shirts" in Thailand

(Social Justice South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

Before noting in this article what Agenzia Fides has reported, we strongly note in accordance with South African law, that whatever the false and unrealistic beliefs of the protesters, or others, there is no witchcraft involved in the 'Red' protests, only foolish people who may illogically believe in witchcraft. We also warn our South African viewers, of the heavy prison sentence often involved in any accusation of witchcraft.

According to the source of Agenzia Fides, a Vatican news service, the spilling of pools of human blood on the palace and Prime Minister's home in Thailand by the "red" protesters, is a statement by the protesters, in which they display their unfounded view that they are cursing the administration in Thailand, which has refused to bow to the pressure of the "red" movement. Agenzia Fides' source, who they claim is an expert in Thai culture, claims that the protesters have links to the former communists, and what the source then portrays as a desperate and ruthless former Prime Minister in exile.

According to Agenzia Fides, some of the prominent Buddhists in Thailand are concerned to remove what they superstitiously believe to be a curse on the government, by the "red" movement, in accordance with Thai superstition. Fides claims that the protesters are mostly rural, and were being paid an allowance to stay, an allowance which is running out. Their source claim that the desperate terrorism and showmanship of the use of the blood of human beings, seen as sacred in Thai culture, is a sign of a movement dying out, but desperate to retain their credibility, through acts which allegedly inspire shock in Thai culture. Their source also claims that there does not seem to be any sign that the military will support the "Red" protesters. Their source claims that there are rumours that the former Prime Minister wants to displace the Thai Monarchy, to become "president" of Thailand.

The source seems to allege that both Catholics and Buddhists oppose the "Red" protests and desire a return to peace and order. They claim that the use of blood has also alienated much of the general population of Thailand from the protesters.

The article by Fides, is important, as they are the official news service of the Pontifical Missionary Society, themselves a powerful voice.

Before ending our article, we strongly note in accordance with South African law, that whatever the false and unrealistic beliefs of the protesters, or others, there is no witchcraft involved in the 'Red' protests, only foolish people who may illogically believe in witchcraft. We also warn our South African viewers, of the heavy prison sentence often involved in any accusation of witchcraft.

No exclusive Porn only Channel for Multichoice DSTV

(Media Study South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

After much public anger was raised, when Multi-choice decided to do a survey on whether or not the public would want an exclusive pornography adult channel on DSTV, DSTV has decided at present not to launch an adult channel. They said that some viewers wanted an exclusive porn channel and others were against the idea, and that the survey was a routine survey, and in response to the possibility that their recently legalized competition may decide to launch a porn channel.

This does not mean that DSTV viewers cannot access adult content, via their DSTV system. Terrestrial broadcaster ETV has quite publicly screened content that certainly is adult content, and which has been called porn, both by viewers of the content and by others. ETV is available on DSTV to South African viewers. Multi-choice DSTV itself screens what is seen by viewers and others as adult content, on Action X, and certainly plays its fair share of explicit movies.

What has also not made the headlines, is a possible problem with DSTV's age restriction system. DSTV has a parental locking system, which allows parents to prevent children from watching anything beyond a certain age restriction without a code. Euronews, which shows partial, veiled, and full nudity, is restricted All Ages on DSTV. Discovery HD Showcase, and likely Discovery itself, also seems to possibly have a similar problem, with sexually explicit language (the Test Drive host talks about performing acts with motor-vehicles, in at least one show viewed.) At least an Age restriction 13 may be more appropriate in these cases.

Only recently has a competitor to DSTV been allowed to operate, it is unclear to myself whether or not this competitor's system has launched their own satellite product as yet.

Pornography has been linked to violence against women, and has been cited as a reason marriages break up.

RSA lawmakers' hands are dripping in blood, its leaders have 'binned God' - JHB Archbishop says as thousands protests against abortion

(Social Justice South Africa; to also appear in other Scripturelink.net News Services)

Article by Marc Aupiais

South African law, reflects the official beliefs of the ANC (African National Congress, the ruling party in the Republic, which came to power under Nelson Mandela) since 1994, that abortion is an intrinsic right of both women and girls:

"Recognising the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality, security of the person, non-racialism and non-sexism, and the advancement of human rights and freedoms which underlie a democratic South Africa;

Recognising that the Constitution protects the right of persons to make decisions concerning reproduction and to security in and control over their bodies;

Recognising that both women and men have the right to be informed of and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of fertility regulation of their choice, and that women have the right of access to appropriate health care services to ensure safe pregnancy and childbirth;

Recognising that the decision to have children is fundamental to women's physical, psychological and social health and that universal access to reproductive health care services includes family planning and contraception, termination of pregnancy, as well as sexuality education and counseling programmes and services;

Recognising that the State has the responsibility to provide reproductive health to all, and also to provide safe conditions under which the right of choice can be exercised without fear or harm;

Believing that termination of pregnancy is not a form of contraception or population control;"

Preamble of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 (Act No. 92 of 1996)
Accessed via:
http://www.acts.co.za/choice_on_termination_of_pregnancy_act/index.htm


"The hands of South Africa's lawmakers are dripping with blood", said Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg.

He said this, Saturday, to thousands of protesters gathered for a Johannesburg march, rallying for an end of South Africa's state sponsored, legally endorsed, Constitutional Court protected abortion system. A memorandum demanding an end to legalized abortion was handed over to officials of the Department of Health, at the historic site of Constitution Hill, about four blocks from the Cathedral of Christ the King, where the protest walk had begun. The march, which extended from Nuggett street to King George Street, followed a Mass and a sermon by the influential, and often fiery Archbishop. Archbishop Buti, who has acted as both an apologist for the actions of the ANC monopoly government in South Africa, and as a major critic of it, claimed that "South Africa is a young democracy - yet those at the helm have wasted no time in 'binning God'." He furthered his accusations, even seemingly alleging a government antagonism to organised religion, claiming at the anti-abortion event: "They tolerate religion so long as it is practised in private," adding the accusation that "South Africa's lawmakers deny that God is the source of all freedom."

Archbishop Buti has in the past accused the government of "passive genocide", over its response to the Zimbabwean land crisis, and subsequent occurrences in neighbouring Zimbabwe, joining other voices criticising The Republic of South Africa's "quiet diplomacy", towards its neighbour. He has also previously claimed, over the moral fiasco, which eventually ended in the de facto impeachment of former president Thabo Mbeki, and the dropping of all 700 charges of corruption against President Jacob Zuma, that South Africa was heading in the direction of "sin and ruin", due to the actions of the government's leaders. When Thabo Mbeki left office, the Archbishop noted his achievements, such as the building of schools. When Jacob Zuma's ambassador arrived at the Vatican, he was greeted with much praise of South Africa, and of his rival Thabo Mbeki's achievements, and of other historic factors, but unlike the welcome to Thabo Mbeki, the message to Zuma, in what it did and not say was striking. In what it said, it seemed to the trained eye, that the pope was quoting the Archbishop of Johannesburg.

"The Act [noted above] simply frees a person from moral responsibility, from the dictates of their conscience," said the clergyman, "'Since abortion is approved by Government legislation [then] it cannot be wrong,' is the reasoning which sees morality reduced to a personal preference," the archbishop charged.

Turning to calls by Jacob Zuma for moral debate, shortly after it was discovered that South Africa's polygamist president had fathered even more love-children "The debate around moral regeneration is simply that : debate. There is no search for elusive moral value, [and] not much conscience. In the debate there are no absolutes, no non-negotiables."

The Archbishop contrasted this with what he believed should be the foundation of any moral debate, of the type called for in South Africa: "For Christians God is the author of life and we have to answer to Him on the issue of abortion. Yes, there are tensions between individuals and [there is] tension between the church and politicians who have legislated [for] the killing of life in the womb but society is far too lazy to search for the truth, to do what is moral."

Asked for anything by which to estimate the numbers of protesters, for our service, the Editor of Archdiocesan news, whom we have in the past collaborated with, said that the Cathedral had been filled to capacity during mass, holding about 2 000 (two thousand) people, and that there were about another hundred gathered outside in the parking lot of the Cathedral. Others, she informed our service, had joined that march afterwards. The turnout was, based on her testimony to our service, thus likely lower than the 3 000 (three thousand) hoped for by the organisers "Campaign for Life", but still significant, given that this was one of the first major anti-abortion marches to be conducted by the Church in South Africa.

"We are on a cause of life." said the Archbishop:

"We march today because the Church is duty bound to raise its voice; duty bound to value life, especially life in the womb. South Africa's lawmakers deny life and offer abortion on demand. In this country child rape, brutal abuse of women and children, drugs, violent road deaths are common. Amidst this everyday violence the gospel calls us to protect and revere life. 'Thou shalt not kill' is unambiguous. Life is of unassailable, inestimable value and abortion is a deplorable crime."

He then turned to the authority of the Hippocratic oath, which historically had directly forbidden abortion since ancient times: "Doctors and nurses are pledged to serve life, not death. How long will it be before the South Africa's constitution protects life?"

According to a message sent our service by the editor of Archdiocesan News:

"The Archbishop called on young people to respect their bodies, respect life and speak out. Silence means complicity.

'Love God, love your neighbour.' he urged the assembly. 'Protect and defend life - life from its inception!"

Despite prior planning, permission to hold the anti-abortion march, was withheld by the state, until Thursday last week, the march occurred on Saturday morning. The South African Press Association, had all the information we have by 16:00 on Saturday afternoon, according to a source, however, we have yet to pick up the story of a major march in any of the main press services in South Africa. A march involving about 100 people against abortion had been reported on in February by media. That organization had claimed that over 9 00 000 (nine hundred thousand) unborn offspring had been slain in abortion since Nelson Mandela signed South Africa's pro-abortion legislation into law, that group had further said to media, that abortion is funded by the taxpayer in South Africa. Financial group KPMG has warned of a skills shortage facing South Africa in the future, due to a decline in birthrate, along with the impact of other factors on population.

Our Service has, likely in mimicry of other media: further received no release whatsoever on this important march from the Information Officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, Father Chris Townsend, who claimed to our editor during talks in which we desired media releases from the SACBC in general, that he was on the board of the Southern Cross, a newspaper which has used it's influence to promote legal abortion directly, as well as to promote pro-abortion Barak Obama. Father Chris Townsend had threatened our service, after we had reported on alleged use of Catholic funding for Caritas Internationalis, in order to fund pro-abortion advocates. Without the official structures of the Diocese of Johannesburg noting this event, our service would not have picked up this march. Much thanks to Archdiocesan News, an official structure of the Archdiocese of Johannesburg, and their editor, for monitoring the march for us, as we requested, and in accordance with previous collaboratory agreements, as our service was not able to do so on this particular day.

Media reports: Pope helped transfer of suspected sex abuser to his archdiocese, from another archdiocese, while Archbishop of Munich, in 1980

(Catholic Watchdog South Africa; c.f. ABC news (Secular; independent; American) 08 / 03 | March / 2010; Associated Press (American; independent; Secular) 07 / 03 | March / 2010; 09 / 03 | March / 2010; Reuters (Independent; British / UK; Secular) 12 / 03 | March / 2010)

Article by Marc Aupiais

As the sex abuse scandal within the hierarchy of the Catholic church, which had come to world attention in countries such as the United States, and Australia, has now come to shore upon Europe as well, the Archdiocese of Munich, has made statements, which may implicate the pope in the common negligence many of the episcopacy partook in while the alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims, was still an arcanum to many.

According to media reports, the pope, then Archbishop of Munich and Freising, accepted the transfer of a priest suspected of sexual abuse from the diocese of Essen, to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising during the January of 1980. Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was only Archbishop at the See of Munich and Freising, until February 15 1982, a period in which no more complaints of sexual abuse were made against the priest in question, who had been transferred into Ratzinger's archdiocese. Scandalously, while it was suggested that the priest receive therapy, Gerhard Grube who was then general vicar of the given See, had waived the necessity of therapy for the priest. Reuters, however notes that there is no evidence that the pope had any part in the decision involving the waiving of therapy, and it does not appear at present that he even necessarily had any knowledge of the pastoral decision not to address the priest's reported need for therapy. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, is quoted by the Reuters agency, as saying that Gerhard Brube takes full responsibility for his decision.

After further accusation of sexual abuse, starting not earlier than August 1982, according to the Reuters agency, the priest in question, was given an 18 month suspended sentence and a fine, after which no more accusations have seemingly been traced.

Under Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła), and seemingly under previous popes, it was often policy simply to transfer priests suspected of sexual abuse, and to keep these incidents low key in order to avoid negative perspectives emerging about the church. Sexual abuse by persons such as priests, teachers, or others in authority, is often covered up the world over by institutions implicated by these situations, irrespective of creed. It was likely often feared that such a scandal, may increase the persecution of Catholics throughout the world, due to the way the church had thus far been treated by many.

The most recent revelation, made by the church itself, follows the emergence of a media storm which centred on the pope's brother, after it emerged:

That the Regensburg Cathedral's choir which the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, the pope's older brother, ran, had been subject to sexual abuse claims. The claims, reportedly pre-date by several years: the period when the pope's older brother headed the choir, as he noted to La Repubblica, an Italian paper, and he claims he has no knowledge whatsoever of the abuse. He has however noted, that he and others used corporal punishment with pupils, even slapping pupils in the face, and did not believe claims of quite serious corporal punishments, while head of the choir. He notes that at the time corporal punishment was legal. He further claims that he felt guilt about corporal punishment and welcomed it becoming illegal at a later date. Monsignor Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, who heads the Regensburg Diocese, has backed up Rev. Georg Ratzinger's claims that the abuse pre-dated him, in an article for L'Osservatore Romano, he has further claimed that the abuse cases were already public at the time, and are judicially closed. Georg Ratzinger has also denied claims of a climate of fear within the choir.


In the Netherlands, and Germany, the sexual abuse scandal within the church, has come to light, with mass allegations, of about 200 and 170 abuse allegations respectively . The Dutch Bishops, have asked for an independent inquiry into abuse, so as to insure that someone outside the hierarchy looks into the situation, according to Euronews. In Austria, the head of the Benedictine monastery located within Salzburg resigned, admitting to sexually abusing a child decades ago.

Details of the JHB ant-abortion march on 13 March

(SACNS a.k.a. Scripturelink.net News)

Noted for our service by Marc Aupiais, our Editor

We are permitted to redistribute the following press release in accordance with our agreements with the organization organizing the event, and with Archdiocesan News.

The following is a press release sent out to media:

Release on the 11th March:

"Health Abortion - Government Gauteng MEC Health



Anti-abortion march Saturday 13 March

ORGANISERS IN A QUANDARY



Organisers of the march have no idea of the number of Catholics that will turn out for the Mass and prayer-walk to Constitution Hill on Saturday 13 March to petition the Minister of Health and Parliament to repeal the 'Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act'.

Pray for a good turn-out, a successful march, Mrs Michelle Joseph urged 40-50 representatives of parishes gathered at the Cathedral on Saturday 6 March to finalise arrangements for the march. Estimates of the number of marchers vary from 1,000 to 5,000. Rev Fr Shaun von Lillienfeld, Administrator of the Cathedral, expects about 3,000. The cathedral seats 1,500 and can hold 2,000. No parking will be permitted on the west side to allow for overflow. said Fr Shaun.

Mass at the Cathedral will be celebrated by the Most Reverend Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, Archdiocese of Johannesburg who will deliver a message in the Homily.

Residents of Little Eden, a home for adults and children with profound mental handicap, will take part in the Mass. So too will the Catholic Womens League Adoption Society; the Catholic Order of the Knights of de Gama; the St Cecilia Sodality Choir; and members of the Culture of Life Campaign, the organisers.

Some parishes have arranged to come by bus. Each group attending will provide their own marshals. Many parishes and groups will carry a banner identifying the group and protest signs and anti-abortion slogans. The march will take the form of a prayer-walk with marchers praying the rosary and singing hymns.

There are some 130 parishes, 40 catholic schools, a dozen movements and sodalities some with branches in every parish and some 50 different religious congregations in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg. www.catholic-johannesburg.org.za



Programme

08:30 Marshals briefing; 09:30 Mass begins; 09:45 Message by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, in the homily (aka the sermon); 10:45 First marchers leave; 12 noon Marchers pray the Angelus at Constitution Hill where a letter addressed to the Minister of Health will be handed to the MEC for Health, Gauteng.

The route is westwards from the Cathedral, on the corner of Nugget Street and Saratoga Avenue, along Wolmarans Street turning north in Wanderers - Hospital Street to the Old Fort side of Constitution Hill and return south along Hospital Street and back to the Cathedral along Smit Street.


[...]


The Culture of Life Campaign was formed by lay people of the Archdiocese of Johannesburg at the request of their Archbishop who called for a commitment to promote life, especially life in the womb. In November 2009 he urged Catholics to study the Gospel of Life encyclical of Pope John Paul II and to reflect on the constitution of South Africa which does not value life.

11 March 2010"


We do not guarantee the accuracy of the legally related statements of "Culture of Life", or others!

Facebook event for the march:

Johannesburg Archdiocese march on March 13 to end state endorsed abortion
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=350946440282

March 13 anti-Abortion March with the Archbishop of Johannesburg to petition government official, in bid to end legalized abortion

(Social Justice South Africa)

Article by Marc Aupiais

Following a statement by the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference in February, hinting at a need to look into altering the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), Archbishop Buthi, of Johannesburg, appears to be upping the stakes, with a third anti-abortion event organized by the "Culture of Life Campaign":

The Bishops, have recently become more political in their fight against legalized abortion: saying in February:

Quotation from a recent press release by the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, showing a Catholic effort to amend abortion laws:

"Given the current depth of polarisation along social, economic and political lines, we propose that the starting point be the foundational principle that the human person, and every human person, has intrinsic and inalienable value. All else in any code of morals must take its lead from that basic principle. In this way we will avoid all considerations of race, class, nationality, religion and political persuasion. This is also the only way in which we will be able to judge and evaluate whether or not our Constitution and it’s application is in fact fair and just to all those who have been given the gift of life – from babies in their mother’s wombs to natural death. "
titled -- "National Church Leaders welcome Pres. Zuma's call for a Moral dialogue"

(South African Catholic 22 / 02 | February / 2010)

"Culture of Life Campain" chairwoman: Michelle Joseph sent an email to South African Catholic today giving us the following information:

"Anti-abortion march
On Saturday 13 March from 09:00 hundreds of Catholics [are planned and expected to] gather at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Hillbrow – corner of Saratoga Avenue and Nugget Street – to join the Culture of Life Campaign in a march to Constitution Hill where Most Reverend Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Johannesburg will hand a letter to the MEC for Health, Gauteng expressing the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion and petitioning the Government to amend the law on abortion.

The march to Constitution Hill will take the form of a prayer-walk. It will start at about 10:45 following Mass celebrated in the Cathedral by the Archbishop and a number of priests of the Archdiocese. Various parishes and church organisations will carry banners identifying the group, some may wear uniforms and some may carry posters calling for an end to abortion.

[...]
"

"Background
The Culture of Life Campaign was formed by lay people of the Archdiocese of Johannesburg at the request of Archbishop Tlhagale in response to legislation that condones the termination of pregnancy. Eleven years after abortion was legalised in South Africa, thousands of citizens still believe that the Termination of Pregnancy Act (Act 92 of 1996) violates the rights of unborn children. In particular, Catholics believe that the unborn foetus becomes a human life from the moment of conception and therefore termination of pregnancy is tantamount to murder, an act that is condemned [sic] by the Constitution of South Africa.

The Culture of Life Campaign looks for proactive ways to protect the lives of unborn children and their pregnant mothers. One of its projects is the creation of a future safe haven for pregnant mothers – giving them opportunity to take care of themselves and their unborn children, giving them an alternative to abortion.

The Culture of Life Campaign fully believes that no effort is too great when it comes to the defence of human life and in the words of the late Pope John Paul II: “Go out into the streets and trading places and woe unto you if you do not succeed in defending life.”"

Pavement protest outside a Sandton abortion centre

On Saturday 6 March, 10:30 to 12:00 around dozen people, members of the Culture of Life Campaign: were planned to be involved in a protest prayer vigil outside an abortion facility. The organization does so monthly, and has claimed that motorists use their vehicles hooters to hoot (USA:honk) their support to protesters, not unlikely given mass opposition to abortion among a vast majority of South Africans, as attested to via statistics.

Government unfairly dismissed doctor for pro-life stance- PSA

(Social justice South Africa; c.f. SAPA (South African; Independent; Secular) 08 / 03 | March / 2010))

Article by Marc Aupiais

The South African Press Association reports on the reported unfair dismissal of a pro-life doctor, allegedly dismissed for his anti-abortion beliefs, expressed outside of working hours as a member of the pro-life professionals' organization: "Doctors for life".

"Bloemfontein - A Free State doctor fired for protesting against abortions must be reinstated at the National Hospital in Bloemfontein, an arbitrator has found, the Public Servants Association of SA said on Monday.

Doctor Faan Oosthuizen was dismissed in February 2009 for participating in protest action and campaigns against the termination of pregnancies by the Free State health department as far back as 2006.

PSA spokesperson Manie de Clercq said Oosthuizen's dismissal in 2009 was substantively unfair. The Free State health department was ordered to reinstate him in the same or similar position, with the salary and benefits that existed prior to his dismissal."

(SAPA (South African; Independent; Secular) 08 / 03 | March / 2010))

Public Servants Association of South Africa's representative, claimed that doctors were often compelled to finish other doctor's abortions, even after hours. The PSA further noted that claims by the department that staff felt victimized by the choice of the pro-life doctor to report the matter to the Health Professions Council of South Africa, were found to be without evidence by the arbitrator.

Despite massive opposition to the procedure by the general population of South Africa, which is largely socially conservative on such matters, as homosexual unions, and termination of pregnancy : "abortion"), the South African government's ruling party, the ANC, under former president Nelson Mandela, forced through both radically liberal abortion laws, and other controversial legislation.

Anti-abortion march, in March, after bishops suggest altering Constitution

(South African Catholic)

Note by Marc Aupiais

After the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference released to us and other media, a media release, in which it was suggested that either the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108) be amended or that it be differently interpreted, than it currently is, Archbishop Buthi of Johannesburg, appears to be adding pressure, or at least groups in the Johannesburg Archdiocese appear to be. An anti-abortion mass, and march are planned for March 13 2010, from the Bishop's seat, the Cathedral of Christ the King, in Johannesburg. South African Catholic has been informed, that the protest aims at having laws allowing for abortion amended entirely to end the practice, or else, for abortion laws to be tightened, so as to make abortion harder to procure.

Relating to an entirely unrelated March [capitalization intentional], on February 1st this year, by a grouping known as the Christian Action Network, who were also marching for an end to abortion, it was stated then to media that over 900 000 children had been subjected to so-called abortion or termination of pregnancy since 1997, when Nelson Mandela radically liberalized the laws regarding procurement of artificial terminations of pregnancy in South Africa. It was also claimed to media, that taxpayers directly fund abortions in South Africa.

Other countries

Editorial addition

Australia and surrounding Islands, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Alaska, the US West Coast, Mexico and other areas also may be hit by the Tsunami. Hawaii, parts of Latin America, Canada, California etc have already been noted as possibly places to watch for affect.

It is a blessing that the buildings are prepared for Disasters in Chile, unlike Haiti! If in areas, you may want to reach higher ground, or listen to authorities in area you live in!

Update: Disaster quake, Tsunami strikes Chile, pacific area

(South African Catholic News Service [SACNS] / Scripturelink.net News)

Article by Marc Aupiais

At the last update from MSNBC Breaking News: 122 people have been confirmed dead by the president-elect of Chile, due to an Earthquake. Another 3 deaths, 4 missing have since been confirmed dead in Chile's Robinson Crusoe Island, due to waves. CNN has since announced a death rate of at least 147 people. This after what the Associated Press called an 8.8 on the Richter scale earthquake struck the thin, long strip of a Latin American nation, which runs against most of the coastline on the east of the South American Continent. Buildings (including homes of people) were toppled in the quake which struck in the early hours of Saturday Morning in that Time-Zone. Bridges collapsed and vehicles (including trucks) crashed into the earth, according to the Associated Press.

The regional hospital in Concepcion, has been evacuating patients in fear of landslides... Meanwhile a prison in South-Central Chile has been sufficiently damaged, that 209 (Two Hundred and Nine) prisoners have escaped custody.

Much later, a 6.3 earthquake has also hit Chile's neighbour Argentina, near Salta according to MSNBC Breaking News. MSNBC has also noted warnings: the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has noted that new sea level readings indicate that waves "could cause widespread damage". While Damaging the mobile phone network, the Argentinian earthquake seems not a major problem at present.

According to MSNBC Breaking News: residents of Honolulu County, Hawaii had been urged to leave Tsunami Zones prior 10 A.M. Local time, while Hilo airport was closing in Hawaii. Waves are expected to hit Hawaii by 11:19 A.M. Hawaiian Time (4:19 P.M. ET). The Pacific Warning Center warns these waves could last 6 to 10 hours.

The Pacific Warning Center has noted +-4 foot Tsunami waves having already washed against Coquimbo and Valparaiso Chile, according to MSNBC Breaking News. A 7.7 foot wave of a Tsunami had already hit Talcahuano, Chile, as noted a minute prior that.

MSNBC Breaking News also notes that the Pacific Islands: Samoa and American Samoa have warned residents to take shelter due to the Tsunami caused by the Chile quake. Samoa police have issued a nationwide evacuation alert. Officials have warned of possible 7.5 foot waves to soon possibly hit Fiji and Tongo! The U.S. Geological Survey has meanwhile noted the 47th major aftershock, magnitude 5.3, centered at Libertador O'Higgin, the 46th major aftershock, was magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale, centred off the Bio-Bio shore, while the 28th aftershock of the Chile quake Measuring at 5.2 on the Richter scale, in the Metropolitan region of Chile, and the 29th measuring 5.1 off the strip of a nation's coast. The 27th Aftershock was 5.0 on the Richter Scale, off the shore. This according to MSNBC breaking News.

MSNBC Breaking News notes that the American (USA) state of California has warned coastal cities to prepare for possible Tsunami waves. The surge is forecast to hit California at 13:30 (1:30 P.M.) Local time (16:30 / 4:30 P.M. ET). Tsunami warning sirens have also now sounded across Hawaii according to MSNBC Breaking News. Vessels are also being advised to leave the habour areas in Hawaii. Other American states most at risk include Alaska and California. The American president Barack Obama was expected to comment on the situation at 14:00 (2 P.M.) Eastern Time, according to the White House, said MSNBC. We have just noted this statement, while giving condolences to Chile, Obama focused on America, asking Americans to be cautious and obey state authorities on Tsunami. According to CNN, the US President has warned of hundreds of deaths. The tsunami situation has been called similar to the 2004 Christmas tsunami that killed more than 200,000 in Indonesia according to the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to MSNBC.

The Globe and Mail of Canada meanwhile has noted that a Tsunami advisory has been Issued for British Columbia.

Earthquakes are common in the Pacific ocean region, unlike in the Caribbean area where the Haiti Quake struck.

The Earthquake's Tsunami, should affect South, Central and North America, and the Pacific Islands, reaching as far as Japan and Australia, as the hours should pass.

While Catholic Relief Services, known for their effectiveness and praised for their notable effectiveness in nearby Haiti, do not have an office in Chile, they do have staff in Bolivia, which in addition to being their South American relief hub, is Chile's, and Argentina's neighbour in the region. Should their staff be needed they claim that they are poised to assist.

To give to Catholic Relief Services, one of the most effective humanitarian groups in the world, stationed in the Pacific area, visit https://secure.crs.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2760&2760.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=jugcxa6bu1.app44b

CRS has confirmed on their blog that the earthquake was 8.8 on the richter scale. They note the original quake to have hit Concepcion, Chile.

We continue to Monitor the situation via Twitter.

Editorially: you may well offer prayers for the affected!

Catholic Bishops of England and Whales behind push to promote abortion in Schools

(Social Justice South Africa; c.f. LifeSiteNews (Catholic; Independent; Canadian) 23 / 02 | February / 2010 ; The Telegraph (British; Independent; Secular; Conservative) 23 / 02 | February / 2010; BBC World News (Secular; Governmental; British) 19 / 02 | February / 2010; The Guardian (British; Independent; Secular; Secularist; Liberal; editorial) 23 / 02 | February / 2010; LifeNews 01 / February / 2010; LifeSitenews (Catholic; Independent; Canadian) 01 / 02 | February / 2010; Catholic Culture (Catholic; Independent; American): The Contraception Misconception)

Article by Marc Aupiais

"Sex and relationship education - who does what?
Age 5-7 - puberty, relationships and how to keep safe
Age 7 - 11 - puberty, relationships including marriage, divorce, separation, same sex and civil partnerships and managing emotions and dealing with negative pressures
Age 11 - 14 - Sexual activity, human reproduction, contraception, pregnancy, STDs including HIV/Aids and high risk behaviours, relationships, including those between old, young, girls, boys and same sex
Age 14 - 16 - Body image and health, choices relating to sexual activity and substance misuse, and the emotional well-being, reducing risk and minimising harm, parenting skills and family life, separation, divorce and bereavements, prejudice and bullying"

(BBC World News (Secular; Governmental; British) 19 / 02 | February / 2010)

Causing much concern to papists and loyal Catholics throughout the world, including our own editor, who Lambasted the Catholic Bishops of England and Whales, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, in his column "The Tempest and The Hurricane", Labour has introduced a bill to force Catholic schools to teach the virtues of homosexuality, abortion, extra-marital sex, contraception et al.

Much of the media attention from the BBC, the Independent, and The Guardian media groups, has called for stricter and harsher treatment of religion, even than in the current bill.

Catholic schools will be made to inform students how to procure an abortion, an offence incurring automatic excommunication under the current code of canon law. Further, they will be made to promote abortion, and Homosexual "Civil Partnerships" (de jure homosexual "marriage") in schools. A new amendment pushed through yesterday, will allow Catholic schools to additionally teach what their religion does on the matters, but not in such a way as to treat homosexuality or the other issues concerned as wrong. Supporters of the push against religious schools, such as one writing an editorial for the Guardian, have expressed disappointment that the Catholic schools can still note as one view among many, that extramarital sex is a sin in the Catholic religion, however this ignores that while this belief may be noted, it may not be promoted.

An editorial calling for stricter measures against Catholics in the Guardian said:

"So it's great to see that the government has taken the initiative to make sex and relationship teaching mandatory from a much younger age. Hopefully this new legislation will ensure that schools have to teach children age-appropriate information about relationships including marriage, same sex and civil partnerships, divorce and separation; and in later years, sexual activity, reproduction and contraception. It is fundamentally important that children and young people can obtain this ­information without prejudice.

So, why, with this progressive new legislation, is there an amendment that means faith schools can adapt it to suit their beliefs? Ed Balls, the schools secretary, says in a letter to the Guardian that "faith schools will not be able to opt out of statutory lessons on sex and relationship education"; but if his argument that the "bottom line is that all young people should receive accurate and balanced information, and discrimination is prevented in all schools", how can teaching that sex outside marriage is wrong, or that contraception is bad, or that homosexuality is a sin, be seen as "balanced" information? Surely that will contradict the guidance provided as part of the sex education curriculum? And how does faith school teaching about sex fit in with the idea of tolerance or equality?

Balls may believe that conceding to the religious lobby was the best way of getting this legislation passed; but it undermines the progress made, and gives support to prejudiced misinterpretations of sex education.

Brook, the young people's sexual health charity, is more optimistic about this amendment. Spokeswoman Jules Hillier says: "We're hopeful that the ethos of the bill, which stresses diversity and equal opportunities, will mean that all schools will need to take a balanced approach to the teaching of SRE."

It is arguable, I suppose, that without this amendment, and with pressure from the religious lobby, this bill might not get passed – which would be a great shame, because it will impact young people in many positive ways for years to come. It's an enlightened government that dares to remove the right of parents to opt their children over the age of 15 out of sex education and enforce mandatory lessons in the subject in the majority of schools in the UK. So overall, it's a move in the right direction, albeit not quite far enough."

(The Guardian (British; Independent; Secular; Secularist; Liberal; editorial) 23 / 02 | February / 2010)

The sex education will be compulsory, parents of children over age 15, will not be allowed to withdraw their children from the classes, as they currently are able to do.

It recently emerged that the Catholic Education Service (CES) in Great Britain, directly assisted in the crafting of the bill, and Ed Balls, the minister pushing the bill has directly thanked Archbishop Vincent Nichols, in charge of the English Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, along with the CES for their support of the bill. It was believed by both sides that without the support of the church, that this bill would otherwise be facing much greater obstacles in getting passed.

The BBC notes the Catholic Education Service website, which the CES referred the BBC to as their comment:

" [The CES] pointed to a document on its website which said teachers would need to act wisely, "mindful that the teachings of the Church must be upheld in our Catholic schools and the innocence of children preserved".

It continued: "This must take place whilst also acknowledging pupils will often be encountering conflicting messages from external sources.

"This is an example of where good teaching will need to respond to the maturity of children and the environment in which they live, coupled with respect for the dignity of all human persons, upholding the Church's teachings."

Under the plans, all schools are to be required to teach children aged seven to 11 about relationships including marriage, same sex and civil partnerships, divorce and separation under Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education.

Secondary school pupils are to learn about sexual activity, reproduction, contraception as well as same sex relationships.

Clauses in the Children, Schools and Families Bill require schools to cover these issues in an "accurate and balanced" way, reflecting a reasonable range of religious, cultural and other perspectives and the religious and cultural backgrounds of the school's pupils.

The subject is also to be taught in a way that promotes equality, accepts diversity and emphasises both rights and responsibilities, the Bill says.

This requirement could have been problematic for schools governed by religions that are specifically opposed to homosexuality and contraception."

(BBC World News (Secular; Governmental; British) 19 / 02 | February / 2010)

The BBC then notes that the amendment passed Yesterday, may allow a school to water down elements of teaching, according to its religious character. The minister pushing the legislation has however directly denied this claim. Stating what our article already has noted, that schools would still have to promote the government agenda, even if on the side noting religious beliefs.

Editorially: While all my formal training is in South African and Roman and Roman Dutch law, my understanding, of this legislation, is that both the teachers concerned and likely the schools' important staff, will latae senitae (as if sentence were already passed by the very act: automatically) be excommunicated from the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. As regards the English Bishops' co-operation in forcing abortion on Catholic schools, one is lead to question where ecclesiastical law would put these individuals.

Damien Thompson, blogs editor for the Telegraph, wrote on the fact that not a single voice of the hierarchy of England and Whales has been available for comment on this issue. An odd silence from a body which the pope had desired stand up for Catholic doctrine and morals in Great Britain, when he addressed them on their Ad Limina visit earlier this year.

In contrast to the Bishops Conference of England and Whales, Scotland's Cardinal Keith O’Brien, responding to claims by Catholic Labour member Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, that labour could harness religious votes, slammed Labour egregiously.

"In a stinging rebuke to Jim Murphy, Cardinal Keith O’Brien said he could not think of a “tangible example” of the Government embracing the views of the Catholic Church in the past decade.

[...]

“Instead we have witnessed this Government undertake a systematic and unrelenting attack on family values.

“This is a charge I personally put to Gordon Brown when we met in 2008 and I have seen no evidence since then to suggest anything has changed.”

The leader of Scotland’s 750,000 Catholics then listed a series of new laws that have been passed despite the objections of the church and other faiths."

(The Telegraph (British; Independent; Secular; Conservative) 23 / 02 | February / 2010)

This push in Great Britain- to promote contraception in schools, comes shortly after a study questioning the effectiveness of such education was released by the applicable journal of the American Medical Association: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, quite recently:

"The study found that the probability of [... subjects in the program] having sexual intercourse [prior the end of the study] was approximately 15 percentage points lower among teens in the abstinence-only program than those in condom-promoting courses or those undergoing no sex education.

The study randomly assigned 662 African-American students (average age 12.2) to participate in one of four programs: abstinence-only intervention; safer-sex–only intervention targeting increased condom use; comprehensive interventions targeting both sexual intercourse and condom use; or a control intervention focusing on health issues unrelated to sexual behavior.

The researchers found that the probability of ever having sexual intercourse by the 24-month follow-up was 33.5 percent in the abstinence-only program and 48.5 percent in the control group attending health promotion courses. Rates in the safer sex and comprehensive programs did not differ significantly from the control group.

In addition, fewer students in the abstinence-only group (20.6 percent) vs. those in the control group (29 percent) reported having sex in the previous three months during the follow-up period. The abstinence-only intervention did not appear to affect rates of condom use. The eight-hour and 12-hour comprehensive programs appeared to be associated with reduced reports of having multiple partners when compared with the control group.

The authors of the study, which was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, concluded that theory-based abstinence-only interventions "can be part of [the] mix" of methods to reduce sexually-transmitted infections among teens."

(LifeSitenews (Catholic; Independent; Canadian) 01 / 02 | February / 2010)