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Yesterday, the Helpers of God's Precious Infants of Michigan held it's fourth and final prayer vigil of 2009. Holy Mass It began with 7:30am Mass at St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores, celebrated by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit. The parish children's choir had practiced for weeks to provide the music.  On this Feast of the Presentation of Mary, the archbishop told the roughly 650-700 in attendance that Mary, "stands with us in our work to serve the gospel of life".  At the conclusion of Mass, Archbishop Vigneron told the crowd how proud...

A formidable coalition of 150 Catholic, Orthodox and evangelical leaders are calling on Christians in a new manifesto to reject secular authority – and even engage in civil disobedience – if laws force them to accept abortion, same-sex marriage and other ideas that betray their religious beliefs. On Friday, these leaders released a 4,700-word document – called the "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience." The document was signed by leaders ranging from evangelical leader Chuck Colson to two of the leading Catholic prelates in the U.S., Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New...

WASHINGTON — Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy to receive the Roman Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion because of his advocacy of abortion rights, the Rhode Island Democrat said Friday. “The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion,” Kennedy said in a telephone interview. Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him “that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I’ve taken as a public official,” particularly on abortion. He declined to say...

One of the leaders of the nation’s influential Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) tells Newsmax that President Obama is “very dangerous” in his economic policies and his foreign policy is causing “severe damage” to U.S. standing in the world. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and author of the book “The Divided State of America: What Liberals and Conservatives Are Missing In The God And Country Shouting Match”, told Newsmax.TV that the cultural war is heating up. Christians must remember that God is not partisan. “And on many of the most important issues...

The outcome of the health care reform legislation in the House demonstrates that while the Republicans don't have the votes to stop it, the Catholic Church has the votes to pass it. Could the same thing happen in the Senate? On Nov. 7, Catholic lobbyists working for the church's bishops finalized a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. An anti-abortion amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Catholic Democrat, was offered and passed. The bishops then came down officially in favor of a bureaucratic plan that could spell the end to freedom of choice in health care. The turn of events...

The Roman Catholic bishop of Rhode Island says he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop receiving Holy Communion in 2007 because of the lawmaker's stand on what he called moral issues. Kennedy told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Bishop Thomas Tobin "instructed" him not to receive Communion because of his abortion rights stance. Kennedy said diocesan priests have been told not to give him Communion, but he did not explain how he knew that. Tobin said in a statement Sunday that he "has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of...

Congressman Patrick Kennedy has been barred from receiving Communion by his Bishop in Rhode Island. Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred Patrick, the son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, because of his position on abortion rights.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

.....A closer look at Belgium, the laboratory of Europe, shows, however, that the country lacks more than patriotism. It also lacks democracy, respect for the rule of law, and political morality..... ....I am not sure what happened next, however. Maybe word had reached the leadership of the Christian Democrat Party that Herman, a brilliant economist and intellectual, was considering leaving politics; perhaps they made him an offer he could not refuse........ Our paths crossed at intervals until 1990, when the Belgian Parliament voted an extremely liberal abortion bill. The Belgian King Baudouin (1930-1993), a devout Catholic who suffered from the...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rep. Patrick Kennedy says Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred him from receiving communion because of his support of abortion rights. The Providence Journal reports on its Web site Sunday that Kennedy said in an interview that Tobin issued the order during discussions with the Democratic lawmaker, further escalating a simmering ideological dispute between the two men. Under church rules, Tobin can prevent Kennedy from receiving communion within his diocese, which covers Rhode Island. It’s unclear whether bishops outside Rhode Island will take the same path.

My friends, I ran into Sarah Palin a week or so ago. Well, not the Sarah Palin — and not comedian Tina Fey, either. Temporarily away from my mission work and visiting old friends at an Irish parish, I was enjoying the (rare) sunshine after Mass, greeting parishioners as they left church, when I noticed a young mother pushing her daughter in a baby carriage. Her child — like all children — was radiant to me, with a shock of orange hair and a smile of beautiful wonderment at just about everything. Her head rolled back and forth as if...

Conservative Christian leaders unveiled a declaration Friday calling on Christians not to comply with rules and laws forcing them to accept abortion, same-sex marriage and other ideals that go against their religious doctrines. The declaration urges Christians to practice civil disobedience to defend their convictions, even though some signers of the document backed away from the strong language. The Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Donald W. Wuerl, was among the first signers of the Manhattan Declaration. He appeared at a news conference in the District on Friday to announce it, even as the Church was considering a city-proposed compromise on its...

More than 150 leaders across a spectrum of conservative Christianity on Friday released a 4,700-word document vowing civil disobedience if they are forced to take part in "anti-life acts" or bless gay marriages. Called the "Manhattan Declaration," the six-page, single-spaced document was drafted by Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson, an evangelical, and Princeton University professor Robert P. George, a Roman Catholic, and included a bevy of Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox bishops, archbishops and cardinals as signatories along with dozens of clergy and laity.

We are taking a BIG TRIP - 13 Cities! - Please pray for us. (See List of Cities Below.) Beginning on Sunday, November 22, we are taking a seven state, 13-city tour, to do press conferences, protests, and lobbying against this damnable "healthcare" legislation. Please pray for us, and help us if you can. We need funds for the trip! (If you want to contribute on line, go to here! and click the donate button.) I am pleased that the Stupak Amendment passed in the House, but I'm sure you understand that the end result of the Stupak Amendment may...

We recently wrote to you, telling you about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and their historic support for pro-abortion, anti-life, pro-homosexual and pro-prostitution groups. The collection for this fund is this Sunday. Well, it seems as if the news about the CCHD is worse than we suspected. Please, take a few moments to visit this website, and watch the videos and read the articles available there: http://www.RealCatholicTV.net/defundcchd/We will be placing more videos and information on this webpage as they become available, so please check back often and tell your friends about this horror. God Bless -- Michael Voris,...

JUST ONCE in a lifetime are we all called to stand and be counted for what is right. This is our time. LET US stand tall and never assent to our TAX DOLLARS being used to KILL BABIES. LET US record our names FOR ALL, INCLUDING GOD to see and pledge to GO TO JAIL before we let one cent of our money be used to finance the blood sport of killing babies and fill the God forsaken coffers of Planned Parenthood and their ilk. THROW ME IN JAIL. I WILL NOT PAY THE GOVERNMENT TO KILL BABIES.

Alberto Hodari performs abortions as casually as others pick their teeth, and with just as much thought. He has bragged about being involved in tens of thousands of abortions. Tens of thousands! He has wiped out literally several small towns in terms of population. And he's proud of it. But Hodari's past doesn't just include tens of thousands of dead babies. Probably due to his proclivity of lying to his potential patients to steer them towards an abortion, something he freely admitted to college students at Wayne State University, saying that he has a "license to lie, he's killed 4...

Sen. Harry Reid Washington D.C., Nov 20, 2009 / 02:36 pm (CNA).- Catholic political analyst, Deal Hudson, said yesterday that pro-life forces will face an uphill battle over the health care bill expected to reach its peak of discussion in the Senate over the weekend.Hudson, director of InsideCatholic.com, explained that the Senate Health Care Bill “contains federal funding for abortion, and many other unmentionables, e.g., so-called ‘end-of-life’ care.”“In spite of Sen. Reid's explicit promise, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment was rejected,” Hudson wrote. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill would permit abortions in a government-run plan if it receives the approval...

NY Activists: Join NOW NY State Dec. 4! Demand health care reform that includes full reproductive rights for ALL women! Join with the National Organization for Women New York State chapter, local activits and prominent reproductive rights advocates to say NO to any Stupak-Pitts-like amendemnts in the National Health Care Reform package. Full Reproductive Rights for Women....Nothing More, Nothing Less Location: Front of Senator Schumer's office 757 Third Avenue (at 48th Street) NYC Date: Dec. 4, 2009 Time: Noon until 2:00 pm

DC Activists: Mobilize on Nov. 23! From 12-1pm on Monday November 23, join NOW activists from the mid-Atlantic region as they campaign outside the Senate office buildings against the Stupak Amendment. Nearest metro station is Union Station. We'll be meeting at Constitution Avenue, on the block in front of Russell and the corner of Constitution and Delaware. View map

PA Activists: Protest Pitts Nov. 21! Join NOW President Terry O'Neill, Pennsylvania NOW President Joanne Tosti-Vasey and Lois Herr, candidate for Congress in a protest outside of the Chester County Courthouse in Pennsylvania. This is Joseph Pitts' district -- as in one of the authors of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. Starts at 10:15 Saturday, Nov. 21 with press conference at 10:30 am. All events will take place on the courthouse steps (2 N High St, West Chester, PA 19380 -- View map) Coalition partners for this event include Pennsylvania NOW, National NOW and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities. We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image.... While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including...

More abortions are carried out in Britain than any other country in Europe, research has shown. It has overtaken France - which has a larger population - to become the abortion capital of the continent. The rising rate has been pushed up by abortions among teenage girls, which increased by nearly a third over the past decade. Half of all pregnancies among girls under 18 in Britain end in abortion. Anti-abortion campaigners said the figures were an indictment of the Government's teenage pregnancy strategy. The figures, collated by a European pressure group, showed that the 219,336 abortions carried out in...

“The Speaker is not happy with me” --Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) commenting on Nancy Pelosi’s reaction to his amendment that would prohibit taxpayer-funded abortion in healthcare reform. The healthcare bills working their way through Congress should be opposed, and for so many reasons. They would ration care, expand entitlements, make all Americans dependent on government-approved insurance plans and add to our already stifling national debt. The bill passed by the House is horrendous. Whatever emerges from the Senate and later from the congressional conference committee should be opposed full stop. That said, there is an interesting debate taking place among...

It seems the recent news that Rudy may use his pending Senate run for another shot at the GOP nomination has brought the Rudophiles back to FR in packs. In order to head-off the liberal treachery, I think we need to renew the "Stop Rudy" ping list. Does anyone know who had it, and can we start it back up again? I will run it or help run it if needed, thanks!

Speaker Nancy Pelosi prefers abortion language in the Senate healthcare legislation to the approach her chamber took with its bill. "I'm pleased with the language in the Senate bill," Pelosi (D-Calif.) said of the bill her counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), rolled out Wednesday. "I think it's pretty clear no federal funds would be used to pay for abortion." Reid left out the language drafted by abortion-rights opponent Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich... [snip] Abortion-rights supporters, including Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), have praised Reid’s approach. But anti-abortion groups have lambasted it, calling it "completely unacceptable." "Reid seeks to cover...

Senate Confirms David Hamilton, Obama's First Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick Washington, DC -- The Senate voted today 59-39 to confirm a pro-abortion federal judge President Barack Obama appointed to become a new appeals court justice. David Hamilton, of Indiana, is the first pro-abortion judge Obama selected, but he was held up for months because of his extreme views. Story, votes and action alert at http://www.lifenews.com/nat5689.htm

Did Obama lie in his joint address to Congress when he said "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions?" [VIDEO AT SITE] Last summer and earlier this fall Obama repeatedly claimed that those on our side who expressed concerns about many aspects of the health bills working their way through Congress were lying about certain provisions. One of those "lies" was the GOP claim that money from the government run plans would be used to fund abortions. When Joe Wilson shouted "YOU LIE" during Obama's speech to Congress, Joe wasn't just talking about illegal immigrants getting benefits under...

Posted by GOP Leader (John Boehner) Press Office on November 19th, 2009 Just like the original 2,032-page, government-run health care plan from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) massive, 2,074-page bill would levy a new “abortion premium” fee on Americans in the government-run plan.

Senate Majority Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) late Wednesday published the final text of a Senate health care bill that would mandate federally subsidized abortion. The mandate appears on page 120 of the 2,074-page bill under the seemingly innocuous heading: ‘Assured Availability of Varied Coverage Through Exchanges.” Specifically, the provision requires that the secretary of Health and Human Services make certain that at least one health insurance plan offered in government-regulated insurance exchanges where people will be able to purchase health insurance using government subsidies must provide coverage of abortion. The secretary also must make certain that at least one plan available...

A 12-year-old girl is prohibited from bringing aspirin to California public schools without a note from her mother or father – but in many California districts she may sign herself out of classes, leave her junior-high campus without parental permission, secretly have an abortion and return to school before the end of the day – and her own family may be none the wiser. Parents and educators across the state have been in heated debate over school policies allowing children to be excused during class time without parental notification for "confidential medical services" such as abortions, birth control, and drug...

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Fallout continues from the spring controversy over the University of Notre Dame awarding an honorary degree to President Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops went behind closed doors at their fall meeting Wednesday to discuss, among other issues, what action they should take to increase oversight of the nation's more than 200 Roman Catholic colleges and universities. Chicago Cardinal Francis George, president of the bishops' conference, revealed this week that he had formed a task force charged with reviewing the issue. Its research included a look at what church law says...

The Church of Scientology faces the prospect of a police investigation in Australia after being accused of torture and embezzlement and of forcing employees to have abortions. Nick Xenophon, an independent senator, presented letters to the Australian Parliament from seven former Scientologists which he said showed that the secretive church was a front for physical violence, intimidation and blackmail. “I am deeply concerned about this organisation and the devastating impact it can have on its followers,” he told the Australian Senate in Canberra. He called for a Senate inquiry. The State Crime Command of New South Wales police yesterday confirmed...

Facial Placenta facial: The treatment involves an ordinary-smelling cosmetic cream with a rather special ingredient (File pic) Between pre-match rituals and nights on the town, footballers get up to some pretty weird stuff. But the latest revelation, from Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, has stupified even the most credulous of fans. The Dutch player, who is suffering from ruptured ankle ligaments, flew out to Belgrade yesterday to meet a Serbian housewife who will rub his leg with fluid from a horse's placenta. Mariana Kovacevic has apparently already treated two of Van Persie's former Dutch teammates, one of whom recovered in...

Woman's Lawsuit: She Yelled Stop, Practitioner Continued With Forced Abortion Flint, MI -- Alberto Hodari owns six abortion centers in Michigan and LifeNews.com has delivered multiple reports on how he has three of them up for sale. A new lawsuit from a woman who says he forced her to have an abortion could explain why Hodari is quickly moving to divest himself of his abortion business. http://www.lifenews.com/state4585.html

The US Senate could start debating its final healthcare reform bill as early as Tuesday, pitting Democrat against Democrat ... [snip] “This is a horrible dilemma,” said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. “The Democrats have to pass something..." [snip] The House passed a bill including the “Stupak-Pitts” amendment, which not only prevents abortion coverage in the public health insurance option but also prohibits private health insurers that have any customers receiving federal subsidies from offering abortion coverage... ...pro-choice activists say it amounts to a de facto ban on abortion. “It would be a great...

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) pledged on Tuesday morning to defeat healthcare reform legislation if his abortion amendment is taken out, saying 10 to 20 anti-abortion-rights Democrats would vote against a bill with weaker language. "They’re not going to take it out," Stupak said on "Fox and Friends," referring to Senate Democrats. "If they do, healthcare will not move forward." Stupak's amendment prohibits any insurance plan on a potential healthcare exchange from accepting federal subsidies if it covers abortion. Pro-abortion-rights lawmakers say that language is too broad and would drastically reduce access to abortion. White House senior adviser David Axelrod said...

With Democrats still grappling with the fallout of an abortion-rights deal that allowed the House to pass its health care bill last weekend, a key Democrat is predicting that abortion-rights supporters will have the votes to keep new abortion restrictions out of the final bill. On ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” today, Rep. Diana DeGette, co-chairman of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, said opposition is growing to the House-approved amendment authored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. She said the Senate is seeking out compromise language that won’t go as far as the House -- and said President Obama’s team is “absolutely” helping press...

To mark their 23rd anniversary, the French pro-life group SOS Tout-Petits held their annual National Rosary for Life on Saturday, sparking heated protests from the country's pro-abortion activists. Catholics gathered to pray outside cathedrals and churches in at least 28 cities throughout France, as well as in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Philippines. In many of these cities, the peaceful event attracted large anti-Catholic counter-demonstrations. For example, at the St. André Cathedral in Bordeaux, police were called to the scene as a large crowd opposed the 150 people gathered to pray. The crowd carried pro-abortion signs and shouted "Caca Catholic," "Mary,...

Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday he plans to filibuster President Obama’s first judicial pick, Judge David F. Hamilton. Sessions told reporters in a briefing that he will vote “not to consider” the nomination. “I think I intend not to support going forward (with) Hamilton’s vote,” Sessions said, adding that each senator has to vote his own conscience. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has called for a cloture vote on the nomination Tuesday, which would force the Republican filibuster of Hamilton, whom Obama indicated is the kind of nominee he...

Once upon a time there was a frog that lived on the riverbank. Life was good. The frog was full and happy; he worked hard all day catching flies. His life was satisfying. One day a scorpion came up to the frog and told him of the wonders that wait for him on the other side of the river. At first the frog was skeptical, and a little afraid of the deadly scorpion, but then she began to whisper gently to the frog, “I have heard that on the other side there are bugs so fat and juicy they can...

Marxist Muslim Barack Hussein Obama will be confronted by Senate Dems who oppose his baby killing when the health care debates fires up soon.

Activists Mobilizing to Keep Abortion in Health Care, Pro-Lifers Worried Washington, DC -- Angry and upset that the House-approved health care bill contains the Stupak amendment to ban virtually all abortion funding, pro-abortion activists have mobilized for a protest day on December 2 at Congress that could see tens of thousands of people attend. That has pro-life advocates worried. The anger and energy appears to be on their side and the pro-life movement needs to get back in the saddle or a massive government-run health care bill funding 300,000 abortions a year will be reality. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5668.html

Because modern life is so marked by prosperity for the greater portion of the earth, we rarely grasp the full impact of our spiritual position as a people, nation, or global family. Tragedy and evil seem so removed simply because it does not dwell in our own homes, or does not seem to.The reality of evil is eerily similar to the reality of holiness. It is hidden in the clothes of daily life, so that its horror is disguised, and the evil that seeks entrance is casually allowed and even ignorantly embraced by those who would resist it if they...

SSMU Council voted 16 to 7 by secret ballot in favour of suspending Choose Life’s club status on Thursday. Two separate motions were put forth to change the club’s status. The first resolution called for the club’s status to be revoked. After being defeated 11 to 12, a motion to suspend followed. The students who put forth the two motions claimed that Choose Life had disseminated false health information and exposed students to graphic images associated with abortion and fetal life. Additionally, the students felt that past events hosted by the club had threatened safe space for students on campus,...

...In the past I have grown angry with Chris Matthews, who is a practicing Catholic, because he has failed to defend the fundamental human right to life. However, in this discussion he took the position that the Stupak amendment - named after the faithful Catholic Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak who co-authored the amendment in the House - would end up causing the defeat of the legislation because there would be no compromise possible over the issue of funding abortion. Interestingly, he compared the current situation to the period just preceding the Civil War in the United States. He drew the...

Contrary to a popular fallacy that science and religion are at odds with each other, it's quite the opposite. Science and religion are the best of friends. And like good friends, they complement each other and produce beautiful music together. Take the recent incident of the young woman in Bryan, Texas -- the director of the Planned Parenthood abortion mill down there -- who had a change of heart and quit her job when she saw, for the first time, an unborn child on an ultrasound screen. As Abby Johnson related her story to Bill O'Reilly, "....what I saw on...

Activists Sending Coat Hangers to Congress for Abortion Funding in Health Care Washington, DC -- Borrowing a page from the playbook of pro-abortion members of Congress who recently used the myth of illegal back alley abortions to oppose the Stupak amendment, grassroots pro-abortion activists are sending coat hangers to Congress to urge taxpayer funding of abortion in the health care bills. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5663.html

Planned Parenthood Sets December 2 Pro-Abortion Funding Lobbying Day Washington, DC -- Top pro-abortion groups are planning a national lobbying day for December 2nd that will see thousands of angry abortion activists filling the halls of the House and Senate asking lawmakers to force Americans to pay for abortions under the government-run health care bills. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5658.html

Obama Will Remove Abortion Funding Ban From Health Care Bill Washington, DC -- Top Obama advisor David Axelrod on Sunday confirmed what pro-life advocates already suspected would happen. He said President Barack Obama will work with congressional Democrats to remove the abortion funding ban the House approved in its version of the government-run health care bill. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5659.html