HERE'S ONE FOR LAUREN RICHARDSON With thanks to Breakpoint!! THE POPE BLESSES THE DISABLED
APRIL 21, 2008
The pope and the disabled by Gina Dalfonzo
One of Pope Benedict XVI's "most intimate public event[s]" during his trip to the United States was his blessing of a group of disabled youths and their caregivers in Yonkers, New York. He told them:
God's unconditional love, which bathes every human individual, points to a meaning and purpose for all human life. . . . Through his cross, Jesus in fact draws us into his saving love and in so doing shows us the way ahead -- the way of hope which transfigures us all, so that we too, become bearers of that hope and charity for others.
Sadly, according to this Catholic PRWire release, the pope learned this fundamental lesson in an unspeakably tragic way.
As a boy of fourteen, Joseph Ratzinger had a cousin who had been born with Down's Syndrome, only a bit younger than himself. In 1941, German state "therapists" came to the boy's house and probably informed the parents of the government regulation that prohibited mentally handicapped children from remaining in their parents' home. In spite of the family's pleas, the representatives of the Nazi state took the child away. The Ratzinger family never saw him again. Later the family learned that he had "died," most likely murdered, for being merely "undesirable," a blemish in the race, and a drain on the productivity of the nation. This was Joseph Ratzinger's first experience of a murderous philosophy that asserts that some people are disposable.
At a time when children with Down syndrome are once again being systematically slaughtered, may the pope's experience with "a murderous philosophy that asserts that some people are "disposable," and his resulting understanding of the value of each human life, help bring us to our senses.
And with deep appreciation to Unborn Word of the Day comes this powerful quote from Pope Benedict:
“Life, which is a work of God, should not be denied to anyone, even the tiniest and most defenseless unborn child, and far less to a child with serious disabilities. At the same time, echoing the Pastors of the Church in Italy, I advise you not to fall into the deceptive trap of thinking that life can be disposed of, to the point of ‘legitimizing its interruption with euthanasia, even if it is masked by a veil of human compassion’
Benedict XVI, Angelus
St Peter’s Square Sunday, 4 February 2007
These important issues are explored in the fabulous new Ben Stein movie, Expelled, which this weekend propelled into the box office top ten spot!!
