The Right To Life. Everyone has a right to their body. That includes unborn children.

 

The Right to Life

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” (Article 3 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, 1948)

Fr. Malloy’s Midweek Message.  May 24, 2023

Friends,

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred and must be protected.  The Keystone of Catholic Social Teaching is the Dignity of the Human Person.  All persons have the right to be respected by all, especially by the laws of the state.  This teaching about the dignity of the human person enlightens moral choices concerning issues such as the death penalty, euthanasia, abortion, a living wage, war, and a whole number of matters pertaining to biochemical manipulation of human life from stem cell research to cloning.  The Catholic Bishops state: “We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.”

Following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, much is being debated about the issues concerning abortion.  As a Catholic and Jesuit school, it is good to know the Catholic church’s teaching on the dignity of human life.  Everyone has a right to their body.  That includes unborn children.  One has a right to one’s body while in the womb of their mother.

The Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, teach that we must defend the most vulnerable among us. “As we Jesuits survey our culture, we cannot help but see abortion as part of the massive injustices in our society. A spirit of callous disregard for life shows itself in direct assaults on human life such as abortion and capital punishment. There are less direct but equally senseless ways we undermine life, through violence, racism, xenophobia, and the growing inequality of wealth and education. We also seek justice in ensuring that pregnant women and mothers have the resources they need to care for their children and live full lives. These realities compel us to speak out in defense of life and human flourishing.”

On April 26, 2023, a panel of five women testified before congress on the issues surrounding abortion.  Both pro-choice and pro-life views where shared.  Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst. (pictured in the upper left photo) an OB GYN doctor, eloquently and forcefully spoke in defense of unborn children.  Her testimony begins at minute 35.  https://www.c-span.org/video/?527656-1/senate-judiciary-hearing-texas-abortion-pill-ruling . She notes the racial disparities among “abortion rates, abortion mortality, and non-abortion related maternal mortality, between black and white women.”  Sadly, here too, systemic racism threatens lives.

Dr. Wubbenhorst testified (her remarks are edited here.  See the video above for her full discourse)

    “Abortion not only poses risks to the mother; it is also by definition always lethal to an embryo or fetus, an unborn child, a human being, a member of the human family, not a clump of cells or potential child, but a child assuming the human form. Abortion’s goal is to kill that human being. It neither treats nor prevents any disease and is therefore not health care. This is reinforced by the fact that the majority of OB GYN 's do not perform abortions. Studies show that the percentage that do is declining and has been for decades, from a high of 40% in 1985 to between 7% and 24% at present. …

 

    Since Roe v Wade an estimated 17 million unborn African Americans have been aborted in the United States, which is more than the populations of the countries of Senegal and Cambodia respectfully, and slightly less than the entire population of the Netherlands.  This means the deaths of not only the 17 million black people who were aborted, but all their descendants, their families hopes and dreams.  Annually, approximately 300,000 black women undergo abortion every year, while in 2021 there were approximately 518,000 births to black women. A number that continues to decline.

 

    There are substantial racial disparities in abortion rates, abortion mortality, and non-abortion related maternal mortality, between black and white women.  38% of abortions occur in black women.  A rate which is 2 to 3 times higher than that of white women, even though we compromise only 12% to 14% of the total US population.  An estimated 684 black children are aborted every day.  African American women also have a two to three times higher mortality rate from abortion compared with white women.  Therefore, black women have the highest rates of abortion and the highest rates of maternal mortality. Both of these facts cannot be true if abortion reduces maternal mortality.”

Choices surrounding these matters are often difficult.  As Pope Francis says, we must do much more to accompany and help women and men who, in distress, see abortion as their only alternative.  We must remember that the one who teaches “Thou shall not kill” (Matthew 19:18) also counsels “Thou shall not judge (Matthew 7:1).  As we continue to investigate and learn about the issues of life, may God guide us to all truth and loving choices.  May we always protect the vulnerable among us.

Peace,

Fr. Rick Malloy, S.J.

Keep Safe.    Keep Sane.    Keep Smiling

 

“We have done little to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish.” – Pope Francis

  

El Derecho a La Vida

“Todo individuo tiene derecho a la vida, a la libertad y a la seguridad de su persona.” (Artículo 3 de la Declaración de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas, 1948

El Miercoles Mensaje del Padre Malloy, S.J.  24 de Mayo, 2023

Amigos y Amigas,

La Iglesia Católica enseña que toda vida humana es sagrada y debe ser protegida.  La piedra angular de la doctrina social católica es la dignidad de la persona humana.  Todas las personas tienen derecho a ser respetadas por todos, especialmente por las leyes del Estado.  Esta enseñanza sobre la dignidad de la persona humana ilumina las opciones morales relativas a cuestiones como la pena de muerte, la eutanasia, el aborto, el salario digno, la guerra y toda una serie de asuntos relacionados con la manipulación bioquímica de la vida humana, desde la investigación con células madre hasta la clonación.  Los obispos católicos afirman: "Creemos que cada persona es preciosa, que las personas son más importantes que las cosas, y que la medida de cada institución es si amenaza o mejora la vida y la dignidad de la persona humana".

Tras la decisión de Dobbs del Tribunal Supremo, se está debatiendo mucho sobre las cuestiones relativas al aborto.  Como colegio católico y jesuita, es bueno conocer la enseñanza de la Iglesia católica sobre la dignidad de la vida humana.  Toda persona tiene derecho a su cuerpo.  Eso incluye a los niños no nacidos.  Uno tiene derecho a su cuerpo mientras está en el vientre de su madre.

La Compañía de Jesús enseña que debemos defender a los más vulnerables entre nosotros. "Cuando los jesuitas examinamos nuestra cultura, no podemos evitar ver el aborto como parte de las injusticias masivas de nuestra sociedad. Un espíritu de cruel desprecio por la vida se manifiesta en ataques directos a la vida humana como el aborto y la pena capital. Hay formas menos directas pero igualmente insensatas de socavar la vida, a través de la violencia, el racismo, la xenofobia y la creciente desigualdad de riqueza y educación. También buscamos la justicia garantizando que las mujeres embarazadas y las madres dispongan de los recursos necesarios para cuidar de sus hijos y vivir una vida plena. Estas realidades nos obligan a pronunciarnos en defensa de la vida y el florecimiento humano."

El 26 de abril de 2023, un grupo de cinco mujeres testificó ante el Congreso sobre cuestiones relacionadas con el aborto.  Se compartieron puntos de vista tanto a favor del aborto como a favor de la vida.  La Dra. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst. (en la foto superior izquierda), ginecóloga y obstetra, habló con elocuencia y contundencia en defensa de los niños no nacidos.  Su testimonio comienza en el minuto 35.  https://www.c-span.org/video/?527656-1/senate-judiciary-hearing-texas-abortion-pill-ruling.  Señala las disparidades raciales entre "tasas de aborto, mortalidad por aborto y mortalidad materna no relacionada con el aborto, entre mujeres blancas y negras".  Lamentablemente, también en este caso el racismo sistémico amenaza vidas.

La Dra. Wubbenhorst testificó (sus comentarios están editados aquí. Ver el vídeo de arriba para su discurso completo)

       "El aborto no sólo supone riesgos para la madre; también es, por definición, siempre letal para un embrión o feto, un niño no nacido, un ser humano, un miembro de la familia humana, no un grupo de células o un niño en potencia, sino un niño que asume la forma humana. El objetivo del aborto es matar a ese ser humano. No trata ni previene ninguna enfermedad y, por tanto, no es asistencia sanitaria. Esto se ve reforzado por el hecho de que la mayoría de los ginecólogos obstetras no practican abortos. Los estudios muestran que el porcentaje que lo hace está disminuyendo y así ha sido durante décadas, desde un máximo del 40% en 1985 a entre el 7% y el 24% en la actualidad. ...

       Desde el caso Roe contra Wade, se calcula que 17 millones de afroamericanos no nacidos han sido abortados en Estados Unidos, lo que supone más que la población de los países de Senegal y Camboya, respectivamente, y algo menos que toda la población de los Países Bajos.  Esto significa la muerte no sólo de los 17 millones de personas negras que fueron abortadas, sino de todos sus descendientes, las esperanzas y los sueños de sus familias.  Anualmente, aproximadamente 300.000 mujeres negras se someten a abortos cada año, mientras que en 2021 hubo aproximadamente 518.000 nacimientos de mujeres negras. Una cifra que sigue disminuyendo.

       Existen disparidades raciales sustanciales en las tasas de aborto, mortalidad por aborto y mortalidad materna no relacionada con el aborto, entre mujeres negras y blancas.  El 38% de los abortos se producen en mujeres negras.  Una tasa que es de 2 a 3 veces superior a la de las mujeres blancas, a pesar de que sólo comprometemos entre el 12% y el 14% de la población total de Estados Unidos.  Se calcula que cada día se abortan 684 niños negros.  Las mujeres afroamericanas también tienen una tasa de mortalidad por aborto de dos a tres veces superior a la de las mujeres blancas.  Por lo tanto, las mujeres negras tienen las tasas más altas de aborto y las tasas más altas de mortalidad materna. Ambos hechos no pueden ser ciertos si el aborto reduce la mortalidad materna".

Las decisiones en torno a estas cuestiones suelen ser difíciles.  Como dice el Papa Francisco, debemos hacer mucho más para acompañar y ayudar a las mujeres y hombres que, angustiados, ven en el aborto su única alternativa.  Debemos recordar que el que enseña "No matarás" (Mateo 19:18) también aconseja "No juzgarás" (Mateo 7:1).  Mientras seguimos investigando y aprendiendo sobre las cuestiones de la vida, que Dios nos guíe hacia la verdad y hacia opciones amorosas.  Que protejamos siempre a los más vulnerables.

La Paz,

P. Ricardo Malloy, S.J.

Sigamos Seguro.    Sigamos Sano.    Sigamos Sonriendo

“Hemos hecho poco para acompañar adecuadamente a las mujeres en situaciones muy difíciles, en las que el aborto aparece como una solución rápida a su profunda angustia.” - Papa Francisco

Will There Be Racists in Heaven?

Will There Be Racists in Heaven?   

Richard G. Malloy, S.J., Ph.D.

Director of Mission and Ministry Cristo Rey Jesuit Hgh School, Baltimore MD

“If you hate black people now, and you get to heaven and meet black people there, you’re not going to want to stay.  And that will be your hell.” 

Whenever I’ve preached on racism, it almost always gets blowback. 

“Father, there’s no place for politics in the pulpit.”

“You’re condemning all white people.”

And what someone said and was then reported to me, “He’s just another N***** lover.”

I was born three months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat.  In September of 1955, segregation was legal, lethal and largely unquestioned.  If you opposed racist policies and overt racists, you would not just get mocked on twitter; you would be murdered.  Yes, that’s exactly what happened to three young civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi in 1964.  Cheney, Goodman and Schwerner were shot, and then buried in an earthen dam.

Yes, there has been progress.  Yes, two thirds of African Americans are firmly ensconced in the middle class, and Oprah is richer than the Queen.  Yes, we elected an African American president.

But “Yes We Can” has swung back to “No we won’t.” 

Think of the murders of Pastor Pinckney and eight others at a Bible Study in South Carolina in 2015.

Think Charlottesville 2017.  Remember the murder of Heather Heyer. 

Think the massacre in El Paso, August 2019.

And now add the names Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery.

What does the Catholic Church have to say about racism?

Back in 1998 when racial tensions were exacerbated in Philadelphia, PA, the Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Bevilacqua promulgated a pastoral letter entitled “Healing Racism through Faith and Hope.”[1]  Bevilacqua wrote, “Racism a moral disease and it is contagious.  No one is born a racist.  Carriers infect others in countless ways through words and attitudes, deeds and omissions.  Yet, one thing is certain - the disease of racism can and must be eradicated is.  …  In short, racism and Christian life are incompatible.” 

He makes clear that we cannot be united with God if we are not united with one another. “Jesus is clear that this is a matter of holiness and a matter of salvation.  Our attitudes and actions towards others enter the mystery of our communion with God.  Racism is a sin that weakens and diminishes this sacred union....”

Prophetically he teaches, “Racism has been condemned as a sin many times…  For the truth to have an impact on us, for it to really set us free, it must become our truth.  It must be operative within us.  It must penetrate and ignite our minds and hearts.”

Last August, after the massacre of 22 people in a Wal Mart, the Bishop of El Paso Texas issued “Night Will Be No More,” an even stronger condemnation of racism.[2]

Bishop Seitz asks how we are to comprehend the massacre, another shooting that leaves us “feeling dazed, wounded, fearful and helpless.”  He asks, “How should we think about racism and white supremacy?”

He raises to consciousness the mystery of evil and how it seeps into our minds and lives in our hearts.  “This mystery of evil also includes the base belief that some of us are more important, deserving and worthy than others. It includes the ugly conviction that this country and its history and opportunities and resources as well as our economic and political life belong more properly to ‘white’ people than to people of color. This is a perverse way of thinking that divides people based on heritage and tone of skin into ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’, paving the way to dehumanization.”

“In other words, racism.”

He charges that, “If we are honest, racism is really about advancing, shoring up, and failing to oppose a system of white privilege and advantage based on skin color. When this system begins to shape our public choices, structure our common life together and becomes a tool of class, this is rightly called institutionalized racism. Action to build this system of hate and inaction to oppose its dismantling are what we rightly call white supremacy.”

Bishop Seitz calls this the work of the father of lies (John 8:44) “incarnate in our everyday choices and lifestyles, and our laws and institutions.”

“God gave the earth to everyone, not just the privileged.   We must all work together “to ensure all our children have access to quality educational opportunities, eliminate inequality in the colonias, pass immigration reform, eradicate discrimination, guarantee universal access to health care, ensure the protection of all human life, end the scourge of gun violence, improve wages on both sides of the border, offer just and sustainable development opportunities, defend the environment and honor the dignity of every person.”

There is not an option to opt out.  “This work of undoing racism and building a just society is holy, for it ‘contributes to the building of the universal city of God….”

Here in the City of Baltimore, back in the 1960s, Cardinal Archbishop Shehan called for all Catholics to heed our obligation to promote racial equality.  He joined with other faith leaders calling for abolishing discrimination in rental housing and real estate.  For that, he received death threats.[3] 

I hope no one is contemplating violence against those who will build the new Mother Mary Lange Catholic school, a $24 million, 66,500 square foot complex in West Baltimore.[4]

Truth is truth.  Rev. Martin Luther King said, “We must all learn to live together like brothers, or we will perish like fools.”

In 2018, the United States Catholic Bishops forcefully stated that racism and racist attitudes and actions are destructive of human life.  All ways in which life is threatened contradict the love proclaimed by the Gospel.

“It is not a secret that these attacks on human life have severely affected people of color, who are disproportionately affected by poverty, targeted for abortion, have less access to healthcare, have the greatest numbers on death row, and are most likely to feel pressure to end their lives when facing serious illness.”

Our bishops teach that “racism is a life issue.”  They call us “to speak forcefully against and work toward ending racism.”[5]

To put it bluntly, to be Catholic is to be anti-racist.  In Christ, we are all brothers and sisters.  We are preparing ourselves for heaven by the way we live with and love one another now. 

There will be no racists in heaven.  Racists need not apply.

Jesuit Father Richard G. Malloy is the director of Mission Integration at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Baltimore, and author of Being on Fire and A Faith That Frees, both from Orbis Books.

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[1]    Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua.  1998.  “Healing Racism Through Faith and Hope.”  (Philadelphia Archdiocese).

[2]   Bishop Mark Seitz.  August 2019.  “Night Will Be No More.”  https://www.hopeborder.org/nightwillbenomore (Diocese of El Paso, TX)

[3]  Antero Pietila.  2010.  Not in My Neighborhood.  (Chicago:  Ivan R. Dee, Pp. 190-191).

[4]  Archbishop William E. Lori.  “Baltimore Archdiocese to Break Ground on New City School.”  Baltimore Sun October 21, 2019.  Op-ed page.  https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-1021-catholic-school-20191021-3ekun7wpanb3dlj5t523unniaq-story.html

[5]   United States Catholic Bishops Conference.  Open Wide Our Hearts. The Enduring call to Love. A Pastoral Letter on Racism.  Washington, DC, 2018, p. 30.  http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/racism/upload/open-wide-our-hearts.pdf

The Atlantic questioning Planned Parenthood's selling unborn babies' organs and tissue. It's not just Catholic Sources...

Questioning Planned Parenthood's selling unborn babies' organs and tissue.  It's not just Catholic sources highlighting the video's gruesome realities....  

The Atlantic: "Abortion opponents sometimes use similar rights language, speaking of the rights of the unborn. Yet they also often use graphic images of aborted fetuses, for example, to highlight the visceral reality of abortion. There’s some debate about this practice among pro-life campaigners, but pro-choice activists acknowledge that abortion isn’t pretty and that there’s an easy disgust factor to it. (There’s a reason that although a majority of Americans favor legal abortion, a plurality also say it’s morally wrong.)" [see below].

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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/planned-parenthood-abortion/398558/

What Does the Planned Parenthood Video Show?

A secretly recorded conversation with the group’s medical director has ignited a heated debate over its handling of fetal tissue.

A video of Planned Parenthood's medical director discussing the harvesting of tissue from fetuses, released Tuesday, is at the center of the latest national controversy about abortion. Not only does the video raise questions about Americans’ comfort with the practice, but it quickly morphed into a metastory, with conservatives accusing liberals of ignoring clear evidence of immoral lawbreaking at the nation’s largest provider of abortions. That has quickly become the central issue: Is this another version of the Shirley Sherrod video, a misleadingly edited video taken out of context? Or is it more akin to the Kermit Gosnell story, a horrifying case that mainstream reporters ignored until they were forced to reckon with it?
In the video, Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, discusses harvesting tissue and organs from aborted fetuses over lunch in Los Angeles. While some previous “sting” videos like this have been criticized for misleading editing, the anti-abortion group behind it, the Center for Medical Progress, also posted a longer version, running nearly three hours. (The video doesn’t illuminate the conversations involved in setting up the lunch. Its makers apparently presented themselves as middlemen for medical researchers seeking fetal tissue.)

The story promptly exploded within the conservative-media sphere, but mainstream reporters were slower to pick it up, probably in part because of the difficulty of sussing out the video’s provenance and the legal issues involved. The Center for Medical Progress claims it shows that “Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted fetuses,” which would be illegal. Women who have abortions can choose to donate fetal tissue for research, and providers can be reimbursed for costs involved in that process, but they can’t profit. Here’s what Nucatola says early in the video:

I think every provider has had patients who want to donate their tissue, and they absolutely want to accommodate them. They just want to do it in a way that it’s not perceived as, ‘This clinic is selling tissue and making money off of this [inaudible].’ I know in the Planned Parenthood world, for example, they’re very, very sensitive to that. And before an affiliate is going to do that they need to—obviously they’re not—some might do it for free. They want to come to a number that it doesn’t look like they’re making money. They want to come to a number that looks like it is a reasonable number for the effort that is allotted on their part. I think for private providers, or private clinics, you’ll have much less of a problem with that.

There’s ambiguity in that statement. Planned Parenthood says she’s just discussing donations to recoup costs, and Nucatola’s caution about the organization seems to make clear that Planned Parenthood doesn’t tolerate sales. On the other hand, the way she describes the arrangements could easily be interpreted to suggest that the numbers are rigged, so that it seems like they’re just recouping when in fact they are a revenue stream.
Later in the video, she discusses possible amounts involved, ballparking figures between $30 and $100. But she also states, “This is not—nobody should be ‘selling’ tissue.” Perhaps the more damning remark isn’t about Planned Parenthood at all but about the private clinics; her comments imply unscrupulousness and possibly illegal behavior by those providers, but Planned Parenthood’s size and prominence makes it the prime target for pro-life activists.

All of this makes it tougher to believe the bluntest claim that Planned Parenthood, or even one top official there, is actually selling organs for profit. That hasn’t prevented immediate demands—from Ted Cruz, for example—for the government to investigate and defund Planned Parenthood for “profiting off the bodies of the lives they have stolen.” Multiple GOP presidential candidates issued statements expressing disgust with Nucatola’s comments.
But even if there’s nothing illegal, it’s easy to see how the video is a coup for the anti-abortion movement. The pro-choice and pro-life movements tend to talk about abortion in very different terms. Those who support abortion couch their argument in terms of women’s bodily autonomy, or in terms of a right to privacy. Abortion opponents sometimes use similar rights language, speaking of the rights of the unborn. Yet they also often use graphic images of aborted fetuses, for example, to highlight the visceral reality of abortion. There’s some debate about this practice among pro-life campaigners, but pro-choice activists acknowledge that abortion isn’t pretty and that there’s an easy disgust factor to it. (There’s a reason that although a majority of Americans favor legal abortion, a plurality also say it’s morally wrong.)
That’s what may make the video potent. Nucatola discusses the use of tissue from aborted fetuses, including the extraction of specific organs, over a casual lunch. That may strike many viewers as callous and inhumane. The disgust factor is real and important. For example, the activists posing as buyers ask Nucatola about the condition of organs after procedures. She responds with a detailed answer about how abortions are conducted to ensure good conditions. It’s not especially appetizing:

I’d say a lot of people want liver. And for that reason, most providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they’ll know where they’re putting their forceps. The kind of rate-limiting step of the procedure is the calvarium, the head is basically the biggest part. Most of the other stuff can come out intact . . . So then you’re just kind of cognizant of where you put your graspers, you try to intentionally go above and below the thorax, so that, you know, we’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m going to basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.

There’s a small cottage industry devoted to producing videos that showcase the emotionally wrenching side of abortion. The Center for Medical Progress, which produced the video, is headed by David Daleiden. Daleiden is a veteran anti-abortion activist who previously worked with Live Action. Live Action is the group led by Lila Rose, most famous for the video she made with conservative provocateur and filmmaker James O’Keefe, in which they posed as a pimp and an underage prostitute seeking an abortion at Los Angeles Planned Parenthood clinics. The latest sting appears to have been in the works for quite some time—a timestamp on the video released Tuesday says it was shot on July 25, 2014, nearly a year ago.Planned Parenthood is a major target for the pro-life movement because of its size and national reach. The organization provides a range of family-planning and reproductive-health services in addition to abortion, and it receives a large chunk of its funding from the federal government, for the other services that it provides. It’s banned from using any federal money to provide abortions, but critics say the ban is functionally pointless, since funding is fungible. Republicans in Congress regularly attempt to keep federal money from going to Planned Parenthood.

In 2012, amidst a GOP congressional investigation into Planned Parenthood, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, a leading breast-cancer non-profit, announced it was cutting ties. But the move backfired—Komen was harshly criticized, donations to Planned Parenthood actually increased, and Komenreversed course within days, leading to the departure of a top official who is strongly pro-life.
On Tuesday, Komen found itself back in the crosshairs. Citing the video, House Republicans pulled a bill authorizing commemorative coins that might have raised up to $4.75 million for Komen, because of its donations to Planned Parenthood.
Abortion is an unusual issue in American politics. Despite arousing some of the strongest emotions by advocates on both sides, and despite massive amounts of money spent, opinions about abortion have barely changed since Roe v. Wade in 1973. (Pro-life advocates have had better luck enacting abortion restrictions at the state level.) Whether this video is able to do what so many other past stories failed to do and move the dial will be the issue to watch in the coming days and weeks.

The Encyclical "Laudato Si": THE MOVIE

Church Responds to Immigration Crisis

IMMIGRATION: Inland parishes, Catholic Charities wait for migrants

With flights suspended, it’s unclear whether Inland shelters and other help will be needed

• BY DAVID OLSON / STAFF WRITER  
•  http://www.pe.com/articles/migrants-697539-catholic-charities.html

Published: July 14, 2014 Updated: July 15, 2014 10:57 a.m.

DAVID BAUMAN , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Catholic Charities and the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino are preparing to shelter and care for additional Central American migrants, but it’s unclear whether more will be arriving.
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fontana welcomed 46 migrants Thursday, all of whom were gone by Friday. But the U.S. Border Patrol announced Thursday it was suspending flights that sent migrants arrested in Texas to Southern California for processing, so the shelters may no longer be necessary, at least for now.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested the help of the diocese and Catholic Charities and transferred the migrants from San Diego County to St. Joseph. On Monday, ICE declined to speculate on whether more migrants might be sheltered in the Inland Empire.
“We certainly are prepared to accept more,” said John Andrews, spokesman for the diocese, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
RELATED: Congress moving to resolve border crisis
Several parishes are ready to house migrants, he said.
One of the back-up sites, in case of an unexpectedly large influx of migrants, is St. Catherine of Alexandria Church in Riverside. Volunteers are waiting for the call to help, Deacon John DeGano said.
St. Catherine is one of a number of Inland parishes collecting food, toiletries, first-aid kits, diapers and other items for migrants.
The migrants who arrived Thursday in Fontana were given some of those donations, and a Catholic Charities caseworker made arrangements for family members across the country to meet them at their destinations, said Ken Sawa, CEO of Catholic Charities San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. The migrants were then accompanied to a Greyhound bus station before being sent to live with family.
For migrants who didn’t have the money for bus tickets, Catholic Charities covered the cost using private donations raised specifically to help the migrants, Sawa said.
All the migrants were women with children, he said.
Most of the migrants helped on Thursday were gone by the end of that day. Four families left on Friday, Andrews said
None of the families stayed in the Inland Empire. One was sent to San Francisco; the others traveled to states including New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Colorado, Andrews said.
Protesters picketed St. Joseph on Sunday, saying the Catholic Church should concentrate on helping U.S. citizens rather than foreign migrants. Some of those who protested Sunday have been involved in broader efforts to stop congressional proposals that would provide a path to citizenship for many people who have lived illegally in the United States for an extended period.
But Andrews said the assistance the church is providing should be separated from the political debate over immigration.
“We’re receiving these folks because it’s a crisis situation,” Andrews said. “They have very real human needs we need to attend to. We can get back to the public policy questions later.”
Contact the writer: 951-368-9462 or dolson@pe.com

Pew Study show It's Sex Abuse that most bothers Catholics

This study shows that Catholics see the sex abuse scandal as the crucial issue facing the church today.  We need to do all possible to try and reestablish trust and credibility.  This is the challenge facing the chrurch and whoever will be elected Pope.  the Good News is that many are aware of the service rendered by the Church.  Still, there is much to ponder.  In 1970 there were 419,728 priests and 1,004,304 religious sisters worldwide.  In 2012 there were 412,236 priests and 721,935 sisters.   In 1965 in the USA there were 58,632 priests and 179,954 sisters; in 2012, there were 38,964 priests and 54,018 sisters (CARA 2013).     - Fr. Rick
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 http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Catholic/US-Catholics-See-Sex-Abuse-as-the-Churchs-Most-Important-Problem-Charity-as-Its-Most-Important-Contribution.aspx

As the Roman Catholic Church prepares for a conclave to elect a new pope, Catholics in the United States tend to view the scandal over sex abuse by clergy as the most important problem facing their church today. Asked to say in their own words what they think is the Catholic Church’s most important problem, 34% of U.S. Catholics mention sex abuse, pedophilia or some other reference to the scandal. No other problem garners more than 10% of responses. When asked about the main way the church helps society today, U.S. Catholics most commonly refer to charitable efforts to aid the poor, feed the hungry and heal the sick.
In a nationwide Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb. 28-March 3, 2013, that included 184 Catholics (out of a total of 1,003 adults), nearly one-in-ten U.S. Catholics (9%) say that the church faces a lack of credibility or trust. And 7% cite low attendance at Mass, a loss of followers or a general loss of faith in society as the most important problem facing the church at this time. An equal number (7%) say the church’s most important problem is that it is outdated or out of touch and needs to become more modern or adapt to changes in society. Just one-in-twenty U.S. Catholics (5%) mention the temporary lack of a pope or the need to choose a new pope as the church’s most important problem today. About one-in-six (17%) decline to offer an opinion or say they do not know what is the most important problem facing the church.
More than a quarter of U.S. Catholics (27%) say the most important way the Catholic Church helps society today is by serving those in need through charitable works. This includes those who cite efforts by Catholics in general to help the poor, feed the hungry and heal the sick as well as those who mention Catholic Charities or other organizations providing services in the United States or overseas.

About one-in-ten U.S. Catholics say the church’s most important contribution to society is providing moral guidance and values (11%). A similar percentage (9%) say the church helps society the most by acting as a source of faith and spreading Christianity or the Catholic faith.

Nearly three-in-ten U.S. Catholics decline to offer an opinion or say they don’t know what is the most important way that the Catholic Church helps society today (29%).

Who Will be Pope?

by Erin Delmore  http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/28/who-will-be-the-next-pope/

Pope Benedict’s abdication and departure from the Vatican Thursday marked a watershed moment for the Catholic Church, as its leader transitioned to a role as “pope emeritus” and pledged his obedience to his successor for the first time in six centuries.
Now the Cardinals assembled in Rome face a daunting task: choosing Benedict XVI’s successor.
In the coming days, 117 electors will consider who among them is best suited to ascend to the papacy. In what could be a sharp deviation from the Vatican’s storied Euro-centricity, strong candidates from the developing world are under consideration. A distinct possibility of electing the first black Pope has captured global attention. From nationality to age, and the less tangible aspects of charisma and “media savvy,” the character of the papacy’s front-runners will be under a microscope until Easter.
“Each cardinal is looking for three things in the candidate,” Father Thomas Reese, S.J., a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Woodstock Theological Center told MSNBC.com. “First, somebody who will be a good pope–which should be translated as somebody who agrees with the cardinals’ values and vision for the church. The second thing they’re looking for is someone with whom they can have a good personal relationship…and third, they’re looking for someone who will be well received in their own country.”
Reverend Monsignor Tom McSweeny, a former National Director of The Christophers, says the expectation from the American perspective is to find a new pope who embodies the stagecraft of former Pope John Paul II with the ability to connect with a “new approach to the next generation of believers, so they can live out their faith on a day to day basis.”
Praised for possessing an uncommon ability to connect with younger Catholics, Pope John Paul II was the second-longest serving Pope and the first non-Italian since the 1500s. He was also one of the most-traveled Popes in recent history, having visited over 100 countries. ”Pope John Paul II taught us a very vital lesson: whatever evangelicalization  means, it cannot happen within the walls of the Vatican,” McSweeny told MSNBC.com.
Pope Benedict XVI made headlines when he joined Twitter in December 2012, disseminating 140-character messages to millions in English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish, Arabic and French. “Thank you for your love and support,” he tweeted Thursday on his English-language account. “May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives.” With over 1.5 million Twitter followers on the English account alone, the Vatican’s embrace of the micro-blogging service has acted as an olive branch toward tech-savvy young Catholics – a demographic the Church is eager to attract.
According to Father Reese, the cardinals may consider choosing a younger man to be pope, thanks in large part to Benedict’s decision to abdicate.
“The fear of electing a young man is that he’ll live forever. He’ll be pope for 20,30,40 years,” Reese said. “I think now that the pope has set the precedent that we’re not going to have somebody in there forever, you could resign at 80.”
A number of the top contenders for the papacy are in their mid-60s, including Ghana’s Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, 64, and Brazil’s Odilo Scherer, 63. Canada’s Marc Ouellet, perhaps North America’s strongest candidate, is 68. At 55, the Philippines’ Luis Tagle is the youngest cardinal assumed to be under consideration.

Odds on which country the next pope will hail from, as of February 27, 2013 via Intrade

The rise of Turkson along with Nigeria’s Francis Arinze, now 80, has created a buzz around whether the Catholic Church could choose its first-ever black pope. Brazil’s Scherer, the Archbiship of the Sao Paolo dioces–the world’s largest Catholic congregation–along with the 65-year-old former archbishop of Brasilia Joao Braz de Aviz could lend a new focus to the developing world.
Still the greatest force in the Vatican, the Italians, who make up a quarter of the College of Cardinals, retain a significant advantage with Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as strong frontrunners. The online prediction market Intrade puts the likelihood of an Italian successor at an overwhelming 35%, ahead of the North Americans’ 14%, due in large part to the popularity of Ouellet. Two candidates, one from New York and another from Boston, are rumored to be under consideration from the United States.
“The cardinals will certainly be paying much more attention to some of the third-world countries,” McSweeny said. But if that increased attention would translate to a successor from the developing world, he said, “Certainly it would be a possibility, but given the nature and structure of the current college of cardinals, I’d probably say the odds are not there right now.”
The conclave may instead choose to focus on the issues that have dogged the Catholic church in recent years, chief among them a widespread sex abuse scandal.
“The problem area is the first world: North America and Europe,” Reese said. “If we could find a cardinal who could turn that around, that would be the ideal.”
As the College of Cardinals prepares to enter the conclave, a deeply religious process by which they choose the next pope, many wonder whether Benedict XVI’s successor will be considerably like-minded, since many of the cardinals in a position to select the next leader were chosen by Benedict himself. In fact, Benedict fortified the conclave’s heavily Italian presence, raising the number of Italians eligible to vote on a successor by a third since his election to succeed John Paul II.
“They will always look at the Italians first,” Reese said.”The odds are in favor of a European pope but we can always be surprised.”