In The News http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/ Relevant news for Catholic Democrats en Copyright 2009 Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:53:07 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss More hungry people around the world, and a potential catastrophe for the unborn Effects on abortion worldwide The number of induced abortions declined worldwide between 1995 and 2003, from nearly 46 million to approximately 42 million, according to the Guttmacher Institute. This may have been a result, in part, from the improved economic outlook during the 1990s that accompanied the growth in the world economy and the debt reduction efforts of many groups, including the Vatican. An August 2008 study commissioned by Catholics in Alliance detailed the close relationship between financial conditions and the likelihood that women will seek abortion. What was good for the unborn in the 1990s appears to be a potential catastrophe in the making as hundreds of millions of people are being thrown out of work. No public estimates exist of the likely effect that the world financial crisis will have on the potential reversal of the progress in decreasing abortion rates worldwide that began during the Clinton Administration, but the effect could be dramatic. Malnutrition itself represents a significant risk to the life of the fetus. Several studies have found that the risk of spontaneous abortion is inversely and significantly related to the consumption of green vegetables, fruit, milk, cheese, eggs and fish. The multivariate odds ratios in one study for lowest versus highest levels of intake was estimated conservatively at 2-3-fold increased risk for miscarriage. World conflict also contributes to rates of abortion. Several studies documented the increased abortion rates in the Middle East following the Gulf War in 1991 (see Rajab et al "Incidence of spontaneous abortion in Bahrain before and after the Gulf War of 1991," Int J Gyn Obst 2000). This must be viewed as a significant, if unintended, consequence of decisions to launch wars that affect millions of people's lives. Response of American abortion groups to the world economic crisis American abortion groups like Priests for Life and National Right to Life have been silent about the effect of the world economic crisis on the wellbeing of the fetus. Their commitment to conservative political candidates has limited their ability to criticize those leaders who arguably bear responsibility for the dramatic increases in world hunger that are now being appreciated. When President Bush launched the war in Iraq, which resulted in 4 million people being displaced from their homes, these abortion groups were nowhere to be found in addressing the catastrophe that the invasion decision posed to the unborn across that region. But these groups have been quick to attack the current administration for its adoption of measures that have no demonstrable effect on the number of abortions anywhere--including the Mexico City policy, and the last-minute Bush rules expanding conscience rights of healthcare providers beyond abortion to any healthcare procedure to which an individual provider takes exception. As the Obama Administration completes its unprecedented Abortion Reduction Task Force effort to find common ground solutions to abortion, groups across the political spectrum would do well to look more broadly at the problem. With nearly half the world's abortions occuring in countries where abortion is illegal, it seems self-defeating for abortion foes to focus exclusively on criminal law as the answer to the plight of the unborn. Lifting up the world's poor, defeating hunger, and ending armed intervention as a means of conflict resolution will in the end prove to be much more highly effective strategies.]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/06/the_unite_nations_food_and.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/06/the_unite_nations_food_and.php Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:53:07 -0500 A Catholic reflection on Father's Day It's good to be a father. Let me start by sending my best wishes to all fathers, and to thank the five people in the world who have had the greatest influence on me as a father -- first, there are my parents. My mother immigrated to this country from County Galway, Ireland, leaving her home and family at age 13 for better opportunities in the U.S. She was the person who modeled for me the virtues of faith, integrity, devotion, and compassion. And my father, a native of St. Louis whose grandparents were also from County Galway, taught me how to think, laugh, play and pray. I also want to recognize my children, Patrick and Kathleen, who are beautiful gifts in my life. Patrick is going into 6th grade in Catholic school and Kathleen will be in the 2nd grade. Feedback is a gift too, and our children do a good job of giving us feedback -- positive and negative, but very helpful nonetheless in making us better parents. And my wonderful wife has had the single greatest impact in making me a better father. In addition to being a loving wife and mother, she has always been there to give me candid advice and guidance on what I'm doing well and not so well, and it's a blessing to have a such a conscientious and helpful spouse. Which brings to mind the Gospel story of Jesus calming the sea, with the apostles watching in astonishment at God's power. Now if only our kids obeyed their parents the way the sea obeyed Jesus. If only our kids responded with the kind of respect and wonder that the apostles showed to Jesus. But in their own way, they do just that, more than we realize. For in the midst of the storms life presents, as our children face confusion, and when they feel the ship may be sinking, we as parents are there to calm the sea, show them that we care, and demonstrate that we're always there to help with the emotional winds and waves in their lives. Just as Jesus was there for the apostles, we are there for our children during stormy times. And we don't always know when those storms will appear. We can't turn on the weather channel to check out the long-term forecast, which of course in Chicago we know is worthless anyway. So not only do we need to be there on a moment's notice for our children, we also must continuously build a foundation over time that enables them to calm their own fears, face their own troubles, and make good decisions. And building that foundation is hard work -- there are no short cuts. As we think of our parents today, and their hard work to build such a foundation for us, on this Father's Day, it is natural to think about one's own father and the lessons and teachings that have been passed down from father to son. And nothing to me is more important than what I was taught about my faith by my father. As I reflect on those early years, there are a few things that come to mind. First, I recall my father teaching me about the importance of weekly church attendance and respect for the mass. First it meant dressing the part -- you couldn't go to mass dressed sloppily. And in our church, you always felt like you were dressing up for a special occasion. The reason I say that is I grew up in St. Louis; and our parish was the Cathedral Basilica -- truly one of the most beautiful churches in the country if you haven't seen it. It has the world's largest collection of mosaics -- an amazing thing to behold. You felt like you were going to a special place, for a special reason, and we were taught that how we dressed had to reflect that. You also had to be on time, which growing up in a family of six children, wasn't always easy to do. One memory of going to mass is that our church, being as large as it was, had seven different entrances -- and we always entered through the front, so that if you were late, it was in full view -- no slipping into the back. I always suspected that my father took us in that way on purpose to motivate us to arrive on time, although I'm not sure it worked, as we seemed to make that "walk of shame" quite often. Another key learning was to listen, pay attention and participate in the mass. In particular, we were challenged to try to understand the homily, and even if it didn't make sense, my father encouraged us to try to at least understand one key point. Now for me, that was a big challenge -- my listening skills weren't the best, and I don't just mean when I was a kid. As my wife will remind me, I can remember who led my beloved St. Louis Cardinals in home runs in 1974, but I can't remember what she asked me to do 2 minutes ago. Still, we did have one reason to try to listen to the homily -- that's because we never knew when there might be a family discussion on it. See sometimes at lunch following Sunday mass, my father would ask us questions about the homily. Fortunately, this didn't happen every week, but it was just enough to keep us on our toes. And it did generate some interesting discussions at the lunch table. An additional area was how my father brought religion alive through movies about history and religion. Our family favorites included Jesus Christ Superstar, my all-time favorite musical. Another was Jesus of Nazareth, one of the best films I've ever seen about the life of Jesus. On Christmas Eve we had a family tradition of watching the opening scenes from Jesus of Nazareth on the birth of Jesus; the night before Easter we watched the Holy Week scenes. This is a tradition I've enjoyed passing on to our kids. Another important tradition and parental responsibility involves teaching and modeling issues of religion, ethics, and justice. Yet the spiritual aspect of parenting is often a source of anxiety. How do we teach our children about God and other subjects when we often feel less than certain ourselves? There are so many topics that, at age appropriate times, are important to have with our children to build the foundation of faith, shape their moral consciousness, and deliver on the mission of the church. Having these types of crucial conversations can be one of the hardest parts of parenting...vital and challenging subjects such as: * Respect life issues * Addressing poverty, with its multitude of causes & effects * Countering our culture's excessive self-interest and materialism * Opposing racism and other forms of discrimination * Teaching tolerance for people of other religions and non-believers * Care and protection for God's creation, the earth; Promoting peace and global solidarity These are among the principles of Catholic Social Teaching that should be discussed and passed on to our children. Or back to the mass...it's certainly a challenge explaining the mysteries of our faith in a way that provides sustained learning for our children...for instance, talking about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the reverence that it deserves, and its meaning in our lives...and not just while preparing for First Communion, but how do we do so on an ongoing basis? These are great discussion topics for the dinner table, a long car ride, and other rare opportunities for extended dialogue with our children during our very busy lives. I've also tried to teach my children that there's a much broader and more diverse world beyond our own community. We typically understand the world through our surroundings, and the more exposure we have to the experiences and perspectives of others, the better off we are. So I'm always looking for opportunities for our children to gain unique experiences, which may include visiting other communities and interacting with other cultures in the Chicago area. This means going to other churches periodically, or doing community service work in different neighborhoods as a family. It's taking my children to Kids' Day at work. Sometimes it's our family taking the bus or L instead of driving. Or visiting museums off the tourist path in which we'll all learn something new. It's about teaching our children that working for the common good to build a better society is every bit as essential to our faith as going to mass on Sunday. Having these discussions and sharing these types of experiences with my children are the things that give me the most satisfaction as a parent. Still, God knows that certainly I can do better in talking about and acting on many of these subjects and spending more quality time with my children. There are days where I feel like I've failed. But then I remind myself that parenting is never easy...being a father - or a mother - has incredible challenges, incredible pains, as well as amazing joys and rewards. In the end, we can do nothing better for our children than personally walking and talking in the way of the Lord, and passing along our wisdom. For me, my parents taught me a lot about Catholic values and how to be a father. I hope and pray that I am doing the same for my children. And ultimately, I look forward to seeing all our children becoming witnesses and stewards of our faith... With the courage and conviction to stand up for and do what is right...all because a solid foundation had been built many years before. And may that be our greatest legacy as parents! Happy Father's Day. http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/06/a_catholic_reflection_on_fathe.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/06/a_catholic_reflection_on_fathe.php Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:54:16 -0500 Abortion provider is murdered, and conservative groups rush to evade blame Priests for Life continue to insist on a culture in which violence is never seen as the solution to any problem." Fr Pavone might have stopped there. But in an email circulated to his supporters, he listed a series of similar murders that occurred during the 1980s, and said, "The point should not be missed that the killings of other abortionists and their staff ... occurred in an environment in which there was a lot of frustration over the pro-abortion initiatives of President Clinton. Now, there is similar frustration regarding the Obama Presidency and its support of abortion. This is not to blame our Presidents for someone's misguided actions. But neither should we miss what may be emerging as a pattern: when hope diminishes that the government is going to do something to protect the vulnerable, the temptation to take the law into one's own hands increases." More to the point is the culpability that people like Fr Pavone himself have for this kind of violence, and the fury provoked among conservatives toward President Obama by the extreme language about Democrats and abortion. Despite the expressed intent of President Obama to work collaboratively to decrease the numbers of abortions, Fr Pavone and many other activists with Republican sympathies have condemned the President using the most insulting imaginable terms. Fr Pavone has also joined conservative political writers like George Weigel and Deal Hudson in a campaign to have the editor of the Vatican newspaper, Giovanni Maria Vian, fired from L'Osservatore Romano because he expressed support for the abortion reduction message President Obama issued week before last at the Notre Dame Commencement. "It is not enough to denounce violence," said Dr Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats. "Any Catholic public figure who insults someone else with the 'pro-abortion' label is actually hurting the anti-abortion cause by obstructing common ground solutions, sowing division within our Church, and contributing to the penchant toward violence that was on display again today. There is nothing Catholic about the kind of angry language that falsely blames abortion on our elected officials, when it is our job as people of faith to work constructively toward a society in which no one chooses to have an abortion."]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/abortion_provider_is_murdered.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/abortion_provider_is_murdered.php Sun, 31 May 2009 18:37:39 -0500 Prof Miguel Diaz selected for Vatican post; 1st theologian to serve Boston, MA -- Catholic Democrats has praise for the appointment of Dr. Miguel Diaz, Professor of Theology at St. John's University and the College of Saint Benedict near St. Cloud MN, as our nation's next Vatican ambassador. If confirmed, Dr. Diaz would be the ninth ambassador to the Vatican since formal diplomatic relations were established in 1984. "This appointment serves to emphasize how seriously President Obama takes our relationship with the Vatican," said Dr. Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats. "Professor Diaz has distinguished himself as a scholar of modern Catholicism, deeply familiar with the documents of Vatican II and their implications for the work of the Church in the world today. By choosing someone who has devoted his life to the Church and to the Catholic Social Tradition, President Obama has sent yet another signal that he plans to engage fully with the Vatican in addressing the whole range of human needs about which both the Church and the Administration share such deep concern." "Dr. Diaz is passionately engaged in inter-cultural and ecumenical aspects of faith in public life," said Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats. "His work reflects the spirit of President Obama's call at Notre Dame to embrace 'open minds, open hearts and fair minded words.' President Obama has appointed someone who can help build mutual understanding among Catholics in this turbulent time, particularly when such bridges are so sorely needed." Born in Havana Cuba and the first in his family to attend college, Dr Diaz would be the first theologian to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. He shares the legacy of growing up in a Spanish-speaking family with President Obama's newly-announced nominee to the US Supreme Court, Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Both have spoken publicly about the impact of Latino culture on their respective world views. Professor Diaz is a nationally-recognized scholar who has earned the respect of the breadth of the Catholic community. He served as the Academic Dean at the St Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Florida, is a former president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, and currently serves on the Board of the Catholic Theological Society of America.]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/prof_miguel_diaz_selected_for.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/prof_miguel_diaz_selected_for.php Thu, 28 May 2009 14:00:03 -0500 Catholic Democrats rush to support one of their own in bid for seat on Supreme Court Catholic Democrats today applauded President Obama, who surprised court watchers by nominating Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor would be the sixth Catholic to join the current court, a remarkable departure from just 24 years ago when the court had only a single Catholic justice. After President Bush nominated two Catholics to fill vacancies during his time in office, most commentators had dismissed the possibility of yet another Catholic joining the Court any time soon. But President Obama, himself a former beneficiary of grant funding from the US Catholic Bishops Conference when he was a community organizer in Chicago, chose a new kind of Catholic for this first opening on the Court--one more faithful in her judicial work to the social Gospel message of Vatican II. "Not since President Eisenhower picked William Brennan in 1956 has a progressive Catholic been nominated to the Supreme Court," said Dr Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats. "At a time when a conservative Catholic block on the Court had fought in favor of executing minors, favored indefinite imprisonment, and accommodated torture-derived evidence through military tribunals, Judge Sotomayor represents a new kind of Catholic exemplar on the Supreme Court." President Obama has now broken new ground with Catholics on many fronts: the most Catholics serving in the Cabinet (nearly 1/3), the first Catholic vice president, and now a sixth Catholic Supreme Court Justice. Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats, added, "When placed in the context of his Common Ground speech at the Notre Dame Commencement last week, President Obama has moved assertively to bring the common good sensibilities of the Catholic Social Tradition front and center in American public life." Both of Judge Sotomayor's parents were from Puerto Rico, and she graduated from a Catholic high school in the Bronx. She is a jurist of unusual academic distinction, graduating Summa cum Laude from Princeton, completing law studies at Yale, and teaching law at both New York University and Columbia University.]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/catholic_democrats_rush_to_sup.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/catholic_democrats_rush_to_sup.php Wed, 27 May 2009 07:22:42 -0500 Remarks of Rev John Jenkins at Notre Dame's 2009 graduation Fr John I. Jenkins CSC, president of the University of Notre Dame, offered these remarks on Sunday May 17, at the 2009 Commencement Exercises. In the audience were the 12,000 assembled graduates, family and friends, and a national television audience. His words serev as both an elegant presidential valedictory and as the introduction for the featured speaker, President Barack H. Obama. "President Obama, Fr. Hesburgh, Judge Noonan, Members of the Board of Trustees, Members of the faculty, staff, alumni, friends, parents, and most of all -- the Notre Dame Class of 2009: Several autumns ago, you came to Notre Dame from home...now Notre Dame has become home. And it always will be. For home is not where you live. Home is where you belong. You will always belong -- and I pray you will always feel you belong -- here at Notre Dame. You are ... ND. In my four years as President of your University -- I have found that even among those who did not go to Notre Dame, even among those who do not share the Catholic faith, there is a special expectation, a special hope, for what Notre Dame can accomplish in the world. They hope that Notre Dame will be one of the great universities in the nation, but they also hope that it will send forth graduates who -- grounded in deep moral values -- can help solve the world's toughest problems. Their hope is in you, the graduates of 2009. That is a good place for hope to be. I have great confidence in what your talent and energy can accomplish in the world. But I have a special optimism for what you can do inspired by faith. It is your faith that will focus your talents and help you build the world you long to live in and leave to your children. The world you enter today is torn by division -- and is fixed on its differences. Differences must be acknowledged, and in some cases cherished. But too often differences lead to pride in self and contempt for others, until two sides -- taking opposing views of the same difference -- demonize each other. Whether the difference is political, religious, racial, or national -- trust falls, anger rises, and cooperation ends -- even for the sake of causes all sides care about. More than any problem in the arts or sciences - engineering or medicine -- easing the hateful divisions between human beings is the supreme challenge of this age. If we can solve this problem, we have a chance to come together and solve all the others. A Catholic university -- and its graduates -- are specially called, and I believe specially equipped, to help meet this challenge. As a Catholic university, we are part of the Church -- members of the "mystical body of Christ" animated by our faith in the Gospel. Yet we are also -- most of us -- citizens of the United States -- this extraordinary evolving expression of human freedom. We are called to serve each community of which we're a part, and this call is captured in the motto over the door of the east nave of the Basilica: "God, Country, Notre Dame." As we serve the Church, we can persuade believers by appeals to both faith and reason. As we serve our country, we will be motivated by faith, but we cannot appeal only to faith. We must also engage in a dialogue that appeals to reason that all can accept. When we face differences with fellow citizens, we will be tested: do we keep trying, with love and a generous spirit, to appeal to ethical principles that might be persuasive to others -- or do we condemn those who differ with us for not seeing the truth that we see? The first approach can lead to healing, the second to hostility. We know which approach we are called to as disciples of Christ. Pope Benedict said last year from the South Lawn of the White House: "I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society." Genuine faith does not inhibit the use of reason; it purifies it of pride and distorting self-interest. As it does so, Pope Benedict has said, "human reason is emboldened to pursue its noble purpose of serving mankind, giving expression to our deepest common aspirations and extending ... public debate." Tapping the full potential of human reason to seek God and serve humanity is a central mission of the Catholic Church. The natural place for the Church to pursue this mission is at a Catholic university. The University of Notre Dame belongs to an academic tradition of nearly a thousand years -- born of the Church's teaching that human reason, tempered by faith, is a gift of God, a path to religious truth, and a means for seeking the common good in secular life. It is out of this duty to serve the common good that we seek to foster dialogue with all people of good will, regardless of faith, background or perspective. We will listen to all views, and always bear witness for what we believe. Insofar as we play this role, we can be what Pope John Paul II said a Catholic university is meant to be -- "a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture" [Ex corde ecclesiae, 3.34]. Of course, dialogue is never instantaneous; it doesn't begin and end in an afternoon. It is an ongoing process made possible by many acts of courtesy and gestures of respect, by listening carefully and speaking honestly. Paradoxically, support for these actions often falls as the need for them rises -- so they are most controversial precisely when they can be most helpful. As we all know, a great deal of attention has surrounded President Obama's visit to Notre Dame. We honor all people of good will who have come to this discussion respectfully and out of deeply held conviction. Most of the debate has centered on Notre Dame's decision to invite and honor the President. Less attention has been focused on the President's decision to accept. President Obama has come to Notre Dame, though he knows well that we are fully supportive of Church teaching on the sanctity of human life, and we oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Others might have avoided this venue for that reason. But President Obama is not someone who stops talking to those who differ with him. Mr. President: This is a principle we share. As the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council wrote in their pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes: "Respect and love ought to be extended also to those who think or act differently than we do in social, political and even religious matters. In fact, the more deeply we come to understand their ways of thinking through such courtesy and love, the more easily will we be able to enter into dialogue with them." If we want to extend courtesy, respect and love -- and enter into dialogue -- then surely we can start by acknowledging what is honorable in others. We welcome President Obama to Notre Dame, and we honor him for the qualities and accomplishments the American people admired in him when they elected him. He is a man who grew up without a father, whose family was fed for a time with the help of food stamps -- yet who mastered the most rigorous academic challenges, who turned his back on wealth to serve the poor, who sought the Presidency at a young age against long odds, and who -- on the threshold of his goal -- left the campaign to go to the bedside of his dying grandmother who helped raise him. He is a leader who has great respect for the role of faith and religious institutions in public life. He has said: "Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square." He is the first African American to be elected President, yet his appeal powerfully transcends race. In a country that has been deeply wounded by racial hatred -- he has been a healer. He has set ambitious goals across a sweeping agenda -- extending health care coverage to millions who don't have it, improving education especially for those who most need it, promoting renewable energy for the sake of our economy, our security, and our climate. He has declared the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and has begun arms reduction talks with the Russians. He has pledged to accelerate America's fight against poverty, to reform immigration to make it more humane, and to advance America's merciful work in fighting disease in the poorest places on earth. As commander-in-chief and as chief executive, he embraces with confidence both the burdens of leadership and the hopes of his country. Ladies and Gentlemen: The President of the United States." http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/remarks_of_rev_john_jenkins_at.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/remarks_of_rev_john_jenkins_at.php Sun, 17 May 2009 20:26:59 -0500 Archbishop Burke regales fellow conservatives at annual Republican Catholic Prayer Breakfast Archbishop Raymond Burke, the former steward of the St Louis Archdiocese, flew to Washington to join old friends at the sixth annual Republican Catholic Prayer Breakfast. This event, which was begun by several major fundraisers for the Bush Catholic Outreach effort, was organized again this year by the engineers of the unsuccessful McCain Campaign Catholic effort. Archbishop Burke did not disappoint his fellow partisans. He spent virtually his whole speech condemning the Democrats, and one in particular. He condemned the University of Notre Dame for continuing its tradition of inviting the President of the United States to speak at their commencement. His remarks were lacking in subtlety, raising up his own brand of Catholicism over that of the majority of Catholics who voted for President Obama. Alluding to Notre Dame, he said the university was "not worthy of the name Catholic." He condemned same-sex marriage as a threat to family life, but neglected to cite any of the more pressing issues that undermine the viability of the family--such as the closing of Catholic church communities, the barriers to the involvement of fathers in the lives of their children, and the current rapidly expanding unemployment around the world. His remarks had some embarrassing moments. He stated incorrectly that a set of healthcare rules implemented in the last month of the Bush Administration would compel physicians to perform abortions. He said, "Those in power propose to force physicians and other healthcare professionals--in other words, those with a particular responsibility to protect and foster human life--to participate, contrary to what their conscience requires, in the destruction of unborn human lives, from the first or embryonic stage of development to the moment of birth." Conscience protections have been a matter of US law since the early 1970s, and no one has proposed reversing any of the three major legal structures governing conscience in healthcare. He also stated that Catholic Hospitals might be compelled to close their doors under new regulations being considered by the current administration. The head of the Catholic Hospital Association has said unequivocally that such exaggeration is wrong and unhelpful. He stated incorrectly that reversal of the Reagan-era Mexico City Policy would result in US funding of abortions abroad. He spoke twice about a "culture of death," but he made no mention of President Obama's efforts to stop the Iraq War, or the trend away from executions in the US, or the economy that is hurting so many families. He said nothing about the stagnation of abortion rates under President Bush, after a decade of significant progress under President Clinton. In other words, his speech to a group of Republicans was exactly what the audience was looking for: a condemnation of our President that led the critics to believe that the Church supports the Republican Party. This line of reasoning carried on the previous work of other bishops with Republican sympathies who have spoken critically of the Democrats at this political event in previous years--specifically the bishops of Denver and Kansas City KS. As intelligent as Archbishop Burke clearly is, he showed no awareness of how severely he has damaged the Church through his longstanding efforts to turn American Catholics against one another. He showed no understanding of the ways he has denigrated the central Sacrament of Catholic life by turning the Eucharist into a political football to be batted around by which ever political party happens to have his favor. Archbishop Burke is now the prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature at the Vatican. His prominent appearance at a Republican political event like this is akin to someone like Justice Antonin Scalia violating his judical neutrality by attending a major political convention in the US. Perhaps not surprisingly, Justice Scalia was himself also in attendance. http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/archbishop_burke_regales_fello.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/archbishop_burke_regales_fello.php Fri, 08 May 2009 23:52:18 -0500 Stem Cell Sensitivity -- Vatican Agrees with Doug Kmiec -- Obama acting "Cautiously" Catholic News Service -- Faith & Precedent Column Douglas W. Kmiec At the end of May in Washington, D.C., Professor Robert George of Princeton and I, along with former Bush Administration Ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon, will be having a public conversation at the National Press Club to evaluate President Obama's wider inclusion of embryonic stem cells in federally-supported medical research. Each of us, as Catholics, have faith-based reservations to the President's use of embryos, but here is some encouraging news: the Obama administration has just issued its implementing regulations and they head in a noticeably more Catholic-friendly direction. In his initial press conference, as I saw it, the President had already put off-limits the use of embryonic stem cells for reproductive cloning. Professor George thought the cloning limitation could have been stronger. Either way, the more general Catholic objection to the President's plan was its seeming support for the production of embryos for medical research seeking a cure for Parkinson's disease, cancer, and other illnesses. The new regulations show even greater ethical sensitivity by the President, now by limiting the use of embryos in the medical research effort as well. Specifically, the regulations provide that only embryos created by couples to treat infertility and that turn out not to be needed may be used. These embryos, of course, would have been discarded if not devoted to medical research. This is a salutary limitation upon the use of embryos, and if it sounds familiar, it is, because former President George W. Bush did something similar. Neither president thus met the Catholic objection which pertains to the use of any embryo. President Obama's ethical mitigation was not finished, however. Specifically, he has authorized the National Institute of Health (NIH) to continue to invest several hundreds of millions of dollars in the types of "adult" stem cell research urged by Catholic scientists and doctors as an ethical alternative to the use of embryos. Finally, in a move totally unexpected, the Obama administration announced informed consent rules that are far more strict -- and retroactive -- than what had been proposed by President Bush. In brief, if researchers do not follow the new informed consent rules, no funding. This may trigger some consternation among medical researchers, but it is a very positive sign that President Obama has been listening -- as he promised -- to the heightened claims of conscience posed by Catholics in the modern medical environment. As noted, these new stem cell regulations are not yet the full Catholic position specifying the embryo as life's beginning point. Our faith makes a scientific claim and a moral one. As Cardinal Rigali has instructed, life begins with the embryo as "a matter of objective [biological or scientific] fact" and as a "moral" conclusion dependent upon a principle of "natural law accessible to people of good will." I am especially pleased by Cardinal Rigali's recent letter to Congress highlighting the Pregnant Women's Support Act. The question bears examination however: Why do President Obama and other intelligent, non-Catholic people not agree with us totally? Good question, and in the forthcoming conversation in Washington, we will more closely examine the source of this Catholic disagreement with our fellow citizens and our President. Taking our cue from Professor Bill Wagner of The Catholic University of America (CUA) who will be our host at the press club, and influenced by the intellectual courage and stature of Notre Dame that earlier in the same month of May will be hearing from the President and of course had invited former Ambassador Glendon as well. I regret Mary Ann felt it necessary not to come to Notre Dame. She will always be welcome at Our Lady's University, and of course, I know Professor George and I remain delighted that she will be in conversation with us. We intend to conduct our conversation as persons of faith witnessing Christ - that is, in a manner slow to judge and answering in love, and without recrimination or partisan suspicion. May God bless the great Catholic Universities of this land, especially CUA and Notre Dame, for demonstrating how a world-class university can conduct inquiry with an open mind, anchored in faith and informed by reason. And may God bless President Obama for hearing -- and responding -- to the Catholic community. The President's strong motivation to assist in the treatment of devastating illnesses often associated with life's end is only ennobled by his willingness to be more ethically sensitive to the earliest moments of life. And the Holy Father apparently agrees with Doug Kmiec!! LOSSERVATORE-OBAMA Apr-29-2009 By John Thavis Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper said President Barack Obama's first 100 days in office have not confirmed the Catholic Church's worst fears about radical policy changes in ethical areas. The comments came in a front-page article April 29 in L'Osservatore Romano, under the headline, "The 100 days that did not shake the world." It said the new president has operated with more caution than predicted in most areas, including economics and international relations. "On ethical questions, too -- which from the time of the electoral campaign have been the subject of strong worries by the Catholic bishops -- Obama does not seem to have confirmed the radical innovations that he had discussed," it said. It said the new draft guidelines for stem-cell research, for example, did not constitute the major change in policy that was foreseen a few months ago. "(The guidelines) do not allow the creation of new embryos for research or therapeutic purposes, for cloning or for reproductive ends, and federal funds may be used only for experimentation with excess embryos," it said. It added that the new guidelines "do not remove the reasons for criticism in the face of unacceptable forms of bioengineering" but are "less permissive" than expected. The article saw a positive sign in the recent introduction of the Pregnant Women Support Act, which would help women overcome problems that often cause them to have abortions. It was sponsored by a group of pro-life Democrats. "It is not a negation of the doctrine expressed up to now by Obama in the matter of interruption of pregnancy, but the legislative project could represent a rebalancing in support of maternity," the newspaper said.]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/stem_cell_sensitivity_vatican.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/05/stem_cell_sensitivity_vatican.php Fri, 01 May 2009 11:47:09 -0500 "Focus on those areas that we can agree on," says Obama about abortion, in prime time press conference My view on abortion, I think, has been very consistent. I think abortion is a moral issue and an ethical issue. I think that those who are pro-choice make a mistake if they suggest -- and I don't want to create straw men here -- but I think there are some who suggest that this is simply an issue about women's freedom and that there's no other considerations. I think, look, this is an issue that people have to wrestle with and families and individual women have to wrestle with. The reason I'm pro-choice is because I don't think women take that position casually. I think that they struggle with these decisions each and every day. And I think they are in a better position to make these decisions ultimately than members of Congress or a president of the United States, in consultation with their families, with their doctors, with their clergy. So that has been my consistent position. The other thing that I said consistently during the campaign is I would like to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies that result in women feeling compelled to get an abortion, or at least considering getting an abortion, particularly if we can reduce the number of teen pregnancies, which has started to spike up again. And so I've got a task force within the Domestic Policy Council in the West Wing of the White House that is working with groups both in the pro-choice camp and in the pro-life camp, to see if we can arrive at some consensus on that. Now, the Freedom of Choice Act is not highest legislative priority. I believe that women should have the right to choose. But I think that the most important thing we can do to tamp down some of the anger surrounding this issue is to focus on those areas that we can agree on. And that's where I'm going to focus. http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/04/focus_on_those_areas_that_we_c.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/04/focus_on_those_areas_that_we_c.php Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:58:02 -0500 In speech to Congress, President Obama turns the page on a decade of disaster President Barack Obama delivered a nationally-televised address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night with, for the first time in American history, two Catholics poised behind him to hear this traditional speech. Vice President Joseph Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, second and third in the line of succession to the presidency, looked on approvingly as President Obama outlined the scope of the problems that lie before America and the world. Catholics could be proud of more than just their continued political ascent in American government. Mr Obama outlined a legislative and budget program that addresses some of the most pressing moral priorities of our time. He declared the end of government approved torture, and the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison where it had taken place. He reaffirmed the intent to end the war in Iraq by next year, and to reap the savings from that military misadventure for meeting human needs at home. He outlined practical measures for making Americans more energy-efficient, and with them a moral model for ecologic sustainability. Although he did not refer directly to the moral challenge of abortion, he cited a number of measures the administration has already taken to address root causes of unintended pregnancy. He said the recovery package would create 3.5 million new jobs. He talked about tax cuts for 95% of working families. He spoke of the education emergency related to the half of all young people who drop out of high school. He alluded to the one million additional Americans who have lost their health insurance in each of the last eight years. All four of these problems represent modifiable risk factors that have been shown to affect the risk for unintended pregnancy. Citing three problems of particular concern--foreign energy dependence, soaring health care costs, and the lag in educational achievement--he framed the problem like this: "We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy, yet we import more oil today than ever before. The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year, yet we keep delaying reform. Our children will compete for jobs in a global economy that too many of our schools do not prepare them for. And though all of these challenges went unsolved, we still managed to spend more money and pile up more debt, both as individuals and through our government, than ever before. In other words, we have lived through an era where too often short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity, where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future." He had the opportunity to point to a string of early successes in dealing with these hard scrabble problems. He cited the new S-CHIP legislation that will insure 11-million children and bring them better health. He pointed to the $10 billion in additional funding for health research, championed by Republican Senator Arlen Specter. And he called for a unified effort to reform the healthcare system so that it serves all Americans. Beyond the focus on energy and the life-saving benefits it could bring to address the global warming crisis, he also addressed the world of conflict that he inherited from the previous administration. "In words and deeds," he said, "we are showing the world that a new era of engagement has begun, for we know that America cannot meet the threats of this century alone, but the world cannot meet them without America. We cannot shun the negotiating table nor ignore the foes or forces that could do us harm. We are instead called to move forward with the sense of confidence and candor that serious times demand." In short, President Obama set out an ambitious agenda to reverse the wrong turns of the previous decade. Catholics and other people of faith will be energized by the growing sense that an era of fatalistic resignation to living with all these problems seems to have passed. Though the magnitude of the challenge appears to be immense and not party to simple solutions, there is a tangible optimism that the corner has finally been turned. http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/in_speech_to_congress_presiden.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/in_speech_to_congress_presiden.php Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:51:08 -0500 Speaker Pelosi meets with Pope Benedict to discuss common concerns House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband met Wednesday with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. The two had a chance to talk about a wide range of issues, and Speaker Pelosi's office issued a statement afterward that said, "In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel." Speaker Pelosi was traveling with a delegation in Italy just days after she successfully stewarded new economic stimulus legislation through Congress to help jumpstart the U.S. economy. Because economic factors have been so closely linked in recent studies with the incidence of abortion, many Catholics are hopeful that restoring economic health will help blunt the effects of the Bush Recession on abortion rates in the US over the coming months. The Pope shared his concerns about abortion with Speaker Pelosi, who has indicated on many occasions her determination to pass legislation that will help reduce the number of abortions. http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/speaker_pelosi_meets_with_pope.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/speaker_pelosi_meets_with_pope.php Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:01:31 -0500 Obama plan will help the neediest, including the unborn Passage of the Economic Stimulus package in Congress last week was a triumph not only for the new Obama Administration, but for the Catholic Social Tradition. After eight years of dramatic expansion in spending on weapons and war, approaching a trillion dollars annually, the new legislation prioritizes helping people. According to the New York Times, the $787 billion package provided for $500 billion in funding for social services and investment in infrastructure. The package budgets an extra $20 billion for food stamps, an average of $63 per month for a family of three, which will make a dramatic difference in assuring that children are well nourished enough to learn in schools across the country. $2.1 billion are provided to expand Head Start early childhood support, and $2 billion to expand quality child care. Republican Arlen Specter championed a $10 billion expansion in research funding for the NIH to address a host of human diseases, and $87 billion were provided for expanded federal support of Medicaid health insurance for the poor. In conservative religious circles, much has been made about the supposed pro-abortion policies of the new administration. But the reality is that progress against abortion, so substantial during the Clinton years, slowed significantly under President Bush. A raft of new studies has shown the effect that economic factors have on abortion rates, and the Bush Recession is likely to push significantly more women into having abortions over the next 2-3 years as joblessness rises, health insurance rates fall, and disposable income diminishes. The Obama stimulus package may be the best hope for those who truly care about the unborn, addressing as it does the needs of young people and families. By helping limit the damage of the Bush Recession on the neediest in society (the most likely to pursue an abortion), it may be that more of the unborn will find their way into the world in the months and years to come. http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/obama_plan_will_help_the_needi.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/obama_plan_will_help_the_needi.php Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:30:03 -0500 Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships THE WHITE HOUSE (February 5, 2009) -- President Barack Obama today signed an executive order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs. "Over the past few days and weeks, there has been much talk about what our government's role should be during this period of economic emergency. That is as it should be -- because there is much that government can and must do to help people in need," said President Obama. "But no matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone. There is a force for good greater than government. It is an expression of faith, this yearning to give back, this hungering for a purpose larger than our own, that reveals itself not simply in places of worship, but in senior centers and shelters, schools and hospitals, and any place an American decides." The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer. President Obama appointed Joshua DuBois, a former associate pastor and advisor to the President in his U.S. Senate office and campaign Director of Religious Affairs, to lead this office. "Joshua understands the issues at stake, knows the people involved, and will be able to bring everyone together -- from both the secular and faith-based communities, from academia and politics -- around our common goals," said President Obama. The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will focus on four key priorities, to be carried out by working closely with the President's Cabinet Secretaries and each of the eleven agency offices for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships: The Office's top priority will be making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete. It will be one voice among several in the administration that will look at how we support women and children, address teenage pregnancy, and reduce the need for abortion. The Office will strive to support fathers who stand by their families, which involves working to get young men off the streets and into well-paying jobs, and encouraging responsible fatherhood. Finally, beyond American shores this Office will work with the National Security Council to foster interfaith dialogue with leaders and scholars around the world. As the priorities of this Office are carried out, it will be done in a way that upholds the Constitution -- by ensuring that both existing programs and new proposals are consistent with American laws and values. The separation of church and state is a principle President Obama supports firmly -- not only because it protects our democracy, but also because it protects the plurality of America’s religious and civic life. The Executive Order President Obama will sign today strengthens this by adding a new mechanism for the Executive Director of the Office to work through the White House Counsel to seek the advice of the Attorney General on difficult legal and constitutional issues. The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will include a new President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds. There will be 25 members of the Council, appointed to 1-year terms. Members of the Council include: Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America Philadelphia, PA Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and noted church/state expert Washington, DC Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention Taylors, SC Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA Alexandria, VA Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church Cleveland, OH Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Corps Chicago, IL Fred Davie, President, Public / Private Ventures, a secular non-profit intermediary New York, NY Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA Philadelphia, PA Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and expert on church/state issues Winston-Salem, NC Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed Lakeland, FL Dr. Arturo Chavez, Ph.D., President & CEO, Mexican American Cultural Center San Antonio, TX Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners Washington, DC Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church Knoxville, TN Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco, a secular national operating intermediary New York, NY Richard Stearns, President, World Vision Bellevue, WA http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/obama_announces_white_house_of.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/02/obama_announces_white_house_of.php Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:16:46 -0500 Bush farewell speech offers rosy assessment of a pothole-punctuated record The Catholic Democrats have calculated that an additional 274,800 children would be alive today if America had continued to make progress on the abortion problem during the first five years under Mr Bush at the same rate that the procedure plummeted under President Clinton. He said that "America's air, water, and lands are measurably cleaner," but he made no reference to his duplicity on entering office in 2001 with regard to his campaign pledges to decrease carbon dioxide emissions. He withdrew US participation in the Kyoto Protocol intended to initiate a response to the crisis of global warming. He has been widely condemned in the scientific world for rewriting reports to dumb down the threats posed to the environment. He ignored a 2006 Supreme Court ruling urging the administration to regulate green house gases as a pollutant. He delayed attainment of improved fuel economy standards that would have made the US less dependent on foreign oil. He made no reference to the greatest disparity of wealth in the US since before the Great Depression, the expanding ranks of the medically uninsured, or the skyrocketing of domestic poverty. He spoke briefly about the economy "facing the prospect of a financial collapse," but then congratulated himself on acting decisively to limit the damage that had occurred on his watch. Perhaps the only moment of real truth in his address was when he applauded progress in the treatment of HIV in the developing world, but he made no mention of the disastrous accelerating spread of AIDS in America. New CDC data shows that about 56,000 Americans are becoming infected every year, disproportionately in the Southern states (2/3 of all rural AIDS cases) that voted for Mr Bush in each of his two elections. Testing strategies in the US have been such a failure that 30% of HIV-infected people don't know it, and continue to spread the virus to others. Mr Bush made virtually no public references during his time in office to the AIDS epidemic in America. Frequent references to the Almighty in a decade of speeches have, if anything, given a really bad name to Christianity. Rather than finding ways to project American power through compassion, he devalued the lives of people across the Middle East in the name of protecting the lives of Americans. The future of America's economy, its environment, and its national security have all been jeopardized by the poorly-formed conscience at the top that was guiding the Federal Government's decision making. But most Americans are optimistic about the people who are taking over. May they set a new standard for moral action, on behalf of all the world's citizens, so help them God.]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/01/bush_farewell_speech_offers_ro.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2009/01/bush_farewell_speech_offers_ro.php Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:38:48 -0500 Catholic Democrats in Congress Senate Democrats: Mark Begich, Alaska; Joseph Biden, Delaware; Maria Cantwell, Washington; Robert P. Casey Jr., Pennsylvania; Christopher J. Dodd, Connecticut; Richard Durbin, Illinois; Tom Harkin, Iowa; Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts; John F. Kerry, Massachusetts; Mary Landrieu, Louisiana; Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont; Claire McCaskill, Missouri; Robert Menendez, New Jersey; Barbara Mikulski, Maryland; Patty Murray, Washington; Jack Reed, Rhode Island; and Ken Salazar, Colorado.
House Democrats: Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania; Michael A. Arcuri, New York; Joe Baca, California; Xavier Becerra, California; Timothy H. Bishop, New York; John Boccieri, Ohio; Robert Brady, Pennsylvania; Michael E. Capuano, Massachusetts; Dennis A. Cardoza, California; Christopher P. Carney, Pennsylvania; William Lacy Clay, Missouri; Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia; Jim Costa, California; Jerry F. Costello, Illinois; Joe Courtney, Connecticut; Joseph Crowley, New York; Henry Cuellar, Texas; Kathy Dahlkemper, Pennsylvania; Peter DeFazio, Oregon; William D. Delahunt, Massachusetts; Rosa L. DeLauro, Connecticut; John D. Dingell, Michigan; Joe Donnelly, Indiana; Michael F. Doyle, Pennsylvania; Steve Driehaus, Ohio; Brad Ellsworth, Indiana; Anna Eshoo, California; Kirsten E. Gillibrand, New York; Charlie Gonzalez, Texas; Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona; Luis V. Gutierrez, Illinois; John J. Hall, New York; Phil Hare, Illinois; Brian Higgins, New York; Maurice D. Hinchey, New York; Ruben Hinojosa, Texas; Tim Holden, Pennsylvania; and Paul Kanjorski, Pennsylvania. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio; Patrick J. Kennedy, Rhode Island; Dale E. Kildee, Michigan; Mary Jo Kilroy, Ohio; Ann Kirkpatrick, Arizona; Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio; James R. Langevin, Rhode Island; John B. Larson, Connecticut; Daniel Lipinski, Illinois; Ben Ray Lujan, New Mexico; Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts; Dan Maffei, New York; Betsy Markey, Colorado; Ed Markey, Massachusetts; Jim Marshall, Georgia; Eric Massa, New York; Carolyn McCarthy, New York; Betty McCollum, Minnesota; James P. McGovern, Massachusetts; Michael E. McMahon, New York; Jerry McNerney, California; Charlie Melancon, Louisiana; Michael H. Michaud, Maine; George Miller, California; Harry E. Mitchell, Arizona; James P. Moran, Virginia; Patrick J. Murphy, Pennsylvania; and John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania. Grace F. Napolitano, California; Richard E. Neal, Massachusetts; James L. Oberstar, Minnesota; David R. Obey, Wisconsin; Frank Pallone, New Jersey; Bill Pascrell, New Jersey; Ed Pastor, Arizona; Nancy Pelosi, California; Tom Perriello, Virginia; Charles B. Rangel, New York; Silvestre Reyes, Texas; Ciro D. Rodriguez, Texas; Lucille Roybal-Allard, California; Tim Ryan, Ohio; John T. Salazar, Colorado; Linda T. Sanchez, California; Loretta Sanchez, California; Jose E. Serrano, New York; Joe Sestak, Pennsylvania; Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire; Albio Sires, New Jersey; Hilda L. Solis, California; Bart Stupak, Michigan; Ellen Tauscher, California; Gene Taylor, Mississippi; Mike Thompson, California; Paul Tonko, New York; Nydia M. Velazquez, New York; Peter J. Visclosky, Indiana; Diane E. Watson, California; Peter Welch, Vermont; and Charles A. Wilson, Ohio.
]]> http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2008/12/all_catholic_democrats_in_cong.php http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/news/2008/12/all_catholic_democrats_in_cong.php Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:18:35 -0500