Update: What to say to *your* representative about healthcare

Today is the last opportunity to call your representatives on health care. Let's light up the phones!

Please email and call (202-224-3121 ) your representatives to demand that they vote NO on HR 3962.

update: I found a list of the 69 democrats who have expressed opposition to health care - these are the representatives Pelosi and Obama are trying to win over to their side - this list also includes their individual statements which means you can hold them to their promise!

(they are also receiving pressure from pro-abortion democrat groups - so they need to hear your side!)

See my previous post on this pressing issue here. God Bless you for your activism on this issue.

Last call: Seeking paid volunteers for Hoffman in upstate New York

I promise this will be one of the last times I bug you about Doug Hoffman, the conservative candidate in upstate New York for its seat in the US House of Representatives.

This is the last weekend before folks up there go to the polls next Tuesday. I can connect anyone who is free this weekend with pro-life, pro-family organizations on the ground up there who can pay for travel, lodging and daily expenses. I think this is a very worthwhile use of your time.

The latest polls show Hoffman in a dead heat with the Democrat candidate Bill Owens, but Democrats typically have a much stronger turn-out-the-vote campaign, so Hoffman needs help this weekend and up until election day.

If you have a car and can donate some of your time this weekend or before and during the election day to this campaign, please do so. As I've said before, this may be a local race, but it has a potential to send a clear message to politicians in Washington DC that pro-life, pro-family, and economically-responsible candidates are the way to win in future elections, and now.

Please email me at "thomas dot americanpapist dot com" if you are interested or know someone who might be interested.

If you can't make it to upstate New York, but still want to help financially, here's how.

Through your assistance, I look forward to reporting good news next Tuesday.

Get involved! Support a Catholic Speaker Month

Matt Warner at Fallible Blogma has a great concept and he needs our help to execute it.

It's called "Support a Catholic Speaker Month" where Catholic Bloggers pick a Catholic speaker to profile.

I've already grabbed up Dr. Janet Smith, but there are still plenty of orphan Catholic speakers waiting for a short blog post (at least a few paragraphs) from you to "flood the web raising awareness and promoting hundreds of Catholic speakers and blogs."

I'd love to see the AmP community get involved.

Also, as I've mentioned - I'm a Catholic speaker as well. I've recently given talks in the Archdiocese of Denver on "Catholic Principles of Health Care Reform."

If you are interested in having me speak to your Catholic audience, drop me an email at "thomas at ameircanpapist dot com." Thanks!

Matt is supposed to add me to this list of Catholic speakers so if you act fast you might be able to snag me! ;)

Event: Support local pro-life in Washington DC

I've talked before about how there is something everyone can do to support pro-life activities in their local community. Sometime that "something" is as easy as having a good time.

I'll be attending this year's "23rd Annual Indian Summer Ball" (despite the chilly, fall weather) this weekend, where the proceeds go directly to supporting the wonderful and critical pro-life work done by the Northwest Center. Here is the event description:

Our annual Indian Summer Ball is one of Washington D.C.’s premier pro-life events. This black-tie affair features live music and dancing, a gourmet buffet, and a silent auction.  Over the past two decades, the Ball has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the work of The Northwest Center while providing a memorable night for all our guests. Reserve your ticket or sponsorship today!

This event will be held October 17th, 2009 at the Organization of American States near the National Mall.

Click here for more information including directions and ticket sales.

2008 Photos - 2007 Photos

There's still time for you to buy your ticket. Or, if you live outside of Washington DC, support the center directly. Washington DC is not only our nation's capital, but a sad "abortion capital" of sorts (admittedly behind New York City in total numbers of abortions per year).

Whatever government programs have promised to accomplish here, the most effective way of supporting a cultural of life directly is to provide local and immediate support for women who want to make the choice for life. I hope you'll join these fruitful local efforts.

Video: Gay activists in Maine lie about Catholic support for homosexual marriage

CatholicVoteAction brings to our attention a duplicitous tactic being employed by homosexual activists in the lead-up to Maine's Nov. 4th marriage vote:

CatholicVoteAction.org Calls on Maine Group to Pull ‘Catholic’ Gay-Marriage Ad

Homosexual advocates have released a shameless new ad featuring a grandmother and two gay men urging Maine voters this November to approve ‘same-sex’ marriage. The grandmother in the new commercial speaks about her Catholic faith and the importance of the institution of marriage, but then urges voters to support ‘same-sex’ marriage.

Here is the video:

Look at how subtly this ad works: "I've been a Catholic all my life ... my faith means alot to me."

This ad is deceptive because it implies that this woman supports homosexual marriage because of her Catholic faith.

Of course, the universal Church only supports traditional marriage between a man and woman, as God instituted it, in harmony with natural laws which defend and promote human dignity and flourishing.

This video ad is doubly duplicitous because it ignores the clear teaching and activity of Maine's own Bishop Richard Malone, who is a staunch defender of traditional marriage and is mobilizing and urging Catholics in Maine to Vote Yes on November 4th.

I mean, who are Catholics supposed to believe - a woman who claims to be Catholic in an advertisement sponsored and run by homosexual-marriage advocates, or the local Bishop together with his priests in agreement with the constant teaching and universal witness of the Catholic Church? Really, it's not even close.

So let us come together and refute the lies being fed Catholics in Maine by those who created this advertisement. Catholics proudly support traditional marriage as God instituted it, and we won't let homosexual-marriage activists try to hide the clear teaching of the Church and their local Bishop from Catholics in Maine.

Visit www.standformarriagemaine.com where you will find ways to support their efforts to preserve traditional marriage. There's an action item for most everyone who is passionate about this issue. Even those of us who can't vote in Maine.

They also have documents and arguments showing why all citizens have an interest in supporting traditional marriage.

Action: What Catholics can do to help health care reform

The current status of the health care debate is complicated (I know, I follow it every day) - but what Catholics can do to make health care reform is fairly simple.

Currently all the focus is on the Senator Baucus bill currently being debated in the Senate Finance Committee. Not suprisingly, like the other Democrat health care plans, it funds abortions.

The American Principles Project blog has a simple explanation for how you can contact your Senator and request that they vote in favor of the various pro-life amendments which have been introduced to get abortion funding out of the Baucus bill. If 100 people called each of their Senators it really would make a huge impact.

For those of you who want a bit more detail, pay close attention to the langauge of the Capps Amendment. It appears to be the model Democrats favor for sneaking abortion funding into various health care proposals. National Right to Life Committee's Doug John picks the Capps amendment apart in this column.

Also, the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics blog appears to be a good resource for health care reform and end-of-life issues, particularly yesterday's article on "Robbing Peter to pay Paul - funding the senate finance bill by cutting health care funding for older Americans."

Finally, I should mention that I'm happy to do radio or TV interviews on any of these topics. The larger the audience, the better the chance I'll be able to take time away from my other commitments. But of course anyone is welcome to drop me an email.

Update: More proof we need to de-fund the CCHD

Last week I wrote at length about why I believe it is time to de-fund the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. I recommended that Catholics not contribute to their annual second collection at Sunday Masses which is coming up near Thanksgiving.

A week and a half later, I still think this is the best prudential move, as more evidence surfaces.

A report by LifeSiteNews:

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the U.S. bishops' domestic social justice arm, says it has taken "decisive action" on a new report that reveals they have been funding groups that support abortion, contraception, same-sex "marriage," and legalized prostitution.

The organization's funding practices have been the subject of growing scrutiny in the last several years, especially after it was revealed that CCHD had funded the scandal-plagued ACORN organization to the tune of millions of dollars.

The report about CCHD's problematic funding practices was prepared by the new Bellarmine Veritas Ministry (BVM), which has launched a national campaign aimed at addressing the problems with the organization. The group's founder, Rob Gasper, said he is "pleased" with the CCHD's response, but insisted that the organization is in need of further reform before the problems can be said to have been dealt with.

... The report lists four groups from the 2009-2010 grantee list that actively support policies or practices contrary to Church teaching. In total, these groups have been allocated $125,000 this year. The report also lists seven groups that have pushed for the current version of Obama's health care reform.

The Catholic Media Coalition (an organization I cannot personally vouch for) has a whole page on the CCHD, and wrote an open letter to the US bishops (PDF) about a year ago asking that they de-fund the CCHD. The actions they suggest the US bishops take, I find myself in agreement with:

• That the CCHD grant process be frozen and 2008 grants be suspended until a complete review and overhaul of the campaign can be conducted
• That all donations be placed in safe interest‐bearing accounts during the process
• That the grant application process be thoroughly studied and new policies developed that ensure only organizations that follow Catholic moral principles, i.e., pro-life, pro-family, pro-marriage, and pro-biblical morality be eligible for grants
• That the principle of subsidiarity be honored in the grant process
• That ACORN, the Industrial Areas Foundation and other Alinsky-style community organizations that follow immoral principles of action be permanently banned from receiving grants {this has already happened in the case of ACORN}
• That groups networking and interfacing with groups that advance pro-abortion, pro-homosexual policies be permanently banned from funding
• That whenever possible Catholic organizations be given preference over secular groups

That seems reasonable to me.

Alert: How you can help Dominican Nuns overflowing with vocations!

I've been corresponding over the past couple of days with a Dominican Sister of the Mary, Mother of the Eucharist community in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

I have had the privilege of knowing several sisters in this thriving young order during my time in Michigan, and since then as well. I will never forget the sight of their young professed sisters walking along the sidewalks of Ann Arbor in their white habits, often with a backpack full of school books for whatever class they were attending.

Now for the wake-up line: this religious community has grown by 2500% in the last 13 years.

You read that right. This explosion in vocations is unparalleled in my experience, and now I would be thrilled to see the AmP community support the necessary costs of providing for the needs of this flourishing order.

I'm going to rewrite in my own words her description of some of the upcoming events and opportunities for support she has brought to my attention:

"The 4th Annual “A Pledge of Future Glory Gala Dinner and Golf Tournament” will be held in Vienna, VA, on October 5th. These events provide assistance to help fund the growth of our community. We have grown from four Sisters in 1997 to ninety-nine as of 2 weeks ago, when our 17 newest Sisters entered (as recently covered in an article on CNA - which includes a YouTube video as well).

As you can imagine, there are significant costs associated with such growth – the main 2 costs being the building of our Motherhouse, and the education and formation of our young Sisters.

The name of our golf events comes from the title of our ongoing “A Pledge of Future Glory” mission advancement campaign, with an overall goal of raising $25 million for the burgeoning needs of our community (and the name of the campaign comes from St. Thomas Aquinas’ prayer “O Sacrum Convivium” – we are Dominicans, after all!).

Our website has a registration page for the event and also has a link to a PDF brochure. We also have online donation capabilities, for those who might not be able to attend the event, but who would like to help the cause! Every gift helps us!"

If you want to support a culture of young, orthodox vocations to women religious communities in the United States, you simply couldn't support a better group of sisters than these Dominicans.

Especially as the Vatican attempts to reform the older female religious communities in the United States through an extensive (and often resisted) visitation, now is the perfect time to support the joyfully-faithful sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, to help them remain and become an even brighter shining example of a life lived totally for Christ and his Church.

Catholic Church steps up defense of traditional marriage in Maine

Bishop Richard Malone, head of the only diocese in Maine, has placed the resources of local Catholics behind the efforts of Stand for Marriage Maine. We should too.

Maine is yet another example of government officials or judges forcing same-sex marriage on a state. Stand for Marriage Maine is simply attempting to give the people of Maine a chance to vote on an issue that will effect them intimately.

Same-sex marriage proponents intend to use the individual example of states (like Maine) to eventually make same-sex marriage legal nationally (they make no secret about this strategy of theirs).

Well, we can prevent this happening if we appeal to the average American - who still supports traditional marriage - instead of leaving this in the activist hands of courts and government officials.

Hop on over to http://standformarriagemaine.com/ and they have ways you can support their efforts to preserve traditional marriage. There's an action item for most everyone who feels passionate about this issue.

Urgent: Support the Foundation for Sacred Arts!

My good friend Erik Bootsma, graduate of the Notre Dame School of Architecture (and the artist behind the design for American Papist Apparel), sent me this impassioned plea for financial assistance.

I know many members of this organization and would love to see AmP readers get behind their important mission and work. Please read, contribute, and spread the word:

"The Foundation for Sacred Arts is dedicated to a new renaissance in Catholic arts: Painting, Sculpture, Music, Architecture, etc.

The Foundation sponsors speakers, academic forums, arts competitions and exhibitions of contemporary artists who best exemplify artistic excellence with an emphasis on the continuity of artistic tradition. We already have a number of speakers and programs coming up next year and beyond.

The Foundation is, however, desperately in need of financial support to keep its office open and to continue its work of building a solid groundwork for new programs needed to help foster a truly Catholic and beautiful culture of art in the Church today.

Right now the Foundation is actively searching for seed money to jump-start this new programming, while also requiring financial support to maintain current operations.

Every penny is precious right now so small donations are just as welcome as large ones. We hope to eventually raise $100,000 through a combination of individual donations and larger grants."

I think the main challenge facing the Foundation at this point is that they are unknown. Living as Catholics in 21st century America, I think we are all keenly aware of the urgent need to support young Catholic artists who are inspired to create beautiful art in the Catholic tradition.

Beautiful works of art, after all, inspire us to see the beauty of God's creation and the dignity of his creation Man. Good art is fitting praise for the all-good God. And we shouldn't have to look for good Catholic art only in museums and art history books.

Erik recently wrote an excellent article for the Catholic News Agency entitled "Novelty vs. Beauty":

When I tell Catholics I meet that I’m an architect, invariably they ask me, “Why doesn’t the church I attend look like a church? Why don’t they build nice churches like the old ones we love?” Sometimes I come up with a complicated answer or theory, but most of the time I answer, “architects.”

In the United States, we have a fairly good tradition of building beautiful churches in which one can feel a true sense of reverence. One would be hard pressed to find a church built before World War II that wasn’t beautiful and beloved by its parishioners. It would be an even more difficult task to find such a church built after the World War that comes close to the beauty found in an average 1920s church and a Herculean task to find one built since the 1960s.

How is it that even within the Catholic Church, where we affirm and believe in the importance of tradition, that a deep and profound architectural heritage came to be abandoned? Again the answer is that architects, like so many other artists, have become obsessed with the idea of novelty. Most artists have been trained to believe by their mentors in 20th century art culture that only novel or “revolutionary” creations are worthy of being called art.

[Read the full article here.]

Another important factor in the sad situation that Erik describes is, well, money. Catholics must actively help good artists do their work. We've probably all complained at some point about bad Catholic art. Well, I've moved past grumbling and now I want to fix it. And the Foundation for Sacred Arts is well-equipped to do just that, with your assistance and mine.

If you cannot contribute to the Foundation directly, please help spread the word by emailing your friends, blogging about this, and telling your friends about them on Facebook and Twitter. All donations are tax-deductible, so that's an incentive, too.

If you want to contact Erik directly for interviews or publicity, you can do so at "erikbootsma [at] gmail.com."

So the next time you walk into a beautiful or ugly Catholic church, think for a moment about who was responsible for building it. Then, if you want to see more beautiful Churches, or less ugly ones, drop a few dollars in the Foundation's basket. I will.

Augustine wrote that he who sings, prays twice. Well, he who helps those who helps others pray ... well, it works out pretty good for them, too! I know I can count on you papists.

Tip: Save babies every time you use a Credit Card!

This is really cool. Crossroads Pro-Life now has a credit card you can use which will donate 1% of every one of your purchases to their cause. The first time you swipe it, Crossroads Pro-Life gets $25!

It's the only pro-life credit card out there.

(And if you want to change the image on the front of the card to something you want instead - you can!)

So spread the word, and if you want a pro-life cause supported by your purchases - get this one.

Video : Tell Harry Reid to Vote Pro-Life

The Susan B. Anthony List has put together an excellent video:

A friend on the inside tells me they could reach their fundraising goal today to put it on the air.

Let's put them over the top (tell your friends, too)!

Must-see Video: Stop the Abortion Mandate

A heckuva good video, for a critical moral cause:



More at stoptheabortionmandate.com.

Action: Project Ultrasound needs you to help save babies

AmP reader Stephen with an awesome project I'd like to see the AmP community support:

"Project Ultrasound is a pro-life charity whose mission is to help equip crisis pregnancy centers with this powerful piece of equipment.

Crisis pregnancy centers are non-profit organizations who provide material and spiritual support to women experiencing unexpected pregnancies. So powerful is the impact of this technology, that 70-90% of abortion-minded women who see an ultrasound at a cpc end up choosing life.

The problem is that less then only half of crisis centers are equipped with these machines due to their extremely high cost!

Project Ultrasound wants to change this, one city at a time. Right now they are raising money to help purchase an ultrasound machine for Heartbeat of Fremont, Ohio. They need your help.

Read more about Project Ultrasound and support their cause at http://www.projectultrasound.org/."

We can all help support a culture of life in our country. Let's do something now.

I'd also recommend joining their cause page on Facebook (and telling your friends).

Action: You have 3 hours to be in a pro-life video!

StoptheAbortionMandatecom, a pro-life action item clearing house for folks who don't want to see abortion added to health care legislation, "is looking for people who would like to be a part of a national viral video."

It's a really cool idea and, if you start now, you totally have time to hit their 12pm EST deadline!

Re-defeat: Abortion measure passes *then fails* in House

update: the post below has been rendered meaningless by an 11th-hour move by Rep. Waxman (D-CA) which brought the amendment up for a second vote, and then defeated it by a one vote margin:

An anti-abortion amendment to a sweeping health overhaul bill was voted down in a House committee late Thursday — a dramatic reversal just hours after the measure initially was approved.

The amendment said health care legislation moving through Congress may not impose requirements for coverage of abortion, except in limited cases. It was approved in the Energy and Commerce Committee after conservative Democrats joined Republicans to support it.

But committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., invoked House rules that allowed him to bring up the amendment for a second vote, despite Republican objections.

This time, one conservative Democrat — Rep. Bart Gordon of Tennessee — changed his vote from "yes" to "no." And a second conservative Democrat who hadn't voted the first time — Rep. Zack Space of Ohio — voted "no."

It was enough to take down the amendment on a 30-29 vote.

See how dead set the Democrat leadership is on keeping abortion in this health care bill?

===

original post....

I typically don't post blogs in the evening, but this is important news which shouldn't wait till morning:

Lawmakers have amended a sweeping health overhaul bill to ensure it does not require coverage of abortions.

The anti-abortion measure was approved late Thursday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee as conservative Democrats banded with Republicans to support it.

The amendment says health care overhaul legislation moving through Congress may not impose requirements for coverage of abortion, except in cases where a woman's life is endangered or her pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

The amendment would have to survive the full House and Senate.

The measure was offered by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, along with Republicans Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania and Roy Blunt of Missouri. (AP)

What we should take from this:

1. Despite the attempt by pro-abortion groups to hide the truth, abortion is in this health care plan until the point that it is explicitly excluded. That's why we needed an amendment to rule it out.
2. We're not there yet. This measure still has to be approved in the full House and Senate. Keep sending in the emails, making the phone calls, and find ways of meeting with your representatives as they go back to their home districts in August.
3. Removing abortion coverage is a big step, but the health care reform plan still has serious flaws which also need to be examined over the coming weeks.

But that said, praise God that some measure of sanity has been introduced into our nation's health care debate. Our efforts are meeting some success ... now let's redouble them.

In the crosshairs: Let's defeat the DeLauro-Ryan scam bill!

This bill (HR #3312) needs to be defeated, and with your help, I think we can.

Pro-abortion groups are throwing all of their weight behind it, and they are trying to pick up enough "pro-life" defectors to make the case to the rest of us that it represents "common ground" legislation....

.... It isn't. It simply throws $700 million dollars to pro-abortion organizations. And they already get plenty.

"But wait!" They'll say. "This isn't funding abortions." Sure it is, it's funding abortion providers. Their argument is like saying a piece of legislation doesn't fund drinking, it funds bars. You know, because plenty of people go to bars to access the valuable nutritional content of pub food, so we're just giving money to the bars so they can put on more happy hours.

I will provide information about HR #3312 and why it is important to defeat it. If you scroll to the bottom of the post you will find action items to make sure that it is defeated. 

Please link to this post if you are convinced. Let's get a lot of people involved on this one.

===

Summary/Analysis:

HR #3312 in summary reads: "To provide for programs that reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents." 

It is currently in committee, and is waiting to get to the floor of the House to be voted upon. Tim Ryan (D-OH) sponsored the bill, along with 12 other democrats, notably Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).

The main thrust of the bill is to increase Title X funding for Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups. It also mandates that Medicaid would universally cover both abortion and contraception. 

How much money are we talking about? As I said above, $700,000,000.00. That's right: seven hundred million dollars. If you had seven hundred million dollars dangling in front of you, and weren't scrupulous, wouldn't you think of a really clever argument to argue that you deserve it?

The bill includes enough other provisions to make the excuse that it isn't another veiled attempt to pump more money into these for-profit organizations. The bill provides heavy coverage for contraception, with the argument being that this will reduce abortions.

A country saturated in contraceptives, however, does not drive down the number of abortions. Efforts in the UK to increase contraception access have only resulted in the deepening of the abortion epidemic.

The bill's sponsor, Tim Ryan, who is Catholic, claims to be pro-life. He is not, or at least, he never votes pro-life. He recently voted to have taxpayers in DC fund abortions. As Jack Smith writes, "In the current and last sessions of Congress Tim Ryan had the exact same voting score from National Right to Life as Rosa DeLauro - 0." Jack Smith provides more background here.

Who likes this bill? Radical pro-abortion lobbies like NARAL. It's a ruthless cycle: abortion groups lobby for more money, so they can propose further legislation ... that gets them more money. Meanwhile the "powerful" pro-life movement continues to chug along on blogs, email lists, and concerned folks like you picking up the phone and sending emails to your representatives. I know, we have so much to gain, right?

Anyway, when a movement runs out of ideas and arguments, they can do two things: have a hard think about their position or attempt to co-opt/shut-up the opposition. The pro-abortion lobby has chose the second option. "Faith in public life" is a good example of marginalizing pro-lifers and claiming a consensus for their position when there is not one. Some Christian pastors have come out in support of the bill, but not one Catholic priest has voiced support for it. Because faithful Catholics understand that contraception and funding abortion providers is not going to drive down the number of abortions in this country, or promote a culture of life.

In fact, as I blogged about last week, the USCCB has taken the unusual step of specifically targeting this bill as unacceptable, calling it the "Planned Parenthood Economic Stimulus Package of 2009."

And if you want to know Pope Benedict's mind on the issue of governments promoting contraception, read what I wrote about that on July 8th. (hint: he's against it.)

If you are reading this far, you are probably interested in this sort of thing enough to be curious about the strategic opportunity here. 

In the wider picture, the DeLauro-Ryan bill is a preview of coming attractions: What DeLauro-Ryan floats as legislation, should it pass, is the type of "solution" the Obama administration will offer to the problem of abortion in White House-sponsored initiatives. 

In other words, Obama's long-awaited solution to the number of abortions is - not surprisingly - to further fill the coffers of the radical pro-abortion lobbyists and organizations which helped him and his associates win the White House and Congress. Sadly, it's still true in much of American politics that to find out what's happening, you have to follow the money. In this case it goes abortionists --> Obama --> abortionists (through Congress).

But if this bill is defeated, we may still have the chance of proposing counter-solutions acceptable to true pro-lifers, from people who sincerely want to see the number of abortions reduced by supporting women and helping them make the right choice, which is always to protect innocent life and give it the same chance we all deserve.

===

Action: 

The most effective thing you can do is call your congressional representative and tell them simply "Vote NO on the DeLauro-Ryan bill." If they want a reason: "It funds pro-abortion organizations which already receive too much federal funding." If they want an alternative bill to support on this issue, there is one (see below). The congressional switchboard is 202-224-3121 (don't hang up if it keeps ringing, it takes time for an operator to help you, but it will happen eventually). But you can also be completely done with the call in under a minute. The staffs are courteous and are there to take calls from people like you on issues like this.

You can also send a short email to your representative through this official form. Simply write the same thing and heck, give them the link to this post if they want to know why.

If you want help spread the word around the web, you can refer folks to this post, join a Facebook group I created (Stop DeLauro-Ryan) or Twitter about it (I propose the hashtag #stopryan).

As far as an alternative proposal, there is a good bill already in Congress, introduced by Lincoln Davis (D-TN) - HR #2035 which reads in summary: "To provide for programs that reduce abortions, help women bear healthy children, and support new parents." 

It is supported by Cardinal Rigali (head of USCCB pro-life) and numerous other Catholic and pro-life organizations, as Jack Smith explains. It is also bi-partisan: in the House it has 28 democrat and 12 republican co-sponsors! That's common ground, because pro-lifers can actually support it, on both sides of the aisle.

[photo credit: Third Way]

Action: Support 'Aid the Church in Need'

Sent in by AmP reader Michael:

Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy Father dedicated to helping suffering and persecuted faithful worldwide. As the voice of the suffering Church, we reach out to assist people in need in over 145 countries, supporting  more than 5,000 projects each year. Our donors have made a positive difference in the lives of literally millions of people worldwide, but the need is still great. Please consider making a gift to support a program, or offer general support. Another way to help is by Offering a Mass. You may also wish to view specific Projects in Need that are in urgent need of funding.

Urgent: a chance to defund Planned Parenthood

update: 247-183 against the Pence Ammendment. I wonder if any congressmen who claim to be pro-life voted against the ammendment? Thank you for all your efforts. One of these times, we'll succeed.

Pro-life warrior Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) has given us a chance to have Planned Parenthood cut off from receiving federal funds through the Health and Human Services Department.

Pence has said (and written):

“The time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood of America. The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X.”

He has offered a simple amendment which reads:

"None of the funds made available under this Act shall be available to Planned Parenthood for any purpose under Title X of the Public Health Services Act."

It's a miracle this amendment made it through the rules committee last night, making it eligible for a general floor vote today. This is a chance to defund Planned Parenthood and also a chance to see who is in their pocket.

Since this vote is happening so soon, the best thing to do is call your congressional office now and tell them "I want you to vote for the Pence Ammendment and defund Planned Parenthood!" The switchboard number is 202-224-3121 and they can direct you by state to the right office. Staffers are waiting to hear your voice. That's why they are there.

Let's defund Planned Parenthood and have something to celebrate this weekend.

update - Congressman Mike Pence makes his case on the floor:

Action: Help restore a historic Catholic landmark in St. Louis

From AmP reader Canon Wiener of the Oratory:

An important restoration campaign is underway at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory, a National Registry of Historic Places landmark on the South Side of Saint Louis. Originally founded in 1867 to serve the German immigrant community, Saint Francis de Sales has faced the challenges of changing demographics and urban blight in more recent years, like many urban parishes. The majestic century-old neo-Gothic structure, replete with a 350-foot tall steeple, like any building of its age and size, stands in serious need of restoration. A new phase in the life of the church began in 2005 when Archbishop Raymond Burke entrusted the church to the Institute of Christ the King, a society of apostolic life offering Mass and the sacraments in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. The Institute places a strong accent on sacred art, architecture and music in the service of God and has carried out a number of notable church restoration projects.

As the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales—already important as an architectural and religious monument in the city—has been reborn and continues to grow, the need for restoring the church has become more pressing. Preserving the structural integrity of the steeple tower is an immediate and urgent need, as the tower is pulling away from church’s foundation. Even the slightest incline is exerting great pressure on the building, affecting the walls and windows. The structural restoration alone will cost $1.5 million. Additional funds will also be needed to beautify the tower house, including renovating the vestibule, the clock, and the bells. Subsequent phases of the restoration will encompass the stained glass windows and tuckpointing, as well as refurbishing the interior elements such as the organ, confessionals, and altars. A successful restoration of the sacristy has already been completed. For more information about this worthy project, please consult the Tradition for Tomorrow website or contact the Oratory at 2653 Ohio Avenue; Saint Louis, Missouri 63118.

Tonight: Stop the Abortion Mandate (.com)

Tonight the largest pro-life webcast in history will take place at 9PM EDT to organize the resistance to taxpayer funded abortion: www.stoptheabortionmandate.com.

I'll be at a fundraiser event for a local crisis pregnancy center, but STAM has compiled an impressive list of presenters and it should be a very good and useful listen.

As I mentioned yesterday, if you are looking to do something about all this, consider taking a few moments to sign this petition circulated by the Susan B. Anthony List: "Tell the Senate Abortion is NOT Health Care."

update: take action here - http://tinyurl.com/stoptheabortionmandate

Urgent: Abortion in Obama's Government Health Care Plan

Here is some common ground on the abortion issue I'm willing to offer: I'm not going to pay for them.

The White House continues to dodge the issue.

The US Bishops have released a statement which says:

“No health care reform plan should compel us or others to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion. Any such action would be morally wrong.”

Sr. Mary Ann Walsh is also blogging away: "Making sure the legislation is abortion-neutral takes one huge obstacle out of the way [of reforming health care]."

For the record, on prudential grounds, I think the health care "reform" bills being pushed through the House and Senate ought to be completely scrapped.

But I am sure Catholics would agree with me on this: we cannot allow our government to foot the bill (with our tax dollars) when anyone in this country wants to have an abortion.

On an important related issue, Jack Smith gives us an update on the Ryan-DeLauro bill:

The Ryan-DeLauro Bill looks to be presented as the President's much vaunted "common ground" approach to reducing abortion - appealing to both pro-life and pro-choice leaders. Problem is, it is sponsored by two pro-choice legislators. By his consistent moves in the last two legislative sessions, Rep. Ryan has given up any claim to being pro-life. As we mentioned above, he is actually working against pro-life Democrats.

This Ryan-DeLauro bill is meant to derail any truly common ground approach to aid women in crisis pregnancies and their families. In its previous incarnations the bill is top heavy with hundreds of millions for Planned Parenthood and lite on actual support for women. Its unveiling this week will reveal whether it gives more to Planned Parenthood and abortion providers than before.

That is my fear and should cause concern for all who have supported common ground efforts to reduce abortion. Now more than ever, it is critical for Democrats and Republicans to show support for the Pregnant Women Support Act written by Democrats for Life and strongly supported by the USCCB.

So, to recap: no taxpayer-funded abortion in government health care bills, and no large-scale sneaking of taxpayer-money to the major abortion providers in this country.

If forcing all Americans to pay for abortions they know are morally wrong counts as "common ground" in these people's minds, then they were never actually serious about reducing abortions in the first place.

action: if you are looking to do something about all this, consider taking a few moments to sign this petition circulated by the Susan B. Anthony List: "Tell the Senate Abortion is NOT Health Care."

Video: Catholic Vote's 3rd pro-life video

They've done it again:

I've blogged about their work before here. Please spread the word! (And visit CatholicVote.org)

This Friday, Support the "Packed With Love" Campaign

This organization contacted me recently about spreading awareness about their new campaign:

Catholic Medical Mission Board—the leading U.S. based Catholic charitable organization focused exclusively on global healthcare—needs your support. Visit “Packed With Love” to put your name on a shipment of medical supplies that will be delivered to resource-poor countries and that can truly save lives. If you add your name, you can watch your box begin its journey and you will be updated on the impact it has on those it reaches. Please share with friends and family!

Since 1928, CMMB’s medical donation program has distributed over $1.7 billion of medicines and medical equipment to improve healthcare in developing nations the world over.

Visit http://www.packedwithlove.org/ to send love and support to those in need.

In response to a question I posed to them about CMMB's adherence to Catholic principles, I was so impressed by their response that I copied below a portion of it:

"As a Catholic organization, CMMB does not—and has not—distributed condoms or advocated their use as a means of preventing the transmission of HIV from one person to another. The education programs CMMB supports focus on individual responsibility, monogamy, abstinence, respect, religious faith, and basic healthcare. We provide to our partners complete and accurate information about condoms as part of our prevention efforts. CMMB follows national guidelines established by the ministry of health, and those of the presiding Conference of Catholic Bishops in each country where we have HIV and AIDS programs."

Now that's the type of organization I support, and would urge other papists to support as well.

Acts of mercy like this one are particularly good to perform on Fridays.

Reminder: Vote for AmP in the 2008 Catholic New Media Awards!

AmP has been nominated in eight (8!) categories.

Please spread the word among your friends, too.

--> VOTE HERE! It only takes a few seconds. And every vote counts.

AmP finished 2nd or 3rd in a whole bunch of categories last year.

Calling Joomla/Wordpress/Expression Engine developers

As part of my new duties at the American Principles Project, I'm looking for Joomla / Wordpress / ExpressionEngine developers (or really, any of these platforms).

Please email me: "thomas [at] americanpapist.com", and include links to a few of your previous projects.

Please, only professional web developers.

USF cancels master's program in theology, and some aren't pleased

An interesting situation in San Francisco about the Catholic identity of their Jesuit university:

The University of San Francisco has canceled its master's in theology program, provoking a bitter disagreement about what it means for the future of the university.

Some faculty, alumni and students connected to the program say the university is losing the graduate degree most closely linked with its Jesuit Catholic mission. They say the closure is the culmination of a series of actions eroding the institution's Catholic identity.

But USF President Stephen Privett, a Jesuit priest for 38 years, said such broad statements misconstrue the nature of the university as it tries to engage with a rapidly changing world.

"It would be simplistic to reduce the Catholic character to any single program," Privett said in an interview. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Deacon Keith Fournier is running an open letter from a graduate student in the program, which begins:

“I am a graduate student in the master’s theology program at the University of San Francisco. Unfortunately, we have been notified by the program director that the program is scheduled to be terminated. Fr. Daniel Kendall, who has been at the University since 1979, was notified of the decision to terminate the program via email. The President and Dean of the University did not have the professional courtesy to meet Fr. Kendall in person to give him the news of the decision”.

Current students have also setup an online petition addressed to the President of USF.

From my brief scan, it appears this program does indeed provide a unique service in the area (evening/weekend classes so working folks can get a degree, etc.) and, well, a Catholic university without even an MA in theology strikes me as a bit incongruous, especially if the program was breaking even.

I post this for those interested in perhaps signing the petition and learning more about the situation, especially if you are local to the area. The argument of the petition is a good place to start I'd suggest.

update: Jack Smith at The Catholic Key has more helpful information on this subject. He attended USF.

Support the Catholic Youth Foundation

Before the advertisement on the AmP sidebar goes away, I want to give a shout out to a worthy campaign on behalf of the Catholic Youth Foundation.

The Catholic Youth Foundation "provides scholarships to the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC), training for youth ministers, and grants to Catholic youth ministry programs around the country."

To spice things up, CYF's director and his wife decided to climb Mt. Everest. No joke:

Bob McCarty, and his wife, Maggie, are preparing for their once-in-a-lifetime journey to Mount Everest this April. Bob and Maggie’s love of rock climbing and ministry has often crossed paths as they annually lead a wilderness retreat for adults. As in the past, the lines of personal pursuit and ministry are coming together again for the benefit of Catholic youth ministry in the United States. We are graced by their generosity especially as the trip is fully funded by them.

As we all know, even a journey of 29,035 feet is achieved through, well, lots of little steps.

That's why they're asking for lots of little pledges of $5 and $10. That's not so bad, and those add up! Especially when donors have promised to match these little donations. Which is the case here.

I'm told that Bishops Harrington and Aymond are supporting the campaign - they're both on the honor roll list of bishops who have spoken up about Notre Dame.

Anyway, please consider supporting the campaign and tell your twitter/facebook (even real life friends) about it!

Must-See Video: "Life - Imagine the Potential"

The first video by the folks at Catholic Vote.org has almost 2 million views on YouTube alone.

I think you'll agree that their second video is even better. I cant wait to see what they do next.



Spread this video far and wide, please. And hop over to Catholic Vote.org to learn more.

This video was shown publicly for the first time at today's National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

It was also announced that talks are underway to air it during the American Idol finals (!).

Video: Powerful Notre Dame Response

Actually, "powerful" is an understatement:

Notre Dame response has updated their website with this breaking news:

"We have received official permission to hold a prayerful and constructive demonstration on the South Quad of the University of Notre Dame between 11am and 4pm on the day of Commencement. The students of this coalition would like to extend an invitation to all those interested in joining us on campus on May 17th as we respectfully give witness to Notre Dame's Catholic identity and pro-life principles. An official schedule for this demonstration will be posted on NDResponse.com in the next 48 hours."

It is imperative that this be a peaceful protest. These brave Notre Dame students are taking a great risk.

Bishop Conlon restores Friday abstinence from meat in Diocese of Steubenville

Okay, technically, Catholics in the US are only allowed to dispense from the year-round Friday abstinence from meat if they substitute a comparable penance for it ... but in practice, the vast majority of Catholics have forgotten to even do this.

Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, however, has dispensed with the substituting ... and has instead brought back the simple Friday abstinence from meat in his diocese. I especially respect that he ties this sacrificial abstinence to witnessing for the unborn and providing them with concrete assistance:

"I am inviting the Catholic people of the Diocese of Steubenville to resume the practice of abstaining from meat on all Fridays throughout the year, but with a twist. I am asking that this be not only a penitential practice but also an experience of prayer and service. This can happen by connecting abstinence with our witness to the sacredness of human life. (In another section he says: Abstinence can also be service if we eat simple meatless food and donate the financial savings to the poor or to pro-life efforts.)

... The resumption of year-round abstinence in the Diocese of Steubenville will begin after this coming Easter, one week after Good Friday (April 17). Although the practice will not be a requirement of law, and failing to keep it will not constitute a sin, I hope every one who is old enough to receive Holy Communion and well enough to come to church will take it seriously. Our parishes, schools and organizations should provide meatless food at their Friday activities.

... the present challenge to the people in our diocese is not really radical. It is a call to what many if not most of us have put aside. And it is a way for us, like the apostles, to give up a little food and help Jesus feed the world."

Bishop Conlon, of course, placed the above mandate within a very well-crafted pastoral letter, which he had read before or at the end of all the Masses in his diocese on the weekend of March 28/29. His catechetical office has also followed-through and provided education materials for school-age children.

What a wonderful idea - and it need not be limited to Catholics living in the diocese of Steubenville, either! Their fine witness, and the words of their bishop, can inspire us to do the same.

Pro-Life Film Contest awards $2000 in prizes!

When the Susan B. Anthony List (a pro-life organization) sees a good idea ... they run with it:

"When 12 year-old Lia Mills wrote her speech about abortion for a school contest, she had no idea the kind of impact it would have worldwide. Yet after her mother put the speech on YouTube, it garnered over a half a million views! [watch the video here.]

... Now, Lia is challenging other young people to send in their videos and spread the pro-life message. The SBA List wants to provide our nation’s youth with the opportunity to do just that. This new contest will award two winning videos with a $1,000 scholarship and will be featured in a Susan B. Anthony online campaign!"

Okay, American Papist Kids - you have your homework!

Urgent: Information on Conscience Rights Polling

LifeNews:

A new national poll of Americans finds a strong majority want President Barack Obama to keep conscience protections in place for doctors and medical centers. The
president is considering rescinding the protections the Bush administration adopted to enforce three federal conscience laws.

The protections make it more clear and provide support for doctors or medical facilities that feel pressured to participate in abortions.

Support for this new regulation outpaced opposition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 (63% vs. 28%).

Much more information from today's Freedom 2 Care press conference (even photos).

Remember - tomorrow is the last day you can publicly state your opposition to this infringement!

"White House confirms it got 2 million red envelopes" against abortion

I wonder how many AmP readers sent in a red envelope?

The White House mail office has confirmed it received a "deluge" of as many as 2.25 million red envelopes symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion in a massive campaign that was larger than most White House mailing movements in the last 35 years. (WND)

Take the numbers with a grain of salt. Suffice it to say: lots have been sent.

Action Item: Conscience Clause Legislation

Unfortunately my current volume of extra-blogging obligations prevents me from giving as much attention to this issue as it deserves. Simply put: it's important. Please spread awareness and take action!

The USCCB is asking Catholic blogs and websites to post these Web Ads:





Catholic Senators are being unreliable when it comes to protecting consciences in the U.S.:

Senator Coburn proposed an amendment to the budget bill that would keep the conscience clause in place and give health care workers protection from having to perform professional duties that violate their religious freedom, like abortions.

Only 9 Catholic Senators Support - 16 Reject

Finally, so we understand the philosophical/political dimension of the legislation, see Rich Garnett at Public Discourse: "How the No-Establishment Rule Does (and Does Not) Protect the Freedom of Conscience".

AmP Poll: What kind of reader are you?

The last AmP poll ("What do you think of Notre Dame's invitation to Obama?") received over 3,000 votes.

It strikes me that these polls are extraordinary opportunities to understand the AmP readership better - and thereby - serve you better in my blogging.

One question I sometimes struggle with in choosing my stories and style of reporting, is what kind of readership I have? Now don't get me wrong - I've always blogged about what I want - just take a look at my semi-regular posts on Dubai. Luckily us papists have plenty in common.

Nevertheless, I think this new poll topic is a way for me to begin getting a better picture in my head of what your background is on these issues:

As always, please feel free to use this poll topic as a jumping-off point for discussion. If you can't see this poll click here and scroll down until you find it.

"U.S. abortion, vasectomy rates rise as economy falters"

Absolutely heartbreaking:

Doctors in the U.S. are reporting an increased demand for abortions or vasectomies during the recession.

A pregnant woman in Oakland, Calif., told her doctor she walked to the medical centre in flip-flops and tears to save bus fare after her boyfriend lost his job. She was seeking an abortion to prevent what would have been her fourth child.

"This was a desired pregnancy — she'd been getting prenatal care — but they re-evaluated expenses and decided not to continue," Dr. Pratima Gupta told the Associated Press.

"When I was doing the options counselling, she interrupted me halfway through, crying, and said, 'Dr. Gupta, I just walked here for an hour. I'm sure of my decision.'"

In Illinois, Planned Parenthood said it performed a record number of abortions in January, many of them motivated by economic worries, said CEO Steve Trombley, who declined to give exact numbers. (CBCNews)

Abortion is not the answer to economic hardship. Many organizations provides help to women facing crisis pregnancies. Feel free to post links to them in the comment box.

I want to be very careful how I phrase this next question. I am not trying to make any sort of political capital out of this. I just want to raise the issue that Obama and the democrats made a huge deal during the election that they wish to provide tangible aid to women facing crisis pregnancies. I agree this is a very good thing (I disagreed that it is the only thing we can do to eliminate the scourge of abortion in this country).

That said ... what's happened to this priority? Are we aware of ongoing efforts by the Obama administration to supply aid to these women? Surely in a time when every conceivable industry is getting a bailout, funds should stop flowing to mega-abortion mills like Planned Parenthood (referenced in the article above) and start flowing to pregnancy counseling centers (which provide ultrasounds, immediate care and advice, and adoption alternatives).

Pope John Paul II famously said that "a nation which kills its own children is a nation without hope." Obama, of all people, with his administration and supporters, should understand what the pope is saying. Yes you can.

And if you reading this want to do something about this right now, support the ArborVitae women's and pregnancy help center in Ann Arbor, MI (right by the University of Michigan campus). I know some of the people involved there and, like many pregnancy counseling centers across the U.S., it's always in need.

Video: Senator Inhofe on Stopping the Abortion Bailout

An important message:



An inside source explains:

The Stop the Abortion Bailout campaign is a grassroots initiative with the goal of sending 200,000 letters to the Senate in an attempt to get 41 Senators to filibuster any funding of abortion providers in the FY 2010 Budget. See the website for some specific funding requests by the abortion industry.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) has emerged as a crucial ally in the fight against funding abortion providers. In a hostile atmosphere for pro-life Senators, it is a great testament to Senator Inhofe that he has chosen to take the lead on defending the unborn in the Senate.

More info from the Susan B. Anthony list here.

Video: Cardinal George on Keeping Conscience Protections

From the US Bishops' Pro-Life Secretariat:

Cardinal Francis George is urging Catholics in the United States to tell the Obama Administration to retain Health and Human Services regulations governing conscience protections for health care workers.

This is vital to keep the government from "moving our country from democracy to despotism," said Cardinal George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He delivered the message via video available on the Web here (contains lots of information) and on YouTube:

update: here's an easy way to send-in your official comment.

Send Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards a message

I don't like Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards. There - I've said it.

Sure, I pray for her conversion (sincerely), but in the meantime, she's hell-bent on killing little kids. And that's not cool.

In fact, it's time she quit doing it.

LifeSiteNews has a smart way of sending her a clear message.

Background from LSN:

You probably remember during the last election when an e-mail went around asking women to donate to Planned Parenthood in the name of Sarah Palin. PP raised quite a bit of money, and Palin received a hefty stack of thank you letters. Well, now it’s your turn.

By donating to LSN today, you're hitting two birds with one stone: helping support the world’s most widely read international pro-life and pro-family news service, and sending a strong message to Planned Parenthood about the sanctity of life.

Get the message, Cecile?

And I'm serious- please say a prayer for her, too. I just did.

Early word: 5,000 turn out for Connecticut Rally

Elizabeth Ela of Headline Bistro:

As many of you know, the bishops of Connecticut's three dioceses led a rally today of over 5,000 Catholics on the steps of Hartford's state capitol. The rally was in protest of Bill 1098, legislation that threatened to strip priests and bishops of their administrative authority.

Headline Bistro has an exclusive story on the rally and the bishops' speeches, including quotes from the chairman of the finance committee at St. John's Parish in Darien, Conn. -- the flashpoint of the controversy, as it was supposedly parishioners from St. John's who pushed for this legislation in the first place. Here's the link to our coverage.

Ha! Two days ago I said:

"If you can make it to Hartford, CT at 9AM on March 11th for the public demonstration - please do. Bishop Lori is hoping for 1,500-2,000 people ... well, let's smash that and turn out 5,000 for him!"

I feel like a rainmaker .... of course, I kid - this is all your work. Bravo, papists!

First take: Photos from today's Hartford, CT Catholic Rally

From the front lines (courtesy of the Knights of Columbus):

I've uploaded a few more photos to a dedicated AmP Flickr photo set.

Elizabeth Ela of (KofC-run) Headline Bistro was twittering live updates from the rally all morning.

Early crowd estimate: 2-3 thousand!

update - more photos added to the AmP Flickr photo set.

Action Item: Resources for Catholics rallying in Hartford tomorrow

Even though the offensive anti-Catholic bill has been pulled, the planned rally is still happening.

You can find the official rally schedule of events I've uploaded here. It includes everything you could possibly need including sponsored bus schedules, text of the bill, planned rally songs, you name it.

Elizabeth Ela of (KofC-run) Headline Bistro will be twittering live updates from the rally:

http://twitter.com/Headlinebistro

Please, if you are able, attend the rally and support the free exercise of our religion! Thanks, papists.

Connecticut's Anti-Catholic Bill - Update

An update of what has happened recently:

• Knights of Columbus President Carl Anderson on Shredding the First Amendment in the Constitution State. More from the Knights at their Headline Bistro web presence.
• Archbishop Chaput weighs-in: "The legislative coercion directed against the Catholic community in one state has implications for Catholics in every other state. If bigots in one state succeed in coercive laws like SB 1098, bigots in other states will try the same." [More.] [CNA summary.] (What a Bishop!)
• Context: Catholic bishops angry over proposed law
• Here's something: "Senate Republican Caucus Unanimously Opposes SB 1098" [PDF file.]:
  "This bill is an unconstitutional assault on religious freedoms. Specifically, it represents a clear violation of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise of Religion Clause contained in the First Amendment."
• Also, I'm being told that "many in the state are calling for Lawlor and McDonald to be expelled from office due to their EXTREME bias which we have seen repeatedly."
• It's also worth noting that a non-Catholic individual emailed me about their outrage over this bill. As they put it: "if they can come after the Catholic Church and get away with it, nobody is safe." I appreciated the person's pledge of solidarity a great deal. A second individual emailed me and said that, even though they do not always agree with me, they appreciated the thought-provoking nature of my coverage of this issue. Again, this means a great deal to me. In these times such encouragement will serve us in great stead.

My complete coverage is here. Remember: for those in the area, I urge you to make a showing tomorrow at 9AM in Hartford, CT. Support your bishop, support your priests, support the Church we love!

update: LifeSiteNews coverage.

update 2: CNA: Connecticut bill on Catholic Church nearly identical to Voice of the Faithful strategy ... New Tactics: Influencing the Church through Civil Legislation

Video: Bp. Lori explains the response to Anti-Catholic CT Bill

The backstory is here.

Video of Bishop Lori answering questions, explaining the situation (and updated information) here.

If you can make it to Hartford, CT at 9AM on March 11th for the public demonstration - please do. Bishop Lori is hoping for 1,500-2,000 people ... well, let's smash that and turn out 5,000 for him!

Alert: New Connecticut Bill Attacks Church Independence

Update: Anti-Catholic CT pulled! Rally still a GO!

Connecticut lawmakers moved this week to directly attack the self-governing rights of the Catholic Church.

The Diocese of Bridgeport is calling on Catholics across the state to mobilize and "fight the irrational, unlawful, and bigoted Proposed Bill #1098/2009":

This past Thursday, March 5, the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature, which is chaired by Sen. Andrew McDonald of Stamford and Rep. Michael Lawlor of East Haven, introduced a bill that directly attacks the Roman Catholic Church and our Faith.

This bill violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. It forces a radical reorganization of the legal, financial, and administrative structure of our parishes. This is contrary to the Apostolic nature of the Catholic Church because it disconnects parishes from their Pastors and their Bishop. Parishes would be run by boards from which Pastors and the Bishop would be effectively excluded.

This bill, moreover, is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on the important issues of the day, such as same-sex marriage.

The State has no right to interfere in the internal affairs and structure of the Catholic Church. This bill is directed only at the Catholic Church but could someday be forced on other denominations. The State has no business controlling religion. (source: Bridgeport Diocese)

Here's what you can do:

We urge you to call and e-mail Sen. McDonald and Rep. Lawlor:

Senator Andrew McDonald:
Capitol phone: (800) 842-1420; Home phone: (203) 348-7439
E-mail: McDonald@senatedems.ct.gov

Representative Michael Lawlor:
Capitol phone: (800) 842-8267; Home phone: (203) 469-9725
E-mail: MLawlor99@juno.com

We also ask you to come to Hartford this Wednesday, March 11, to be present at the public hearing. Details on bus transportation will be available on Monday. If you would like to attend, contact your Pastor.

Even though it is named "An Act Modifying Corporate Laws Relating to Certain Religious Corporations" the bill in fact names the "Roman Catholic Church or congregations" in the state as the only party in question.

On top of it being an outrageous violation of the First Amendment it is also particularly anti-Catholic, and the politicians who have introduced and supported this bill should be strongly rebuked not just by Catholics, but by all Americans who hate religious discrimination and "hate legislation."

One particularly-offensive line in the bill (underlining mine):

"The corporation shall have a board of directors consisting of not less than seven nor more than thirteen lay members. The archbishop or bishop of the diocese or his designee shall serve as an ex-officio member of the board of directors without the right to vote."

That's right - archbishops and bishops under this bill would be stripped of their power to govern.
The General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says "I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bill that’s so blatantly unconstitutional. It targets the Catholic Church explicitly and exclusively, and attempts to use the civil law to alter Church governance, particularly to divest the bishop of authority." Tom Hoopes calls it the "Miter-box Bill", because bishops should just box their miters if it passes.

The blog Catechism on Call says:

Right now we don’t know who sponsored this bill. The Catholic Key Blog notes that the dissident Catholic Group “Voice of the Faithful” has often promoted the idea of “trusteeism” or lay members hiring and firing pastors. But, to be fair, we don’t have evidence they are behind this legislation.

Regardless of where this idea came from - we do know who was willing to put it into practice. One wonders if the Church could take some sort of legal action in response to this unlawful intrusion. You can keep up to date on the bill's progress here. Paul's comment on Fr. Z's blog here is very helpful if you want to get a handle on the the legal in's and out's of the situation.

I'm happy to see the Diocese of Bridgeport rallying Catholics. I have not yet seen any activity on the Connecticut Catholic Conference website or the Archdiocese of Hartford or the Diocese of Norwich. The Knights of Columbus are headquartered in New Haven and will be very active I'd wager. I'll be chasing down these threads next.

update: Here (forwarded to me) is the justification for the bill given by one of the legislators who introduced it, Mike Lawlor:

... the current state statutes governing Roman Catholic corporations ... were enacted in 1955. SB 1098 is a proposal to make changes in that law, which was suggested by parishioners who were the victims of theft of their funds in several parishes, and these parishioners feel that the state's existing Roman Catholic Corporate laws prevented them from dealing with the misuse and theft of funds.

I agree with you that the whole notion of having a statute governing the church seems like an intrusion on the separation of church and state, but the current law does that already. Perhaps we should repeal the whole thing, but if we are going to have a corporate law of this type, it probably should make sure there cannot be deception of parishioners.

The Diocese of Bridgeport's statement responds to this claim of financial improprieties:

The Pastors of our Diocese are doing an exemplary job of sound stewardship and financial accountability, in full cooperation with their parishioners.

For the State Legislature — which has not reversed a $1 billion deficit in this fiscal year — to try to manage the Catholic Church makes no sense. The Catholic Church not only lives within her means but stretches her resources to provide more social, charitable, and educational services than any other private institution in the State. This bill threatens those services at a time when the State is cutting services. The Catholic Church is needed now more than ever.

We reject this irrational, unlawful, and bigoted bill that jeopardizes the religious liberty of our Church.

Connecticut: "keep your state out of our church!"

update 2: for the newest updates on this story, click on this tag.

Vote for AmP in this year's Blogger Appreciation Awards

Please take two seconds and vote for me ("Thomas Peters") in the 2009 Blogger Appreciation Awards. No registration required. So go vote!

AmP is one of only 30 blogs out of over 2,000 nominees which made it to the final voting round.

The first prize is 1 year of my cell phone bill paid for - up to $1000. And honestly, that's about how my charges will run this year. If I knew my minutes were free, well, I'd just have plenty more time to call people and track down those AmP scoops!

I think AmP has an excellent chance to win this contest.

Your loyal support, after all, has earned me Second Runner Up in the 2008 Blogging Scholarship Award (with 3,000+ votes!), Second in the 2009 Blogger's Choice Awards, First in Political/Social Commentary in the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards, to name a notable few.

Please spread the word far and wide! Post this on Facebook, email it to your friends, tell your students - be creative. I jump at this and any opportunity to represent the online Catholic community in an open venue.

Thanks, Papists!

Video: St. Michael's Abbey is sliding down a hill!

A beautifully produced video, with a pressing need behind it:



Or watch individual segments:

• The history of St. Michael's Abbey - a page out of a spy thriller
• Need to Relocate - the Abbey is sliding down the hill!
• Everyone has to sing!
• Recording the Albums
• Daily Life at the Abbey

And if you enjoyed that incredible music in the background of these videos, you may purchase it on CD. Profits from this album will help defray the costs of their move: Anthology: Chants and Polyphony from St. Michael's Abbey. It's a great deal: you get beautiful music, and monks praying for you, and they don't have to live in an Abbey that is literally sliding down a hill.

Visit the Norbertine Fathers website here.

So close!

So close to so many markers!
--> 399 Followers on Twitter
--> 199 Readers on Feedburner
--> 198 Subscribers on Bloglines

{1,231 Google Readers; 1,224 Facebook Fans; 258 AMP NEWSies....}

Compare this to about three weeks ago.

All spiritual bouquets are not created equal

Lest yesterday's post leave doubt in people's minds - I have no problem with offering spiritual bouquets.

This one, for instance, for Pope Benedict XVI, "amid the anti-Catholic sentiment in the media of today" is just fine by me.

Fact-checking Catholics United's Sebelius claims

Catholics United, a partisan Democrat front organization, is claiming, among other things (underlining mine):

"Had Mr. Donohue been interested in presenting a full accounting of the facts, he would have mentioned Gov. Sebelius's tireless support for children's health care and education, and her efforts to provide public financing for adoption and pregnancy support centers – all components of an effective pro-life agenda that can find broad support among the American people. Had Mr. Donohue been interested in presenting a full accounting of the facts, he would have mentioned that the number of abortions in Kansas declined by 12.6% from 2001 to 2007, due in part to Gov. Sebelius's advocacy for pregnant women and struggling families.”

“Like Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann – who often seems more interested in scoring political points against Gov. Sebelius than crafting effective abortion policy within the reality of politics – Mr. Donohue is doing a disservice to those Americans who will benefit from Gov. Sebelius's leadership as Health and Human Services Secretary. We remind U.S. Catholics and other observers that the Catholic League is part of a right-wing political movement at the margins of the Catholic community, and urge them to view Mr. Donohue and his comments in this context.”

I don't have the time, but if someone else wants to examine these underlined claims - it would be useful, going in, to know what Sebelius' actual record on life issues is. In what context did she fund adoption and pregnancy support centers, and what's the context for the decrease in the number of abortions, etc? Thanks so much.

update: thank you to the readers who have left comments and emailed me. Steven Ertelt of LifeNews:

Catholics United also claims abortions have declined under Sebelius, even though they actually went up 6.5 percent in 2006 thanks in part to Sebelius failing to support any abortion limits.

According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment report, there were 11,221 abortions in Kansas in 2006, up from 10,543 abortions in 2005.

Pro-life groups say the increase has to do with a lack of enforcement of laws limiting late-term abortions and a court's decision to drop 30 misdemeanor charges against Tiller, who has been accused of doing the abortions without a legitimate medical reason.

I seeeee you, Dwight!

Aha! Foiled!

Father Dwight Longenecker, you see, is trying to sneak up on me "real quiet like" to win a coveted 2008 Blogger's Choice Award in the Religion Blog category.

Well, we simply can't stand for that....

"Papists - come to my aid! VOTE FOR AMP!"

-> Registering to vote only takes a few seconds.

-> The feeling of accomplishment should last hours.

Red Envelope Project alerts Obama to abortion evils

NCRegister's Tim Drake:

A grassroots initiative to express moral outrage over President Obama’s administration’s promotion of abortion is garnering much Internet attention.

Just as American revolutionaries used tea to protest the action’s of the British government, those concerned with life are utilizing the power of red envelopes to protest abortion.

Supporters have been encouraged to send an empty red envelope to President Obama, symbolizing a single child who died because of abortion.

On the back of each envelope, is a handwritten message that reads: “This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.”

Tim Drake goes on to uncover the man behind the idea.

RedEnvelopeProject has sent almost 40,000 red envelopes to Obama so far.

"2009 Pro-Life Instigator" Awarded to AmP

As I announced the day the award was made public. The actual award has a prominent place in my room.

It has a permanent place on the AmP sidebar. My humble thanks to everyone at American Life League.

Okay papists - go out and be instigators for the culture of life!

Buy Pope Art - Help Catholic High Schoolers!

From AmP reader Chris:

"My kids attend the OC High School of the Arts. They launched their online auction today that helps fund the school. They had one item you may be interested in: a Pope Benedict XVI Drawing. From: http://www.saintsgallery.com/"

Darn straight I'm interested - and maybe a papist benefactor will want it for themselves!

A challenge for tech-savvy AmP readers

A fellow papist enquires:

I am looking for a ring tone for my cell phone of a Papal Blessing from the Holy Father in Latin. How fun that would be to hear "In nomine Patris, et Filii... " every time someone calls me!

This stymies me, but I figured one of you papists might have a handy solution. I think it would be cool.

What's wrong with this picture?

... nothing you can't fix! ;)

update: thanks to your efforts - AmP jumped to 102 votes!! Now do the same here, please. :)

5 Ways to Support AmP

Who keeps my fingers rattling away? You do! Here's how:

1. Buy AmP gear (Shirts, Mugs, Stickers & more!)
2. Purchase a BlogAd (or contact me directly via email)
3. Use this Amazon link (I get a small percentage)
4. Paypal donation (on the sidebar, the orange button)
5. Send me stuff (Catholic books, CDs, movies, etc)

God Bless you.

Worse than FOCA: Prevention First Act

This act, introduced three weeks ago, is more dangerous than FOCA because it is already in Congress.

{updated} Select things the Prevention First Act (PFA) will do:

• Make Title X (family planning) a permanent program and fund it at $700 million or more.
• Mandate that health insurance programs that cover prescriptions must cover abortifacient contraceptives.
• Create a government program to push abortifacient "Emergency Contraception."
• Take all federal money away from any hospital that refuses to administer the abortifacient Emergency Contraception to victims of rape.
• Create additional massive government funding for Planned Parenthood style sex education programs (abstinence-only programs are specifically excluded from funding).
  Permanently include family planning services as part of the Medicaid program.

"All of these programs will result in more babies being killed and more taxpayer money going to the largest abortion chain in the nation ? Planned Parenthood." - {Source.}

American Life League has a comprehensive overview of what this bill will bring about should it pass.

LifeNews also covered this story. They recommend contacting members of the U.S. Senate.

Ph/t: AmP Reader Fr. William.

CNA: Catholic college students to participate in March for Life en masse

Here they come:

Thousands of Catholic college students and faculty will participate in the National March for Life in Washington, DC this Thursday.

The March began in 1974, one year after the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade imposed permissive abortion laws nationwide, and has drawn tens of thousands of protestors to the nation’s capital for decades.

Pre-eminent among the colleges participating in the March is the Front Royal, Virginia-based Christendom College, which has participated in the demonstration since 1974. It will bus all of its students to Washington, and for the third time will lead the March with its school banner.

Magdalen College’s entire student body will travel about 500 miles from Warner, New Hampshire to march for the second straight year. Students solicited donations for the trip. (More)

Is your school/youth group sponsoring a trip to the march?

AmP Goals (Get Involved!)

Are you looking for an excuse to stay indoors, away from the cold, and have some time to spare?

You could:

• Vote for AmP in the '09 Blogger's Choice Awards (AmP is only 21 votes away from the Top 3)
• Join the official AmP Facebook Fanpage (AmP is only 25 people away from breaking 1,000)
• Follow me on Twitter (and get semi-frequent updates - hey, 172 people find that interesting)

There now! You've managed to burn away a little of your Saturday. ;-)

update: wow! A great response....

• AmP has now jumped to 4th place in the '90 Blogger's Choice Awards
• The official AmP Facebook Fanpage now has over 1,000 members
• Quite a few more people are now getting my updates on twitter

thanks!

{Updated} Who started the FOCA novena?

A novena petition to prevent the passing of FOCA has been spreading like wildfire via email. A facebook group dedicated to the novena has almost 30,000 members. In one twist, an Irish representative has been receiving flak for forwarding the email to her constituents. I've received the forward multiple times myself.

{update: I should hasten to add - because I forgot this is not evident to everyone - that the novena email below contains a severe factual error - FOCA is not scheduled to be voted on or signed around January 21-22 or anytime in the foreseeable future. The bill doesn't have the needed votes.}

The basic text of the forward looks like this:

If you are opposed to abortion then there is bad news on the horizon. For those of you who do not know, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is set to be signed if congress passes it on January 21-22 of 2009. The FOCA is the next sick chapter in the book of abortion... [snip]

... Perhaps most importantly the government will now have control in the issue of abortion. This could result in a future amendment that would force women by law to have abortions in certain situations (rape, down syndrome babies, etc) and could even regulate how many children women are allowed to have.

Needless to say this information is disturbing, but sadly true. As Catholics, as Christians, as anyone who is against the needless killing of innocent children, we must stand as one. We must stop this horrific act before it becomes a law.

The Plan: To say a novena (9 days of prayer) along with fasting starting on January 11th (even if you're beginning this late, please join!). The prayer of choice will be the rosary with intentions to stop the FOCA. The hope is that this will branch and blossom as to become a global effort with maximum impact.

My question is - who started this? One report identifies a "Fr. Tom", another says it was "Lord Alton." No proof for either author is given.

Obviously, the petition is generating a considerable amount of traction and I would be interested to see how it caught on, and who first set the ball rolling. This sort of grassroots organization is admirable and will no doubt be useful in the future for similar initiatives.

Don't miss it! Live streaming of Pro-Life Summit

I've been hearing rumblings about this summit for some time and I think it is very important.

It's hosted by Citizens for a Pro-Life Society and will be taking place this Saturday at Christ the King parish in Ann Arbor, MI. The topic is how to end abortion in post-election America.

The bad news? It's sold out (500 attendees).

The good news? The summit is being streamed live on local WDEO Catholic radio here at 10am EST.

The better news? Relevant Recordings will be recording and selling CDs of the event here.

Speakers include Janet Smith, Al Kresta, Deal Hudson, Bishop Earl Boyea, Fr. Frank Pavone - you name it.

May such a gathering of pro-life luminaries and activists yield good fruit for the cause of the unborn.

Lodging for the March for Life?

Housing for people coming into DC to attend the March for Life is a bit crunched this year because of Obama's inauguration two days prior. It's going to be hard enough functioning in DC the weekend before, and the revelers aren't expected to leave right away, either.

Several folks have emailed me asking for housing tips. I'd love to help them out, and here's where you come in - do you know of any solutions? Are you coming with a large group who reserved extra rooms? I'd hate to see living accommodations go to waste in one group while others miss out on attending the March because they couldn't find a place to rest their head at night.

So, drop me a line by email or comment below. If there's already a place where people are having this conversation - that would help too!

Thanks, papists!

AmP BlogAds rate cut

To steal one of the city of Baltimore's ill-received slogans .... "Get In On It!"

But seriously, you should. It's a good deal.

A couple March for Life nibbles

CNS has a rather extensive preview of this year's March for Life.

Concerned Women for America will also be participating (and handing out snacks).

Sign a Petition to Help Block Tax-Funded Abortions

It only takes a few seconds, over at the Family Research Council website.

Vote for a Catholic Blog in the '08 Weblog awards

You can vote here, once every 24 hours, until January 13th.

My vote will be for Fr. Z's incomparable What Does The Prayer Really Say?

Pro-Life Blog wins Canadian Blog Awards

... by a whopping margin of almost 60% of the vote!

Thanks to all you Papists who heard my call and voted! Hopefully more people hear about this fine blog.

A legislative threat to the Archdiocese of Washington?

Local blogger William Newton alerts us:

Former Mayor and current City Councilman Marion Barry is known for (and has plead guilty to) many things. Now he appears to be spearheading a movement to go after the Archdiocese of Washington in court. In the interest of supporting our Archdiocese, I supply the following which was forwarded to me[]. Please pray, and do what you can to combat this effort.

I'm looking for some confirmation. Has anyone else heard about this?

update: read the DC Wire to get more of the back story. Note how enemies of the Church cleverly phrase their arguments to mask their intentions. But their aims are obvious: they want to further pilfer Church assets.

update 2: Read this letter to the editor in WaPo from the Arch. of Washington's Chancellor.

Ph/t: Eric Wilson.

Abortion industry to receive $1.5BILLION bailout

Talk about change we don't need.

With all the money being tossed around by the government these days, pro-abortion activists smell blood in the water. The Susan B. Anthony list gives us some of the grim details:

The Abortion Bailout Package:

* $1 BILLION dollars in taxpayer funding for International Abortion Groups
* $700 million in taxpayer funding for “Title X” Health Clinics (aka your local Planned Parenthood affiliate)
* $65 million for the UNFPA, an international aid organization connected to coercive abortion as part of China’s coercive one-child policy
* Repeal the Hyde Amendment – Vastly expanding federal taxpayer funding for abortions
* Include Abortion coverage in any taxpayer-subsidized national health care program

SBA provides an online form to let you write a letter to your Senator easily.

Deal Hudson provides more context:

Go to Change.gov, the Web site of President-elect Barack Obama, and you'll find a document titled "Advancing Reproductive Rights and Health in a New Administration." Signed by dozens of pro-abortion groups, including Catholics for Choice, this 55-page document provides an overview of the marching orders for the Obama administration in removing all present restrictions on abortions while dramatically increasing abortion funding.

... The attitude expressed in "Advancing Reproductive Rights and Health in a New Administration" is anything but moderate -- it is imperial, determined, and uncompromising. The fact that it is posted on the official Web site of the Obama-Biden transition is an unambiguous endorsement of its policy recommendations.

Introducing American Papist Apparel!

Plenty of folks have asked me over the years why there wasn't any such thing as American Papist fan gear?

There's a simple answer: I don't know how to make it.

Well, lucky for us, Erik Bootsma has genersouly contributed his top-notch graphic design services, so now we're happy to offer you the first "official" American Papist fan gear on CafePress for American Papist Fans.

... and not just AmP fans, but also anyone who wants a distinctive "Not Your Average Catholic" brand of clothing.

Shirts, Hoodies, Kids clothes, Hats, Bags, Mugs, Buttons, Magnets, ... we got it all. I think the stickers are cool, myself.

And if you need some graphic design work done for you, well, you can already tell Erik knows his stuff. Contact him at erikbootsma [at] yahoo.com and see if he can help! (update: and also visit his blog, Beatus Est.)

And do please spread the word around about AmP Apparel!

Also, I'd like to create a gallery of AmP fans sporting their papist gear. So if you buy something from the story, send me a picture of you with it and I'll figure out a cool way to use it down the road!

U.N. to receive 350k signatures calling for defense of life

Mine was one of them, and many of them were yours:

A coalition of pro-life and pro-marriage groups on Wednesday will present to the United Nations a petition containing at least 350,000 signatures asking that U.N. member states interpret the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as protecting unborn children from abortion and protecting the traditional family.

The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) was the primary organizer of the petition drive, called “U.N. Petition for the Unborn Child and the Family.” It was joined by the Pro-Life Federation of Poland, the Institute of Family Policy of Spain, United Families International of the US, and U.S.-based Concerned Women for America. (CNA)

Charities to aid Christians in Orissa?

Papists! Help me answer this AmP reader's request:

I'm a transitional deacon and I'm involved in a continuing formation program before ordination. There are a bunch of us here and we've decided to give some money to charity in lieu of gifts. So, we're going to make our proposals and vote on them at the community meeting next Thursday. I'd like to propose a charity to aid the Church in Orissa and was wondering if you could recommend a good one.

What should I recommend to him?

(More on the plight of Catholics in Orissa here.)

Friday Pro-Life News

A warning from C-FAM's Austin Ruse:

We report today on the prospects at the UN for the re-emergence of Hillary Clinton on UN social policy. Clinton was the driving force for much abortion mischief at the UN during the tenure of her husband. Much more mischief is expected with her and other pro-abortion radicals now in the employ of the Obama administration.

C-FAM is also planning to present a petition to the UN against a (counter-)petition for abortion to become an internationally recognized right ... anyway, sign it please. It took me about 20 seconds to become signature #151,424.

Meanwhile, as CNN reruns year-old interviews on "the problem of pro-life doctors", Fox News runs a special report on Planned Parenthood's infamous Christmas stocking stuffers (which I blogged about here), and Bill O'Reilly interviews the brave girl who exposed Planned Parenthood Indiana (which I blogged about here).

Keep it up.

Pro-God ad campaign responds to DC secularists

'Tis the season... for competing ad campaigns.

A couple weeks ago I posted a picture of the "why believe in a god?" campaign that is running on DC buses.

CNA reports that the Center for Family Development has decided to respond with a counter-campaign.

You can see the ad image here. They also have a Facebook page and are taking donations.

Can you translate? Want a good job?

"Ignatius Press is currently seeking French, German, and Italian translators to translate book-length works into English."

Details here.

Buy something at Ignatius Press through this link and I get a commission. update: now it works.

Vote for a pro-life blog in the CBA!

The Pro-life blog "ProWomanProLife" has been nominated for "Best New Blog" in the Canadian Blog Awards.

Go Vote!

THANK YOU!

The combined efforts of AmP readers, and friends of AmP readers, resulted in this blog becoming the second Runner-Up in the 2008 Blogging Scholarship contest, with almost 5,000 votes:

As promised, this money will be used to pay off my student loans. I have all you to thank for that, this Thanksgiving and everytime I look at the bill for my student loans (which will be often).

Also, that crisis pregnancy center I asked AmP readers to vote for, well it ended up winning a $25,000 office makeover.

This level of grassroots organization and mutual support between Catholics online is very encouraging to me. Together we can be a powerful, united force for good, in every area of our lives. Keep it up!

AmP T-Shirt Contest

Papists,

Many of you have emailed me asking why there is no AmP merchandise (t-shirts, bumper stickers, mugs, etc).

There's a very simple reason: I can't draw.

But you can!

I think I see a solution here - I'll let you design the AmP t-shirt! The CafePress store is waiting.

My guidelines are generous, because I'd like to keep this open to your creativity:

1. A distinctive image, probably based on this photo which I've used since the beginning as my banner. I think a stencil version (of the Cardinal on the right side) would be very snazzy. This photo, after all, perfectly captures the "Not Your Average Catholic" AmP tagline....
2. .... which leads into my next suggestion, that the graphic include the phrase: "American Papist ... Not Your Average Catholic!" Because being Catholic is never ordinary - it's extraordinary! And AmP readers ... well, this applies to you the most.
3. use the preferred AmP color scheme (white background, deep crimson primary color, loud orange highlights).
4. finally, of course, "blog.americanpapist.com" or "AmericanPapist.com" should appear somewhere.

.. and that's it! Send me your submissions in an email attachment to "thomas [at] americanpapist [dot] com."

As for remuneration, I can't make guarantees, as obviously it depends on how many folks decide they just can't live without official AmP product, but I can guarantee recognition and credit. And hey, if I sell a few dozen shirts, I certainly won't forget the talented individual(s) who made it possible! I haven't gotten to where I am by forgetting my good friends who have helped me.

If you are a fledgling Catholic designer, etc,. this is a great way to get massive exposure. AmP is, by my current tally, one of the three most popular Catholic blogs in the world (plus plenty of people at the Vatican read this, too, so this is a great way for you seminarians to get noticed!).

Okay, I like keeping things short n' sweet - so give it a shot yourself or tell a friend straight away!

update: to avoid confusion, I've slightly edited this post. I'm looking for a t-shirt design, not a new logo.

The Acorn/CHD post

I've had lots of people asking me about ACORN and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CHD). Both are certainly in the news alot these days:

The CCHD has donated more than $7.3 million to ACORN-related projects over the past decade, including $40,000 to an ACORN chapter in Las Vegas, Nevada, that was raided before the election in an investigation into fraudulent voter registration forms. Among other questionable documents, the ACORN chapter submitted registration forms for members of the Dallas Cowboys football team.

Earlier this week I blogged about the US bishops' decision to stop funding ACORN.

Now many folks are saying that the CHD should be axed as well. Diane at Te Deum has a good post on this subject. Joseph Lawler was reporting on this back in October for the American Spectator:

The CCHD, which is run by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has funded far-left organizations with missions diametrically opposed to that of the Catholic Church for years, including, in the '90s, the pro-abortion group National Organization for Women and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Richard John Neuhaus has also tackled the topic. Tom McFeely at the National Catholic Register picks up his trail - and the last paragraph is particularly important:

Father Neuhaus notes in this article that since its creation “in the ideological climate of the 1960s,” CHD has never directly supported Catholic charitable activities that aid the poor. It has concentrated instead on funding politically active groups such as ACORN that often support agendas like abortion rights that are in conflict with basic Church teachings.

Said Father Neuhaus, “What most Catholics don’t know, and what would likely astonish them, is that CHD very explicitly does not fund Catholic institutions and apostolates that work with the poor.”

And all of this attention couldn’t come at a worse time for CHD, with its annual collection in Catholic parishes scheduled for later this month. Under these circumstances, lay Catholics can scarcely be faulted for asking themselves whether they should place any money on this year’s CHD collection plate.

That's right, November 23rd CHD will be asking for your money, as you can see on the USCCB website.

There are so many good organizations strapped for cash these days - why take a risk on CHD?

On the end of Catholic Hospitals

Ed Morissey at Hot Air tells us how serious the bishops are about not allowing Catholic Hospitals to be forced into performing abortions under FOCA:

[The bishops will] shut them down and take the losses in order to prevent their use as abortion clinics. To do otherwise, the bishops stated, would be to cooperate in the evil of abortions.

What kind of impact would that have? The Catholic Church is one of the nation’s biggest health-care providers. In 2007, they ran 557 hospitals that serviced over 83 million patients. The church also had 417 clinics that saw over seven million patients. If they shut down almost a thousand hospitals and clinics nationwide, the US would not just lose a significant portion of available health care, but the poor and working-class families that received the health care would have fewer options.

Also, the Catholic Church runs this on a non-profit basis, spending vast sums of its money to ensure access for those unable to pay. That’s the kind of model that many on the Left believe should exclusively provide health care — and FOCA would spell the end of the major provider already in that model.

Notice that point about Catholic hospitals being non-profits? And to think that a common criticism of the Catholic pro-life movement during this election was that, somehow, we aren't serious about providing concrete medical care and assistance to the poor. Simply unbelievable.

So how serious are democrats and Obama about FOCA? Serious enough to push the Catholic Church in the US out of the health care industry?

Let's hope drawing these clear lines in the sand will give them pause. We're not blinking first.

On Fighting Foca

Almost a dozen people have recommended this link to me since November 5th:

http://www.fightfoca.com/

They've collected almost 70,000 signatures against FOCA. What is FOCA?

"The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide. Barack Obama believes this legislation will "end the abortion wars." To him, "ending the abortion wars" means eradicating every state and federal law on abortion — laws that the majority of Americans support."

70k is a good start, but honestly, millions would be better.

The Catholic bishops are "completely united and resolute in our teaching and defense of the unborn child from the moment of conception" and have explicitly named FOCA as a preeminent threat to the unborn child in their Baltimore meeting this week. (More details here.)

I'll bracket, for the moment, the obvious observation that we are now in a situation of having to vocally oppose a piece of legislation that it has was long known President-elect Obama has promised to sign. Looking to the past and learning from the lessons it can teach us is important, but should not interfere with us moving, quickly, to do something about FOCA now.

Oh, and just a reminder

I'm in serious running to receive a $10,000 scholarship for blogging as a student. Voting for me here ("Thomas Peters") only takes a few seconds, and I would deeply appreciate you spreading the word amongst your friends, facebook, readers, email lists, etc.

If this cause goes viral among the Catholic online community, I could have real shot at winning, which would mean more time blogging as opposed to, well, trying to pay the electric bill. Reading in the dark is no fun. :) Think of it as a little good deed for today. Thank you!

Update: AmP News Pilot

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has sent in feedback after watching the pilot episode of AmP News.

Special thanks to the 36 people (at most recent count) who have subscribed to the AmP News YouTube Channel, making us the 6th-most-subscribed YouTube reporting channel this week!

We are now in the process of taking your tips and recommendations into account as we decide how best to move forward.

In the meantime, however, I can predict that a very exciting AmP News feature will be coming your way soon!

Introducing AmP News

I'd like to introduce AmP readers to a work-in-progress I've undertaken recently (that I hinted about earlier this month) which is now ready for public viewing.

I've been collaborating with a young man named Alex Buder to produce a video version (or "vlog") of this blog, American Papist, called AmP News. Here is our show's description:

"AMP News, an upbeat week-in-review of news, politics, and culture, along with commentary and interviews, all from a uniquely Catholic perspective."

Our working motto is "AmP News, reporting the stories you can believe." (Catchy, huh?)

We're taking this slowly, and are very excited about its potential. We've produced two segments so far, which you can now view on YouTube below. Consider this our "first draft."

AmP News Pilot Episode - The Headlines:

AmP News Pilot Episode - The Papist Take:

How can you help us out? Several ways:

1. Give us your feedback - send emails to "americanpapist [at] gmail.com" and let us know what we can improve, what you liked, didn't like, etc. Our aim is to serve you.
2. Subscribe to our AmP News YouTube channel so you'll receive notification of future segments, as well as comment, favorite, and rate the video, gaining it visibility
3. Embed the video on your blog or website, and email it to your friends (most important!)

If things go well, we intend to soon add exclusive interview segments and on-site reporting.

This project has the potential to reach a much wider audience of young Catholics, fallen-away/nominal Catholics, as well as the general public, providing them with accurate, interesting news and content, all from a uniquely Catholic (= Papist) perspective.

And no worries - I'll still be blogging up a storm.

Thanks so much, and please keep our efforts in your prayers.

Listed: Bishops who have spoken out for life

Inside Catholic is attempting to compile a list of bishops who have "spoken out on the primacy of life issues in the coming election." Rocco Palmo recently counted "over 50," but IC has found over 60, and is asking folks to help them search diocesan websites/newspapers for more.

It wouldn't surprise me if, before November 4th, we discover the majority have spoken out about life.

The List: Prominent Pro-Obama Catholics

I was trying to find a list of prominent Catholics who have endorsed Barack Obama for President but couldn't, so I figured I would make one.

I think such a list would be useful because, should Obama win, it will allow us to retroactively judge the accuracy of the claims and predictions they are making now.

Obviously, this will be a work in progress as I gather the names and review their arguments, so in the meantime, please drop tips in the combox or send them to me in an email.

I hope to have a fairly complete list published sometime over the weekend. Thanks in advance for all your assistance!

[photo credit: Flickr user "odonoughue"]

On Keeping/Kicking Kmiec Out

One bishop (Most Rev. Lawrence E. Brandt, JCD, PhD of Greensburg, PA) is trying:

Yesterday afternoon I received word that Seton Hill University had extended an invitation to Mr. Douglas Kmiec to speak on its campus regarding faith and politics. I have attempted in vain to reach the President of Seton Hill, Dr. JoAnne Boyle in this regard, but to no avail.

As the teacher of authentic Catholic doctrine in the Diocese of Greensburg, I feel compelled to state in view of this situation that Mr. Kmiec distorts Catholic teaching by making it synonymous with his own personal views. There is no “other” Catholic position except the one which appears in authentic Church documents. His misrepresentations of Catholic doctrine do a grave disservice to the Catholic community and far beyond.

I seriously question the good judgment of the University administration in allowing him a platform on campus.

... Is it any wonder then that not only the demonstrators at the event, but many others as well, consider his presentation an offensive trivialization of the institution's declared Catholic identity!

In a related vein, I wonder how this will go?

Decide in Faith: A Presidential Forum

Now you will have the chance to ask some questions! All questions will be based on Catholic Social Teaching! Questions submitted on this web site will be reviewed nd selected for the forum by a panel of Catholic college students and young adults!

Featuring Catholic Surrogates from the Presidential Campaigns // Senator Obama: Professor Douglas Kmeic, Author, Former Advisor to President Reagan // Senator McCain: Brian Palmer (R-Romeo) // Panel: College Students and Young Adults // Moderated by Fr. David Buersmeyer, Pastor of SS John and Paul in Washington, MI

An AmP Shout Out to the person who prints out one of the many arguments I've made against Kmiec's position and asks it during the debate. Audio/video would be a plus, too.

update: Seton Hill University says it will release a statement soon.

More Bad news: Legalized suicide in Washington

NPR has an audio report saying "Washington could become the second state [behind Oregon] in the nation to have an assisted suicide law for the terminally ill. The state has an initiative on the November ballot and it is currently ahead in the polls."

Needless to say, the Church teaches that suicide is a grave evil against the dignity of the human person.

Want to do something about it? Visit http://www.noassistedsuicide.com/

Related: New Study Shows 26% in Oregon Who Requested Suicide Were Experiencing Depression

Good news: Prop. 8 is winning in CA

Let's hope this winning margin holds:

According to the latest poll from California, those fighting for the defense of traditional marriage have a nine point advantage over activists seeking state recognition of same-sex marriage.

The poll released on Tuesday afternoon by the Knights of Columbus, reports that the drive to pass California’s Proposition 8 is leading among likely voters 52 to 43 percent. If Proposition 8 is passed, it will amend the state Constitution to say, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in the state of California.”

The poll also shows that Proposition 8 leads in every region of California except the San Francisco Bay Area, where 58% are opposed to the measure. (CNA)