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Month: December 2020

Underground Catholic bishop dies in China

CNA Staff, Dec 31, 2020 / 03:25 pm (CNA).- According to the Catholic outlet AsiaNews, headquartered in Rome, Bishop Andrea Han Jingtao, 99, a leader in the underground Catholic Church in China, died Dec. 30. Han Jingtao was the underground Bishop of Siping.

In his early years growing up in a Catholic family, Han received a high-quality formation and education from the Canadian missionaries of Quebec, who ran the apostolic vicariate in his region of China before the communist revolution.

After Mao Zedong took power, the late bishop was sent to a concentration camp where he would be imprisoned for 27 years (1953-1980) “for refusing to participate in the ‘independent and autonomous’ Church, as Mao Zedong wanted,” AsiaNews reports.

Once freed, his command of the English language made him an asset for the communist regime, which conscripted him into service as an English teacher at Changchun University and then at the Northeast University for masters and doctoral programs. According to AsiaNews, “He introduced many Chinese to the study of Classical, Latin, and Greek languages and cultures.”

After his academic retirement in 1987, he dedicated his pastoral efforts to the local Legion of Mary and the religious congregation he founded, The Sisters of Mount Calvary.

According to AsiaNews. “He himself recalls that in the 1950s the regime wanted to ‘get rid of the pope’s interference and expel foreign missionaries. At that time, I realized that the Church was facing a great challenge and needed strong stamina, otherwise the Church would not be able to stand up. This is why I decided to set up a religious congregation.'”

He was secretly appointed bishop of Siping in 1982, but his underground ordination could only happen in 1986.

After being put under strict house surveillance in 1997, he continued to tend his flock under constant threat, convening secret gatherings and encouraging the laity to remain steadfast in faith and charity.

According to recent statistics provided by AsiaNews, his diocese includes some 30,000 Catholics, two-thirds of which belong to the underground Church. It has 20 priests and more than 100 nuns.

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Father Reginald Foster, Requiescat in Pace

Father Reginald Foster, O.C.D, died recently from complications arising from Covid. Yes, I know – people across America are dying with bullet wounds and head trauma, falls, heart attacks, and what not else from Covid. But whatever it was that took his soul to God, his death marks the end of an era, for Father[…]

The post Father Reginald Foster, Requiescat in Pace appeared first on Catholic Insight.

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Planned Parenthood’s international arm boasts financing efforts to legalize abortion in Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec 31, 2020 / 12:56 pm (CNA).- In a post published on Wednesday, December 30, just hours after abortion was legalized by the Argentinian Senate, one of the international branches of Planned Parenthood, the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPFWHR), boasted about having financed a large operation in the South American country to push to legalize abortion.

The celebratory post on the IPPFWHR website contradicts the claims of Argentinian President Alberto Fernández, who presented the abortion law and who repeatedly rebuffed pro-life concerns that the law was in fact being pushed by international organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the Ford Foundation rather than the will of the Argentinian people.

According to a November 2020 survey carried by independent pollster Giacobbe & Asociados, 60% of Argentinians opposed the law, while only 26.7% were in favor.

“Argentina’s Senate just voted to legalize abortion up to 14 weeks! This is a historic moment for our region, our incredible partners in Argentina, and the countless activists and organizers who formed ‘the green wave’,” the IPPFWHR posted.

The post also revealed that the IPPFWHR “has nurtured an ecosystem of feminist organizations and activists for more than 15 years that contributed to make today possible.”

“IPPFWHR directly supports seven partners in Argentina, who in turn sub-grant funds to 20 other grassroots organizations from around the country. They have been coalescing around shared activities, such as advocating with policymakers and ensuring communication campaigns in favor of so called abortion rights featured prominently in the public discourse. They’re also actively planning how to best support the implementation of the new law.”

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Brazilian President Bolsonaro criticizes Argentina’s legalization of abortion

CNA Staff, Dec 31, 2020 / 12:49 pm (CNA).- In a short message published on his Twitter account, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the decision of the Argentinian Senate to legalize abortion and vowed that abortion will never become legal in Brazil – the largest Latin American country – under his presidency.

“I deeply lament for the lives of Argentinian children, now subject to being cut in their mothers’ wombs with the consent of the State. As far as it depends on me and my government, abortion will never be approved on our land. We will always fight to protect the lives of the innocent!,” tweeted Bolsonaro.

– Lamento profundamente pelas vidas das crianças argentinas, agora sujeitas a serem ceifadas no ventre de suas mães com anuência do Estado. No que depender de mim e do meu governo, o aborto jamais será aprovado em nosso solo. Lutaremos sempre para proteger a vida dos inocentes!

— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) December 30, 2020

A new abortion law was approved by the Argentinian Senate on Wednesday, December 30. The new law, in practice, will allow abortions at any time until birth and has no provisions for protecting the baby if he or she survives a late-term abortion.

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Eden in the Eighties

MPAA Rating: PG-13 USCCB Rating: Not rated at the time of this review Reel Rating: 4 out of 5 reels (Disclaimer: The following review contains spoilers!) Whenever discussing neo-paganism in my World Religions course, I […]

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