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Month: January 2021

Of Far Off Island Lees and the Lies of the Land

Posted by | Jan 2, 2021 | , |

On this first day of January in 1739, French explorer Jean Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier discovered an island in the South Sea – where it is summer in our winter – far south of the vague line where the Atlantic ocean ‘ends’, and the vast expanse of far southern water begins. The small ice[…]

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Catholics must engage Biden on extreme abortion positions to save the unborn, expert claims

Posted by | Jan 1, 2021 | , |

CNA Staff, Jan 1, 2021 / 04:09 pm (CNA).- During his upcoming administration, presumed President-Elect Joe Biden will have to deal with the issue of abortion, and Catholics must engage with him says Charles C. Camosy in an op-ed published by First Things on the last day of 2020.

Camosy, an associate professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University, says that “Biden doesn’t agree with the U.S. bishops about everything, but he does care about what they say and regularly tries to fit their concerns into Democratic policy proposals.”

“Perhaps Biden’s newly-created office dedicated to reaching out to conservatives should at least be something worth paying attention to,” writes the theologian, but warns that “if there is to be any outreach, then the Biden administration will need to address the greatest problem with today’s Democratic party. And that is abortion.”

“No one supports a consistent life ethic more strongly than I do,” says Camosy, author of ‘Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People.’ “But in advocating for the full vision of St. John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, it does not follow that we must give all issues equal weight.”

“The U.S. bishops, though they rightly have many priorities, are quite right to claim that abortion must remain the ‘preeminent priority.’ How could ‘the greatest universal genocide’ be anything else?” Camosy writes.

The author observes that “Joe Biden used to be something close to a pro-life Democrat, but he has dramatically changed his views in recent years, especially in the lead-up to the 2020 campaign. If his administration shifts the so-called Mexico City Policy so that U.S. tax dollars fund abortions overseas, as he has promised to do, Biden will become more directly complicit in abortion than at perhaps any other time in his life. He has also reversed himself on the Hyde Amendment, which means he is in favor of forcing pro-life citizens to pay for abortions with their tax dollars.”

But, “Biden has supported Hyde and even late-term abortion bans in the past. He has said he believes there should be room in the Democratic Party for pro-lifers. In the past he has supported conscience protections,” writes Camosy, asking: “Is there any hope we can get that guy back?”

“Given what is at stake for millions of prenatal lives—as well as their mothers (who are often coerced into abortions they don’t want)—Catholics have no choice: We must engage Biden after his inauguration.”

Reminding readers that “Biden is a political animal,” Camosy argues that Catholics could push for “a grand bargain” that would entail “much lower thresholds for legal abortion and much higher levels of support for pregnant women and families. The combination of socially conservative and economically progressive policies fits well with Catholic teaching. And it would save hundreds of thousands of prenatal lives by reducing both supply and demand for abortion.”

“Catholics committed to the fullness of the teaching of the Church have an opportunity. We can encourage Biden to return to his pro-life roots, pointing out the moral urgency of the pro-life cause.”

Charles Camosy resigned from the board of Democrats for Life of America (DFLA), writing in a column in the NY Post that the Democratic Party’s extreme support of abortion left him “no choice” but to leave his party.

Read Comosy’s full op-ed here: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/12/catholics-and-the-incoming-biden-administration 

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Pope Benedict’s secretary reflects on awful 2020 with German Magazine 

Posted by | Jan 1, 2021 | , |

CNA Staff, Jan 1, 2021 / 01:29 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Georg Gänswein has spoken about life with Pope emeritus Benedict XVI and a personally challenging year. “I’m grateful to God that 2020 is finally over,” the 64-year-old told the German tabloid magazine “Bunte”, saying Rome had at times turned “eerily quiet” during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gänswein, who hails from the Black Forest region of Germany, is prefect of the Papal Household, but has been on leave from his duties as prefect since February in order to be able to dedicate his time exclusively to the former pope as Benedict XVI’s private secretary. 

Since the election of Pope Francis in 2013, Gänswein had worked in both roles, commuting between two offices – until the stress took its toll. The archbishop suffered from acute hearing loss in 2017 and is now living with a severe case of tinnitus. In late January of last year, Pope Francis informed Gänswein he should devote his time and energy entirely to his role as secretary to Benedict. “For this purpose, he released me from my service in the prefecture. My duties there have been reassigned for an indefinite period”, Gänswein said.

Following a treatment for kidney problems in September, Gänswein said, he had a “clarifying, very fortifying and encouraging meeting with Pope Francis” about the decision to be removed from active duty as Prefect, which he stressed he knew was not any kind of “punishment” in the first instance.

Gänswein celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with Pope emeritus Benedict in the monastery building Mater Ecclesiae in the Vatican Gardens, where the men and four Italian nuns reside.

“I pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily with Pope emeritus Benedict and also the Rosary. A considerable amount of my time is reserved for prayer. Every priest, every bishop, even the Pope, prays not only for himself but for the people entrusted to them. Also and especially for those who do not want to or cannot pray”, Gänswein told the magazine.

He also said Benedict XVI remained very alert mentally. “Physically, however, he has become quite weak,” he said. “At 93, he is at a blessed age.”

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Year of Saint Joseph: The Shadow of the Father

Posted by | Jan 1, 2021 | , |

On this solemnity of Mary’s Divine Motherhood, it’s good also to be reminded of her husband’s quasi-divine Fatherhood, as we begin this ‘Year of Saint Joseph‘. I write ‘quasi’ – ‘as though’ – for how does one express the relation of Saint Joseph to his purported Son, to whom he knew he had no direct[…]

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After ‘painful sciatica’ causes pope to skip Mass, Francis appears for New Year’s Angelus

Posted by | Jan 1, 2021 | , , , , , , , , , |

While he skipped morning Mass due to what the Vatican called a “painful sciatica,” Pope Francis was in the saddle again for his Angelus address later in the day, reflecting on the role of Mary as Mother of God and the need for a change in attitude at the end of a tumultuous year.

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