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Month: January 2021

Archbishop Hebda: Pro-life advocates ‘on the right side of this battle, because this is the Lord’s battle’

Posted by | Jan 22, 2021 | , , , , , , , , , |

The men and women gathered Jan. 22 at the Cathedral of St. Paul were not alone in their prayers to end abortion, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said at the annual Prayer Service for Life.

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Secretary of State nominee says he will fill LGBT position at agency

Posted by | Jan 22, 2021 | , |

Washington D.C., Jan 22, 2021 / 02:45 pm (CNA).- President Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State pledged to appoint an LGBTI envoy at the agency, and says he will permit embassies to fly the “Pride” flag if confirmed. 

 

Antony Blinken, Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. State Department, was asked about filing the LGBTI Special Envoy position at the agency during his confirmation hearing before members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 19. 

 

Filling the position is “a matter, I think, of some real urgency,” said Blinken, who served as deputy secretary of state during the Obama administration. 

 

The administration created the special envoy position in 2015 to help counter violence against persons identifying as LGBTI around the world, as well as helping overturn laws criminalizing same-sex conduct. 

 

“We’ve seen violence directed against LGBTQI people around the world increase,” said Blinken on Tuesday. “We’ve seen, I believe, the highest number of murders of transgender people, particularly women of color, that we’ve seen ever.” 

 

However, when the position was first created, some religious freedom advocates warned that the administration’s objective could be “more revolutionary” than simply countering violence abroad. They told CNA that the agency could pressure developing countries to redefine marriage and promote transgender ideology.

 

The Trump administration did not fill the position.

 

Blinken said on Tuesday that he believed that the United States is “playing the role that it should be playing in standing up for and defending the rights of LGBTQI people is something that the Department (of State) is going to take on, and take on immediately.” 

 

Blinken further pledged to “repudiate” the 2020 Commission on Unalienable Rights, established in 2019 by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and which produced a report on human rights in 2020. 

 

The report stated “Foremost among the unalienable rights that government is established to secure, from the founders’ point of view, are property rights and religious liberty.” 

 

In 2019, it was reported that U.S. embassies were prohibited from flying the LGBT “Pride” flag during the month of June, which is traditionally known as “Pride Month.” 

 

Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) asked Blinken if he would change this policy as secretary of state. Blinken said that the U.S. embassies would be permitted to fly the flag.

 

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St. Angela Merici, Virgin and Foundress

Posted by | Jan 22, 2021 | , , , , , , , , |

St. Angela Merici was born on March 21, 1470, in Desenzano in the territory of Lombardy, the Republic of Venice, in northern Italy. She was orphaned at the age of ten and then moved with her sister to Brescia when they were raised by their uncle. Her sister died a short while later. She entered the Third Order of Saint Francis at the age of thirteen, chose to embrace an austere lifestyle, and received the sacraments frequently.

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Virginia senate votes to allow taxpayer-funded abortion coverage

Posted by | Jan 22, 2021 | , |

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 22, 2021 / 01:30 pm (CNA).- A bill that would allow taxpayer-funded abortion passed the Virginia state senate on Friday, Jan. 22. 

 

The bill, SB 1276, would permit abortion coverage for any reason in health insurance plans on Virginia’s taxpayer-funded health exchange. The bill was introduced on Jan. 12 and cleared a senate committee on Mon., January 18.

 

On Friday afternoon–the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide–the state senate approved the bill by a 20-17 vote along party lines. 

 

The state’s bishops have been outspoken against the bill. “Virginia should not subsidize abortion on demand with taxpayer funds,” Jeff Caruso, director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, told CNA on Friday prior to the vote. 

 

“The exchange is taxpayer-funded. Taxes pay for managing the exchange, and for subsidizing health plans in many cases,” he said, explaining how the bill would subsidize abortion coverage.

 

Caruso said that the conference has “been urging and continue to urge” the members of the Virginia Senate to “reject this dangerous bill that would tragically result in more abortions.” 

 

SB 1276 struck a phrase clarifying that health plans offered on the exchange would not cover abortions except in cases of rape or incest, or when the physical health of the mother is at risk due to the pregnancy. 

 

Virginia’s state legislature passed an abortion bill in 2020 that allowed physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to perform abortions; it also struck down existing requirements that women be informed about the abortion procedure and receive ultrasounds before having an abortion, and deregulated safety standards at abortion clinics.

 

Gov. Ralph Northam signed the bill into law on April 11, Good Friday–an act which the state’s bishops called “a particular affront to all who profess the Gospel of life.”

 

A companion bill to SB 1276 is also being considered in the state house of delegates.

 

The state’s consideration of taxpayer-funded abortion is taking place as the federal government is also considering repeals of pro-life protections against public funding of abortion.

 

The Biden administration is reportedly set to reverse the Mexico City Policy, which bars federal funding of foreign NGOs that perform or promote abortions.

 

House and Senate Democrats have also signaled a desire to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding of abortions in spending bills. House Democrats passed a COVID relief bill last year without protections against taxpayer funding of abortions included, but the measure did not pass the Senate.

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