1. Pope Francis:
I cannot fail to mention the serious harm to the Christian communities in Syria and Iraq, where many brothers and sisters are oppressed because of their faith, driven from their land, kept in prison or even killed. For centuries, the Christian and Muslim communities have lived together in these lands on the basis of mutual respect. Today the very legitimacy of the presence of Christians and other religious minorities is denied in the name of a “violent fundamentalism claiming to be based on religion” (Benedict XVI Apost. Exhort. Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, n. 29). Yet, the Church responds to the many attacks and persecution that she suffers in those countries by bearing witness to Christ with courage, through her humble and fervent presence, sincere dialogue and the generous service in favor of whoever that are suffering or in need without any distinction.
In Syria and Iraq, evil destroys buildings and infrastructures, but especially the conscience of man. In the name of Jesus, who came into the world to heal the wounds of humanity, the Church feels called to respond to evil with good by promoting an integral human development of “each man and of the whole man” (Populorum Progressio, n. 14). To answer this difficult call, Catholics must strengthen the intra-ecclesial collaboration and the bonds of communion, which unite them with other Christian communities, seeking also cooperation with international humanitarian institutions and with all men of good will. I encourage you, therefore, to continue on the path of cooperation and sharing, and working together and in synergy. Please: do not abandon the victims of this crisis, even if the world’s attention were to lessen.
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Pope Francis reveals he carries a small cross held by an Iraqi priest as he was martyred http://t.co/Y7eAkELwEgpic.twitter.com/Qn1dbiYq03
— Catholic Herald (@CatholicHerald) September 18, 20153.
“Jesus loves you a lot…. I come [to Cuba] as a missionary of mercy.” says @pontifex to the Cuban people in video. pic.twitter.com/O9KWfJgSzA
— Fr. Manuel Dorantes (@TweetingPriest) September 18, 20154.
I ask you to join me in praying for my trip to Cuba and the United States. I need your prayers.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 18, 20155. I write live from a Religious Freedom Summit at Catholic University, sponsored by Baylor University and The Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University. It’s a bit of an opener for Pope Francis’s visit to the United States next week. Some beginning notes from my livetweeting of some of it:
Our right to religious liberty follows out of our duty to worship God – John Garvey #religiousfreedomsummit@CatholicU
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) September 18, 2015Pope Francis is one of the most effective communicators on #religiousfreedom– John Garvey @CatholicU
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) September 18, 2015Pope Francis reminds us why we need #religiousfreedom– John Garvey @CatholicU#religiousfreedomsummit
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) September 18, 2015Christians believe that God is love. The holy father delivers this message constantly. – John Garvey @CatholicU
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) September 18, 2015#Religiousfreedom will only matter 2 people if religion matters2people-if believers believe that God is great&show neighbors it is so-Garvey
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) September 18, 2015And from the remarks by Daniel Ian Mark from the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom:
Mark: 75 percent of world’s population lives in areas where religious freedom threated by gov’t or where persecution is tolerated.
— Adelaide Mena (@AddieDMena) September 18, 2015religious freedom has become a partisan issue in United States. Shouldn’t be the case, but it is. –Daniel Ian Mark #ReligiousFreedomSummit
— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) September 18, 2015During a webcast Tuesday evening called “Stop Baby Parts Trafficking,” David Daleiden, the director of the Center for Medical Progress, said that the organization’s videos have exposed “three basic revelations” about Planned Parenthood.
First, he said, “Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of the fetuses they abort” and they make money from those sales.
Second, Planned Parenthood “changes the abortion procedure” in order to obtain intact specimens.
Finally, Planned Parenthood’s trafficking of fetal body parts is not an “isolated incident,” but “goes up to the highest levels of the national organization.”
7. Legislation has been introduced in New York pushing back against the trafficking of fetal body parts.
8. Ian Tuttle writes about the media backlash against Carly Fiorina on the Planned Parenthood videos.
9.
BTW, that media defenders of @ppact want those videos to be not-real proves they understand how horrifying they are to abortion business.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) September 17, 201510. My friend Ed Mechmann notes a good bits of news as pertains to the Obama administration’s abortion-drug, contraception, sterilization mandate:
for the first time, a Circuit Court has ruled in favor of a religious non-profit and this makes it even more likely that the Supreme Court will take up one of the HHS mandate cases.
11. My young friend Brother Dominic Bouck, O.P. writes about churches and tax exemption in the Washington Post:
it is in the state’s best interest to protect those voices that at the moment respectfully oppose its laws. By prohibiting faith-based conscientious objection, institutions will be limited in their ability to speak independently without fear of punishment, and some of the largest charities in America will be shuttered. Churches have defended and served the American people both spiritually and materially for hundreds of years. Now it’s time to defend the church.
12. What Makes a Society Thrive?
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6 cops escort fallen officer’s daughter to her elementary school’s father-daughter dance: http://t.co/P0GB4Te2vZpic.twitter.com/7YYdFyIoAt
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 18, 2015