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For those in the St. Mary's High School community
For Brother James Dorazio for a speedy recovery from
knee surgery.
For Brother Neil
McMenamin
as he begins his new assignment in Maryland and in
thanksgiving for almost 40 years of quiet and loyal
service to St. Mary's.
For Those Serving in the Military
For all SM alumni and family serving in the
military. Pray that they be respected and protected,
that their patron saint, St. George, watch over them
and pray to God for their safety, wisdom in their
decision making, fortitude and compassion.
For the Repose of the Souls of
SM Alumni and Friends
::
Alumni Memorial Page Link
::
For
the Holy Father, Bishops, Priests and Religious
For our Holy Father, all Bishops,
Priests and Religious. Pray
that their actions and lives truly exhibit the
values of the Gospel, no matter the cost.
In particular for the members of
the order of St. Francis de Sales who celebrate
their 40th year serving the St. Mary's Community,
Fr. Fallon who will celebrate 50 years as a priest,
and Fr. Kelly who will be 80 years old and still
serving, the Dominicans
and Franciscans, all orders and Diocesan priests that are or have served
St. Mary's High School since its beginnings in 1876.
For
the unborn and born victims of abortion
For the innocent victims of abortion,
for those who are suffering the personal devastation
of abortion's aftermath, and that the hearts of
those who promote the killing of the unborn be
changed to affirm life.
All those facing
unemployment and financial difficulty at this time
The
poor souls in Purgatory
For
Victims of Terrorism, Crime and Abuse and Poverty
For the Red Rhino Orphanage Project
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Selected Quotes from Church Documents: On Legalized
Abortion
(Source: USCCB)
Papal Teaching
But responsibility likewise falls on the legislators
who have promoted and approved abortion laws, and,
to the extent that they have a say in the matter, on
the administrators of the health-care centers where
abortions are performed. … In this sense abortion
goes beyond the responsibility of individuals and
beyond the harm done to them, and takes on a
distinctly social dimension. It is a most serious
wound inflicted on society and its culture by the
very people who ought to be society’s promoters and
defenders.
Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae (1995), no. 59.
When a parliamentary or social majority decrees that
it is legal, at least under certain conditions, to
kill unborn human life, is it not really making a
‘tyrannical’ decision with regard to the weakest and
most defenseless of human beings?....While public
authority can sometimes choose not to put a stop to
something which – were it prohibited – would cause
more serious harm, it can never presume to
legitimize as a right of individuals – even if they
are the majority of the members of society – an
offense against other persons caused by the
disregard of so fundamental a right as the right to
life.
Id., nos. 70, 71.
Laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent
human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in
complete opposition to the inviolable right to life
proper to every individual; they thus deny the
equality of everyone before the law.
Id., no. 72.
Utilitarianism is a civilization of production and
of use, a civilization of "things" and not of
"persons", a civilization in which persons are used
in the same way as things are used. In the context
of a civilization of use, woman can become an object
for man, children a hindrance to parents, the family
an institution obstructing the freedom of its
members. To be convinced that this is the case, one
need only look at certain sexual education
programmes introduced into the schools, often
notwithstanding the disagreement and even the
protests of many parents; or pro-abortion tendencies
which vainly try to hide behind the so-called "right
to choose" ("pro-choice") on the part of both
spouses, and in particular on the part of the woman.
Pope John Paul II, Letter to Families, February 2,
1994, no. 13
On “social sin”:
Also social is every sin against the rights of the
human person, beginning with the right to life and
including the life of the unborn or against a
person's physical integrity…The term social can be
applied to sins of commission or omission-on the
part of political, economic or trade union leaders,
who though in a position to do so, do not work
diligently and wisely for the improvement and
transformation of society according to the
requirements and potential of the given historic
moment…Whenever the church speaks of situations of
sin or when the condemns as social sins certain
situations or the collective behavior of certain
social groups, big or small, or even of whole
nations and blocs of nations, she knows and she
proclaims that such cases of social sin are the
result of the accumulation and concentration of many
personal sins. It is a case of the very personal
sins of those who cause or support evil or who
exploit it; of those who are in a position to avoid,
eliminate or at least limit certain social evils but
who fail to do so out of laziness, fear or the
conspiracy of silence, through secret complicity or
indifference; of those who take refuge in the
supposed impossibility of changing the world and
also of those who sidestep the effort and sacrifice
required, producing specious reasons of a higher
order. The real responsibility, then, lies with
individuals.
Pope John Paul II, Reconciliation and Penance
(1984), no. 16
Vatican Documents
It
is true that it is not the task of the law to choose
between points of view or to impose one rather than
another. But the life of the child takes precedence
over all opinions. One cannot invoke freedom of
thought to destroy this life…
The role of law is not to record what is done, but
to help in promoting improvement. It is at all times
the task of the State to preserve each person's
rights and to protect the weakest. In order to do so
the State will have to right many wrongs. The law is
not obliged to sanction everything, but it cannot
act contrary to a law which is deeper and more
majestic than any human law: the natural law
engraved in men's hearts by the Creator as a norm
which reason clarifies and strives to formulate
properly, and which one must always struggle to
understand better, but which it is always wrong to
contradict. Human law can abstain from punishment,
but it cannot declare to be right what would be
opposed to the natural law, for this opposition
suffices to give the assurance that a law is not a
law at all…
It must in any case be clearly understood that
whatever may be laid down by civil law in this
matter, man can never obey a law which is in itself
immoral, and such is the case of a law which would
admit in principle the liceity of abortion. Nor can
he take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of
such a law, or vote for it. Moreover, he may not
collaborate in its application.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Declaration on Procured Abortion, November 18, 1974,
nos. 19-22
John Paul II, continuing the constant teaching of
the Church, has reiterated many times that those who
are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a
«grave and clear obligation to oppose» any law that
attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic,
it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for
them.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the
Participation of Catholics in Political Life 2002),
no. 4
The
social doctrine of the Church is not an intrusion
into the government of individual countries.It is a
question of the lay Catholic’s duty to be morally
coherent, found within one’s conscience, which is
one and indivisible. «There cannot be two parallel
lives in their existence: on the one hand, the
so-called ‘spiritual life’, with its values and
demands; and on the other, the so-called ‘secular’
life, that is, life in a family, at work, in social
responsibilities, in the responsibilities of public
life and in culture.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the
Participation of Catholics in Political Life 2002),
no. 6
When political activity comes up against moral
principles that do not admit of exception,
compromise or derogation, the Catholic commitment
becomes more evident and laden with responsibility.
In the face of fundamental and inalienable ethical
demands, Christians must recognize that what is at
stake is the essence of the moral law, which
concerns the integral good of the human person. This
is the case with laws concerning abortion and
euthanasia (not to be confused with the decision to
forgo extraordinary treatments, which is morally
legitimate). Such laws must defend the basic right
to life from conception to natural death.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the
Participation of Catholics in Political Life 2002),
no. 4
U.S. Bishops’ Documents
No
Catholic can responsibly take a "pro-choice" stand
when the "choice" in question involves the taking of
innocent human life.
Resolution on Abortion (1989)
We urge those Catholic officials who choose to
depart from Church teaching on the inviolability of
human life in their public life to consider the
consequences for their own spiritual well being, as
well as the scandal they risk by leading others into
serious sin. We call on them to reflect on the grave
contradiction of assuming public roles and
presenting themselves as credible Catholics when
their actions on fundamental issues of human life
are not in agreement with Church teaching. No public
official, especially one claiming to be a faithful
and serious Catholic, can responsibly advocate for
or actively support direct attacks on innocent human
life. [N]o appeal to policy, procedure, majority
will or pluralism ever excuses a public official
from defending life to the greatest extent possible.
As is true of leaders in all walks of life, no
political leader can evade accountability for his or
her exercise of power (Evangelium Vitae, 73-4).
Those who justify their inaction on the grounds that
abortion is the law of the land need to recognize
that there is a higher law, the law of God. No human
law can validly contradict the Commandment: "Thou
shalt not kill."
Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American
Catholics (1998), no. 32
The law is not the only means of protecting life,
but it plays a key and often decisive role in
affecting both human behavior and thinking. Those
called to civil leadership, as Pope John Paul II
reminds us, "have a duty to make courageous choices
in support of life, especially through legislative
measures." This is a responsibility that cannot be
put aside, "especially when he or she has a
legislative or decision-making mandate, which calls
that person to answer to God, to his or her own
conscience and to the whole of society for choices
which may be contrary to the common good" (The
Gospel of Life, no. 90).
Public officials are privileged in a special way to
apply their moral convictions to the policy arena.
We hold in high esteem those who, through such
positions and authority, promote respect for all
human life. Catholic civil leaders who reject or
ignore the Church's teaching on the sanctity of
human life do so at risk to their own spiritual
well-being.
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