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Monday, October 12, 2015
From Bill Diss: Planned Parenthood Out of Schools and October 25th PDX Life Chain MLK Blvd.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Condolences for families, victims of Umpqua Community College shooting from Archbishop Sample
From Archbishop Sample's Facebook page - Archbishop Alexander K. Sample
In response to the terrible and tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon in the Archdiocese of Portland, I have sent the following pastoral message to the people who will be gathered in prayer this evening at St. Joseph Parish:
"My dearest brothers and sisters,
I am saddened beyond words over the tragedy that has struck your local
community and the campus of Umpqua Community College. Even though I am
unable to be physically present with you at this particular
moment, know that I am very much united with all of you in spirit and
in prayer. We are one body in Christ, and when even one member suffers,
we all suffer with them. My heart is indeed very heavy with sorrow as I
grieve with all of you.
In response to the terrible and tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon in the Archdiocese of Portland, I have sent the following pastoral message to the people who will be gathered in prayer this evening at St. Joseph Parish:
"My dearest brothers and sisters,
I am saddened beyond words over the tragedy that has struck your local
community and the campus of Umpqua Community College. Even though I am
unable to be physically present with you at this particular
moment, know that I am very much united with all of you in spirit and
in prayer. We are one body in Christ, and when even one member suffers,
we all suffer with them. My heart is indeed very heavy with sorrow as I
grieve with all of you.
Along with you, I cannot begin to make sense of the tragic loss of life
of our fellow community members and the many wounded in this terrible
and violent attack. Why such shooting tragedies continue to happen is
hard to understand. Sadly, we live in the midst of a culture that does
not value the dignity and sacredness of every human life as it once did.
We must unite our suffering and the suffering of all those most directly affected by this tragedy with the cross of Jesus. In Christ, sorrow, death and loss are transformed by the glory of the resurrection. Jesus has conquered sin and death and opened the way to eternal life. Let us prayerfully commend our deceased brothers and sisters to the mercy of our loving Father. Let us also pray for healing and strength for all those who grieve the loss of loved ones and who care for the wounded.
Know that I will continue to unite myself in prayer with all of you.
God bless you, and may the God of mercy keep you in his loving care now and forever
In Jesus and Mary,
Archbishop Sample"
We must unite our suffering and the suffering of all those most directly affected by this tragedy with the cross of Jesus. In Christ, sorrow, death and loss are transformed by the glory of the resurrection. Jesus has conquered sin and death and opened the way to eternal life. Let us prayerfully commend our deceased brothers and sisters to the mercy of our loving Father. Let us also pray for healing and strength for all those who grieve the loss of loved ones and who care for the wounded.
Know that I will continue to unite myself in prayer with all of you.
God bless you, and may the God of mercy keep you in his loving care now and forever
In Jesus and Mary,
Archbishop Sample"
Kim Davis recounts secret meeting with Pope Francis
Davis refused a judge's order to issue marriage licenses, citing her religious beliefs
\September 30, 2015
The following comes from a September 30 ABC News article:
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis says a private meeting with Pope Francis has inspired her -– and given her a renewed sense of purpose.
“I was crying. I had tears coming out of my eyes,” Davis said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. “I’m just a nobody, so it was really humbling to think he would want to meet or know me.”
Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, says the private meeting occurred during the pope’s historic trip to the United States. After receiving a surprise phone call from a church official, the Kentucky county clerk says she traveled to Washington, D.C., where she and her husband Joe met the pope Sept. 24 at the Vatican Embassy.
“I put my hand out and he reached and he grabbed it, and I hugged him and he hugged me,” Davis said. “And he said, ‘thank you for your courage.’”
Hours later, Father Benedettini from the Vatican Press office said, “I do not deny that the meeting took place, but I will not comment on it further.” The Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. would also not elaborate, echoing the Vatican’s latest statement.
Davis drew national attention -– and spent six days in jail -– after refusing a judge’s order to issue marriage licenses in Rowan County, Kentucky, to same-sex and heterosexual couples, citing her religious beliefs.
Pope Francis gave rosaries to Kim Davis and her husband.
ABC News’ Terry Moran asked Francis Sunday night if he supports individuals, including government officials, who claim religious liberty as a reason to disobey the law.
Francis responded, “I can’t have in mind all the cases that can exist about conscientious objection, but, yes, I can say that conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right.”
Davis says Pope Francis left her and her husband with a rosary.
“He told me before he left, he said, ‘stay strong.’ That was a great encouragement. Just knowing that the pope is on track with what we’re doing, it kind of validates everything to have someone of that stature,” Davis said.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Oregon Tax Court Hearing for Mary Star of the Sea. Will Taxing Oregon Rectories be the norm?
In May, Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Astoria was denied tax exemption as a rectory. On October 15th the church will go before the tax court.
Below is a link to the Oregon Tax Court calendar, the hearings are held
in the Roberts Building on the corner of State Street and 12th in Salem,
opposite Adam's Rib restaurant. Normally they are open to the public. The hearings start at nine o'clock. Look up Mary Star of
the Sea v. DOR (Department of Revenue).
http://courts.oregon.gov/Tax/
http://courts.oregon.gov/Tax/
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
"Kim and Francis" aka Kim Davis and Pope Francis Regarding Their Meeting
Inside the Vatican Magazine by Dr. Robert Moynihan
# 38 - September 29, 2015, Tuesday — Kim and Francis
"For there is not any thing secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden, that shall not be known and come to light." —Luke 8:17
"Holy Father, you visited the Little Sisters of the Poor and we were told that you wanted to show your support for them and their case in the courts. And, Holy Father, do you also support those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws or discharge their duties as government officials, for example in issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples? Do you support those kinds of claims of religious liberty?" —Terry Moran, ABC News, asking a question to Pope Francis on the papal airplane during an impromptu airplane press conference, on the evening of Sunday, September 27, just after the Pope left the United States to return to Rome
"Holy Father, you visited the Little Sisters of the Poor and we were told that you wanted to show your support for them and their case in the courts. And, Holy Father, do you also support those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws or discharge their duties as government officials, for example in issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples? Do you support those kinds of claims of religious liberty?" —Terry Moran, ABC News, asking a question to Pope Francis on the papal airplane during an impromptu airplane press conference, on the evening of Sunday, September 27, just after the Pope left the United States to return to Rome
"Conscientious
objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a
right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious
objector, he denies a right. Conscientious objection must enter into
every juridical structure because it is a right, a human right.
Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a
right, saying 'this right that has merit, this one does not.' It
(conscientious objection) is a human right." —Pope Francis, answering Terry Moran's question on the papal flight on September 27
"Would that include government officials as well?" —Followup question by Moran
"It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right." —Pope Francis, answer to the followup question
=========================
"Would that include government officials as well?" —Followup question by Moran
"It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right." —Pope Francis, answer to the followup question
=========================
The Secret Meeting of the Papal Trip
Washington, D.C., September 29, 2015 — One meeting during Pope Francis' whirlwind trip to America has remained secret.
Washington, D.C., September 29, 2015 — One meeting during Pope Francis' whirlwind trip to America has remained secret.
Until now.
It was, arguably, the most significant meeting, symbolically, of the entire trip.
It should, therefore, be brought to the attention of the public, both in the Church, and in the secular world.
That
the meeting occurred may, perhaps, spark controversy. This is evidently
why it was kept secret. The Vatican evidently feared the
"politicization" of a "pastoral trip" which clearly wished to emphasize
the encounter with Jesus Christ, with the poor, with the faithful, with
the handicapped, with children, and with all Americans of whatever
background.
But there was also, evidently, a desire to meet with a person who has taken a controversial stand out of conscience.
The
meeting is a fact, and facts are the material of which reality is
composed, and human beings, though they cannot, as T.S. Eliot said, bear
very much reality, strive nevertheless to live in reality. And reality
cannot be understood without knowledge of the facts. Of what really
happened.
(Here is a picture of Pope Francis on Sunday evening, September 27, on the airplane during his airplane press conference, after leaving the United States)
On
Thursday, September 24, in the afternoon after his historic address to
Congress, just a few minutes before flying to New York City, Pope Francis received, spoke with, and embraced Kim Davis
— the Kentucky County Clerk who was jailed in early September for
refusing to sign the marriage licenses of homosexual couples who wished
to have their civil marriages certified by the state of Kentucky.
Also present was Kim's husband, Joe Davis.
Kim
and her husband had come to Washington for another purpose -- Kim was
to receive a "Cost of Discipleship" award on Friday, September 25, from
The Family Research Council at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
"Thank you for your courage"
Pope Francis entered the room.
Kim greeted him, and the two embraced.
There is no recording of this conversation, or photographs, as far as I know. But "there is not any thing secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden, that shall not be known and come to light." (Luke 8:17)
Kim Davis gave me this account of the meeting shortly after it took place.
"The Pope spoke in English," she told me. "There was no interpreter. 'Thank you for your courage,' Pope Francis said to me. I
said, 'Thank you, Holy Father.' I had asked a monsignor earlier what
was the proper way to greet the Pope, and whether it would be
appropriate for me to embrace him, and I had been told it would be okay
to hug him. So I hugged him, and he hugged me back. It was an
extraordinary moment. 'Stay strong,' he said to me. Then he gave me a
rosary as a gift, and he gave one also to my husband, Joe. I broke into
tears. I was deeply moved.
"Then
he said to me, 'Please pray for me.' And I said to him, 'Please pray
for me also, Holy Father.' And he assured me that he would pray for me."
Joe
told Kim that he would give his rosary to her mother, who is a
Catholic. And Kim then said that she would give her rosary to her
father, who is also a Catholic.
Vatican sources have confirmed to me that this meeting did occur; the occurrence of this meeting is not in doubt.
Those
who have seen the images of the film of the Pope answering the
questions of the journalists on the airplane, on the matter of
individual conscience, his determination and passion, are persuaded that
he had in mind not a theoretical issue of conscience, but a specific
person, someone he had met and embraced — someone whose burden, as a
loving pastor, he had taken on his own shoulders.
He was thinking of this person when he answered those questions.
Why Did the Pope Meet Kim?
What was the purpose of this meeting?
Pope
Francis met with Kim, embraced her, encouraged her, and, on the papal
airplane, when asked the question cited at the outset, he stated, very
strongly, that "conscientious objection" is "a human right."
It
is not surprising that the Holy Father met Kim Davis. The Holy Father
is considered by many to be the father of all Christians, and is a man
of compassion, a man ready to listen to and to comfort all who have
suffered for their faith.
It
was the Holy Father's explicit request to visit a prison in
Philadelphia, and he took the time to speak with each of the 100
prisoners he met on that occasion.
This is the attitude that prompted the Holy Father to receive Kim, who had been in jail.
And
her response, from the very first moment of the meeting, showing great
affection toward the Holy Father, showed that she responded to this
desire of his to comfort her.
The meeting with the Holy Father was a moment of consolation for Kim.
It strengthened her conviction, she told me, to obey the law of God, before the law of man.
It is the teaching of the Catholic Church that, when the human law contradicts the natural law, it is not a valid law.
This
encounter between Pope Francis and Kim Davis takes on new importance
since the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union) has asked that Kim
be held in contempt of court.
This means that, should the judge agree with the ACLU, Kim could again in coming days be ordered to be held in prison.
In
this sense, the Pope on September 24 clearly "wrapped his protective
mantle" around Kim Davis, discreetly, in private, in a way completely
hidden from the world, but in a way that was deeply moving for her
personally, as a person of conscience
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