The Sound of Abortion

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Residence for archbishops moved - Archbishop Sample Walks the Talk

Home within bounds of St. Pius X Parish

When further research this spring revealed that building a new house for the archbishops of Portland would be too costly, Archbishop Alexander Sample changed course. The archdiocese bought an existing home near St. Pius X Parish in Northwest Portland.

See VOCAL post:
Archbishop Sample to Downsize. Also moved Catholic Sentinel to Pastoral Center.
 
The purchase amounted to less than the original plan for building on property off Skyline Boulevard. City infrastructure requirements and grading of the sloped parcel had added to the estimate, says Delia Wilson, property manager for the archdiocese.

The archbishop has moved into the one-level house, which Wilson describes as a “very suitable, older, yet newly remodeled home” in a family neighborhood.

The move frees the former archbishop’s residence for use by Cathedral Parish. Starting in the 1980s, the archbishops of Portland lived in a large former school building next to the cathedral, but growth in parish life made it clear that more room was needed. Plans call for more meeting rooms and social space.

Catholic Sentinel

U.S. archbishop: Active gays must repent and change lifestyle before receiving Communion.

                           Thank you Archbishop Sample for caring for our immortal life.

PORTLAND, Oregon, July 10, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) Pete Baklinski

An American archbishop has released guidelines upholding the Church's constant teaching that Catholics in "serious sin" – including active homosexuals and those in adulterous unions – must repent before receiving Communion.

The new guidelines from Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon are intended to implement Pope Francis’s Exhortation Amoris Laetitia in a way that he said is “compatible with Church teaching.”

The guidelines state that those in “serious sin,” including divorced and civilly-remarried persons living unchastely as well as persons in an active same-sex relationship, must “sacramentally confess all serious sins with a firm purpose to change, before receiving the Holy Eucharist.”
Sample wrote in his May 2017 guidelines that Amoris Laetitia “calls for a sensitive accompaniment of those with an imperfect grasp of Christian teaching on marriage and family life, who may not be living in accord with Catholic belief, and yet desire to be more fully integrated into Church life, including the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.”
But true accompaniment, he said, can only take place within the “tradition of the Church’s teaching and life.”

“In fact, pastors must always convey Catholic teaching faithfully to all persons – including the divorced and remarried – both in the confessional as well as publicly. They should do this with great confidence in the power of God’s grace, knowing that, when spoken with love, the truth heals, builds up, and sets free (cf. Jn 8:32),” the guidelines state.

The Archbishop said that there have been “misuses” of the Pope’s Exhortation “in support of positions that are not compatible with Church teaching.”

Among these is the notion that an individual’s conscience has, after Amoris Laetitia, become the final judge in moral matters. Such a position is taken by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, who has argued that the civilly-divorced-and-remarried as well as active homosexuals should be able to receive Communion if they came to the decision “in good conscience.”

But, following what the Church has always taught, the Archbishop’s guidelines state: “Catholic teaching makes clear that the subjective conscience of the individual can never be set against the objective moral truth, as if conscience and truth were two competing principles for moral decision-making.”

They continue:

As St. John Paul II wrote, such a view would ‘pose a challenge to the very identity of the moral conscience in relation to human freedom and God's law. . . . Conscience is not an independent and exclusive capacity to decide what is good and what is evil’ (Veritatis Splendor 56, 60). Rather, ‘conscience is the application of the law to a particular case” (Veritatis Splendor 59). Conscience stands under the objective moral law and should be formed by it, so that “[t]he truth about moral good, as that truth is declared in the law of reason, is practically and concretely recognized by the judgment of conscience’ (Veritatis Splendor 61).

Archbishop Sample said that in view of Catholic teaching on conscience, “priests must help the divorced and civilly remarried to form their consciences according to the truth.”
“This is a true work of mercy,” he said.
Divorced and civilly-remarried Catholics wishing to return to a sacramental life within the Church must either “‘regularize’ their marital status in the Church” (receive a declaration of nullity for first union and then marry within the Church) or, if this cannot be done, “refrain from sexual intimacy” by living “as brother and sister.”
“Undertaking to live as brother and sister is necessary for the divorced and civilly-remarried to receive reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance, which could then open the way to reception of the Holy Eucharist. Such individuals are encouraged to approach the Sacrament of Penance regularly, having recourse to God’s great mercy in that sacrament if they fail in chastity,” the guidelines state.
They continue:

[W]here pastors give Holy Communion to divorced and remarried persons trying to live chastely, they should do so in a manner that will avoid giving scandal or implying that Christ’s teaching can be set aside. This is left to the prudential judgement of the pastor involved. In other contexts care must also be taken to avoid the unintended appearance of an endorsement of divorce and civil remarriage; thus, divorced and civilly remarried persons would not hold positions of responsibility in a parish (e.g. on a parish council), nor would they carry out liturgical ministries or functions (e.g., lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion).

The guidelines specifically address what pastors must do when a same-sex couple presents themselves openly in a parish.

The Church welcomes all men and women who honestly seek to encounter the Lord, whatever their circumstances. But two persons in an active, public same-sex relationship, no matter how sincere, offer a serious counter-witness to Catholic belief, that can only produce moral confusion in the community. Such a relationship cannot be accepted into the life of the parish without undermining the faith of the community, most notably the children.

“Those living openly same-sex lifestyles would not hold positions of responsibility in a parish, nor would they carry out any liturgical ministry or function until they are reconciled with the Church and are living in accord with the Church’s moral teaching,” they add.
Sample said that while the guidelines may be a “hard teaching for some” they “correspond[] with our belief about the nature of the Holy Eucharist, marriage and the Church.”
The Archbishop said that guidelines are to be “considered normative for the Archdiocese of Portland, and they are to be carefully and faithfully observed.”
“The sanctity of marriage and God’s plan for a joy filled marriage require all those engaged in pastoral ministry to exercise the tremendous responsibility entrusted to them with complete fidelity to Catholic teaching coupled with mercy and compassion,” he said.

Catholic Sentinel Alert - Abortion spending and coverage increased in Oregon

Providence pressure increased strength of religious exemption,

 but GOP lawmakers say it does not go far enough

A bill that increases state spending on abortion by $10.2 million is moving through the Oregon Legislature. 

The House on July 1 advanced the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which requires health plans to provide free coverage of exams, drugs, devices and procedures, including abortion. The Senate will take up the proposed legislation next.

The bill includes a religious exemption, but it orders the Oregon Health Authority to provide coverage where religious organizations will not.

The House majority leader, Rep. Jennifer Williamson, a Portland Democrat, argued for the proposed law, saying high medical bills can prompt bankruptcy or homelessness.
Pro-life lawmakers approved of most of the bill, but vigorously questioned why abortion had to be included, causing a moral crisis. They attempted to have abortion provisions removed, but that motion failed.

Rep. Werner Reschke, R-Klamath Falls accused supporters of the bill of promoting abortion coverage as if being pregnant were a disease.

The House vote was 33 for and 23 against.

The bill also allocates almost $500,000 in the 2017-19 budget for abortions and other procedures to immigrants. Oregon’s Medicaid program already spends nearly $2 million a year to pay for about 3,500 abortions.

Oregon already accommodates and provides for abortion more than most states. There are no waiting periods, education requirements or spending limits on taxpayer funds.

Democrats drafted the bill in response to possible changes in federal health care policy.

Earlier, Providence Health System had threatened to exit the state’s insurance market, saying the religious exemptions did not go far enough. Though the bill’s handlers did increase exemptions, GOP lawmakers say the provisions still fall short.

Bill Diss, leader of Precious Children of Portland, calls the proposed law “fundamentally an abortion bill that will boost the coffers of abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.” Diss says other portions of the bill could be accomplished “without further funding and promoting the killing of unborn children.”
Please donate to Precious Children of Portland and receive a tax-exemption by sending it to:

ORTLEF – PCOP
4335 River Road North
Salem, Oregon 97303