UN OPEN WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The final Open Working Group meeting which took place at the UN in New York during the first week of February was attended by my Colleague Vincenzina Santoro, Main United Nations Representative for the American Family Association of New York, who reports that the session covered a panoply of topics including: oceans, seas, forests, biodiversity, equality (social and gender), women’s empowerment, conflict prevention, peace, peace-building, rule of law, and much more. In other words: everything for everyone everywhere.

Vincenzina continues,

The MDG process took place behind closed doors and rubber stamped at the General Assembly in 2000. This has been heavily criticized and so now the entire global community has been asked to participate in the formulation of the SDGs. After all the OWG meetings and other fora that have been held, the two co-chairmen of the OWG process, the Ambassadors of Hungary and Kenya (who in my view are rather exceptional for UN ambassadors) will have to cull hours and hours of utterances by delegates, inter-governmental organizations, UN agencies, and civil society and produce a final report sometime in the near future.

Among the voices that were heard was the Executive Director of UN Women who featured prominently on the third day with a major address reiterating what she has said at other venues during her brief tenure. Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, economic adviser to the Secretary-General, was a no show due to his inability to be at two places at once on a snowy day.

Among the delegates who spoke, two could be considered “friendly.” The delegate from Trinidad &Tobago who spoke on behalf of the Caribbean Community included supportive and family friendly references in his statement. (I subsequently learned he had received input from one pro-life, pro-family NGO!)

Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, the Papal Nuncio, spoke eloquently in defense of the dignity of life at all stages from the preborn to loneliness in old age.

One of the worst was a long statement delivered by the delegate from Uruguay with repeated pejorative references to the sexual and reproductive rights agenda.

The United Nations has created “major groups” among the NGOs that represent and advocate the same message/agenda. These include women, youth and others. A young person spoke on behalf of the “youth group” and in her first sentence advocated equality for the LGBT community followed by all sorts of sexual and reproductive matters for youth with services to be available without parental consent. (A similar message had been heard at a previous OWG meeting in June.) While she made no effort to be ‘inclusive’ it was clear that she did not represent the entire global youth community.

The danger of all these meetings remains that ideologues are everywhere. They are forceful in advocating certain language that will find its way to the stand alone goals for the SDGs. By sheer repetition they hope to get their way.

Among the novelties heard were several calls for developing data on gender this and that, an initiative that is likely to generate jobs for statisticians somewhere. There was even a reference to creating a “rule of law index” although this was not explained.

“Side events” always are part of any major UN agenda. These usually take place at 1:15pm, interfering with lunch! Duty called to “Achieving Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment for Sustainable Development” but this only gave some dignitaries and one NGO (out of nearly 4,000) a second chance to state their same message.

Several side events occur simultaneously so one has to pick and choose. When I saw something potentially positive (there aren’t too many) on the program I chose to attend. On Tuesday, the program listed “How can tourism contribute to the sustainable development agenda?” organized by the UN World Tourism Organization. The quick answer is “immensely!” Today more than one billion people travel across borders for leisure, business, family visits, pilgrimages and more. International tourism receipts exceeded $1.1 trillion in 2012 and nations big and small benefitted.

A book was distributed entitled: “Tourism Stories: How Tourism Enriched My Life” which tells 14 stories of individuals and couples who started a successful tourism enterprise. One story was of a Vietnamese woman who ferries visitors in typical boats along a river that runs in a scenic area called Trang An. Today more than 1,000 boats travel the route and their rowers enjoy significantly higher wages and living standards in a tourism venture that started with the idea of one woman with one boat.

A delegate from Samoa spoke of the importance of tourism to her country which later this year will host a UN meeting of the SIDS (Small Island Developing States). This year Samoa is celebrating its “graduation” from the LDC (Least Developed Countries) group as that small country now has achieved middle-income status, thanks in part to the tourism industry.

Isn’t it nice for once to end a UN report on a constructive note?

SPUC director John Smeaton receives the Cardinal John J O’Connor award.

The Prestigious Cardinal John J O’Connor award for 2013 has been awarded to the executive director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children John Smeaton for his untiring work in support of unborn life for the last 40 years.

The Cardinal John J O’Connor award has in previous years been given to Cardinal Raymond Burke and also to Dr. Jack Wilke who is known as the father of the pro-life movement in the United States. 

See reports by SPUC and LifeSite News

Photo shows John Smeaton and his wife Josephine with Legatus founder Tom Monaghan and Mike Faricy of the Legatus Board

John Smeaton who was also asked to address the Legatus convention in accepting the award told the gathering that he was deeply honoured to receive the award and he continued;

In addition to the honour to me personally, which I most gratefully acknowledge, it’s an award which implicitly honours Josephine, my dear wife, whose loving, wholehearted support for me, for my work for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, SPUC, makes it possible for me to do that work.

It’s also an award which honours all of my fellow workers in SPUC and its members, who are the salt of the earth, and with whom I have had the privilege to work for 40 years, 36 of those years professionally.

It seems to me that the history of Legatus and the history of this award, are rooted in prophetic witness. It was, after all, Blessed John Paul II who wrote in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae: “Bishops are the first ones called to be untiring preachers of the Gospel of Life.” And Cardinal John J O’Connor’s life and work embody those prophetic words of our late Holy Father, as does the award itself. And I understand that it was following a meeting with Pope John Paul II, arguably the greatest prophet of the 20th and 21st century, that Mr. Monaghan was inspired to found Legatus.

Moreover, the roll call of previous recipients of the Cardinal John J O’Connor – several of whom I have the honour to know personally – is humbling and inspiring. I must now endeavour to live up to the standards set by so many great pro-life figures and leaders who’ve won this award before me. To mention but one, Dr Jack Willke remains a living pro-life prophet whose erudite, easy-to-read books, have been translated into thirty two languages and who broadcast on over 1000 radio stations. I doubt if any pro-life figure has done more than Jack, and his late beloved wife Barbara, to promote the Gospel of Life on the basis of solid facts and reliable empirical evidence.

I understand that Legatus requires its members to be ambassadors for Christ and in this connection I am particularly honoured to be receiving this award from Mr Monaghan whose prophetic witness in opposing President Barack Obama’s healthcare coverage for contraception and abortion has inspired the world.

The artificial separation of the unitive and procreative elements of sexual intercourse is not only the basis of contraception, it's also the basis of early abortion and in vitro fertilisation. It underpins today's culture of death.

 Cardinal Raymond Burke, who won the Cardinal John J O’Connor award two years ago, said in a speech in Rome, in November 2010, to the World Prayer Congress for Life:

“The attack on the innocent and defenceless life of the unborn has its origin in an erroneous view of human sexuality, which attempts to eliminate, by mechanical or chemical means, the essentially procreative nature of the conjugal act.  The error maintains that the artificially altered conjugal act retains its integrity. The claim is that the act remains unitive or loving, even though the procreative nature has been radically violated. In fact, it is not unitive, for one or both of the partners withholds an essential part of the gift of self, which is the essence of the conjugal union. The so-called ‘contraceptive mentality’ is essentially anti-life. Many forms of so-called contraception are, in fact, abortifacient, that is, they destroy, at its beginning, a life which has already been

conceived.”

May these prophetic words of Cardinal Raymond Burke. May the prophetic work of Legatus, and its ambassadors for Christ in the US and throughout the world, continue to inspire and guide the world in our struggle to build anew a culture a life in our troubled world.

Aborted babies bodies used to produce so called ‘miracle cure’

The Daily Mail have reported on a truly shocking story of aborted babies bodies being used to make a so called miracle cure.

The report tells of the discovery of thousands of pills filled with powdered human baby flesh, by customs officials in South Korea. According to the report the smuggled pills originate in China and over 17,000 have been intercepted in the last six months.

The Daily Mail article can be found on this link and is reprinted below

Thousands of pills filled with powdered human flesh have been discovered by customs officials in South Korea, it was revealed today.

The capsules are in demand because they are viewed as being a medicinal 'cure-all'.

The grim trade is being run from China where corrupt medical staff are said to be tipping off medical companies when babies are aborted or delivered still-born.

Dead baby pills: This is ground baby powder which tests discovered is 99.7 per cent human last year. South Korean officials have stopped 17,000 dead baby pills being imported since last August+5

Dead baby pills: This is ground baby powder which tests discovered is 99.7 per cent human last year. South Korean officials have stopped 17,000 dead baby pills being imported since last August

The tiny corpses are then bought, stored in household refrigerators in homes of those involved in the trade before they are removed and taken to clinics where they are placed in medical drying microwaves.

Once the skin is tinder dry, it is pummelled into powder and then processed into capsules along with herbs to disguise the true ingredients from health investigators and customs officers.

The discoveries since last August has shocked even hardened customs agents who have pledged to strengthen inspections.

Chinese officials are understood to have been aware of the trade and have tried to stop the capsules being exported but thousands of packets of them have been smuggled through to South Korea.

Danger: The Chinese Ministry of Health has launched an investigation into the alleged production of pills made from dead babies+5

Danger: The Chinese Ministry of Health has launched an investigation into the alleged production of pills made from dead babies

There is a huge demand for alternative Chinese remedies - which include ground up rhino horns.

The Chinese have historically consumed human placentas to improve blood supply and circulation.

ENDANGERED SPECIES IN CHINESE MEDICINES

Rhino horns+5

Chinese alternative medicines contain traces of endangered species, a study has found.

Many of the remedies are more than 2,000 years old - and claim to be alternative methods for curing disease.

The use of rhino horns in Chinese medicines has been widely criticised.

Despite the claims the 'cures' can treat everything from broken bones to headaches, there is limited proof they actually work.

A team of Australian scientists discovered that some of the medicines contained traces of black bears and antelope.

The Murdoch University team used DNA sequencing to work out what the plants and animal ingredients are.

Health authorities in Asia are concerned that if the powdered foetus trade is allowed to continue the capsules will find their way onto the internet and be sold to gullible or sick desperate people in other parts of the world.

The South Korean Customs Service said today that it had heightened its searches of suspicious packages being brought into the country by travellers from China in an attempt to stamp out the sickening trade.

According to customs agents, 35 smuggling attempts have been made since August last year involving more than 17,000 capsules disguised as 'stamina boosters'.

Hospitals and abortion clinics in China reportedly pass the remains onto drugs companies when a baby is stillborn or aborted, the South Korean SBS documentary team reported last year.

The San Francisco Times reported that tests carried out on the pills confirmed they were made up of 99.7 per cent human remains.

The tests were successfully able to establish the genders of the babies used.

There is a huge demand for the pills which are thought to enhance stamina. Microwave-dried placenta is also sought after for its alleged 'medicinal' benefits.

However, in reality the human flesh capsules contain super-bacteria and other harmful ingredients.

A number of smugglers who have been detained by the South Korean authorities have claimed they did not know what the ingredients were or the manufacturing process behind them.

Crackdown: Chinese officials, pictured confiscating thousands of illegal tablets, say they will clampdown on the massive herbal medicine industry which has seen dangerous bacteria an human remains added to seized pills+5

Crackdown: Chinese officials, pictured confiscating thousands of illegal tablets, say they will clampdown on the massive herbal medicine industry which has seen dangerous bacteria an human remains added to seized pills

'Ethnic Koreans from north-east China who now live in South Korea are those who were mostly intending to use the capsules or share them with other Korean-Chinese' said a customs official.

'They are normally brought into South Korea in luggage or posted by international mail.'

The capsules were all confiscated but no one has been punished because the amount was deemed small and they were not intended for sale, a customs official added.

Chinese newspapers have identified the north eastern provinces as the source of the human flesh capsules, in particular the Jilin region which is close to North Korea.

Smuggling: More than 17,000 capsules disguised as 'stamina boosters' have been intercepted as they were smuggled into South Korea last year (pictured is Seoul airport)+5

Smuggling: More than 17,000 capsules disguised as 'stamina boosters' have been intercepted as they were smuggled into South Korea last year (file photo of Seoul airport)

There have been disturbing reports that some babies were those who had perished in China's notorious 'dying rooms' where youngsters are deliberately left to die because they were born into families that already had the limit of one child in country areas.

In order to keep its population down, China performs 13 million abortions a year - mainly because mothers sacrifice their newborns to avoid punishment such as severe fines or even a beating by the authorities.

The Chinese authorities have confirmed that 38 per cent of women of child-bearing age have been sterilised - but the babies that are aborted do not go to waste because of the sickening trade in using their corpses for purported medicinal purposes.

Despite their disgust at discovering packets of the so-called rejuvenation pills being brought in from China, South Korean officials have refused to confirm where the babies came from or who made the capsules.

Sources said this was because they were not prepared to create diplomatic friction with Beijing, preferring to leave it to Chinese officials to do something about the horrific trade in powdered babies.

THE HOLY SEE WILL RESPOND TO THE CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE U.N. COMMITTEE FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: ARCHBISHOP TOMASI

Vatican Information Services VIS reported Feb 6^th on the initial response by The Papal Nuncio to the UN in Geneva Archbishop Tomasi  to the outrageous report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

In his statement Archbishop Tomasi emphasized that the Holy See will respond in more detail but will do so based on the text of the Convention not the ideologies that underlie much of content of the committee’s concluding observations and he reminded them that the Convention in its preamble actually calls for protection of unborn life .

“the Holy See will respond, because it is a member, a State that is part of the Convention: it has ratified it and intends to observe it in the spirit and letter of this Convention, without added ideologies or impositions that lie outside of the Convention itself. For instance: in its Preamble, the Convention on the Protection of Children talks about the defence of life and the protection of children before and after birth; whereas the recommendation made to the Holy See is that of changing its position on the question of abortion! Of course, when a child is killed it no longer has rights! Hence this seems to me to be a real contradiction of the fundamental objective of the Convention, which is the protection of children.

The full text of the VIS press release  containing Archbishop Tomasi’s statement is set out below

Yesterday afternoon Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent observer for the Holy See at the United Nations in Geneva commented on the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee for the Rights of the Child, which were very critical regarding the issue of the abuse of minors by members of the clergy and the actions taken by the Vatican and the Holy See on the matter, and urges revision of the Church's teaching on certain themes such as contraception and abortion.

“My first impression: we need to wait, read attentively and analyse in detail what the members of this Commission have written”, commented the nuncio. “But my first reaction is of surprise, because of the negative aspects of the document they have produced and that it looks almost as if it were already prepared before the meeting of the Committee with the delegation of the Holy See, which had given in detail precise responses on various points, which have not been reported in this conclusive document or at least have not seemed to be taken into serious consideration. In fact, the document does not seem to be updated, taking into account what, over the last few years, has been done by the Holy See, with the measures taken directly from the authority of Vatican City State and then in various countries by the individual Episcopal Conferences. It therefore lacks a correct and updated perspective, which in reality has seen a series of changes for the protection of children that, it seems to me, are difficult to find, at the same level of commitment, in other institutions or even in other States. This is simply a question of facts, of evidence, which cannot be distorted!”.

With regard to the Holy See's reaction to the document, the archbishop affirmed that “the Holy See will respond, because it is a member, a State that is part of the Convention: it has ratified it and intends to observe it in the spirit and letter of this Convention, without added ideologies or impositions that lie outside of the Convention itself. For instance: in its Preamble, the Convention on the Protection of Children talks about the defence of life and the protection of children before and after birth; whereas the recommendation made to the Holy See is that of changing its position on the question of abortion! Of course, when a child is killed it no longer has rights! Hence this seems to me to be a real contradiction of the fundamental objective of the Convention, which is the protection of children. This Committee has not done a good service to the United Nations, seeking to introduce and request the Holy See to change its non-negotiable teaching! So, it is somewhat sad to see that the Committee has not grasped in depth the nature and functions of the Holy See that, however, has expressed clearly to the Committee its decision to carry forward the Convention's requests on the rights of the child, but defining precisely and protecting first of all those fundamental values that give real and effective protection to the child”.

The observer for the Holy See also commented on the fact that the United Nations had said at one time that the Vatican had responded better than other countries to the protection of minors, and with regard to the change of opinion expressed in the document published yesterday, he said, “the introduction to the final report recognised the clarity of the answers that were given; there was no attempt to avoid any request made by the Committee, on the basis of the evidence available, and where there was no immediate information, we had promised to provide it in the future, according to the directives of the Holy See, as all countries do. So it seemed to be a constructive dialogue and I think it should remain as such. Therefore, given the impression received through direct dialogue by the delegation of the Holy See with the Committee and the text of the conclusions and recommendations, it is tempting to say that probably that text had already been written, and does not reflect the input and clarity, other than by some hasty addition, to that which had already been offered. So we must, with serenity and on the basis of the evidence - because we have nothing to hide! - bring forth the explanation of the position of the Holy See, respond to the questions that remain, so that the fundamental objective that is to be pursued - the protection of children - can be achieved. We are talking about 40 million cases of child abuse in the world: unfortunately some of these cases - even though in small proportions in comparison to all those that are happening in the world - affect people in the Church. And the Church has responded and reacted and continues to do so! We must insist on this policy of transparency, of no tolerance of abuse, because even one single case of child abuse is one case too many!”

UN Committee exceeds mandate in making recommendations to Russian Federation

The Russian Federation appeared before the Committee on the Rights of the Child on January 23^rd and 24^th for their combined 4^th and 5^th review of their level of compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The Russian delegation in presenting their 5-year review to the Committee on the Rights of the Child referred to the current demographic deficit in Russia, which has resulted in a fall in population of around 700,000 people

According to the report the total fertility rate sank as low 1.3 children per woman but with Government assistance has now climbed back to 1.7, which is still below the 2.1 replacement level. According to the report 1.4 million children were born in 2006 and this increased to 1.9 million in 2012.

A number of reports were submitted to the Committee by NGO’S complaining about the Russian laws protecting children from anti family propaganda.

One such report with the title Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Problem of Children from Vulnerable Groups compiled as a result of collaborative efforts of three Russian organizations: Anti-discrimination Centre Memorial, regional St. Petersburg organization 'Coming Out' and Russian LGBT Network.

EFFECTS OF RUSSIAN ANTI-GAY LAWS ON LGBT CHILDREN AND CHILDREN OF LGBT FAMILIES

As was partially noted in reports on rights of children with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity, submitted to the Committee in 2013 by the Coming Out LGBT organization (hereinafter “Coming Out Report”) and Russian LGBT Network, a range of laws were adopted within the last two years in Russia which restrict the rights of LGBT people, LGBT families and LGBT rights advocates. These laws are as follows:

· Law prohibiting “propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism, transgenderism among the underage” adopted in St.-Petersburg;

· Federal law prohibiting “propaganda of unconventional sexual relationship”30

· Law prohibiting adoption of Russian children by same sex couples from other countries;

There is no reference to any of these issues in the CRC nevertheless this committee once again exceeded its mandate by making recommendations that have no relevance to the Convention.

The Committee’s concluding observations were published on Feb 5^th and contain the following recommendations at paragraphs 24, 25 and 55 and 56 c. 

24. The Committee is also concerned at the recent developments in the legislation of the State party prohibiting “propaganda of unconventional sexual relationship”, generally with the intent of protecting children, which however encourages stigmatization of and discrimination against LGBTI persons, including children, and children of LGBTI families. The Committee is particularly concerned that vague definitions of propaganda leads to the targeting and ongoing persecution of the country’s LGBTI community, including abuse and violence, in particular against underage LGBTI rights activists.

25. The Committee recommends that the State party repeal its laws prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality and ensure that children who belong to LGBTI groups or children of LGBTI families are not subjected to any forms of discrimination by raising the awareness of the public on equality and non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Adolescent health

55. The Committee is concerned at the high incidence of suicides and large numbers of drug and alcohol addiction among adolescents in the State party. The Committee is also concerned about the reports of coercive treatment of transsexual and homosexual persons, in particular children, and attempt to diagnose transsexuality as psychiatric disease as well as the lack of sexual health information for LGBTI children.

56 (c) Put an end to the coercive treatment of transsexual and homosexual persons, in particular children, and to attempts to diagnose transsexuality as psychiatric disease as well as provide LGBTI children with easy access to necessary sexual health information.