Pope Francis meets with UN Secretary General and the Chief Executive Board of the UN

Pope Francis, in what could be termed, a very significant meeting, met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the heads of 29 UN related agencies consisting of the UN SYSTEM CHIEF EXECUTIVES BOARD FOR COORDINATION, on Friday last, May 9^th.

Pope Francis poignantly reminded the meeting that all human life is sacred and inviolable from conception to natural death.

‘Today, in concrete terms, an awareness of the dignity of each of our brothers and sisters whose life is sacred and inviolable from conception to natural death must lead us to share with complete freedom the goods which God’s providence has placed in our hands,’

The Holy Father also challenged the assembled dignitaries to be conscious, in their development of sustainable goals, of the importance of providing appropriate protection for the family, which he said is an essential element in sustainable human and social development which specifically involves challenging all forms of injustice and resisting the "economy of exclusion", the "throwaway culture" and the "culture of death" which nowadays sadly risk becoming passively accepted

The full text of the Holy Father’s address is included below and can also be found on this link.

Mr Secretary General,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to welcome you, Mr Secretary-General and the leading executive officers of the Agencies, Funds and Programmes of the United Nations and specialized Organizations, as you gather in Rome for the biannual meeting for strategic coordination of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board.

It is significant that today’s meeting takes place shortly after the solemn canonization of my predecessors, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. The new saints inspire us by their passionate concern for integral human development and for understanding between peoples. This concern was concretely expressed by the numerous visits of John Paul II to the Organizations headquartered in Rome and by his travels to New York, Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, Paris and The Hague.

I thank you, Mr Secretary-General, for your cordial words of introduction. I thank all of you, who are primarily responsible for the international system, for the great efforts being made to ensure world peace, respect for human dignity, the protection of persons, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, and harmonious economic and social development.

The results of the Millennium Development Goals, especially in terms of education and the decrease in extreme poverty, confirm the value of the work of coordination carried out by this Chief Executives Board. At the same time, it must be kept in mind that the world’s peoples deserve and expect even greater results.

An essential principle of management is the refusal to be satisfied with current results and to press forward, in the conviction that those gains are only consolidated by working to achieve even more. In the case of global political and economic organization, much more needs to be achieved, since an important part of humanity does not share in the benefits of progress and is in fact relegated to the status of second-class citizens. Future Sustainable Development Goals must therefore be formulated and carried out with generosity and courage, so that they can have a real impact on the structural causes of poverty and hunger, attain more substantial results in protecting the environment, ensure dignified and productive labor for all, and provide appropriate protection for the family, which is an essential element in sustainable human and social development. Specifically, this involves challenging all forms of injustice and resisting the "economy of exclusion", the "throwaway culture" and the "culture of death" which nowadays sadly risk becoming passively accepted.

With this in mind, I would like to remind you, as representatives of the chief agencies of global cooperation, of an incident which took place two thousand years ago and is recounted in the Gospel of Saint Luke (19:1-10). It is the encounter between Jesus Christ and the rich tax collector Zacchaeus, as a result of which Zacchaeus made a radical decision of sharing and justice, because his conscience had been awakened by the gaze of Jesus. This same spirit should be at the beginning and end of all political and economic activity. The gaze, often silent, of that part of the human family which is cast off, left behind, ought to awaken the conscience of political and economic agents and lead them to generous and courageous decisions with immediate results, like the decision of Zacchaeus. Does this spirit of solidarity and sharing guide all our thoughts and actions, I ask myself?

Today, in concrete terms, an awareness of the dignity of each of our brothers and sisters whose life is sacred and inviolable from conception to natural death must lead us to share with complete freedom the goods which God’s providence has placed in our hands, material goods but also intellectual and spiritual ones, and to give back generously and lavishly whatever we may have earlier unjustly refused to others.

The account of Jesus and Zacchaeus teaches us that above and beyond economic and social systems and theories, there will always be a need to promote generous, effective and practical openness to the needs of others. Jesus does not ask Zacchaeus to change jobs nor does he condemn his financial activity; he simply inspires him to put everything, freely yet immediately and indisputably, at the service of others. Consequently, I do not hesitate to state, as did my predecessors (cf. JOHN PAUL II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 42-43; Centesimus Annus, 43; BENEDICT XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 6; 24-40), that equitable economic and social progress can only be attained by joining scientific and technical abilities with an unfailing commitment to solidarity accompanied by a generous and disinterested spirit of gratuitousness at every level. A contribution to this equitable development will also be made both by international activity aimed at the integral human development of all the world’s peoples and by the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the State, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society.

Consequently, while encouraging you in your continuing efforts to coordinate the activity of the international agencies, which represents a service to all humanity, I urge you to work together in promoting a true, worldwide ethical mobilization which, beyond all differences of religious or political convictions, will spread and put into practice a shared ideal of fraternity and solidarity, especially with regard to the poorest and those most excluded.

Invoking divine guidance on the work of your Board, I also implore God’s special blessing for you, Mr Secretary-General, for the Presidents, Directors and Secretaries General present among us, and for all the personnel of the United Nations and the other international Agencies and Bodies, and their respective families. Thank you very much.

New Group to campaign for Family and Marriage in Ireland

We report today on a new initiative in support marriage and the family.

The Alliance for the Defence of the Family and Marriage  ADFAM have issued a press release which is set out in full below.

Alliance
 for
 the
 Defence
 of
 the
 Family
 and
 Marriage
 (ADFAM)
 is
 a
 new
 initiative
 to
 promote
 and
 defend
 the
 traditional
 family.
 It
 is
 composed
 of
 men
 and
 women
 from
 across
 Ireland.
 
 The
 objective
 will
 be
 to
 build
 an
 alliance
 of
 like­minded
 groups 
across 
Ireland 
to 
campaign 
against
 the 
proposed
 redefinition 
of
 marriage
 by 
the 
Fine 
Gael/Labour
 Government.





Our
 immediate
 aim
 is
 to
 oppose
 the
 General
 Scheme
 of
 a
 Children
 and
 Family
 Relationships
 Bill
 2014.
 If
 it
 becomes
 a
 Bill,
 and
 the
 Bill
 is
 passed,
 it
 will
 allow
 non‐marital
 couples,
 including
 same‐sex
 couples,
 the
 guardianship
 and
 custody
 of
 children,
 and
 the
 adoption
 of
 children
 by
 such
 couples.
 Such
 arrangements
 increase
 significantly
 the 
danger 
to 
the
 children.
 This 
proposal
 will 
also
 redefine
 by
 stealth
 the
 family
 by
 allowing
 the
 transfer
 of
 the
 natural
 rights
 of
 biological
 parents
 to
 commissioning
 couples
 in
 surrogacy
 arrangements.
 Surrogacy
 involves
 making
 a
 reproductive
 slave
 of
 the
 surrogate
 mother,
 the
 vast
 elimination
 of
 human
 embyros
 (who
 are
 living
 human
 beings),
 and
 “embryo
 reduction”
 after
 implantation.
 The
 concentration
 is
 on
 the
 rights
 of
 adults.
 
 We
 have
 been
 denied
 our
 right
 to
 vote
 on
 these
 issues
 as
 Minister
 Shatter
 has
 described
 them
 as 
‘extraneous’.


  
ADFAM
 will
 offer
 resources
 to
 assist
 with
 the
 education
 and
 catechesis
 of
 Catholics
 on
 why
 marriage
 is
 unique
 and
 why
 it
 should
 be
 promoted
 and
 protected
 as
 the
 union
 of
 one
 man
 and
 one
 woman.
 The
 organisation
 plans
 to
 hold
 a
 series
 of
 public
 meetings
 in
 every
 county
 of
 Ireland
 in
 order
 to
 recruit
 members
 so
 that
 an
 effective
 national
 campaign
 can
 be
 mounted
 against
 the
 Government’s 
intention 
to
 redefine 
marriage
 through 
a
 referendum
 in
 2015.



ADFAM
 will
 highlight
 what
 happens
 to
 families
 and
 marriage
 where
 the
 law
 recognises
 same-­sex
 “marriage”
 and
 seeks
 to
 correct
 the
 myth
 that
 marriage
 is
 merely
 a
 private
 arrangement
 between
 two
 people.
 Monogamous
 marriage
 between 
man 
and
 woman
 has 
been
 the
 cornerstone 
for 
civilisation 
since 
its 
very
 beginnings.
 Many
 believe
 that
 the
 introduction
 of
 same-­sex
 “marriage”
 is
 based
 on
 equality
 and
 will
 be
 a
 harmless
 redefinition
 of
 an
 institution
 that
 will
 be
 unaffected
 by
 it.
 Instead
 it
 will
 reinforce
 the
 idea
 that
 marriage
 is
 irrelevant
 to
 parenthood
 and
 it
 will
 intentionally
 deprive
 children
 of
 their
 natural
 father
 and/or
 mother.
 ADFAM 
will 
campaign 
for 
the
 rights
 of
 children 
and
 in
 particular
 the 
right 
of
 every
 child 
to 
a 
father 
and 
a 
mother.



For 
further 
information 
please 
contact
 Anthony
 Murphy:
 0877727669


High Court in London says NI women not entitled to free NHS abortions in England

In a decision that must be welcomed the High Court in London has ruled that women from Northern Ireland are not legally entitled to free abortions on the NHS in England.

Pro-life leaders have welcomed the news that tax-payers money cannot be used to destroy unborn babies. Not surprisingly however the Marie Stopes director in Northern Ireland has expressed disappointment at the ruling.

The case, brought by two women, was an attempt to circumvent the current legal position in Northern Ireland on the basis of discrimination

Northern Ireland is not covered by the ‘1967 Abortion Act’, which applies in the rest of the UK and the judge, Mr. Justice King consequently ruled this was not a discrimination issue.

The laws covering abortion in Northern Ireland are the 1861 Offences against the Person Act, and the 1945 Criminal Justice act. 

See BBC report

New attack on the Holy See by a United Nations Committee

The Committee Against Torture is currently holding its 52nd session at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from March 28 to May 23 and is reviewing periodic reports from the following 7 member states, Cyprus, The Holy See, Lithuania, Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Thailand and Uruguay.

The Holy See as the governing authority of the Vatican City State signed the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT) in 2002.  It is a requirement of the Convention that all member states that are party to the convention report periodically to the Committee established for the purpose of implementation of the Convention.

There has been an ongoing attempt by some committee members and hostile NGO’s to equate the Vatican City State with the entire Catholic Church and to use the opportunity once again to vilify the Catholic Church on both the issue of child abuse and its teaching on abortion.

The Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the UN in Geneva, Archbishop Tomasi told the Committee that the Holy See in acceding to the CAT in 2002, did so with the very clear and direct intention that it applied only to the territory over which the Holy See exercises its direct authority, the Vatican City State (VCS). There is 'much confusion' he said over the Holy See’s jurisdiction. The Holy See has 'no jurisdiction' over 'every member of the Catholic Church.'

Archbishop Tomasi also told the Committee that the Holy See 'globally encourages basic principles and authentic human rights' recognized in the convention, and implements the convention within the territory of Vatican City State, in harmony with the interpretative declaration the Holy See issued upon signing the convention.

The Archbishop continued by saying that all individuals who commit torture and abuse must face prosecution from legitimate government authorities.

'The Holy See wishes to reiterate that the persons who live in a particular country are under the jurisdiction of the legitimate authorities of that country and are thus subject to the domestic law and the consequences contained therein.' 

In response to an accusation by Committee member Felice Gaer, director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, that the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion may be responsible for nine-year-old rape victims giving birth Archbishop Tomasi said it was the Church's pro-life position that protected human rights.

‘The Holy See’s goal’ he said, ‘is to prevent children from being tortured or killed before birth, as is stipulated in the Convention,’ adding that ‘for example, in Canada, 622 living babies were delivered after failed abortion attempts, between 2000 and 2001. 66 such cases were registered in the UK in 2005. Some methods of late-term abortions constitute forms of torture, particularly in the case of dilation and evacuation, where 'the fetus, still alive, is dismembered to be pulled out of the womb in pieces.’

This is yet another example of an out of control United Nations (UN) Committee, which by declaring lack of availability to abortion to be a form of torture, has significantly overstepped its mandate of implementing the Convention.

One may ask why is the Holy See being targeted by this and other UN Committees such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child?

The Holy See has been the consistent voice at UN meetings that has always upheld not only the right to life, but all human rights based on natural law, despite constant pressure from the anti-life and family forces.

The proponents of the culture of death have for many years used the United Nations and other international Institutions to implement their ideologies.

We are in a critical period, coming to the end of the United Nations (UN) Cairo and Beijing programmes and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s).

New continuation programmes are being negotiated at the UN in New York and Geneva with input from regional institutions and Conferences, such as ‘Beyond 2014’, ‘Beyond 2015’ and the Sustainable Development Goals

These programmes must be carefully monitored because there is an ongoing attempt by various entities to focus on population reduction and introduction of abortion, contraception and every so-called 'sexual freedom'.

The focus of the UN along with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in the area of maternal mortality for example, is primarily aimed at reducing the number of children a woman bears rather than making child bearing safe for every woman. This includes the provision of contraception and abortion.

They also want to introduce so called ‘same-sex’ marriage globally and teach innocent children ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ which is both immoral and actually pornographic in content.

These attempts are stiffly resisted at all levels by friendly Member States and NGO's, with excellent leadership from the Holy See. Is it any wonder then that the Holy See is under attack by committees such as this one?

European Parliament Election Candidates

We are in full election mode in Ireland with local elections and elections for members of the European Parliament.

It is good to see at least two pro-life and pro-family candidates and we wish them both well. They deserve our unwavering support.

Theresa Heaney is standing on behalf of the Catholic Democrats in the Munster region and Ronan Mullen is standing in the Connaught-Ulster region

Speaking on Kerry Radio to-day (6th May, 2014), Theresa Heaney, Catholic Democrats candidate for the European Parliament, South constituency, agreed with Brian Crowley that the EU project is very complex and that Europe needs “fresh ideas” at this point in time.

Catholic Democrats have these fresh ideas and Theresa laid it on the line for those present in the debate, MEPs Sean Kelly FG, Phil Prendergast Labour as well as Brian Crowley FF.  The other candidate present was Lia Ni Riada of Sinn Fein.    

Theresa pointed out the importance of the Family for the future of Europe and particularly the contribution to EU sustainability of the work of the stay-at-home mother.  She referred to the great Mother’s Article in the Constitution of Ireland, which said that mothers should not be forced out of their homes by economic necessity, and she strongly objected to the present Government’s plan to have that Article removed from the Constitution.

On the question of what she would do in Europe to sort out Ireland’s debt problem, she was emphatic.   “Everyone knows”, she said “that the Irish people saved the Euro, and now it is pay-back time for us.”   The Irish people took the pain and it was high time for Europe to specify how they were going to thank us.

She accused the EU bureaucrats of trying to micromanage not only the lives of the Irish people, but also telling the cows how much “emissions” they would be allowed to produce.  “I’m not a farmer”, she said, “but I spoke to a farmer’s wife last night and she confirmed for me the penal nature of the Nitrates Directive”.   

Speaking to some local people afterwards, Theresa said that what was going on in Europe was akin to insanity, and the Irish government was imposing this insanity on the Irish people.  “They want to control everything in our lives”, she told the gathering.  “They want to get inside every home in the country and dictate to us how we should live our lives down to the smallest detail.    They have tied us up in rules and regulations so much that soon we may not be able to breath without having a tax or a charge imposed on us”, she added, to great applause, concluding with a call for people to stand together with her to “stop them right in their tracks”.