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2 billion in money for killing babies: Planned Parenthood’s financial results released
Posted on 04/22/2024 19:18 PM (ZENIT – English)
The sobering reality is that Planned Parenthood is swimming in cash and aborting more unborn children than ever before.
The post 2 billion in money for killing babies: Planned Parenthood’s financial results released appeared first on ZENIT - English.
For first time, incurably ill patient undergoes euthanasia in Peru
Posted on 04/22/2024 18:00 PM (Catholic World Report)
Argentine doctor completes prison sentence for preventing a chemical abortion in process
Posted on 04/22/2024 17:30 PM (Catholic World Report)
Pope Francis to meet with thousands of grandparents and their grandchildren at the Vatican
Posted on 04/22/2024 17:00 PM (Catholic World Report)
ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 22, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).
“A Caress and a Smile” is the name of the event that will take place Saturday, April 27, in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall where elderly people, grandparents, and grandchildren from Italy will meet Pope Francis.
A total of 6,000 grandparents and their grandchildren will arrive this week at the Vatican for a special gathering with the Holy Father, an initiative presented by the Holy See’s Press Office today.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, noted that Italy has the second-highest number of elderly people in the world and that for the first time in history, four generations are living together, which “had never happened before.”
He also lamented that currently “we are afraid to use” the word “old” and that old age “is not only a very beautiful time, but can mean a change of direction, within the culture, society, economy, and also of religion.”
The prelate noted the special affection that Pope Francis has for older people and recalled the catechetical series that he dedicated to them, teaching “how to live the last 30 years” of life in a Christian way.
“This event will be held to give a new vision of old age. Old age is a great age, not to be wasted or a burden. Old age is not disconnected from other ages of life,” Paglia continued.
The prelate also noted the demographic winter that Italy is going through and highlighted the “particular harmony” and special ties that exist between grandparents and their grandchildren, two generations “that cannot live without each other.”
The event, organized by the Italian Old Age Foundation, will begin at 8:30 a.m. Rome time with a reflection on old age.
About 40 minutes later, Pope Francis will arrive at the Paul VI Hall to hear the testimony of two grandparents (among them a 91-year-old woman) and three grandchildren.
Also participating in this morning’s press conference was Lino Banfi, a well-known Italian actor who maintains a friendship with Pope Francis, whom he referred to as “the grandfather of the world.”
In addition, Pope Francis has also established the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which this year will be celebrated on July 28.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
[...]‘I’m a witness to unspeakable suffering’: Ethiopia bishop wants peace pact implemented
Posted on 04/22/2024 16:30 PM (Catholic World Report)
Vatican Places Out Patient Clinic in Saint Peter’s Square to Detect Breast Cancer
Posted on 04/22/2024 16:26 PM (ZENIT – English)
On the first day, 40 women were attended by the Clinic and Saint Martha’s Dispensary. They underwent diagnostic tests to detect breast cancer. If any of the women were to have a problem, they would be given additional examinations and all the necessary treatment.
The post Vatican Places Out Patient Clinic in Saint Peter’s Square to Detect Breast Cancer appeared first on ZENIT - English.
Experts and former abortionist warn about ‘eugenic’ IVF industry
Posted on 04/22/2024 16:00 PM (Catholic World Report)
Columbine High School massacre, 25 years later: ‘God, why did you allow me to survive?’
Posted on 04/22/2024 15:30 PM (Catholic World Report)
Thousands of pro-lifers attend ‘joy-filled’ Illinois March for Life
Posted on 04/22/2024 15:00 PM (Catholic World Report)
Italy set to pass amendment allowing pro-life groups into family planning clinics
Posted on 04/22/2024 14:15 PM (Catholic World Report)
Rome, Italy, Apr 22, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).
An amendment to a health care law that permits “nonprofits with experience providing maternity support” in family planning clinics, including pro-life groups, will be voted on by the Italian Senate on Tuesday, April 23, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Amendment No. 44.028, a provision attached to a health care system law, part of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), would allow local public health authorities to freely collaborate with qualified third-party consultants, including nonprofit organizations that specialize in pregnancy and maternity support, “without new or greater burdens on public finance,” according to the news site Centro Studi Livatino.
Last week, the Brothers of Italy party, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, introduced the amendment to the Chamber of Deputies, Italy’s lower house of Parliament. On April 18, the amendment passed by a vote of 140-91 and is also expected to pass the Senate, Italy’s upper house of Parliament, this week.
In relation to the inclusion of pro-life groups in pregnancy counseling centers, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said to journalists on Sunday: “We are in favor of life and of all those instruments that can affirm the right to life, especially for women in difficulty.”
Since 1978, abortion has been legal in Italy for the first 90 days of pregnancy. Women opting for an abortion — particularly for cases in which the pregnancy is beyond the first trimester — can obtain a certificate attesting to the health risk of her pregnancy from either a public or private health authority, including family planning clinics.
In addition, Article 31 of Italy’s constitution outlines the duty of the state to assist with “the formation of the family” through “economic measures and other benefits, and “protect mothers, children, and the young by adopting necessary provisions.”
The prospect of having pro-life groups and associations provide counsel or services in family planning clinics continues to spur heated debate among the media as well as activist groups in Italy and across Europe.
According to Eugenia Roccella, Italy’s minister for the family, this amendment does not subvert, and is consistent with, Italy’s abortion law (Law 194/1978).
Article 2 of the Italian abortion law already establishes that family counseling centers should “assist pregnant women” and help them “to overcome the factors which might lead the woman to have her pregnancy terminated.”
However, Gilda Sportiello, a member of Parliament representing the Five Stars Movement, argued that a woman should ultimately have the right to choose whether to be a mother or not.
“No woman who wants to interrupt her pregnancy should feel attacked by the state,” she said after speaking out in Parliament about her choice to have an abortion 14 years ago.
Italian journalist Antonella Mariani offered a different view, saying this health care amendment would afford women more options, information, protection, and support when making their own decision about pregnancy.
“Those who truly care about women’s self-determination should consider that it is not one-way: That is, it does not only concern the freedom to have an abortion but also the freedom not to have an abortion,” she said, as reported on the Italian news site Avvenire.
The Rosario Livatino Study Centre — a group of jurists inspired by the life and example of Blessed Rosario Livatino who research issues concerning family, the right to life, religious freedom, and legal matters — published an editorial written by one of its members in relation to the health care proposal.
A member of the center and a lawyer, Francesco Farri, according to Centro Studi Livatino, wrote that the amendment to be voted on in the Senate this week does not “innovate” but “confirms” current Italian law: “The 194, it should be remembered, does not only concern the voluntary interruption of pregnancy but also ‘norms for the social protection of maternity.’”
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