lifesitenews--2020-05-22--Bishop Schneider: Bishops who banned sacraments during pandemic behaved as ‘fake shepherds’

ROME , May 22 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Bishop Athanasius Schneider said that bishops who have “ directly prohibited their faithful access to the sacraments ” during the coronavirus crisis have behaved as “ fake shepherds.
” “ The unbelievable fact was , that in midst of this worldwide ban of the public Holy Mass , many bishops even before the government banned public worship , issued decrees by which they not only forbade the public celebration of Holy Mass , but of any other sacrament as well , ” Schneider said in a talk given today at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Voice of the Family ( read full talk below ) .
“ Bishops who not only did not care but directly prohibited their faithful access to the sacraments , especially to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance , behaved themselves as fake shepherds , who seek their own advantage , ” he added .
Schneider ’ s talk was titled “ The Eucharist , the greatest treasure of the Church , in time of tribulations.
” The auxiliary bishop of Astana , Kazakhstan , contrasted the approach of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heroic pastoral care provided in past health crises by Catholic priests such as St. Charles Borromeo .
Schneider said that the almost worldwide ban on the public celebration of Holy Mass had made it seem as though “ the ruthless historical persecutions of the Church were brought back ” and that there had developed “ [ a ] n atmosphere of the catacombs ... with priests celebrating Holy Mass in secrecy with a group of the faithful.
” Schneider contrasted the response of bishops today with the “ many moving heroic examples from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mortal danger of administering the sacraments to people infected with lethal contagious diseases.
” “ In the time of the plague , which had an incomparably higher mortality rate as the current epidemic of Covid-19 , St. Charles Borromeo increased the number of the public celebrations of Holy Mass , ” Schneider explained .
“ Even though he closed the churches for a while , he at the same time ordered that there should be Masses celebrated in many public and open places , such as squares , crossroads , street corners .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick and the dying to administer them the sacraments of Penance and of Extreme Unction .
He ordered public processions to be held , in which people walked in due distance , to make reparation for the sins and invoke Divine Mercy .
St. Charles Borromeo did not forget the care for the body of the infected people , but at the same time his primary concern was the spiritual help of the sacraments , with which the sick had to be strengthened.
” Schneider also called on Pope Francis and bishops around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Holy Mass and sacramental Holy Communion during the Covid-19 epidemic as a “ divine rebuke ” for the liturgical crisis in the Church for the past fifty years .
He said that the cessation of Holy Mass was “ so unique and serious that one can discover behind all of this a deeper meaning.
” “ This event has come almost fifty years after the introduction of Communion in the hand ( in 1969 ) and a radical reform of the rite of Mass ( in 1969/1970 ) with its protestantising elements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and instructional style of celebration ( freestyle moments , celebration in a closed circle and towards the people ) .
The praxis of Communion in the hand over the past fifty years has led to an unintentional and intentional desecration of the Eucharistic Body of Christ on an unprecedented scale , ” he said .
“ The current cessation of public Holy Mass and Holy Communion could be understood by the Pope and bishops as a divine rebuke for the past fifty years of Eucharistic desecrations and trivializations and , at the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an authentic Eucharistic conversion of the entire Church.
” He called on Pope Francis to “ issue concrete liturgical norms ” in order to address irreverence to the Holy Eucharist , including making ad orientem celebration of the Eucharistic prayer compulsory and forbidding the reception of Communion in the hand .
“ Once the current tribulation has ended , the Pope should issue concrete liturgical norms , in which he invites the entire Church to turn again towards the Lord in the manner of celebration , i.e .
celebrant and faithful turned in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Schneider said .
“ The Pope should also forbid the practice of Communion in the hand , for the Church can not continue unpunished to treat the Holy of Holies in the little sacred Host in such a minimalistic and unsafe manner.
” Schneider also suggested that Pope Francis together with cardinals and bishops should “ carry out a public act of reparation in Rome for the sins against the Holy Eucharist , and for the sin of the acts of religious veneration to the Pachamama statues.
” Schneider concluded his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listening to voices of faithful laity , who he said have been “ humiliated and despised in the midst of the Church by an arrogant and undoubtedly Pharisaic clericalism.
” “ These little lovers and defenders of the Eucharist will renew the life of the Church in our day and these words of Jesus are rightly and deservedly applied to them : “ I bless you , O Father , Lord of heaven and earth , because you have kept these things hidden to the wise and intelligent and you have revealed them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 11 , 25 ) May this truth give us hope and light in the midst of darkness and increase our faith and our love for the Eucharistic Jesus , since when we have the Eucharistic Jesus , we have everything , and nothing will be missed.
” The Eucharist , the greatest treasure of the Church , in time of tribulations We are witnessing a unique situation : It is for the first time in the history of the Church that the public celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice has been prohibited almost on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Covid-19 epidemic , the inalienable right of Christians to the public celebration of the Holy Mass has been infringed , disproportionately and unjustifiably .
In many countries , and especially in predominantly Catholic countries , this prohibition was enforced in such a systematic and brutal way , that it seemed as though the ruthless historical persecutions of the Church were brought back .
An atmosphere of the catacombs was created with priests celebrating Holy Mass in secrecy with a group of the faithful .
The unbelievable fact was that in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public Holy Mass , many bishops even before the government banned public worship , issued decrees by which they not only forbade the public celebration of Holy Mass , but of any other sacrament as well .
By such anti-pastoral measures those bishops deprived the sheep from the spiritual food and strength which only the sacraments can provide .
Instead of good shepherds those bishops converted into rigid public officials .
Those bishops revealed themselves to be imbued with a naturalistic view , to care only for the temporal and bodily life , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care for the eternal and spiritual life .
They forgot the warning of Our Lord : “ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul ?
Or what shall a man give in return for his soul ?
” ( Mt .
16:26 ) .
Bishops who not only did not care but directly prohibited their faithful access to the sacraments , especially to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance , behaved themselves as fake shepherds , who seek @ @ @ @ @ @ @ however , provided access to the sacraments for themselves , since they celebrated Holy Mass , they had their own confessor , they could receive the anointing of the sick .
The following stirring words of God are doubtless applicable to those bishops who in this tribulation , caused by the sanitary dictatorship , denied their sheep the spiritual food of the sacraments , while feeding themselves with the food of the sacraments : “ Thus says the Lord God : Ah , shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves !
Should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eat the fat , you clothe yourselves with the wool , you slaughter the fat ones , but you do not feed the sheep .
… Therefore , you shepherds , hear the word of the Lord : Because my sheep have become a prey , and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts , since there was no shepherd , and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep , but the shepherds have fed themselves , and have not fed my sheep , therefore , you shepherds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Thus says the Lord God , Behold , I am against the shepherds , and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep .
No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves.
” ( Ez .
34:2-10 ) In the time of the plague , which had an incomparably higher mortality rate as the current epidemic of Covid-19 , St. Charles Borromeo increased the number of the public celebrations of Holy Mass .
Even though he closed the churches for a while , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be Masses celebrated in many public and open places , such as squares , crossroads , street corners .
He obliged the priests to visit the sick and the dying to administer them the sacraments of Penance and of Extreme Unction .
He ordered public processions to be held , in which people walked in due distance , to make reparation for the sins and invoke Divine Mercy .
St. Charles Borromeo did not forget the care for the body of the infected people , but at the same time his primary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sacraments , with which the sick had to be strengthened .
There are many moving heroic examples from history , where priests consciously accepted the mortal danger of administering the sacraments to people infected with lethal contagious diseases .
There is a touching witness from the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church in the 19th century , about the value of the beauty of the liturgy and the zealous administration of the sacraments in the time of the dangerous and highly contagious cholera epidemic in England .
The Catholic Church does not recognize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact that these ministers placed such importance on pastoral care during an epidemic should be a witness to us now .
“ The ritual innovations of they were accused were entirely rooted in the desperate pastoral needs they encountered .
Sisters of Mercy worked with the clergy of St. Peter ’ s Plymouth in the cholera epidemics of the late 1840s , and petitioned the parish priest , Fr .
George Rundle Prynne , for a celebration of the Eucharist each morning to strengthen them for their work .
So began the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since the Reformation .
Similarly , the clergy of St. Saviour ’ s , Leeds , laid what medicines they had on the altar at each morning ’ s communion , before carrying them out to the many dozens of their parishioners who would die of cholera that very day .
These slum churches and their priests are far too many to mention , but their audacity and their piety are to be marveled at .
The Church of England , at this time , looked upon ritual as a wicked aping of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to most , and yet in places such as the mission church of St George ’ s in the East , thuribles were swung , genuflecting was encouraged , the sign of the cross was made frequently , devotion to the blessed sacrament was taken for granted .
Confessions were heard , holy anointing was practised .
Beauty and holiness were to go into the midst of squalor and depression , as a witness to the Catholic faith in Jesus Christ , the incarnate God , present and active in his world .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick and dying were to receive this sacramental presence as far as was possible .
Deathbed confessions , the oil of unction , even , occasionally , communion from the reserved sacrament became the priests ’ weapons against , for example , the appalling East London cholera epidemic of 1866.
” St. Damien de Veuster is a luminous example of a priest and a shepherd of souls who for the sake of providing the celebration of the Holy Mass and the other sacraments to the abandoned people who were suffering from leprosy at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administer to them the sacraments , living amongst them and , thereby , to expose himself to the deadly disease .
Visitors never forgot the sights and sounds of a Sunday Mass at St. Philomena ’ s Chapel .
Fr .
Damien stood at the altar .
His lepers gathered around him on the altar .
They constantly coughed and expectorated .
The odour was overpowering .
Yet Fr .
Damien never once wavered or showed his disgust .
His strength came from the Eucharist as he himself wrote : “ It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we find the strength we need in our isolation… ” It is there that he found for himself and for those he served the support and encouragement , the consolation and the hope that made him “ the happiest missionary in the world ” , as he called himself .
Mahatma Gandhi , for example , had said that the world has few heroes comparable to Fr .
Damien of Molokai .
Belgium , the native country of St. Damien , has proclaimed him as the greatest man in its history .
Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ widespread liturgical and Eucharistic crisis due to the practical negligence of the truth that the Eucharist , the Holy Communion , is the treasure of the altar and of ineffable majesty .
Therefore the following admonitions of the Council of Trent remain relevant today more than ever : “ No other action taken by faithful Christians is so holy and so divine as this tremendous mystery , in which each day that life-giving host , by which we were reconciled with God the Father , is sacrificed by priests to God on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that you must use every effort and diligence for it to be celebrated with the greatest purity and inner transparency and an outer attitude of devotion and piety.
” ( Sess .
XXII , Decretum de observandis et vitandis ) This Divine majesty present in the mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist , however , is a hidden majesty .
Under the Eucharistic species is the hidden God of majesty .
St. Peter Julian Eymard , a modern apostle of the Eucharist , spoke notably on the truth of the hidden majesty of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left us admirable reflections such as this : “ Jesus , with a veil , covers his power because otherwise , I would be afraid .
He covers with a veil his holiness , the sublimity of which would discourage our few virtues .
A mother talks to her child in a childlike way down to his level .
In the same way Jesus makes himself little with the little to elevate them to Himself .
Jesus hides his love and warmth .
His ardour is such that we would be consumed if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The fire is consuming .
God is a consuming fire .
In this way the hidden Jesus strengthens us against our weaknesses .
...
This darkness of the hidden majesty requires of us a very worthy sacrifice , the sacrifice of our intellect .
We have to believe even against the testimony of our senses , against the ordinary laws of nature , against our own experience .
We have to believe only in the mere word of Jesus Christ .
There is only one question : ‘ Who is there ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ replies Jesus Christ .
Bow down and worship Him !
...
Instead of being a test , this veil becomes an incentive , an encouragement to have a humble and sincere faith .
Man wants to penetrate a veiled truth , discover a hidden treasure , conquer a difficulty .
Similarly , the faithful soul searches for the Lord in the presence of the Eucharistic veil as Magdalene searched at the tomb .
The Eucharist is to the soul what God is to the blessed in heaven : a truth and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which man does not tire of scrutinizing and contemplating .
Just as in this world love lives from happiness and desires , so also the soul is happy and desires happiness through the Eucharist ; the soul eats and is still hungry .
Only the wisdom and goodness of our Lord could invent the Eucharistic veil.
” ( The Real Presence .
Eucharistic Meditations , New York 1938 , 92-94 ) The same Saint left us profound reflections about the worship of the Eucharist : “ I have loved the beauty of Thy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
One day a woman , a good adorer , came to Jesus to adore Him .
She brought with her an alabaster box full of precious ointment which she poured upon His feet to show her love for Him and to pay honour to His Divinity and sacred humanity .
‘ To what purpose is this waste ?
’ said the traitor Judas .
‘ This ointment might have been sold for much , and given to the poor.
’ But Jesus vindicates His handmaid : ‘ What this woman has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached , this also which she has done shall be told in praise of her.
’ This Gospel incident may be applied to the Eucharist .
Our Lord is in the Blessed Sacrament to receive from men the same homage He received from those who had the happiness of coming close to Him during His mortal life .
He is there to give everybody the opportunity of offering a personal homage to His sacred humanity .
Were this the only reason for the Eucharist , it should make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enables us as Christians to pay our respects to our Lord in person .
“ This presence is the justification of public worship as well as the life of it .
If you take away the Real Presence , how will you be able to pay to His most sacred humanity the respect and honour which are its due ?
As Man , our Lord is present only in Heaven and in the Most Blessed Sacrament .
Through the Eucharist we can draw near to the living Saviour in person , and see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this presence , Divine worship becomes an abstraction .
Through this presence we go straight to God and approach Him as during His mortal life .
How unfortunate it would be if , in order to honour the humanity of Jesus Christ , we were obliged to go back eighteen centuries !
That is all very well for the mind , but how pay an outward homage to so distant a past ?
We would content ourselves with giving thanks for the mysteries without actively participating in them .
But with the Eucharist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the shepherds ; we can prostrate ourselves before Him like the Magi ; we need no longer regret our not having been present at Bethlehem or on Calvary .
“ On the day of judgment , we shall have the right to say to Him : ‘ We visited Thee not only in the poor but in Thy august Person itself .
What wilt Thou give us in return ?
’ Worldly people will never understand this .
‘ Give , and give a lot to the poor , ’ they say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to give to churches ?
All this lavish expense on altars is wasted money.
’ That is the way to become Protestant .
No !
The Church wants to have a living worship because she possesses her living Saviour on earth .
Is not that worth while ?
But that is not all .
To give to the Eucharistic Jesus is a consolation and a joy , as it is also a need .
Yes , we feel the need of seeing and feeling our Lord near us , and of honouring Him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ required of us nothing more than interior homage , He would fail to satisfy one of man 's imperious needs ; we can not love without manifesting that love through outward signs of friendship and affection .
“ If the sacred linen is clean , if the vestments are neat and in good condition , oh !
that is a sign of faith !
But if a church is without the proper vestments for the service of our Lord and looks more like a prison than a church , faith is lacking .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; but beg something for the Most Blessed Sacrament , and they do not know what you are talking about .
Is the King then to go in rags while His servants are richly clothed ?
We have not the right kind of faith , a faith that is practical , a faith that loves ; we have only a negative , speculative faith .
We are Catholic in name but Protestant in practice.
” ( The Real Presence .
Eucharistic Meditations , New York 1938 , 172ff . )
“ In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , everything is divine .
...
The Holy Roman liturgy is therefore supremely august and authentic .
It comes from Peter , head of the apostles .
Each pope kept it and passed it with all respect to the subsequent centuries , knowing how to add in conformity with the needs of faith , piety , and gratitude new formulas , offices , and sacred rites .
[ ... ] Liturgical worship is the exercise par excellence of all religion ” ( Direttorio degli aggregati del Santissimo Sacramento , Ch .
II , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
The situation of the public cessation of Holy Mass and sacramental Holy Communion during the Covid-19 epidemic is so unique and serious that one can discover behind all of this a deeper meaning .
This event has come almost fifty years after the introduction of Communion in the hand ( in 1969 ) and a radical reform of the rite of Mass ( in 1969/1970 ) with its protestantising elements ( Offertory prayers ) and its horizontal and instructional style of celebration ( freestyle moments , celebration in a closed circle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ praxis of Communion in the hand over the past fifty years has led to an unintentional and intentional desecration of the Eucharistic Body of Christ on an unprecedented scale .
For over fifty years , the Body of Christ had been ( mostly unintentionally ) trampled by the feet of clergy and laity in Catholic churches around the world .
The stealing of sacred Hosts has also been increasing at an alarming rate .
The praxis of taking Holy Communion directly with one ’ s own hands and fingers resembles ever more the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not a few Catholics , the practice of receiving Communion in the hand has weakened faith in the Real Presence , in trans-substantiation and in the divine and sublime character of the sacred Host .
The Eucharistic presence of Christ has , over time , unconsciously become for these faithful a kind of holy bread or symbol .
Now the Lord has intervened and deprived almost all the faithful of assisting at Holy Mass and sacramentally receiving Holy Communion .
The current cessation of public Holy Mass and Holy Communion could be understood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ divine rebuke for the past fifty years of Eucharistic desecrations and trivializations and , at the same time , as a merciful appeal for an authentic Eucharistic conversion of the entire Church .
May the Holy Spirit touch the heart of the Pope and bishops and move them to issue concrete liturgical norms in order that the Eucharistic worship of the entire Church might be purified and oriented again towards the Lord .
One could suggest that the Pope , together with cardinals and bishops , carry out a public act of reparation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holy Eucharist , and for the sin of the acts of religious veneration to the Pachamama statues .
Once the current tribulation has ended , the Pope should issue concrete liturgical norms , in which he invites the entire Church to turn again towards the Lord in the manner of celebration , i.e .
celebrant and faithful turned in the same direction during the Eucharistic prayer .
The Pope should also forbid the practice of Communion in the hand , for the Church can not continue unpunished to treat the Holy of Holies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a minimalistic and unsafe manner .
We must also listen to the voice of the little ones in the Church , that is , the voice of countless faithful , children , young people , fathers and mothers of the family , the elderly , who in the visible manifestation of their respect and love for the Eucharistic Lord have been humiliated and despised in the midst of the Church by an arrogant and undoubtedly Pharisaic clericalism .
These little lovers and defenders of the Eucharist will renew the life of the Church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jesus are rightly and deservedly applied to them : “ I bless you , O Father , Lord of heaven and earth , because you have kept these things hidden to the wise and intelligent and you have revealed them to the little ones.
” ( Mt 11 , 25 ) May this truth give us hope and light in the midst of darkness and increase our faith and our love for the Eucharistic Jesus , since when we have the Eucharistic Jesus , we have everything , and nothing will be missed @

Schneider criticized bishops who 'not only did not care but directly prohibited their faithful access to the sacraments, especially to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance'
ROME, May 22, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Bishop Athanasius Schneider said that bishops who have “directly prohibited their faithful access to the sacraments” during the coronavirus crisis have behaved as “fake shepherds.”
“The unbelievable fact was, that in midst of this worldwide ban of the public Holy Mass, many bishops even before the government banned public worship, issued decrees by which they not only forbade the public celebration of Holy Mass, but of any other sacrament as well,” Schneider said in a talk given today at the virtual Rome Life Forum hosted by Voice of the Family (read full talk below).
“Bishops who not only did not care but directly prohibited their faithful access to the sacraments, especially to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance, behaved themselves as fake shepherds, who seek their own advantage,” he added.
Schneider’s talk was titled “The Eucharist, the greatest treasure of the Church, in time of tribulations.” The auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, contrasted the approach of many bishops to the coronavirus with the heroic pastoral care provided in past health crises by Catholic priests such as St. Charles Borromeo.
Schneider said that the almost worldwide ban on the public celebration of Holy Mass had made it seem as though “the ruthless historical persecutions of the Church were brought back” and that there had developed “[a]n atmosphere of the catacombs…with priests celebrating Holy Mass in secrecy with a group of the faithful.”
Schneider contrasted the response of bishops today with the “many moving heroic examples from history, where priests consciously accepted the mortal danger of administering the sacraments to people infected with lethal contagious diseases.”
“In the time of the plague, which had an incomparably higher mortality rate as the current epidemic of Covid-19, St. Charles Borromeo increased the number of the public celebrations of Holy Mass,” Schneider explained.
“Even though he closed the churches for a while, he at the same time ordered that there should be Masses celebrated in many public and open places, such as squares, crossroads, street corners. He obliged the priests to visit the sick and the dying to administer them the sacraments of Penance and of Extreme Unction. He ordered public processions to be held, in which people walked in due distance, to make reparation for the sins and invoke Divine Mercy. St. Charles Borromeo did not forget the care for the body of the infected people, but at the same time his primary concern was the spiritual help of the sacraments, with which the sick had to be strengthened.”
Schneider also called on Pope Francis and bishops around the world to understand the public cessation of Holy Mass and sacramental Holy Communion during the Covid-19 epidemic as a “divine rebuke” for the liturgical crisis in the Church for the past fifty years.
He said that the cessation of Holy Mass was “so unique and serious that one can discover behind all of this a deeper meaning.”
“This event has come almost fifty years after the introduction of Communion in the hand (in 1969) and a radical reform of the rite of Mass (in 1969/1970) with its protestantising elements (Offertory prayers) and its horizontal and instructional style of celebration (freestyle moments, celebration in a closed circle and towards the people). The praxis of Communion in the hand over the past fifty years has led to an unintentional and intentional desecration of the Eucharistic Body of Christ on an unprecedented scale,” he said.
“The current cessation of public Holy Mass and Holy Communion could be understood by the Pope and bishops as a divine rebuke for the past fifty years of Eucharistic desecrations and trivializations and, at the same time, as a merciful appeal for an authentic Eucharistic conversion of the entire Church.”
He called on Pope Francis to “issue concrete liturgical norms” in order to address irreverence to the Holy Eucharist, including making ad orientem celebration of the Eucharistic prayer compulsory and forbidding the reception of Communion in the hand.
“Once the current tribulation has ended, the Pope should issue concrete liturgical norms, in which he invites the entire Church to turn again towards the Lord in the manner of celebration, i.e. celebrant and faithful turned in the same direction during the Eucharistic prayer,” Schneider said.
“The Pope should also forbid the practice of Communion in the hand, for the Church cannot continue unpunished to treat the Holy of Holies in the little sacred Host in such a minimalistic and unsafe manner.”
Schneider also suggested that Pope Francis together with cardinals and bishops should “carry out a public act of reparation in Rome for the sins against the Holy Eucharist, and for the sin of the acts of religious veneration to the Pachamama statues.”
Schneider concluded his address by speaking of the importance of listening to voices of faithful laity, who he said have been “humiliated and despised in the midst of the Church by an arrogant and undoubtedly Pharisaic clericalism.”
“These little lovers and defenders of the Eucharist will renew the life of the Church in our day and these words of Jesus are rightly and deservedly applied to them: “I bless you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things hidden to the wise and intelligent and you have revealed them to the little ones.” (Mt 11, 25) May this truth give us hope and light in the midst of darkness and increase our faith and our love for the Eucharistic Jesus, since when we have the Eucharistic Jesus, we have everything, and nothing will be missed.”
***
The Eucharist, the greatest treasure of the Church, in time of tribulations
H.E. Bishop Athanasius Schneider
We are witnessing a unique situation: It is for the first time in the history of the Church that the public celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice has been prohibited almost on a worldwide scale. Under the pretext of the Covid-19 epidemic, the inalienable right of Christians to the public celebration of the Holy Mass has been infringed, disproportionately and unjustifiably. In many countries, and especially in predominantly Catholic countries, this prohibition was enforced in such a systematic and brutal way, that it seemed as though the ruthless historical persecutions of the Church were brought back. An atmosphere of the catacombs was created with priests celebrating Holy Mass in secrecy with a group of the faithful.
The unbelievable fact was that in the midst of this worldwide ban of the public Holy Mass, many bishops even before the government banned public worship, issued decrees by which they not only forbade the public celebration of Holy Mass, but of any other sacrament as well. By such anti-pastoral measures those bishops deprived the sheep from the spiritual food and strength which only the sacraments can provide. Instead of good shepherds those bishops converted into rigid public officials. Those bishops revealed themselves to be imbued with a naturalistic view, to care only for the temporal and bodily life, forgetting their primary and irreplaceable task to care for the eternal and spiritual life. They forgot the warning of Our Lord: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Mt. 16:26). Bishops who not only did not care but directly prohibited their faithful access to the sacraments, especially to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance, behaved themselves as fake shepherds, who seek their own advantage.
Those bishops, however, provided access to the sacraments for themselves, since they celebrated Holy Mass, they had their own confessor, they could receive the anointing of the sick. The following stirring words of God are doubtless applicable to those bishops who in this tribulation, caused by the sanitary dictatorship, denied their sheep the spiritual food of the sacraments, while feeding themselves with the food of the sacraments:
“Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. … Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves.” (Ez. 34:2-10)
In the time of the plague, which had an incomparably higher mortality rate as the current epidemic of Covid-19, St. Charles Borromeo increased the number of the public celebrations of Holy Mass. Even though he closed the churches for a while, he at the same time ordered that there should be Masses celebrated in many public and open places, such as squares, crossroads, street corners. He obliged the priests to visit the sick and the dying to administer them the sacraments of Penance and of Extreme Unction. He ordered public processions to be held, in which people walked in due distance, to make reparation for the sins and invoke Divine Mercy. St. Charles Borromeo did not forget the care for the body of the infected people, but at the same time his primary concern was the spiritual help of the sacraments, with which the sick had to be strengthened. There are many moving heroic examples from history, where priests consciously accepted the mortal danger of administering the sacraments to people infected with lethal contagious diseases.
There is a touching witness from the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church in the 19th century, about the value of the beauty of the liturgy and the zealous administration of the sacraments in the time of the dangerous and highly contagious cholera epidemic in England. The Catholic Church does not recognize these sacraments as valid, but the fact that these ministers placed such importance on pastoral care during an epidemic should be a witness to us now.
“The ritual innovations of they were accused were entirely rooted in the desperate pastoral needs they encountered. Sisters of Mercy worked with the clergy of St. Peter’s Plymouth in the cholera epidemics of the late 1840s, and petitioned the parish priest, Fr. George Rundle Prynne, for a celebration of the Eucharist each morning to strengthen them for their work. So began the first daily mass in the Church of England since the Reformation. Similarly, the clergy of St. Saviour’s, Leeds, laid what medicines they had on the altar at each morning’s communion, before carrying them out to the many dozens of their parishioners who would die of cholera that very day. These slum churches and their priests are far too many to mention, but their audacity and their piety are to be marveled at. The Church of England, at this time, looked upon ritual as a wicked aping of a Papist Church. Vestments were horrific to most, and yet in places such as the mission church of St George’s in the East, thuribles were swung, genuflecting was encouraged, the sign of the cross was made frequently, devotion to the blessed sacrament was taken for granted. Confessions were heard, holy anointing was practised. Beauty and holiness were to go into the midst of squalor and depression, as a witness to the Catholic faith in Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, present and active in his world. And, perhaps most significantly, the sick and dying were to receive this sacramental presence as far as was possible. Deathbed confessions, the oil of unction, even, occasionally, communion from the reserved sacrament became the priests’ weapons against, for example, the appalling East London cholera epidemic of 1866.”
St. Damien de Veuster is a luminous example of a priest and a shepherd of souls who for the sake of providing the celebration of the Holy Mass and the other sacraments to the abandoned people who were suffering from leprosy at the Molokai island, accepted voluntarily to administer to them the sacraments, living amongst them and, thereby, to expose himself to the deadly disease. Visitors never forgot the sights and sounds of a Sunday Mass at St. Philomena’s Chapel. Fr. Damien stood at the altar. His lepers gathered around him on the altar. They constantly coughed and expectorated. The odour was overpowering. Yet Fr. Damien never once wavered or showed his disgust. His strength came from the Eucharist as he himself wrote: “It is at the foot of the altar that we find the strength we need in our isolation…” It is there that he found for himself and for those he served the support and encouragement, the consolation and the hope that made him “the happiest missionary in the world”, as he called himself. Mahatma Gandhi, for example, had said that the world has few heroes comparable to Fr. Damien of Molokai. Belgium, the native country of St. Damien, has proclaimed him as the greatest man in its history.
Our time is marked by an unprecedented and widespread liturgical and Eucharistic crisis due to the practical negligence of the truth that the Eucharist, the Holy Communion, is the treasure of the altar and of ineffable majesty. Therefore the following admonitions of the Council of Trent remain relevant today more than ever:
“No other action taken by faithful Christians is so holy and so divine as this tremendous mystery, in which each day that life-giving host, by which we were reconciled with God the Father, is sacrificed by priests to God on the altar, and it is equally clear that you must use every effort and diligence for it to be celebrated with the greatest purity and inner transparency and an outer attitude of devotion and piety.” (Sess. XXII, Decretum de observandis et vitandis)
This Divine majesty present in the mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, however, is a hidden majesty. Under the Eucharistic species is the hidden God of majesty. St. Peter Julian Eymard, a modern apostle of the Eucharist, spoke notably on the truth of the hidden majesty of Christ in the Eucharistic mystery. He left us admirable reflections such as this:
“Jesus, with a veil, covers his power because otherwise, I would be afraid. He covers with a veil his holiness, the sublimity of which would discourage our few virtues. A mother talks to her child in a childlike way down to his level. In the same way Jesus makes himself little with the little to elevate them to Himself. Jesus hides his love and warmth. His ardour is such that we would be consumed if we were exposed directly to its flames. The fire is consuming. God is a consuming fire. In this way the hidden Jesus strengthens us against our weaknesses. … This darkness of the hidden majesty requires of us a very worthy sacrifice, the sacrifice of our intellect. We have to believe even against the testimony of our senses, against the ordinary laws of nature, against our own experience. We have to believe only in the mere word of Jesus Christ. There is only one question: ‘Who is there?’ – ‘It is I,’ replies Jesus Christ. Bow down and worship Him! … Instead of being a test, this veil becomes an incentive, an encouragement to have a humble and sincere faith. Man wants to penetrate a veiled truth, discover a hidden treasure, conquer a difficulty. Similarly, the faithful soul searches for the Lord in the presence of the Eucharistic veil as Magdalene searched at the tomb. The Eucharist is to the soul what God is to the blessed in heaven: a truth and a beauty ever ancient and ever new, which man does not tire of scrutinizing and contemplating. Just as in this world love lives from happiness and desires, so also the soul is happy and desires happiness through the Eucharist; the soul eats and is still hungry. Only the wisdom and goodness of our Lord could invent the Eucharistic veil.” (The Real Presence. Eucharistic Meditations, New York 1938, 92-94)
The same Saint left us profound reflections about the worship of the Eucharist:
“I have loved the beauty of Thy house. (Psalm xxv. 8.) One day a woman, a good adorer, came to Jesus to adore Him. She brought with her an alabaster box full of precious ointment which she poured upon His feet to show her love for Him and to pay honour to His Divinity and sacred humanity. ‘To what purpose is this waste?’ said the traitor Judas. ‘This ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.’ But Jesus vindicates His handmaid: ‘What this woman has wrought is a good work. And wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached, this also which she has done shall be told in praise of her.’ This Gospel incident may be applied to the Eucharist. Our Lord is in the Blessed Sacrament to receive from men the same homage He received from those who had the happiness of coming close to Him during His mortal life. He is there to give everybody the opportunity of offering a personal homage to His sacred humanity. Were this the only reason for the Eucharist, it should make us very happy; for the Eucharist enables us as Christians to pay our respects to our Lord in person.
“This presence is the justification of public worship as well as the life of it. If you take away the Real Presence, how will you be able to pay to His most sacred humanity the respect and honour which are its due? As Man, our Lord is present only in Heaven and in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Through the Eucharist we can draw near to the living Saviour in person, and see Him and converse with Him. Without this presence, Divine worship becomes an abstraction. Through this presence we go straight to God and approach Him as during His mortal life. How unfortunate it would be if, in order to honour the humanity of Jesus Christ, we were obliged to go back eighteen centuries! That is all very well for the mind, but how pay an outward homage to so distant a past? We would content ourselves with giving thanks for the mysteries without actively participating in them. But with the Eucharist we can actually come and adore Him like the shepherds; we can prostrate ourselves before Him like the Magi; we need no longer regret our not having been present at Bethlehem or on Calvary.
“On the day of judgment, we shall have the right to say to Him: ‘We visited Thee not only in the poor but in Thy august Person itself. What wilt Thou give us in return?’ Worldly people will never understand this. ‘Give, and give a lot to the poor,’ they say. ‘But what good is it to give to churches? All this lavish expense on altars is wasted money.’ That is the way to become Protestant. No! The Church wants to have a living worship because she possesses her living Saviour on earth. Is not that worth while? But that is not all. To give to the Eucharistic Jesus is a consolation and a joy, as it is also a need. Yes, we feel the need of seeing and feeling our Lord near us, and of honouring Him with out gifts. If our Lord required of us nothing more than interior homage, He would fail to satisfy one of man's imperious needs; we cannot love without manifesting that love through outward signs of friendship and affection.
“If the sacred linen is clean, if the vestments are neat and in good condition, oh! that is a sign of faith! But if a church is without the proper vestments for the service of our Lord and looks more like a prison than a church, faith is lacking. People give to every form of charity; but beg something for the Most Blessed Sacrament, and they do not know what you are talking about. Is the King then to go in rags while His servants are richly clothed? We have not the right kind of faith, a faith that is practical, a faith that loves; we have only a negative, speculative faith. We are Catholic in name but Protestant in practice.” (The Real Presence. Eucharistic Meditations, New York 1938, 172ff.)
St. Peter Julian Eymard said:
“In the worship of God, everything is great, everything is divine. … The Holy Roman liturgy is therefore supremely august and authentic. It comes from Peter, head of the apostles. Each pope kept it and passed it with all respect to the subsequent centuries, knowing how to add in conformity with the needs of faith, piety, and gratitude new formulas, offices, and sacred rites. […] Liturgical worship is the exercise par excellence of all religion” (Direttorio degli aggregati del Santissimo Sacramento, Ch. II, art. V, n. 1.)
The situation of the public cessation of Holy Mass and sacramental Holy Communion during the Covid-19 epidemic is so unique and serious that one can discover behind all of this a deeper meaning. This event has come almost fifty years after the introduction of Communion in the hand (in 1969) and a radical reform of the rite of Mass (in 1969/1970) with its protestantising elements (Offertory prayers) and its horizontal and instructional style of celebration (freestyle moments, celebration in a closed circle and towards the people). The praxis of Communion in the hand over the past fifty years has led to an unintentional and intentional desecration of the Eucharistic Body of Christ on an unprecedented scale. For over fifty years, the Body of Christ had been (mostly unintentionally) trampled by the feet of clergy and laity in Catholic churches around the world. The stealing of sacred Hosts has also been increasing at an alarming rate. The praxis of taking Holy Communion directly with one’s own hands and fingers resembles ever more the gesture of taking common food. In not a few Catholics, the practice of receiving Communion in the hand has weakened faith in the Real Presence, in trans-substantiation and in the divine and sublime character of the sacred Host. The Eucharistic presence of Christ has, over time, unconsciously become for these faithful a kind of holy bread or symbol. Now the Lord has intervened and deprived almost all the faithful of assisting at Holy Mass and sacramentally receiving Holy Communion.
The current cessation of public Holy Mass and Holy Communion could be understood by the Pope and bishops as a divine rebuke for the past fifty years of Eucharistic desecrations and trivializations and, at the same time, as a merciful appeal for an authentic Eucharistic conversion of the entire Church. May the Holy Spirit touch the heart of the Pope and bishops and move them to issue concrete liturgical norms in order that the Eucharistic worship of the entire Church might be purified and oriented again towards the Lord. One could suggest that the Pope, together with cardinals and bishops, carry out a public act of reparation in Rome for the sins against the Holy Eucharist, and for the sin of the acts of religious veneration to the Pachamama statues. Once the current tribulation has ended, the Pope should issue concrete liturgical norms, in which he invites the entire Church to turn again towards the Lord in the manner of celebration, i.e. celebrant and faithful turned in the same direction during the Eucharistic prayer. The Pope should also forbid the practice of Communion in the hand, for the Church cannot continue unpunished to treat the Holy of Holies in the little sacred Host in such a minimalistic and unsafe manner.
We must also listen to the voice of the little ones in the Church, that is, the voice of countless faithful, children, young people, fathers and mothers of the family, the elderly, who in the visible manifestation of their respect and love for the Eucharistic Lord have been humiliated and despised in the midst of the Church by an arrogant and undoubtedly Pharisaic clericalism. These little lovers and defenders of the Eucharist will renew the life of the Church in our day and these words of Jesus are rightly and deservedly applied to them: “I bless you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things hidden to the wise and intelligent and you have revealed them to the little ones.” (Mt 11, 25) May this truth give us hope and light in the midst of darkness and increase our faith and our love for the Eucharistic Jesus, since when we have the Eucharistic Jesus, we have everything, and nothing will be missed.
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lifesitenews--2020-05-22--Vatican to contribute to pro-abortion World Health Organization

PETITION : Thank President Trump for halting U.S. funding to pro-abortion World Health Organization !
Sign the petition here .
GENEVA , Switzerland , May 22 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – The Vatican has announced its intent “ to contribute to the WHO Emergency Fund for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment ( PPE ) to frontline medical workers.
” The World Health Organization ( WHO ) is part of the United Nations and supports both contraception and abortion .
During his remarks at the 73rd World Health Assembly this May , Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič , the Permanent Representative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva , pointed out that the Vatican “ has already made various donations to the regions in need of urgent help.
” Additionally , “ many religious orders , parishes and priests have been on the frontlines , caring for those who have been infected and their families.
” Ironically , the Vatican ’ s announcement to contribute to the WHO came only weeks after pro-life leaders praised President Donald Trump for halting funding to the international public health agency .
“ This is a brilliant and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commented John Smeaton , Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children .
“ Not only has the World Health Organisation been planning for years to promote abortion in a COVID-19-type pandemic , it has become abundantly clear even to the secular world that the WHO is serving the world ’ s most corrupt power structures rather than the common good.
” Jeff Gunnarson of Campaign Life Coalition in Canada said , “ When a health organization that is designed to monitor the physical well being of the globe ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unborn , it ’ s critical that not only should they be defunded but shuttered.
” Archbishop Jurkovič concluded his brief remarks at the World Health Assembly “ by relaying the fervent hope of Pope Francis that the heightened research motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic will be conducted ‘ in a transparent and disinterested way , in order to find vaccines and treatments and to guarantee universal access to essential technologies that will enable every infected person , in every part of the world , to receive the necessary health care.
’ ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fact that at least several of the potential coronavirus vaccines currently in development are based on cell lines of aborted babies .
While the Vatican ’ s donation to the WHO Emergency Fund was specified as “ for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment ( PPE ) to frontline medical workers , ” some Catholics wonder how the Vatican can support the WHO at all , given its direct opposition to Church teaching on matters like abortion .
On its website , the WHO states , among other things , “ Every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decide freely and responsibly without coercion and violence the number , spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so , and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health ( ICPD 1994 ) .
Access to legal and safe abortion is essential for the realization of these rights.
” The WHO “ provides global technical and policy guidance on the use of contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy , safe abortion , and treatment of complications from unsafe abortion.
” The WHO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children be taught about masturbation from infancy .
In the past , the Vatican , which is not a member of the United Nations , but an observer , has been cautious about even symbolically supporting the organization ’ s efforts when they are in opposition to the Church ’ s doctrine .
In 1996 , the Vatican announced that it “ can not offer any symbolic contribution to UNICEF , ” the United Nations International Children ’ s Emergency Fund .
Archbishop Renato Martino , at the time the Permanent Observer of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , argued that suspending “ the practice of making a symbolic contribution was the result of the Holy See ’ s increasing preoccupation with the changes in UNICEF ’ s activities which have begun to divert some of its already scarce economic and human resources from the care of the most basic needs of children to other areas outside of that specific mandate given by the United Nations to UNICEF.
” Martino specifically mentioned “ [ e ] vidence of UNICEF involvement in advocacy to alter national legislation regarding abortion ” and “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries were distributing contraceptives and counseling their use.
” Both concerns could also be addressed at the WHO , which is nevertheless now being supported by the Vatican .
Just last year , the Holy See declared it was not going to participate in “ The Nairobi Summit on ICPD 25 ” on the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development ( ICPD ) .
“ The organizers ’ decision , however , to focus the conference on a few controversial and divisive issues that do not enjoy international consensus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broader population and development agenda outlined by the ICPD , is regrettable , ” the Vatican pointed out .
“ The ICPD and its encompassing Programme of Action within the international community ’ s broad development agenda should not be reduced to so-called ‘ sexual and reproductive health and rights ’ and ‘ comprehensive sexuality education.
’ ” Pope Francis himself has praised the United Nations in 2015 during his address to the General Assembly in New York .
“ The praiseworthy international juridical framework of the United Nations Organization and of all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endeavour , can be improved , yet it remains necessary ; at the same time it can be the pledge of a secure and happy future for future generations , ” the Pope said .
Pope Paul VI was the first Pope to speak to the General Assembly of the United Nations , followed by both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict .
“ I can only reiterate the appreciation expressed by my predecessors , in reaffirming the importance which the Catholic Church attaches to this Institution and the hope which she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in 2015 .
The coronavirus pandemic has also raised questions about the WHO ’ s connections to the Communist regime in China .

The Holy See will 'contribute to the WHO Emergency Fund for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline medical workers.'
PETITION: Thank President Trump for halting U.S. funding to pro-abortion World Health Organization! Sign the petition here.
GENEVA, Switzerland, May 22, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The Vatican has announced its intent “to contribute to the WHO Emergency Fund for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline medical workers.” The World Health Organization (WHO) is part of the United Nations and supports both contraception and abortion.
During his remarks at the 73rd World Health Assembly this May, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, the Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, pointed out that the Vatican “has already made various donations to the regions in need of urgent help.”
Additionally, “many religious orders, parishes and priests have been on the frontlines, caring for those who have been infected and their families.”
Ironically, the Vatican’s announcement to contribute to the WHO came only weeks after pro-life leaders praised President Donald Trump for halting funding to the international public health agency.
“This is a brilliant and brave move from President Trump,” commented John Smeaton, Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. “Not only has the World Health Organisation been planning for years to promote abortion in a COVID-19-type pandemic, it has become abundantly clear even to the secular world that the WHO is serving the world’s most corrupt power structures rather than the common good.”
Jeff Gunnarson of Campaign Life Coalition in Canada said, “When a health organization that is designed to monitor the physical well being of the globe’s citizens but ignores the cries of the unborn, it’s critical that not only should they be defunded but shuttered.”
Archbishop Jurkovič concluded his brief remarks at the World Health Assembly “by relaying the fervent hope of Pope Francis that the heightened research motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic will be conducted ‘in a transparent and disinterested way, in order to find vaccines and treatments and to guarantee universal access to essential technologies that will enable every infected person, in every part of the world, to receive the necessary health care.’”
Neither the archbishop nor the Pope addressed the fact that at least several of the potential coronavirus vaccines currently in development are based on cell lines of aborted babies.
While the Vatican’s donation to the WHO Emergency Fund was specified as “for the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline medical workers,” some Catholics wonder how the Vatican can support the WHO at all, given its direct opposition to Church teaching on matters like abortion.
On its website, the WHO states, among other things, “Every woman has the recognized human right to decide freely and responsibly without coercion and violence the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health (ICPD 1994). Access to legal and safe abortion is essential for the realization of these rights.”
The WHO “provides global technical and policy guidance on the use of contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy, safe abortion, and treatment of complications from unsafe abortion.”
The WHO also supports sex education programs that advise children be taught about masturbation from infancy.
In the past, the Vatican, which is not a member of the United Nations, but an observer, has been cautious about even symbolically supporting the organization’s efforts when they are in opposition to the Church’s doctrine.
In 1996, the Vatican announced that it “cannot offer any symbolic contribution to UNICEF,” the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
Archbishop Renato Martino, at the time the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, argued that suspending “the practice of making a symbolic contribution was the result of the Holy See’s increasing preoccupation with the changes in UNICEF’s activities which have begun to divert some of its already scarce economic and human resources from the care of the most basic needs of children to other areas outside of that specific mandate given by the United Nations to UNICEF.”
Martino specifically mentioned “[e]vidence of UNICEF involvement in advocacy to alter national legislation regarding abortion” and “credible reports that UNICEF workers in various countries were distributing contraceptives and counseling their use.”
Both concerns could also be addressed at the WHO, which is nevertheless now being supported by the Vatican.
Just last year, the Holy See declared it was not going to participate in “The Nairobi Summit on ICPD 25” on the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
“The organizers’ decision, however, to focus the conference on a few controversial and divisive issues that do not enjoy international consensus and that do not reflect accurately the broader population and development agenda outlined by the ICPD, is regrettable,” the Vatican pointed out.
“The ICPD and its encompassing Programme of Action within the international community’s broad development agenda should not be reduced to so-called ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights’ and ‘comprehensive sexuality education.’”
Pope Francis himself has praised the United Nations in 2015 during his address to the General Assembly in New York.
“The praiseworthy international juridical framework of the United Nations Organization and of all its activities, like any other human endeavour, can be improved, yet it remains necessary; at the same time it can be the pledge of a secure and happy future for future generations,” the Pope said.
Pope Paul VI was the first Pope to speak to the General Assembly of the United Nations, followed by both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict.
“I can only reiterate the appreciation expressed by my predecessors, in reaffirming the importance which the Catholic Church attaches to this Institution and the hope which she places in its activities,” Francis said in 2015.
The coronavirus pandemic has also raised questions about the WHO’s connections to the Communist regime in China.
Share


lifesitenews--2020-05-22--What is our purpose in life?

What is our purpose in life?

Formerly Heart to Heart with Mother Miriam , Mother Miriam Live brings you inspiration and solutions for life ’ s @ @ @ @ @ Miriam is a Catholic nun on a mission to bring hope to a world that @ @ @ @ @ let her share that hope and joy with you !
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Watch Mother Miriam's Live show from 5.22.2020. Today, Mother continues helping listeners grow in their faith. The focus of today's show is our purpose in life. Circumstances and situations change, but our purpose and reason for being does not.
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Subscribe to Mother Miriam Live here.


lifesitenews--2020-05-22--Petition against mandatory coronavirus vaccination surges past half a million

May 22 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — In just the last two weeks , LifeSite ’ s petition rejecting mandatory coronavirus vaccination* has surged to over 500,000 signatures .
“ The enormous response against a mandatory vaccination program for the coronavirus is truly global in nature , ” said Gualberto Garcia Jones , director of advocacy of LifeSite .
“ This is something people around the world are very concerned about , and which many reject.
” So far , the top five countries for signatures are : Signatures have flooded in from numerous other countries around the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of weeks , LifeSite will attempt to deliver this petition to governments around the world in countries where LifeSite staff are present .
That means that LifeSite will attempt a hand delivery at the White House in the United States and at the heads of states ’ offices in the U.K. , Canada , Australia , France , Germany , and Hungary .
LifeSite will also be sending electronic copies of the petition to every U.S. governor ’ s office and every Canadian premier ’ s office where possible .
And , also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an electronic copy to the leaders of parliament from every country that contributed signers to this petition .
LifeSite intends on making sure this message is heard , loud and clear .
Because while there is cause for concern , there is also cause for hope .
Regarding the concern , late last week , President Trump introduced “ Operation Warp Speed , ” an ambitious Manhattan Project–style initiative to fast-track the development and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine by January 2021 , tapping experts and resources in science , medicine , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Regarding the hope , the president allayed concerns about a mandatory vaccine , saying the new vaccine would be for those “ who want to get it , ” adding , “ Not everyone is going to want to get it.
” While such words are good news , nevertheless , words said at a press conference are cheap .
LifeSite will not rest until we see those same words in writing , and not only from the president of the United States , but also from other international and local leaders .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus !
Sign the petition here .
This petition , therefore , remains very necessary and “ active , ” which means that people can go to LifePetitions to sign and share this petition .
As the petition states : “ We must not allow the rush by pharmaceutical companies to produce a new coronavirus vaccine to , itself , become an imperative for vaccination.
” Readers can make sure the American government knows about your objection to mandatory vaccination by going to the White House Facebook page and by posting this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House post .
Arch-globalist Bill Gates , who seems to believe that being a billionaire somehow confers expertise in a vast array of topics , has also asserted that society will not return to “ normal ” until widespread vaccination for the coronavirus has taken place .
But , unwitting citizens must not be used as guinea pigs for new world order ideologues , or Big Pharma , in pursuit of a vaccine ( and profits ) , which may not even protect against future mutated strains of the coronavirus .
This petition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this regard , not allowing either money , social pressure , or the rush to produce a new vaccine , to influence their decisions about something as personal as vaccines .
“ We can now see more clearly that some of our politicians — people who are supposed to work for the public — are attempting to use this health crisis as an excuse to curtail our personal freedoms , ” Garcia Jones said .
“ We can not allow them to achieve that goal.
” There is a need to continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If you haven ’ t yet signed the petition , please consider signing and sharing with your like-minded family , friends , and colleagues .
Please CLICK HERE to read and sign the petition .
Thank you !
* While LifeSite opposes immorally produced vaccines using aborted fetal cell lines , we do not have a position on any particular coronavirus vaccines produced without such moral problems .
LifeSite recognizes that concerns exist over the safety and efficacy of vaccines while recognizing that lives have benefited from them .
The issue at stake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is whether the government has the authority to force adults and their children to take a coronavirus vaccine against their will .
The position that we take is that government does not possess that authority .

Signatures have flooded in from numerous other countries around the world as well.
May 22, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — In just the last two weeks, LifeSite’s petition rejecting mandatory coronavirus vaccination* has surged to over 500,000 signatures.
“The enormous response against a mandatory vaccination program for the coronavirus is truly global in nature,” said Gualberto Garcia Jones, director of advocacy of LifeSite. “This is something people around the world are very concerned about, and which many reject.”
So far, the top five countries for signatures are:
The United States: 273K signatures The United Kingdom: 53K signatures Canada: 33K signatures Australia: 30K signatures Russia: 29K signatures
Signatures have flooded in from numerous other countries around the world as well.
Over the next couple of weeks, LifeSite will attempt to deliver this petition to governments around the world in countries where LifeSite staff are present.
That means that LifeSite will attempt a hand delivery at the White House in the United States and at the heads of states’ offices in the U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Hungary.
LifeSite will also be sending electronic copies of the petition to every U.S. governor’s office and every Canadian premier’s office where possible.
And, also where possible, our staff will send an electronic copy to the leaders of parliament from every country that contributed signers to this petition.
LifeSite intends on making sure this message is heard, loud and clear. Because while there is cause for concern, there is also cause for hope.
Regarding the concern, late last week, President Trump introduced “Operation Warp Speed,” an ambitious Manhattan Project–style initiative to fast-track the development and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine by January 2021, tapping experts and resources in science, medicine, the military, and the private sector.
Regarding the hope, the president allayed concerns about a mandatory vaccine, saying the new vaccine would be for those “who want to get it,” adding, “Not everyone is going to want to get it.”
While such words are good news, nevertheless, words said at a press conference are cheap. LifeSite will not rest until we see those same words in writing, and not only from the president of the United States, but also from other international and local leaders.
PETITION: No to mandatory vaccination for the coronavirus! Sign the petition here.
This petition, therefore, remains very necessary and “active,” which means that people can go to LifePetitions to sign and share this petition.
As the petition states: “We must not allow the rush by pharmaceutical companies to produce a new coronavirus vaccine to, itself, become an imperative for vaccination.”
Readers can make sure the American government knows about your objection to mandatory vaccination by going to the White House Facebook page and by posting this story as a comment under a White House post.
Arch-globalist Bill Gates, who seems to believe that being a billionaire somehow confers expertise in a vast array of topics, has also asserted that society will not return to “normal” until widespread vaccination for the coronavirus has taken place.
But, unwitting citizens must not be used as guinea pigs for new world order ideologues, or Big Pharma, in pursuit of a vaccine (and profits), which may not even protect against future mutated strains of the coronavirus.
This petition calls on policy-makers to be cool-headed in this regard, not allowing either money, social pressure, or the rush to produce a new vaccine, to influence their decisions about something as personal as vaccines.
“We can now see more clearly that some of our politicians — people who are supposed to work for the public — are attempting to use this health crisis as an excuse to curtail our personal freedoms,” Garcia Jones said. “We cannot allow them to achieve that goal.”
There is a need to continue to speak up all around the world. If you haven’t yet signed the petition, please consider signing and sharing with your like-minded family, friends, and colleagues.
Please CLICK HERE to read and sign the petition. Thank you!
* While LifeSite opposes immorally produced vaccines using aborted fetal cell lines, we do not have a position on any particular coronavirus vaccines produced without such moral problems. LifeSite recognizes that concerns exist over the safety and efficacy of vaccines while recognizing that lives have benefited from them. The issue at stake here, and in our petition, is whether the government has the authority to force adults and their children to take a coronavirus vaccine against their will. The position that we take is that government does not possess that authority.
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lifesitenews--2020-05-22--500 doctors warn Trump of ‘millions of casualties’ if shutdown continues

May 22 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – As the contrast grows between states that have begun to reopen and those that continue their COVID-19 stay-at-home orders , hundreds of physicians are speaking out about the medical dangers of lockdown itself .
Numerous doctors recently spoke out against the lockdowns ’ medical effects in a conference call hosted by Tea Party Patriots Action , Breitbart News reports .
“ All you have to do is watch the six o ’ clock news here in L.A. to know why they are avoiding the health care system , ” said Dr. Steven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University of Southern California .
“ They give two statistics every time — they open their newscast with the number of people who have tested positive for COVID and immediately adjacent to that , the number of people who have died with COVID making , unfortunately , in the viewer ’ s mind , a nexus between COVID positivity and death.
” “ The reality is that we are way past the time where being locked down makes any scientific or medical sense , ” said Dr. Jeffrey Barke , co-founder of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California .
“ We are taking the healthiest folks – the youngest , the strongest , our children – and we are in effect protecting the healthiest herd from being exposed and allowing them to get herd immunity .
So this idea that somehow we have to wait for a vaccination or a cure to this virus in order to open up schools just makes no scientific sense whatever.
” In fact , more than 500 physicians have signed a letter to President Donald Trump expressing their concern over the fallout if the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is impossible to overstate the short , medium , and long-term harm to people ’ s health with a continued shutdown , ” the letter reads .
“ Losing a job is one of life ’ s most stressful events , and the effect on a person ’ s health is not lessened because it also has happened to 30 million other people .
Keeping schools and universities closed is incalculably detrimental for children , teenagers , and young adults for decades to come .
“ The millions of casualties of a continued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but they will be called alcoholism , homelessness , suicide , heart attack , stroke , or kidney failure , ” the letter continues .
“ In youths it will be called financial instability , unemployment , despair , drug addiction , unplanned pregnancies , poverty , and abuse.
” Other experts have previously spoken out about the mental health toll of the lockdowns .
“ The isolation , the fear , the uncertainty , the economic turmoil – they all cause or could cause psychological distress , ” Devora Kestel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s ( WHO ) mental health department , acknowledged recently in a report to the United Nations .
A growing number of medical experts also argue that , in light of the fact that COVID-19 primarily affects the elderly and immunocompromised , but poses relatively little risk to the young , policymakers should pursue a narrower strategy of protecting the former groups while allowing the rest of society to resume normal life .
“ If we focus on the elderly , we will bring a death rate that is likely no more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent , ” says Dr. Donald Yealy , chair of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center .
As of May 21 , the United States is estimated to have seen more than 1.6 million COVID-19 cases , with more than 95,000 deaths and 373,000 recoveries .
An estimated 40 % of those deaths have come from nursing homes ( with the percentages for specific states often much higher ) , and mounting evidence suggests far more of the public has contracted and recovered from the virus than the official count @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have imposed strict limits on “ non-essential ” activity , including delays of non-urgent medical procedures .
As a result , hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost , with more than 33 million Americans filing for unemployment and studies predicting that tens of thousands of small businesses that have closed down will never reopen .
Defenders of the lockdown strategy have insisted this was a necessary sacrifice to save lives , although mounting evidence suggests that the response to COVID-19 carries public-health consequences of its own , such as the steep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeking and receiving care for everything from cancer to heart disease , either because “ non-essential ” procedures have been delayed or because patients are scared of catching COVID-19 in hospitals .
Readers can click here for LifeSiteNews ’ live updates on the coronavirus and its impact all over the world .

'The millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure'
PETITION: Demand Planned Parenthood return $80M improperly taken from coronavirus emergency fund! Sign the petition here.
May 22, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – As the contrast grows between states that have begun to reopen and those that continue their COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, hundreds of physicians are speaking out about the medical dangers of lockdown itself.
Numerous doctors recently spoke out against the lockdowns’ medical effects in a conference call hosted by Tea Party Patriots Action, Breitbart News reports.
“All you have to do is watch the six o’clock news here in L.A. to know why they are avoiding the health care system,” said Dr. Steven Giannotta, chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Southern California. “They give two statistics every time — they open their newscast with the number of people who have tested positive for COVID and immediately adjacent to that, the number of people who have died with COVID making, unfortunately, in the viewer’s mind, a nexus between COVID positivity and death.”
“The reality is that we are way past the time where being locked down makes any scientific or medical sense,” said Dr. Jeffrey Barke, co-founder of the Person Care Physicians in Newport Beach, California. “We are taking the healthiest folks – the youngest, the strongest, our children – and we are in effect protecting the healthiest herd from being exposed and allowing them to get herd immunity. So this idea that somehow we have to wait for a vaccination or a cure to this virus in order to open up schools just makes no scientific sense whatever.”
In fact, more than 500 physicians have signed a letter to President Donald Trump expressing their concern over the fallout if the shutdowns continue much longer.
“It is impossible to overstate the short, medium, and long-term harm to people’s health with a continued shutdown,” the letter reads. “Losing a job is one of life’s most stressful events, and the effect on a person’s health is not lessened because it also has happened to 30 million other people. Keeping schools and universities closed is incalculably detrimental for children, teenagers, and young adults for decades to come.
“The millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure,” the letter continues. “In youths it will be called financial instability, unemployment, despair, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, poverty, and abuse.”
Other experts have previously spoken out about the mental health toll of the lockdowns.
“The isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil – they all cause or could cause psychological distress,” Devora Kestel, director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) mental health department, acknowledged recently in a report to the United Nations.
A growing number of medical experts also argue that, in light of the fact that COVID-19 primarily affects the elderly and immunocompromised, but poses relatively little risk to the young, policymakers should pursue a narrower strategy of protecting the former groups while allowing the rest of society to resume normal life. “If we focus on the elderly, we will bring a death rate that is likely no more than 1% down to fractions of a percent,” says Dr. Donald Yealy, chair of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
As of May 21, the United States is estimated to have seen more than 1.6 million COVID-19 cases, with more than 95,000 deaths and 373,000 recoveries. An estimated 40% of those deaths have come from nursing homes (with the percentages for specific states often much higher), and mounting evidence suggests far more of the public has contracted and recovered from the virus than the official count indicates.
In response, many states have imposed strict limits on “non-essential” activity, including delays of non-urgent medical procedures. As a result, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost, with more than 33 million Americans filing for unemployment and studies predicting that tens of thousands of small businesses that have closed down will never reopen.
Defenders of the lockdown strategy have insisted this was a necessary sacrifice to save lives, although mounting evidence suggests that the response to COVID-19 carries public-health consequences of its own, such as the steep declines that have been seen in people seeking and receiving care for everything from cancer to heart disease, either because “non-essential” procedures have been delayed or because patients are scared of catching COVID-19 in hospitals.
Readers can click here for LifeSiteNews’ live updates on the coronavirus and its impact all over the world.
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lifesitenews--2020-05-22--Join our daily worldwide rosary HERE - PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE TODAY.

May 22 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE .
TODAY ’ S ROSARY WILL BE PART OF A HOLY HOUR FROM THE ROME LIFE FORUM .
– In response to the coronavirus crisis , LifeSite is offering Catholics throughout the world a chance to be united in praying the rosary together , at the same time , every day at 12:00 noon EST .
The rosary is led by Father Anthony Pillari , an American priest currently in Italy .
To date , Catholics from Israel , Uganda , Italy , France , Germany , Ireland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Canada , Mexico , Chile , Brazil , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Singapore , India , and Indonesia , as well as other countries , have been joining in .
The whole world – including the Church – has been thrown into chaos because of the coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) .
Thousands of people have passed away as a result of the viral outbreak , while thousands more have been sickened .
And , across the world , business has come to a grinding halt , resulting in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If there ever was a time for prayer , this is it .
Catholics around the planet are aching for Mass and the Sacraments , but in many places are unable to access them because of bishops ’ orders or government restrictions .
We know that community with other believers is vital all the time , but especially during this time of global calls for “ sheltering-in-place ” and quarantine .
“ The rosary is the weapon for these times , ” St. Padre Pio said .
Through prayer , we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and bring this painful crisis to an end .
Join us today !
Send photos or videos of you and your family praying the rosary with Father Pillari to [ email protected ]

(LifeSiteNews) — In response to the crisis unfolding in our world and in the Church, LifeSite is happy to promote Regina Angelorum Press’s Daily Rosary, which is offering Catholics throughout the world the chance to be united daily in prayer, in the Our Lady of Fatima Rosary Crusade.
Catholics from all over the world — from Israel, Uganda, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Pakistan, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and other countries — are gathering daily to pray the Rosary, led by Father Pillari, JCL, MCL, STL, an American priest currently studying in Italy.
The Daily Rosary is being offered each day at 12noon EST through Regina Angelorum Press’ YouTube Channel to which you can subscribe HERE.
The goal is, by means of this Daily Rosary and by embracing and living out the message given by the Virgin Mary at Fatima, the triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart.
To help obtain that goal, Bishop Athanasius Schneider graciously composed the following prayer for this worldwide Rosary crusade:
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, you are the holy Mother of God and our tender Mother. Look upon the distress in which the Church and the whole of humanity are living because of the spread of materialism and the persecution of the Church. In Fatima you warned against these errors, as you spoke about the errors of Russia. You are the Mediatrix of all graces. Implore your Divine Son to grant this special grace for the Pope: that he might consecrate Russia to your Immaculate Heart, so that Russia will be converted, a period of peace will be granted to the world, and your Immaculate Heart will triumph, through an authentic renewal of the Church in the splendor of the purity of the Catholic Faith, of the sacredness of Divine worship and of the holiness of the Christian life. O Queen of the holy Rosary and our sweet Mother, turn your merciful eyes to us and graciously hear this our trusting prayer. Amen. + Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
To learn more about the urgency of responding to Our Lady’s message at Fatima, and about what you can do, please read Cardinal Burke’s 2017 address at the Rome Life Forum.
As St. Padre Pio once said, “The Rosary is the weapon for these times.” Through prayer, God can shape history, change the world, and bring about a great time of renewal and peace for the Church and for the world, through the triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. Join us today!
If you would like to follow along with the prayers said during this Rosary, you can access them HERE. The document also includes a brief F.A.Q. pertaining to the daily Rosary.
You can send your prayer requests to https://reginangelorumpress.com/prayer-intentions/
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lifesitenews--2020-05-22--Harvard prof wants homeschooling banned because kids may not learn her preferred values

May 22 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — Last month , the homeschooling community erupted in outrage with the release of an article in Harvard Magazine titled “ The Risks of Homeschooling , ” which detailed the views of Harvard ’ s own Elizabeth Bartholet .
A Wasserstein public interest professor of law and faculty director of Harvard Law School ’ s Child Advocacy Program , Bartholet has been advocating a limited ban on homeschooling , which she claims violates a child ’ s right to a “ meaningful education , ” and notes her particular concern with conservative Christian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideologues.
” Apparently unaware of the fact that conservative Christians consider her a dangerous and extreme ideologue ( and one advocating for children to be forcibly separated from their parents for a portion of each day to ensure that other people ’ s children are exposed to her views ) , Bartholet is doubling down on her proposed ban .
In an interview with the Harvard Gazette , she explains why she believes that homeschooling is so dangerous .
Bartholet is honest about whom she is targeting here .
When asked what was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States , she got right to the point : Behind the rapid growth of the homeschooling movement is the growth in the conservative evangelical movement .
Conservative Christians wanted the chance to bring their children up with their values and belief systems and saw homeschooling as a way to escape from the secular education in public schools .
They had fought the battle with public school systems to have their children exempted from exposure to alternative values in the schools and lost .
When they started withdrawing their children for homeschooling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement .
Bartholet then noted that most other countries regulate homeschooling much more strictly , ensuring that parents are “ qualified to teach ” and that they often “ mandate that the homeschooling curriculum ... includes teaching about the fundamental values of our society.
” If those values happen to run contrary to the religious beliefs of the parents — and indeed , might be the entire reason for homeschooling in the first place — all the more reason for the state to step in .
PETITION : Demand Planned Parenthood return $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
Sign the petition here .
In fact , despite evidence that homeschooled children often do better than their publicly educated peers , Bartholet explains that many homeschooling parents may be vicious racists and “ extreme ideologues , committed to raising their children within their belief systems “ isolated from any societal influence.
” By societal influence , she means the influence of people who think as she does .
The sexual revolutionaries conquered the public school system , and she is upset that some parents have responded to that fact by opting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government interference .
In fact , if these children are not taken out of their parents ’ homes and educated by the state , Bartholet told the Gazette , “ society may not have the chance to teach them values important to the larger community , such as tolerance of other people ’ s views.
” Again , Bartholet is being up front here : she opposes any education that doesn ’ t involve the sort of indoctrination she approves of .
The parents she accuses of being ideologues are not demanding that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ belief system , but the woman who claims not to be an ideologue is happy to demand , with a straight face , that her views be taught to the children of others — because the parents might be dangerous .
The reason they are dangerous is because they prefer the Bible to herself .
It takes a uniquely dangerous form of arrogance to peddle this stuff in public .
Bartholet claims to be doing all of this in order to protect children from being abused , as if a ban on homeschooling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She says that in the wake of her article , people have been expressing their support , and she is hoping “ some of us can work together to develop a meaningful action agenda with the goal of better protecting our children ’ s rights to education and to protection against maltreatment.
” And by “ our children , ” she means , specifically , your children .
Fortunately , the COVID-19 pandemic and impromptu homeschooling that has occurred as a result have actually created a surge of support for alternative schooling arrangements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said they are “ more likely ” to homeschool post-pandemic , and 64 % indicated that they support school choice .
Dangerous ideologues such as Elizabeth Bartholet never stop scheming about how to ram their values down the throats of other people ’ s children , and the homeschooling community will need broad public support to ensure she never gets the chance .
Jonathon ’ s new podcast , The Van Maren Show , is dedicated to telling the stories of the pro-life and pro-family movement .
In his latest episode , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Klusendorf sees in the idea of locking down the country under the guise of preventing people from getting coronavirus .
You can subscribe here and listen to the episode below :

May 22, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Last month, the homeschooling community erupted in outrage with the release of an article in Harvard Magazine titled “The Risks of Homeschooling,” which detailed the views of Harvard’s own Elizabeth Bartholet.
A Wasserstein public interest professor of law and faculty director of Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program, Bartholet has been advocating a limited ban on homeschooling, which she claims violates a child’s right to a “meaningful education,” and notes her particular concern with conservative Christian parents who may be “extreme religious ideologues.”
Follow Jonathon van Maren on Facebook
Apparently unaware of the fact that conservative Christians consider her a dangerous and extreme ideologue (and one advocating for children to be forcibly separated from their parents for a portion of each day to ensure that other people’s children are exposed to her views), Bartholet is doubling down on her proposed ban. In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, she explains why she believes that homeschooling is so dangerous.
Bartholet is honest about whom she is targeting here. When asked what was fueling the fast-growing phenomenon in homeschooling in the United States, she got right to the point:
Behind the rapid growth of the homeschooling movement is the growth in the conservative evangelical movement. Conservative Christians wanted the chance to bring their children up with their values and belief systems and saw homeschooling as a way to escape from the secular education in public schools. They had fought the battle with public school systems to have their children exempted from exposure to alternative values in the schools and lost. When they started withdrawing their children for homeschooling, this propelled expansion of the homeschooling movement.
Bartholet then noted that most other countries regulate homeschooling much more strictly, ensuring that parents are “qualified to teach” and that they often “mandate that the homeschooling curriculum … includes teaching about the fundamental values of our society.” If those values happen to run contrary to the religious beliefs of the parents — and indeed, might be the entire reason for homeschooling in the first place — all the more reason for the state to step in.
PETITION: Demand Planned Parenthood return $80M improperly taken from coronavirus emergency fund! Sign the petition here.
In fact, despite evidence that homeschooled children often do better than their publicly educated peers, Bartholet explains that many homeschooling parents may be vicious racists and “extreme ideologues, committed to raising their children within their belief systems “isolated from any societal influence.” By societal influence, she means the influence of people who think as she does. The sexual revolutionaries conquered the public school system, and she is upset that some parents have responded to that fact by opting out and raising their children themselves without government interference.
In fact, if these children are not taken out of their parents’ homes and educated by the state, Bartholet told the Gazette, “society may not have the chance to teach them values important to the larger community, such as tolerance of other people’s views.” Again, Bartholet is being up front here: she opposes any education that doesn’t involve the sort of indoctrination she approves of. The parents she accuses of being ideologues are not demanding that the children of others be taught their belief system, but the woman who claims not to be an ideologue is happy to demand, with a straight face, that her views be taught to the children of others — because the parents might be dangerous. The reason they are dangerous is because they prefer the Bible to herself.
It takes a uniquely dangerous form of arrogance to peddle this stuff in public.
Bartholet claims to be doing all of this in order to protect children from being abused, as if a ban on homeschooling were the way to address that. She says that in the wake of her article, people have been expressing their support, and she is hoping “some of us can work together to develop a meaningful action agenda with the goal of better protecting our children’s rights to education and to protection against maltreatment.” And by “our children,” she means, specifically, your children.
Fortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic and impromptu homeschooling that has occurred as a result have actually created a surge of support for alternative schooling arrangements. Forty percent of American families have said they are “more likely” to homeschool post-pandemic, and 64% indicated that they support school choice. Dangerous ideologues such as Elizabeth Bartholet never stop scheming about how to ram their values down the throats of other people’s children, and the homeschooling community will need broad public support to ensure she never gets the chance.
Jonathon’s new podcast, The Van Maren Show, is dedicated to telling the stories of the pro-life and pro-family movement. In his latest episode, he interviews Scott Klusendorf about the fundamental flaw Klusendorf sees in the idea of locking down the country under the guise of preventing people from getting coronavirus.
You can subscribe here and listen to the episode below:
Follow Jonathon Jonathon Van Maren is a public speaker, writer, and pro-life activist. His commentary has been translated into more than eight languages and published widely online as well as print newspapers such as the Jewish Independent, the National Post, the Hamilton Spectator and others. He has received an award for combating anti-Semitism in print from the Jewish organization B’nai Brith. His commentary has been featured on CTV Primetime, Global News, EWTN, and the CBC as well as dozens of radio stations and news outlets in Canada and the United States. He speaks on a wide variety of cultural topics across North America at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions. Some of these topics include abortion, pornography, the Sexual Revolution, and euthanasia. Jonathon holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history from Simon Fraser University, and is the communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform. Jonathon’s first book, The Culture War, was released in 2016.
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