lifesitenews--2020-03-25--Why canceling Masses, locking churches is a recipe for failure in dealing with coronavirus

PRAYER PLEDGE : Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here .
March 25 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – As the coronavirus spreads across the nation , officials are taking measures to ensure the health of the body .
Sadly , the health of souls is brutally neglected .
A recent message on Twitter brings home just how shocking the situation has become .
One woman wrote : “ Confessions have been canceled as well .
God help us .
If I die , I ’ m going to Hell.
” Her dramatic cry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diocese after diocese announced the shutdown of all churches .
Now all dioceses in America have canceled Masses and services .
Adoration chapels have closed .
Even Confessions has been canceled as all human contact must be minimized .
People are left without spiritual help .
Distressed priests in their parishes are ordered to withdraw from their pastoral duties .
Some are even told that they may hear confessions only in cases of death .
Other directives discourage baptisms and last rites .
We have been orphaned by a gigantic spiritual withdrawal .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are resorting to baptizing their children .
Others look for alternatives in vain .
People fear for their eternal salvation .
These closings are a sad commentary on the state of a nation that has turned away from God .
Temporal and spiritual leaders are only considering material measures to fight the epidemic .
These drastic measures targeting the spiritual welfare of the faithful are the consequence of a secular mentality that stupidly dares to quarantine God as a useless figure in the fight against the coronavirus .
Indeed , modernity ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resolved through technology , economics and material progress .
This crass materialistic perspective celebrates the enjoyment of life as the supreme value .
Suffering and tragedy must be avoided at all costs .
That is why when the “ tragedy ” of an unwanted child appears , modern society says , abort the “ problem.
” Similarly , when a threat like the Chinese virus disrupts life , it must be ruthlessly and efficiently eradicated by modern “ scientific ” measures independent of any moral considerations .
According to this cynical philosophy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all , is at best a psychological comfort for the weak who have no faith in modern solutions .
The New York Times writer Mattia Ferraresi , who understands nothing about the Faith , belittles church closures saying that “ for believers , religion is a fundamental source of spiritual healing and hope .
It ’ s a remedy against despair , providing psychological and emotional support that is an integral part of well-being.
” However , not even psychological comfort is granted to the faithful , in the handling of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ picture .
Churches must be closed .
Such an impious way of acting is a recipe for failure .
History records just how disastrous this materialistic philosophy has been !
Communist and socialist regimes have all based themselves on materialistic models of a society without God .
Likewise , our liberal , practically atheist society operates as if God did not exist .
Such a model has created a moral and psychological wasteland that progress and science can not hope to address .
Wherever it has been tried , a society without God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with material goods will eventually suppress all things spiritual .
When a godless state acts , it will always do so with brutality since it does not consider human nature ’ s superior spiritual side .
This superior side is what makes every person unique and establishes each one ’ s dignity .
This recognition orients all toward their purpose in life and ultimately to God .
National leaders that respect this spiritual perspective can act with wisdom , charity and understanding of human dignity .
In times of crisis , governments need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Church ’ s vast experience in dealing with adversity and tragedy .
The Church is not a force that complicates the process of fighting the coronavirus .
Rather the Church is an efficient and compassionate partner that will make the fight human , self-sacrificing and full of charity .
When calamities strike , the Church has always served on the frontlines , not the sidelines .
The grace of the Sacraments fortifies the faithful to better join in this fight .
To secure this much-needed help , temporal and spiritual leaders must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They can not consign them to despair of their salvation like the poor woman deprived of confession .
The Catholic code of canon law teaches that salus animarum lex suprema , the salvation of souls is the highest law .
To what purpose are human lives saved , if the souls are eternally lost ?
The Church maintains the nation ’ s largest private health care system .
If given a chance , its ministers can easily find ways to administer the Sacraments , even inside the draconian health norms established by authorities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is faith .
Too many still cling to modernity and believe that government efforts alone can save the world .
If that is the case , then all is lost , since so much corruption , sin and disorder reign .
Just because modernity denies the action of God in history , it does not mean God does not act .
God does aid those who call upon Him .
When natural solutions to modern problems fail , it is time to look for supernatural ones .
The coronavirus crisis will only be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has faith in God who can do all things .
He is directing human events .
It is only a matter of following His divine indications .
John Horvat II is a scholar , researcher , educator , international speaker , and author of the book Return to Order , as well as the author of hundreds of published articles .
He lives in Spring Grove , Pennsylvania where he is the vice president of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition , Family and Property .

PRAYER PLEDGE: Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here.
March 25, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – As the coronavirus spreads across the nation, officials are taking measures to ensure the health of the body. Sadly, the health of souls is brutally neglected.
A recent message on Twitter brings home just how shocking the situation has become. One woman wrote:
“Confessions have been canceled as well. God help us. If I die, I’m going to Hell.”
Her dramatic cry was responding to the news about how diocese after diocese announced the shutdown of all churches. Now all dioceses in America have canceled Masses and services. Adoration chapels have closed. Even Confessions has been canceled as all human contact must be minimized. People are left without spiritual help.
Distressed priests in their parishes are ordered to withdraw from their pastoral duties. Some are even told that they may hear confessions only in cases of death. Other directives discourage baptisms and last rites. We have been orphaned by a gigantic spiritual withdrawal.
The faithful are distraught. Some parents are resorting to baptizing their children. Others look for alternatives in vain. People fear for their eternal salvation.
A Deadly Secular Mentality
These closings are a sad commentary on the state of a nation that has turned away from God. Temporal and spiritual leaders are only considering material measures to fight the epidemic. These drastic measures targeting the spiritual welfare of the faithful are the consequence of a secular mentality that stupidly dares to quarantine God as a useless figure in the fight against the coronavirus.
Indeed, modernity’s liberal philosophy holds that everything can be resolved through technology, economics and material progress. This crass materialistic perspective celebrates the enjoyment of life as the supreme value. Suffering and tragedy must be avoided at all costs. That is why when the “tragedy” of an unwanted child appears, modern society says, abort the “problem.” Similarly, when a threat like the Chinese virus disrupts life, it must be ruthlessly and efficiently eradicated by modern “scientific” measures independent of any moral considerations.
According to this cynical philosophy, God, if He is considered as all, is at best a psychological comfort for the weak who have no faith in modern solutions. The New York Times writer Mattia Ferraresi, who understands nothing about the Faith, belittles church closures saying that “for believers, religion is a fundamental source of spiritual healing and hope. It’s a remedy against despair, providing psychological and emotional support that is an integral part of well-being.”
However, not even psychological comfort is granted to the faithful, in the handling of the coronavirus. God must be removed from the picture. Churches must be closed.
A Recipe for Failure
Such an impious way of acting is a recipe for failure.
History records just how disastrous this materialistic philosophy has been! Communist and socialist regimes have all based themselves on materialistic models of a society without God. Likewise, our liberal, practically atheist society operates as if God did not exist. Such a model has created a moral and psychological wasteland that progress and science cannot hope to address.
Wherever it has been tried, a society without God fails. A state that only deals with material goods will eventually suppress all things spiritual. When a godless state acts, it will always do so with brutality since it does not consider human nature’s superior spiritual side.
This superior side is what makes every person unique and establishes each one’s dignity. This recognition orients all toward their purpose in life and ultimately to God. National leaders that respect this spiritual perspective can act with wisdom, charity and understanding of human dignity.
Government Needs God’s Aid
In times of crisis, governments need God’s aid. They need the Church’s vast experience in dealing with adversity and tragedy. The Church is not a force that complicates the process of fighting the coronavirus. Rather the Church is an efficient and compassionate partner that will make the fight human, self-sacrificing and full of charity. When calamities strike, the Church has always served on the frontlines, not the sidelines. The grace of the Sacraments fortifies the faithful to better join in this fight.
To secure this much-needed help, temporal and spiritual leaders must consider the spiritual welfare of citizens. They cannot consign them to despair of their salvation like the poor woman deprived of confession. The Catholic code of canon law teaches that salus animarum lex suprema, the salvation of souls is the highest law. To what purpose are human lives saved, if the souls are eternally lost?
The Church maintains the nation’s largest private health care system. If given a chance, its ministers can easily find ways to administer the Sacraments, even inside the draconian health norms established by authorities.
Missing Faith
What is missing in this fight is faith. Too many still cling to modernity and believe that government efforts alone can save the world. If that is the case, then all is lost, since so much corruption, sin and disorder reign.
Just because modernity denies the action of God in history, it does not mean God does not act. God does aid those who call upon Him. When natural solutions to modern problems fail, it is time to look for supernatural ones.
The coronavirus crisis will only be resolved when a humble and contrite humanity has faith in God who can do all things. He is directing human events. It is only a matter of following His divine indications.
John Horvat II is a scholar, researcher, educator, international speaker, and author of the book Return to Order, as well as the author of hundreds of published articles. He lives in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania where he is the vice president of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-25--Christianity provides a recipe for transforming great sorrows into deep joys

March 25 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Last Sunday , Laetare Sunday , was a feast of joy .
Stuck at home , in preparation for watching Mass on a small computer screen I read the commentary on the day from Fr Pius Parsch ’ s classic The Church ’ s Year of Faith .
This Sunday has a unique distinction in the Church year—a day of joy in the season of penance and sorrow !
…All the Mass texts ring with joy ; the entrance song is a joyous shout , ‘ Laetare—rejoice !
’ This particular Sunday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a season of sorrow .
As we approach Easter , there are , in fact , others : the joy of Christ ’ s entry into Jerusalem , remembered on Palm Sunday , and the joy of the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper , on Holy Thursday .
Earlier , there was the Feast of the Transfiguration .
Though not tied to the Easter cycle , but generally falling in Lent , are the great feasts of St Joseph and the Annunciation : not to forget St Patrick .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ itself , and the long Easter season .
As Fr Parsch likes to say , the Church is a good psychologist .
You can ’ t have uninterrupted misery throughout Lent .
It would wear us out , emotionally and spiritually , and we would become numb to it .
The moments of joy , in fact , enable us to face the difficulties , the penance , and the sorrow : to face them and suffer them .
Yes , sorrow : sorrow over our own sins , which is sharpened by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lord , sufferings which He bore for our sins .
In the same way , we encounter problems if we attempt to exclude penance and sorrow from our lives , and from the liturgy .
If the penitential aspect of Lent is ignored , and life simply goes on as normal , and if we are told that God is all about joy , joy , joy , then it ceases to mean very much .
We won ’ t have special moments of joy , but just joy as usual , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at least not in our fallen world .
Without the contrast , it loses its meaning .
There is another difficulty as well , which is that the world we live in will not go along with an insistence that everything is joyful all the time .
Even people in quite comfortable circumstances have moments of suffering and sorrow , and it is far from being the case that most people are in comfortable circumstances .
Those who do seem to have no real problems often seem to generate fake ones to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out .
They complain about trivialities , and suffer all sorts of hypochondriacal maladies .
People like that can sometimes be made to feel better by a religion of joy and more joy , because the ersatz salvation on offer can solve their non-existent problems .
Real religion does not offer to solve all our problems—health problems , poverty , the suffering of injustice .
It is not God ’ s will that all such difficulties be removed from the world , just like that , though it inspires people to oppose and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is to give us the spiritual strength to live through them .
The coronavirus is a particular case , but in truth sufferings great and small are characteristic of human life in general .
The Church can not and does not ignore the reality of sin , suffering , and death .
She follows the advice of St Paul : not to pretend everything is wonderful when it is not , but rather : “ Rejoice with them that rejoice ; weep with them that weep ” ( Rom 12:15 ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the seriousness of death ; she dons violet for penance .
She has songs of joy , and songs of grief and repentance .
These sorrows make it possible for us to experience real joys , and above all the joy of the Resurrection .
Just as the Resurrection could not have happened without the Passion , so our regeneration in grace can not happen without our death to sin .
Grief can be the price we pay for joy : the grief of bereavement , for example , may seem the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joy and sorrow are not so much enemies in competition : in the present world they are inseparable .
In the words of the poet William Blake : The world to come is another matter : But this is not because the mourning and sorrow were unnecessary or meaningless , but because we have passed through them .

‘Sorrows make it possible for us to experience real joys, and above all the joy of the Resurrection’
PRAYER PLEDGE: Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here.
March 25, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Last Sunday, Laetare Sunday, was a feast of joy. Stuck at home, in preparation for watching Mass on a small computer screen I read the commentary on the day from Fr Pius Parsch’s classic The Church’s Year of Faith.
This Sunday has a unique distinction in the Church year—a day of joy in the season of penance and sorrow! …All the Mass texts ring with joy; the entrance song is a joyous shout, ‘Laetare—rejoice!’
This particular Sunday is a little moment of joy in a season of sorrow. As we approach Easter, there are, in fact, others: the joy of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, remembered on Palm Sunday, and the joy of the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, on Holy Thursday. Earlier, there was the Feast of the Transfiguration. Though not tied to the Easter cycle, but generally falling in Lent, are the great feasts of St Joseph and the Annunciation: not to forget St Patrick. And then, of course, is Easter itself, and the long Easter season.
As Fr Parsch likes to say, the Church is a good psychologist. You can’t have uninterrupted misery throughout Lent. It would wear us out, emotionally and spiritually, and we would become numb to it. The moments of joy, in fact, enable us to face the difficulties, the penance, and the sorrow: to face them and suffer them. Yes, sorrow: sorrow over our own sins, which is sharpened by our compassion for the sufferings of Our Lord, sufferings which He bore for our sins.
In the same way, we encounter problems if we attempt to exclude penance and sorrow from our lives, and from the liturgy. If the penitential aspect of Lent is ignored, and life simply goes on as normal, and if we are told that God is all about joy, joy, joy, then it ceases to mean very much. We won’t have special moments of joy, but just joy as usual, and joy as usual is not very joyful, at least not in our fallen world. Without the contrast, it loses its meaning.
There is another difficulty as well, which is that the world we live in will not go along with an insistence that everything is joyful all the time. Even people in quite comfortable circumstances have moments of suffering and sorrow, and it is far from being the case that most people are in comfortable circumstances. Those who do seem to have no real problems often seem to generate fake ones to compensate, as if they were missing out. They complain about trivialities, and suffer all sorts of hypochondriacal maladies.
People like that can sometimes be made to feel better by a religion of joy and more joy, because the ersatz salvation on offer can solve their non-existent problems. Real religion does not offer to solve all our problems—health problems, poverty, the suffering of injustice. It is not God’s will that all such difficulties be removed from the world, just like that, though it inspires people to oppose and ameliorate them. What God does do, is to give us the spiritual strength to live through them.
The coronavirus is a particular case, but in truth sufferings great and small are characteristic of human life in general. The Church cannot and does not ignore the reality of sin, suffering, and death. She follows the advice of St Paul: not to pretend everything is wonderful when it is not, but rather: “Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep” (Rom 12:15). She puts on black vestments in recognition of the seriousness of death; she dons violet for penance. She has songs of joy, and songs of grief and repentance.
These sorrows make it possible for us to experience real joys, and above all the joy of the Resurrection. Just as the Resurrection could not have happened without the Passion, so our regeneration in grace cannot happen without our death to sin. Grief can be the price we pay for joy: the grief of bereavement, for example, may seem the coping stone on a joyful marriage. Joy and sorrow are not so much enemies in competition: in the present world they are inseparable.
In the words of the poet William Blake:
It is right it should be so Man was made for Joy & Woe And when this we rightly know Thro the World we safely go Joy & Woe are woven fine A Clothing for the soul divine Under every grief & pine Runs a joy with silken twine
The world to come is another matter:
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away. (Apoc 24:1).
But this is not because the mourning and sorrow were unnecessary or meaningless, but because we have passed through them.
Follow Joseph Dr Joseph Shaw has a Doctorate in Philosophy from Oxford University, where he also gained a first degree in Politics and Philosophy and a graduate Diploma in Theology. He has published on Ethics and Philosophy of Religion and is the editor of The Case for Liturgical Restoration: Una Voce Position Papers on the Extraordinary Form (Angelico Press). He is the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales and Secretary of Una Voce International. He teaches Philosophy in Oxford University and lives nearby with his wife and nine children.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-25--Celebrating 25 years of John Paul II’s ‘The Gospel of Life’

PRAYER PLEDGE : Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here .
March 25 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – St. John Paul II makes clear at the start of The Gospel of Life that there is only one , indivisible Gospel – the Gospel of Jesus Christ .
This Gospel of Life is at the same time and with the same force the Gospel of Mercy .
Christ is Life , and He is Mercy itself .
He came to reconcile us to the Father and to one another , and therefore also to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my own involvement in the pro-life movement over 30 years ago , I loudly echoed the theme that abortion hurts women , precisely because it destroys their children .
Just as we are motivated to save those children , that same motivation drives us to save and heal those moms , their families , and everyone wounded by abortion .
We who reject abortion do not reject those who have abortions .
Rather , we embrace them with the love , mercy , and peace of Christ .
This encyclical speaks directly to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ II addresses directly those who have had abortions : “ If you have not already done so , give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance .
The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation .
To the same Father and to his mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child .
With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people , and as a result of your own painful experience , you can be among the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life ” ( n. 99 ) .
Several years after these words were proclaimed to the Church and the world , Georgette Forney of Anglicans for Life and I co-founded the Silent No More Awareness Campaign , which has become the fulfillment of John Paul II ’ s words about how those who have been forgiven from abortion can become “ among the most eloquent defenders of everyone ’ s right to life.
” This campaign is the world ’ s largest mobilization of those who have had abortions and speak out about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that can be found in Jesus Christ .
Moreover , through its “ Shockwaves of Abortion ” initiative , the Campaign embraces the many people , aside from the mother herself , who are wounded by the killing of her child .
The dad , grandparents , siblings , other relatives , and friends of that aborted child are deeply damaged .
So are the abortionists and their staff , and the pro-life advocates who tried to save the child but could not .
All of these people are wounded , all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them are also sharing their testimonies .
At times our campaign has gatherings during which , in one place , these various people speak out together and express their repentance and healing .
Each different group helps all the others to heal .
The man expressing his regret for not being a support to the mother of his child brings a measure of comfort to all the mothers who experienced the father ’ s failure to be a man .
The mother ’ s expression of regret is a consolation for all grandparents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daughter did .
And so is the case in every direction among this wider circle of victims , all repenting together , and all healing together .
It is a kaleidoscope , a symphony , a beautiful , integrated vision of the Culture of Life and of the Gospel of Life .
The encyclical The Gospel of Life has , indeed , born much fruit in the pro-life movement , in the Church , and in the world .
And that fruit will only continue to increase .
Janet Morana is the Executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign .

PRAYER PLEDGE: Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here. March 25, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – St. John Paul II makes clear at the start of The Gospel of Life that there is only one, indivisible Gospel – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel of Life is at the same time and with the same force the Gospel of Mercy. Christ is Life, and He is Mercy itself. He came to reconcile us to the Father and to one another, and therefore also to the unborn. From the beginning of my own involvement in the pro-life […]
PRAYER PLEDGE: Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here.
March 25, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – St. John Paul II makes clear at the start of The Gospel of Life that there is only one, indivisible Gospel – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel of Life is at the same time and with the same force the Gospel of Mercy. Christ is Life, and He is Mercy itself. He came to reconcile us to the Father and to one another, and therefore also to the unborn.
From the beginning of my own involvement in the pro-life movement over 30 years ago, I loudly echoed the theme that abortion hurts women, precisely because it destroys their children. Just as we are motivated to save those children, that same motivation drives us to save and heal those moms, their families, and everyone wounded by abortion.
We who reject abortion do not reject those who have abortions. Rather, we embrace them with the love, mercy, and peace of Christ.
This encyclical speaks directly to this point, as St. John Paul II addresses directly those who have had abortions:
“If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To the same Father and to his mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life” (n. 99).
Several years after these words were proclaimed to the Church and the world, Georgette Forney of Anglicans for Life and I co-founded the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, which has become the fulfillment of John Paul II’s words about how those who have been forgiven from abortion can become “among the most eloquent defenders of everyone’s right to life.” This campaign is the world’s largest mobilization of those who have had abortions and speak out about its pain, and about the healing that can be found in Jesus Christ.
Moreover, through its “Shockwaves of Abortion” initiative, the Campaign embraces the many people, aside from the mother herself, who are wounded by the killing of her child. The dad, grandparents, siblings, other relatives, and friends of that aborted child are deeply damaged. So are the abortionists and their staff, and the pro-life advocates who tried to save the child but could not.
All of these people are wounded, all of them need healing, and many of them are also sharing their testimonies. At times our campaign has gatherings during which, in one place, these various people speak out together and express their repentance and healing. Each different group helps all the others to heal. The man expressing his regret for not being a support to the mother of his child brings a measure of comfort to all the mothers who experienced the father’s failure to be a man. The mother’s expression of regret is a consolation for all grandparents who carry the pain of what their daughter did. And so is the case in every direction among this wider circle of victims, all repenting together, and all healing together.
It is a kaleidoscope, a symphony, a beautiful, integrated vision of the Culture of Life and of the Gospel of Life.
The encyclical The Gospel of Life has, indeed, born much fruit in the pro-life movement, in the Church, and in the world. And that fruit will only continue to increase.
Janet Morana is the Executive Director of Priests for Life and co-founder of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-25--It’s reasonable for European Christians to be fearful of mass Muslim immigration

This article originally appeared in the April 9 , 2018 edition of Crisis .
It is published here with permission from the Turning Point Project .
March 25 , 2020 ( Turning Point Project ) — In a number of talks and statements over the years , Pope Francis has scolded Europeans for their fear of immigrants .
He came back to that theme early in March following electoral gains by “ anti-immigrant ” parties in Italy .
According to a Reuters report , “ Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern over national policies dictated by fear.
” On other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their “ xenophobia , ” thereby suggesting that the fear of immigrants is irrational .
But , as a number of polls have revealed , Europeans aren ’ t anti-immigrant , they ’ re anti–Muslim immigrant .
Europeans appear to have little or no problem with Hindu , Chinese , Filipino , Polish , and West Indian immigrants .
If Europeans are “ xenophobes ” why aren ’ t they calling for a ban on Hindu and West Indian immigrants ?
In his recent comments , Pope Francis said , “ the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And fear often turns against people who are foreign , different , poor , as if they were enemies.
” Yet Italians and other Europeans don ’ t seem to fear people who are different per se .
The fear they have is a highly specific one .
It doesn ’ t lump all foreigners together , but focuses rather on a specific group .
A survey by Chatham House shows that the majority of Europeans want a total and permanent halt to Muslim immigration — not Hindu immigration or Chinese immigration .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not with the Italians , French , English , Germans , and Dutch , but with Muslims .
Or — more specifically — with something in Muslim culture .
That something is Islamic ideology .
As Europeans are finally coming to realize , Islamic ideology is thoroughly incompatible with Western values .
Indeed the Koran instructs Muslims not to associate with non-Muslims who are regarded as “ vile creatures.
” One of the misleading assumptions of our times is that fear is born of ignorance .
Its corollary is the belief that increased @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other ” will banish fear .
For example , after the Italian election results , Cardinal Parolin , the Vatican Secretary of State , said that the Church would have to continue its “ work of education.
” But , in fact , Italians along with Germans , French , Brits , Dutch , and so on have been drenched for decades in the kind of education that Cardinal Parolin favors .
A large part of the curriculum in European schools is devoted to teaching youngsters to respect different races and cultures .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the distinct impression that other cultures are morally superior to their own .
Cardinal Parolin and others in the hierarchy seem to subscribe to what might be called the Rogers and Hammerstein school of race relations .
In South Pacific , Lieutenant Cable laments the prejudice he will encounter should he marry his Asian sweetheart : Yet for years , European children have been taught exactly the opposite .
They have been taught not to be afraid of people of different races .
They have been taught to welcome people from other cultures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it has worked .
Europeans have extended a welcoming hand to immigrants .
For a long time it even worked in regard to Muslims — until it didn ’ t .
Eventually , it occurred to many Europeans that their own experience and their self-acquired knowledge contradicted the Pollyannaish view of cultural differences they had learned in school .
They discovered that cultures were not all basically the same .
The problem , as they came to realize , was not with racial or ethnic differences , but with ideology .
After all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muslims come from a variety of racial , ethnic , and national backgrounds .
Race wasn ’ t the problem .
The problem was with the Islamic value system — a system that convinced young men that they could serve God by raping girls and running down pedestrians .
The more familiar Europeans became with Islamic ideology and its consequences , the more they came to fear it .
Their experience has been the very reverse of another Rogers and Hammerstein song — the one that goes : Nice sentiments .
But it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For example , the more that Jews in Germany became familiar with the Nazis and their ideology , the more they properly feared them .
Likewise , Poles , Hungarians , and Czechs were right to fear the communist takeover of Eastern Europe .
Unfortunately , many Europeans and Americans were not fearful enough about the twin threats posed by Nazism and communism .
Their naiveté and lack of prudent fear was a major factor in enabling first the Nazis and then the communists to enslave half of Europe .
The same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s almost complete lack of rational , prudential fear .
By encouraging people not to be fearful of a real danger , the pope only adds to the danger .
For example , attacks on European Jews have risen sharply in recent years .
Jews in Europe are fearful once again — not because of some irrational prejudice on their part , but because of the rise of an ideology every bit as anti-Semitic as that fostered by the Nazis .
Jews are not alone in their fears .
The victims of Muslim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agnostics , men , women , children , the handicapped , the elderly , and babies in carriages .
According to many verses in the Koran , all non-Muslims who have not submitted to the rule of Islam are legitimate targets .
Some teen-age victims of Muslim rape gangs report that their abusers quoted the Koran to them in justification of the abuse .
Because of mass Muslim migration of the type that Francis favors , thousands of girls have been raped in England alone .
Indeed everyone is at increased risk : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Day in France , shoppers at Christmas markets in Germany , pedestrians in Barcelona , and train and subway passengers all over Europe .
As he often does when encouraging migration , Francis relies on religious sentiments to overrule both statistical evidence and common sense .
One of his favorite themes is that the face of the migrant is the face of Christ .
Another theme is that Christ wants us to welcome the migrant “ with arms wide open.
” But how does he know that Christ wants us to welcome millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ admonishes us to welcome the stranger , but he has nothing to say about mass migration .
Does the verse about welcoming the stranger mean that Europe must take in more Muslims than it can possibly assimilate ?
Is it the will of God that Europe be turned into an Islamic colony ?
That ’ s what will likely happen if the pope ’ s “ open arms ” and open borders recommendations are followed .
Even if we think of Christ ’ s words as applying only to individuals , it seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to exercise some prudence .
Must a widow with two young daughters take in three suspicious looking strangers ?
When welcoming strangers , doesn ’ t Jesus want us to use our reason and weigh the evidence ?
Indeed many of Christ ’ s parables are about acting prudentially : the five foolish virgins , the man who builds his house upon sand , the householder who needs to be on the watch against thieves .
Considering the Pope ’ s repeated endorsement of mass migration , one might think that his position @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Church , but , in fact , the Catechism of the Catholic Church takes a more prudential view .
Here ’ s the second of its two paragraph on immigration : Since a good many Muslim migrants in Europe have little or no respect for the spiritual heritage of the countries that receive them , and little sense of duty toward them , it would seem that they do not meet the right-to-immigrate criterion set by the Catechism .
But prudence is not the pope ’ s strong suit .
Indeed he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speaks off-the-cuff but not off-the-record to reporters on airliners .
He continues to grant interviews to an elderly atheist journalist who doesn ’ t bother to take notes .
He says things that seem to contradict settled Church teaching ( such as the existence of hell ) .
He has even said that the security of migrants is more important than national security .
All this is rather reckless , and it leads one to wonder if he has a similar casual attitude to the question of migration .
Has Francis bothered to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe ?
Is he familiar with the statistics on crime , violence , and sexual assault ?
Does he know that , compared to other immigrant groups , Muslims have shown an unwillingness to assimilate ?
Does he understand why the people of Europe have the fears which he so casually dismisses as “ xenophobia ” ?
Are Europeans guilty of an irrational fear as Francis suggests , or is he guilty of an irrational optimism ?
He never explains why their fear is irrational .
And he never explains why his optimism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vague assurances that everything will work out once people “ encounter ” each other in “ authentic ” ways and engage in cultural “ exchange.
” Pope Francis ’ s injunction to fear not seems biblical at first glance , but it ’ s not entirely so .
Christ tells us to fear not because despite persecutions and hardships he is always with us .
He does not , however , enjoin us to invite the persecutors into our midst and then expect that he will save us from the consequences .
Persecutions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us to facilitate the persecutions .
When he does send his disciples out into fearful situations , he makes sure that they understand the danger and take precautions against it : “ Behold , I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves , so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves ” ( Mt .
10 : 16 ) .
Christ understood that some men were as dangerous as wolves and he wanted his disciples to understand it as well .
By contrast , Francis seems oblivious to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mix in with the Muslim migrants coming into Europe — this despite the fact that Islamic State leaders have repeatedly talked of their plans to seed Europe with thousands pf lone-wolf terrorists .
In addition to the lone-wolves , Europe is also filling up with “ wolf-packs ” — gangs of migrant youth who roam through the streets of towns and cities armed with knives and iron bars , terrorizing all in their path and , in some cases , forcing police to flee .
Just last week , police in Duisburg , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muslim youths armed with machetes .
Does the pope know about Duisburg ?
Does he know about the 1,400 rapes committed by Muslim gangs in Rotherham ?
The thousand victims of rape gangs in Telford ?
The 1,200 sexual assaults committed outside the Cathedral of Cologne on New Year ’ s Eve 2016 ?
If he does know — and there is a good chance that he doesn ’ t — it doesn ’ t seem to enter into his calculations .
Pope Francis , it seems , doesn ’ t bother with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ narrative about Muslim migration , and anything that doesn ’ t fit into it is simply ignored .
If , indeed , allowing Islam ’ s pernicious ideology to flood into Europe is the proper Christian thing to do , then good Christians should follow Francis ’ s advice .
But Francis has never made the case for mass Muslim immigration .
He tells us that Christ wants it , but offers scant evidence that this is so .
There is a much stronger case , backed by history , scripture , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to resist the Islamic invasion of Europe .

Christ understood that some men were as dangerous as wolves and he wanted his disciples to understand it as well.
This article originally appeared in the April 9, 2018 edition of Crisis. It is published here with permission from the Turning Point Project.
March 25, 2020 (Turning Point Project) — In a number of talks and statements over the years, Pope Francis has scolded Europeans for their fear of immigrants. He came back to that theme early in March following electoral gains by “anti-immigrant” parties in Italy. According to a Reuters report, “Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern over national policies dictated by fear.”
On other occasions, Francis has denounced Europeans for their “xenophobia,” thereby suggesting that the fear of immigrants is irrational. But, as a number of polls have revealed, Europeans aren’t anti-immigrant, they’re anti–Muslim immigrant. Europeans appear to have little or no problem with Hindu, Chinese, Filipino, Polish, and West Indian immigrants. If Europeans are “xenophobes” why aren’t they calling for a ban on Hindu and West Indian immigrants?
In his recent comments, Pope Francis said, “the world today is often inhabited by fear… And fear often turns against people who are foreign, different, poor, as if they were enemies.” Yet Italians and other Europeans don’t seem to fear people who are different per se. The fear they have is a highly specific one. It doesn’t lump all foreigners together, but focuses rather on a specific group.
A survey by Chatham House shows that the majority of Europeans want a total and permanent halt to Muslim immigration — not Hindu immigration or Chinese immigration. This specificity suggests that the problem lies not with the Italians, French, English, Germans, and Dutch, but with Muslims. Or — more specifically — with something in Muslim culture. That something is Islamic ideology. As Europeans are finally coming to realize, Islamic ideology is thoroughly incompatible with Western values. Indeed the Koran instructs Muslims not to associate with non-Muslims who are regarded as “vile creatures.”
One of the misleading assumptions of our times is that fear is born of ignorance. Its corollary is the belief that increased education or increased familiarity with the “other” will banish fear. For example, after the Italian election results, Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, said that the Church would have to continue its “work of education.”
But, in fact, Italians along with Germans, French, Brits, Dutch, and so on have been drenched for decades in the kind of education that Cardinal Parolin favors. A large part of the curriculum in European schools is devoted to teaching youngsters to respect different races and cultures. Indeed, many European students are given the distinct impression that other cultures are morally superior to their own.
Cardinal Parolin and others in the hierarchy seem to subscribe to what might be called the Rogers and Hammerstein school of race relations. In South Pacific, Lieutenant Cable laments the prejudice he will encounter should he marry his Asian sweetheart:
You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
Yet for years, European children have been taught exactly the opposite. They have been taught not to be afraid of people of different races. They have been taught to welcome people from other cultures. And, by and large, it has worked. Europeans have extended a welcoming hand to immigrants. For a long time it even worked in regard to Muslims — until it didn’t. Eventually, it occurred to many Europeans that their own experience and their self-acquired knowledge contradicted the Pollyannaish view of cultural differences they had learned in school. They discovered that cultures were not all basically the same. The problem, as they came to realize, was not with racial or ethnic differences, but with ideology. After all, Islam is not a race. Muslims come from a variety of racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds. Race wasn’t the problem. The problem was with the Islamic value system — a system that convinced young men that they could serve God by raping girls and running down pedestrians.
The more familiar Europeans became with Islamic ideology and its consequences, the more they came to fear it. Their experience has been the very reverse of another Rogers and Hammerstein song — the one that goes:
Getting to know you,
Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you,
Getting to hope you’ll like me.
Nice sentiments. But it doesn’t always work that way. For example, the more that Jews in Germany became familiar with the Nazis and their ideology, the more they properly feared them. Likewise, Poles, Hungarians, and Czechs were right to fear the communist takeover of Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, many Europeans and Americans were not fearful enough about the twin threats posed by Nazism and communism. Their naiveté and lack of prudent fear was a major factor in enabling first the Nazis and then the communists to enslave half of Europe.
The same might be said of the pope’s almost complete lack of rational, prudential fear. By encouraging people not to be fearful of a real danger, the pope only adds to the danger. For example, attacks on European Jews have risen sharply in recent years. Jews in Europe are fearful once again — not because of some irrational prejudice on their part, but because of the rise of an ideology every bit as anti-Semitic as that fostered by the Nazis.
Jews are not alone in their fears. The victims of Muslim immigrant crime include Christians, Hindus, agnostics, men, women, children, the handicapped, the elderly, and babies in carriages. According to many verses in the Koran, all non-Muslims who have not submitted to the rule of Islam are legitimate targets. Some teen-age victims of Muslim rape gangs report that their abusers quoted the Koran to them in justification of the abuse. Because of mass Muslim migration of the type that Francis favors, thousands of girls have been raped in England alone. Indeed everyone is at increased risk: concert-goers in England, families celebrating Bastille Day in France, shoppers at Christmas markets in Germany, pedestrians in Barcelona, and train and subway passengers all over Europe.
As he often does when encouraging migration, Francis relies on religious sentiments to overrule both statistical evidence and common sense. One of his favorite themes is that the face of the migrant is the face of Christ. Another theme is that Christ wants us to welcome the migrant “with arms wide open.” But how does he know that Christ wants us to welcome millions of strangers all at once? Christ admonishes us to welcome the stranger, but he has nothing to say about mass migration. Does the verse about welcoming the stranger mean that Europe must take in more Muslims than it can possibly assimilate? Is it the will of God that Europe be turned into an Islamic colony? That’s what will likely happen if the pope’s “open arms” and open borders recommendations are followed.
Even if we think of Christ’s words as applying only to individuals, it seems safe to assume that he expects us to exercise some prudence. Must a widow with two young daughters take in three suspicious looking strangers? When welcoming strangers, doesn’t Jesus want us to use our reason and weigh the evidence? Indeed many of Christ’s parables are about acting prudentially: the five foolish virgins, the man who builds his house upon sand, the householder who needs to be on the watch against thieves.
Considering the Pope’s repeated endorsement of mass migration, one might think that his position accurately reflects the teaching of the Catholic Church, but, in fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church takes a more prudential view. Here’s the second of its two paragraph on immigration:
Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to immigrants’ duties towards their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens (2241).
Since a good many Muslim migrants in Europe have little or no respect for the spiritual heritage of the countries that receive them, and little sense of duty toward them, it would seem that they do not meet the right-to-immigrate criterion set by the Catechism.
But prudence is not the pope’s strong suit. Indeed he is gaining a reputation for imprudence. He speaks off-the-cuff but not off-the-record to reporters on airliners. He continues to grant interviews to an elderly atheist journalist who doesn’t bother to take notes. He says things that seem to contradict settled Church teaching (such as the existence of hell). He has even said that the security of migrants is more important than national security.
All this is rather reckless, and it leads one to wonder if he has a similar casual attitude to the question of migration. Has Francis bothered to acquaint himself with the immigrant situation in Europe? Is he familiar with the statistics on crime, violence, and sexual assault? Does he know that, compared to other immigrant groups, Muslims have shown an unwillingness to assimilate? Does he understand why the people of Europe have the fears which he so casually dismisses as “xenophobia”?
Are Europeans guilty of an irrational fear as Francis suggests, or is he guilty of an irrational optimism? He never explains why their fear is irrational. And he never explains why his optimism is justified. All he offers are vague assurances that everything will work out once people “encounter” each other in “authentic” ways and engage in cultural “exchange.”
Pope Francis’s injunction to fear not seems biblical at first glance, but it’s not entirely so. Christ tells us to fear not because despite persecutions and hardships he is always with us. He does not, however, enjoin us to invite the persecutors into our midst and then expect that he will save us from the consequences. Persecutions will come but Christ does not command us to facilitate the persecutions.
When he does send his disciples out into fearful situations, he makes sure that they understand the danger and take precautions against it: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Mt. 10: 16).
Christ understood that some men were as dangerous as wolves and he wanted his disciples to understand it as well. By contrast, Francis seems oblivious to the danger posed by the lone wolves that mix in with the Muslim migrants coming into Europe — this despite the fact that Islamic State leaders have repeatedly talked of their plans to seed Europe with thousands pf lone-wolf terrorists.
In addition to the lone-wolves, Europe is also filling up with “wolf-packs” — gangs of migrant youth who roam through the streets of towns and cities armed with knives and iron bars, terrorizing all in their path and, in some cases, forcing police to flee. Just last week, police in Duisburg, Germany clashed with a gang of 80 Muslim youths armed with machetes. Does the pope know about Duisburg? Does he know about the 1,400 rapes committed by Muslim gangs in Rotherham? The thousand victims of rape gangs in Telford? The 1,200 sexual assaults committed outside the Cathedral of Cologne on New Year’s Eve 2016?
If he does know — and there is a good chance that he doesn’t — it doesn’t seem to enter into his calculations. Pope Francis, it seems, doesn’t bother with prudential calculations. He has a preconceived narrative about Muslim migration, and anything that doesn’t fit into it is simply ignored.
If, indeed, allowing Islam’s pernicious ideology to flood into Europe is the proper Christian thing to do, then good Christians should follow Francis’s advice. But Francis has never made the case for mass Muslim immigration. He tells us that Christ wants it, but offers scant evidence that this is so. There is a much stronger case, backed by history, scripture, and common sense that Christian are called upon to resist the Islamic invasion of Europe.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-25--California police dept to use drones to ‘monitor’ shutdown: Latest coronavirus updates

LifeSite ’ s live coronavirus updates from March 13 to 19 are HERE .
LifeSite ’ s live coronavirus updates from March 20 to 23 are HERE .
March 25 , 2020 , 5:09 p.m. EST : “ The Department of Homeland Security has been briefed that New York City ’ s morgues are nearing capacity , according to a department official and a second person familiar with the situation , ” Politico reported today .
Some of New York City ’ s parks and playgrounds may be closed soon .
Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada signed an emergency measure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hydroxychloroquine , two drugs that have been effective at treating COVID-19 .
Doctors can no longer prescribe and dispense the drugs to patients with the coronavirus – only to patients with conditions the drugs are approved to treat ( malaria , lupus , arthritis ) – and prescriptions can only be for a 30-day supply .
However , doctors may prescribe the drugs to hospitalized coronavirus patients .
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards , a rare pro-life Democrat who is also sympathetic to the LGBT cause , tweeted Monday that he would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under a “ stay at home ” order .
A research group scraped data from the Instagram profiles of over 500,000 people in Italy and found that over 33,000 people violated quarantine orders .
The company “ has offered its research to the Italian government.
” In Spain , soldiers have discovered the elderly “ completely abandoned ” at nursing homes .
Some were “ dead in their beds.
” In the U.S. , concerns about the health care rationing – and discrimination the elderly and disabled could face under such rationing – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Justin Trudeau ’ s coronavirus relief bill , which received Royal Assent to become law today , has been described as an “ undemocratic power grab.
” Tanzanian President John Magufuli bucked the trend of world leaders urging or forcing churches to shut down during this crisis .
“ I insist upon you my fellow Christians and even [ Muslims ] , do not be afraid , do not stop gathering yourself to glorify God and praise Him , ” he said .
“ That is why as a government we didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More American cities , like Philadelphia , are ordering residents be confined to their houses .
The governor of Idaho today announced a “ stay-at-home ” order .
A video of a priest blessing Rochester , New York and some of its suburbs by dropping holy water from a plane can be viewed here .
Other LifeSiteNews articles on the coronavirus crisis today include : • None At what point is coronavirus ‘ cure ’ worse than the disease ?
• None Why canceling Masses , locking churches is a recipe for failure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 , 10:13 a.m. EST : Vatican offices remain open although with a reduction in staff present in the facilities .
Pope Francis is continuing private , but not public , audiences .
Four people – a visiting priest , two employees of the Vatican Museum , and a worker involved in processing freight – are quarantined with the coronavirus .
The Vatican has halted production of the print version of its daily newspaper L ’ Osservatore Romano out of fear of coronavirus contagion , moving to an online-only format .
The Vatican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ letter from Andrea Monda , who was named the director of L ’ Osservatore Romano in December 2018 .
As the Italian daily Il Messaggero observed , the coronavirus has accomplished what two world wars could not , since L ’ Osservatore Romano never missed a single day of production during the entire twentieth century , despite attempts by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels to persuade the Mussolini government to shut down L ’ Osservatore Romano in 1938 after the pope ’ s newspaper came out with a scathing article criticizing the Reich @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A small virus from China , the COVID-19 , has brought the pope ’ s glorious newspaper to its knees , ” Il Messaggero noted , and the March 25 issue , on the Catholic feast of the Annunciation , will be the last hardcopy issue until further notice .
“ In the long history of the Vatican newspaper — which dates back to 1861 and therefore has more than a century and a half of life — only once was the newspaper not printed , ” said Mr. Monda .
“ That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately after the breach of Porta Pia and the capture of Rome , with the end of the Pontifical State and the temporal power of the Pope.
” 40 Days for Life vigils have been suspended , although many abortion facilities remain open .
Click here to read about and see photos of a “ parking lot ” Traditional Latin Mass on Sunday .
March 25 , 2020 , 8:55 a.m. EST : Prince Charles has tested positive for the corinavirus .
He is 71 .
His symptoms are mild , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The last time he was with the Queen , who is 93 , was on March 12 .
March 24 , 2020 , 8:25 p.m. EST : Pro-abortion New York Governor Andrew Cuomo , who last year signed into law a bill expanding abortion up to the moment of birth in the Empire State , has tweeted in the context of the coronavirus , “ We will not put a dollar figure on human life.
” Paul Smeaton has written an important article about why we must pray the rosary during this pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us for a daily rosary on our social networking app for pro-lifers .
Singing songs in Italian and Polish , a priest carried the Blessed Sacrament through his town in Italy .
A video and photos are available here .
Meanwhile , Pope Francis has said that he believes that the coronavirus pandemic is nature “ having a fit ” in response to environmental pollution .
The U.K. government has reversed course after saying it would allow women to take both abortion pills at home during the coronavirus outbreak .
The statement announcing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a government website , a spokesperson said .
The bishops of Portugal are re-consecrating their country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to fight the coronavirus .
The John-Henry Westen Show today features Father Maximilian Mary Dean , a cloistered hermit .
He talks about ways to thrive while stuck at home during this crisis and says that mankind is being punished with the coronavirus for its many sins and that large-scale suffering is “ always linked to our sins.
” March 24 , 2020 , 12:58 p.m. : Former president and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus and is in intensive care at a hospital , he announced on Facebook .
March 24 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Virginia and West Virginia are the latest American states to implement draconian measures restricting freedom of movement and assembly because of the coronavirus .
Beginning at 11:59 p.m. tonight , in Virginia , public or private gatherings of more than 10 people are banned .
Businesses like hair salons , gyms , and theaters will be closed .
Businesses like grocery stores , liquor stores , doctor offices , home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remain open .
This allegedly will last through April 23 , 2020 .
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has ordered his constituents to remain at home .
They may still go to the store , walk their dogs , and go to the doctor .
The full order can be viewed here .
The Washington Examiner reports on the increasing use of drones to monitor and communicate with citizens :

Live updates on the coronavirus crisis and how it relates to pro-life issues, faith, and freedom.
LifeSite’s previous (and future) live updates on the coronavirus crisis and how it relates to issues our readers care about can be viewed HERE.
March 25, 2020, 5:09 p.m. EST: “The Department of Homeland Security has been briefed that New York City’s morgues are nearing capacity, according to a department official and a second person familiar with the situation,” Politico reported today. Some of New York City’s parks and playgrounds may be closed soon.
Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada signed an emergency measure severely limiting the availability of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, two drugs that have been effective at treating COVID-19. Doctors can no longer prescribe and dispense the drugs to patients with the coronavirus – only to patients with conditions the drugs are approved to treat (malaria, lupus, arthritis) – and prescriptions can only be for a 30-day supply. However, doctors may prescribe the drugs to hospitalized coronavirus patients.
PLEASE PRAY FOR DR. PAUL BYRNE is suffering w flu-like symptoms & is home 4 now. Please pray that he is able to stay home & out of the hospital. This man has helped so many pple & sacrificed his life for his family, friends &strangers, including Alfie Evans and Charlie Gard. ❤ pic.twitter.com/PYE4HGjrJA — Michelle Maher (@marymar49743095) March 25, 2020
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a rare pro-life Democrat who is also sympathetic to the LGBT cause, tweeted Monday that he would be fasting on Tuesday. Louisiana residents are under a “stay at home” order.
In this Lenten season where we focus on fasting and prayer, I wanted to let the people of Louisiana know that I will be fasting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24. #lagov #lalege — John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) March 24, 2020
A research group scraped data from the Instagram profiles of over 500,000 people in Italy and found that over 33,000 people violated quarantine orders. The company “has offered its research to the Italian government.”
In Spain, soldiers have discovered the elderly “completely abandoned” at nursing homes. Some were “dead in their beds.”
In the U.S., concerns about the health care rationing – and discrimination the elderly and disabled could face under such rationing – continue to swirl.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s coronavirus relief bill, which received Royal Assent to become law today, has been described as an “undemocratic power grab.”
Tanzanian President John Magufuli bucked the trend of world leaders urging or forcing churches to shut down during this crisis.
“I insist upon you my fellow Christians and even [Muslims], do not be afraid, do not stop gathering yourself to glorify God and praise Him,” he said. “That is why as a government we didn’t close down churches or mosques.”
More American cities, like Philadelphia, are ordering residents be confined to their houses. The governor of Idaho today announced a “stay-at-home” order.
A video of a priest blessing Rochester, New York and some of its suburbs by dropping holy water from a plane can be viewed here.
Other LifeSiteNews articles on the coronavirus crisis today include:
March 25, 2020, 10:13 a.m. EST: Vatican offices remain open although with a reduction in staff present in the facilities. Pope Francis is continuing private, but not public, audiences. Four people – a visiting priest, two employees of the Vatican Museum, and a worker involved in processing freight – are quarantined with the coronavirus.
At Breitbart, Thomas D. Williams reports:
The Vatican has halted production of the print version of its daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano out of fear of coronavirus contagion, moving to an online-only format. The Vatican newspaper made its announcement through a front-page letter from Andrea Monda, who was named the director of L’Osservatore Romano in December 2018. As the Italian daily Il Messaggero observed, the coronavirus has accomplished what two world wars could not, since L’Osservatore Romano never missed a single day of production during the entire twentieth century, despite attempts by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels to persuade the Mussolini government to shut down L’Osservatore Romano in 1938 after the pope’s newspaper came out with a scathing article criticizing the Reich’s Manifesto of Race. “A small virus from China, the COVID-19, has brought the pope’s glorious newspaper to its knees,” Il Messaggero noted, and the March 25 issue, on the Catholic feast of the Annunciation, will be the last hardcopy issue until further notice. “In the long history of the Vatican newspaper — which dates back to 1861 and therefore has more than a century and a half of life — only once was the newspaper not printed,” said Mr. Monda. “That was on September 20, 1870, immediately after the breach of Porta Pia and the capture of Rome, with the end of the Pontifical State and the temporal power of the Pope.”
40 Days for Life vigils have been suspended, although many abortion facilities remain open.
Click here to read about and see photos of a “parking lot” Traditional Latin Mass on Sunday.
March 25, 2020, 8:55 a.m. EST: Prince Charles has tested positive for the corinavirus. He is 71. His symptoms are mild, according to a statement from the royal family. The last time he was with the Queen, who is 93, was on March 12.
March 24, 2020, 8:25 p.m. EST: Pro-abortion New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who last year signed into law a bill expanding abortion up to the moment of birth in the Empire State, has tweeted in the context of the coronavirus, “We will not put a dollar figure on human life.”
My mother is not expendable. Your mother is not expendable. We will not put a dollar figure on human life. We can have a public health strategy that is consistent with an economic one. No one should be talking about social darwinism for the sake of the stock market. — Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 24, 2020
Paul Smeaton has written an important article about why we must pray the rosary during this pandemic – and how LifeSite readers can join us for a daily rosary on our social networking app for pro-lifers.
Singing songs in Italian and Polish, a priest carried the Blessed Sacrament through his town in Italy. A video and photos are available here.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis has said that he believes that the coronavirus pandemic is nature “having a fit” in response to environmental pollution.
The U.K. government has reversed course after saying it would allow women to take both abortion pills at home during the coronavirus outbreak. The statement announcing that was “published in error” on a government website, a spokesperson said.
The bishops of Portugal are re-consecrating their country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to fight the coronavirus.
The John-Henry Westen Show today features Father Maximilian Mary Dean, a cloistered hermit. He talks about ways to thrive while stuck at home during this crisis and says that mankind is being punished with the coronavirus for its many sins and that large-scale suffering is “always linked to our sins.”
March 24, 2020, 12:58 p.m.: Former president and CEO of EWTN Dan Burke has the coronavirus and is in intensive care at a hospital, he announced on Facebook.
March 24, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Virginia and West Virginia are the latest American states to implement draconian measures restricting freedom of movement and assembly because of the coronavirus.
Beginning at 11:59 p.m. tonight, in Virginia, public or private gatherings of more than 10 people are banned. Businesses like hair salons, gyms, and theaters will be closed. Businesses like grocery stores, liquor stores, doctor offices, home improvement stores, and pet stores will remain open. This allegedly will last through April 23, 2020.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has ordered his constituents to remain at home. They may still go to the store, walk their dogs, and go to the doctor. The full order can be viewed here.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a similar lockdown last night.
The Washington Examiner reports on the increasing use of drones to monitor and communicate with citizens:
A California police department is planning on using drones equipped with cameras and loudspeakers to monitor a coronavirus shutdown. … Drones are starting to play a larger role in society and crime. U.S. Border Patrol agents are having issues with smugglers using drones to watch them as they work along the southern border. The drones are also used to move small quantities of drugs across the border. At the peak of China’s coronavirus outbreak, the country used talking drones to force citizens in certain areas to wear face masks. “Where is your mask? Wear your mask!” operators of the drones shouted at passersby in Chinese. In Belgium, which has more than 3,700 cases of the coronavirus, authorities have begun using drones to warn citizens about a lockdown that was put in place. Drones could be seen hovering overhead and reading off medical guidelines to people below. “Take care of yourself and others,” a woman's voice blares.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-25--Bishops must get the sacraments to as many people as possible during crisis

PRAYER PLEDGE : Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here .
March 25 , 2020 ( CatholicCulture.org ) — Over the course of this past weekend I heard of several different ingenious schemes , concocted by energetic pastors , that would have allowed Catholics to attend Mass without violating “ social distance ” or government regulations .
In every case the plan was vetoed by the diocesan bishop .
Yes , I understand that bishops are concerned about the possible transmission of a deadly virus — but so are the pastors who invented ways @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups , standing 10 or more feet apart .
Yes , I understand that we all have a moral obligation to obey government regulations that are issued for the sake of the common good — but these schemes would have fallen within the scope of the existing regulations .
Why is it that at a time when many pious Catholics are begging for a chance to participate at Mass , and many conscientious pastors are willing to oblige them , our bishops are steadily pumping the brakes ?
“ My number one priority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safety and health of all who attend our Masses , the children in our schools , and those we welcome through our outreach and services , ” Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington , DC , told his people .
But that ’ s wrong .
So clearly wrong , in fact , that it ’ s disturbing to see that sentence attributed to a bishop of the Catholic Church , whose number-one priority , always and everywhere , is the salvation of souls .
The spiritual safety of the people is a bishop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is secondary .
How can a bishop serve the spiritual needs of his people at a time when a pandemic makes gatherings risky ?
Some obvious possibilities have been honored in the breach , as one American diocese after another has closed down services .
• He can make it clear that the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice — which is absolutely necessary as the duty of Christ ’ s Church — will continue each day , even if lay people can not attend .
• He can tell the faithful that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mass on Sunday .
( In many dioceses today , the faithful have not been told that they are released from that obligation — only that they are barred from fulfilling it ! )
• He can make provisions for sacramental Confessions — out in fields or parking lots , as circumstances require — and/or he can inform pastors that they have the authority to give general absolution during this time of crisis .
• He can encourage Eucharistic processions , Benediction , and other public forms of public prayer , if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Better yet , he himself can go out onto the streets to encourage his flock in prayer .
Follow the example of Bishop Strickland ; bring the Blessed Sacrament to a busy intersection .
• In short he can work to reassure the faithful that he is doing everything possible to make the sacraments available to the laity whenever and wherever it is possible , to resist the insidious popular notion that the life of the Church is “ non-essential.
” The ESPN network reports that Adam Silver , the commissioner of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is already planning how the league might resume its schedule .
It won ’ t happen soon , but when the time comes , and games can be held safely , the NBA will be ready .
Professional basketball games are obviously not essential , but scheduling them is Silver ’ s job , and he takes it seriously .
I hope and pray that our bishops are being equally diligent : using this period of enforced quiet to plan with their priests so that the sacraments can be administered as widely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the normal work of the Church restored as quickly as possible when the crisis passes .

Why is it that at a time when many pious Catholics are begging for a chance to participate at Mass, and many conscientious pastors are willing to oblige them, our bishops are steadily pumping the brakes?
PRAYER PLEDGE: Rally around the daily Rosary to stop the coronavirus Sign the petition here.
March 25, 2020 (CatholicCulture.org) — Over the course of this past weekend I heard of several different ingenious schemes, concocted by energetic pastors, that would have allowed Catholics to attend Mass without violating “social distance” or government regulations. In every case the plan was vetoed by the diocesan bishop.
Yes, I understand that bishops are concerned about the possible transmission of a deadly virus — but so are the pastors who invented ways to allow parishioners to worship in small groups, standing 10 or more feet apart. Yes, I understand that we all have a moral obligation to obey government regulations that are issued for the sake of the common good — but these schemes would have fallen within the scope of the existing regulations.
Why is it that at a time when many pious Catholics are begging for a chance to participate at Mass, and many conscientious pastors are willing to oblige them, our bishops are steadily pumping the brakes?
“My number one priority as your archbishop is to ensure the safety and health of all who attend our Masses, the children in our schools, and those we welcome through our outreach and services,” Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, DC, told his people. But that’s wrong. So clearly wrong, in fact, that it’s disturbing to see that sentence attributed to a bishop of the Catholic Church, whose number-one priority, always and everywhere, is the salvation of souls. The spiritual safety of the people is a bishop’s primary concern; everything else is secondary.
How can a bishop serve the spiritual needs of his people at a time when a pandemic makes gatherings risky? Some obvious possibilities have been honored in the breach, as one American diocese after another has closed down services.
He can make it clear that the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice — which is absolutely necessary as the duty of Christ’s Church — will continue each day, even if lay people cannot attend.
He can tell the faithful that they are released from their obligation to attend Mass on Sunday. (In many dioceses today, the faithful have not been told that they are released from that obligation — only that they are barred from fulfilling it!)
He can make provisions for sacramental Confessions — out in fields or parking lots, as circumstances require — and/or he can inform pastors that they have the authority to give general absolution during this time of crisis.
He can encourage Eucharistic processions, Benediction, and other public forms of public prayer, if they can be arranged to preserve social distance. Better yet, he himself can go out onto the streets to encourage his flock in prayer. Follow the example of Bishop Strickland; bring the Blessed Sacrament to a busy intersection.
In short he can work to reassure the faithful that he is doing everything possible to make the sacraments available to the laity whenever and wherever it is possible, to resist the insidious popular notion that the life of the Church is “non-essential.”
The ESPN network reports that Adam Silver, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), is already planning how the league might resume its schedule. It won’t happen soon, but when the time comes, and games can be held safely, the NBA will be ready. Professional basketball games are obviously not essential, but scheduling them is Silver’s job, and he takes it seriously. I hope and pray that our bishops are being equally diligent: using this period of enforced quiet to plan with their priests so that the sacraments can be administered as widely as possible during this emergency, and the normal work of the Church restored as quickly as possible when the crisis passes.
Published with permission from CatholicCulture.org.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-25--At what point is coronavirus ‘cure’ worse than the disease?

March 25 , 2020 ( CatholicCulture.org ) — I am going to die .
No , I ’ m not sick .
I feel fine .
The last time I saw my doctor , he was quite happy with my overall condition .
So I don ’ t mean that I expect to die soon — although these days I am acutely aware of that possibility .
But even if I continue in good health , at my age I realize that the end is much closer than the beginning .
Sooner or later I shall die .
We all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that I take death lightly .
When I see death coming ( if I see it coming ) , I don ’ t suppose I ’ ll be so philosophical about it .
I don ’ t want to die .
My plan is to “ live forever or die trying.
” Nor do I take it lightly when others die .
I have buried and grieved and prayed for my parents , for other relatives and neighbors and friends .
I do not expect — do not want — others to “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We should all fight against death .
These days we are all making substantial sacrifices , for the most part willingly , to preserve not only our own lives but the lives of others — including many that we do not know .
As we should .
But even as we make these sacrifices , even as we fight to ward off a deadly epidemic , we should bear in mind two essential truths .
First , all of us will die .
Every victory over death is only a temporary one .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Second , there are things worse than death .
What could be worse than death ?
you might ask .
As a Christian , I answer : sin .
Far worse than death of the body is death of the soul : separation from God ’ s love , the loss of the unsurpassable eternal reward offered to us through Jesus Christ .
This is why I have and will continue to argue that the Church must continue to provide the sacraments , to serve the spiritual needs of the faithful in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you don ’ t share my faith , even if you are not religious , I think that a similar point can be made .
There really are fates worse than death .
We admire heroes who are willing to give their lives for a noble cause .
During the battle of Belleau Wood , a legendary Marine sergeant reportedly exhorted his men to charge by saying , “ Come on , you sons of b -- -- - , do you want to live forever ?
” That ’ s not the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ church , but don ’ t you notice the similarity of sentiment ?
There are some things worth dying for .
And certainly there are some things worth taking a risk for .
As much as we admire bravery in the face of danger , we despise timidity .
No doubt you would be safer if you spent your life cowering at home , but what could you accomplish ?
“ A coward dies a thousand times before his death , but the valiant taste of death but once , ” Shakespeare tells @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accomplish nothing .
Are we , as a nation , reaching a point at which our fear of death threatens to paralyze us ?
Yes , the pandemic justifies extreme measures .
But how extreme ?
There may be a point at which we must take risks to preserve both our lives and our very way of life .
Will we be ready ?
The current restrictions on ordinary life have imposed severe costs , and those costs will multiply as the shutdown lengthens .
I do not mean merely economic costs , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I am thinking rather of the cost to our culture , to our quality of life , to our cohesion as a society .
If we are locked down for months , as some experts have advised , we may emerge as a very different sort of society .
Think of the political implications of the restrictions .
The First Amendment right to assembly , as well as the right to freedom of worship , has been set aside by emergency orders .
Self-appointed groups of informers are cropping up to denounce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policies .
Local officials are announcing that they will not prosecute petty criminals , and will release convicts from prisons .
The federal government is proposing to spend trillions of dollars that it doesn ’ t have , laying huge new burdens of debt on future generations , to prop up a spavined economy .
All these developments are dangerous to the future of our republic .
The policies are justified — for the short run , at least — by the argument that without them , people will die .
But that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the emergency measures prevent unnecessary deaths ?
At what cost ?
Equally important — and often overlooked — is the likelihood that the shutdown will actually cause unnecessary deaths .
At some point the cure is worse than the disease .
To shut down all “ non-essential ” business is to take an enormous risk — and not only an economic risk .
It isn ’ t easy to determine whether or not a business is “ essential ” to public health .
Hospitals need parts and paper and supplies and computer networks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and stored .
Some work that seems “ non-essential ” today might become essential later .
If you don ’ t replace the brake pads on your car , eventually you may crash .
If the building inspector stays home , eventually a fire hazard may cost lives .
So people will die .
A severe economic contraction is also a threat to public health .
Some chronic conditions will be aggravated by stress ( and their victims will become more vulnerable to the coronavirus ) .
Some people , deprived of daily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inadequate diet , lack of exercise , alcohol or drug abuse — and their health will decline .
Suicide rates will climb , as they always do during tough times .
Elderly people will try to do too much , sometimes with fatal results .
These are all predictable consequences of the shutdown : consequences that will become evident more as the restrictions continue .
Again , people will die .
And speaking of the elderly , the primary victims of the epidemic , how much have the restrictions helped them ?
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus ( although how much less likely is unclear ) .
But many are now confined to their own homes , unable to live normal lives .
In nursing homes , residents are locked in their own rooms , unable to receive visits from family or friends .
They may be living longer , but they are living as virtual prisoners .
We are all trying to preserve lives , to preserve the quality and dignity of life .
So please don ’ t say that anyone who questions the current draconian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are already in danger ; we are doing our best to save as many as possible .
In time of war , a military commander may be obliged to make a painful choice , knowing full well that any tactic he chooses will endanger lives .
Effective leadership entails a willingness to take risks .
So it is today , in our war against a deadly virus .
Some people will die : that is now a sad but unavoidable reality .
We must not allow an inordinate fear of death to stop @ @ @ @ @ @

March 25, 2020 (CatholicCulture.org) — I am going to die.
No, I’m not sick. I feel fine. The last time I saw my doctor, he was quite happy with my overall condition. So I don’t mean that I expect to die soon — although these days I am acutely aware of that possibility. But even if I continue in good health, at my age I realize that the end is much closer than the beginning. Sooner or later I shall die. We all do.
That doesn’t mean that I take death lightly. When I see death coming (if I see it coming), I don’t suppose I’ll be so philosophical about it. I don’t want to die. My plan is to “live forever or die trying.”
Nor do I take it lightly when others die. I have buried and grieved and prayed for my parents, for other relatives and neighbors and friends. I do not expect — do not want — others to “go gentle into that good night.” We should all fight against death. These days we are all making substantial sacrifices, for the most part willingly, to preserve not only our own lives but the lives of others — including many that we do not know. As we should.
But even as we make these sacrifices, even as we fight to ward off a deadly epidemic, we should bear in mind two essential truths. First, all of us will die. Every victory over death is only a temporary one. Death is a part of life. Second, there are things worse than death.
What could be worse than death? you might ask. As a Christian, I answer: sin. Far worse than death of the body is death of the soul: separation from God’s love, the loss of the unsurpassable eternal reward offered to us through Jesus Christ. This is why I have and will continue to argue that the Church must continue to provide the sacraments, to serve the spiritual needs of the faithful in this time of trial.
But even if you don’t share my faith, even if you are not religious, I think that a similar point can be made. There really are fates worse than death. We admire heroes who are willing to give their lives for a noble cause. During the battle of Belleau Wood, a legendary Marine sergeant reportedly exhorted his men to charge by saying, “Come on, you sons of b—–, do you want to live forever?” That’s not the sort of language you ordinarily hear in church, but don’t you notice the similarity of sentiment? There are some things worth dying for.
And certainly there are some things worth taking a risk for. As much as we admire bravery in the face of danger, we despise timidity. No doubt you would be safer if you spent your life cowering at home, but what could you accomplish? “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once,” Shakespeare tells us. To risk nothing is to accomplish nothing.
Are we, as a nation, reaching a point at which our fear of death threatens to paralyze us? Yes, the pandemic justifies extreme measures. But how extreme? There may be a point at which we must take risks to preserve both our lives and our very way of life. Will we be ready?
The current restrictions on ordinary life have imposed severe costs, and those costs will multiply as the shutdown lengthens. I do not mean merely economic costs, although those costs cannot be ignored. I am thinking rather of the cost to our culture, to our quality of life, to our cohesion as a society. If we are locked down for months, as some experts have advised, we may emerge as a very different sort of society.
Think of the political implications of the restrictions. The First Amendment right to assembly, as well as the right to freedom of worship, has been set aside by emergency orders. Self-appointed groups of informers are cropping up to denounce neighbors who are insufficiently obedient to government policies. Local officials are announcing that they will not prosecute petty criminals, and will release convicts from prisons. The federal government is proposing to spend trillions of dollars that it doesn’t have, laying huge new burdens of debt on future generations, to prop up a spavined economy. All these developments are dangerous to the future of our republic.
The policies are justified — for the short run, at least — by the argument that without them, people will die. But that argument by itself is incomplete. Will the emergency measures prevent unnecessary deaths? At what cost? Equally important — and often overlooked — is the likelihood that the shutdown will actually cause unnecessary deaths. At some point the cure is worse than the disease.
To shut down all “non-essential” business is to take an enormous risk — and not only an economic risk. It isn’t easy to determine whether or not a business is “essential” to public health. Hospitals need parts and paper and supplies and computer networks. Food must be packaged and shipped and stored. Some work that seems “non-essential” today might become essential later. If you don’t replace the brake pads on your car, eventually you may crash. If the building inspector stays home, eventually a fire hazard may cost lives. So people will die.
A severe economic contraction is also a threat to public health. Some chronic conditions will be aggravated by stress (and their victims will become more vulnerable to the coronavirus). Some people, deprived of daily work, will develop bad habits — inadequate diet, lack of exercise, alcohol or drug abuse — and their health will decline. Suicide rates will climb, as they always do during tough times. Elderly people will try to do too much, sometimes with fatal results. These are all predictable consequences of the shutdown: consequences that will become evident more as the restrictions continue. Again, people will die.
And speaking of the elderly, the primary victims of the epidemic, how much have the restrictions helped them? For now they are less likely to contract the virus (although how much less likely is unclear). But many are now confined to their own homes, unable to live normal lives. In nursing homes, residents are locked in their own rooms, unable to receive visits from family or friends. They may be living longer, but they are living as virtual prisoners.
We are all trying to preserve lives, to preserve the quality and dignity of life. So please don’t say that anyone who questions the current draconian restrictions is endangering human lives. Lives are already in danger; we are doing our best to save as many as possible.
In time of war, a military commander may be obliged to make a painful choice, knowing full well that any tactic he chooses will endanger lives. Effective leadership entails a willingness to take risks. So it is today, in our war against a deadly virus. Some people will die: that is now a sad but unavoidable reality. We must not allow an inordinate fear of death to stop us from making prudent decisions.
Published with permission from CatholicCulture.org.
Share