lifesitenews--2020-03-31--WATCH: Reporter highlights abortion deaths during White House coronavirus press conference

WASHINGTON , D.C. , March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — A reporter from One America News Network ( OAN ) highlighted the more than 2,000 daily deaths of American preborn children through abortion during yesterday ’ s White House press conference on the coronavirus pandemic .
In a question to President Donald Trump , the OAN reporter asked Trump whether he agreed with the decision of Texas and Ohio to suspend elective abortions in order to make more resources available to coronavirus cases .
“ 405 Americans have died from coronavirus in the last 60 days , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have 2,369 children who are killed by their mothers through elective abortions each day .
That 's sixteen and a half thousand children killed every week .
Two states have suspended elective abortion to make more resources available for coronavirus cases – that 's Texas and Ohio .
Do you agree with states who are placing coronavirus victims above elective abortions , and should more states be doing the same ?
” Trump refrained from commenting on whether he not he agreed with the actions taken in Texas and Ohio .
He replied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abortion ] has been going on for a long time and it 's a sad event , a lot of sad events in this country , ” before switching the focus back to his administration ’ s effort to combat the coronavirus .
“ What we 're doing is now we 're working on the virus , we ’ re working on that hidden enemy and I think we ’ re doing a great job , ” Trump said .
Pro-lifers won a victory today when the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s injunction against the Texas governor ’ s order halting abortions during the pandemic .
According to a report last week in the New York Times , the press conferences have an average audience of 8.5 million viewers on cable news , in addition to those viewing the conferences online .
LifeSiteNews has begun live-streaming these conferences .
Interested readers can learn more HERE .
Pro-life activists have previously praised Trump for being the “ most pro-life president in history.
” He has appointed conservative , pro-life judges to various courts ; stopped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defunded the United Nations Population Fund , which cooperates with China ’ s forced abortion regime ; signed a law allowing states to defund America ’ s largest abortion corportation , Planned Parenthood ; and cut around $ 60 million from Planned Parenthood .
In January Trump became the first president to attend the March for Life in Washington .
Earlier this month pro-life doctors in the United States told LifeSite that continuing abortions during a pandemic is “ medically irresponsible.
” The American Association of Prolife OB/GYNs ( AAPLOG ) told LifeSiteNews @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to women and do not treat a disease process ” and issued a call for “ abortions to be suspended according to the current recommendations pertaining to elective procedures and office visits .
”

'Do you agree with states who are placing coronavirus victims above elective abortions, and should more states be doing the same?' the reporter asked.
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — A reporter from One America News Network (OAN) highlighted the more than 2,000 daily deaths of American preborn children through abortion during yesterday’s White House press conference on the coronavirus pandemic.
In a question to President Donald Trump, the OAN reporter asked Trump whether he agreed with the decision of Texas and Ohio to suspend elective abortions in order to make more resources available to coronavirus cases.
“405 Americans have died from coronavirus in the last 60 days,” the reporter began. “Meanwhile you have 2,369 children who are killed by their mothers through elective abortions each day. That's sixteen and a half thousand children killed every week. Two states have suspended elective abortion to make more resources available for coronavirus cases – that's Texas and Ohio. Do you agree with states who are placing coronavirus victims above elective abortions, and should more states be doing the same?”
Trump refrained from commenting on whether he not he agreed with the actions taken in Texas and Ohio. He replied, “what you're mentioning [abortion] has been going on for a long time and it's a sad event, a lot of sad events in this country,” before switching the focus back to his administration’s effort to combat the coronavirus.
“What we're doing is now we're working on the virus, we’re working on that hidden enemy and I think we’re doing a great job,” Trump said.
Pro-lifers won a victory today when the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals today temporarily stayed a federal judge’s injunction against the Texas governor’s order halting abortions during the pandemic.
According to a report last week in the New York Times, the press conferences have an average audience of 8.5 million viewers on cable news, in addition to those viewing the conferences online. LifeSiteNews has begun live-streaming these conferences. Interested readers can learn more HERE.
Pro-life activists have previously praised Trump for being the “most pro-life president in history.” He has appointed conservative, pro-life judges to various courts; stopped taxpayer dollars from funding abortion abroad; defunded the United Nations Population Fund, which cooperates with China’s forced abortion regime; signed a law allowing states to defund America’s largest abortion corportation, Planned Parenthood; and cut around $60 million from Planned Parenthood. In January Trump became the first president to attend the March for Life in Washington.
Earlier this month pro-life doctors in the United States told LifeSite that continuing abortions during a pandemic is “medically irresponsible.”
The American Association of Prolife OB/GYNs (AAPLOG) told LifeSiteNews that “abortions offer zero health benefits to women and do not treat a disease process” and issued a call for “abortions to be suspended according to the current recommendations pertaining to elective procedures and office visits.”
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--US bishop suspends last rites in response to coronavirus pandemic

SPRINGFIELD , March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — The bishop of Springfield , Massachusetts , has temporarily suspended last rites in all instances in his diocese in response to the coronavirus pandemic .
Bishop Mitchell Rozanski ’ s directive followed a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( USCCB ) memo on March 27 reaffirming Church teaching that only priests could administer the sacrament , Catholic News Agency reported .
Rozanski wrote to his priests March 25 that he was “ allowing the assigned Catholic hospital chaplains , standing outside a patient ’ s room or away from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swab with Holy Oil and then allow a nurse to enter the patient ’ s room and administer the oil , ” according to CNA .
“ If the patient is alert , the prayers may be provided via telephone , ” the bishop wrote .
However , Bishop Leonard Blair of Hartford , chair of the USCCB committee on liturgy , said in last Friday ’ s memo that “ it is not possible for the anointing with oil to be delegated to someone else , such as a nurse or doctor.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ his priests a message stating that : “ After further discussion and review , I am rescinding my previous directive and temporarily suspending the Anointing of the Sick in all instances.
” LifeSiteNews contacted the diocese to confirm this but did not hear back by deadline .
Adding to the calamity , some hospitals are banning priests from attending to the dying , such as Grand Rapids , Michigan , as reported last week by LifeSiteNews , and Portland , Oregon , as reported by Catholic News Service .
The Catholic Church holds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ near death are in great need of spiritual assistance .
The Church provides Catholics at those stages of life with the sacrament of anointing of the sick , otherwise known as extreme unction or last rites , which can only be conferred in person and by a priest .
“ The first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening , peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that go with the condition of serious illness or the frailty of old age .
This grace is a gift of the Holy Spirit , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and strengthens against the temptations of the evil one , the temptation to discouragement and anguish in the face of death , ” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church .
“ This assistance from the Lord by the power of his Spirit is meant to lead the sick person to healing of the soul , but also of the body if such is God ’ s will .
Furthermore , ‘ if he has committed sins , he will be forgiven , ’ ” it notes .
That a bishop could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form for Anointing by a cleric and the execution of the sacramental matter by a hospital worker gives some insight into what kind of challenges confront sound pastors and canonists these days .
But , while that bizarre idea was shot down in a few hours thanks to the internet , a new mess has taken its place , one whereby a bishop thinks he can “ suspend ” the celebration of the sacrament of Anointing in times of greatest need !
Keeping this short , I know of no authority whereby an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a sacrament itself so I can only conclude that whenever a proper , willing minister utters the correct form while applying the necessary matter to an eligible , willing , recipient , the sacrament occurs .
All of the usual considerations for the administration of sacraments in time of serious danger apply , of course , and those factors lean heavily ( not uniformly , but heavily ) in favor of administration of the sacraments , especially to the gravely ill. Again , if some bishop actually issues a precept against celebrating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then .
Rozanski ’ s suspension of last rites follows other directives from bishops suspending sacraments , with Cardinal Tobin of Newark suspending confession except in extreme emergency , Archbishop Thompson of Indianapolis directing priests to postpone confession except when penitent in danger of death , and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago suspending baptisms .
However , Bishop Athanasias Schneider said in an interview with The Remnant that priests , using discretion and following the necessary health precautions “ has not to obey the directives of his bishop or the government ” to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public Masses “ are a pure human law ; however , the supreme law in the Church is the salvation of souls , ” Schneider said .
Canon lawyer Philip Gray echoed this , pointing out in a previous LifeSiteNews report that bishops issuing blanket prohibitions on the sacraments is a violation of canon law , and priests can disregard these directives in good conscience .
“ We ’ re talking about the life and death of the soul , ” said Gray , president of the St. Joseph Foundation and Catholics United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standing have a right to receive the sacraments if they ask for them at an appropriate time and are well disposed , he told LifeSiteNews .
“ If the priest believes in his conscience — because primacy of conscience is a matter — if the priest believes there is a violation of divine law by the bishop ’ s directive , he has an obligation to the divine law , ” he said .
“ There are reasonable measures that a bishop can put in place to allow all the sacraments to continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of us .
These are the ordinary means of salvation , ” Gray said .
Blair wrote in his memo that questions regarding the administration of the sacraments during the coronavirus , or Wuhan flu , pandemic were sent to the apostolic nuncio for the United States , Archbishop Christophe Pierre , who consulted Archbishop Arthur Roche , secretary of the Vatican ’ s Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments , for the answers , CNA reported .
He suggested to the bishops that when it is not possible to administer last rites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vatican note on administering confession during the pandemic “ might be applied analogously to the sacrament of the sick ” : Catholic philosopher and writer Dr. Peter Kwasniewski told LifeSiteNews in comments on confession , that could be applied analogously to last rites , that priests have a “ solemn obligation ” to “ hear confessions of the faithful who are in mortal sin and therefore in danger of damnation .
”

The Catholic Church holds that persons who are extremely ill or near death are in great need of spiritual assistance.
SPRINGFIELD, March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts, has temporarily suspended last rites in all instances in his diocese in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bishop Mitchell Rozanski’s directive followed a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) memo on March 27 reaffirming Church teaching that only priests could administer the sacrament, Catholic News Agency reported.
Rozanski wrote to his priests March 25 that he was “allowing the assigned Catholic hospital chaplains, standing outside a patient’s room or away from their bedside, to dab a cotton swab with Holy Oil and then allow a nurse to enter the patient’s room and administer the oil,” according to CNA.
“If the patient is alert, the prayers may be provided via telephone,” the bishop wrote.
However, Bishop Leonard Blair of Hartford, chair of the USCCB committee on liturgy, said in last Friday’s memo that “it is not possible for the anointing with oil to be delegated to someone else, such as a nurse or doctor.”
The same afternoon, Rozanski sent his priests a message stating that: “After further discussion and review, I am rescinding my previous directive and temporarily suspending the Anointing of the Sick in all instances.”
LifeSiteNews contacted the diocese to confirm this but did not hear back by deadline.
Adding to the calamity, some hospitals are banning priests from attending to the dying, such as Grand Rapids, Michigan, as reported last week by LifeSiteNews, and Portland, Oregon, as reported by Catholic News Service.
The Catholic Church holds that persons who are extremely ill or near death are in great need of spiritual assistance. The Church provides Catholics at those stages of life with the sacrament of anointing of the sick, otherwise known as extreme unction or last rites, which can only be conferred in person and by a priest.
“The first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening, peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that go with the condition of serious illness or the frailty of old age. This grace is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who renews trust and faith in God and strengthens against the temptations of the evil one, the temptation to discouragement and anguish in the face of death,” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“This assistance from the Lord by the power of his Spirit is meant to lead the sick person to healing of the soul, but also of the body if such is God’s will. Furthermore, ‘if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven,’” it notes.
Well-known American canon lawyer Edward Peters commented on his blog:
That a bishop could purport to authorize the enunciation of sacramental form for Anointing by a cleric and the execution of the sacramental matter by a hospital worker gives some insight into what kind of challenges confront sound pastors and canonists these days. But, while that bizarre idea was shot down in a few hours thanks to the internet, a new mess has taken its place, one whereby a bishop thinks he can “suspend” the celebration of the sacrament of Anointing in times of greatest need! Keeping this short, I know of no authority whereby an arch/bishop can “suspend” the operation of a sacrament itself so I can only conclude that whenever a proper, willing minister utters the correct form while applying the necessary matter to an eligible, willing, recipient, the sacrament occurs. All of the usual considerations for the administration of sacraments in time of serious danger apply, of course, and those factors lean heavily (not uniformly, but heavily) in favor of administration of the sacraments, especially to the gravely ill. Again, if some bishop actually issues a precept against celebrating Anointing, it can be dealt with then.
Rozanski’s suspension of last rites follows other directives from bishops suspending sacraments, with Cardinal Tobin of Newark suspending confession except in extreme emergency, Archbishop Thompson of Indianapolis directing priests to postpone confession except when penitent in danger of death, and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago suspending baptisms.
However, Bishop Athanasias Schneider said in an interview with The Remnant that priests, using discretion and following the necessary health precautions “has not to obey the directives of his bishop or the government” to withhold the sacraments.
Directives canceling all public Masses “are a pure human law; however, the supreme law in the Church is the salvation of souls,” Schneider said.
Canon lawyer Philip Gray echoed this, pointing out in a previous LifeSiteNews report that bishops issuing blanket prohibitions on the sacraments is a violation of canon law, and priests can disregard these directives in good conscience.
“We’re talking about the life and death of the soul,” said Gray, president of the St. Joseph Foundation and Catholics United for the Faith.
Catholics in good standing have a right to receive the sacraments if they ask for them at an appropriate time and are well disposed, he told LifeSiteNews.
“If the priest believes in his conscience — because primacy of conscience is a matter — if the priest believes there is a violation of divine law by the bishop’s directive, he has an obligation to the divine law,” he said.
“There are reasonable measures that a bishop can put in place to allow all the sacraments to continue. That is what Christ would expect of us. These are the ordinary means of salvation,” Gray said.
Blair wrote in his memo that questions regarding the administration of the sacraments during the coronavirus, or Wuhan flu, pandemic were sent to the apostolic nuncio for the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, who consulted Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments, for the answers, CNA reported.
He suggested to the bishops that when it is not possible to administer last rites, this passage from the March 20 Vatican note on administering confession during the pandemic “might be applied analogously to the sacrament of the sick”:
Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, expressed by a sincere request for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at present able to express) and accompanied by votum confessionis, that is, by the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones.
Catholic philosopher and writer Dr. Peter Kwasniewski told LifeSiteNews in comments on confession, that could be applied analogously to last rites, that priests have a “solemn obligation” to “hear confessions of the faithful who are in mortal sin and therefore in danger of damnation.”
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--US federal judges declare abortions must continue during coronavirus outbreak

March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – While states order suspensions of non-essential medical procedures in order to conserve resources and contain the spread of the coronavirus , judges have declared that the abortion industry must be allowed to continue business as usual in Alabama , Ohio , and Texas .
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams and the federal Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) have advised healthcare facilities to reschedule non-urgent appointments and elective procedures , both to limit the spread of the coronavirus and to free up time and resources to focus on infected patients .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , leading numerous states to mandate that facilities temporarily halt “ non-essential ” medical procedures .
Several of them have clarified that elective abortions will be held to the same standards as all other procedures during this time , leading to several lawsuits demanding exemptions for Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers .
So far , federal Judges Myron Thompson , Michael Barrett , and Lee Yeakel have issued temporary injunctions allowing elective abortions to continue in Alabama , Ohio , and Texas , respectively , CNN reports .
“ The benefits of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of some personal protective equipment by abortion providers is outweighed by the harm of eliminating abortion access in the midst of a pandemic that increases the risks of continuing an unwanted pregnancy , as well as the risks of travelling to other states in search of time-sensitive medical care , ” claimed Yeakel , who presides over the Western District of Texas .
Barrett , of the Southern District of Ohio , falsely claimed that denying a woman a legal abortion “ violates her right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the other actual medical procedures being suspended without challenge “ would , per se , inflict irreparable harm . ''
Pro-life groups have condemned the judges ’ orders , and the attorneys general of all three states have vowed to appeal the ruling .
On Tuesday , Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily stayed Yeakel ’ s order for Texas .
Pro-life medical professionals have assailed the abortion industry ’ s demands for special treatment , arguing that exempting elective abortion puts business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists ( AAPLOG ) says that while “ elective abortion is neither ‘ essential ’ nor ‘ urgent , ’ ” it “ does consume critical resources such as masks , gloves , and other personal protective equipment , and unnecessarily exposes patients and physicians to pathogens.
” “ Elective abortion , both surgical and drug induced , also generates more patients to be seen in already overburdened emergency rooms , ” AAPLOG continued .
“ Most abortion providers instruct women to go to an emergency room @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the abortion .
Approximately five percent of women who undergo medication abortions will require evaluation in an emergency room , most commonly for hemorrhage .
Surgical abortions can also result in hemorrhage .
Emergency room personnel – who are already struggling to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be further strained to provide care to these women.
” Readers can click here for LifeSiteNews ’ live updates on the coronavirus and its impact all over the world .

Federal judges have declared that the abortion industry must be allowed to continue business as usual in Alabama, Ohio, and Texas.
March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – While states order suspensions of non-essential medical procedures in order to conserve resources and contain the spread of the coronavirus, judges have declared that the abortion industry must be allowed to continue business as usual in Alabama, Ohio, and Texas.
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams and the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have advised healthcare facilities to reschedule non-urgent appointments and elective procedures, both to limit the spread of the coronavirus and to free up time and resources to focus on infected patients.
Compliance with this guidance has been mixed, leading numerous states to mandate that facilities temporarily halt “non-essential” medical procedures. Several of them have clarified that elective abortions will be held to the same standards as all other procedures during this time, leading to several lawsuits demanding exemptions for Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers.
So far, federal Judges Myron Thompson, Michael Barrett, and Lee Yeakel have issued temporary injunctions allowing elective abortions to continue in Alabama, Ohio, and Texas, respectively, CNN reports.
“The benefits of a limited potential reduction in the use of some personal protective equipment by abortion providers is outweighed by the harm of eliminating abortion access in the midst of a pandemic that increases the risks of continuing an unwanted pregnancy, as well as the risks of travelling to other states in search of time-sensitive medical care,” claimed Yeakel, who presides over the Western District of Texas.
Barrett, of the Southern District of Ohio, falsely claimed that denying a woman a legal abortion “violates her right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment,” and therefore temporarily suspending abortions alongside all the other actual medical procedures being suspended without challenge “would, per se, inflict irreparable harm.”
Pro-life groups have condemned the judges’ orders, and the attorneys general of all three states have vowed to appeal the ruling.
On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily stayed Yeakel’s order for Texas.
Once again, the abortion industry has made their priorities abundantly clear. Instead of complying with the ODH's order and helping conserve vital PPEs during this pandemic, they choose to try and protect their abortion business by any means possible. ⬇ https://t.co/yrhAj5ju56 — Ohio Right to Life (@ohiolife) March 30, 2020
UPDATE: Victory at 5th Circuit – Abortion ruling stayed! https://t.co/vmpyXsje0B — Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 31, 2020
Pro-life medical professionals have assailed the abortion industry’s demands for special treatment, arguing that exempting elective abortion puts business interests ahead of public health.
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) says that while “elective abortion is neither ‘essential’ nor ‘urgent,’” it “does consume critical resources such as masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment, and unnecessarily exposes patients and physicians to pathogens.”
“Elective abortion, both surgical and drug induced, also generates more patients to be seen in already overburdened emergency rooms,” AAPLOG continued. “Most abortion providers instruct women to go to an emergency room if they have any concerning symptoms after the abortion. Approximately five percent of women who undergo medication abortions will require evaluation in an emergency room, most commonly for hemorrhage. Surgical abortions can also result in hemorrhage. Emergency room personnel – who are already struggling to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be further strained to provide care to these women.”
Readers can click here for LifeSiteNews’ live updates on the coronavirus and its impact all over the world.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--BREAKING: US appeals court allows Texas to enforce abortion ban during coronavirus pandemic

TEXAS , March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Abortion will continue to be suspended in Texas as part of the state ’ s emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed a federal judge ’ s injunction against the Governor ’ s order that postponed any unnecessary medical procedures , including abortion .
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed for immediate appellate review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to enforce Governor Abbott ’ s March 21 Executive Order that postponed any unnecessary medical procedures , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the health professionals combating the spread of the coronavirus .
Federal judge Lee Yeakel had ruled , however , that the abortion industry must be allowed to continue business as usual in Texas .
“ The benefits of a limited potential reduction in the use of some personal protective equipment by abortion providers is outweighed by the harm of eliminating abortion access in the midst of a pandemic that increases the risks of continuing an unwanted pregnancy , as well as the risks of travelling to other states in search of time-sensitive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who presides over the Western District of Texas .
Paxton said in a press release today , however , that the Governor ’ s Executive Order applies to all health care facilities and professionals in Texas to ensure that hospitals and their staff have access to as much personal protective equipment and hospital beds as possible during the crisis .
He pointed out that abortion facilities want special treatment not available to any other health care provider in Texas .
“ Abortion providers who refuse to follow state law are demonstrating a clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis , ” he said .
“ For years , abortion has been touted as a ‘ choice ’ by the same groups now attempting to claim that it is an essential procedure , ” Paxton added .
“ All Texans must work together to stop the spread of COVID-19 .
My office will continue to defend Governor Greg Abbott ’ s Order to ensure that supplies and personal protective gear reach the hardworking medical professionals who need it the most during this health crisis , ” he said .
Pro-life medical professionals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demands for special treatment , arguing that exempting elective abortion puts business interests ahead of public health .
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists ( AAPLOG ) says that while “ elective abortion is neither ‘ essential ’ nor ‘ urgent , ’ ” it “ does consume critical resources such as masks , gloves , and other personal protective equipment , and unnecessarily exposes patients and physicians to pathogens.
” “ Elective abortion , both surgical and drug induced , also generates more patients to be seen in already overburdened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Most abortion providers instruct women to go to an emergency room if they have any concerning symptoms after the abortion .
Approximately five percent of women who undergo medication abortions will require evaluation in an emergency room , most commonly for hemorrhage .
Surgical abortions can also result in hemorrhage .
Emergency room personnel – who are already struggling to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be further strained to provide care to these women .
”

TEXAS, March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Abortion will continue to be suspended in Texas as part of the state’s emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed a federal judge’s injunction against the Governor’s order that postponed any unnecessary medical procedures, including abortion.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed for immediate appellate review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to enforce Governor Abbott’s March 21 Executive Order that postponed any unnecessary medical procedures, including abortion, to preserve medical supplies for the health professionals combating the spread of the coronavirus.
Federal judge Lee Yeakel had ruled, however, that the abortion industry must be allowed to continue business as usual in Texas.
“The benefits of a limited potential reduction in the use of some personal protective equipment by abortion providers is outweighed by the harm of eliminating abortion access in the midst of a pandemic that increases the risks of continuing an unwanted pregnancy, as well as the risks of travelling to other states in search of time-sensitive medical care,” claimed Yeakel, who presides over the Western District of Texas.
Paxton said in a press release today, however, that the Governor’s Executive Order applies to all health care facilities and professionals in Texas to ensure that hospitals and their staff have access to as much personal protective equipment and hospital beds as possible during the crisis. He pointed out that abortion facilities want special treatment not available to any other health care provider in Texas.
“Abortion providers who refuse to follow state law are demonstrating a clear disregard for Texans suffering from this medical crisis,” he said.
“For years, abortion has been touted as a ‘choice’ by the same groups now attempting to claim that it is an essential procedure,” Paxton added.
“All Texans must work together to stop the spread of COVID-19. My office will continue to defend Governor Greg Abbott’s Order to ensure that supplies and personal protective gear reach the hardworking medical professionals who need it the most during this health crisis,” he said.
Pro-life medical professionals have assailed the abortion industry’s demands for special treatment, arguing that exempting elective abortion puts business interests ahead of public health.
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) says that while “elective abortion is neither ‘essential’ nor ‘urgent,’” it “does consume critical resources such as masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment, and unnecessarily exposes patients and physicians to pathogens.”
“Elective abortion, both surgical and drug induced, also generates more patients to be seen in already overburdened emergency rooms,” AAPLOG continued. “Most abortion providers instruct women to go to an emergency room if they have any concerning symptoms after the abortion. Approximately five percent of women who undergo medication abortions will require evaluation in an emergency room, most commonly for hemorrhage. Surgical abortions can also result in hemorrhage. Emergency room personnel – who are already struggling to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be further strained to provide care to these women.”
With files from LifeSiteNews’ Calvin Freiburger
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--Converting hearts during the coronavirus crisis

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 3.31.2020. Mother discusses the challenging times we are facing, but encourages people not to lose faith. She tells listeners that we must trust God in the midst of uncertainty and we should use this time to deepen our faith.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--Cardinal urges Christians not to despair during pandemic since ‘we are in God’s hands’

March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic , Cardinal Gerhard Müller , the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , is urging Christians , especially in Italy , not to despair , but to turn their gaze to Jesus and have faith that “ we are in God ’ s hands.
” “ In these moments of great trial , we , believers in Christ , turn our gaze to our Lord and to His glorious cross , confirming our adherence and belonging to Him – the one Savior and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our profession of faith , knowing that in Him ‘ we live and move and have our being ’ ( Acts 17:28 ) ” Cardinal Müller said in a short video , released March 30 by his Italian publisher Edizioni Cantagalli ( See translation of full comments below ) .
“ Our life has its beginning and its completion in Him , the final end of our existence .
In fact , for us believers , our life is stretched towards eternity and it is for this reason that in the face of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despair , certain that we are in God ’ s hands , ” he added .
Cardinal Müller encouraged Catholics to transform the current situation of limitations , where people are largely confined to their homes , “ into a moment of particular grace.
” Müller suggested renewing “ our intimacy with the Lord by listening to His Word , by personal prayer , and by meditating on the saving mysteries contained in the Stations of the Cross or in the recitation of the Rosary .
Each of us can take on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” In a personal reflection , Müller pointed out that at the end of Mass , “ I turn my gaze to the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary , praying for all of us , asking for the grace of consolation for those afflicted by pain , for strength of spirit for all who help them , and for blessings for those who in various ways guarantee a constant service for the common good.
” The cardinal then went on to call “ on the Lord to extend His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any danger that threatens us.
” The pandemic emergency that has been plaguing various nations around the world for some time now , confronts us with human drama and suffering that is difficult to express .
The fragility of our existence is more than ever felt with great evidence and incisiveness .
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the virus and tens of thousands of dead , there are also those in mourning , as well as countless people who help or assist others , despite extreme effort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tirelessly and heroically , in different ways and for various reasons .
Let us think of this great people who , as an idea , represent the whole of sorrowful and pitiful humanity , but united by the effort to overcome and control the danger .
We carry in our hearts gratitude for every act of sensitivity and goodness with which we bear witness to the greatness of the human heart .
In these moments of great trial , we , believers in Christ , turn our gaze to our Lord and to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and belonging to Him – the one Savior and Lord of our lives .
We renew our profession of faith , knowing that in Him “ we live and move and have our being ” ( Acts 17:28 ) .
Our life has its beginning and its completion in Him , the final end of our existence .
In fact , for us believers , our life is stretched towards eternity and it is for this reason that in the face of these trials and tribulations we do not despair , certain that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His hands , in fact , are one of the great symbols spread among many pages of the Bible with which is expressed not only faith in the act of creation , but also a constant defense of His creatures , from whom comes a strong message of comfort and hope .
In this period of undoubted suffering , many of us are forced to stay at home .
This limitation , however , can be transformed into a moment of particular grace if we find time to renew our intimacy with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , by personal prayer , and by meditating on the saving mysteries contained in the Stations of the Cross or in the recitation of the Rosary .
Each of us can take on a commitment to intercede for those in need .
Every day , at the end of the celebration of the Eucharist , I turn my gaze to the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary , praying for all of us , asking for the grace of consolation for those afflicted by pain , for strength of spirit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for blessings for those who in various ways guarantee a constant service for the common good .
Also today , united with the Pope and countless shepherds in the world , and moved by great trust in God ’ s mercy , we call on the Lord to extend His hand of blessing over us and remove any danger that threatens us .
“ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , the Father of mercies and God of all comfort , who comforts us in all our affliction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to comfort those who are in any affliction , with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God .
For as we share abundantly in Christ ’ s sufferings , so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
” ( 2 Cor 1:3-5 ) Lord Jesus Christ , you have taken upon yourself our weaknesses and sufferings , and delivered us from the oppression of evil through your passion , death and resurrection .
We entrust to you mankind , struck by this evil , and we pray : Deliver @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We ask you in a special way for the afflicted : Comfort their hearts , give them hope , revive their faith .
We beseech you , hide us in the shadow of your hand so that we may experience the power of your love which triumphs in every situation .
Make us witnesses of your infinite mercy that redeems and saves us .
To you be honor and glory for ever and ever .
Amen !
Mary , Mother of Jesus , intercede for us !
May almighty God bless you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the Holy Spirit .
Amen !
Translation of Cardinal Müller ’ s “ prayer for Italy ” by Martin Bürger

'In fact, for us believers, our life is stretched towards eternity and it is for this reason that in the face of these trials and tribulations we do not despair, certain that we are in God’s hands'
March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is urging Christians, especially in Italy, not to despair, but to turn their gaze to Jesus and have faith that “we are in God’s hands.”
“In these moments of great trial, we, believers in Christ, turn our gaze to our Lord and to His glorious cross, confirming our adherence and belonging to Him – the one Savior and Lord of our lives. We renew our profession of faith, knowing that in Him ‘we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28)” Cardinal Müller said in a short video, released March 30 by his Italian publisher Edizioni Cantagalli (See translation of full comments below).
“Our life has its beginning and its completion in Him, the final end of our existence. In fact, for us believers, our life is stretched towards eternity and it is for this reason that in the face of these trials and tribulations we do not despair, certain that we are in God’s hands,” he added.
Cardinal Müller encouraged Catholics to transform the current situation of limitations, where people are largely confined to their homes, “into a moment of particular grace.”
Müller suggested renewing “our intimacy with the Lord by listening to His Word, by personal prayer, and by meditating on the saving mysteries contained in the Stations of the Cross or in the recitation of the Rosary. Each of us can take on a commitment to intercede for those in need.”
In a personal reflection, Müller pointed out that at the end of Mass, “I turn my gaze to the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, praying for all of us, asking for the grace of consolation for those afflicted by pain, for strength of spirit for all who help them, and for blessings for those who in various ways guarantee a constant service for the common good.”
The cardinal then went on to call “on the Lord to extend His hand of blessing over us and remove any danger that threatens us.”
***
Cardinal Müller’s ‘prayer for Italy’
Dear Italian friends,
The pandemic emergency that has been plaguing various nations around the world for some time now, confronts us with human drama and suffering that is difficult to express. The fragility of our existence is more than ever felt with great evidence and incisiveness. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the virus and tens of thousands of dead, there are also those in mourning, as well as countless people who help or assist others, despite extreme effort and exposing their lives to danger, tirelessly and heroically, in different ways and for various reasons.
Let us think of this great people who, as an idea, represent the whole of sorrowful and pitiful humanity, but united by the effort to overcome and control the danger. We carry in our hearts gratitude for every act of sensitivity and goodness with which we bear witness to the greatness of the human heart.
In these moments of great trial, we, believers in Christ, turn our gaze to our Lord and to His glorious cross, confirming our adherence and belonging to Him – the one Savior and Lord of our lives. We renew our profession of faith, knowing that in Him “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Our life has its beginning and its completion in Him, the final end of our existence. In fact, for us believers, our life is stretched towards eternity and it is for this reason that in the face of these trials and tribulations we do not despair, certain that we are in God’s hands. His hands, in fact, are one of the great symbols spread among many pages of the Bible with which is expressed not only faith in the act of creation, but also a constant defense of His creatures, from whom comes a strong message of comfort and hope.
In this period of undoubted suffering, many of us are forced to stay at home. This limitation, however, can be transformed into a moment of particular grace if we find time to renew our intimacy with the Lord by listening to His Word, by personal prayer, and by meditating on the saving mysteries contained in the Stations of the Cross or in the recitation of the Rosary. Each of us can take on a commitment to intercede for those in need.
Every day, at the end of the celebration of the Eucharist, I turn my gaze to the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, praying for all of us, asking for the grace of consolation for those afflicted by pain, for strength of spirit for all who help them, and for blessings for those who in various ways guarantee a constant service for the common good. Also today, united with the Pope and countless shepherds in the world, and moved by great trust in God’s mercy, we call on the Lord to extend His hand of blessing over us and remove any danger that threatens us.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” (2 Cor 1:3-5)
Lord Jesus Christ, you have taken upon yourself our weaknesses and sufferings, and delivered us from the oppression of evil through your passion, death and resurrection. We entrust to you mankind, struck by this evil, and we pray: Deliver us and protect us from all dangers. We ask you in a special way for the afflicted: Comfort their hearts, give them hope, revive their faith. We beseech you, hide us in the shadow of your hand so that we may experience the power of your love which triumphs in every situation. Make us witnesses of your infinite mercy that redeems and saves us. To you be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen!
Mary, Mother of Jesus, intercede for us!
May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Translation of Cardinal Müller’s “prayer for Italy” by Martin Bürger
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--Virgin Mary foretold a ‘terrible punishment’ from God if people did not heed her call to repent

March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – The third secret of Fatima opens with an Angel holding a flaming sword in his left hand , flashing .
“ It gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire ; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand : pointing to the earth with his right hand , the Angel cried out in a loud voice : ‘ Penance , Penance , Penance !
’ ” In the first secret , Our Lady had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hell .
It was full .
Could it really be the case that the need for penance is less acute and the reality of hell , a consequence of unrepentant sin , less threatening today than a hundred years ago , when the Mother of God descended from Heaven to inform her children of the urgency to repent ?
Our Lady told little Jacinta that more sinners go to hell because of sins of impurity than for any other reason .
Today many of these sins are state policy of the most powerful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have followed suit .
In once Catholic Ireland abortion and same-sex ‘ marriage ’ – two of the four sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance – are enshrined in the constitution .
This is the same constitution that in its preamble still invokes the protection of the Most Holy Trinity .
More children have died worldwide through legal abortion than people killed in all the wars of recorded human history .
In my home country , Estonia , more people have been killed by abortion since 1955 than our living population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countless children are being corrupted by school sex education , often with the placet of Catholic bishops .
These programmes destroy the innocence of children , groom them for the porn , contraception or abortion industry and teach them to question whether God has created them a boy or a girl .
“ Ah , sinful nation , a people loaded with guilt , a brood of evildoers , children given to corruption !
They have forsaken the Lord ; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And , we might ask , before they came to an abrupt halt , how many of the sacrilegious and irreverent Masses which Catholics today accept with casual indifference are really an affront to God that surpasses even the atrocities just mentioned ?
What would Our Blessed Mother say now ?
Would it still be sufficient to pray the Rosary and keep the First Saturdays in honour of her Immaculate Heart to make reparation ?
We don ’ t know that .
But we do know that this lighter penance of 1917 has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a society and not with the devotion that corresponds to the seriousness of the offences .
And Our Lady ’ s specific request to prevent God ’ s punishment – the Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart – is still waiting to be done according to her explicit instructions .
In Akita in 1973 , Our Lady appeared again .
What she had to say echoed her message in Fatima – like a patient mother who repeats her instructions over and over again , because they have not been listened to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ The ] Church will be full of those who accept compromises , ” she said and because of that , “ if men do not repent and better themselves ” , God will “ inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity ” , such as one will never have seen before .
There will be “ fire falling from the skies ” , she said , “ good and bad will perish and those who survive will wish they were dead.
” “ If sins increase in number and gravity , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no longer pardon for them.
” Sins have increased in number and gravity .
In fact , our political and , worse , ecclesiastical bodies have become so imbued with sin and heresy that it does not require any special insight to see that if there ever was a time , when chastisement was deserved , that time is now .
Whether or not the “ unprecedented ” events that are now our daily reality – from the lockdown of nations to the suppression of public Masses by the order of Catholic bishops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not yet be verified .
As Catholics we consider the locked church doors more apocalyptic than the devastating human suffering , no matter how close , no matter how painful .
As Catholics , what we are experiencing this Lent is an eclipse of the sun , a Good Friday prolonged until God only knows when .
But as Catholics , leaving aside the question of whether the reaction to the Chinese virus is proportionate to the threat or not , we know that it would not be inappropriate to respond to it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doing we would render our Blessed Mother the obedience in fulfilling her requests so long overdue .
Our sins are the fruit of the same tree .
There is no distancing from the sins we have committed as God ’ s people , because we are the members of one body .
“ Think you that these Galileans were sinners above all the men of Galilee , because they suffered such things ?
No , I say to you : but unless you shall do penance , you shall all likewise perish.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ good and bad will perish ” unless men “ repent and better themselves ” .
And so the guilty and the just will get sick , lose their livelihoods , and suffer the myriad of difficulties the current crisis presents for social and family life .
Even if we have our doubts about the origin of the crisis , the effects of it can not be downplayed .
And even , if by God ’ s grace , we do not deserve this trial for our personal sins , we do for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able still to save you from the calamities which approach , ” Our Lady said in Akita .
Not because she is the most powerful , but perhaps she alone still has the compassion to listen when men who have offended God so grievously will finally wake up .
Children know instinctively that when things are very bad it is their mother they must run to .
Archbishop Lefebvre taught his priests that God had given Catholics three gifts : the pope , the Mass and Our Lady .
When the pope no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no longer a source of joy for us .
And now , priests can no longer offer Masses publicly , in many places for an indefinite period .
But whatever happens , we will always have Our Blessed Mother .
The more we enter into our enforced desert this Lent , the brighter her role becomes .
She is the model of the Church , she who is now suffering at the hands of many of those who should be the first to protect her honour .
Her passion reflects the passion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she stood , pierced with grief , at the foot of the Cross , perhaps we are asked to imitate her in standing by her in her passion now .
This is not a passive resignation .
This was not at all her attitude on Calvary .
St. Ambrose says that “ when the Apostles fled , she stood at the foot of the Cross , and saw in her Son ’ s wounds not the death of her treasure but the salvation of the world.
” The Roman Catechism teaches us that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any other creature ’ s , because of her immense faith and purity .
Hanging on the Cross was not only her Son but also her God .
For her , there was nowhere to turn for consolation as we have in our trials .
And because of her purity , she suffered much more intensely than we ever could .
Yet , she never broke down .
Even at the most torturous moments of her life she never fell down in despair .
In the words of St. Ambrose , she saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we should see its purification , standing firmly by as she stood by the Cross .
Perhaps at this time , we are to share especially in her deprivations , recounted in the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary .
While in the joyful mysteries she appears at the centre , in the sorrowful mysteries , she is more to the side .
Perhaps we are to share her grief this Lent at not being able to be with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane , nor bear the violent pain of the scourges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the weight of the Cross ; and after all that in the crucifixion of her heart , while standing still at the foot of the Cross .
Perhaps this is what we must offer this Lent and maybe beyond .
Our current separation from the Mass and the sacraments must , however , be God ’ s permitted will .
We know that God never wills evil , but he allows tribulations to give an opportunity for repentance and conversion .
In a way , the whole Church has been draped in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from us to allow us to share in His suffering , to make reparation for sin , and to prepare for the renewal of all things .
This is an opportunity to offer real sacrifices for the Church , for the pope , and for the world ’ s more than 5300 bishops , most of whom seem to be so tragically confused in this crisis .
A bishop once told me , that it is not a good time to be a bishop , but is a good time to be a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soon be heard and during our time in the desert we need to prepare for the triumphant resurrection of the visible church after her painful passion .
Reducing the Sacraments to the level of non-essential cultural activities is not the approach that will prevail .
Even in good times , this mindset did not win converts .
It did not fill the seminaries and convents , increase devotion to the Mass nor reaffirm faith in the Real Presence .
Now in a time of challenge , it rings hollow and fades altogether into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fathers will be restored .
Tradition , which has learned how to deal with war , pestilence , famine and loss has the spirit that will survive and continue to nurture the faithful in their ardent desire for Heaven .
Let us embrace the traditional devotions to be strong and alive in our faith and better able to help those left desolate .
A crisis tends to bring people back to reality and with it comes a real opportunity to evangelise .
In a shipwreck , everything excessive is thrown overboard .
Only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In our crisis too , everything real triumphs over non-essentials .
God is the ultimate reality and now is the time to reclaim His place in people ’ s lives .
Catholic spirituality is a masterclass in blending sorrow and joy , sickness and health , death and everlasting life : “ [ A ] s sorrowful , yet always rejoicing ; as needy , yet enriching many ; as having nothing , and possessing all things ” .
( 2 Cor : 6:10 ) Our true and complete dependence on God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will next be able to receive Holy Communion or go to Confession gives us a real opportunity to enter into a desert this Passiontide and unite our sacrifices for the authentic renewal and purification of the Church .
The most efficacious penances and sacrifices are those we have not chosen ourselves .
Let us not waste this opportunity .
So often the relief for a tribulation is not a miraculous cure yet unknown , but doing what we ought to have done all along .
Let us pray the Rosary every day in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it .
Sr. Lucia , one of the Fatima seers , said : “ The Most Holy Virgin , in these last times in which we live , has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary .
She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem , no matter how difficult it is , whether temporal or above all spiritual , in the personal life of each one of us , of our families , of the families of the world or of the religious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of peoples and nations , that can not be solved by the Rosary .
There is no problem I tell you , no matter how difficult it is , that we can not resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary .
With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves .
We will sanctify ourselves .
We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.
” Let us have a true and filial recourse to Our Blessed Mother in all things , who alone may still be able to intercede @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the dispenser of graces and best able to convert our sacrifices to the benefit of mankind .
In astronomy , a corona is defined as “ the rarefied gaseous envelope of the sun and other stars ” .
“ The sun ’ s corona is normally visible only during a total solar eclipse , when it is seen as an irregularly shaped pearly glow surrounding the darkened disc of the moon.
” The corona is the crown .
In the Book of the Apocalypse Our Lady is depicted as “ clothed with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her feet , and on her head a crown of twelve stars ” .
( Apoc .
12:1 ) Let us not miss the opportunity to make of this time a total offering to her so that Her Immaculate heart may soon triumph .

March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The third secret of Fatima opens with an Angel holding a flaming sword in his left hand, flashing. “It gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’”
In the first secret, Our Lady had shown the three children a vision of hell. It was full.
Could it really be the case that the need for penance is less acute and the reality of hell, a consequence of unrepentant sin, less threatening today than a hundred years ago, when the Mother of God descended from Heaven to inform her children of the urgency to repent?
Our Lady told little Jacinta that more sinners go to hell because of sins of impurity than for any other reason. Today many of these sins are state policy of the most powerful nations and smaller nations, too, have followed suit.
In once Catholic Ireland abortion and same-sex ‘marriage’ – two of the four sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance – are enshrined in the constitution. This is the same constitution that in its preamble still invokes the protection of the Most Holy Trinity.
More children have died worldwide through legal abortion than people killed in all the wars of recorded human history.
In my home country, Estonia, more people have been killed by abortion since 1955 than our living population today.
And throughout the world, countless children are being corrupted by school sex education, often with the placet of Catholic bishops. These programmes destroy the innocence of children, groom them for the porn, contraception or abortion industry and teach them to question whether God has created them a boy or a girl.
“Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.” (Is. 1:4)
And, we might ask, before they came to an abrupt halt, how many of the sacrilegious and irreverent Masses which Catholics today accept with casual indifference are really an affront to God that surpasses even the atrocities just mentioned?
What would Our Blessed Mother say now? Would it still be sufficient to pray the Rosary and keep the First Saturdays in honour of her Immaculate Heart to make reparation? We don’t know that. But we do know that this lighter penance of 1917 has not been tried – at least not as a society and not with the devotion that corresponds to the seriousness of the offences. And Our Lady’s specific request to prevent God’s punishment – the Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart – is still waiting to be done according to her explicit instructions.
In Akita in 1973, Our Lady appeared again. What she had to say echoed her message in Fatima – like a patient mother who repeats her instructions over and over again, because they have not been listened to or have been followed badly.
“[The] Church will be full of those who accept compromises,” she said and because of that, “if men do not repent and better themselves”, God will “inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity”, such as one will never have seen before. There will be “fire falling from the skies”, she said, “good and bad will perish and those who survive will wish they were dead.”
“If sins increase in number and gravity,” she said, “there will be no longer pardon for them.”
Sins have increased in number and gravity. In fact, our political and, worse, ecclesiastical bodies have become so imbued with sin and heresy that it does not require any special insight to see that if there ever was a time, when chastisement was deserved, that time is now.
Whether or not the “unprecedented” events that are now our daily reality – from the lockdown of nations to the suppression of public Masses by the order of Catholic bishops – amount to a chastisement, cannot yet be verified. As Catholics we consider the locked church doors more apocalyptic than the devastating human suffering, no matter how close, no matter how painful. As Catholics, what we are experiencing this Lent is an eclipse of the sun, a Good Friday prolonged until God only knows when. But as Catholics, leaving aside the question of whether the reaction to the Chinese virus is proportionate to the threat or not, we know that it would not be inappropriate to respond to it as a chastisement. And by so doing we would render our Blessed Mother the obedience in fulfilling her requests so long overdue.
Our sins are the fruit of the same tree. There is no distancing from the sins we have committed as God’s people, because we are the members of one body.
“Think you that these Galileans were sinners above all the men of Galilee, because they suffered such things? No, I say to you: but unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” (Lk. 13:2-3)
Indeed, “good and bad will perish” unless men “repent and better themselves”. And so the guilty and the just will get sick, lose their livelihoods, and suffer the myriad of difficulties the current crisis presents for social and family life. Even if we have our doubts about the origin of the crisis, the effects of it cannot be downplayed. And even, if by God’s grace, we do not deserve this trial for our personal sins, we do for collective ones.
“I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach,” Our Lady said in Akita. Not because she is the most powerful, but perhaps she alone still has the compassion to listen when men who have offended God so grievously will finally wake up.
Children know instinctively that when things are very bad it is their mother they must run to.
Archbishop Lefebvre taught his priests that God had given Catholics three gifts: the pope, the Mass and Our Lady. When the pope no longer fulfils his role, he is no longer a source of joy for us. And now, priests can no longer offer Masses publicly, in many places for an indefinite period. But whatever happens, we will always have Our Blessed Mother.
The more we enter into our enforced desert this Lent, the brighter her role becomes. She is the model of the Church, she who is now suffering at the hands of many of those who should be the first to protect her honour. Her passion reflects the passion of her Son. And just as when she stood, pierced with grief, at the foot of the Cross, perhaps we are asked to imitate her in standing by her in her passion now.
This is not a passive resignation. This was not at all her attitude on Calvary.
St. Ambrose says that “when the Apostles fled, she stood at the foot of the Cross, and saw in her Son’s wounds not the death of her treasure but the salvation of the world.”
The Roman Catechism teaches us that her pain was greater than that of any other creature’s, because of her immense faith and purity. Hanging on the Cross was not only her Son but also her God. For her, there was nowhere to turn for consolation as we have in our trials. And because of her purity, she suffered much more intensely than we ever could.
Yet, she never broke down. Even at the most torturous moments of her life she never fell down in despair. In the words of St. Ambrose, she saw the salvation of the world and so we should see its purification, standing firmly by as she stood by the Cross.
Perhaps at this time, we are to share especially in her deprivations, recounted in the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. While in the joyful mysteries she appears at the centre, in the sorrowful mysteries, she is more to the side. Perhaps we are to share her grief this Lent at not being able to be with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, nor bear the violent pain of the scourges and the crown of thorns, nor the weight of the Cross; and after all that in the crucifixion of her heart, while standing still at the foot of the Cross. Perhaps this is what we must offer this Lent and maybe beyond.
Our current separation from the Mass and the sacraments must, however, be God’s permitted will. We know that God never wills evil, but he allows tribulations to give an opportunity for repentance and conversion. In a way, the whole Church has been draped in a purple veil. Christ has hidden Himself from us to allow us to share in His suffering, to make reparation for sin, and to prepare for the renewal of all things.
This is an opportunity to offer real sacrifices for the Church, for the pope, and for the world’s more than 5300 bishops, most of whom seem to be so tragically confused in this crisis. A bishop once told me, that it is not a good time to be a bishop, but is a good time to be a great bishop. The great bishops will soon be heard and during our time in the desert we need to prepare for the triumphant resurrection of the visible church after her painful passion. Reducing the Sacraments to the level of non-essential cultural activities is not the approach that will prevail. Even in good times, this mindset did not win converts. It did not fill the seminaries and convents, increase devotion to the Mass nor reaffirm faith in the Real Presence. Now in a time of challenge, it rings hollow and fades altogether into the abyss. The faith of our fathers will be restored. Tradition, which has learned how to deal with war, pestilence, famine and loss has the spirit that will survive and continue to nurture the faithful in their ardent desire for Heaven. Let us embrace the traditional devotions to be strong and alive in our faith and better able to help those left desolate.
A crisis tends to bring people back to reality and with it comes a real opportunity to evangelise. In a shipwreck, everything excessive is thrown overboard. Only what is real and necessary is kept. In our crisis too, everything real triumphs over non-essentials. God is the ultimate reality and now is the time to reclaim His place in people’s lives.
Catholic spirituality is a masterclass in blending sorrow and joy, sickness and health, death and everlasting life: “[A]s sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and possessing all things”. (2 Cor: 6:10)
Our true and complete dependence on God, not even knowing, when we will next be able to receive Holy Communion or go to Confession gives us a real opportunity to enter into a desert this Passiontide and unite our sacrifices for the authentic renewal and purification of the Church. The most efficacious penances and sacrifices are those we have not chosen ourselves.
Let us not waste this opportunity.
So often the relief for a tribulation is not a miraculous cure yet unknown, but doing what we ought to have done all along. Let us pray the Rosary every day in earnest, as if everything depended on it.
Sr. Lucia, one of the Fatima seers, said: “The Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.”
Let us have a true and filial recourse to Our Blessed Mother in all things, who alone may still be able to intercede for us before her Son. She is the dispenser of graces and best able to convert our sacrifices to the benefit of mankind.
In astronomy, a corona is defined as “the rarefied gaseous envelope of the sun and other stars”. “The sun’s corona is normally visible only during a total solar eclipse, when it is seen as an irregularly shaped pearly glow surrounding the darkened disc of the moon.” The corona is the crown. In the Book of the Apocalypse Our Lady is depicted as “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”. (Apoc. 12:1) Let us not miss the opportunity to make of this time a total offering to her so that Her Immaculate heart may soon triumph.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--Here’s how to obtain Last Rites for a hospitalized COVID-19 patient

Editor ’ s note : This article is published anonymously to protect the identities of the parties involved and so that it may be shared as widely as possible .
March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Following the direction of my pastor , I am documenting our family ’ s successful struggle overcoming a hospital ’ s refusal to allow my mother , a confirmed COVID-19 patient , to receive Last Rites from a priest .
My pastor felt it was important to share this story in case there are other Catholics in this position who may benefit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On March 29 , 2020 , my 78-year-old lifelong Catholic mother received Last Rites from a priest as a confirmed COVID-19 patient at an Intensive Care Unit ( ICU ) at a semi-rural hospital run by a private regional health system in Georgia .
For two days , our immediate family repeated my mother ’ s request for Last Rites to hospital staff with no success .
On day three , after consultation with an attorney who helped us with our wording and strategy , we made the request again with more firmness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blueprint of what worked in our case .
At the time this request for Last Rites was made , my father was allowed to be in the ICU area , though isolated away from my mother .
While I was on the phone with him , he asked to speak to the nurse supervisor .
He then told her that his son on the phone had a question for her .
The nurse would not touch the phone for safety ’ s sake but allowed my father to place my call on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question .
The careful and calm wording of the request was as follows : “ My name is [ name ] .
I am the son of [ patient name ] .
Our family is appreciative of the wonderful medical care and attention that you are showing to my [ mother ] .
My [ mother ] is a devout Catholic and she has clearly expressed to me her desire to receive Last Rites from a Catholic priest .
My [ mother ] believes that her spiritual life is more important than her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rites has been made numerous times to hospital staff , each time being denied .
This refusal by the hospital has caused my [ mother ] and our family in what could be [ her ] final hours .
Our family has identified a priest who is willing to administer Last Rites if the hospital would permit him direct physical access to my [ mother ] and provide him with any necessary personal protective equipment .
Our family has been in contact with our attorney and we feel that this request for accommodation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family , along with our attorney , is willing to hold an emergency meeting with hospital staff to work out any reasonable accommodations or logistics which would help the hospital maintain a safe environment for all concerned.
” The nurse supervisor acknowledged that she heard my request .
She volunteered that she agreed that the spiritual life is more important than the physical life .
She wasn ’ t able to answer our request on the spot .
However , she agreed to escalate our request up through the hospital ’ s medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of about one hour , our request was approved by an executive committee of the hospital system .
First Things : The first and most important lesson of this story is that if you are reading this and you are free to do so , you need to make a plan to .
You also need to continue to go to Confession regularly ( St. Francis deSales recommends weekly ) and remain in a state of grace .
If you are admitted into a hospital for any other reason , such as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be easier .
But for suspected COVID-19 patients , the hospital safety rules will be a different matter entirely .
Do not take it for granted that this legal blueprint will work as well in your case .
Find a priest : If you or a family member have been admitted to a hospital and you are wanting Last Rites , you need to and build a plan that involves finding a priest who is willing to enter into the hospital room of a confirmed COVID-19 patient .
I called five priests before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You need to be upfront with the priest and tell him the full truth .
Ask him , “ If the hospital agrees to admit you and provide you full protective gear , would you be willing to enter the room of a confirmed COVID-19 patient and administer Last Rites under these conditions ?
” If the hospital approves your request , and you do not already have the priest lined up , you may lose precious time .
I recommend seeking out the more traditionally minded priests .
If diocesan priests are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priests of religious orders .
Consider calling the Society of St. Pius X ( SSPX ) priests in your area .
Their faculties to hear Confessions come directly from the Pope and not through the local bishop .
If you find a willing priest , you might consider following up with a financial or spiritual offering according to your means .
Find an attorney : You may consider finding an attorney to advise you through the process .
The time period you are operating in may not allow for formal demand letters or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you are engaged with an attorney may get their attention that you are serious about your family member ’ s rights being upheld .
Our attorney mentioned that using the term “ extreme emotional distress ” should place them on notice that a lawsuit could be forthcoming if the rights of the patient are not respected .
Remain calm : Try not to become threatening or angry .
Keep in mind that these people are doing wonderful life-saving work and their denials are likely coming from a concern for safety and probably not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to their charity and pity .
This request may ruffle some feathers .
Be prepared for some blowback .
In my case , the priest was allowed in , but I was denied , and I have been unable to see my own mother .
This was hard for me to accept , but I would gladly make this trade any day of the week .
Find prayer warriors : We are Catholics and Catholics should have prayer groups .
Reach out to them all and ask people to pray for this cause @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pro-life communities , and parish communities .
We had four Carmelite monasteries and hundreds of individual Catholics who were praying for this one intention of my mother receiving Last Rites .
Trust in God ’ s Providence : Regardless of whether you are successful , do not be discouraged .
We do not know the state of a person ’ s soul or the extent of God ’ s mercy .
We may not know how long it has been since their last Confession , or if they had a good Confession .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ pray .
Tell your loved one to offer his suffering to Christ in reparation for his sins and the sins of the world .
This suffering will be redemptive .
In addition to the remission of sin , one of the graces that comes with anointing with oil is the quieting of fear , and the illumination of the soul with pious and holy joy , enabling us to await with cheerfulness the coming of the Lord .
These Last Rites are worth every bit of your effort .
Please pray for my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for her life .

Editor’s note: This article is published anonymously to protect the identities of the parties involved and so that it may be shared as widely as possible.
March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Following the direction of my pastor, I am documenting our family’s successful struggle overcoming a hospital’s refusal to allow my mother, a confirmed COVID-19 patient, to receive Last Rites from a priest. My pastor felt it was important to share this story in case there are other Catholics in this position who may benefit from the path we have taken.
On March 29, 2020, my 78-year-old lifelong Catholic mother received Last Rites from a priest as a confirmed COVID-19 patient at an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a semi-rural hospital run by a private regional health system in Georgia. For two days, our immediate family repeated my mother’s request for Last Rites to hospital staff with no success. On day three, after consultation with an attorney who helped us with our wording and strategy, we made the request again with more firmness and clarity.
The following is a blueprint of what worked in our case.
At the time this request for Last Rites was made, my father was allowed to be in the ICU area, though isolated away from my mother. While I was on the phone with him, he asked to speak to the nurse supervisor. He then told her that his son on the phone had a question for her.
The nurse would not touch the phone for safety’s sake but allowed my father to place my call on the speaker so that I could ask my question.
The careful and calm wording of the request was as follows:
“My name is [name]. I am the son of [patient name]. Our family is appreciative of the wonderful medical care and attention that you are showing to my [mother]. My [mother] is a devout Catholic and she has clearly expressed to me her desire to receive Last Rites from a Catholic priest. My [mother] believes that her spiritual life is more important than her physical life. This request for Last Rites has been made numerous times to hospital staff, each time being denied. This refusal by the hospital has caused my [mother] and our family extreme emotional distress in what could be [her] final hours. Our family has identified a priest who is willing to administer Last Rites if the hospital would permit him direct physical access to my [mother] and provide him with any necessary personal protective equipment. Our family has been in contact with our attorney and we feel that this request for accommodation is reasonable. If needed, our family, along with our attorney, is willing to hold an emergency meeting with hospital staff to work out any reasonable accommodations or logistics which would help the hospital maintain a safe environment for all concerned.”
The nurse supervisor acknowledged that she heard my request. She volunteered that she agreed that the spiritual life is more important than the physical life. She wasn’t able to answer our request on the spot. However, she agreed to escalate our request up through the hospital’s medical and administrative leadership. In the span of about one hour, our request was approved by an executive committee of the hospital system.
First Things: The first and most important lesson of this story is that if you are reading this and you are free to do so, you need to make a plan to GO TO CONFESSION IMMEDIATELY . You also need to continue to go to Confession regularly (St. Francis deSales recommends weekly) and remain in a state of grace. If you are admitted into a hospital for any other reason, such as a car accident, getting Last Rites may be easier. But for suspected COVID-19 patients, the hospital safety rules will be a different matter entirely. Do not take it for granted that this legal blueprint will work as well in your case.
Find a priest: If you or a family member have been admitted to a hospital and you are wanting Last Rites, you need to spring into action and build a plan that involves finding a priest who is willing to enter into the hospital room of a confirmed COVID-19 patient .
I called five priests before I found one who was willing. You need to be upfront with the priest and tell him the full truth. Ask him, “If the hospital agrees to admit you and provide you full protective gear, would you be willing to enter the room of a confirmed COVID-19 patient and administer Last Rites under these conditions?”
If the hospital approves your request, and you do not already have the priest lined up, you may lose precious time. I recommend seeking out the more traditionally minded priests. If diocesan priests are not willing or not allowed, try priests of religious orders. Consider calling the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) priests in your area. Their faculties to hear Confessions come directly from the Pope and not through the local bishop. If you find a willing priest, you might consider following up with a financial or spiritual offering according to your means.
Find an attorney: You may consider finding an attorney to advise you through the process. The time period you are operating in may not allow for formal demand letters or lawsuits, but the hospital knowing that you are engaged with an attorney may get their attention that you are serious about your family member’s rights being upheld.
Our attorney mentioned that using the term “extreme emotional distress” should place them on notice that a lawsuit could be forthcoming if the rights of the patient are not respected.
Remain calm: Try not to become threatening or angry. Keep in mind that these people are doing wonderful life-saving work and their denials are likely coming from a concern for safety and probably not spite. Show your appreciation.
Appeal to their charity and pity. This request may ruffle some feathers. Be prepared for some blowback.
In my case, the priest was allowed in, but I was denied, and I have been unable to see my own mother. This was hard for me to accept, but I would gladly make this trade any day of the week.
Find prayer warriors: We are Catholics and Catholics should have prayer groups. Reach out to them all and ask people to pray for this cause. Reach out to homeschool communities, pro-life communities, and parish communities. We had four Carmelite monasteries and hundreds of individual Catholics who were praying for this one intention of my mother receiving Last Rites.
Trust in God’s Providence: Regardless of whether you are successful, do not be discouraged. We do not know the state of a person’s soul or the extent of God’s mercy. We may not know how long it has been since their last Confession, or if they had a good Confession. Do what you can, and then pray.
Tell your loved one to offer his suffering to Christ in reparation for his sins and the sins of the world. This suffering will be redemptive.
In addition to the remission of sin, one of the graces that comes with anointing with oil is the quieting of fear, and the illumination of the soul with pious and holy joy, enabling us to await with cheerfulness the coming of the Lord.
These Last Rites are worth every bit of your effort.
Please pray for my mother who at this hour is fighting for her life.
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lifesitenews--2020-03-31--Cardinal: Coronavirus pandemic is a chastisement for the Church

March 31 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) — German cardinal Paul Josef Cordes has joined the growing number of Catholic leaders looking at the coronavirus pandemic as a chastisement .
“ God ’ s Word also clearly states that life contrary to God can lead to illness , ” wrote the former president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum .
Reliable exegetes state , “ Sickness is the wages of sin.
” Among other biblical passages , Cordes pointed to the story of the paralytic in the Gospel of Mark , which “ makes the link between illness and sin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quoted archbishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg , Germany , who claimed that it would be “ cynical ” to call the COVID-19 pandemic a chastisement .
The cardinal said this statement is only true if it meant to indicate a direct connection between a person suffering and that person ’ s very own sins .
Cordes , again without naming any names , also criticized cardinal Angelo Scola , who until 2017 headed the Milan archdiocese .
Scola had said , “ The idea of divine punishment is not part of the Christian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation as the one we are experiencing right now .
Of course it is a complex issue , but God does not use punishment to convert us !
” The German cardinal commented , “ Whoever distorts God ’ s love so completely condemns angrily the popular piety of centuries .
He has God ’ s word against him , which says , ‘ God is treating you as sons ; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline ?
’ ( Heb .
12:7 ) ” “ And what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do not only close church doors , but also heaven , ” Cordes added .
“ But God is not apathetic.
” Recently , bishop Athanasius Schneider called the coronavirus pandemic “ a divine intervention to chastise and purify the sinful world and also the Church.
” Unlike Cardinal Cordes , the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana , Kazakhstan was explicit in describing the potential causes of the chastisement .
He quoted from the book of Revelation , the last book of the Bible .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you have some there who hold the teaching ... that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality .
Therefore repent .
If not , I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
” “ I am convinced , ” Schneider added , “ that Christ would repeat the same words to Pope Francis and to the other bishops who allowed the idolatrous veneration of the Pachamama and who implicitly approved sexual relationships outside a valid marriage , by allowing the so-called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sexually active to receive Holy Communion.
” The bishop , who grew up in the Soviet Union before coming to Germany in 1973 , said the current situation “ is so unique and serious that one can discover behind all of this a deeper meaning.
” Receiving Holy Communion in the hand , a practice disobediently adopted locally and then permitted in a widespread way by Pope Paul VI roughly 50 years ago , “ has led to an unintentional and intentional desecration [ of ] the Eucharistic Body of Christ on an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 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.
” According to Schneider , taking the Eucharist “ directly with one ’ s own hands and fingers resembles ever more the gesture of taking common food.
” For many people , he said , this practice led to a weakened faith in the real presence .
“ The Eucharistic presence of Christ has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these faithful a kind of holy bread or symbol.
” The current situation , where in many parts of the world no public Masses are said , and Holy Communion can not be received by the faithful , “ 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.
” Other Catholic leaders — for instance , John Smeaton , chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Unborn Children — the first and largest pro-life organization in the United Kingdom , have offered similar assessments .
In his article for CNA Deutsch , Cordes also expressed his disappointment in the general Catholic response to the coronavirus pandemic .
“ In the published statements of the German bishops prevail thankfulness towards doctors and helpers , encouragement to be available for service to others , and a strengthening in humanitarian discipline , ” the cardinal explained .
“ For example , it was bad news that the current situation no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and caution are called for .
The risk of infection should be reduced , especially among the sick , the old and the weak .
Catholics are called upon to show understanding .
The church is part of society and must make its contribution , ” Cordes recounted .
“ These are the words of the instructions with which the ordained shepherds announce the cancellation of services , ” he then added , no longer hiding his bewilderment .
Cordes pointed out that spiritual advice “ can only be discovered with difficulty in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the proposal to pray .
The word ‘ God ’ is almost always avoided.
” The cardinal referred to the way the Church traditionally handled catastrophes like plague , for instance by passion plays or processions .
The experience “ of powerlessness and hardship , ” which many are experiencing today , drives people to God , Cordes is convinced .
“ Necessity teaches to pray .
”

German cardinal Paul Josef Cordes has joined the growing number of Catholic leaders looking at the coronavirus as punishment for the Church.
March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — German cardinal Paul Josef Cordes has joined the growing number of Catholic leaders looking at the coronavirus pandemic as a chastisement. “God’s Word also clearly states that life contrary to God can lead to illness,” wrote the former president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.
Reliable exegetes state, “Sickness is the wages of sin.” Among other biblical passages, Cordes pointed to the story of the paralytic in the Gospel of Mark, which “makes the link between illness and sin irrefutable.”
Without naming him, Cordes quoted archbishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg, Germany, who claimed that it would be “cynical” to call the COVID-19 pandemic a chastisement. The cardinal said this statement is only true if it meant to indicate a direct connection between a person suffering and that person’s very own sins.
Cordes, again without naming any names, also criticized cardinal Angelo Scola, who until 2017 headed the Milan archdiocese. Scola had said, “The idea of divine punishment is not part of the Christian vision — even in such a dramatic situation as the one we are experiencing right now. Of course it is a complex issue, but God does not use punishment to convert us!”
The German cardinal commented, “Whoever distorts God’s love so completely condemns angrily the popular piety of centuries. He has God’s word against him, which says, ‘God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?’ (Heb. 12:7)”
“And what is most deeply disturbing, such consolers do not only close church doors, but also heaven,” Cordes added. “But God is not apathetic.”
Recently, bishop Athanasius Schneider called the coronavirus pandemic “a divine intervention to chastise and purify the sinful world and also the Church.”
Unlike Cardinal Cordes, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana, Kazakhstan was explicit in describing the potential causes of the chastisement.
He quoted from the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. “I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching … that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.”
“I am convinced,” Schneider added, “that Christ would repeat the same words to Pope Francis and to the other bishops who allowed the idolatrous veneration of the Pachamama and who implicitly approved sexual relationships outside a valid marriage, by allowing the so-called ‘divorced and remarried’ who are sexually active to receive Holy Communion.”
The bishop, who grew up in the Soviet Union before coming to Germany in 1973, said the current situation “is so unique and serious that one can discover behind all of this a deeper meaning.”
Receiving Holy Communion in the hand, a practice disobediently adopted locally and then permitted in a widespread way by Pope Paul VI roughly 50 years ago, “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.”
According to Schneider, taking the Eucharist “directly with one’s own hands and fingers resembles ever more the gesture of taking common food.”
For many people, he said, this practice led to a weakened faith in the real presence. “The Eucharistic presence of Christ has, over time, unconsciously become for these faithful a kind of holy bread or symbol.”
The current situation, where in many parts of the world no public Masses are said, and Holy Communion cannot be received by the faithful, “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.”
Other Catholic leaders — for instance, John Smeaton, chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children — the first and largest pro-life organization in the United Kingdom, have offered similar assessments.
In his article for CNA Deutsch, Cordes also expressed his disappointment in the general Catholic response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“In the published statements of the German bishops prevail thankfulness towards doctors and helpers, encouragement to be available for service to others, and a strengthening in humanitarian discipline,” the cardinal explained.
“For example, it was bad news that the current situation no longer allowed public worship services. But solidarity and caution are called for. The risk of infection should be reduced, especially among the sick, the old and the weak. Catholics are called upon to show understanding. The church is part of society and must make its contribution,” Cordes recounted.
“These are the words of the instructions with which the ordained shepherds announce the cancellation of services,” he then added, no longer hiding his bewilderment.
Cordes pointed out that spiritual advice “can only be discovered with difficulty in the proclamations. Here and there comes the proposal to pray. The word ‘God’ is almost always avoided.”
The cardinal referred to the way the Church traditionally handled catastrophes like plague, for instance by passion plays or processions.
The experience “of powerlessness and hardship,” which many are experiencing today, drives people to God, Cordes is convinced. “Necessity teaches to pray.”
Share