"I had an abortion," Ms. Magazine urges its readers to declare. How about "I wasn't aborted"?

The Web site of Ms. Magazine--yes, it still exists--is calling on readers to sign a petition: "I have had an abortion. I publicly join the millions of women in the United States who have had an abortion in demanding a repeal of laws that restrict women's reproductive freedom."

Well, so much for the right to privacy. If Ms. readers hadn't had so many abortions, there might be more Ms. readers. As for the rest of us, here's a petition we could all sign: "I wasn't aborted."

Having narrowly escaped being aborted, I'd be the first in line.

Like most Soviet-era fetuses conceived in Russia by couples who were already parents, I was scheduled for abortion as a matter of course. In a society where abortion was the only form of birth control, it wasn't uncommon to meet women who had double-digit abortion counts. Often a couple would schedule the appointment before they even stopped to remember that they wanted a second child.

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The church has a long tradition of social justice teaching. And one of the things we reflect on as a church -- and we've done this for years -- is the issue of immigration.

We believe that people have a right to a living wage in their own country. They have a right to have secure homes in the places where they live. But if people are unable to support themselves and their families, there's also a right to immigrate.

And we also believe that each country has a right to secure borders and to orderly immigration principles and policies, but making all that fit together is a difficult task that requires reflection. And we think a comprehensive approach to this is what's really important.

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This is a nice little article about the History of EWTN.

An Alabama nun transplanted from Ohio founded a TV channel offering nothing but Roman Catholic programming in 1981. She had little more than faith in God, $200 and a garage to use as a studio.

Mother Mary Angelica had a vision for Eternal Word Television Network back then, but she didn't have a plan. Today, it seems like somebody sure did.

Now available in 127 countries and more than 118 million households, EWTN Global Catholic Network marks its 25th anniversary this month. With viewers from Illinois to India, the satellite channel has grown to include radio, Internet and catalog sales, and it bills itself as the largest religious media network in the world.

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"This work is based on the material which he collected for his spiritual exhortations to his brethren, and published at the request of his superiors. Although the book thus written was primarily intended for the use of his religious brethren, yet he destined it also for the profit and edification of other religious and of laymen in the world. It is a book of practical instructions on all the virtues which go to make up the perfect Christian life, whether lived in the cloister or in the world."

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Officials from the Maryland-based Catholic Relief Services announced last week that they, along with their oversees partner Caritas Lebanon, are leading a massive effort to provide aid to the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced or cut off by the ongoing battle between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group.

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Catholics perplexed by actions of San Francisco Catholic Charities

Catholics in San Francisco and throughout the United States continue to be confused by the decision of San Francisco Catholic Charities to persist in facilitating adoptions to homosexual couples, an action which the Church has spoken out against.

In announcement made two weeks ago, San Francisco Catholic Charities decided that while it will close its own adoption services, it will continue to outsource personnel to an agency that facilitates adoptions in the area, including adoptions to homosexual couples.

Many claim that the motivating factor for Catholic Charities’ decision to change its policy on adoption is increasing pressure from the Vatican. In 2003, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), headed by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, released a document entitled Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons. The CDF document makes clear that the Catholic Church does not approve of or wish to take part in the adoption of children by couples living an active homosexual lifestyle. Since the document’s release little visible action had taken place on the part of Catholic Charities, that is, until this year.

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"It is disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative," Father Manfredo Leone from Rome's Santa Maria Liberatrice church said late today about the star's latest stage stunt.

"Being raised on a cross with a crown of thorns like a modern Christ is absurd. Doing it in the cradle of Christianity comes close to blasphemy."

In an unusual show of religious solidarity, Muslim and Jewish leaders added their condemnation of the self-styled Queen of Pop, famous for peppering her concerts and videos with controversial religious and sexual imagery.

"I think her idea is in the worst taste and she'd do better to go home," Mario Scialoja, head of Italy's Muslim League said.

Riccardo Pacifici, spokesman and vice president of the Roman Jewish community, added Madonna should have pulled the routine considering where she was performing – a stadium a mile from the gates of Vatican City.

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Catholic publisher Silver Burdett Ginn Religion and Third Day Games, Inc. are partnering in a new series of educational computer games based on the Gospel readings. The new Gospel Champions series takes children back to biblical times by recreating Gospel stories in a state-of-the-art game that integrates action/adventure gameplay with sequenced elements of Bible stories.

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This is a great headline: Local Woman Becomes a Catholic Priest. Is this a result of media bias or ignornance?

A Philadelphia woman, who considers herself a Catholic priest, led services Sunday morning. Afterwards Eileen McCafferty DiFranco greeted the faithful as they left First United Methodist Church of Germantown.

DiFranco was ordained Monday by a group called Roman Catholic Women-Priests.

Catholic church leaders say she and the other women ordained in Pittsburgh by the women's group are not priests. The church only allows men to become priests.

DiFranco, a public school nurse and mother of 4, says it is a calling that Catholic women should be able to answer as well.

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Rev. Okorie, a priest of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Afikpo, according to reports was attacked in the night with multiple stabs and machete cuts inflicted on him.

He was later taken to a nearby hospital where he died.

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Catholic Charities San Francisco has followed the example of Catholic Charities Boston - no more adoptions (???).

By partnering with another adoption service, San Francisco's Catholic Charities will increase the number of children that find homes without directly placing kids with same-sex couples, said the agency's executive director, Brian Cahill.

California Kids Connection, a statewide adoption exchange set up by the Oakland-based nonprofit Family Builders by Adoption, features information on about 500 children on a Web site that prospective parents can browse.

Workers at the adoption service had to limit the number of children they work with because of limited staffing, but with the help of three Catholic Charities employees who will be placed there, they'll be able to handle more cases, said San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer.

The Catholic Charities workers will refer prospective parents to agencies that can complete the adoption proceedings, Niederauer said.

"That's where we'll help," he said. "What we won't be doing ... is placement in homes. We can't be involved in that anymore."

...

Cahill emphasized that his agency would still help prospective adoptive parents, including gays and lesbians, with information and referral help through an alliance with another organization. Effective immediately, however, Catholic Charities of San Francisco will no longer handle ``individual home studies, specific family/child matching, adoptive placements, or finalizations," he said.

"It is disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative," Father Manfredo Leone from Rome's Santa Maria Liberatrice church said late today about the star's latest stage stunt.

"Being raised on a cross with a crown of thorns like a modern Christ is absurd. Doing it in the cradle of Christianity comes close to blasphemy."

In an unusual show of religious solidarity, Muslim and Jewish leaders added their condemnation of the self-styled Queen of Pop, famous for peppering her concerts and videos with controversial religious and sexual imagery.

"I think her idea is in the worst taste and she'd do better to go home," Mario Scialoja, head of Italy's Muslim League said.

Riccardo Pacifici, spokesman and vice president of the Roman Jewish community, added Madonna should have pulled the routine considering where she was performing � a stadium a mile from the gates of Vatican City.

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No mention in the headline that it is invalid...

But to the women, the ordinations are genuine, though they acknowledge the ordinations violate canon law. They say they are willing to risk excommunication in the hope of sparking a revolution of equality within an institution resistant to change.

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September 15th will be our next podcast with original content.

Universal Call is a great project and we are constantly gratified by the support and kind words we receive from our listeners. We have decided to commit to 100 programs.

However, the next program will have to wait until September 15th! Yes, Jim, your host (a.k.a. me), is moving his family of (7) across the country from beautiful sunny beachside Orange County to Murrysville, Pennsylvania!

Our usual high quality content (if I do say so myself), simply cannot be maintained whilst between buying and selling houses and between changing careers and between goodbyes and hellos, etc…

However, I will put together a "Clip"cast highlighting some of our better moments between now and the September 15th program, so withdrawal symptoms shouldn't be too severe.

Besides, this would be a great time to listen to some of our excellent, yet overlooked, programs:

• Father Steve Sallot on "All You Ever Wanted to Know About Being A Pastor but Were Afraid to Ask"
• Paddy Jim Baggot on Obstetrics/Gynecology and Catholic Teaching
• Dr. Scott Hahn on Keeping the Lord's Day Holy
• Helen Hitchcock on Liturgy in everyday life
• Holly Pierlot on Motherhood as a Vocation
• Dating and Vocations with Fr. John Waiss

I will keep the website updated, be checking our emails and voicemails, and be lining up interviews all through this period so that we should be able to enter into the fall with momentum and continue to Answer the Call.

The governments of four Chinese provinces "have forbidden many Catholic youth from coming to Hong Kong for the Asian Youth Day" that for them is "an anti-China event", Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun said yesterday. The bishop of the territory was giving an address to inaugurate the event that brought together 1,000 Catholic youth from 20 countries across the continent.

"Many Chinese youth told us they wanted to come but they did not manage to get permission from the authorities," said the cardinal. He did not want to supply the names of the provinces implicated but said that around 60 youth had managed to come "disguised" as tourists.

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