Vermont now ‘death state’ with doctor-assisted suicide law, bishop says

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Now that Vermont allows “doctor-prescribed suicide,” the “magnificent landscape of this state, which echoes life from its majestic mountains to its powerful waterways, no longer is reflected in the laws which govern the Green Mountain State,” said the head of the statewide Diocese of Burlington.
“Vermont is now identified as one of the few death states where it is legal for life to be terminated at its beginning and end stages,” said Bishop Salvatore R. Matano in a statement issued May 20, a little more than an hour after Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
“It is a tragic moment in the rich history of our state that our elected officials have passed and signed into law legislation placing medical professionals in the position of legally prescribing medicines with the sole intention of terminating human life,” the bishop said.
Vermont becomes the first state to have such a law passed by the Legislature.

SECURED payday loans

Moral compass guides the way

WORCESTER – Amanda Bollacker came to her graduation ceremony hoping to be inspired by Boston FBI leader Richard DesLauriers. She wasn’t disappointed.
“I enjoyed how he talked about the values of the college and his accomplishments here,” the Assumption College graduate said, standing in the rain with her classmates and family members outside the Plourde Recreation Center following the May 11 ceremony.
“It showed how the values here will bring us to great places if we follow them,” Bollacker said.

Catholic schools study to assist in planning

WORCESTER – The results of a study being conducted on Catholic schools in the southern part of the diocese will be released next month, said Superintendent Delma Josephson.
She said the study will provide a clear view of “our current reality” to assist in future planning.
Findings from schools in the greater Worcester area, as well as the northern part of the diocese, will be available in the fall, she said.
The study is being done by the Wisconsin-based Meitler Consultants Inc., a firm that specializes in collecting and analyzing data from Catholic parishes and school systems.

Featured Articles

Worcester Diocesan Science Fair
May 17, 2013 Posted By The Catholic Free Press
Ellexa Menezes, an 8th-grader from Trinity Catholic Academy in Southbridge, shows her sister, Ava, her project about hydroponics at the Worcester Diocesan Science Fair Thursday at Assumption College.

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Hospitalized N.Y. dad gets to see daughter’s first Communion
May 2, 2013 Posted By The Catholic Free Press
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) — Confined to Strong Memorial Hospital as he waits for a heart transplant, Timothy Day of Kenmore, N.Y., wasn’t going to be able to attend his 8-year-old daughter Erin’s first Communion. So Erin decided the celebration of the Eucharist should come to him.

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FDA ‘acted irresponsibly’ in lowering age for emergency contraceptives
May 2, 2013 Posted By The Catholic Free Press
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Food and Drug Administration “acted irresponsibly” with its decision to lower the age limit from 17 to 15 for purchasing an over-the-counter emergency contraceptive, said an official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“No public health consideration justifies the unsupervised sale of such drugs to young teens,” said Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the USCCB’s Secretariat for Pro Life Activities.

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Archbishop Banach holds joyous celebration at home before setting off to represent the Pope
May 16, 2013 Posted By The Catholic Free Press
Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish welcomed home its native son Archbishop Michael W. Banach Sunday. Joy permeated the proceedings from the formal greetings at the beginning, to the children in traditional Polish dress presenting him with gifts at its conclusion. The parish which nurtured his vocation to the priesthood added to the homecoming with prayers and hymns sung by the Polish choir in its native tongue.
Archbishop Banach is home for a short time before he travels across the world to take up his new mission for the Church as apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea. There he will be the representative of Pope Francis.

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Local

Hundreds of new donors boost Partners
May 16, 2013 Posted by The Catholic Free Press
As Partners in Charity sits less than $1 million from its goal, the appeal director is most encouraged by the number of new donors this year.
“We have received 876 new gifts and pledges from individuals who have never previously supported the annual appeal. This group alone has given a total of $102,000,” according to Michael Gillespie, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development. So far, about 15,000 people have donated.
“It is quite evident that our pastors and lay volunteers are recruiting and inviting new individual donors,” he said.
National

Tornadoes exact deadly toll; region needs ‘a lot of prayers right now’
May 21, 2013 Posted by The Catholic Free Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (CNS) — Even after the initial death toll was cut by more than half, the human and material devastation of a string of tornadoes that buffeted areas of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City May 19-20 was incalculable.
“Our first concern is for the victims who have lost their lives or loved ones and suffered injury or loss of property,” said a May 21 statement by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City.
“We are moved by the efforts of the first responders who have put their own lives on hold to help in this time of need. We owe them a debt of gratitude and assure them of our prayers,” Archbishop Coakley said.
International

Police evacuate Notre Dame Cathedral after man commits suicide
May 21, 2013 Posted by The Catholic Free Press
PARIS (CNS) — Visitors were evacuated from Notre Dame Cathedral after a man committed suicide in the 850-year-old church, police said.

News agencies reported that the man in his 70s walked up to the main altar and shot himself the afternoon of May 21 as tourists and worshippers were in the church.

Cathedral officials issued a statement late the afternoon of May 21 confirming that a man committed suicide by firearm as hundreds of people were inside the church. The statement offered no other details.
Vatican

Vatican denies pope performed public exorcism
May 22, 2013 Posted by The Catholic Free Press
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Francis solemnly laid both hands on the head of a young man in a wheelchair and prayed intently over him for several minutes, he was not performing an exorcism, said the Vatican spokesman.

The young man, who was among dozens of people in wheelchairs greeted by the pope at the end of Mass May 19, appeared somewhat agitated when the pope approached. The priest with him, Legionary of Christ Father Juan Rivas, said something to the pope, who then prayed over the man.

“The Holy Father had no intention of performing an exorcism, but — as he often does with the sick and suffering people presented to him — he simply intended to pray for the suffering person before him,” said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi.
Commentary

Selfishness is a downer, proclaiming Christ brings joy, pope says
May 22, 2013 Posted by The Catholic Free Press
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Selfishness only brings sadness and bitterness, while stepping outside of oneself to evangelize is the ultimate “pick me up” and source of joy, Pope Francis said.

“Let’s live the Gospel with humility and courage. Give witness to the newness, hope and joy that the Lord brings to your life,” the pope said May 22 at his weekly general audience.
Spiritual

Pope: Unemployment, slave labor go against God’s plan, human dignity
May 2, 2013 Posted by The Catholic Free Press
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called for an end to slave labor and human trafficking as well as greater efforts to create dignified work for more people. The problem of unemployment is “very often caused by a purely economic view of society, which seeks self-centered profit, outside the bounds of social justice,” he said, marking the May 1 feast of St. Joseph the Worker during his weekly general audience.