Pages 50-77
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Atheism and Anni Sacri
Anni Sacri (Pope Pius XII, 1950) 
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII
ON A PROGRAM FOR COMBATING
ATHEISTIC PROPAGANDA THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
3. That which seems to Us not only the greatest evil but the root of all evil is this: often the lie is substituted for the truth, and is then used as an instrument of dispute. On the part of not a few religion is passed by as a thing of no importance, and elsewhere absolutely prohibited in family and social life as a remnant of ancient superstitions; public and private atheism is exalted in such a way that God and His law are being abolished, and morals no longer have any foundation. The Press also too often vulgarly reviles religious feeling, while it does not hesitate to spread the most shameful obscenities, agitating and with incalculable harm leading into vice tender childhood and betrayed youth.
4. By means of false promises a people is deceived and provoked to hatred, rivalry and rebellion, especially when the hereditary faith, the only relief in this earthly exile, is successfully torn from its heart. Disturbances, riots and revolts are organized and fomented in continuing series, which prepare for the ruin of the economy and cause irreparable harm to the common good.
5. We must above all deplore with overwhelming sadness that in not a few nations the rights of God, Church and human nature itself are outraged and trampled upon. Sacred ministers, even those invested with high dignities, are either driven from their proper Sees, exiled and imprisoned, or impeded in a manner preventing them from exercising their ministry. In the field of education, whether of lower or of university level, as well as in publications and the Press, permission to explain and defend the doctrine of the Church either is not given or is so restricted and subjected to such surveillance by official censorship that the arbitrary proposition that truth, liberty and religion must submissively serve only the civil authority seems to be the established principle.
6. Since these innumerable evils spring, as We have said, from one source only, the repudiation of God and contempt for His law, it is necessary, Venerable Brethren, to offer to God fervent prayers and recall all to those principles whence alone can come enlightenment for minds, peace and concord for souls and well ordered justice between the various social classes.
7. As you know, once religion is taken away there cannot be a well ordered, well regulated society. In this point lies the urgency to spur on priests under your guidance in order that, especially during the Holy Year, they spare no efforts so that souls entrusted to them, with their false prejudices and erroneous convictions cast aside, and hatreds and discords settled, may nourish themselves on the teachings of the Gospel and thus participate in Christian life so as to hasten the desired renewal of morals.
8. And since the priest can reach neither everybody nor everything, and as his work is not always able to meet adequately all needs, those who serve in the Catholic Action ranks must offer the aid of their own experience and activity. No one must be idle and lazy in the face of so many evils and dangers while those in the other camp strive to destroy the very basis of Catholic religion and Christian worship. Let it never come to pass that "the children of this world are wiser than the children of light" (Luke xvi. 8); let it never be that the latter are less active than the former.
9. But human efforts are ineffective unless strengthened by Divine Grace. We exhort you, therefore, Venerable Brethren, to begin a veritable crusade of prayer among your faithful to implore from the Father of Mercies and the God of Consolation (2 Cor. i. 3) suitable remedies for the present evils. We intensely desire that, united with Us, they offer public prayers on March 26th Passion Sunday, when the sacred rites of the Church begin to commemorate the bitter sufferings by means of which the Divine Redeemer liberated us from slavery to the demon and led us back to the freedom of the sons of God. It is Our intention on that day to descend into the Basilica of St. Peter to unite Our prayers not only with those present but - as We hope - with those of the whole Catholic world. Let those who, because of illness or old age or other reasons, cannot come to church, offer to God with humble and trusting heart their sufferings and their fears so that the prayer of all, the yearning of all and the wish of all may be one.
10. Let all, united with Us in prayer, implore from Divine mercy that a new order, based on truth, justice and charity, may arise from the longed-for restoration of morals. May the Heavenly Light illuminate the minds of those who have in their hands the destinies of peoples; may they realize that just as peace is the work of wisdom and justice, so war is the fruit of blindness and hatred; let them consider that one day they must render account not only to history but to God's eternal judgment.
11. Those who profusely sow the seed of hatred, of discord and of rivalry; those who secretly or openly arouse the masses and provoke rebellions; those who deceive with empty promises the easily agitated masses, even they must understand that the justice demanded by Christian principles, which gives birth to equilibrium and fraternal concord, is achieved not through force and violence, but with the application of the law.
12. Guided by the supreme light gained by collective prayer, let all be persuaded that only the Divine Redeemer can compose the many and formidable conflicts; only Jesus Christ, We say, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John xvi. 6), Who bestows celestial clarity to clouded minds and Divine strength to doubtful and indolent wills (Imitation of Christ, III, 50 8, 5); He alone can set on the road to eternal happiness the souls of men joined by the bond of brotherhood.
13. With faith, love and hope, therefore, We address to Him Our prayers. May He then, especially during this Holy Year, benignly look down upon humanity, oppressed by so many misfortunes, assailed by so many fears and by waves of so many discords. And as one day, by His divine sign, He calmed the tempest on the Lake of Galilee, so today may He quieten human storms.
14. Let the lies of the wicked be exposed by His light, let the surly arrogance of the proud be humbled, let the rich be led to justice, generosity and charity, let the poor and wretched take as their model the family of Nazareth, which also earned its bread through daily labor; finally, let those who hold the Government of State be persuaded that there is no more solid social foundation than Christian teaching and the safeguarding of religious liberty.
Read more:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12031950_anni-sacri_en.html
Given at Rome at St. Peter's, March 12th, 1950, the twelfth year of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XII
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII
ON A PROGRAM FOR COMBATING
ATHEISTIC PROPAGANDA THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
3. That which seems to Us not only the greatest evil but the root of all evil is this: often the lie is substituted for the truth, and is then used as an instrument of dispute. On the part of not a few religion is passed by as a thing of no importance, and elsewhere absolutely prohibited in family and social life as a remnant of ancient superstitions; public and private atheism is exalted in such a way that God and His law are being abolished, and morals no longer have any foundation. The Press also too often vulgarly reviles religious feeling, while it does not hesitate to spread the most shameful obscenities, agitating and with incalculable harm leading into vice tender childhood and betrayed youth.
4. By means of false promises a people is deceived and provoked to hatred, rivalry and rebellion, especially when the hereditary faith, the only relief in this earthly exile, is successfully torn from its heart. Disturbances, riots and revolts are organized and fomented in continuing series, which prepare for the ruin of the economy and cause irreparable harm to the common good.
5. We must above all deplore with overwhelming sadness that in not a few nations the rights of God, Church and human nature itself are outraged and trampled upon. Sacred ministers, even those invested with high dignities, are either driven from their proper Sees, exiled and imprisoned, or impeded in a manner preventing them from exercising their ministry. In the field of education, whether of lower or of university level, as well as in publications and the Press, permission to explain and defend the doctrine of the Church either is not given or is so restricted and subjected to such surveillance by official censorship that the arbitrary proposition that truth, liberty and religion must submissively serve only the civil authority seems to be the established principle.
6. Since these innumerable evils spring, as We have said, from one source only, the repudiation of God and contempt for His law, it is necessary, Venerable Brethren, to offer to God fervent prayers and recall all to those principles whence alone can come enlightenment for minds, peace and concord for souls and well ordered justice between the various social classes.
7. As you know, once religion is taken away there cannot be a well ordered, well regulated society. In this point lies the urgency to spur on priests under your guidance in order that, especially during the Holy Year, they spare no efforts so that souls entrusted to them, with their false prejudices and erroneous convictions cast aside, and hatreds and discords settled, may nourish themselves on the teachings of the Gospel and thus participate in Christian life so as to hasten the desired renewal of morals.
8. And since the priest can reach neither everybody nor everything, and as his work is not always able to meet adequately all needs, those who serve in the Catholic Action ranks must offer the aid of their own experience and activity. No one must be idle and lazy in the face of so many evils and dangers while those in the other camp strive to destroy the very basis of Catholic religion and Christian worship. Let it never come to pass that "the children of this world are wiser than the children of light" (Luke xvi. 8); let it never be that the latter are less active than the former.
9. But human efforts are ineffective unless strengthened by Divine Grace. We exhort you, therefore, Venerable Brethren, to begin a veritable crusade of prayer among your faithful to implore from the Father of Mercies and the God of Consolation (2 Cor. i. 3) suitable remedies for the present evils. We intensely desire that, united with Us, they offer public prayers on March 26th Passion Sunday, when the sacred rites of the Church begin to commemorate the bitter sufferings by means of which the Divine Redeemer liberated us from slavery to the demon and led us back to the freedom of the sons of God. It is Our intention on that day to descend into the Basilica of St. Peter to unite Our prayers not only with those present but - as We hope - with those of the whole Catholic world. Let those who, because of illness or old age or other reasons, cannot come to church, offer to God with humble and trusting heart their sufferings and their fears so that the prayer of all, the yearning of all and the wish of all may be one.
10. Let all, united with Us in prayer, implore from Divine mercy that a new order, based on truth, justice and charity, may arise from the longed-for restoration of morals. May the Heavenly Light illuminate the minds of those who have in their hands the destinies of peoples; may they realize that just as peace is the work of wisdom and justice, so war is the fruit of blindness and hatred; let them consider that one day they must render account not only to history but to God's eternal judgment.
11. Those who profusely sow the seed of hatred, of discord and of rivalry; those who secretly or openly arouse the masses and provoke rebellions; those who deceive with empty promises the easily agitated masses, even they must understand that the justice demanded by Christian principles, which gives birth to equilibrium and fraternal concord, is achieved not through force and violence, but with the application of the law.
12. Guided by the supreme light gained by collective prayer, let all be persuaded that only the Divine Redeemer can compose the many and formidable conflicts; only Jesus Christ, We say, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John xvi. 6), Who bestows celestial clarity to clouded minds and Divine strength to doubtful and indolent wills (Imitation of Christ, III, 50 8, 5); He alone can set on the road to eternal happiness the souls of men joined by the bond of brotherhood.
13. With faith, love and hope, therefore, We address to Him Our prayers. May He then, especially during this Holy Year, benignly look down upon humanity, oppressed by so many misfortunes, assailed by so many fears and by waves of so many discords. And as one day, by His divine sign, He calmed the tempest on the Lake of Galilee, so today may He quieten human storms.
14. Let the lies of the wicked be exposed by His light, let the surly arrogance of the proud be humbled, let the rich be led to justice, generosity and charity, let the poor and wretched take as their model the family of Nazareth, which also earned its bread through daily labor; finally, let those who hold the Government of State be persuaded that there is no more solid social foundation than Christian teaching and the safeguarding of religious liberty.
Read more:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12031950_anni-sacri_en.html
Given at Rome at St. Peter's, March 12th, 1950, the twelfth year of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XII
Sunday, April 1, 2012
O Lord the Giver of all Life
O Lord, the Giver of all life
Whose ways are ever just,
Your people lift their hearts to you
In praise and prayer and trust.
Protect the lives of those unborn;
Let laws reflect your will;
Give us your strength to work for life,
That man may cease to kill.
Help us to know your will for us;
Give courage for the fight.
Dismiss our doubts; renew our hearts
To struggle for the right.
O Mother of the Crucified,
Who bore the Lord of life,
For every mother intercede;
Be with us in our strife.
Lord Christ, to whom each soul is dear,
For whom each child has worth,
Receive your children who have died
Before their time of birth.
Blest Trinity, O living God,
To you our prayers ascend,
Bring all at last to dwell with you,
Where life shall never end.
Listen to the first stanza sung by the Adoremus Hymnal Choir here
Where life shall never end.
Listen to the first stanza sung by the Adoremus Hymnal Choir here
Friday, March 9, 2012
Same-sex “Marriage” Submission and Survey
As you may be aware, there are a number of Bills in Australia’s Federal Parliament aiming to change the definition of Marriage from one man and one woman to a man and a man or a woman and a woman.
I encourage you to send a submission stating your opposition redefining Marriage.
You can read about it here:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=legcon_ctte/marriage_equality_2012/index.htm
I also encourage you to complete the Australian House of Representatives Online Survey on the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2012 and the Marriage Amendment Bill 2012. 
You can complete the survey here:
Further Reading
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Queensland Pro-Life Voting Guide
Family Life International’s Pro-Life voting guide has been released. It is an excellent resource for any Queenslander who wants to make an informed Pro-Life Vote.
I highly recommend it.
Read it here, www.fli.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Queensland-2012.pdf
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
40 Days for Life 2012
40 Days for Life 2012 started on Wednesday the 22nd of February (Ash Wednesday). It is a worldwide effort of prayer and fasting to end abortion (the direct and deliberate killing of an innocent human being before they are born).
Locations it will be taking place in Australia are:
Brisbane, Queensland
Sydney, New South Wales
Tweed Heads, New South Wales
Melbourne, Victoria
Hobart, Tasmania
Adelaide, South Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Bishop Julian Porteous (Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney) has invited all to take part in 40 Days for Life 2012, you can read his invitation here.
You can see the flyer for Sydney’s day of the Unborn Child event on Sunday March 25 here.
Also please read the excellent Lifelines magazine of Family Life International, Australia.
Read more on the issue of abortion:
Abortion, The Natural Law and The Sacred Scriptures
Abortion : Pain for Babies, Pain for Mothers
Locations it will be taking place in Australia are:Brisbane, Queensland
Sydney, New South Wales
Tweed Heads, New South Wales
Melbourne, Victoria
Hobart, Tasmania
Adelaide, South Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Bishop Julian Porteous (Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney) has invited all to take part in 40 Days for Life 2012, you can read his invitation here.
You can see the flyer for Sydney’s day of the Unborn Child event on Sunday March 25 here.
Also please read the excellent Lifelines magazine of Family Life International, Australia.
Read more on the issue of abortion:
Abortion, The Natural Law and The Sacred Scriptures
Abortion : Pain for Babies, Pain for Mothers
Saturday, February 25, 2012
What Happens When Prostitution Becomes Work ?
The following is an excellent research paper entitled:
What Happens When Prostitution Becomes Work ?
An Update on Legalisation of Prostitution in Australia.
By Dr. Mary Sullivan of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Australia
It is a powerful study that dismisses the false and misleading arguments used by those who support the legalisation of prostitution by showing what has happened in Victoria after they legalised prostitution over two decades ago.
You can read it here:
http://action.web.ca/home/catw/attach/Sullivan_proof_01.pdf
What Happens When Prostitution Becomes Work ?
An Update on Legalisation of Prostitution in Australia.
By Dr. Mary Sullivan of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Australia
It is a powerful study that dismisses the false and misleading arguments used by those who support the legalisation of prostitution by showing what has happened in Victoria after they legalised prostitution over two decades ago.
You can read it here:
http://action.web.ca/home/catw/attach/Sullivan_proof_01.pdf
Friday, February 24, 2012
Evangelium Vitae Prayer
(Prayer from Evangelium Vitae 105 of Bl. Pope John Paul II)
O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.
O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Prayer for Preparation for Mass
 |
| St. Ambrose (Source: Catholic.org) |
Lord, Jesus Christ, I approach your banquet table in fear and trembling, for I am a sinner, and dare not rely on my own worth but only on your goodness and mercy. I am defiled by many sins in body and soul, and by my unguarded thoughts and words. Gracious God of majesty and awe, I seek your protection, I look for your healing, poor troubled sinner that I am, I appeal to you, the fountain of all mercy. I cannot bear your judgment, but I trust in your salvation. Lord, I show my wounds to you and uncover my shame before you. I know my sins are many and great, and they fill me with fear, but I hope in your mercies, for they cannot be numbered. Lord Jesus Christ, eternal King, God and man, crucified for mankind, look upon me with mercy and hear my prayer, for I trust in you. Have mercy on me, full of sorrow and sin, for the depth of your compassion never ends. Praise to you, saving sacrifice, offered on the wood of the cross for me and for all mankind. Praise to the noble and precious blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world. Remember, Lord, your creature, whom you have redeemed with your blood. I repent my sins, and I long to put right what I have done. Merciful Father, take away all my offenses and sins; purify me in body and soul, and make me worthy to taste the holy of holies. May your body and blood, which I intend to receive, although I am unworthy, be for me the remission of my sins, the washing away of my guilt, the end of my evil thoughts, and the rebirth of my better instincts. May it incite me to do the works pleasing to you and profitable to my health in body and soul, and be a firm defense against the wiles of my enemies.
Amen.
(Source : EWTN )
Friday, February 17, 2012
Tasmanian Criminal Code and Abortion
 |
| Tasmanian Coat of Arms |
134. Abortion
(1) Any woman who, being pregnant, unlawfully administers to herself, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, any poison or other noxious thing or with such intent unlawfully uses any instrument or other means whatsoever, is guilty of a crime.
(2) Any person who, with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman, unlawfully administers to her, or causes her to take, any poison or other noxious thing, or with such intent unlawfully uses any instrument or other means whatsoever, is guilty of a crime.
Charge:
Administering poison [or using means] to procure abortion.
135. Aiding in intended abortion
Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any other person anything whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman, is guilty of a crime.
Charge:
Aiding in intended abortion.
164. Medical termination of pregnancy
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 134, 135 or 165, but subject to this section, a person is not guilty of a crime in relation to the termination of a pregnancy which is legally justified.
(2) The termination of a pregnancy is legally justified if –
(a) two medical practitioners have certified, in writing, that the continuation of the pregnancy would involve greater risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman than if the pregnancy were terminated; and
(b) the woman has given informed consent unless it is impracticable for her to do so.
(3) In assessing the risk referred to in subsection (2), the medical practitioners may take account of any matter which they consider to be relevant.
(4) If it is impracticable for the woman to give informed consent, the two medical practitioners referred to in subsection (2)(a) are to make a declaration in writing detailing the reasons why it was impracticable for the woman to give informed consent.
(5) At least one of the medical practitioners referred to in subsection (2)(a) is to specialise in obstetrics or gynaecology.
(6) A legally justified termination can only be performed by a medical practitioner.
(7) Subject to subsection (8), no person is under a duty, whether by contract or by any statutory or other legal requirement, to participate in any treatment, including any counselling authorised by this section, to which the person has a conscientious objection.
(8) Nothing in subsection (7) affects any duty to participate in treatment which is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman or to prevent her immediate serious physical injury.
(9) In this section –
"informed consent" means consent given by a woman where –
(a) a medical practitioner has provided her with counselling about the medical risk of termination of pregnancy and of carrying a pregnancy to term; and
(b) a medical practitioner has referred her to counselling about other matters relating to termination of pregnancy and carrying a pregnancy to term;
"woman" means any female person of any age.
165. Causing death of child before birth
(1) Any person who causes the death of a child which has not become a human being in such a manner that he would have been guilty of murder if such child had been born alive is guilty of a crime.
Charge:
Causing the death of a child before birth.
(2) No one commits a crime who by any means employed in good faith for the preservation of its mother's life causes the death of any such child before or during its birth.
165A. Infanticide
A woman who by any wilful act or omission, causes the death of her child (being a child under the age of 12 months), and who was at the time not fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child, and the balance of her mind being, by reason thereof, disturbed, is guilty of a crime, which is called infanticide, although, the offence would, but for this section, have amounted to murder.
Charge:
Infanticide.
Commentary:
Sections 134, 135, 165, 165A of the Criminal code are all in line with the Natural Moral Law.Section 164 of the Criminal Code was included in 2001 after an “emergency sitting” of parliament in which it passed both houses of parliament on December 24 of that year.This occured as a result of “[a] complaint at the Royal Hobart Hospital recently cast doubt over the legality of this practice [abortion]”1. The bill that amended the Criminal Code to include section 164 was introduced by the then Labor member for the Legislative council (upper house) seat of Rumney, Lin Thorp and Former Tasmanian Labor Health and Human Services Minister, Judy Jackson(members of the pro-abortion Labor group, Emily’s List) as a private members bill. It passed the lower and upper houses of parliament in just a few days!
The Lower House Debate can be read here, while the Upper House Debate can be read here (which includes within the Hansard a letter written by Archbishop Adrian Doyle of Hobart to all politicians on the issue)
Abortion is never in the physical or mental best interests of the mother, as can be read in my article, Abortion: Pain for Babies, Pain for Mothers
To read about the link between abortion and breast cancer see the following article:
“Abortion Has Caused 300K Breast Cancer Deaths Since Roe” (http://www.ruthblog.org/2012/02/14/abortion-has-caused-300k-breast-cancer-deaths-since-roe/)
1. Former Tasmanian Labor Health and Human Services Minister, Judy Jackson (19 December 2001) http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/HansardHouse/isysquery/a6d569c2-3c20-4c65-b33c-3c3342a0a63a/1/doc/#term0_1
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