www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Sad news for World Youth Day

For any of us who have attended a birth, the distinction between a natural birth and a birth with medical intervention is a clear one. Our first five boys came kicking and screaming into the world as my wife did it alone and the rest of us, medical staff included, just watched in awe. These were totally natural births. With the birth of our last son, my wife had the unexpected task of signing a form to allow the safe arrival of our sixth baby by medical means. (A Caesarean Section operation to save both their lives) By no means can any form of abortion (coat hanger or scalpel) be called a natural occurrence. A miscarriage of a baby during pregnancy is the only natural way a pregnancy can stop.

I think the Administrator'a switching "killing homosexuals" for "abortion" was brilliant; sometimes a satirical approach is more effective than pages of logic. Well done.
And did I see Goose saying prolifers were "of the evil one"? Huh? I didn't think he believed in the evil one.
Fall is coming; maybe he will migrate.
-Daniel

Hmmm... abortion is neither "natural" - nor was it condoned by the earliest of Christians. In many of the earliest communities, there was an extremely short list of things that got you tossed out - murder (including abortion), adultery and heresy.

Spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) is natural; induced abortion is not. Really, I haven't met a woman yet who has had an abortion who was not very screwed up over it later. Mostly, because of the "what have I done and how can it ever be forgiven" grief that follows.

I don't think there is truly any short list of unforgivable sins - to deem something unforgivable is to limit God in his mercy. And we know that God's mercy is limitless - one of Jesus' last acts before He died was to forgive a condemned criminal who showed faith. But if there was a short list of bad sins for Christians through history, murder (including abortion), adultery and heresy were good candidates for that short list.

How we treat the least of our brothers is how we act before Christ. The most defenseless among us are those least. To be pro-life is not "just" to be anti-abortion, it is to be concerned about the "least" among us and their rights and basic human dignity. That is part of the duty of a Christian of the true faith.

Dear Friends,

Apart from the abortion debate, and I hope you all know where I stand on it, if the WYD people invited the UN to send a speaker, then, in accordance with international protocol, they must take whomever it sends.

If they don't like that, then don't invite them.

The UN, last time I looked is not a Catholic organization.

As for Mexican's point on boys and girls at the WYD 2002, there were indeed instances of impropriety.

But the vast majority of what went on inspired Toronto, Canada and, I daresay, the world.

Alex

I am sure if you had a World Youth Day with a strict dress code, only traditional liturgies and classical music the youth who attended would have a wonderful time. All forty of them.
We must meet people where they are, not where we would like them to be.
I have a friend, Fr Stan Fortuna, a Franciscan friar from NYC, who has an odd hairdo, talks street talk, and creates rap music. Not my cup of tea by a long shot, but he reaches people that would never darken the door of a church.
God bless him, and shame on the critics. You purists are in danger of becoming puritans.
-Daniel

Let's see what the XXth World Youth Day in Cologne is really like when EWTN's live coverage of the event begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 18, upon the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI.

The arrival ceremonies will be followed immediately by an Opening Mass for WYD 2005, participated in by an estimated 800,000 youths from around the world!

The U.S. contingent alone numbers around 24,000!

Amado

Dear father Daniel,

Not everyone is as "hip" as you and I (and Amado . . .)

And that Fr. Fortuna is one real cool dude, man!

Alex

Or, as certain Catholic evangelists propragate these days: Fr. Fortuna's ministry style is "bridging the gap between Faith and every day life!"

It is increasingly becoming very effective in these days!

Daniel, you are in good company!

Amado

Excuse me please. kreuz.net are a top Catholic German language site. I ran a German translation agency in London for almost ten years without one complaint. You can hardly say that my additions are poorly researched; even to the extent of being in e-mail contact with the national director of KJG. It may be convenient to say these things to suit your line but they are simply untrue. And as for scare mongering, I have come across one homosexual blog - which linked to my story- where they are speculating about unprotected sex in the "warming tents". There is an event programme for every day of WYD on the main Cologne homosexual website. That KJG is unconcerned about KJGay and indeed invites them to their annual conference is a sign of the decadence that has overtaken modern Catholic life.