Denounce Derision, Misinformation, Bigotry
Intolerance has no place in nation founded on religious freedom
Back ‘Beyond Park 51’ Statement by Interfaith Group
WASHINGTON—Catholic Bishops dealing with interfaith, domestic and international concerns voiced concern for anti-Muslim prejudice surrounding the threat of Koran burnings in Florida.
“All acts of intolerance aimed at a religious community should find no place in our world, let alone in our nation which is founded on the principle of religious freedom,” said
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta, Chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace.
They issued their remarks September 9 (http://www.usccb.org/seia/response-muslim-prejudice.shtml <http://www.usccb.org/seia/response-muslim-prejudice.shtml> ).
In their remarks they also endorsed a September 7 statement titled “Beyond Park 51,” issued in Washington by an interfaith group that included Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop-emeritus of Washington, and Father James Massa, director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical and interreligious Affairs.
Law would apply Hyde amendment policy to all federal funds
Would protect health care providers from retaliation for not assisting with abortions
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called on members of the House of Representatives to support the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (H.R. 5939), introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) at the end of July.
He called for support in an August 20 letter. The bill already has 166 co-sponsors including 20 Democratic members. The text of the letter can be found at www.usccb.org/prolife/DiNardo-HR5939.pdf.
“H.R. 5939 will write into permanent law a policy on which there has been strong popular and congressional agreement for over 35 years: The federal government should not use taxpayers’ money to support and promote elective abortion,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “Even public officials who take a ‘pro-choice’ stand on abortion, and courts that have insisted on the validity of a constitutional ‘right’ to abortion, have agreed that the government can validly use its funding power to encourage childbirth over abortion.”
He said some people assume this position already is fully reflected in U.S. law, and noted, for example, that “some wrongly argued during the recent debate on health care reform that there was no need for restrictions on abortion funding in the new health legislation, because this matter had already been settled by the Hyde amendment.”
However, he noted, the Hyde amendment, which precludes money for elective abortions and health plans that provide them, is only a rider to the annual Labor/Health and Human Services appropriations bill. It has been maintained essentially intact by Congress over the last 35 years, but it only governs funds appropriated under that particular act.
Federal funds are prevented now from funding abortion by riders to various other appropriations bills as well as by provisions incorporated into specific authorizing legislation for the Department of Defense, Children’s Health Insurance Program, foreign assistance, and so on. Gaps or loopholes in these protections have also been discovered at various times, requiring Congress to address them individually.
Thus, “while Congress’s policy has been remarkably consistent for decades, implementation of that policy in practice has been piecemeal and sometimes sadly inadequate,” Cardinal DiNardo said.
H.R. 5939 would also codify the Hyde/Weldon amendment that has been part of the section containing the Hyde amendment in annual Labor/HHS appropriations bills since 2004. Hyde/Weldon has ensured that federal agencies and state and local governments that receive federal funds do not discriminate against health care providers because they do not perform or provide abortions.
“It is long overdue for this policy, as well, to be given a more secure legislative status,’’ Cardinal DiNardo said. “No hospital, doctor or nurse should be forced to stop providing much-needed legitimate health care because they cannot in conscience participate in destroying a developing human life.”
As schools launch a new academic year, millions of children also are set to learn the ABCs of child protection. In Catholic schools and parishes nationwide, safe environment training gives children the skills necessary to protect themselves from would be-offenders. Mary Jane Doerr, associate director of the Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has listed below some of the messages children hear in safe environment programs.
1. Abuse is never a child’s fault, a point that children need to hear over and over again. Offenders try hard to make children feel complicit in the abuse or to blame them for the abuse. Children learn that is never true. The blame always belongs to the adult, who is taking advantage of a child’s trust and vulnerabilities.
2. God loves children forever and wants them to live holy and happy lives. If a child has been abused, that child learns they are still innocent and loved by God and their families. The shame of child sexual abuse needs to be put where it belongs – on the abuser.
3. Abuse that has happened should be reported. Children learn to tell a parent or another trusted adult if someone is hurting them and to keep telling until they are believed. One study shows that children tell of their abuse an average of nine times before someone believes them. Parents can help children learn whom they can trust by pointing out the adults who can be trusted. Parents also can teach children the correct names of private body parts. This simple step gives children the vocabulary to tell others what happened to them.
4. You can recognize abuse when it happens. Children learn to trust that feeling that says something isn’t right and to tell a parent or other trusted adult when something happens that makes them feel uneasy. Children learn to question if someone is telling them to do what the child doesn’t like but says it is because he loves the child. Children learn to tell parents or trusted adult if another person makes them sad or confused or tries to get them to break rules. This can stop the process of grooming by which an abuser lures a child toward danger. A child who questions another’s inappropriate behavior can send a message to the offender that this child is not an easy target, but one that will tell what is being done to him/her.
5. There are ways to spot a grooming process. Offenders are willing to spend a great deal of time grooming the family, the child and even the community so they may be seen as a trusted family friend. Children learn that anyone who lets children break rules, gives them alcohol or shows them pornography needs to be reported to parents and other trusted adults. Children learn not to keep secrets from parents. They learn that they should tell parents when someone gives them special gifts or is always touching them or tickling them and says not to tell.
6. Parents or other trusted adults will talk about this subject. Children often try to protect their parents from bad news, so they need to learn they can tell their parents anything. This lesson is conveyed when parents stay involved in their children’s activities and talk with them about what is happening in their lives. This is how children learn what can be shared with parents. The more effective safe environment programs include parents in the learning process. This gives the child a clear signal that this subject is not off limits but instead is something to be talked about with family members.
7. Boundaries exist. Learning about personal boundaries can protect children and their knowing boundaries reinforces the teaching to listen to one’s instincts. Children who listen to the voice that says, ‘This doesn’t feel right,’ can protect themselves.
8. Children can stand up for themselves. Children need to be respectful and obey, yet at the same time need to know there are times when it is okay to say no to an adult. Children learn when it is appropriate for them to say, ‘No, stop doing that.’ For example, they hear they can say no to someone who makes them uncomfortable, shows them pornography or offers them alcohol.
9. There are ways to explain inappropriate behavior. Children learn how to describe what’s happening when someone is doing something that just seems a ‘little weird’ even though it may not seem wrong. The ability to articulate what has happened to a child enables a child to more easily confide in a parent or other trusted adult. This can alert the adult to a potentially dangerous situation so it can be avoided. This is ultimately the goal of safe environment education.
By Sister Mary Ann Walsh
Director of Media Relations
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
I got that question last week from a reporter in Las Vegas who was writing about a new church policy in the Diocese of Las Vegas that requires anyone volunteering in a parish to be fingerprinted. The policy applied not just to Scout leaders and religious education teachers, who work closely with children, but also to bazaar volunteers, ushers and even the people who read the Scriptures at Mass.
The policy might be overbroad, I opined to the reporter, but in today’s world I’d rather go too far to guarantee safety than not far enough. Indeed, I’ve since heard of other dioceses that require all staff and volunteers to go through background checks. Child sexual molestation exists - there’s plenty of evidence of that on the evening news, recently the account (this time, with a happy ending for the child) of a four-year-old girl snatched by a registered sex offender from her front yard in Missouri.
Polling by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) suggests most Catholics think the church should do more to protect youth from abuse. Asked if they believe the church’s policies to deal with allegations and prevent abuse "do enough" to protect children, only three in ten Catholics nationally say the church is doing enough. Seventy percent say the policies should go further.
Part of the problem is that most Catholics have no idea how much the church has done. For example, CARA notes that *less than three in ten Catholics are aware of* all the church is doing to prevent child
sexual abuse.
More than 1.8 million adult employees and volunteers in the church have had training in how to identify and report suspicious activity by an adult with a child, but only 29 percent of adult Catholics know that. Dioceses report annually on their adherence to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, but only 18 percent know that.
The church has an independent organization that conducts audits to determine whether each diocese and its bishop are enforcing the new sexual abuse policies yet only 16 percent of adult Catholics know it. The church has commissioned the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to conduct a scientific study of the causes and context of abuse, yet a mere 11 percent of adult Catholics know that.
Yet even when people have such information, I imagine many people will want the church to do even more to guarantee that children are safe from sexual predators.
Sexual abuse of children is a problem well beyond the Catholic Church. There’s data galore on that. Safe environment programs have much more to offer than many realize.
People who participate in them not only are cleared to be with children through fingerprinting and background checks, they also learn how to recognize steps leading to child sexual abuse and how to protect children from it.
It’s unfortunate that we need such education, but we do. We drive slowly around schools and parks and hit the brakes when a ball rolls into the road because children need more than the usual
protection. Going through fingerprinting may be just one more thing we do as part of a commitment to keep youngsters safe. The church in Las Vegas wisely bets that it is.
Protect Conscience
Ensure Affordable Health Coverage
Allow Immigrants to Purchase Private Health Insurance
Download and read the bulletin insert: English | Spanish
The United States Conference ofCatholicBishops(USCCB) congratulated the bishops of New Mexico andotheradvocates ontheir successful efforts to repeal the death penaltyin NewMexico.
“The bishops of New Mexico and many othersworkedtirelessly to see NewMexico become a leader in turning away fromthedeath penalty in ourcountry,” said Kathy Saile, director of theOfficeof Domestic SocialDevelopment at the USCCB.
On March18,Governor Bill Richardsonsigned HB 285 into law making New Mexicothesecond state to repeal thedeath penalty since the U.S. SupremeCourtreinstated the use of thedeath penalty in 1976. In December 2007,NewJersey Governor JonCorzine signed legislation repealing thedeathpenalty in that state.Fifteen states now have laws banning thedeathpenalty.
BishopWilliam F. Murphy of Rockville Centre,N.Y.,chairman of the Committeeon Domestic Justice and Human Developmentatthe USCCB, wrote toGovernor Richardson on March 16, urging him tosignthe legislation,saying it “would help begin building a culture oflifein our country.”
TheU.S.Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched ane-mailcampaignurging Congress to maintain widely supported pro-lifepoliciesand tooppose the federal funding and promotion of abortion.The e-mailcampaignaugments the massive national postcard campaignlaunched indiocesesthroughout the country in late January. Bothefforts arebeingcoordinated through the USCCB’s partner organization,theNationalCommittee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA).
Since1993,NCHLAhas coordinated national postcard campaigns equippingcitizenstoexpress their pro-life views clearly and respectfully toCongress.Thecurrent campaign is unprecedented in scope, exceedingthosesponsoredby the Catholic bishops in the past.
DeirdreA.McQuade,assistant director for Policy and Communications attheUSCCB’sSecretariat of Pro-Life Activities, explained thesupplementarye-mailcampaign. “Tens of millions of cards have beendistributed inparishes,schools, non-Catholic churches and civicorganizations acrossthecountry,” she said. “The e-mail campaign willgive even morecitizensthe chance to participate.”
The e-mailsurge aconstituent’ssenators and representative to “please oppose FOCAor anysimilarmeasure” and “retain existing laws against funding andpromotionofabortion.” They also state: “It is especially importantthatCongressretain these laws in the various appropriations bills,e.g.,the HydeAmendment in the Labor/Health and Human Servicesappropriationsbill.”
“To guard against the erosion of currentpro-life measures— and tokeep abortion from becoming a federalentitlement — our voiceis needednow more than ever,” McQuade said.
For more informationon theUSCCB’s pro-life e-mail campaignvisit:www.usccb.org/postcard<http://www.usccb.org/postcard> .
|
