Calling attention to the pending removal of Fr. Roy Bourgeois from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, seven activists stood outside a Mass celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the order at its headquarters in New York yesterday.And here's the picture from the article:
What?
(cross-posted at The American Catholic)
…and we learn that they’re rather ignorant of politics, history and economics. To be fair, I was too at their age, and since then, I’ve grown wiser and put away belief in childish things…like fairy dust and the power of unicorn farts.
There used to be a video – it was removed from Vimeo at 11:37 PM EST on 6/27 (presumably by the maker, and presumably because it was being skewered throughout the Innerwebz)) – but despair not! I found another copy of it! Fortunately, before the video was removed, I had transcribed it, and I’ve included my own commentary following each statement.
OK, you’ve watched it. Let’s go.
“I’m a Democrat…
…because I believe hope is the stuff of dreams, and I believe in keeping that hope alive.”
[Dear Lord, they started with this guy? Yo! Spongebob Wishpants! "Hope" won't pay your college loans when you're unemployed!]
…because of the Patriot Act..?”
[Would that be the same Patriot Act that the Democrat-led Senate passed and President Obama signed with the Robo-pen thingamajig from France? That Patriot Act? He sounded as if he thought there was more than one Patriot Act.]
…because I’m a Christian, not in spite of it.”
[Right - because Christians believe in aborting kids, spending other people's money [that they don't really have a right to, or through oppressive taxation], enabling folks to remain in destitution, gay marriage (well, I guess some do, but then, are they really Christian?), etc. etc.]
…because I believe in the right of every child to have a fair and high quality education.”
[Except for the aborted ones.]
…because my two governors are Scott Walker and Rick Perry.”
[Does he mean he wasn't a Democrat until after they became governors?]
…because my grandfather was the person in his family who earned a high school education, the first in the family to go to college, the first in the family to graduate from law school, the first Italian American judge in Delaware…blah blah blah…no difference between a janitor and a judge…”
[Beware of activist janitors!!!]
…because I believe that anyone can make it in America.”
[Except for those who get aborted.]
…because I believe the government should take of its citizens.”
[...even if the government is incapable and incompetent to do so. Oh - and except for its aborted citizens.]
…because I love HBCU’s, and College Democrats of America reach out to HBCU’s and get them involved.”
[Those would be 'Historically Black Colleges and Universities'. Yeah, Republicans hate 'em, which is why Reagan signed EO 12320 (which strengthened Carter's EO originally signed in 1980), and Bush 41 signed EO 12677, and Bush 43 signed EO 13256, because Republicans hate HBCU's. Every President has signed an EO bolstering gov't support for HBCU's.]
…because we are the party of Civil Rights.”
[And way back when, Democrats celebrated civil rights by wearing white party hoods.]
…because I want to fight for those who don’t have a voice.”
[...like the unborn! Oh, wait.]
…because I believe that through government, we can come together and do what we can’t do individually.”
[...I'm speechless. Utterly.and.totally.speechless.]
…because I support candidates who believe in the power of gumnabibble.”
[Well, you tell me what the heck he said. I listened to it four times and I still think he's saying "gumnabibble."]
…because I love being part of a party that starts organizing in my community and my neighborhood.”
[Democrats aren't in favor of people doing or thinking things for themselves, because they believe that people aren't capable of doing or thinking things for themselves. And she's proud of that - and more than likely, someone taught her that, because she's obviously not capable of thinking things for herself, because she's admitted she's a Democrat.]
…because I believe in equal pay for equal work.”
[That's funny - because the Democrat party doesn't believe that. They're perfectly happy with public sector employees earning a heck of a lot more than their private sector counterparts.]
…because America is a democracy, not a theocracy.”
[And the Smug Punk Elitist-Wannabe Award goes to...Hey doofus - America is a Limited Representative Republic, not a democracy! Democracy = Mob Rule (kinda like what we saw in Wisconsin earlier this year). Someone needs to smack him and his tweed jacket into Thomas Sowell's office.]
…because everyone deserves to a good public education and to marry whomever they want.”
[...except for the aborted. They don't deserve either. And - under the Democrats, very few get a good public education, and even if Democrats were totally in charge, you still won't be able to marry your sibling or your fireplace...well, I probably shouldn't speak so definitively about that. The way things are going...]
…because we know that the programs Democrats are for, they help people, they really help people.”
[...except for the ones who get aborted. Or euthanized. Or have their livelihoods taken away in order to protect the blue-bottomed dancing gecko. Or GM and Chrysler bond-holders. Or...]
…because the Democratic party is moving forward and moving our nation forward, and not constantly looking back.”
[...like, at history, and stuff, and like, precedence or tradition or any of that stupid stuff, like the Constitution and other old books and things like the Bible.]
…because I believe in investing and innovation.”
[Code for 'finding creative ways to screw the taxpayer'.]
…because my party casts a wider net.”
[...except for those bigoted homophobes and misogynistic neanderthals and bitter clingers and redneck gun-owners and pro-lifers and folks who support traditional marriage and small-business owners and smokers and people who like to eat fast-food and the unborn and the really old and the disabled and kids with Downs' Syndrome and people with large families like the Duggar's and...]
…because I’m tired, sick and tired, of NAFTA-style trade agreements that are shipping good paying American jobs overseas.”
[...and whoever signed NAFTA in the first place ought to be hung, drawn and quartered and...what? That was President Clinton? That's not what my poli-sci prof told me!]
…because I believe more women ought to be involved in politics and the Democratic Party is….are….called to do so.”
[...and the 24 Republican women in the House and 5 Republican women in the Senate don't count; nor do the 4 Republican women governors count either. And Sarah Palin as the VP candidate in 2008 doesn't count. Because none of 'em are Democrats.]
Kids are so cute at that age, aren’t they?
Thank God so few of them actually vote.
(Click to largify)A new Kia ad is raising eyebrows—with some even saying that it promotes pedophilia.Oh wait - it won an award. It's all good then. Never mind.The ad, which promotes a dual-zone climate control feature in one of Kia's cars, took home the Silver Press Lion at the prestigious Cannes Lion Awards. But it is controversial, to say the least.
The ad features a teacher lusting after his elementary school-aged student. On one side of the page, she appears as a young girl. On the other side, though, she becomes a scantily clad, buxom teen, seemingly as a product of the teacher's imagination.
Statement Regarding Inappropriate Advertising Material From Brazil
Kia Motors America (KMA) has become aware of an offensive piece of advertising material that was created by an ad agency in Brazil that KMA has no business relationship with and has never worked with. This ad was not created in the U.S. by Kia Motors America or any of its marketing partners and does not reflect the opinions or values of KMA or Kia Motors Corporation. The ad is undoubtedly inappropriate, and on behalf of Kia Motors we apologize to those who have been offended by it. We can guarantee this advertisement has never and will never be used in any form in the United States, and our global headquarters in Seoul, South Korea is addressing the issue with the independent Brazilian distributor.
Kudos to Kia on the quick response. Still makes me wonder how this ad managed to get submitted in an international contest and win an award if it was never approved by KMA in the first place, but at least they've made a public announcement denouncing it.
In an evolving world, then, God becomes “becoming.” God is the one who stands by as we grow from one self to another, from one level of insight to another, from one age and awareness to another. God, we come to understand, is not the God of fixed determinations now. The past is no longer a template of forever. God becomes instead the God of the future. God, we come to see in the model that is evolutionary, is promise and possibility and forever emerging life."Yes, she uses English in her columns," the source admitted. "But what the heck are those paragraphs supposed to mean? We suspect that she imagines her columns in a completely unknown language - perhaps a complicated series of distinct clicks and buzzing-like noises - and then writes what she suspects is the best English representation. To be sure, our work is cut out for us."
[...]
We are meant to create with the creator. We are here to discover the rest of ourselves in an equally evolving cosmos. We are not about perfection. We are about always selecting the better, about entering into the transformation of the world as it experiments with life, chooses for life, sees mistakes not as failure but as one more learning on the ladder of spiritual success.
As a result, new generations of us, now planted in another place began to think of themselves as part of a long lost past. A free standing, self-perpetuating new world. A people separated from the pain of our own past times and lives."I think it's fair to say most people reading that might understand what she means to say," the Vatican spokesman said. "But to translate her words into something more intelligible...while sober...that may take some time."But that's not true. Instead we stand on the brink of becoming exactly what we left behind. Only this time as much the perpetrators of misery as its victims -- as much the victims as the perpetrators of a new kind of global pain.
The papers are full of the human debris that comes now with the cruelty of our own age and which this time we will not escape until we begin to see someone else's pain as our own.
(Taken with my phone's camera at a local car dealership. I know!)SGR Games, LLC (“SGR”) today announced the launch of Vatican Wars (http://www.vaticanwars.com), a revolutionary social game that exists at the intersection of religion, politics and social issues. Players are divided into two teams based on their opinions on topics including abortion, same sex marriage, the ordination of women and the use of birth control. Each team then works to ensure that a player from the other team is not elected Pope.“We did extensive surveying of Catholics before launching the game and were surprised to find that 80% of Catholics surveyed supported creating a game where they could debate these topics,” said Cheyenne Ehrlich, Founder of SGR Games, LLC. “It will be interesting to see if that’s because they want to elect a liberal Pope or because they want to prove that Catholics are unified and conservative on these issues.”
In Vatican Wars, a player who is elected Pope can make gradual changes to the Church’s position on each topic. Gradual changes made by ten consecutive liberal Popes could, for example, reverse the Church’s position on same sex marriage. Popes are elected based on their own gameplay, their team’s gameplay and actual voting by all players. Gameplay within Vatican Wars is based on the Catholic liturgical calendar, daily readings, Saints of the day and debating theology.
Vatican Wars can be played free of charge at: http://www.vaticanwars.com
The biggest reason I can think of why this game is terrible - is that it gives the impression that certain teachings of the Church are negotiable and open to change. Given that most Catholics don't know their faith, and that countless non-Catholics don't give a flying fig, this has the potential to further confuse people - which is the last thing the Church needs. Will we start hearing folks say, "Well, I was playing 'Vatican Wars' on Facebook, and they say that women can be priests. If it's on Facebook, it must be true, right?"
With the start of what turned out to be World War I, Paulist Father John J. Burke decided to create a Catholic analog to the Protestant model, the National Catholic War Council (NCWC). The National Catholic War Council organized after two meetings in April/August 1917 at the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington DC had several purposes, for it simultaneously:
- represented Catholic interests in the U.S. Congress,
- addressed the needs of soldiers at home and overseas,
- promoted the Americanization of recent immigrants, and
- developed a Program for the Social Reconstruction of American society after the war.
If you see no particular aspect of liturgy or sacrament addressed, you would not be the first to notice.
In November 1917 the National Catholic War Council was reorganized to give the bishops more direct operational responsibility. The Knights of Columbus did most of the footwork. The council even produced a nice little handbook.
In August 1918, the War Department recognized the National Catholic War Council as part of the United War Work Campaign of 1918. It received $36 million dollars as its share of the fund drive, most of which went to the Knights of Columbus and the NCWC overseas units.
Skip ahead 90 years, to the motu proprio Apostolos Suos written by Blessed Pope John Paul II.
There's a lot more on the history of the USCCB at the KDM blog. Check it out.Apostolos Suos Christus Dominus, authored by Pope John Paul II, not only expresses the hope that the venerable institution of Particular Councils would be revitalized (cf. No. 36), but also dealt explicitly with Episcopal Conferences, acknowledging the fact that they had been established in many countries and laying down particular norms regarding them (cf. Nos. 37-38).
The document is well worth reading, if only because it constantly reiterates a single theme:
10. At the level of particular Churches grouped together by geographic areas (by countries, regions, etc.), the Bishops in charge do not exercise pastoral care jointly with collegial acts equal to those of the College of Bishops.
11. In fact, only the faithful entrusted to the pastoral care of a particular Bishop are required to accept his judgement given in the name of Christ in matters of faith and morals, and to adhere to it with a religious assent of soul.
12. Nonetheless, this territorially based exercise of the episcopal ministry never takes on the collegial nature proper to the actions of the order of Bishops as such, which alone holds the supreme power over the whole Church. In fact, the relationship between individual Bishops and the College of Bishops is quite different from their relationship to the bodies set up for the above-mentioned joint exercise of certain pastoral tasks.
[...]
19. This provision is found explicitly in the Code of Canon Law where we read: “A diocesan Bishop in the diocese committed to him possesses all the ordinary, proper and immediate power which is required for the exercise of his pastoral office except for those cases which the law or a decree of the Supreme Pontiff reserves to the supreme authority of the Church or to some other ecclesiastical authority”
20. In other cases “the competence of individual diocesan Bishops remains intact; and neither the Conference nor its president may act in the name of all the Bishops unless each and every Bishop has given his consent”.
In short, the Pope took enormous pains, indeed, almost unheard of pains, to make clear that organizations like the USCCB’s authority over any particular lay Catholic is:
- Zero
- Nada
- Zilch
- Zip
- Goose Egg
- Empty Set
- Non-Existent
- Completely Absent
- A sounding brass and tinkling cymbal signifying nothing
Blessed Pope John Paul II
The Purple Padres logo
Photo: Susan Tusa/Detroit Free Press
Photo: Susan Tusa/Detroit Free PressThe top Catholic leader in Michigan slammed a big liberal Mass today in Detroit, saying it had significant abuses and he ordered a review of a Ferndale priest who led the services before 1,500 Catholics, a church spokesman said.Defying Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron, a Catholic priest from Ferndale led a Mass today in Cobo Center that was organized by the American Catholic Council, a controversial umberalla group of liberal Catholics. And dozens of Catholic priests and deacons from metro Detroit attended the Mass, said organizers.
Rev. Bob Wurm, 78, a retired Catholic priest, presided over the Mass and Eucharistic prayer to some 1,500 assembled inside Cobo Center today. He and others participated despite a strict order from Archbiship Allen Vigneron for priests and deacons to not take part in today's Mass because it was led by groups considered heretical by the Catholic Church and could violate Church law. Vigneron warned in a letter that clergy could be punished and defrocked for participating in the Mass.
Now, the Archdiocese of Detroit said it will conduct a review of the priest’s actions.
“There were several, serious liturgical abuses at that service,” said Ned McGrath, spokesman for the Archdiocese. “It’s disheartening that a Detroit priest would preside over a service with so many…serious liturgical abuses. There will be — has to be — a careful and thorough review.”
Wurn told the Free Press afterwards he was aware that Archbishiop Allen Vigneron had explicilty warned all priests and deacons to not participate. But Wurm said he's not worried being punished.
"I don't see that happening," Wurm said. "I'm older than he (Vigneron) is."
Wurm criticized Vigneron's letter that told clergy to stay away.
"He was making a big mistake," Wurm said.
So Wurm's not worried about the review, because...he's older than Archbishop Vigneron??? That's his defense? "Respect thy elders"? You mean the kind of respect the ACC folks show Pope Benedict XVI? Seriously - these Catholycs are delusional.
It's too bad secular newspapers are incapable of writing religion stories - it'd be nice to know exactly what the liturgical abuses were, rather than just providing a quote from the archdiocesan spokesman, saying they were "serious". Not that I don't doubt there were - but for the sake of context and argument, having a clearer idea of the kind and number of the abuses would be useful.
It's my opinion that the ACC solicited help from a retired priest rather than any currently active in the Archdiocese for this very reason: let someone without credible responsibility take the fall, so as not to potentially harm any one parish, yet still have a priest to hold up as a martyr, victimized by the Big Bad Hierarchy. Pathetic.
I believe Fr. Wurm will soon discover that it is he who made the big mistake, and not the archbishop. Sure, the ACC will get some press among their fellow Catholycs at the National Catholic Distorter and Commonweal, and they'll have another Victim Priest Poster Child to add to the likes of McBrien, Pfleger, and Bourgeios. But that stuff is just temporary, and temporal. Where it really counts - in the spiritual realm, in the life of faith, in the building up of the Body of Christ - these folks run the risk of being modern day Foolish Virgins. They'll have spent all their oil with burning passion for an erroneous vision of what it means to be Catholic. And when the time comes to prepare for the Bridegroom's coming, they'll be left out in the dark.
NORTH BAY, Ontario, June 8, 2011 - “If Catholic students are required to go to so much trouble with their Catholic teachers to defend a teaching as simple as the resurrection, what do they have to do in their Catholic schools to defend teachings on abortion, homosexuality, or same-sex ‘marriage’?” asked Suresh Dominic of Campaign Life Catholic commenting on the case of Francesca Sinicrope.A Grade 12 student of North Bay, Ontario, Sinicrope has recently gone to battle with a teacher and principal at her Catholic High School over the truth of Christ’s Resurrection.
“He told us people have taken the Bible too literally,” Sinicrope told LifeSiteNews in a recent interview. “He began saying that it was like a metaphor that you follow…He said that Jesus never resurrected.”
While the principal says an investigation has cleared the teacher of wrongdoing, another classmate has corroborated Sinicrope’s account.
During the week leading up to Easter this year the Catholic High School decided to place crosses in every classroom, recounted the teen. Following Holy Thursday Mass, Francesca’s sociology teacher provided an explanation of the crosses to the whole class, saying that the same message would be given to all the classes.
Francesca’s video footage, posted on YouTube, recounts the events. “He told my whole class that Jesus had never resurrected,” the 17 year-old said. “That is so unbelievable to me in a Catholic school.”
“My really good friend asked him, ‘So you’re saying that Jesus never resurrected?’ and he answered ‘yes’,” Francesca continued. “My teacher went against the Catholic faith and the school mission statement.”
A friend and classmate, Celine Giroux, backed up Francesca’s account. “He began talking about how we as Catholics took the understanding of the Resurrection too far,” Celine told LifeSiteNews. When the teacher told students the Resurrection had never happened, Celine says she challenged his statement.
Sounds like the principal is a real winner, too - stating that the teacher has been cleared of any "wrongdoing". I wonder how many kids leave the faith because of the education they fail to receive at that school.
At least that won't happen to Francesca. She made a video describing the event:Calling for more democracy within the Catholic Church, liberal Catholics from around the world are coming to Detroit this weekend for a conference to help revitalize what they say is an archaic institution in need of reform.The council is scheduled to open this evening at 6:00 PM. But then - from today's Detroit Free Press (emphasis mine):Sponsored by the American Catholic Council, an organization of 30 Catholic reform groups across the U.S., the conference is three years in the making and comes on the 35th anniversary of a gathering in Detroit to talk about church reforms led by then-Cardinal John Dearden, the former archbishop of Detroit.
[...]
But Catholic leaders warn that the gathering at Cobo Center is not sanctioned by the church, as the 1976 event was.
A major malfunction Thursday at the beleaguered Detroit Public Lighting Department knocked out Fire Department phones and power to traffic lights, municipal buildings, courts, schools and the People Mover, prompting fears that traffic snarls, widespread outages and disruptions likely would continue through tonight.[...]
The outages knocked out power to the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, Cobo Hall, Detroit Institute of Arts, the People Mover, 36th District Court, Wayne State University, Wayne County Community College District's Downtown Campus and the McNamara Federal Building.The municipal center won't reopen until Monday, and WSU said its main campus would remain closed today, with classes canceled. Most of the other facilities are likely closed through at least tonight.
The local morning news is reporting that full power downtown may not be restored until Monday.
Science....I responded to his question, which surprisingly made it past the NCD's moderator:
The "Hard Sciences: Molecular Biology,Genetics. These sciences have made this astonishing discovery: The very purpose of sex is babies. So if homosexuality isnt (sic) objectively disordered, what is?
...I'm surprised you have to ask. As many of the NCR commenters here would be willing to tell you, being faithful to the Magisterium in all matters of faith and morals is the "new" objectively disordered.If you accept Church's teaching on the condemnation of artificial contraception...you're the New Disordered.Disobedience - the hip and cool way 2 B Catholyc!!
Students who report being gay or bisexual are more likely than heterosexual students to engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, sexual risk behaviors, suicidal behaviors, and violence, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Of course none of those behaviors are the fault of the kids, right? From the CNS article:The study reported: “the prevalence among gay or lesbian students was higher than the prevalence among heterosexual students for a median of 63.8% of all the risk behaviors measured, and the prevalence among bisexual students was higher than the prevalence among heterosexual students for a median of 76.0% of all the risk behaviors measured.”
Specifically, gay or lesbian students had higher rates for seven of the 10 health risk categories (behaviors that contribute to violence, behaviors related to attempted suicide, tobacco use, alcohol use, other drug use, sexual behaviors, and weight management).
The study also found that only 1.3% of students self-identified as gay or lesbian at the eight sites where they were asked their “sexual identity.” A median of 3.7% said they were bisexual.
Researchers analyzed data from Youth Risk Behavior Surveys conducted during 2001–2009 in seven states and six large urban school districts. These sites collected data on high school students’ sexual identity (heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual, or unsure), sex of sexual contacts (sexual contact with the opposite sex only, with the same sex only, or with both sexes), or both.
The study, “Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9–12 in Selected Sites—Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, United States, 2001–2009,” was published as a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summary. (Source)
Sebelius also said LGBT youth are more likely to experience depression, thoughts of suicide, have other emotional problems or abuse drugs or alcohol.So watch out, Catholics. A huge swath of the federal government is mobilizing against us. Because everyone knows that traditional Catholic teaching - that homosexual acts are always sinful, and that same-sex attraction is disordered - harms these kids. It's not the fact that gay sex is harmful. It's not that some may resort to other harmful behaviors - drugs, alcohol, smoking - in order to dull the inherent guilt and shame.
“We know these behaviors are not the result of who these young people are,” Sebelius said. “They are the result of what’s happening to them.”
Sebelius went on to say a federal interagency taskforce is partnering the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Defense, Interior and Justice to come up with strategies and programs to fight bullying.
My dear brother priests and deacons,As you may be aware, a group calling itself the American Catholic Council will be meeting at Cobo Hall on the weekend of June 11 and 12. Despite my attempts to engage in a dialogue with them about this planned event, the organizers of this conference have not replied to me directly. I have a number of concerns about this event and caution any Catholic against participating for reasons expressed already in previous communications sent by the Archdiocese.
Of particular concern is the "Eucharistic Liturgy," noted on the schedule for this conference on Pentecost Sunday, June 12. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council instruct us, "Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of the Christian religion to the divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord's commandments and with the Church's laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese." (Lumen Gentium, 26). I take my role as moderator of the liturgy for the archdiocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 22) very seriously. To confirm the legitimacy of what they had planned, the ACC had been asked to provide details regarding this liturgy. The response received was ambiguous, and there are good reasons for believing forbidden concelebration will take place by the laity and with those not in full communion with the Church.
In order to fulfill my responsibilities, so clearly enunciated by the Second Vatican Council, of fostering of communion with both the local and the universal Church, I am compelled to caution any priests or deacons who may be considering participation in this liturgy. It is not being celebrated with my permission as required by the law and the good order of the People of God. Further, clergy should be aware of the impact of forbidden concelebration with those who are not in full communion (canons 908 and 1365). This is a serious delict, for which recourse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is required, and which may result in dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2001 and 2010).
I ask that you pray with me for the unity of the Church. As we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin in this upcoming Solemnity, may the Holy Spirit come afresh on all of us, keeping us united in the love of God and keeping our attention and energies focused on the task of sharing Christ in and through His Church.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit
DETROIT — Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist who captured the world's attention as he helped dozens of ailing people commit suicide, igniting intense debate and ending up in prison for murder, has died in a Detroit area hospital after a short illness. He was 83.Being a Michigan resident, I'm all too familiar with all the press and the trials and the notoriety regarding this man. He now has to face God for his actions, and I pray that He is merciful.Kevorkian, who said he helped some 130 people end their lives from 1990 to 1999, died about 2:30 a.m. at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, close friend and prominent attorney Mayer Morganroth said. He had been hospitalized since last month with pneumonia and kidney problems.
An official cause of death had not been determined, but Morganroth said it likely will be pulmonary thrombosis.
"I had seen him earlier and he was conscious," said Morganroth, who added that the two spoke about Kevorkian's pending release from the hospital and planned start of rehabilitation. "Then I left and he took a turn for the worst and I went back."
Nurses at the hospital played recordings of classical music by composer Johann Sebastian Bach for Kevorkian before he died, Morganroth said.
Kevorkian was freed in June 2007 after serving eight years of a 10- to 25-year sentence for second-degree murder. His lawyers had said he suffered from hepatitis C, diabetes and other problems, and he had promised in affidavits that he would not assist in a suicide if he was released.
2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.
The battle and debate over physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia and "Death with Dignity" legislation in America will forever be waged. The arguments for such positions seem awfully reasonable - "It's my choice how and when to die"; "It's compassionate to let people kill themselves when they are in chronic pain"; "Forcing people to suffer is intolerable"; "I wouldn't want to be a burden to my family"; "They no longer enjoy quality of life". And so on.
The problem is, the "reasonable" positions are not the ceiling, but the floor. Eventually, it will no longer be one's personal choice - the choice will be made for them by dispassionate bureaucrats and medical professionals. Other people will come to define what 'suffering' is; what 'quality of life' is; what the acceptable level of 'burden' is - not just to family, but to society as a whole. And then it will be "Katie bar the door" time - as it is in Holland, where In 30 years Holland has moved from assisted suicide to euthanasia, from euthanasia of people who are terminally ill to euthanasia of those who are chronically ill, from euthanasia for physical illness to euthanasia for mental illness, from euthanasia for mental illness to euthanasia for psychological distress or mental suffering, and from voluntary euthanasia to involuntary euthanasia or as the Dutch prefer to call it "termination of the patient without explicit request".(Source)
The push for legalized euthanasia in the United States - already legal in a couple states - is representative of a greater inherent disrespect for the human person. It is not a demonstration of power over one's life, no matter how much it seems like it. It's giving Despair the power. It's relinquishing control, not exerting it. Thus, the greatest gift given by God - one's very life - is forfeited. It gets thrown away - or taken away - because it fails to meet some preconceived standard.
Most of the commenters at the HuffPost piece are eulogizing Jack Kevorkian for his 'honesty', 'integrity' and 'compassion', for being a 'trailblazer', a 'hero' and 'leaving a wonderful legacy'. In 30 years time, I wonder if they'll still be saying that?
(click to enlarge)
