TresSugar

Relationships and Religion

DearSugar — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:00:00 -0700

Religion can be a very sticky subject for a lot of couples that date inter-religiously.

I know many women who will only date Jewish men if they are Jewish, or Catholic men if they are Catholic, but personally, I think it's more important to date for love rather than religion. I have never been one to think that religion mattered much, as long as both people's values were respected and celebrated. Compromise is key when people come from different religious backgrounds, and as long as both people are open and communicate their needs in a sensitive way, I think it can totally work. It can actually be really amazing to mesh your two cultures, family values, and holidays.

So what do you think? Does the religion of your significant other matter much to you? Is it super important to your family to marry someone who shares the same religion? Or does religion never even cross your mind?

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Catholic Hospitals Say They Must Close If Abortion Bill Passes

CitizenSugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:00:36 -0800

Hoping to end the abortion debate once and for all, many pro-choice lawmakers support the Freedom of Choice Act, a law which would codify Roe v. Wade and set a national standard for abortion rights. Barack Obama's statements that he wants to sign the act into law, has put pro-life advocates on the defensive. Specifically, leaders in the Catholic Church are warning that the law would force Catholic hospitals to close since they do not provide abortions. This would be a major problem, since about one-third of all US hospitals are Catholic.

In its current form, FOCA would cancel out existing laws that limit abortion (up to the point of fetal viability), including parental notification rules. Catholic hospitals fear that conscience laws, which allow federally funded hospitals to deny abortions based on religious grounds, would also be tossed.

While it's still uncertain whether FOCA will overturn conscience protections, and whether it will even be passed for that matter, do you think there should be an exception made for Catholic hospitals?

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Catholic Church Offers Indulgences Once Again

LibertySugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:00:23 -0800

"Why are we bringing it back? Because there is sin in the world."

With that matter-of-fact answer one Catholic bishop in Brooklyn explained why the Church has decided to start peddling indulgences -or, get-out-of-purgatory ~~free~~ cards!

Technically believers haven't been able to purchase indulgences outright since 1857. But, you can exchange a charitable contribution and confession, or a combination of other acts for reduced time in purgatory. According to the Church, sinners must face punishment in purgatory before they make it to heaven.

Plenary indulgences, which erase all the time a sinner must spend in purgatory, only come around every so often. Right now they're being offered in conjunction with a yearlong celebration of St. Paul, and they're available for you, or someone you know (dead or alive).

So are Catholics lining up to participate in something as confusing as this? According to the New York Times, many are eager for the opportunity to "do something Catholic" in these modern times.

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Party Like a Pilgrim! Pictures From Catholic World Youth Day

LibertySugar — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:30:09 -0700

If you were wondering what the Pope was doing driving around Sydney in the Pope mobile, his Holiness is in town for World Youth Day. The world's largest youth event, organized by the Catholic Church, has brought almost 125,000 international visitors to Sydney, more than the 2000 Olympics!

Every two or three years the Pope invites young pilgrims to celebrate their faith's international counterparts. Pope John Paul II started the event in 1984. This year the celebration being held in Sydney, Australia, from July 15 to July 20, includes an opening mass, catechesis (teaching) sessions, and a pilgrim dance party. One Vietnamese pilgrim said: It's like a big family, the Church gets to see how people from all over the world live their faith and it is interesting to see and it is inspiring to me."

From the look of these pictures, this "promotional event" seems like it gets young people excited about the Church. But, some Australians see the event as "propaganda" and are protesting the event, which received some public funding. A MySpace survey of Australian youth found that 77 percent of respondents felt the Catholic Church was "out of touch" with youth. Does this event help it get in touch?

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70,000 Women a Year Die From Unsafe Abortions

TresSugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0700

After three years of research, the New York-based Guttmacher Institute has concluded that although contraceptive use has lowered the number of abortions worldwide, unsafe abortions still account for a staggering 70,000 deaths a year, particularly in the developing world. More than half the deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with the lowest rates of contraceptive use and the highest rates of unintended pregnancies.

"In much of the developing world," said the Institute's president Sharon Camp, "abortion remains highly restricted, and unsafe abortion is common and continues to damage women's health and threaten their survival."

The report calls for easing developing nations' abortion laws, citing that laws banning or restricting abortion don't keep it from happening, they just make abortion unsafe and either self-induced or performed by unskilled people in any unhygienic conditions.

The Guttmacher Institute's recommendations: expand access to family planning and modern contraceptives and to legal and safe abortion, and improve the coverage and quality of post-abortion care.

Their recommendations have been criticized by Deirdre McQuade, a policy director for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-life Activities who also castigates priests or nuns who make referrals to family planning services, which she says veers from church policy. "We need to be much more creative in assisting women with supportive services," she said, "so they don't need to resort to the unnatural act of abortion."

Dominican Republic Bans Abortion, No Exceptions

TresSugar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

As support for legal access to abortion in the US drops (with only 47 percent of Americans thinking it should be legal), the Dominican Republican has decided to go one better: they want to constitutionally ban the procedure altogether.

With support for the Catholic Church and the country's Catholic population, lawmakers recently ratified an amendment that makes it illegal for women to terminate pregnancy in all cases. Abortion is now constitutionally forbidden even if the mother or fetus's life is at risk. And there is no exception for incest or rape.

It is very taboo to discuss abortion in the Dominican Republic, but some bloggers are speaking out against the new amendment. One such blogger writes:

A string of hypocrisy, and those that think they voted for life, when a woman needs to abort because her life is in danger and they do not, THE WOMAN AND THE FETUS DIES. What ignorance! Death will now be 2 for 1 in the Dominican Republic.

Could you imagine something like this happening in the US?

Ireland Released Five Volumes on Abuses, But No Names

TresSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:30:00 -0700

Ireland released an extensive report yesterday revealing that more than one thousand children were beaten, neglected, or raped at Catholic reform schools. The five-volume accounting took nine years to compile and covers six decades, but it doesn't include a single name of a priest, brother, or nun who abused children at the Catholic institutions. A religious order in question successfully sued the government in 2004 to keep the names secret. Thus, the perpetrators of rape and other physical, emotional, and sexual abuse are free from criminal prosecutions. Now victims say they've been cheated of justice.

While the victims feel vindicated by the inquiry, many maintain that they never would have opened their wounds if they knew it would result in zero criminal accountability. The report did offer over 20 ways the government could address the wrongs, including: building a monument, improving child protection services, and providing counseling to the victims. The Catholic Church in Ireland has also apologized.

Do you think the perpetrators should be brought to justice in the courts?

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Using Protection: Vatican Defends Pope on Condoms

CitizenSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:01:12 -0700

Earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI took a controversial stance against condoms when it comes to AIDS prevention. World health experts and the French government have come out against the Pope's position, and German Catholic bishops are hinting at dissent. But, the Vatican is sticking to the Pope's belief that condoms make the AIDS problem worse.

Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi defended the Pope yesterday, saying condoms can lead to risky behavior. He also said Pope Benedict XVI was simply continuing the position of his predecessors that fidelity within heterosexual marriages and abstinence are the best ways to stop the disease.

Since the Pope maintains that AIDS cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms, health workers in Africa fear that their progress will be stalled among the growing number of Catholics.

Adding some sense to the debate, one Catholic bishop in Germany clarified his own stance: "Anyone who has AIDS and is sexually active, anyone who seeks multiple partners, must protect others and themselves." Amen!

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Archbishop Warns Against Worshipping Obama

CitizenSugar — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:30:06 -0800

While Americans hope President Obama's plans will be the savior the economy needs, a Catholic archbishop has warned against treating Obama like a savior. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver maintains that "in democracies, we elect public servants, not messiahs."

Speaking at a lecture in Canada, Chaput also shared his criticism of Obama's policy. He said:

Whatever his strengths, there’s no way to reinvent his record on abortion and related issues with rosy marketing about unity, hope, and change. Of course, that can change. Some things really do change when a person reaches the White House. Power ennobles some men. It diminishes others. Bad policy ideas can be improved. Good policy ideas can find a way to flourish. But as Catholics, we at least need to be honest with ourselves and each other about the political facts we start with.

The Archbishop delivered a hard message to American Catholics, telling them that they have been "absorbed and bleached and digested" by American culture. Do his words strike a cord with you?

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Thousands March Against Looser Abortion Laws in Spain

CitizenSugar — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:00:44 -0700

Over 100,000 to 500,000 people (depending who you believe) marched in Spain Sunday to demonstrate against government laws that would increase access to abortion. As part of one protest, children danced while singing "Thank you mommy for letting me live."

Since 1985, when Spain decriminalized abortion, women can only receive abortions in special cases: up to 12 weeks into pregnancy in the case of rape; up to 22 weeks in the case of malformation of fetus; at any point if it represented a threat to physical or mental health of the woman. The Church greatly influenced these laws in the traditionally Catholic country.

Spain's current government wants to increase legal protections for abortion providers and seekers, while also allowing girls 16 or older to get an abortion without parental consent. Many doctors refuse abortion in Spain for ethical reasons or out of fear of legal prosecution.

In addition to impacting the lives of Spanish women, the outcome of this latest abortion battle will test the influence of the Catholic Church in Spain.

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