The bishops of Peru are opposing proposed legislation that would legalise abortion in cases of rape or birth defect.
"Life is a right from its conception... any attempt to justify the elimination of children about to be born into illness or disability brings to light our difficulty in accepting sick people," the bishops said in statement. "Since we've done away with the death penalty in Peru for even the worst criminals, how can we accept the death penalty for an embryo that hasn't even had the time to commit a mistake and cannot even defend itself?"
Reactions to Obama Nobel Peace Prize
US bishops have congratulated President Barack Obama for his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, speaking in his capacity as president of the US Bishops, said that the Nobel prize was a recognition that President Obama "has already changed the international conversation".
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, SJ, told journalists that the news "was greeted with appreciation at the Vatican in light of the President's demonstrated commitment to promoting peace on an international level". However, L'Osservatore Romano said that the award seemed "premature" as the achievements of Obama are very limited. The Vatican paper suggested that the Nobel committee offered the American leader the award as a way of "pressuring Obama to make pacifist choices".
Bishops defend the Amazon
Thirty Catholic bishops serving in the Amazon region said in a statement it is time to stop destroying the rain forest and threatening its people's welfare in the name of progress. They called for policies that "take responsibility for preservation of the biological and cultural diversity of the Amazon". They rejected both the commercial view of the Amazon as an "inexhaustible" source of natural resources and a gene pool that might hold a cure for diseases, and the romantic concept of the region as a pristine green "lung".
The poker priest
Is poker a vice or a valid pastoral activity? Fr Andrew Trapp, a 28-year-old priest of the diocese of Charleston, seems to be turning it into the latter. He is one of four finalists in the Pokerstars.net Million-Dollar Challenge, a TV show on the Fox network. Fr Trapp, who received permission from his church superiors to compete, won $100,000 in the semi-final round and donated the funds to his parish.
Fr Trapp now has the chance to win one million dollars which would also be donated to the parish.
Bishops, Obama clash on health care
US Bishops have said the health reform bill being considered by the Senate finance committee does not exclude the use of public funds for abortion. On the other hand, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has said twice in the space of a few days that the bishops' interpretation is mistaken.
However, according to Catholic News Service, the non-partisan watchdog group Factcheck.org is of the opinion that the health care legislation would allow for federal funding of abortions.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)