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Volume 2004 Issue One
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Priests for Life Canada Volume 2004 Issue One We can rely on our patrons Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Joseph & St. Michael |
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PRIESTS
FOR LIFE, CANADA HOLDS FIFTH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM Saturday, October 25, 2003 SEE DETAILS BELOW |
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The world
population today is estimated at around six billion inhabitants. The
facts indicate there are world demographic problems, such as
distribution of food resources, of agricultural know-how, of hygiene,
the natural regulation of birth, as well as the added factors of
consumerism and corruption. Current concern around the world about
overpopulation came to public notice about 1970 when there was a
renewed interest in the 1798 publication of Rev. Thomas Maltus’ “Essay
on the Principles of World Population”. He believed that the power of
population was indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to
produce subsistence for mankind. His equation became obsolete due to
the great advances in agricultural and food storage, and processing
technological innovations.
World overpopulation is a myth that has been promoted by the wealthy
who insist that their future is threatened by the numerical mass of the
poor. “Rich countries perceive population numbers in the third world as
a threat to their security” (The New World Order and Demographic
Security, Msgr. Michel Schooyans, 1995). They maintain that people are
poor because they are too numerous. In actuality, the reverse is what
can happen: “People can become too numerous because they are poor”.
Population is relative to a given situation, which can be changed by
man’s intervention, providing he has the moral and political desire to
do so. The wealthy countries promote the doctrine of living space for
their own profit, intending to preserve their well-being, claiming
pre-emptive rights over natural resources, knowledge and know-how. They
wish to prevent the emergence of potential rivals (e.g.: population of
China: 1,225,400,000; population of India: 969,963,000).
Their propaganda is often accompanied by a warning to people about the
deterioration of the environment and exhaustion of natural resources.
Reason asserts, however, that it is not possible to determine the
limits of the sustaining capacity of the earth, for one cannot
determine the limit of man’s ability to intervene in the world. Man can
change situations by organization, teaching, and supplying equipment.
Intervention must always have respect for the principle of subsidiarity
and the fundamental rights of man, which are the basis of democracy.
Public authority should not use any means, at any price. The fact is
that limiting population at any cost is a priority for many United
Nations organizations (e.g.: World Bank, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, CIDA,
World Health Organization, and International Planned Parenthood
Federation). They promote inhuman Malthusian policies in massive,
scandalous campaigns, usually involving compulsory measures of
fertility control, advocating contraception, sterilization, and
abortion as their solution. The mass male and female sterilization
campaign in India in 1954 and 1976 led to the downfall of Mrs. Gandhi’s
government. She and her son wanted to impose obligatory sterilization.
In Brazil and Mexico, 40% of the women using fertility control methods
had been sterilized. In Peru, in 1997, a governmental sterilization
campaign, which involved over 100,000 women, was carried out by the
public health department, thereby violating their human rights.
Pope John Paul II has stated that human rights transcend every
constitutional order. These rights are inherent in every person. They
do not result from a conscience which is open to negotiation depending
upon the forces or self-interest that may be present. The very
existence of these rights, recognized and solemnly declared in 1948,
does not depend on the relative quality of the formulation, which
exists in constitutions and laws. Every constitution, every law, which
would attempt to limit the possession of these declared rights, or to
modify their meaning, should immediately be denounced as
discriminatory, and as suggested by the preamble of the declaration, as
suspect of totalitarian ferments (excerpt: from Declaration of the
Pontifical Council for the Family on Decrease of Fertility in the
World, Feb. 27, 1998).
We are witnessing, today, the execution of a program of social
engineering by death-peddlers - death-managers whose object is to
execute a scientific program for the destruction of future eventual
enemies. The great harm being done now by the organizations that attack
human life, such as Planned Parenthood, has surpassed the combined
deeds of Hitler and Stalin. The powerful people of the world, put to
work for their own profit, the doctrine of living space, which their
precursors invoked in favour of race. Nazi Germany regulated abortion,
facilitated it for the so-called impure races, but opposed it for the
Aryan race. Hitler's Germany organized sterili-zation, abortion, and
euthanasia as well, as their “final solution” (i.e.: gas chambers).
Society today imitates them with our “death clinics”.
The Church has never claimed that it is easy to reach a regulation of
birth, in a given population, by honourable methods. She considers
responsible paternity and maternity as written in God’s design. She
encourages natural methods of birth regulation (i.e.: Natural Family
Panning - W.O.O.M.B.). She rejects contraception, sterilization, and
abortion, as dishonourable and inhuman methods, which lead to chaos and
catastrophe. Human sexuality is in the domain of freedom and human
responsibility and cannot be delegated to technicians or abandoned to
technique. Her social doctrine teaches it is not man who is made for
the market but the market for man. She teaches that the problems of
development and population result from egoism, materialism, injustice,
incompetence, laziness, corruption, imbalance in distribution of
wealth, and poor organization. She says that demographic problems must
be examined, but affirms above all that the problems, occasioned as
much by demographic growth as by implosion, are first of all of a moral
nature. Their solution is made difficult by reason of the structures of
sin, which brings about innumerable distortions in the process of
development. The answers to these problems are the rights of man -
respect, justice, peace, solidarity, and love. The tragedy is that many
refuse to put their life style on trial, refuse to convert, and are led
to call into question the rights of the most destitute to live.
The fact is that world growth has slowed as evidenced in the drop in
fertility in numerous developing countries* (i.e.: in 133 developing
countries with a total population of 4,845,697,000, the fertility rate
has decreased from 6.2 in 1965 to 3.4 in 1997 - a decrease of 46%). The
apparent main reason given for this demographic collapse was that for
the sake of credibility, the rich developed countries had to ‘give the
example’ of accepting, adopting and legalizing contraception,
sterilization and abortion, before they could indoctrinate the Third
World countries to imitate them (i.e.: in 58 developing countries where
the population totals 1,052,813,000, fertility rates decreased from 2.5
in 1965 to 1.9 in 1997, a 24% decrease). The irony is that in spreading
these anti-life practices in an attempt to keep control over the Third
World countries, there was a boomerang effect and developed countries
became the first victims of their own anti-life propaganda. +
*The available fertility index reports vary but give some indication of
the problem: United Kingdom: 1.9; Belgium: 1.62; Germany: 1.5; Spain:
1.2; Italy: 1.1; Poland: 2.1; France: 1.7; Ireland: 1.8; U.S.A: 2.1;
Canada: 1.8; Japan: 1.5; Russia: 1.56; Brazil: 1.8; China: 1.8; India:
3.6; Iran: 5.9; Mexico: 2.7; Ethiopia: 7.1; Pakistan: 6.0; Nigeria:
6.3; Philippines: 3.6; Bangladesh: 4.3; Rwanda: 8.6; Uganda: 7.4;
Afghanistan: 6.9; Saudi Arabia: 6.2; Australia: 1.8; etc. (National
Demographics Summary, 1997, The Facts of Life, HLI, pp. 356-375).
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PRIESTS
FOR LIFE CANADA SUPPORTS EFFORT TO BRING THE IMAGE OF OUR LADY OF
GUADALUPE (Patroness of Priests for Life Canada) TO PARISHES IN EASTERN
ONTARIO
 Through the efforts of Tim Dooling, a
resident of Ottawa, Ontario, The Missionary Image of Our Lady of
Guadalupe will be travelling to parishes in the Eastern Ontario area
between May 3, 2004 and June 26, 2004. The Image has visited over 1,000 parishes in every state of the U.S.A., Canada, and many other countries. There have been thousands of Masses, Confessions, Hours of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and Rosaries said in the presence of The Image. Many abortions have been averted and at least twenty abortuaries have been closed through Our Lady of Guadalupe's intercession. The Irish clergy credit the voting down of a proposed Constitutional amendment to “legalize” abortion in Ireland to her intercession. If you live in Eastern Ontario (Diocese of Ottawa, Pembroke, Alexandria-Cornwall and Kingston), we ask you to encourage your pastor to consider taking part in this worthwhile pro-life effort. Preparations need not be elaborate - just start either with a Mass, or with simple exposition of The Image, the praying of the Rosary as the pastor might prescribe, and if possible, the simultaneous exposition of The Blessed Sacrament during the viewing of The Image. Two persons should be with The Image at all times to protect it, and to wipe it off if people wish to kiss or touch it. The viewing could be for a few hours or for a 24-hour period as local conditions may allow. Displaying The Image in some of the schools as well, for a short period of time, would also be beneficial, as young people are essential in the battle against abortion. It is also requested that a basket for donations be placed in the vicinity of The Image, where people can help defray the costs of this large undertaking, a program by the U.S. sponsoring organization, The Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (see www.jkmi.com/ mivisits.htm). Clergy can be assured that this should not be time-consuming for the parish priest. Transportation and care of The Image will be arranged by the Guardian of The Image, Tim Dooling. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, spoke of Our Lady of Guadalupe as being “the first evangelizer of the Americas” and said that Mary is “the star of the new evangelization”. We ask you to seriously consider having The Image come to your parish during its tour. By request, Fr. Jim Whalen, National Director of Priests for Life Canada, is available to preach at some of these visits. Should your parish be able to host The Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, please contact the following for further information: Tim Dooling, 611-945 Richmond Road, Ottawa, ON K2B 8B9; Telephone: (613) 722-9594; E-mail: el014@ncf.ca. |
LifeNews.com reported on January 4, 2004 that the
United Nations Population Fund had received funding from 142
governments this year, excluding the US, but including many countries
in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. One has to ask why so much
money is being channelled into controlling the world’s population when
the real problem is not overpopulation, but underpopulation, especially
in the developed countries.
Among those who have recognized this problem is Peter R. Drucker, a
teacher and independent consultant and writer for business managers.
While not one to predict the future, he shows keen insight into the
signs of the times - that which is already happening, and the probable
consequences for the future.
In the Harvard Business Review (Sept. - Oct. 1997, p. 20), Drucker
states: “The dominant factor for business in the next two decades -
absent war, pestilence, or collision with a comet - is not going to be
economics or technology. It will be demographics. The key factor for
business will not be the overpopulation of the world, which we have
been warned of these last 40 years. It will be the increasing
underpopulation of the developed countries - Japan and the nations of
Europe and North America.
The developed world is in the process of committing collective suicide.
Its citizens are not having enough babies to replace themselves.
“Specifically, the official forecast of the European Union is for a
drop in Italy’s population from what is currently around 60 million to
fewer than 40 million in 50 years and to below 20 million in 100
years”. Peter Drucker continues, “Statisticians for the Japanese
government predict a drop in their country’s population from the
present 125 million to 55 million - a 56% drop - within the
twenty-first century”. That represents a drastic drop in Japanese
consumers.
Underpopulation has other consequences as well. France provides a case
in point. By 1985, France had a 25-year policy of discouraging births
which had resulted in the loss of some 800,000 baby-related jobs in
France - jobs related to making diapers, bottles, baby food, and toys.
A situation, which is becoming acute in Canada, is the dependence of
the elderly on pensions. As the birth rate decreases, the workforce
needed to sustain the pensions through taxes diminishes. Our federal
government has been considering a short-term tactic for maintaining the
tax base - that of raising the retirement age.
Quebec, looking at its aging population and the decreasing number of
children from the perspective of passing on the language and culture,
has opted to follow the policy France’s government adopted some years
ago: that of subsidizing French couples who have children.
We must not be complacent toward the population trends in our world.
They are ‘scarily’ headed in the direction of underpopulation. In the
September 2003 issue of Geographica, National Geographic published a
United Nations’ Population Division map of Europe, which clearly showed
that the birth-rate of most European countries is well below the
replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.
Demographers and the UN’s Population Division have established that the
world’s problem is underpopulation not overpopulation. While
overpopulation alarmists of the past feared having ‘too many people’ in
the world and foresaw the starvation of hundreds of millions of people,
these predictions have proved false as the food supply has kept well
ahead of population growth. Countries such as India, which were once
considered high-risk for feeding their population, have now become
food-exporting nations.
Why, then, do so many consider overpopulation the problem, and why are
so many governments still contributing big money to solve a problem
that isn’t a problem? What is the motivation? Is it self-interest? Have
emotionally loaded phrases such as “population bomb” and an
“overpopulated world running out of renewable resources” triggered
irrational responses? Or is it, in part, that a great deal of wealth is
made by selling chemical contraceptives and condoms?
The consequences of believing that there can be “too many people” have
been disastrous. Wealthy people in the United States became interested
in limiting population growth in poor countries and began funding
population control programs for this purpose. As Dr. John Billings has
observed, “monies from these programs were used to educate and motivate
influential and powerful people in government, universities and other
areas of public life”. Then, “grants for development were made
conditional upon the acceptance of the birth-control programs
structured and funded by the United States and other rich countries
such as Japan and Scandinavia”.
Population control promoters claimed that saving the world from
overpopulation, and hence from the dangerous extinction of
non-renewable resources, could only be accomplished through drastic
measures. The only solution was to control population growth by
controlling the birth rate. Thus, easy access to contraception, safe
abortion, and sterilization was a necessary right of women.
Subsequently, the Catholic Church, with her staunch adherence to the
gospel of life, became a serious obstacle.
These efforts came to a head during the United Nations 1994 Year of the
Family, at the Cairo Conference on Population and Development, hosted
by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), and
sponsored by the World Bank. The organizers of the conference placed
emphasis on population control, not on development, and underscored the
universal right to abortion and contraception. The Vatican State, a
conference participant, presented the working document: “Ethical and
Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends”, which called for a calm
reconsideration of the facts, a careful interpretation of numbers, and
a refocus on ‘development’.
Conference organizers, and Planned Parenthood International, claimed
that the increase in population is the result of a high birth rate. The
Vatican delegation presented statistics gathered from demographers and
the United Nations’ own Population Division to show that the birthrate
reached a high during the period of 1965 to 1970, and has been
decreasing ever since. Therefore, the continued rise in the overall
population numbers cannot be attributed to an increasing birth rate.
Instead, the scientific explanation is found in what is called a
demographic transition. In this transition, there is a lag time,
sometimes as long as 40 to 50 years, between the beginning of the
decline in the birth rate and the beginning of the decline in total
population numbers. (see graph #1) And when that second decline begins,
it takes place very rapidly. This rise and sudden decline is
illustrated by the two examples of Italy and Japan, as mentioned
earlier.
Population numbers continued to grow, despite decreased births, because
modern medicine has made it possible for many people to live longer.
This is true for both the elderly, and babies/children. As medical
benefits reached the poor countries in the latter part of the last
century, the life expectancy increased from 53 to 65 years. UNICEF’s
immunization programs saved the lives of millions of children.
The Vatican delegation requested that world leaders consider carefully
this “Demographic Transition” and suggested the United Nations’
Population Fund Activities Division take into consideration the work of
its own Population Division, (Population Projections) which had already
issued statistics showing that we were on the threshold of a rapid
decrease in world population numbers.
The Vatican encouraged governments to focus resources on meeting the
growing threat of underpopulation and its implications on aid projects
and development practices. For the misplaced focus on reducing births
only aggravates other problems. As it funnels funding and aid into
reproductive technology, it often reduces access to other necessary
medical resources for women’s health care in developing countries.
Kenya is a case in point. Dr. Margaret A. Ogola expresses it very
starkly when she speaks about small village clinics: “The doctor finds
that while he cannot save the life of a woman dying of simple pneumonia
because he does not have a vial of penicillin, which costs only a few
cents, he could fit her with as many IUDs as he liked during her death
throes”.
With aid policies that give priority to population control via
reduction of the birth rate and the AIDS epidemic, she says, “It is
foreseeable that some day Africa could again become the empty continent
it was in the days of the smallpox scourge....” (The Catholic Report,
Aug/Sept 1994, pp. 26-27).
The Vatican’s calm approach did stop the UNFPA organizers and their
allies from using the Conference to impose their population agenda on
the world. Yet, it does not make sense for the UN to exert such time
and effort toward lowering the birthrate. In fact, such actions will
only compound the real problem - a declining birth rate in developing
countries, and a birth rate in the developed countries that is already
too low to replace the present generation.
The Vatican encouraged conference delegations to remember it is a
nation’s ‘people’ which is its real wealth and to promote the teaching
of natural family planning. The Vatican also pointed out the need to
pay attention to the moral and cultural order, and the impact of
Materialism, Individualism and Secularization - these ideologies force
more and more women into the workplace, which in turn leads to fewer
children. In the developed countries, this has helped to create what is
called a demographic winter. Winter is a time when seeds are not
planted, and harvests do not grow.
Demographers have coined the phrase, “more coffins than cradles” to
express graphically what is and what soon will occur. A vivid example
of this was witnessed in 2003 - during the first seven months of that
year, Russia’s population decreased by 500,000 people.
Yet the myth still persists that the real threat to the world is
overpopulation. Pastors are very aware that this has greatly influenced
many married couples, who think that having more than two children is
contributing to the overpopulation problem. There has developed a ‘fear
of the child’, as seen recently in Columbia, where film producer,
William Tell, is “fighting the tyranny of fertility” by giving land to
men who will have a vasectomy.
But the real need for the future of our world and economy is more
children. In 1981, Pope John Paul II wrote, “The future of humanity
passes by way of the family”. In recent years, I have had the privilege
of leading summer retreats for families of many children who are not
afraid, and who are generously contributing to the future of humanity.
They are beacons of hope. Let’s join these unsung heroes in not being
afraid to welcome God’s great blessing: the child. +
DEFENDING
THE
“SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE”
Priests for Life Canada, in its defense
of life and family, would like to encourage everyone to immediately
contact the following people and encourage them to uphold the
definition of marriage as being the exclusive union between a man and a
woman. (No postage is needed).
Name of your MP, House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
The Honourable Martin Cauchon, Minister of Justice and Attorney General
284 Wellington, Ottawa, ON K1A OH8
Email: CauchM@parl.gc.ca
Mr. Patrice Martin, Clerk Committee on Justice and Human Rights
180 Wellington St., Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Email: just@parl.gc.ca
The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Email: pm@pm.gc.ca
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Attention all Clergy: Enclosed in this mailing is a copy of
“Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions
Between Homosexual Persons”, recently released by the Vatican.
Attention all Supporters: Anyone wishing a free copy of this document,
please Contact Priests for Life Canada. Additional copies are available
at $ .20 each plus postage.
This document can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html
TAKE PART IN THIS YEARS’
NATIONAL MARCH FOR LIFE IN OTTAWA
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2004
- other functions are taking place from Wednesday, May 12 through
Friday, May 14
- call Campaign Life Coalition, Ottawa for details: (613) 729-0379 or
1-800-730-5358
Priests
for
Life, Canada - members’ newsletter
Catholic Life and
Family - parishioners’ newsletter
Facts for Life -
students’ newsletter
In the past, mailings have been sent to supporters four times per year. In addition to the ‘Priests for Life, Canada’ newsletter, sample copies of both the ‘Catholic Life and Family’ and ‘The Facts for Life’ have been sent. In response to requests from members, and with the additional support provided by our new Ottawa Pro-Life Centre, mailings will now be increased to six times per year as follows:
Month Newsletters being mailed
September Priests for Life, Canada
November
Catholic Life and Family
Facts for Life
December Priests for Life, Canada
February
Catholic Life and Family
Facts for Life
March Priests for Life, Canada
June
Priests for Life, Canada
Priests for Life Canada International
Perpetual Rosary for Life - is an on-going effort to storm heaven with
prayer to end contraception, abortion and euthanasia. Participants
pledge to say a daily or weekly Rosary for pro-life intentions. Write
to Priests for Life Canada for details, or sign-up on line at:
www.webhart.net/vandee/rosary.htm
Pilgrimage of the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe - at parishes in
Eastern Ontario, May 3, 2004 to June 26, 2004 (see details on page 5).
National March for Life - Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, May 13, 2004.
Priests for Life Canada Annual Symposium: September 18, 2004 in
Ottawa... see details on page 8 in this publication.