THURSDAY

      St. Joseph, your work has brought barely enough income for you and Mary, and you have made what you can from your carpenter's shop to provide for the care of the Child Jesus. You see that Mary is in good health and you are relieved, yet you, too, desired to provide for her. Help us, St. Joseph, to realize that God is our Father and desires also to provide for us His children, if only we allow Him. By our obedience may we shun the wickedness of the world, all its glitter and false promises, and rely only on our Heavenly Father for our every need.

HEADLINES:

Abortion at forefront of today's news

      There's good news and bad news on the abortion front. The bad: In Brazil a judge ruled a twelve year-old could have an abortion, while in New Jersey the ACLU and Planned Parenthood in are pulling out all the stops to prevent yesterday's legislation to ban partial-birth abortions, overriding the pro-abort bill pushed by Governor Christie Whitman. Stay tuned. The good: The new pro-life administration in the Pope's beloved homeland of Poland is ready to outlaw abortion totally. For this click below, for the other abortion stories click the CWN logo below the third article. Click on Poland to read more.

      WARSAW (CWN) - Poland's new center-right parliament began debate on Wednesday over the repeal of a law that allowed most abortions for almost any reasons including economic hardship.

      The pro-abortion law was passed in 1993 while the parliament was controlled by the ex-Communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), but elections last September swept the pro-Catholic, pro-life Solidarity Election Alliance (AWS) into power again. AWS is seeking to return to the old law that allowed abortion only when there is serious danger to the life or health of the mother, when the pregnancy is the result of a crime, or when there is irreparable damage to the unborn child.

      The 1993 law, which was further liberalized in 1996 to allow even more abortions, was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Tribunal which said the amended law clashed with the guarantee of the right to life. The lower house of parliament can reject the tribunal ruling by a two-thirds majority, but that was unlikely to happen since only 164 members of the 460-seat house opposed it.

Russians urged to say "Nyet" to TV, Sex Ed, and the Culture of Death!

      America does not have a monopoly on bad media or nefarious Planned Parenthood schemes. Russia joined the growing chorus against this insidious effort to foist the culture of death on the people when the Russian Orthodox Patriarch lashed out at his country's moral bankruptcy. Click on Nyet to read more.

      MOSCOW (CWN) - The Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow struck out at television for its moral bankruptcy and at plans to introduce sex education in schools during a Tuesday meeting with parish priests and patriarchate officials.

      Patriarch Aleksey II said Russian television has taken advantage of new freedoms after the fall of Communism to broadcasts increasing levels of morally offensive material -- singling out the NTV network's broadcast of Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" -- while also increasing its attacks on the church. "After decades of persecution, the church is now rising from the ashes," he said. "But we should not deceive ourselves by this new dawn, we should not forget that in this world the church has been, still is and always will be persecuted."

      The patriarch also included criticism of the government's plans to spend millions of dollars on a new sex education program in schools. "In sermons, we should pay attention not only to doctrinal truths but to the fight against drunkenness, smoking, drugs, and other vices ... The orthodox conscience, still less that of a cleric, cannot accept legalizing pornography, prostitution, and the sexual 'education' of schoolchildren," he said. He added the government had raised its allocation for sex education in next year's budget to 240 billion rubles ($40 million) from 40 billion -- "and this at a time when the country is dying of poverty and destitution."

Communism begets Capitalism in Croatia, but things are no better according to Archbishop

      Greed and selfishness are at the root of the growing chasm between the rich and poor in Croatia as Archbishop Josip Bozanic warned all of the growing split between rich and poor in his annual Christmas address, released early yesterday from his headquarters in Zagreb in which the Croatian prelate called for reconciliation from all fronts in a unified effort to forge ahead for the good of all. Click on Croatia to read more.

     ZAGREB (CWN) - The new president of the Croatian bishops' conference used his Christmas address released on Wednesday to speak out on growing corruption and the growth of poverty.

      "Due to sudden changes of the political and economic system some individuals quickly got rich, while more and more citizens are getting poorer," said Archbishop Josip Bozanic. "What we are seeing at work are the sins of the political structures, made possible by laws whose primary aim was not the common good of man and society." Croatia gained its independence from Communist Yugoslavia in 1991 and then became embroiled in war with Serbians who opposed the split. In 1994, the government instituted an economic austerity program to bring inflation under control, but many people subsequently fell into poverty.

      "Our society, which carried out its transition at times when attention was focused on the wars ... is called upon to reconsider the difficult conditions in which most of the population, especially in the cities, has found itself," Archbishop Bozanic said. "The new name for reconciliation in today's Croatia is dialogue, tolerance, respect for democratic procedures ... the preference of the common good over various party, group, and local interests," he said.

    Dear children: Today I invite you to comprehend your Christian vocation. Little children, I led and am leading you through this time of grace, that you may become conscious of your Christian vocation. Holy martyrs died witnessing: I am a Christian and love God over everything. Little children, today also I invite you to rejoice and be joyful Christians, responsible and conscious that God called you in a special way to be joyfully extended hands toward those who do not believe, and that through the example of your life, they may receive faith and love for God. Therefore, pray, pray, pray that your heart may open and be sensitive for the Word of God. Thank you for having responded to my call!
For more on Medjugorje, Click on MEDJUGORJE

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December 18, 1997 volume 8, no. 55         DAILY CATHOLIC