A Test for the Governor

1. A test for Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The Kansas legislature has passed a "women's right to know" bill, and sent it to her for signature -- a bill that, among other things, mandates a sonogram before an abortion. This will be a test of her purported commitment to reducing abortion, and to the authenticity of her Catholic faith. Please pray that she does the right thing.

2. The official foreign aid organization of the Canadian Catholic Bishops is supporting groups in South America that promote abortion. This is not the first time, and they don't seem to be particularly aghast at their error. Instead, they offer the legalistic answer that they don't support "projects" promoting abortion; they don't deny supporting organizations that do so in their other projects. Here's my suggestion: pink slips and top-to-bottom housecleaning.

3. Archbishop Chaput warns of the modern tendency in the media to make politics into a quasi-religion, while dismissing the importance of authentic religion and marginalizing the Church.

4. Here's some valuable background to support the Holy Father's argument that condom distribution policies only worsen the spread of HIV/AIDS. This information is an important factual vaccine against the continuing theme in the media's coverage of the situation in Africa (for example, in this editorial in the Times) -- that somehow the Church is responsible for spreading the disease because we teach the only sure-fire way to prevent it (chastity and monogamy). The reality -- and the clear evidence -- is that the more condoms are distributed, more promiscuity results, and the spread of the disease continues unabated. But somehow we're the ones who aren't "realistic".

5. One of the President's religious advisors, Jim Wallis, is warning him that including abortion coverage in any national health insurance plan will kill it. This is important, because he is considered a leader of the "religious left", and has been important in giving the President's policies "cover" among religious moderates.

6. Meanwhile, Cardinal George had a private meeting with the President. I'm sure that, as the diplomats like to say, a "frank discussion" took place.

7. Some numbskulls are trying to change the name of St. Patrick's Day to "Shamrock Day", to avoid giving offense to some hypersensitive people who can't stand to have any expressions of religious belief, especially Christianity. As my Irish grandmother would have said, this kind of thing is what they invented the shillelagh for.

8. Posted today at my official ArchNY blog on the travesty of the NY Assembly Codes Committee approving the unjust, anti-Catholic statute of limitations bill -- on St. Patrick's Day! What better day to attack the Church than our patronal feast day.