FrontLines Magazine Winter 2012

2 | FrontLines Winter 2012 www.hli.org

Dear Family,

Courage is that virtue which enables a person to face difficulty or danger without succumbing to fear. Saint Sebastian, portrayed beautifully on the cover of this issue, exemplifies this virtue per-fectly: When faced with death during the perse-cutions of the third century, his courageous re-sponse serves as a living testimony to the power and strength drawn from Faith, Hope and Love. His heroic virtue witnesses to every generation the necessity of having courage in order to eradi-cate the power and corruption of Evil.

As an ever-growing percentage of the world’s population embraces a radical secularism, the disciples of Jesus Christ must courageously attest to the all-encompassing and transforming power of Love. Sadly, many have sacrificed true freedom for slavery: slavery to unbridled passion, greed, gluttony and power. Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, “When you were slaves of sin, you felt no obligation to righteousness, and what did you get from this? Nothing but experiences that now make you blush, since that sort of behavior ends in death” (Romans 6:20-21). Like the branch cut off from the vine, death is the consequence of abandoning God’s law.

In order to build an authentic Culture of Life, we must be willing to preach Christ in season and out of season. Apathy only stokes the flames of indifference and encourages those promulgating death. This issue’s article on Bishop Bergonzini, who received our Cardinal von Galen Award, of-fers us an insight into what is required in order

to build an authentic Civilization of Love. His joyful and courageous witness inspires us to fight the fight and run the race. The various po-litical, social or cultural circumstances should not intimidate us, nor should the ever-changing winds of sentiment exhaust our determination to build a truly just society. Love can and will conquer all things.

I am confident that this and the other ar-ticles in this issue of FrontLines will inspire you and assure you that our Missionaries for Life are faithfully doing their part to promote and build a Civilization of Love. I am proud to participate in this great Mission and blessed to have such a wondrous team dedicated to defending and pro-moting a Culture of Life throughout the world.

Thank you for your continued support of our Mission for Life, and I humbly ask for your con-tinual prayers. Be assured of my prayers for you and all who in Love and Truth proclaim a Gospel of Life.

Saint Sebastian, pray for us.

Sincerely in Christ,

Father Shenan J. BoquetPresident, Human Life International

Fr. Shenan J. BoquetPresident

CONTENTS

FEATURES

6 Hope & Freedom: The Worldwide Attack on Religious Liberty

12 Religious Freedom in the United States

14 “GUILTY” for Pro-Life Victories

DEPARTMENTS

3 News from the Missions

8 Development News & Progress

10 The Cardinal von Galen Award

15 HLI Online

In This Issue

FrontLines Winter 2012 | 3

NEWS FROM THE MISSIONS

Region: AsiaHLI Coordinator: Ligaya AcostaAsian countries are a mixed bag when it comes to defending life. Japan, Mongolia and Korea allow abortion-on-demand, and China has its infamous “one-child” policy that actually forces women to have abortions. Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines have pro-life laws in place, although these laws are under attack (most especially in the Philippines). Much of HLI’s work in this region focuses on helping the latter coun-tries fend off the powerful pro-abortion influences surrounding them.

INdIa – BaNgalORE – Sister Annun-ciata reported her busy schedule of providing pro-life, self-esteem, preciousness of life, values education, character formation, moral values and social evils, etc., programs for schools, colleges, parishes and houses of religious formation. Her activities have expanded to include pro-life exhi-bitions, pro-life summer camps, online counsel-ing and training others to become instructors on these issues.

A recent highlight in September was the celebration of 25 years of pro-life work at St. Euphrasia’s Higher Primary School Hall. The fes-tivities included Mass and presentations from several speakers. Sr. Annunciata took the audi-ence through the 25 year history, which she has overseen from the beginning, with a presentation that highlighted the significant events of the past two-and-a-half decades.

Region: Latin AmericaHLI Coordinator: Mario Rojas

This life-loving region has recently become victim to a concerted attack from the international pro-ponents of death – groups with nearly unlimited resources whose sole objective is spreading abor-

tion. While nearly all countries in the region have strong, long-standing laws protecting life, these well-funded outside influences have managed to push the abortion debate into the public square - often for the first time in many of these countries’ history. As in Africa, HLI remains the primary pro-life presence in this region. And their rich cul-tural heritage – so deeply influenced by their strong Catholic history – makes the region especially ripe for HLI’s mission of spreading the Gospel of Life.

guaTEMala – Alfonso Brañas, Esq., Presi-dent of HLI’s Association for Life and Human Dignity, reported on their continuing program on Radio Maria Guatemala, titled Let us defend life (Defendamos la vida). They also remain ac-tive members at the meetings of the Pastoral Ministry of Health and the Pastoral Ministry for the Family of the Archdiocese of Ciudad Guate-mala, as well as the meetings of FEDEVIDA, the organization that brings together the pro-life and pro-family organizations in the country. They continue to work on a special audiovisual project with pro-life messages that will include a presen-

Sister Annunciata, teaching at St. Agnes Higher Primary School.

The following are brief glimpses of the work being done by our affiliates and associates around the world.

Ligaya Acosta, HLI’s Regional Coordinator

for Asia


News from the Missions

Mario Rojas, HLI’s Re-gional Coordinator for

Latin America

tation of the facts of two new anti-life laws: new components of “family planning” and “sex educa-tion” in the public school system, and a new com-ponent of “reproductive health services” in the maternal health program.

HLI Guatemala is offering a pro-life course in the Catholic Church of Our Lord Jesus Crucified of Esquipulas in the municipality of Ciudad Guatemala. The series is based on HLI’s on-line Spanish prolife course -- which they also offered this year in the HLI Guatemala office. Additionally, HLI Guatemala is assisting in the establishment of a Project Rachel program for the Archdiocese of Ciudad Guatemala.

This affiliate is also encouraging the govern-ment to reverse the withdrawal of its objection to the anti-life language contained in the 1994 United Nations Cairo document; the Ministry of Foreign Relations has expressed resistance in ad-mitting that it made a grave mistake in withdraw-ing this objection.

Region: EuropeHLI Coordinator: Joannes BucherThe European states continue to be the leading exporters of the Culture of Death (along with the United States), with the UK going so far as threat-ening to cut off aid to Africa for their pro-family rejection of the gay agenda. There are exciting new bright spots, however – such as Hungary, which passed a new constitution this year that protects life

from the moment of conception. Other European highlights include:

ukRaINE – Genia Samborska continues her critical NFP outreach and her training of NFP instructors. She is working on a high-level train-ing program that will qualify attendees to train and certify others as instructors. People are sign-ing up from Russia, the Baltic States, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Genia is also collaborating on a new Christian-based family and marriage counseling program. The program is headed up by a highly regarded psychologist and will launch with a series of 16 weekend events. Genia will be providing training in pro-life issues such as NFP and the dangers of abortion/contraception.

Recently, Genia also had the joy of speaking at a Roman Catholic seminary in the Chmelnytski region, and she tells us there was great interest in her talk. Roman Catholicism is not as widespread in Ukraine as Ukrainian/Byzantine Catholicism, so this presentation was rather unusual.

ROME – Joseph Meaney, HLI’s Director of In-ternational Coordination, is busy working with HLI’s Joannes Bucher and Imre Téglásy on up-coming events related to the new pro-life Hun-garian constitution, including work on the next chapter in HLI’s True Stories movie project. Jo-seph is also actively working with HLI Malta and HLI Poland to coordinate activities to protect life and the family in those countries.

Monsignor Barreiro continues his many meet-ings and discussions with various members of the Catholic hierarchy and pontifical organiza-tions. He and Joseph are coordinating with Mary Langlois on pro-life issues at the U.N., as the push to make abortion an “international right” accelerates.

On November 25, Marcello Riccobaldi of the HLI Rome office participated in a demonstration in remembrance of Eluana Englaro. Eluana is the “Italian Terri Schiavo,” whose life was prematurely terminated by her father, with the complicity of a biased tribunal. She, too, was starved to death via the denial of food and water. The event took place on Eluana’s birthday in her home town of Lecco, north of Milan, Italy. Eluana would have turned 41 this year and the pro-life groups of Italy keep her memory alive.

Joannes Bucher, HLI’s Regional Coordinator for

Europe

Genia Samborska, lecturing on NFP and the dangers of abortion and contraception.


News from the Missions

Raymond de Souza, HLI’s Regional Coordinator

for Portuguese-Speaking Nations

Region: AfricaHLI Coordinator: George Wirnkar (French speaking) and Emil Hagamu (English speaking)

Most countries in Africa still protect life, but the re-gion has been heavily targeted by proponents of the Culture of Death for years. Deep pocketed groups, like International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes, have poured massive amounts of money into the region to promote contraception and abortion, often under the guise of helping to fight the AIDS epidemic. These developing coun-tries generally lack the resources to combat these pressures without assistance from HLI, and our work here is especially critical as HLI is the only pro-life presence in most of the region.

NIgERIa – Charles Nnagboh says that Nigeria is trying to act quickly to prevent the imposition of “same sex marriage.” HLI Nigeria joined forces to promote a proposed “Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage of Persons of the Same Sex” amidst the assault of anti-life organizations, masquerading as “human rights” promoters, attempting to defeat the bill.

Moved by the anti-life movement’s unholy tra-dition of using World Aids Day to promote their radical sexual and population control agenda, HLI Nigeria collaborated with the Seminarians for Life of Pope John Paul II Major Seminary, Okpuno, Awka to organize a march for life in observance of World Aids Day. Their goal was to create au-thentic awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, to show solidarity with the victims, and most impor-tantly, to encourage people to embrace a lifestyle that will help them best avoid this deadly scourge. With this pro-chastity and pro-life approach, the event also drew attention to modern threats to family and human life in Nigeria and warned people about the dangers of embracing anti-life and anti-family programs and practices.

TaNzaNIa –Emil Hagamu provided con-firmation that the anti-life imperialism of im-mensely wealthy Western organizations intent on destroying life in Africa is increasing with a noted aggression. He related that in one formerly flour-ishing center in Tanzania, whose population has been decimated by 1/3 in only 30 years, especially by AIDS, the number of condoms being distribut-ed freely grew to at least 100 for each person. The lie of the propaganda “plan your family so you can

enjoy life” has brought widespread death. Mean-while, the town’s roads are poor and much other help is needed, but none of these Western orga-nizations want to provide the real assistance this area requires. Their abundant natural resources are being pillaged by the government and their cooperation with foreigners. To counter the enor-mous pressure that population control organiza-tions are exerting in his country (and elsewhere), Emil is embarking on a massive media program focusing particularly radio and newspaper (the most widely-accessed news mediums in this re-gion). Typically, the response from the people is overwhelmingly appreciative, as African coun-tries have a traditionally strong cultural love of life and family.

Region: Portuguese-Speaking CountriesHLI Coordinator: Raymond de SouzaHLI’s efforts to spread the Gospel of Life among Portuguese speaking peoples was greatly bol-stered recently due to the hosing of our second International Congress for Truth and Life in Brazil. The Congress featured speeches by HLI President Fr. Boquet, Mario Rojas, HLI Regional Coordinator for Latin America, Fr. Juan Carolos Chavez, direc-tor of HLI’s Spanish language outreach to priests and seminarians, REDESSIVIDA, and of course Regional Coordinator Raymond de Souza.

BRazIl – En route to São Paolo, Brazil for HLI’s second International Congress for Truth and Life in early November, Raymond de Souza stopped in Salvador, Brazil which was the coun-try’s first capital in the days when Brazil was a vice-kingdom of the Portuguese Crown. Ray-mond was the guest speaker at the John Paul II Institute, where he gave his ever-popular presen-tation entitled “De-Christianization of Western Culture and the New Catholic Action for the 21st Century.” On his 2nd day he gave the same talk to 50 more people, followed by a late-night question and answer session. And for his final day’s activi-ties, by a providential coincidence, the Archdio-cese of Salvador was staging their first Conference for the Family, and they invited Raymond to make the same presentation for this event as well. Be-fore leaving Salvador, Raymond received several invitations to return with the message of life for additional audiences in the future.

George Wirnkar, HLI’s Regional Coordinator for French-Speaking Africa

Emil Hagamu, HLI’s Regional Coordinator for English-Speaking Africa

It’s a curious thing, this secular Movement to create a “More Just Society” around the world. This Movement sees itself as

the goal of society, toward which all history points, but it insists that we ignore all history that shows again and again the folly of putting hope in the kinds of solutions they are offering.

The Movement is convinced that its mandate comes from “science,” yet it in-sists that all skepticism about its claims to truth (which the history of science tells us is essential for its, well, evolu-tion) be abandoned. It requires an ever more powerful government, and an ever weakening faith in God — proposing in-stead that we have faith in “experts” who, we are assured, have all the knowledge needed to create this More Just Society that will finally rid us of inequality and poverty.

In order to build this More Just Society, the “experts” invariably attempt to undermine religious faith, and in so doing, they misplace their hope, and become utterly confused about what it even means to love.

The genius of uniting the theologi-cal virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love as the Holy Spirit did in St. Paul’s first let-ter to the Corinthians is that they are so essential to one another. Indeed, for the Christian who also wants a more just society and has spent time reflecting on history, they are impossible to under-stand as separate from one another.

Pope Benedict XVI has during his pontificate been developing and deep-ening this Pauline theme in his encyc-licals and other addresses, fine tuning what has been for him a decades-long project to more intimately acquaint Catholics with their Savior. In his 2008 encyclical Spe Salvi, the Holy Father even equates Faith and Hope, referring again to St. Paul’s Letters to the Hebrews and Ephesians where the Apostle to the Gentiles admonishes the early faithful to be mindful of the newness of the gifts they have been given following Christ’s

life, death and resurrection, and to act accordingly.

So today the “experts,” no fans of this pope and coveting the obedience that the faithful still have toward their reli-gion, recognize that Faith – that is, orga-nized religion – is the biggest threat to the realization of their More Just Society. This is why the most prominent religion, Catholicism, is more and more open-ly being attacked, perhaps most often in the form of attacks on the Church’s teaching on life and family.

This attack on the Church, which is really an attack on religious freedom it-self, is now well in the open in the United States. As Arland Nichols shows in his article in this issue of FrontLines, we can hardly count the ways that the current president and his administration, not to mention a host of atheistic and anti-life organizations, no longer feel the need to take half-measures in the assault of faith and the moral principles that people of true faith still share. As alarming as this may be, we continue to have hope that sanity will prevail, and this hope is grow-ing as the bishops and clergy of America begin to take a more prominent and public role in the fight to defend faith in the public square.

It will come as no surprise to the sup-porters of Human Life International to hear that the same assault on religious freedom is perhaps even more advanced in Europe and in other regions around the globe. Hasn’t it always been thus?

Considering some recent examples may help us begin to understand how we can do our small part to help the Church respond in Faith, Hope, and Love to today’s growing assault on reli-gious freedom.

COVER STORY

Hope & FreedomThe Worldwide Attack on Religous Liberty.By Stephen phelan

the martyrdom of St. Sebastian (above)shows what Christians have endured in order to build up a truly just society. the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christendom.


In order to build this More Just Society, the “experts” invariably attempt to undermine religious faith, and in so doing, they misplace their hope and become utterly confused about what it even means to love.

I also don’t mean to imply that of-ficially sanctioned attacks on religious freedom, particularly on Christianity, are somehow new. But whether or not the attack on religious freedom is new is not the point – that it is happening to-day and requires our attention and, to whatever extent possible, our response, is what matters.

On page 14 of this issue we hear the story of HLI Austria’s Dietmar Fischer, whose effective and explicitly religious efforts have earned him the honor of a radically irrational and unsupportable charge of “stalking,” even when he was not present at the time of the supposed offense, had no contact with the one who was supposedly stalked, and was only accused of the offense once an activist judge found the initial charge to be in-sufficiently punitive.

We are not surprised that a member state of the EU – the international body that has written Christianity out of its constitution and has been challenged for doing so by Pope Benedict and his pre-decessor – is now upping the ante against Christians. And while dozens of similar stories play out at all levels of local, na-tional, and supranational government, the assaults are no longer limited to the boundaries of the now largely post-Christian continent where Christianity once matured and flourished.

Britain and the United States are now brazenly collaborating to promote homosexuality in the developing world,

with a disdain for national sovereignty that used to be despised within the gov-erning halls of the developed West.

As of early November, David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has put Africa on alert that the failure to protect every manifestation of homosexu-ality (practice, marriage, organizations and so on) will result in the end of development funds from England and the EU. Within

two days, the leaders of Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda had replied in no uncertain terms that they would not have their laws dictated to them. Typical, and typically blunt, was a statement from John Nagenda, a spokesman for the presi-dent of Uganda, who said:

Uganda is, if you remember, a sover-eign state and we are tired of being given these lectures by people…. If they must take their money, so be it. Americans can appreciate a strong

stand taken against the British amidst threats of retaliation. While the situation is very different, one can imagine Adams, Jefferson, Washington, and Madison nodding in agreement. The founding fathers, however, would have been even more appalled at the statement of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who chimed in shortly after these first salvos between the British and the Africans, equating religious objections to homo-sexual acts to “the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow burning, or fe-male genital mutilation.”

So, if you don’t support homosexual “marriage,” you are like one of those bar-barians who kills women unjustly. And this argument is made with the support of your tax dollars.

We have our work cut out for us this election season if we are going to try to set right the seriously deformed foreign and domestic policy of this administra-tion. But as always, our efforts are not merely political, since the solutions are never merely political. HLI Nigeria’s Charles Nnagboh was among the first to respond to the threats to cut off aid, sending a letter to the Senate of Nigeria

encouraging them to pass a proposed bill protecting marriage and requesting materials from HLI Central to help edu-cate his countrymen as to the nature of the threat to religious freedom and mo-rality in Africa.

By engaging in the public square around the world, HLI is often defend-ing faith as we defend life and family. Those who are trying to build the More Just Society know full well, as we see so clearly in the threats to Africa from our own leaders, that religious faith is the basis for those who stand opposed to them. This is also why the Holy Father is under constant attack, although rarely on the basis of reason and objective de-bate, but typically a campaign of calum-ny and obfuscation.

Wouldn’t it be something if our African brothers and sisters threw off the shackles of foreign aid and the strings attached to it, and all in a very “American,” or rather, Christian stand for religious freedom? Indeed, the re-minder that authentic freedom is only possible with a society that understands and lives in Faith, Hope, and Love is one that is sorely needed around the world. May the Lord of Life and his Blessed Mother intercede for the families of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the United States, and Europe.

the genius of uniting the theological vir-tues of Faith, hope, and love as the holy Spirit did in St. paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is that they are so essential to one another.

Cover Story



Development News & Progress

Appreciated Securities & IRA'sGifts Of Appreciated Securities

Many donors can accrue tax advantages for donating appreci-ated securities, such as stock, mutual funds or bonds to Hu-man Life International.

Federal tax law offers special incentives for non-cash gifts of property, particularly if that property has appreciated in val-ue. Gifts of appreciated securities typically carry benefits not associated with cash gifts:

9 You avoid the capital gains tax that would otherwise arise from the sale of this stock, and

9 Your gift qualifies for a tax deduction based on the full market value of your stock on the date that the gift is made.

Making the Transfer: E-mail me at [email protected] or call at 540-622-5285 and I will provide you with the information to complete the transfer. Before initiating a DTC transfer (the DTC is a member of the Federal Reserve System) please provide Human Life Interna-tional (preferably by email) the following information:

9 A description of the donated security 9 Number of shares 9 Donor name

It is very important to contact us about your gift, as the vast majority of transfers never mention the donor. By calling us before the transfer and providing the above information, we will know who to credit the gift to when the transfer takes place.

Testamentary Contribution of IRA’s

I receive a number of inquiries annually about gifting IRA’s. Qualified retirement plan assets make an excellent testamen-tary gift – and do not require a change in your will. These assets can be gifted by simply naming HLI as a designated beneficiary on your plan. Such plans, when designated to your heirs, are not only subject to both state and federal estate tax-es; additionally, your heirs are required to pay income tax on the amount they receive. However, by gifting such plans to a tax-exempt charity like HLI, the assets bypass both estate and income taxes. By designating HLI as a beneficiary of your IRA or other qualified retirement plan, and providing for your heirs with other more tax-friendly assets from your estate, you can avoid a significant amount of taxes and still provide for those you love.

As an example, let’s look at a $100,000 IRA that is subject to estate tax in 2012. **Please note this example is for illustrative purposes only – actual tax savings will depend on the beneficia-ry’s income tax bracket, as well as the estate tax rules and rates in place during the relevant year. Estate tax rates are currently scheduled to increase to 55% in 2013 (making the tax advan-tages even greater).

IRA to heirs IRA to HLI

IRA Value: $100,000 $100,000Designated to Charity: -0- $100,000Estate Tax on IRA (35%): -$35,000 -0- $65,000 S100,000Income Tax (paid by beneficiary, est 28%): $18,200 -0-Final amount to heir/charity: $46,800 $100,000

Also note that, in general, qualified retirement plans are not a good source of funds for lifetime charitable gifts -- because the donor will have to pay income tax on any amounts with-drawn from the account.

0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

A $100,000 IRA that is subject to estate tax in 2012

Final amount when given to heir:

$46,800

Final amount to whengiven to charity:

$100,000

It is very important to obtain expert advice in these areas. We highly recommend that you consult a financial planner and /or legal counsel in order to take full advantage of the tax savings strategies that are available to you.


Development News & Progress

HLI Documentary Program: True StoriesHLI’s True Stories project brings the

world dynamic video of the fight for

life around the globe.

The first installment, “The Philippines: Preserving a Cul-ture of Life,” documents one of the most dramatic social and political struggles for life and family in the world. This

important documentary aired worldwide on EWTN, draw-ing attention to the threats facing Filipino families in this beautiful Catholic nation. Additionally, in the Philippines itself, EWTN aired the program 10 times at different hours in order to reach the largest number of families possible.

Due to the overwhelming success of True Stories: The Philippines, HLI now plans to expand the project into an entire series of documentaries. The second installment of True Stories is already in production. It will focus on Hungary and Poland, where dramatic developments in the last year could lead to major changes within the old Soviet block countries. Hungary’s new constitution, which went into effect on January 1st, has shaken the foundations of a dying Europe by stating outright that life begins at conception. European Union bureaucrats are up in arms, and 2012 will see litigation in Hungary’s courts over the implementation of this new constitution. Joseph Meaney, HLI’s Director of International Coordination, is one of the many experts you will hear from in the new documenta-ry. He recently visited Budapest and Krakow to get “on-the-ground” information on the situation in Central and Eastern Europe.

Each exciting new installment of True Stories will high-light the pro-life successes and struggles of a different re-gion of the world where HLI is actively working to defend life and families.

As the first documentary has already proven, this se-ries will be a huge resource for educating people around the world on the pro-life battles being waged in their own backyards. And, just as importantly, each installment will also educate tens of thousands of people here in the United States on critical pro-life issues from around the world. To bring these ambitious plans to fruition, we need your sup-port. Please consider a special gift to the production of the “True Stories” project today. You can do so easily by using the envelope enclosed in this issue of FrontLines.

The St. Gianna Beretta Molla Guild Human Life International established the St. Gianna Beretta Molla Guild to honor and recognize those friends who have made provisions for HLI’s future through will be-quests, life insurance, gift annuities, trusts, or other planned gifts. The purpose of the St. Gianna Guild is to build HLI’s endowment and provide funding for future programs.

Any matters regarding estate planning will be addressed in confidence, and only those who expressly grant permission will be publicly acknowledged. For more in-formation about the St. Gianna Guild, please contact Bill Williams at (540) 622-5285 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Ph

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Above and below: screenshots from HLI’s True Stories project.


Bishop Bergonzini is recognized for his courageous stance on behalf of unborn, despite political pressure, persecution, and even death threats.

The second International Congress for Truth and Life took place in the metropolitan city of São Paulo, Brazil, from No-vember 2 to 6. Bishops, priests, seminarians and hundreds of lay men and women heard speakers from Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and the United States.

A major highlight of the event was the presentation of the von Galen Award to His Excellency Luiz Gonzaga Bergonzini, Diocesan Bishop of Guarulhos in the State of São Paulo. Fr. Shenan Boquet, the new President of Human Life International, presented the award in person. HLI select-ed Bergonzini to receive the prestigious award for his coura-geous work on behalf of the unborn.

The von Galen Award is named after Blessed Cardinal August Clemens von Galen, of the Diocese of Muenster, Germany, who fought openly against Hitler’s pro-death cam-paigns in the 1930s and 1940s. The cardinal publicly de-nounced how Nazism had placed itself above and beyond morals, as well as its intention to destroy the very founda-tions of Christianity. He was beatified in 2005, the same year the award was created by HLI.

In my capacity as HLI’s Regional Coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries, I had the privilege of de-livering the presentation address to Bishop Bergonzini, a man who epitomizes the priesthood with his passion for the Gospel and for Jesus Christ.

Bishop Bergonzini made history during Brazil’s 2010 presidential elections when he exhorted the Brazilian people not to vote for Dilma Rousseff, the Workers’ Party’s candidate, because of her commitment to the legalization of abortion.

Through the website of the Bishops Conference of Brazil, and the over two million copies of the flier titled “Appeal to the Brazilian People,” the bishop used every avenue available to him to educate his flock. His efforts caused a loss of 6 mil-lion votes for the anti-life candidate, although Rousseff did ultimately win the election. Abortion had never before been a matter of national debate in Brazil. Thanks to Bergonzini’s efforts, the pro-life people of Brazil are now aware of what’s

at stake, and are fighting against the anti-life policies of poli-ticians like Rousseff.

In an interview given to the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, Bishop Bergonzini emphatically affirmed: “Each one of us knows our duties and omissions, and will be account-able not to me, but to God. I point to the road, but I do not take anyone’s liberty away. My certitude is the truth of the Gospel. My candidate is Christ Himself. And my party is the Gospel!”

The bishop’s public affirmation of fidelity to the teachings of the Magisterium on life was confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI shortly before the elections. The Holy Father issued a strong statement confirming the Church’s position on the right to life from the moment of conception, thus endorsing the courageous stance taken by Bishop Bergonzini and a few other bishops who denounced the pro-abortion platform of the Workers’ Party.

Moreover, due to Bergonzini’s public stance, the credibil-ity of the Catholic Church went up 20 points from 34% to 54% (the only organization in the country with higher cred-ibility is the Brazilian Army).

“We must distinguish between political parties and poli-tics,” the bishop stated. “The Church does not have the right to engage in politics? The Church has the duty to do so! As a citizen I have the right, and as a bishop, as a Christian, I have the obligation to participate in politics … In our party, the head is Jesus Christ, and our weapon, our law, is the Gospel!”

Bishop Luiz Gonzaga Bergonzini receives HLI's award for being a voice of conscience for society.

Bishop luiz gonzaga Bergonzini Receives the Cardinal von galen award By Raymond de Souza, Regional Coordinator for Portuguese-Speaking Nations

The Cardinal von Galen Award


The Cardinal von Galen Award

Blessed Cardinal August Clemens von Galen, of the Diocese of Müenster, Germany, was a Catholic prelate who stood up to Hitler’s Nazi euthanasia campaign in the 1930s and 40s. His example of unwavering loyalty to the teaching of the Church and his public defense of handicapped Germans being targeted by euthanasia earned him the title, “The Lion of Müenster.”

HLI’s Cardinal von Galen Award is given to a Catholic prel-ate who has been a voice of conscience for his society. HLI believes that good bishops who act like true shepherds in pro-tecting the sheep from the assaults of the modern age need our support, and their example needs to be spread far and wide.

Bergonzini is known for insisting on the involvement of the Church in the political process regarding life-issues, a prin-ciple upheld by the Vatican but often rejected by local bishops.

He was ordained priest in 1959, and consecrated Bishop of Guarulhos in 1992. His diocese contains more than 1.3 million people, and almost 11,000 pastoral workers in 389 parishes.

He is also a professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of São João da Boa Vista, director of the Stella Maris Hospital, vice-president of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Guarulhos and is a professional journalist, acting as director of the A Cidade de São João newspaper as well as the diocesan newspaper.

All of these activities – and many others not mentioned here – portray the dynamic personality of Bishop Luiz Gonzaga Bergonzini, the leader of a diocese that is both popu-lous and filled with challenges.

By his courage and fidelity to the Catholic Church, Bishop Luiz Gonzaga Bergonzini was chosen by the Época magazine as one of the most influential people in Brazil in 2010. He has become known as the “Lion of Guarulhos,” and his voice has reverberated throughout the country. He preaches the Gospel of Life whether it is “in season” or “out of season,” and like St. Paul the Apostle, he has received several death threats for his efforts. Yet he remains undauntedly faithful to his mission.

In the face of the iniquitous crime of abortion, the Church cannot keep silent. To do so would be a grave omission. Worse

still, it could be interpreted as a tacit assent. Bergonzini pro-vides an example that all bishops and priests can look to when faced with similar challenges.

At the end of the presentation address, Fr. Shenan Boquet delivered the von Galen Award to Bishop Bergonzini amid the thunderous applause of the standing audience.

In Appreciationfor your life-saving contribution to HLI of $49.90 or more, we would like to send you two audio talks that will enlighten and inspire you:

As you know, this month (February 2012) we will not be sending you an issue of Mission Report.

Therefore, we ask that you please include your monthly donation in the business reply envelope for this issue of FrontLines.

Surviving Spiritual Warfare by Fr. Robert Cox & Barbara McGuigan

AND The Tragedy of Thomas Merton, by

Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF HLI'S MISSION!

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GIFT TO DONORS

Cardinal Raymond Burke recently made the ominous statement: “[There] is a war”

between “a culture of secularization which is quite strong in our nation” and “the Christian culture which has marked the life of the United

States strongly during the first 200 years of its history.”

He expressed this deep concern in light of an unprec-edented assault upon religious freedom in the United States.

Religious institutions with ethical convictions are increasingly perceived as a barrier to progress and to the welfare of our country, and Christians who live in accord with their deeply held religious beliefs are considered bigots.

The First Amendment recognizes that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Yet as Archbishop Jose H. Gomez recently wrote, “We are slowly losing our sense of religious liberty in America.” Government has increasingly become hostile to the free exercise of reli-gion while simultaneously enshrining nefarious ideologies as the highest values of society. One senses that we are at a dangerous precipice as the Obama administra-tion is actively and deliberately threatening and weakening the legitimate exercise of religious freedom. Since the State does not grant this freedom, such actions are not just an offense to the legal rights of man, but to natural law and the dignity of the person.

Central to the Church’s teaching is that a person should not be forced to act against his or her conscience and religious beliefs. This is expressed beautifully in the Vatican II document Dignitatis humanae which states, “[A]ll men are to be immune from coercion … in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs.” The foundation for this right is “not the subjective disposition of the person, but in his very nature.” (n.2)

Yet, such coercion is happening throughout the United States. Consider the pho-tographers who were found guilty of unlawful discrimination by the New Mexico Human Rights Commission for declining to photograph the “commitment ceremo-ny” of a homosexual couple because such a ceremony is inconsistent with their re-ligious beliefs.

Religious FreedomI N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E SBy arland K. niCholS


Religious FreedomI N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S

As another example, medical and nursing schools are increasingly dis-criminating against candidates who re-fuse to do abortions or dispense contra-ception based upon their moral convic-tions. The ongoing case of twelve nurses in New Jersey, who were told they would lose their jobs if they did not assist in abortions, is just one example of medi-cal professionals fighting for this basic right. One of these nurses was report-edly told by her boss, “You just have to catch the baby’s head. Don’t worry, it’s already dead.”

At the same time, religious commu-nities and other institutions founded on the basis of the faith of their mem-bers are increasingly under attack today. Such communities “have the right not to be hindered in their public teach-ing and witness to their faith, whether by the spoken or by the written word” (Dignitatis humanae n. 4). Nonetheless, the Department of Health and Human Services recently ruled that birth con-trol, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs must be administered by Catholic hospitals and universities.

Consider also the fallout resulting from the Obama administration’s at-tack on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the redefinition of mar-riage that is an ongoing threat in many states. Or how about the administration’s denial of a grant to the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services in spite of the stellar record this agency has ac-crued in providing services to victims of human trafficking? Why was it refused?

All signs point to the Catholic agency’s refusal to provide abortions. Meanwhile, a handful of Catholic adoption agencies have ended their ministry, with more likely to close soon, because states are seeking to impose adoption by homo-sexual couples.

These examples are only the tip of the iceberg and they reveal a consistent affront to the rights of religious com-munities in the United States. Cardinal Burke and others fear that the current erosion of religious freedom will even-tually lead to arrests of Catholics simply for teaching moral doctrine—especially related to sexuality—because this teach-ing would be considered discriminatory and illegal. Unfortunately, trends in our culture have given little reason to as-suage his fear of persecution.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan recently wrote, “Never before have we faced this kind of challenge to our ability to engage in the public square as people of faith and as service providers. If we do not act now, the consequences will be grave.” So how do we respond to this challenge?

Perhaps most practically, we must vigorously engage the political arena as Catholics, especially by being active in the upcoming election season of 2012. Cardinal Burke reminds us that we “have a serious duty to vote and to try and find the best candidate to elect.” When we

make this decision we should recall that the most basic rights are the right to life, to freedom of conscience and to reli-gious freedom.

If we are not victorious in stem-ming the tide of militant secularism, let us recall the words of Saint Luke, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:29). The times are such that some Bishops are preparing themselves for “civil disobedience.” We would do well to be prepared while keeping in mind the wisdom of Cardinal Burke: “If Christians do not stand strong, give a strong witness and insist on what is right and good for us, both as indi-viduals and society, this secularization will in fact predominate us and it will destroy us.”

Religious institutions with ethical convictions are increasingly perceived as a barrier to progress and to the welfare of our country, and Christians who live in accord with their deeply held religious beliefs are considered bigots.


As HLI reported on its internation-al pro-life news blog HLI World Watch (www.hliworldwatch.org),

an Austrian Judge charged HLI Austria Director, Dietmar Fischer with sup-posedly “stalking” an abortionist in Graz, Austria even though he was never in the city of Graz to “stalk” anyone. The final ruling of the Austrian judicial system came down in October, when a second judge ignored the facts and tes-timonies of the case, and imposed an $8,500 fine on Mr. Fischer. The judge ruled that if Dietmar did not pay the fine, he would be forced to serve 80 days in prison.

This case can only be described as blatant political persecution of a pro-life leader for his effective defense of the dignity of life. The ruling essentially criminalizes pro-life sidewalk counsel-ing in Austria.

Mr. Fischer’s only recourse at this point is to appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France; which, given the anti-life bent of the EU, is no guarantee that justice will be served. And it could take months or even years for the ECHR to hear his case.

To understand how truly absurd the case is, you must understand how it un-folded. The original charge was a minor one brought by a Graz-based abortion-ist in 2009 against three pro-life side-walk counselors to whom Mr. Fischer had sent pro-life materials to hand out to women considering abortions. These three prayer warriors, who were guilty of no crime but were simply being perse-cuted at a lower level, reached an agree-ment with a lower court. That agreement was sent to the Ministry of Justice in Vienna, and the Ministry found the ver-dict unsatisfactory and sent it back to the Graz court. Then Judge Erik Nauta in Graz unilaterally elevated the charges to “stalking,” and extended them to include Mr. Fischer — who was not even in Graz at the time of the supposed offense, and had no contact at all with the supposed “stalkee.”

To further underscore how unjust the charges are, during the appeal pre-sided over by Judge Nauta, all of the witnesses for the prosecution, including the abortionist himself, testified that Mr. Fischer did not stalk the abortionist, but merely supplied leaflets and materials to the counselors. Despite this, the judge ruled against Mr. Fischer.

“Dietmar is accused of offering, for free, eleven week old baby models, sup-port flyers for pregnant mothers, and

rosaries for the pregnant counseling centre in Graz,” said Joannes Bucher, HLI’s Regional Coordinator for Europe. Joannes is also based in Austria. “While these pro-life resources were given by HLI Austria, Dietmar himself was nev-er in Graz to counsel women in front of this abortion center.”

On the final appeal in October, Judge Caroline List again condemned Mr. Fischer despite the testimonies of ten witnesses of the prosecution, again in-cluding the abortionist, that no one had actually been accosted by him or his colleagues.

Mr. Fischer said he was horrified by the judge’s decision.

“This verdict is a scandal and is purely political. It was mandated by the Minister of Justice. Judge Caroline List admitted that her verdict was about a larger legal question. It is about whether pro-lifers will be able to stand in front of clinics and to offer help to wom-en in need,” he said. “This decision is not based on the rule of law, and goes against freedom of speech, religion and demonstration.”

Even while facing such persecution and injustice, Dietmar has continued to organize and sponsor pro-life sidewalk counseling in the city of Vienna where he resides. He will continue to fight against this unjust ruling.

ALERT

HLI Austria is persecuted by the Courts as judge effectively rules that sidewalk counseling is “stalking.”

above: hli austria director, dietmar Fischer.

REP.

Italy

Germany

FranceAustria

“GUILTY” for Pro-Life Victories


HLI’s international pro-life news and commentary website, HLIWorldWatch.org, sheds light on news and events affecting the pro-life and pro-family movement around the world. (Below are excerpts from recent stories.)

Kenyan Pro-Lifers Kickoff Natural Family Planning Program, by Adam Cassandra– January 5, 2012

Couples in Kenya are embracing Natu-ral Family Planning (NFP) with the help of a new clinic opened by the pro-life group Human Life International (HLI) Kenya in collaboration with the Catho-lic Church.

The St Mary Mother of Charity and Consolation Clinic for NFP opened last November in Nyeri, Kenya as part of the pro-life outreach efforts of HLI Kenya. The clinic, which teaches couples the Billings Ovulation Method of NFP, has been embraced by local Catholic Church leaders. The Catholic Church rejects the use of contraception and promotes NFP as the only method of family planning that respects the dignity of human sexu-ality in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

“We hope mothers who go through this training will pass this knowledge to their daughters,” said Father Raphael Wanjohi, director of HLI Kenya, who is also in charge of the clinical and psycho-logical counseling for the Nyeri Catholic Archdiocese.

The Standard newspaper in Kenya first reported on the efforts of Fr. Wanjohi and the clinic’s staff to help couples understand responsible parent-hood while keeping with the teachings of their faith.

“The great advantage of the Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) is that it is very simple, and can be taught even to those with little formal education. It takes only a couple of hours or an af-ternoon to teach this method, which is based upon the monthly signs their bod-ies give them,” said Dr. Brian Clowes, di-rector of research and training for HLI. “The BOM is now used by tens of mil-lions of women all around the world, es-pecially in developing countries, and has proven to be a great blessing for women who wish to respect their bodies and God’s plan for their lives.” ...

A Letter from Benin: Reflections on the Papal Visit, by George Wirnkar– December 6, 2011Pope Benedict XVI’s recent Apostolic journey to Benin was indeed a celebra-tion for all of Africa, but was especially important for those of us who look to this Successor of Peter as a leader in the fight to defend life, faith and family. As the dust settles (and there was literally plenty of it) on this historic visit, and as I regain my bearings in my home country of Cameroon, I am excited to share with my friends in America and the Eng-lish-speaking world some of the special memories I brought back from this trip.

The Holy Father’s visit was everyone’s business. The level of cooperation across religious and political lines in preparing for the visit deserves special mention. An

evangelical Christian donated his ser-vices to construct the beautiful official website for this visit; another evangelical group held a prayer vigil on the eve of the Holy Father’s arrival praying for the success of the trip; traditional religious practitioners came out in large numbers beating drums and dancing in their best ceremonial colors – particularly when the Pope visited Ouidah, which is their national headquarters.

One message comes out loud and clear from this mobilization – the Church should never tire of reaching out to those outside the fold. Over and above this, the successor of Peter re-minded Christ’s faithful that the road to unity of the religions was one in which we should all walk and invest our best, even as we maintain our devotion to the Church that Christ Himself established upon.

The State of Benin received the Pope as both head of the Vatican State and as the successor of Peter. The day of the Holy Father’s arrival was declared a holi-day. The city council particularly cleaned up the city, and home owners along the main streets repainted their houses. For once, political lines were blurred for one full weekend. But what was most outstanding was the respect and rever-ence that Benin’s non-Catholic President Thomas Bon Yayi reserved for the Pope. He said and did many kind things, but one event remains engraved in my heart. He promised the Holy Father that the young nation was going to be built on Christian values. ...

HLI Online

HLI WORLDWATCHUnderstanding the Worldwide Pro-Life and Pro-Family Movement

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Dear HLI friends and supporters,

With the Advent season here and the wonderful celebration of Christmas quickly approaching, it is very easy to get distracted by the glitter of the season and forget the true meaning of Christmas. We must never forget the wondrous message of Christmas is a signifi-cant reminder that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for our salvation. May the image of the holy infant lying in Mary’s arms serve to remind us of the precious gift we have received in our Savior Jesus Christ and the reason our pro-life missionaries work tirelessly everyday to defend human life at its most delicate state.

In this month’s edition of Mission Report, Joannes Bucher tells about his experience at the Zurich March

for Life, which HLI-Switzerland helped sponsor. This March emphasized the rights of disabled children in

the womb. Even though there was a violent attack by anti-life protesters during the March, Joannes and the

participants joyfully marched forward for the rights of the unborn. Also this month, Brian Clowes reports on

the Asia-Pacific Congress (ASPAC) in Kazakhstan and the great networking that occurred. Missionary Trip To swiTzerland—Reported by Joannes Bucher, September 2011.In September 2011, I had the privilege of traveling to Zurich, Switzerland to participate in the March for

Life. HLI-Switzerland joined with 11 other pro-life organizations to co-sponsor the March. it was a beauti-

ful gathering of about 1,500 people that brought both Catholics and protestants together to stand up for

life—especially for our disabled brothers and sisters—even in the face of tense violence. It was a great pleasure to be able to visit those who are a part of HLI-Switzerland. They have done fan-

tastic work to promote respect for all life. In 2002, Switzerland introduced anti-life laws that shocked many

Violence at Hli-Switzerland’S MarcH for life

Police in Zurich were on hand to control people protesting against the March, and they were needed, as leftist groups from the Revolutionary Federation attempted to disrupt it.

HLI MISSION REPORTP R O - L I F E M I S S I O N A R I E S T O T H E W O R L D

Mission report no. 324 december 2011

Mission ReportHuman Life International’s

FrontLines Magazine Winter 2012

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Transcript of FrontLines Magazine Winter 2012