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Dear Lover of Life,

Here we are in 2003. For those of us involved in the pro-life apostolate we are humbly and painfully aware of the situation in which we find ourselves, in our “Brave New World” in which the destruction of embryonic human life is now “legal” as a result of the affirmative vote in both Houses of Parliament. The recent alleged unsubstantiated claims of a certain Catholic-hating sect to have cloned two children, along with the media promotion of all sorts of deviations from God’s Will for the realisation of His Kingdom on Earth, the scandals and the seeming lethargy and inertia within the Church, could cause us to feel discouragement - were it not for the promises made to us by our Loving Living God - and our knowledge that He always keeps His promise.

2003 has been dedicated by Pope John Paul 11 as the Year of the Rosary. Apart from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass there is no more powerful prayer to combat evil, and bring peace, and this is why we always pray the Rosary at our monthly meetings. Let us renew our efforts to pray and promote the Holy Rosary for the conversion of souls who are enslaved by sins against Life, to bring healing and God’s Loving Mercy to those in most need.

2003 promises to be a big year, with many opportunities to share the truth of God’s Word with those who “dwell in the shadow of death”. A mere walk through Lismore and you will see for yourself that there are many in need. Lismore is developing a reputation for being sympathetic to homosexual activity, so we find that many same-sex-attracted people come here because they feel more at home than they might in other towns. Everyone wants to feel accepted, and as Catholic Christians we are commanded by God to love our neighbour, who is becoming ever more likely to identify as “gay”. At the same time we must always live the Truth, and we know that homosexuality is outside of God’s plan, and that no one can find true peace and true happiness except by living according to God’s Will for him or her.

Father John Harvey to visit Lismore

One person who is well qualified to help us to understand the complexities of these issues of same-sex attraction is Father John Harvey who will be visiting Lismore between 9th and 11th February. Father is the founder of Courage – a Catholic ministry for persons with same sex attraction who wish to live according to the Catholic Church’s teaching on Chastity for all – and EnCourage – a Catholic ministry dedicated to the spiritual needs of parents, siblings, children and friends of those people. For those with internet, I recommend a wander through their inspiring website www.couragerc.org . For those without access, I would happily send more information.

Please pray that his visit will bear much spiritual fruit for those in need,

 Please spread the word to anyone whom you think may benefit from hearing him – whether troubled by homosexual desires, or a member of the family, or if you just wish to learn more in the light of Catholic teaching.

God’s choicest blessings for you and your families in 2003,

 Angela

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Below is an article/appeal adapted from Priests for Life website. It presents a good opportunity to gain graces for our work, and to get together with like-minded people to encourage, pray for, encourage and inform. Now is the time to think ahead and consider what we might do in our parishes to celebrate the great feast of

The Annunciation: A Feast of Life

on March 25, 2003 Ideas could include

• pray the Rosary and Angelus with your family or pro-life friends

• Ask if you can have a special Mass for the feast

• Ask your priest to emphasise the pro-life significance of the feast,

• ask if you could have Benediction/Eucharistic Adoration

• make a study of Evangelium Vitae.

• Invite a pro-life speaker to address your group

• A combination of some or all of the above.

Three national (US) Catholic pro-life apostolates: Priests for Life, Human Life International, and the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, have drafted the following statement and have invited other Catholic leaders to join them in giving special attention to the pro-life meaning of the Feast of the Annunciation. If you are the leader of a Catholic organization and would like to add your name to this statement, email us at mail@priestsforlife.org (Apostles for Life has signed the statement below)

The Press Gets Rael George Neumayr 1/7/2003 Thank you to theamericanprowler.com for permission to print this article, which expresses well the role of the media in promoting evil and the breaking of protective taboos.

George Neumayr is a frequent contributor to The American Prowler and The American Spectator

In a column expressing disgust at the media's frenzied coverage of the Clonaid claim, St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Joe Soucheray writes, "I know that many people worry that the media leans to the left. I would be more worried that the media has cracked up." Is it possible that the media has cracked up because it leans to the left? Surely, the media's willingness to listen to the claim was due at least in part to the excitement journalists feel when taboos are toppled. Moral rebellion is a story journalists never tire of telling.

But will journalists tell the story of all the defective and disfigured clones produced? Will the grisly cloning trial runs command widespread coverage? Will the creation of a class of parentless cripples feed their sensationalistic appetite?

The consequences of moral rebellion usually don't receive as much detailed coverage as the rebellion itself. How many pro-abortion reporters have actually watched the performance of an abortion? A highly detailed description of abortion never makes it in to their stories about "choice." Similarly, the thousands upon thousands of frozen and forgotten embryos created through In Vitro fertilization are not frequently mentioned in stories about the glories of that practice.

The inevitability of a prohibition collapsing is also a powerful intoxicant to many journalists. Inevitability equals moral good in their minds. Cloning is inevitable? Well, then it must be morally acceptable. What scientists can do they should do, right? Moral rebellion joined to "scientific progress" is an irresistible story to a media in thrall to liberal social change.

Some journalists are angry at the coverage of Clonaid not because they oppose cloning, but because they fear crackpots will tarnish a great scientific advance. A UFO cult is crazy to them, but cloning is not. That the craziness of cloning might attract crazies hasn't yet occurred to them.

We don't support the aims of Clonaid, they say. All liberal journalists want is a "debate" about cloning. But does anybody start a debate about a prohibition if they intend to keep it? The moment society "debates" a prohibition it is gone. If we are morally confused enough to debate cloning, we are morally confused enough to permit it.

The Washington Post's editorial last week, "All About Eve," contained the revealing line, "This country is not ready for the cloning of human beings," which implied that it may be ready later. It seems that the Washington Post is ready for the cloning of human beings - as long as they remain in the lab for research.

"The Bush administration has been known at times to allow religious - or political – considerations to trump scientific ones," its editorialist writes. "But in a world where both the scientific and ethical goalposts keep changing, the best thing may be to stay open-minded. There are plenty of options in that gray zone. The least permissive would be to ban all forms of research on cloned embryos, as Mr. Bush and Mr. Frist would like, but reconsider the ban after some limited number of years."

Let's all stay open-minded so our consciences can float away. The Post fears that the "specter" of Clonaid's claim could "shut down the scientific debate completely." If only it were just a scientific debate. It is above all a moral issue, not a scientific one. That it is characterized as a scientific debate shows why the debate is already lost.

It is not surprising that journalists, unable to see the limits of science clearly, would treat fantasists as scientists. Journalists' eager coverage of Clonaid suggests that their scientific expertise and moral judgment are not much more refined than the Raelians'. .