Spanish Cardinal urges Parents to Resist Government Indoctrination

Toledo, Jun. 13, 2008 (CWNews.com) - A Spanish cardinal has called upon Catholic parents to "use all legitimate means in your power to defend your right to determine the moral education of your children." Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera spoke out in response to the obligatory "Education for Citizenship" classes that will be introduced in some Spanish public schools in the next academic year. He warned that the courses offer "a moral formation that is not determined by parents" and sometimes contradicts the moral teachings of the Church. In a pastoral letter issued for the close of this academic year, Cardinal Cañizares argued that "public authority cannot impose any certain moral code on all people, whether it be supposedly a majority choice, or Catholic, or any other kind." That authority is reserved for parents, he insisted. Addressing himself specifically to administrators of Catholic schools, the cardinal said that they should not accept the "Education for Citizenship" curriculum because it "would go against your mission." Even public schools should not promote the course, he continued, because it would violate "the ideological neutrality they should have." Cardinal Cañizares strongly encouraged citizens to use every means to stop the imposition of the moral-education program, assuring them that "there is still time remaining to change the course of events." Political activism is amply warranted in this case, he added, because parents "are not asking for anything more than they should have." Source: Catholic World News

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Beatification soon for 250 Spanish Civil War Martyrs

Valencia, Jun. 12, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Spanish financial newspaper La Gaceta de los Negocios reports that the Vatican has given the green light to the beatification of 250 Spaniards martyred in Valencia during Spain's Civil War. The Vatican has not issued any formal announcement. 

Valencia's Cardinal Agustin Garcia-Gasco opened the cause in 2004 for 183 priests, 10 religious, and 57 laymen, including a woman who was 9 months pregnant, who was asked her captors to let her give birth to her child so that she could baptize him but sadly her request was denied. In 2001, John Paul II beatified 226 other Valencian martyrs of the Spanish Civil War. 

 Source: Catholic World News

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Trinitarian Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Feastday for the Newly Beatified Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War

At the Rite of Beatification held on October 28, 2007, in St. Peter’s Square, Cardinal José Savaira Martins – Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of the Saints – announced that 6 November has been established as the feastday for the Trinitarian Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) as well as for the other 488 martyrs beatified on October 28. This is the largest mass beatification in the history of the Church!

Prayer to Martyrs:

O God, Who dost gladden us by the annual feast of Thy holy Martyrs, mercifully grant that we who rejoice in their merits may be inspired by their example. Through our Lord

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

Pray for the Holy Father as he visits Spain

Please pray for the Holy Father as he prepares to travel to Valencia, Spain today to defend the family! Spain is 94% Catholic, but Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has done a lot against the Church and, therefore against Christ.

Since taking office in 2004, Zapatero's government has either adopted or discussed legislation in favor of:

* Same-sex marriage legislation;
* Fast-track divorces;
* Curbing religious education in state schools;
* Supporting embryonic stem-cell research;
* Easing abortion laws;
* Reducing or eliminating public funding for the church.

Just days ago, the Prime Minister funded an event organized by the Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals, in Valencia!!! These people insulted the Holy Father and carrying signs around saying "I'm not waiting for you" and even worse, "God does not exist"!!! There is to be a nude cycling contest when the Holy Father arrives!! (Source)

The Holy Father is scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister on Saturday, July 8, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday local time. The Prime Minister has refused to attend the Mass where the King and Queen of Spain will attend with an expected 1.5 million Spanish citizens.

Spain is a highly Catholic nation but is falling to the "dictatorship of relativism". We must pray for the success for the Holy Father's visit.

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Pope Benedict XVI visits Valencia, Spain

On July 8-9, 2006, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, will visit Valencia, Spain for the 5th World Meeting for Families. The family is extremely important. Without a loving and pious family, children can grow up not knowing God. As the Catechism states, "The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life" (2207).

We must pray for the Holy Father as he travels to this country that is 94% Catholic. However, the country has gone downhill under the current Prime Minister. Spain has abortion, divorce, and allows gay marriage. A horribly offensive protest by homosexual citizens will occur when he arrives in Spain. (Read more)

Pope Benedict XVI's schedule (CWN):

Saturday, July 8, 2006:

1. 9:30 AM - leaves Rome's Fiumicino airport
2. 11:30 AM - arrives in Valencia, Spain
3. 11:30 AM - Greeting ceremony with speeches by King Juan Carlos and the Holy Father
4. Following the Ceremony, he will board the Popemobile for the 10 minute trip into Valencia
5. In response to the July 3 metro accident that killed 41 people, Pope Benedict XVI will stop briefly at the Jesus Metro Station for prayer and to lay a floral wreath in memory of the victims
6. He will then arrive at the Cathedral where he will be given the keys to the City. In the Cathedral, he will meet with 1,500 priests and religious, leading them in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
7. He will then go to the Chapel of the Holy Chalice, where the Lord's cup from the Last Supper, is kept, to give a message to the Spanish bishops
8. After leaving there, he will go to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Forsaken to meet with the families affected by the July 3rd accident.
9. Late Afternoon -He will travel to "Generalitat" palace for a courtesy call on the Spanish royal couple and then meet with Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
10. 8:30 PM - The Holy Father will make his first appearance at the World Meeting of Familes.

Sunday, July 9, 2006:

1. Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate Holy Mass to an expected 1 million people including King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia. His homily is expected to discuss family issues, and the Mass will be a special Mass for Families. At the Mass, he will use the actual Holy Grail, which Jesus used at the Last Supper.
2. After Mass he will lead the Angelus
3. Afterwards, in the sacristy, he will briefly meet with Mariano Rajoy Brey, the head of Spain's political opposition
4. He will depart for Rome.

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Cause for Beatification opened for 149 Spanish Martyrs

Pope Benedict XVI has just opened the cause for beatification for 149 Spanish Martyrs murdered for the Faith in the Spanish Civil War. 

Last fall on October 29, 2005, several martyrs were already beatified. They were Father Francisco Castells Brenuy, Father José Boher Foix, Father José Juan Perot Juanmarti, Father Jose Tàpies Sirvant, María De Los Ángeles Ginard Martí, Father Pascual Araguàs Guàrdia, Father Pedro Martret Molet, and Silvestre Arnau Pascuet.

Thousands were murdered in the Spanish Civil War just because they were Catholic:

In Spain, one of Europe’s most staunchly Catholic countries, large numbers of Catholics were butchered during the 1936-1939 Civil War solely for being Catholic. Unlike the martyrdom in most parts of the world, whole sectors of the religious community were liquidated. At least 6,832 priests and religious were martyred, including 13 bishops. In the 20th century, probably no country witnessed so much bloodshed among its clergy.

The male religious martyred included 259 Claretians, 226 Franciscans, 204 Piarists, 176 Brothers of Mary, 165 Christian Brothers, 155 Augustinians, 132 Dominicans, and 114 Jesuits. The toll among the female orders was lower, but still shocking when we recall that these women could have had virtually nothing to do with the political struggle: 30 Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, 26 Carmelites of Charity, 26 Adoratrices, and 20 Capuchins, along with many others.

Source: Catholic Herald

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Spain Legalizes Homosexual Marriage

Today the country of Spain legalized gay marriage and now numbers among the Netherlands, Belgium, and Canada, as of last Tuesday, which has legalized gay marriage. According to media reports, polls that 75% of the electorate supports the government's liberal policies.

That is extremely sad that people that consider themselves Catholic would go against Church teachings. Look clearly to St. Francis of Assisi and other saints; St. Francis was a man that greatly opposed the bureaucracy of the Vatican at the time, but he remained Catholic and loved the Catholic faith.

Spain is 94% Catholic, but Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has done a lot against the Church, and therefore against Christ, including legalizing homosexual marriage in Spain. Spain is a highly Catholic nation but is falling to the "dictatorship of relativism". Seeing the faith of the majority of Spanish citizens, I strongly disagree with the quotation above.

If you begin to doubt just one article of the faith or a moral teaching then you begin the lose the entire faith. This has been proved time and time again when people leave the Church because they believe in their own morals and ideas. But, in truth, only God's morals matter because, after all, it is the Ten Commandments, not the Ten Suggestions.

The Bible, both directly and indirectly, condemns gay marriage.

SCRIPTURE: Genesis 19:1–24; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Mark 10:17–23; John 8:3–11; Romans 1:18–32; 3:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; Galatians 6:1–5; 1 Timothy 1:9–10; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; James 3:2; 5:17

One key example: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22, Douay-Rheims)

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