Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila's Life-changing Personal Experience of Abortion

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

I went to college in 1968 with the idea of becoming a doctor, like my father. College campuses in the late ‘60’s and throughout the 70’s were places of turmoil. I didn’t practice my faith much in the first three years of college and I certainly never imagined that the Lord would one day make me a bishop.

 

I spent my first three years of college working as a hospital orderly and assisting in the emergency room, at a university student health center and in a hospital in California during summer break. 

 

When I began the job, I hadn’t thought much about human suffering, or about human dignity.

But during my employment in hospitals, something changed. At that time, some states had approved abortion laws that I wasn’t even aware of. Because of those laws, when I was in college I witnessed the results of two abortions.

 

The first was in a surgical unit. I walked into an outer room and in the sink, unattended, was the body of small unborn child who had been aborted. I remember being stunned. I remember thinking that I had to baptize that child.

 

The second abortion was more shocking. A young woman came into the emergency room screaming. She explained that she had had an abortion already. When the doctor sent her home, he told her she would pass the remains naturally. She was bleeding as the doctor, her boyfriend, the nurse and I placed her on a table.

 

I held a basin as the doctor retrieved a tiny arm, a tiny leg and then the rest of the broken body of a tiny unborn child. I was shocked. I was saddened for the mother and child, for the doctor and the nurse. None of us would have participated in such a thing were it not an emergency. I witnessed a tiny human being destroyed by violence.

 

The memory haunts me. I will never forget that I stood witness to acts of unspeakable brutality. In the abortions I witnessed, powerful people made decisions that ended the lives of small, powerless, children. Through lies and manipulation, children were seen as objects. Women and families were convinced that ending a life would be painless, and forgettable. Experts made seemingly convincing arguments that the unborn were not people at all, that they could not feel pain, and were better off dead.

 

I witnessed the death of two small people who never had the chance to take a breath. I can never forget that. And I have never been the same. My faith was weak at the time. But I knew by reason, and by what I saw, that a human life was destroyed. My conscience awakened to the truth of the dignity of the human being from the moment of conception. I became pro-life and eventually returned to my faith.

 

I learned what human dignity was when I saw it callously disregarded. I know, without a doubt, that abortion is a violent act of murder and exploitation. And I know that our responsibility is to work and pray without ceasing for its end...

 

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to remind you of the power of prayer. Our prayer and sacrifice for an end to abortion, united with Christ on the cross, will transform hearts and renew minds. In prayer we entrust our nation to Jesus Christ. In doing so, we can be assured of his victory.

 

Today I ask you to join me in a new resolve to build a culture which sees with the eyes of God—which sees the dignity of the unborn, of women and men, of the poor, the elderly, the mentally ill and the disabled.

 

Our forefathers saw with the eyes of God when they recognized in the Declaration of Independence that “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 

I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to join me in building a culture of life which ends the brutal killing of the unborn—the smallest and least among us. There is no greater task we can undertake. I pray that the words of Scripture may burn within our hearts, “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!”[16]

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila, STL

Archbishop of Denver

(Excerpt from here.)

USA Faces God's Justice For Allowing the Killing of His Unborn Children

Criminals convicted in our nation of the most heinous crimes have never been treated with the barbaric cruelty that over fifty million   unborn babies have suffered during induced abortion from their mothers’ wombs. Tiny, innocent babies are trapped in an enclosed space and killed mercilessly, totally unable to defend themselves. They are poisoned, burned, dismembered, skulls crushed, brains sucked out.  

Responsibility for the protection of these most innocent human beings belongs to all USA citizens who are old enough to vote. Voting for politicians who legislate in favor of abortion is being an enabler of that grievous offense against God, the Creator of all life.

 

When we bemoan the shortage of workers to fund Social Security, think of the unborn who could have been part of the work force. When we cry because there is no cure for serious diseases, think of the aborted unborn who might have discovered those cures. When we worry about the economy, energy needs, health care, etc., think of the more than fifty million unborn babies  that were never given a chance to use their God-given talents to contribute to our society.

 

We are all God’s children. Will He bless a nation that continues to insult Him by allowing the destruction of His unborn sons and daughters? When we turn away from God and His law of love, might He allow us to wallow in our own misery until we learn the hard lessons needed to humbly return to the most loving and wisest of Fathers?

 

Consider the words of Thomas Jefferson, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."     

President Obama: We Will Be Judged by How We Care for Our Nation's Children

 

"This is our first task -- caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.

"And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we are meeting our obligations? Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children -- all of them -- safe from harm? ...Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?"

 

"...If there is even one step we can take to save another child,...-- then surely we have an obligation to try."

"There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have -- for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace -- that is true. The memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves, and binds us to something larger -- we know that’s what matters. We know we’re always doing right when we’re taking care of them, when we’re teaching them well, when we’re showing acts of kindness. We don’t go wrong when we do that." (Source)

~ President Barack Obama ~
 

 

(Video Source)

Abortionist Admits Being an Executioner of Unborn Baby

“You have to become a bit schizophrenic. In one room, you encourage the patient that the slight irregularity in the fetal heart is not important, that she is going to have a fine, healthy baby. Then, in the next room you assure another woman, on whom you just did a saline abortion, that it is a good thing that the heartbeat is already irregular… she has nothing to worry about, she will NOT have a live baby… All of a sudden one noticed that at the time of the saline infusion there was a lot of activity in the uterus. That’s not fluid currents. That’s obviously the fetus being distressed by swallowing the concentrated salt solution and kicking violently and that’s to all intents and purposes, the death trauma… somebody has to do it, and unfortunately we are the executioners in this instance[.]” - Dr. John Szenes, abortionist (Source)

Archbishop Charles Chaput: Putting God Before Politics

“We’re Catholics before we’re Democrats. We’re Catholics before we’re Republicans. We’re even Catholics before we’re Americans because we know that God has a demand on us prior to any government demand on us.  And this has been the story of the martyrs through the centuries.”

 

“[Abortion] is a very serious issue that requires absolute adherence on the part of Catholics, and if we don’t stand united on this issue we’re bound to failure—not only in the area of protecting unborn human life but in maintaining our religious freedom.”

~ Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, excerpt from here ~

 

 

     

Fr. Marcel Guarnizo: Abortion Corrupts Everything

"The root of abortion is contraception...

the mantra of the contraceptive mentality is 'I wish you would not exist'. "

~ Fr. Marcel Guarnizo ~

Bella Santorum: God's Gift of Life and Love

"We just thank God every day we have her.  I would say Bella makes us better.  Some people describe people like Bella as disabled children; and I look at her and I look at the joy and I look at the simplicity and the love that she emits and it's clear to me that we're the disabled ones, not her.  She's got it right.  She's got a...great beautiful spirit--one that emits unconditional love--and we can learn a lot from that."

~ Rick Santorum ~

Bella Movie Helps Save Lives

460 Bella Babies Saved to date:  Click here and you will read the inspiring Bella baby stories from Pregnancy Care Centers throughout the country and see how Bella is continuing to change lives and save babies. MORE »

Steve Jobs: How His Mother Saved His Life

Since this is Respect Life Sunday, and the beginning of Respect Life month, I wanted to talk about one woman who did respect life – and her choice has made a difference in the life of virtually every person in this church.

Her name is Joanne Schiebel. In 1954, she was a young unmarried college student who discovered that she was pregnant. In the 1950s, her options were limited. She could have had an abortion – but the procedure was both dangerous and illegal. She could have gotten married, but she wasn’t ready and didn’t want to interrupt her education. Joanne opted, instead, to give birth to the baby and put it up for adoption.

And so it was that in 1955, a California couple named Paul and Clara Jobs adopted a baby boy, born out of wedlock, that they named Steven.

We know him today…as Steve Jobs.

It would not be overstating things to say that Steve Jobs is my generation’s Thomas Edison. As one observer put it, he knew what the world wanted before the world knew that it wanted it.

If you have an iPhone or an iPad or an iPod, or anything remotely resembling them, you can thank Steve Jobs.

If your world has been transformed by the ability to hear a symphony, send a letter, pay a bill, deposit a check, read a book and then buy theater tickets on something roughly the size of a credit card…you can thank Steve Jobs.

And: you can thank Joanne Schiebel.

If you want to know how much one life can matter, there is just one example.

~ Excerpt from Deacon Greg Kandra's Homily Oct 2, 2011 ~

Legal Killing of Humans: German Holocaust Compared to Abortion Holocaust

A new 33-minute documentary film titled 180 is changing public opinion on abortion 180 degrees in a matter of minutes, as author and film producer Ray Comfort uses the new film to ask students a question that challenges their abortion views.

Abby Johnson, who resigned her position as the director of a Texas Planned Parenthood abortion business, has also seen the film and said pro-life advocates “must check it out,” saying it is “one of the best things you will ever watch.”

~ Excerpts from here ~

Abortion Stops a Beating Heart: Join Supporters of the Heartbeat Bill!

"Science has already given us a yardstick to determine if someone is alive--a beating heart. We just want to see that measurement applied evenly. This bill calls for an end to discrimination and the protection of every human being with a beating heart--no matter their age!

~ Lynn Wachtmann, Ohio State Representative and New Chair of the House Health Committee ~

"Knowing that I killed my own precious baby, who had a beating heart, has traumatized and devastated me beyond description and has destroyed so much happiness and has lead to chronic migraine pain easily triggered by inconsolable grieving. An unplanned pregnancy would have lead to unplanned joy. I regret this choice with every fiber of my heart and soul... I've thought about and loved this baby intensely every day of my life for almost 30 years. And I never was a mom to another child-due to infertility. This means that in a moment of haste, in my youth, not fully informed, I killed the only child I ever conceived. If I would have seen an ultrasound--would have seen that beating heart-wild horses couldn't have kept me in that clinic. I would have known the truth and my baby would be alive today. That's why I'm here. Please vote yes on this important legislation."

~ Kathryn Bretz, Post-Abortive Woman, Cleveland, Ohio ~

 

~ HeartbeatBill.com ~

Dr. Paul Byrne: What Everyone Should Know About Organ Donation

Uploaded by franciscanfriars on Jun 24, 2008

Ave Maria! In this Roving Reporter, Dr Paul Byrne alerts us on the laws being passed by states nation wide called 'Presumed Intent', which states that all persons are perspective organ donors (... or involuntary organ donors) unless the individual declares otherwise, under the guise of 'brain death'.

About Zack Dunlap who was declared brain dead: 

The young man himself told NBC that he heard the doctors pronounce him brain dead, and said, "I’m glad I couldn’t get up and do what I wanted to do." When asked what he wanted to do, he responded, "There probably would have been a broken window they went out." (Source)

A more detailed interview with Dr. Byrne:

Zen Garcia interviews Dr. Paul about the uniform anatomical gift act and how this law requires people to give up their organs without consent especially if they are not of sound mind or have disabilities. This video also warns people about the living will and why you should use a durable power of attorney for health care decisions for protecting one's life in an emergency situation. Living wills do not protect you, they only protect the doctors and institutions which take your life and organs.

~ Articles written by Dr. Byrne on life issues ~

Bl. Teresa of Calcutta: "America...Roe vs. Wade has deformed a great nation."

"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe vs. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts--a child--as a competitor, an intrusion and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the dependent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners."

 

"Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or sovereign. The Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany recently ruled: 'The unborn child is entitled to its right to life independently of its acceptance by its mother; this is an elementary and inalienable right which emanates from the dignity of the human being.'"

~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta ~

A Pro-Life Prayer for Our President and Public Officials

Lord God, Author of Life and Source of Eternal Life,

move the hearts of all our public officials and especially our President,

to fulfill their responsibilities worthily and well to all those entrusted to their care.

Help them in their special leadership roles,

to extend the mantle of protection to the most vulnerable,

especially the defenseless unborn,

whose lives are threatened with extermination by an indifferent society.

Guide all public officials by your wisdom and grace

to cease supporting any law that fails to protect the fundamental good that is human life itself,
which is a gift from God and parents.

You are the Protector and Defender of the lives of the innocent unborn.

Change the hearts of those who compromise the call to protect and defend life.

Bring our nation to the values that have made us a great nation,

a society that upholds the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.

Mary, the Mother of the living,

help us to bear witness to the Gospel of Life with our lives and our laws,

through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Imprimatur: January 22, 2009 + Most Reverend Robert J. Baker Bishop of Birmingham in Alabama

Pope John Paul II: Children Are the Future of a Nation

 "I wish to express the joy that we all find in children, the springtime of life, the anticipation of the future history of each of our present earthly homelands. No country on earth, no political system can think of its own future otherwise than through the image of these new generations that will receive from their parents the manifold heritage of values, duties and aspirations of the nation to which they belong and of the whole human family. Concern for the child, even before birth, from the first moment of conception and then throughout the years of infancy and youth, is the primary and fundamental test of the relationship of one human being to another. And so, what better wish can I express for every nation and for the whole of mankind, and for all the children of the world than a better future in which respect for human rights will become a complete reality throughout the third millennium, which is drawing near?"

~ Pope John Paul II, excerpt from Familiaris Consortio ~

March 25: Honoring the Conception of Jesus-- "Day of the Unborn Child"

Celebrate the “Day of the Unborn Child” on the March 25th Feast of the Annunciation

This site was developed to advance the movement toward international recognition of March 25th as the “Day of The Unborn Child,” and equally to promote among Christians the observance of this traditional feast day of the Incarnation honoring Christ’s conception (once celebrated as the old New Year’s Day) which is currently named “The Feast of the Annunciation.” The date was chosen because it falls nine months before the most celebrated birth in Western civilization, known throughout the world as Christmas. Regardless of whether one emphasizes the secular or religious aspects of the March 25th memorial, the symbolic interval of a full-term pregnancy reminds us of the reality and dignity of life from conception.

PRAYER TO CHRIST UNBORN

Dear Lord Jesus in the womb

of Blessed Virgin Mary,

before your birth You filled

the unborn Baptist

with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Inspire us to see You

in every unborn child.

Grant us the perseverance

to defend vulnerable human life

from abortion, abandonment,

experimentation, and all violations.

Fill us with reverence for the moment

of your Incarnation in Nazareth

when the Word became flesh.

Celebrate the March 25th Feast of the Annunciation

(Festum Incarnationis) as the “Day of the Unborn Child”

Lk 1:15, 30-44; '94 Cat., pass. 717, 486, 495

REDEEMER IN THE WOMB

Lord Jesus Christ, You took our human nature upon Yourself. You shared our life and death, our childhood and adulthood.

You also shared our time in the womb. While still God, while worshiped and adored by the angels, while Almighty and filling every part of the universe, You dwelt for nine months in the womb of Mary. You were our Redeemer in the womb, our God who was a preborn child.

Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless and protect the children who today are in their mothers’ womb. Save them from the danger of abortion. Give their mothers the grace to sacrifice themselves, in body and soul, for their children. Help all people to recognize in the preborn child a brother, a sister, saved by You, our Redeemer in the womb. (Source)

Archbishop Timothy Dolan & Dr. Alveda King: Abortion in New York City

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Dr. Alveda C. King, Director of the African American Outreach for Priests for Life, sat down recently with CNA and commented about abortion and pro-life issues facing New York City.

~ To see the New York billboard,
 "The Most Dangerous Place for an African Americam is in the Womb",  go here. ~

Quiet Euthanasia: Death by Dehydration

"Evil has a way of mixing in truth with untruth, partial truth rather than whole truth, or using something appropriate at one time but misusing it at another time. In the 'active phase of dying' — the very, very end — a person does not eat or drink naturally, for he or she is truly dying: The individual's organs and bodily systems are shutting down. At that time, it would be inappropriate to provide food — he or she would choke on it or it would be aspirated into the lungs — and a good amount of fluid would easily go right into the lungs.

"But if one deprives a patient of food and fluid before he or she is at the very, very end, the patient is dying not of their terminal illness, but of dehydration. There is not enough fluid in the circulatory system and it collapses, causing death. It 'looks' peaceful if the patient is sedated, which is often the case nowadays." (Source)

~ Ron Panzer founder and executive director of Hospice Patients Alliance ~

Ave Maria! ...a two part series hostess Corinn Dahm discusses with guest Darlene Wagner the increasing rates of euthanasia being committed against our elderly since the Teri Schiavo case. They call it the "Quiet Euthanasia" a "third way" by using dehydration of elderly to quietly sidestep the law. Ave Maria! +++

Saint Faustina Suffered in Reparation for Souls Murdered in the Womb

September 16, 1937. I wanted very much to make a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament today, but God's will was otherwise. At eight o'clock I was seized with such violent pains that I had to go to bed at once. I was convulsed with pain for three hours; that is, until eleven o'clock at night. No medicine had any effect on me, and whatever I swallowed I threw up. At times, the pains caused me to lose consciousness. Jesus had me realize that in this way I took part in His Agony in the Garden, and that He himself allowed these sufferings in order to offer reparation to God for the souls murdered in the wombs of wicked mothers. I have gone through these sufferings three times now. They always start at eight o'clock in the evening and last until eleven. No medicine can lessen these sufferings. When eleven o'clock comes, they cease by themselves, and I fall asleep at that moment. The following day, I feel very weak.

This happened to me for the first time when I was at the sanatorium. The doctors couldn't get to the bottom of it, and no injection or medicine helped me at all nor did I myself have any idea of what the sufferings were about. I told the doctor that never before in my life had I experienced such sufferings, and he declared he did not know what sort of pains they are. But now I understand the nature of these pains, because the Lord himself has made this known to me.... Yet when I think that I may perhaps suffer in this way again, I tremble. But I don't know whether I'll ever again suffer in this way; I leave that to God. What it pleases God to send, I will accept with submission and love. If only I could save even one soul from murder by means of these sufferings!

~ St. Faustina; excerpt 1276 from  The Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska ~

40 Days for Life, Lies of Planned Parenthood, Pro-life Witness at Abortion Centers

"Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love,

but to use violence to get what they want.

That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion"

~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta ~