The Catholic Blog Community

You should have received an email from me this week, informing you of the closing of this site and the opening of the brand new site.  You have until next week to reply to my email and get your new blog setup.  After that, I'm switching the lights off here and turning on the switch in the new digs.  

My beta testers have given me the green light to move forward.  I'm not done adding features, but the engine is running perfectly.  I look forward to seeing you all there!

We are in the middle of a major battle against sploggers (spam bloggers).  Currently there are about 100 or more of these garbage blogs created daily.  While we harden our security against them, we're going to have to shut down the open signups.  You can still register for a totally free blog, but you'll need to send an email request.  We'll turn them around fast.  Send your emails to (watch the spelled out stuff)  kingofcatholicmedia AT catholicdestination DOT com.  To separate you from the splog herd put the word SQUIRREL in your subject line. Thanks for your understanding.

- the king

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All persons, not just Catholics, can know from the scientific and medical evidence that what grows in a mother's womb is a new, distinct human being. All persons can understand that each human being — without discrimination — merits respect. At the very least, respecting human life excludes the deliberate and direct destruction of life — and that is exactly what abortion is.

Catholics are also pro-life because our Christian tradition is pro-life. As Pope John Paul II says, Christians believe that "all human life is sacred, for it is created in the image and likeness of God." Aborting an unborn child destroys a unique creation which God has called specially into existence.

Christian teaching also obliges us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who spoke and acted strongly and compassionately in favor of the most despised and vulnerable persons in society. Jesus touched lepers, spoke with prostitutes, and showed special mercy and tenderness to the sick, the poor, and children. Our society today has many vulnerable persons — including women in crisis pregnancies as well as unborn children whose lives may be legally ended at any time during pregnancy and for any reason. In the tradition of Jesus Christ, Catholics have a responsibility to speak and act in defense of these persons. This is part of our "preferential option" for the poor and powerless.

The Church's mission to defend human life applies over the entire course of life, from conception to natural death. And so the Catholic Church has been a strong supporter of the civil rights movement and a leader in international relief and development efforts. Catholic hospitals and other health-care facilities form the largest network of private, not-for-profit health care providers in the United States. Catholic Charities USA — one of a number of Catholic charitable groups — is currently the single largest provider of social services to all Americans, regardless of race, creed or national origin.

The Catholic Church strives to be a prophetic voice, speaking out to protest injustices and indignities against the human person. Catholics will continue in this work, whether our words are popular or unpopular.

Since its beginnings, Christianity has maintained a firm and clear teaching on the sacredness of human life. Jesus Christ emphasized this in his teaching and ministry. Abortion was rejected in the earliest known Christian manual of discipline, the Didache.

Early Church fathers likewise condemned abortion as the killing of innocent human life. A third century Father of the Church, Tertullian, called it "accelerated homicide." Early Church councils considered it one of the most serious crimes. Even during periods when Aristotle's theory of "delayed ensoulment" led Church law to assign different penalties to earlier and later abortions, abortion at any stage was still considered a grave evil.

When biologists in the 19th century learned more about the process of conception, the Church altered its legal distinction between early and late abortions out of respect for reason and biology.

Since that time, science has only further confirmed the humanity of the child growing in the womb. Official Church teaching insists, to the present day, that a just society protects life before as well as after birth.

The reasons are not difficult to understand. One official Church document on the subject puts it this way:

"The first right of the human person is his life . . . It does not belong to society, nor does it belong to public authority in any form to recognize this right for some and not for others; all discrimination is evil. . . Any discrimination based on the various stages of life is no more justified any other discrimination. . . . In reality, respect for human life is called for from the time that the process of generation begins. From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth."

Declaration on Procured Abortion, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1974), paragraphs 11-12.

Fact sheet by the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Click here to print as a PDF.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law” (No. 2271). 

In response to those who say this teaching has changed or is of recent origin, here are the facts:

• From earliest times, Christians sharply distinguished themselves from surrounding pagan cultures by rejecting abortion and infanticide.  The earliest widely used documents of Christian teaching and practice after the New Testament in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) and Letter of Barnabas, condemned both practices, as did early regional and particular Church councils. 

• To be sure, knowledge of human embryology was very limited until recent times.  Many Christian thinkers accepted the biological theories of their time, based on the writings of Aristotle (4th century BC) and other philosophers.  Aristotle assumed a process was needed over time to turn the matter from a woman’s womb into a being that could receive a specifically human form or soul.  The active formative power for this process was thought to come entirely from the man – the existence of the human ovum (egg), like so much of basic biology, was unknown. 
• However, such mistaken biological theories never changed the Church’s common conviction that abortion is gravely wrong at every stage.  At the very least, early abortion was seen as attacking a being with a human destiny, being prepared by God to receive an immortal soul (cf. Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you”).
• In the 5th century AD this rejection of abortion at every stage was affirmed by the great bishop-theologian St. Augustine.  He knew of theories about the human soul not being present until some weeks into pregnancy.  Because he used the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, he also thought the ancient Israelites had imposed a more severe penalty for accidentally causing a miscarriage if the fetus was “fully formed” (Exodus 21:22-23), language not found in any known Hebrew version of this passage.  But he also held that human knowledge of biology was very limited, and he wisely warned against misusing such theories to risk committing homicide.  He added that God has the power to make up all human deficiencies or lack of development in the Resurrection, so we cannot assume that the earliest aborted children will be excluded from enjoying eternal life with God.
• In the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas made extensive use of Aristotle’s thought, including his theory that the rational human soul is not present in the first few weeks of pregnancy.  But he also rejected abortion as gravely wrong at every stage, observing that it is a sin “against nature” to reject God’s gift of a new life.
• During these centuries, theories derived from Aristotle and others influenced the grading of penalties for abortion in Church law.  Some canonical penalties were more severe for a direct abortion after the stage when the human soul was thought to be present.  However, abortion at all stages continued to be seen as a grave moral evil. 
• From the 13th to 19th centuries, some theologians speculated about rare and difficult cases where they thought an abortion before “formation” or “ensoulment” might be morally justified.  But these theories were discussed and then always rejected, as the Church refined and reaffirmed its understanding of abortion as an intrinsically evil act that can never be morally right.
• In 1827, with the discovery of the human ovum, the mistaken biology of Aristotle was discredited. Scientists increasingly understood that the union of sperm and egg at conception produces a new living being that is distinct from both mother and father.  Modern genetics demonstrated that this individual is, at the outset, distinctively human, with the inherent and active potential to mature into a human fetus, infant, child and adult.  From 1869 onward the obsolete distinction between the “ensouled” and “unensouled” fetus was permanently removed from canon law on abortion.
• Secular laws against abortion were being reformed at the same time and in the same way, based on secular medical experts’ realization that “no other doctrine appears to be consonant with reason or physiology but that which admits the embryo to possess vitality from the very moment of conception” (American Medical Association, Report on Criminal Abortion, 1871).
• Thus modern science has not changed the Church’s constant teaching against abortion, but has underscored how important and reasonable it is, by confirming that the life of each individual of the human species begins with the earliest embryo.
• Given the scientific fact that a human life begins at conception, the only moral norm needed to understand the Church’s opposition to abortion is the principle that each and every human life has inherent dignity, and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person.  This is the foundation for the Church’s social doctrine, including its teachings on war, the use of capital punishment, euthanasia, health care, poverty and immigration.  Conversely, to claim that some live human beings do not deserve respect or should not be treated as “persons” (based on changeable factors such as age, condition, location, or lack of mental or physical abilities) is to deny the very idea of inherent human rights.  Such a claim undermines respect for the lives of many vulnerable people before and after birth.

For more information:  Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Procured Abortion (1974), nos. 6-7; John R. Connery, S.J., Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (1977); Germain Grisez, Abortion: The Myths, the Realities, and the Arguments (1970), Chapter IV; U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, On Embryonic Stem Cell Research (2008); Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995), nos. 61-2.

Your Catholic Blog Community developers are working overtime to develop and test the next generation of this Catholic Social Network.  We are working on finding efficient ways to connect the blogs together, beyond internal links you provide yourself (don't stop linking to each other, by the way), increase speed, and add new profile features to allow you to share more of your winning personality with your Catholic neighbors online.  

We're also scouring the internet to find new columnists for CatholicDestination.com.  Catholic writers who are interested in writing for a Catholic website should email the site admins at community@catholicdestination.com and provide a writing sample, as well as a brief biographical profile.  Interviews will begin shortly afterward, with the top candidates receiving premium promotion as columnists, including promotion of any products (books, CDs, etc.) the writer may have.

CatholicDestination.com is growing by leaps and bounds.  Your participation as Catholic bloggers is aiding in that growth.  Thank you for inviting  your friends to join us.  Our dream of connecting Catholics is coming true.  We would like to see the dream continue to expand, so please continue to invite others to join us in the world's only totally free Catholic social network.  Visit each other's blogs, comment, share ideas and pray for one another.  As always, if you need assistance, just ask the KOCM (kingofcatholicmedia@catholicdestination.com), our resident blog super.  He'll get you the help you need quickly.

Happy blogging, everyone!

The King is at it again.  This time, the KOCM is giving us an online Bible with built in search engine and chapter by chapter index for fast reference.  So far, the Old Testament Book of Genesis is finished.  He seems to have gotten the hang of it, so expect the other books to follow each week.  

http://www.catholicdestination.com/community/bible 

Don't forget to add CatholicDestination and the Catholic Blogging Community to your favorites list and bookmarks.  You really should be coming by here every day.  

Have you created your free blog yet?  Today would be a great time to begin.  Use the links to the right to start your very own free Catholic blog to write about anything that comes into that great Catholic mind of yours.  If you need help, the King of Catholic Media is more than willing to jump in and lend a helping hand.  You're not going to find another totally free and totally Catholic social network anywhere else.  We've looked.

All you faithful Catholic bloggers need to drop by the King of Catholic Media to sign up for his free search engine optimization course.  He's going to take the time to walk you through all you need to know to get your Catholic blog recognized by the major search engines and how to get your blog "out there" so more people can connect with you.  

Your friends at CatholicDestination.com are offering a special discount just for the Catholic Blog Community here at CD.  

Get 5% off all purchases made at CatholicDestination.com.

Use the coupon code "community" at checkout to receive the discount.  

This coupon expires 7/31/08 and is only good for CatholicDestination.com Community members.  Not a member?  Click here to sign up for your totally free Catholic blog today!

New features have been added to the community blogs.  To name a few:

- a better text editor (this you have to turn on yourself, so ask me how)

- a front page login (look to your right)

- more themes to choose from

- more plugins to jazz up your Catholic blog (jazz hands!)

- a new blogroll page (under construction) with screenshots and descriptions for each blog in the community.

That last one (the blogroll page) was the King of Catholic Media's idea (as all good ideas are, I'm sure he would say).  Before I do any more editing though, I'm giving you the chance to tell me how you would like me to describe your blog.  Please send community@catholicdestination.com an email, describing in 2-4 sentences what your blog is all about.  If your blog doesn't mention your "real name" i'm going to use your username.  If you want more information up there, or want to suggest a change, you gotta email me.  I am no longer psychic.

By the way, King, you do have some good ideas.  

Hey, don't forget to invite your family and friends to create their own free Catholic blog.  I would love to see us have 100 active bloggers this summer.   

New plugin has been installed by the King of Catholic Media.  All of you Catholic bloggers can choose whether or not to implement this plugin or not.  The plugin is called "one search" and it allows the search function on your blog to search ALL blogs in the catholic blog community here at CatholicDestination.com.  Or you can leave your search alone (by doing nothing) and let users search your blog alone.  The Catholic Blog Community page (this one) has the feature installed. 

Thank you, King of Catholic Media.  You are a truly benevolent monarch. 

Andy @ Musings of a Catholic Convert has alerted me to GREAT news from fellow blogger, Shayne.  We have a brand spankin’ new Catholic to welcome home here.  Drop by Shayne's blog and welcome our brother home to the Catholic Church.

http://catholicdestination.com/community/shayne/

KOCM

Just like the KOCM told us, the site is going through changes.  We're finding new ways to network and to improve the site.  Thank you for your suggestions.  Keep them coming.  Welcome to all our new friends on this free Catholic social network.  We keep seeing more and more Catholic bloggers signing up and it's very exciting.  

Have you considered joining yet?  If not, why?  It's free!  We're almost ready to start moving forward with the new phase of development.  Help us grow the world's best online Catholic community and Catholic social network.  We want to meet you, and we want you to meet other Catholics.

Join up.  Then get the word out. 

We are working on making initial improvements to the blogging community and adding new features.  Thank you for alerting us to some of the little bugs you have found.  I love the fact that we’re all communicating together to make this community even more awesome!

Remember, any new features, widgets, plugins, templates, etc. that you see and want for this site, let us know.  This is YOUR community.  Well, it is OUR community, right?  Tell your friends, family, fellow bloggers, parish, ministry, priests, and deacons to join us.