http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/articles-resources/ Articles and Resourcesen-us Mon, 01 Jan 1900 08:00:00 GMTTue, 07 Feb 2012 02:28:02 GMT http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/articles-resources/2012-articles/Vatican-astronomer-says-Big-Bang-theory-in-tune-with-creation-history-2882/  The director of the Vatican Observatory said that the Church is open to the scientific theory that the world began from a cosmic explosion billions of years ago.   “The Big Bang is not in contradiction with the faith, ” Father Jose Gabriel Funes said during a Feb. 2 announcement of a Vatican exhibit that will feature photos, research tools and minerals from the Moon and Mars.   The exhibit titled “Stories from another world: The Universe within us and outside us,” will be on display March 10 - July 1 in Pisa, the birthplace of Galileo, the father of modern astronomy.    Fr. Funes told CNA at the event that the Big Bang explanation “is the best theory we have right now about the creation of the universe.”   The theory holds that creation began some 14 billion years ago with a colossal explosion in which space, time, energy and matter were created, and galaxies, stars and planets – which are in continual expansion – came to be.   “We know that God is the creator,” he added, “that He is a good Father who has a providential plan for us, that we are his children, and that we everything we can learn by reason about the origin of the universe is not in contradiction with the religious message of the Bible.”   Fr. Funes said that as an astronomer and a Catholic, he is open to this explanation of the creation of the universe, despite “some yet unanswered questions.”   He noted, for example, that while there is no proof of other intelligent life in the universe, “we cannot rule it out,” since studies show that there are nearly 700 planets orbiting other stars.   “If in the future it was established that life, and intelligent life, exists, which I think would be very difficult, I don’t think this contradicts the religious message of creation because they would also be creatures of God,” he said.   Ultimately, Catholics “should see the cosmos as a gift of God” and should “admire the beauty that exists in the universe.” “This beauty we see in some way leads us to the beauty of the creator,” he said.    “And also, because God has granted us intelligence and reason, we can find the logos, that rational explanation that exists in the universe that allows us to engage in science as well.”   The Church’s official interest in astronomy dates back to the 16th century. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII decided to officially create the Vatican Observatory to show that the Church is not against scientific development, but rather promotes it.   Since then, the Vatican Observatory has operated out of Castel Gandolfo and uses a telescope located in Tuscon, Arizona, for research.   Vatican City, Feb 4, 2012  (CNA)Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:10:00 GMT2012 articles http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/articles-resources/2012-articles/Gods-love-overcomes-the-misery-of-illness,-Pope-teaches-2881/  Faith in the love of Jesus Christ can overcome the suffering of long-term illness, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Sunday Angelus address Feb. 5. Just as Jesus faced the devil “with the power of love that was from the Father,” the Pope explained, so also a sick person can “overcome and defeat the test of disease with a heart immersed in the love of God.” Indeed, he noted, “we all know people who have endured terrible suffering because God gave them a deep serenity.” Pope Benedict addressed his remarks to thousands of pilgrims braving the cold and snow in St. Peter’s Square. From the window of the papal apartments, he reflected on the day's Gospel in which Jesus “healed many who were sick with various diseases,” and “cast out many demons.” He observed how the four Evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – all describe “freedom from disease and illness of any kind, together with preaching, as the main activities of Jesus in his public life.” While disease is “a sign of the evil in the world and in man,” Christ’s healings show that “the Kingdom of God is near,” and they serve as “a foretaste of his victory obtained by his death and resurrection.” The Pope recognized that if healing does not arrive swiftly and suffering is prolonged, those who are sick “can remain crushed, isolated,” and even “depressed and dehumanized.” Appropriate medical treatment is in order and, as the Pope pointed out, “medicine in recent decades has made great strides.” But he also noted that the “Word of God” teaches “a decisive attitude” toward illness, an attitude which is “that of the faith.” Even in the face of death, “faith can make possible what is humanly impossible.” “But faith in what?” the Pope asked, answering that faith in God's love “is the true answer, which radically defeats evil.” As an example of how to bear illness through the love of God, Pope Benedict highlighted the life and death of Blessed Chiara Badano, an Italian teenager who died in 1990 from an aggressive and painful bone cancer. Although she was struck “in the bloom of youth,” those who visited her during her illness saw that she manifested “light and trust” through her love for Christ. The Pope concluded by noting that next Saturday, Feb. 11, is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and also the World Day of the Sick. On that day, he suggested, believers should imitate people of Jesus' time and “spiritually present to him all the sick people, confident that he wants to and can heal,” while also invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary “especially in situations of immense suffering and abandonment.” “Mary, Health of the Sick,” he declared, “pray for us!”   By David Kerr   Vatican City, Feb 5, 2012 (CNA)Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:03:57 GMT2012 articles http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/articles-resources/2012-articles/Doctors-wonder-how-federal-mandate-will-affect-practice-of-medicine-2878/  Whether they are just starting out or nearing the end of their careers, Catholics who want to practice medicine in conformity with the church's teachings wonder how a new federal regulation requiring health plans to cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge will affect their work. Although the requirement will not directly impact physicians, some said it represents a governmental intrusion into health care that could grow in the future. Dr. Anne Nolte, a family physician with the National Gianna Center for Women's Health and Fertility in New York, thinks the mandate represents "such a dramatic violation of such clearly defined civil rights" that it is bound to be overturned in court. But, she said, "If Congress failed to pass an act that provides an exemption for the groups affected by this, and the courts in some incomprehensible way allow (the mandate) to stand, then Catholic health care will have to make a decision to practice civil disobedience." Dr. Kim Hardey, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Lafayette, La., said he hopes the decision by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Obama administration will cause Catholics and other Christians to rise up against "the liberal left" and "misguided feminists" who would like to see abortion also become a required part of every medical practice. "If we can allow the infringement of any group's beliefs," everyone's beliefs are threatened, he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview Jan. 31. The new contraception mandate, with a narrow exemption for religious organizations, is part of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which sets up new preventative health care coverage specifically for women at no cost. That coverage includes services such as mammograms, prenatal care and cervical cancer screenings. But it also mandates free contraception, sterilizations and drugs (such as ella and "Plan B") considered by the church to be abortifacients -- all of which are contrary to Catholic teaching. On Jan. 20, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced that nonprofit groups that do not provide contraceptive coverage because of their religious beliefs will get an additional year "to adapt to this new rule." Sarah Smith is not a doctor yet, but she worries that the HHS mandate will further sour an atmosphere in which she already finds some challenges to her pro-life convictions. "The one safe environment -- Catholic hospitals -- is not even going to be safe anymore" if the contraceptive mandate stands, she said in a telephone interview with CNS from Chicago, where she had just completed the last of "14 or 15" interviews for a residency position in obstetrics and gynecology. A fourth-year medical student at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Smith made clear on each interview that her Catholic convictions prevent her from involvement in abortion, sterilization or contraception. She said she has found that "most doctors as individuals respect my beliefs and my conscience; they might not agree with me, but they'll defend my right to practice medicine." Problems are more likely to arise at the institutional level, where medical students and residents are "culturally at the bottom of the totem pole," Smith noted. "Some Catholic hospitals make it much easier for medical students and residents to live out their faith," she said. But at a secular hospital where "they are doing 400 tubal ligations a year, you might have the choice not to participate, but the work flow makes it harder," she added. A native of Natick, Mass., and a 2007 graduate of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Smith said she enjoys "working with underserved populations" but might not ever be able to work at a federally funded community health center, since the government requires that all family planning options be offered at those centers. "I am not at the point in my career where I have experienced" discrimination because of her pro-life beliefs, Smith said. "We are kind of insulated in medical school. But then you get out and you say, 'Wow, all these policies could really affect my practice.'" After assisting in the delivery of about 6,000 babies over the past 29 years, Hardey has the real-world experience that Smith lacks. He believes that some in Washington would like to drive obstetrician-gynecologists, or OB-GYNs, who won't perform abortions out of business. "There are not that many of us ... that we'd be too big to go after," he said. Hardey prescribed contraceptives and even thought they were beneficial for the first nine years of his medical practice. But then he began to see some of their effects -- not only on his patients but on societal attitudes -- and decided to conform his practice to the church's teachings in "Humanae Vitae" ("Of Human Life"). The 1968 encyclical by Pope Paul VI on married love and procreation reaffirmed church teaching that artificial contraception is morally wrong. At age 58, Hardey said he is thinking of leaving his work as an obstetrician, "not because of the environment the president has brought about" but because of the long hours and erratic schedule required to deliver babies. "I love my practice," he said. "But to live the OB-GYN lifestyle, you have to really love it." Nolte, who completed her medical training in 2009, focuses her family practice on providing "authentically Catholic" health care for women, especially in the areas of gynecology, infertility treatment and natural family planning. She sees the Gianna center as "an alternative to Planned Parenthood" in Manhattan. "We do exclusively women's health care faithful to the" U.S. church's "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services," she said. The directives, most recently revised by the U.S. bishops in 2001, guide Catholic health care facilities in addressing a wide range of ethical questions, such as abortion, euthanasia, care for the poor, medical research, in vitro fertilization, prenatal testing, and nutrition and hydration. But that doesn't mean Nolte serves only Catholics. About 40 percent of her patients are Protestants or have no religious affiliation. "Women come from other states just for their annual exams, and they bring their daughters," Nolte said. "They see that we treat patients differently." Like Hardey, she expressed concern that "this administration is happy to violate civil rights" on the issue of contraception and could then decide to do the same on abortion or other problematic issues. But she said nothing will ever put Catholic health care out of business, even if civil disobedience is required. "A large number of people would not have access if we get out of health care," she said. "And we can't let that happen."   By Nancy Frazier O'Brien February 2, 2012WASHINGTON (CNS) ENDFri, 03 Feb 2012 21:33:47 GMT2012 articles