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Wisconsin Supreme Court swings the door wide open for parents to receive school vouchers

     While Washington politicos and courts plod along, the Wisconsin Supreme Court put the school voucher issue on the fast track by voting 4-2 that school vouchers are constitutional, making it a landmark case that could have a postive domino effect on the rest of the states and ultimately the nation. Wisconsin parents will now have a choice where to send their children which should enhance their opportunity to attend a Catholic school if they are Catholic and not be taxed as badly by the financial burden. For more, click on School Vouchers

      MADISON, Wisconsin (CWNews.com) - The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided in a landmark ruling on Wednesday that a state law letting parents use school vouchers to send their children to religious schools is constitutional.

      The court ruled 4-2 that the program does not violate the separate the judicially-imposed separation of church and state, because "it will not have the primary effect of advancing religion ..." Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson praised the decision as an historic one that "give parents the power to choose the best school for their children. It's a landmark victory for thousands of poor children ... giving them the freedom to pursue the strongest education possible."

      Proponents of school choice predicted that decision would have effects on programs around the country. The Herndon, Virginia-based Landmark Legal Foundation said: "The court has recognized two fundamental truths. First, that everyone, regardless of economic status, should have access to a quality education, and second, that traditional public schools, with their self-interested administrators and all-powerful teachers' unions, are not the only places where children can receive a first-rate education."

      The current program in effect in Milwaukee is being expanded to allow 15,000 poor children in the city to attend the private school of their choice, religious or secular, using education tax dollars.

Call to end enforced embargos comes from all fronts

     From the Vatican to Bagdad to Tunis the call came to end the enforced embargos imposed by U.N. sanctions and backed by the United States. In a plea to Western Christian leaders, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at the close of the Baghdad conference for religious leaders, implored them to see the great harm that has been done by the embargo and petition the U.N. and U.S. to lift this restrictive embargo. The Holy Father as well as Cardinal Roger Etchevary have also called for lifting of the restrictions, and in Tunis the northern Africa Bishops Conference called for an end to the embargo on Libya. Lost among the pleas was any definitive statements from the two main reasons for the embargos: Saddam Hussein and Colonel Mohammar Ghadaffi. For more, click on Embargos

      BAGHDAD (CWNews.com) - Iraq's deputy prime minister on Wednesday called on Western religious leaders to pressure their governments to lift the eight-year-old sanctions against the country, imposed by the UN after Iraq invaded its neighbor Kuwait.

      Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz addressed the closing session of a conference in Baghdad of Christian leaders from 30 countries, included Cardinal Roger Etchegaray. "It is time the church played a more active role, particularly in the West," said Aziz, himself a Christian. He claimed that 1.5 million people had died as a result of the embargo which prevents Iraq from freely selling its oil worldwide or importing many items. "It is very important for the church to know the facts. There is a big responsibility on it for the people suffering injustice and violence," he said.

      Aziz, who earlier this year traveled to meet Pope John Paul II, said he told the Holy Father that "those carrying out the injustices against Iraq are Christian countries, or countries pretending to be Christian." He said Christians in these "aggressive countries" have a duty to demand that their leaders adhere to Christian principles.

      At the same time, the bishops' conferences of northern Africa, at a regional assembly in Tunis, have called for "a just solution to the problems caused" by the international blockades, especially on Libya.

      In the final communiqué of their meeting, the bishops said that recent international embargos have caused severe suffering; they specifically mentioned the plight of the poor in Libya.

      The bishops also hailed the recent decline in episodes of violence in Algeria, and voiced their hope for a "gradual return to a less worrisome security situation."

Pro-aborts and the courts are consumed with promoting the culture of death

     The abortion doctor, commonly known in Wichita as Tiller the Killer, is challenging a Kansas law just passed and signed by pro-life Governor Bill Graves that prohibits late term abortions and requires much stricter reporting of abortions performed, making it more difficult for the slaughter of innocents Tiller is notorious for over the years. Meanwhile, in the nation's capital a pro-abortionist Justice department is trying to silence Operation Rescue head Flip Benham and his followers, stemming from a protest when protesters blocked entrances to abortuaries on the commiseration of the 25th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision that has plunged America into the abyss. For more, click on Abortion aberrations.

      TOPEKA, Kansas (CWNews.com) - A Wichita abortionist filed a legal challenge in the Kansas state Supreme Court on Wednesday against a new law banning partial-birth abortions, just days after it was signed by Gov. Bill Graves and before it goes into effect on July 1.

      George Tiller of the Women's Health Care Services asked for an injunction against the new law until the justices have determined its constitutionality. The lawsuit contends that the new law is vague, has unconstitutional reporting requirements, "and places unconstitutional limits on a woman's right to an abortion." The law prohibits abortions of viable unborn children after 22 weeks' of pregnancy and requires detailed reporting of abortions to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

      Dave Gittrich, a spokesman for Kansans for Life, said the organization would file briefs in support of the law. "This bill hurts his business, and now he's challenging it," Gittrich said of Tiller. "It goes to show that he has been aborting babies that can live outside the womb, and that comprises a considerable amount of his business."

      Tiller, in urging the court to hear the case, said it should take the action now because if the case is filed in a lower court, appeals eventually will bring it before the justices anyway. The court is expected to decide before the end of the month whether to hear the case, dismiss it, or send it to a district court.

      While challenges were being made in the midwest, in the east the US Justice Department on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against 17 pro-life protesters who demonstrated in front of a Washington abortion clinic in January.

      The Rev. Flip Benham, director of Operation Rescue, and the other defendants blocked the entrance to an abortion clinic on January 24, the anniversary of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. The government is asking for an injunction against the pro-life advocates, preventing them from further picketing, under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

      The suit says Benham and two others led a group of protesters to the clinic and told the group to block the building's three doors. "By sitting and standing in front of the entrances, the defendants effectively rendered them, impassable," Justice Department lawyers said.

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site. CWN is not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

     June is the month of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. For the Consecration to the Two Hearts click on Consecration

      Jesus, we know that You are merciful and that You have offered Your Heart for us. It is crowned with thorns and with our sins. We know that You implore us constantly so that we do not go astray. Jesus, remember us when we are in sin. By means of your Heart make all men love one another. Make hate disappear from amongst men. Show us Your love. We all love You and want You to protect us with Your Shepherd's Heart and free us from every sin. Jesus, enter into every heart! Be patient and never desist. We are still closed because we have not understood Your Love. Knock continuously, O Good Jesus, make us open our hearts to You at least in the moment we remember Your Passion suffered for us. Amen.

(Dictated by Our Lady to Jelena Vasilij on November 18, 1983)

      O Immaculate Heart of Mary, ardent with goodness, show Your Love towards us. May the flame of Your Heart, O Mary, descend on all mankind. We love You so. Impress true love in our hearts so that we have a continuous desire for You. O Mary, humble and meek of heart, remember us when we are in sin. You know that all men sin. Give us, by means of Your Immaculate Heart, spiritual health. Let us always see the goodness of Your maternal Heart and may we all be converted by means of the flame of Your Heart Amen.

(Dictated by Our Lady to Jelena Vasilij on November 28, 1983)

     We conclude the Novena to the Body and Blood of Christ for the Feast of Corpus Christi. Click on PRAYERS & DEVOTION

Novena honoring the Body and Blood of Christ

(In preparation for the Feast of Corpus Christi]

I thank You, Jesus, my Divine Redeemer, for coming upon the earth for our sake, and for instituting the adorable Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in order to remain with us until the end of the world. I thank You for hiding beneath the Eucharistic species Your infinite majesty and beauty, which Your Angels delight to behold, so that I might have courage to approach the throne of Your Mercy.

I thank You, most loving Jesus, for having made Your- self my food, and for uniting me to Yourself with so much love in this wonderful Sacrament that I may live in You.

I thank You, my Jesus, for giving Yourself to me in this Blessed Sacrament, and so enriching it with the treasures of Your love that You have no greater gift to give me. I thank You not only for becoming my food but also for offering Yourself as a continual sacrifice to Your Eternal Father for my salvation.

I thank You, Divine Priest, for offering Yourself as a Sacrifice daily upon our altars in adoration and homage to the Most Blessed Trinity, and for making amends for our poor and miserable adorations.

I thank You for renewing in this daily Sacrifice the actual Sacrifice of the Cross offered on Calvary, in which You satisfy Divine justice for us poor sinners.

I thank You, dear Jesus, for having become the priceless Victim to merit for me the fullness of heavenly favors. Awaken in me such confidence in You that their fullness may descend ever more fruitfully upon my soul.

I thank You for offering Yourself in thanksgiving to God for all His benefits, spiritual and temporal, which He has bestowed upon me.

In union with Your offering of Yourself to Your Father in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, I ask for this special favor: (Mention your request).

If it be Your holy Will, grant my request. Through You I also hope to receive the grace of perseverance in Your love and faithful service, a holy death, and a happy eternity with You in Heaven. AMEN.

O Lord, You have given us this Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

You have given them bread from Heaven.
Having all sweetness within.

Let us pray. God our Father, for Your glory and our salvation You appointed Jesus Christ eternal High Priest. May the people He gained for You by His Blood come to share in the power of His Cross and Resurrection by celebrating His Memorial in this Eucharist, for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen.

O Jesus, since You have left us a remembrance of Your Passion beneath the veils of this Sacrament, grant us, we pray, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may always enjoy the fruits of Your Redemption, for You live and reign forever. Amen.

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June 12-14, 1998 volume 9, no. 114   DAILY CATHOLIC