Gloria TV News on the Feast of St. Dominic Savio.

Welcome to Israel

Israel

Israeli President Shimon Peres has welcomed Pope Benedict’s decision to visit Israel in May. “I am delighted that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has responded positively and accepted my invitation to visit the Holy Land,” he said. “The Pope will be a most honored guest, welcomed and respected by people from all walks of life. His visit will be a moving and important event bringing the spirit of peace and hope. Welcome to Israel,” said Simon Peres

Immobility, Rigidity and Outdated Thinking

Germany

Augsburg Bishop Walter Mixa expects that the dialogue between the Vatican and the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X could take years. Without honest engagement, increasing closeness is not possible, said Mixa on the edge of the spring session of a meeting of the German Bishops’ Conference. Previously, several bishops had insisted that the conflict should be ended quickly, because many Catholics are confused. Mixa accused the SSPX of immobility, rigidity and outdated thinking.

Deeply Immoral

USA

Yesterday, US-President Obama lifted limits on the federal funding of stem-cell research, which involves the killing of human embryos. In doing so, Obama reversed an executive order of former President Bush. This order banned federal funding of the practice apart from research conducted on existing stem-cell lines – although private funding remained legal. Both President Obama and his Republican opponent in the presidential election had pledged to this executive order. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reiterated the Church's position that research using human embryos is "deeply immoral."

Two Innocent Persons, Who Had the Right to Live

Brasil

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, has defended the excommunications of the mother and doctors complicit in the abortion of the children of a 9-year-old Brazilian girl, who was reportedly raped by her stepfather. “The real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated,” he said. The wire story fails to note that excommunication is an automatic canonical penalty for abortion.