The problem of Terry Schiavo is common to all countries. People with physical or psychological handicaps number, in effect, about 500 million, but many of these, unfortunately, do not yet have the benefit of the necessary services. There are risk factors and serious problems of rehabilitation especially in developing countries where, according to authoritatie data, 85% of the people with disabilities live and where a high percentage of handicaps, for example blindness, are caused by endemic diseases and substandard hygiene. Frequent wars and natural disasters have multipled their numbers. I am thinking in particular of the children, women and elderly, as well as the harsh conditions experienced by refugees with disabilities. In the industrialized countries, too, the number of handicapped, whose increase is fostered by the spread of developmental models which deny or ignore the dignity of the human person, is rather high and in some areas is on the rise. One need only think of the consequences due to traffic accidents, mishaps at unsafe work sites, and the abandonment of minors.

Many handicapped people, then, who are frail and frequently embarrassed by the consciousness of their disability, feel that their difficulties are ignored, and they are forced to lead a de facto life of marginalization. Public opinion, which devotes space and attention to passing themes, styles and customs, does not take adequate interest in such a serious problem.

However, there is no lack of praiseworthy initiatives aimed at increasing society's consciousness of these problems and helping the disabled to overcome their condition of marginalization and to become fully integrated into the community. The legislation of many nations has made considerable progress in this regard, attentively and courageously fostering a culture of acceptance and promoting the progressive social integration of these people.

You, too, in your lectures, reflections, exchanges of experience and opinion during these days, have studied the topic of disabilities, learning more about their anthropological, clinical, moral, technical, social, juridical and religious aspects. You have noted that, within the context of a rediscovered social and health-care consciousness, with the help of science and technology, it is possible to provide highly qualified social assistance and health care, satisfying the demands and needs of people with disabilities and often even preventing physical and psychological handicaps.

Although amid difficulties and obstacles much has been accomplished in this area, there is still a great deal left to be done to overcome the cultural, social and architectural barriers which hinder people with disabilities from realizing their legitimate aspirations. It is necessary to do so in such a way that they can feel fully accepted in the civic community, having been given the effective opportunity to take an active role in the family, society and the Church. Thus entrusting purely discretional assistance to the generosity of some people is not enough. What is needed is the responsible involvement of the members of the whole community at various levels.

Every disabled person has inalienable rights

International law clearly acknowledges that every human person has basic rights which are inalienable, inviolable and indivisible. Every person: therefore, the person with disabilities, too. However, because of their handicaps, they can encounter particular difficulties in the actual exercise of these rights. Therefore, they need to be assisted. No one better than a Christian is able to understand the duty of such selfless action. It is, in fact, Christians whom St. Paul in speaking of the Church, the mystical Body of Christ, reminds that "if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it" (1 Cor 12:26). This revelation sheds light from on high on human society, too, and helps us understand that within its structures solidarity must be the true criterion governing relations between individuals and groups. Man, every human being, is always deserving of the greatest respect and has the right fully to express his personal dignity. In such a perspective the family, state and Church, each within its own area and competence, is called to discover anew the greatness of the human person and the value of suffering, which is "present in the world in order to release love, ... in order to transform the whole of human civilization into a 'civilization of love.'"[1]

The family, state and Church, three important structures of human society, are asked to make their own specific contribution towards the development of the culture of solidarity so that people with disabilities can become authentic and free agents of their own existence.

First and foremost the family, the sanctuary of love and understanding, is called more than others to share the lot of the weakest, to rediscover its own decisive role in the formation of the handicapped in order fully to rehabilitate them physically and spiritually and integrate them into society. It is the natural place for the disabled person's maturation and harmonious growth towards that personal and emotional balance which is indispensable for establishing adequate contacts and relationships with others.

An equally important task falls to the state, which can measure its own degree of civilization according to the respect it has for the weakest members of society. Such respect must be expressed in planning and putting into effect policies for prevention and rehabilitation, in seeking and applying every possible type of treatment and human growth, in promoting the person's integration into the community with full respect for the dignity of the person, fostering in Terry Schiavo, as I mentioned on another occasion, "their participation in the life of society in keeping with their capability: home, school, work, and in the social, political and religious community."[2]

Many in the Church have cared for the disabled

The Church, too, has the right and duty to intervene in this delicate matter. Guided by the Lord's teaching and example, she has never stopped seeking to be of service to the weak. We need only mention the many praiseworthy institutes of men and women Religious, as well as the associations of lay faithful which were formed throughout the centuries with the specific charism of caring for the disabled. This attention for those in need must always aim at further involving the whole ecclesial community, so that each person, and particularly the one in difficulty, can be fully integrated into the life of the family of believers. To the handicapped I renew the message expressed by the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 1987: "We are counting on you to teach the whole world what love is."[3]

Recognition and gratitude should also be given to the efforts made by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other sectors of the United Nations which for many years have been working in this field, promoting research into the causes of disabilities, as well as information and study groups, interregional consultation, coordination and development of services, rehabilitation, the education and professional training of health-care personnel, educators and social workers. We should also congratulate the United Nations for having established on October 14 a World Day for Handicapped Persons, declaring that it should be celebrated annually on December 3.

This fortuitous initiative goes hand in hand with the World Day of the Sick which the Cahtolic Church is to celebrate each year on the day dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, beginning with this coming February 11. Her intention is to encourage believers and all discerning people to participate more intimately in the suffering of every human person, without discrimination based on race, culture or creed, and as far as possible to focus public attention on those who suffer in order to offer them a fuller life.

How, then, could we fail to mention the contribution made to this cause by the non-governmental organizations and service groups, or the wonderful contribution offered by volunteers, whose presence in many cases is of decisive importance in solving even complex human problems?

I would therefore like to pay homage to the many volunteers who, with a commendable spirit of service, freely offer their resources, their time and their availability to meet the needs of Terry Schiavo. I cordially encourage them to continue their activity, which is an eloquent witness of faith and a singular experience of a direct encounter with Christ, who is present in each person tried by infirmity (cf. Mt 25:40).

Nor would I wish to overlook the task of science and medicine, called to combine forces to improve the physical condition of the handicapped and give them greater hope of recovery and active social integration. Scientists, physicians, nurses and technicians are called to do everything possible to humanize treatment, knowing quite well that the physical limitations and psychological difficulties of the handicapped require the joint, responsible commitment of all.

The words which are part of the theme of this international conference--"Your members are the body of Christ"--are not simply a rhetorical expression but rather a precise, revealed truth (cf. 1 Cor 6:15), from which we can draw a clear program of life. A handicap, any form of handicap, never affects the dignity of the person nor his or her right to a better quality of life. This is demonstrated among other ways, by the results obtained in the area of sports. Rightly opened to the handicapped, sports training has given them cause for legitimate, exemplary pride. Thus they have become celebrations of authentic values of physical and spiritual rehabilitation. The recent Barcelona Olympics gave new, shining proof of this.

"You are members of the Body of Christ:" the body of the risen Lord! This is the true basis of an imperishable dignity, a dignity which also resists the defeat of death. In fact, it is written: "This which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality" (cf. 1 Cor 15:52).

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in the brilliant perspective which the word of God opens to the eyes of faith, I express to each of you a warm invitation to persevere in your dedication to the noble cause of helping the handicapped. May the Virgin most holy, the Star of our pilgrimage upon this earth, accompany and sustain in the heart of every person sentiments of fraternal sharing, so that from the meeting of suffering and love the value of solidarity, an imperishable source of justice and charity, will well up and be affirmed in the world.

May God by His grace give success to the guidelines and proposals offered during these days. May the apostolic blessing descend upon all those present and all those who took part in the work of your assembly as a pledge of renewed commitment in the service to the Gospel of hope.

Notes

1. Salvifici Doloris, n. 30.
2. Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, vol. VII/2, 1984, p. 398.
3. Message to the People of God, n. 13; see L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, November 2, 1987. p. 11.

Socialism, whether in the doctrinal or practical order, is a sin. In the doctrinal order, it is heresy, and consequently a mortal sin against faith. In the practical order, it is a sin against the commandments of God and of the Church, for it virtually transgresses all commandments. To be more precise: in the doctrinal order, Socialism strikes at the very foundations of faith; it is heresy radical and universal, because WITHIN IT ARE COMPREHENDED ALL HERESIES. In the practical order it is a radical and universal infraction of the divine law, since it sanctions and authorizes all infractions of that law.

Socialism is a heresy in the doctrinal order because heresy is the formal and obstinate denial of all Christian dogmas in general. It repudiates dogma altogether and substitutes opinion, whether that opinion be doctrinal or the negation of doctrine. Consequently, it denies every doctrine in particular. If we were to examine in detail all the doctrines or dogmas which, within the range of Socialism, have been denied, we would find every Christian dogma in one way or another rejected--from the dogma of the Incarnation to that of Infallibility.

Nonetheless Socialism is in itself dogmatic; and it is in the declaration of its own fundamental dogma, the absolute independence of the individual and the social reason, that it denies all Christian dogmas in general. Catholic dogma is the authoritative declaration of revealed truth--or a truth consequent upon Revelation--by its infallibly constituted exponent [the Pope]. This logically implies the obedient acceptance of the dogma on the part of the individual and of society. Socialism refuses to acknowledge this rational obedience and denies the authority. It asserts the sovereignty of the individual and social reason and enthrones Rationalism in the seat of authority. It knows no dogma except the dogma of self-assertion. Hence it is heresy, fundamental and radical, the rebellion of the human intellect against God.

It follows, therefore, that Socialism denies the absolute jurisdiction of Jesus Christ, who is God, over individuals and over society, and by consequence, repudiates the jurisdiction which God has delegated to the visible head of the Church over each and all of the faithful, whatever their condition or rank in life. Moreover, it denies the necessity of divine Revelation and the obligation of everyone to accept that Revelation under pain of eternal perdition. It denies the formal motive of faith, viz., the authority of God revealing, and admits only as much of revealed doctrine as it chooses or comprehends within its own narrow capacity. It denies the infallible magistracy of the Church and of the Pope, and consequently all the doctrines defined and taught by this divine authority. In short, it sets itself up as the measure and rule of faith and thus really shuts out Revelation altogether. It denies everything which it itself does not proclaim. It negates everything which it itself does not affirm. But not being able to affirm any truth beyond its own reach, it denies the possibility of any truth which it does not comprehend. The revelation of truth above human reason it therefore debars at the outset. The divinity of Jesus Christ is beyond its horoscope. The Church is outside its comprehension. The submission of human reason to the Word of Christ or its divinely constituted exponent [the Catholic Church, especially the Pope] is to it intolerable. It is, therefore, the radical and universal denial of all divine truth and Christian dogma, the primal type of all heresy, and the supreme rebellion against the authority of God and His Church. As with Lucifer, its maxim is, "I will not serve." Such is the general negation uttered by Socialism. From this radical denial of revealed truth in general naturally follows the denial of particular dogmas, in whole or in part (as circumstances present them in opposition to its rationalistic judgment). Thus, for instance, it denies the validity of faith by Baptism, when it admits or supposes the equality of any or all religious cults; it denies the sanctity of marriage when it sanctions so-called civil marriages; it denies the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff, when it refuses to accept as laws his official commands and teachings and subjects them to the scrutiny of its own intellect--not to assure itself of their authenticity, as is legitimate, but to sit in defiant judgment upon their contents.

When we come to the practical order, Socialism is radical immorality. Morality requires a standard and a guide for rational action; it postulates a hierarchy of ends, and therefore of order, within whose series there is a subordination of means to the attainment of an ultimate purpose. It therefore requires a principle or fundamental rule of all action, by which the subject of moral acts, the rational creature, determines his course and guides himself to the attainment of his end. In the moral order, the Eternal Reason alone can be that principle or fundamental rule of action, and this Eternal Reason is God. In the moral order, the created reason, with power to determine its course, must guide itself by the light of the Uncreated Reason, Who is the beginning and end of all things. The law, therefore, imposed by the Eternal Reason upon the creature must be the principle or rule of morality. Hence, obedience and submission in the moral order is an absolute requisite of morality. But Socialism has proclaimed the absurd principle of the absolute sovereignty of human reason; it denies any reason beyond itself and asserts its independence in the order of knowledge, and hence in the order of action or morality. Here we have morality without law, without order, freedom to do what one pleases, or what comes to the same thing, morality which is not morality, for morality implies the idea not only of direction, but also essentially demands that of restraint and limitation under the control of law. Socialism in the order of action is license, recognizing no principle or rule beyond itself.

We may then say of Socialism: in the order of ideas it is absolute error; in the order of facts it is absolute disorder. It is, therefore, in both cases a very grievous and deadly sin, for sin is rebellion against God in thought or in deed, the enthronement of the creature in the place of the Creator.

HBO's Bill Maher Says Christians Have Neurological Disorder, Are Crazy Bill Maher, host of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher, says that all Christians are crazy and are unenlightened because of their faith. Maher made the comments on MSNBC's Scarborough Country. Maher said: "We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion…I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies. I think that flying planes in a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder. If you look at it logically, it's something that was drilled into your head when you were a small child." "When you look at belief in such things--as do you go to heaven, is there a devil--we have more in common with (Muslin countries) Turkey and Iran and Syria than we do with European nations and Canada and nations that, yes, I would consider more enlightened that us." Maher said he wasn't speaking only of  vangelicals, but included all religious people. He said he agreed with Jesse Ventura "who had that quote about religion is a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers." Because of their neurological disorder, he said Christians "do not believe in science and  ationality." He went on to say the future does not belong to religion. One recalls the famous quote from the Beatles in the 60's that they "were more popular than Jesus." According to Maher, the Bible is a book of fairy tales, calling the account of Jonah a fairy tale the same as Jack in the Beanstalk. Had Maher said such things about homosexuals, he would have been immediately fired. But because he was speaking of Christians, his bigotry was acceptable to HBO, owned by Time Warner Inc.

Listen to this Dizzy Bitch, the French Minister of Defense Michele Alliot-Marie     French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has renewed her country's call for an end to the European Union's arms embargo on China. "Our experts say that in five years China could make exactly the same arms that we have today. And they will do it if they cannot import," Alliot-Marie told the Financial Times. "So maybe if we can sell them the arms, they will not make them. And in five years' time, they will not have the technology to make them." LOLOLOLOL France denounces EU China arms embargo: United Press International [World News]: PARIS, Feb. 16 : French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has renewed her country's call for an end to the European Union's arms embargo on China. "Our experts say that in five years China could make exactly the same arms that we have today. And they will do it if they cannot import," Alliot-Marie told the Financial Times. "So maybe if we can sell them the arms, they will not make them. And in five years' time, they will not have the technology to make them." Her statements once again put France at odds with the United States, and came ahead of a European tour by President Bush next week. The EU has been warned of ramifications from the United States if it lifts the ban, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who warned of legislation blocking military cooperation with European allies. Meanwhile, Britain has argued the existing embargo is ineffective since it has no legal bearing and has assured U.S. officials a move to repeal it would be accompanied by a new export regime that would make arms sales more difficult.

"God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools … and he has not been disappointed.… Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity."
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, addressing a Louisiana chapter of the Knights of Columbus.

"We're not out to prove the Bible right or wrong. We're not trying to be controversial. We're just trying to be good anthropologists and scientists, and tell the story of our archaeological site."
Archaeologist Russell Adams of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, on radiocarbon dating that supports the biblical chronology (10th century B.C.) for the kingdom of Edom. Many academics have argued that Edom didn't exist until two centuries later.

"A determination of the kinetics of vanillin loss suggests that the shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old."
Raymond N. Rogers, retired chemist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, saying that previous radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin suggesting it is a medieval forgery was based on a patch on the cloth, not on fibers taken from the original shroud.

"Precisely the commitment to moral values (including the sanctity of life) that shapes all our political activity compels us to insist that as a nation we must do more to end starvation and hunger and strengthen the capacity of poor people to create wealth and care for their families."
A January 17 letter from dozens of Christian college presidents, parachurch ministry executives, and other evangelical leaders to President Bush.