6 | Mass to celebrate, promote marriage Sept. 22 at Ss. Simon and Jude ◆ 10 | Marian conference promotes prayer Aug. 24-26
Serving the Church of Phoenix Volume 28, Number 8 • August 16, 2012
The
Catholic Sun www.catholicsun.org
© 2012 The Catholic Sun • 28 pages • $1.75
25 years later
Court blocks ban on late-term abortions
Local Church to mark John Paul II’s visit
By Joyce Coronel
By Ambria Hammel
The Catholic Sun
In a blow to Arizona’s recently enacted late-term abortion ban, a three-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco has blocked a key provision of the law from taking effect. The Mother’s Health and Safety Act, passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, was supposed to go into effect Aug. 2. The new law, which prohibited most abortions after 20 weeks, was challenged by three doctors who provide abortions, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and New-York based Center for Reproductive Freedom. The ACLU and the New York center asked the U.S. District Court for a temporary restraining order or an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect. Judge James A. Teilborg ruled on the case July 30, declaring Arizona’s law constitutional. The two groups immediately appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit. On Aug. 1, just hours before the new law was to have become effec— See Federal page 14 ▶
The Catholic Sun
J.D. Long-García/CATHOLIC SUN
Anti-death penalty activists prayed for convicted killer Daniel Cook and his victims, Kevin Swaney and Carlos Froylan CruzRamos, Aug. 7 at the Arizona State Capitol. Cook was executed at 10 a.m. Aug. 8 at the State Prison Complex in Florence.
TORTURED LIVES
Arizona executes fifth death row inmate this year By J.D. Long-García The Catholic Sun
F
www.catholicsun.org
LORENCE, Ariz. — Kevin Swaney’s family had waited for this day for nearly 25 years. One of the men who brutally killed their son and brother would be put to death — so long as he wasn’t given clemency. The family went through a clemency hearing last year. The board granted the perpetrator reprieve, prolonging his life by a year, and prolonging the family’s agony, which began with the 1987 mur-
ders. Death penalty trials take more time, on average. On Aug. 3, an official from Arizona State Prison Complex dialed family members on a speakerphone so they could participate in the hearing. “Please hang on and put your phone on mute,” he said. “Thank you.” A security guard sitting in a swivel chair fumbled with a handheld video camera until another guard showed up with a tripod. Witnesses and court reporters sat in plastic chairs while attorneys and
the clemency board sat before folding tables. Murals on the large, presumably multi-purpose room walls depicted the Arizona landscape. With family members on the line, guards led one of the two men who murdered 16-year-old Kevin Swaney into the room. The wiry man’s hands and feet were shackled together, and he was locked up in a cage about the size of a Port-a-John. The man, Daniel Wayne Cook, gestured to someone in the front row. “Are you OK?” Cook asked. It was his childhood friend Jack — See fifth execution page 12 ▶
The public is invited to a noontime Mass and light reception celebrating the 25th anniversary of Blessed Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to Phoenix. JPII The Sept. celebration 14 solemn celNoon, ebration at St. Sept. 14, St. Mary’s Basilica, Mary’s Basilica 231 N. Third 231 N. Third St. St., falls exactly Phoenix 25 years after the late pope greeted some 100,000 people from the church’s balcony. The kneeler he used still rests inside. His whirlwind, 24-hour visit also included a papal address and ecumenical prayer service at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral plus meetings with staff from Catholic hospitals nationwide and Native Americans at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The pope also celebrated Mass for nearly 80,000 people at Sun Devil Stadium. Some 10,000 people volunteered to help with the events. More than once during his visit, the pope acknowledged the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and words from the Second Vatican Council which stressed the nature of the Church and its relationship with the contemporary world. “Bringing the light of Christ into the world, that’s what Pope John Paul II was all about. So celebrating the 25th anniversary of his visit seemed truly appropriate,” said Missie D’Aunoy, diocesan director of the Office of Stewardship. Her office is working with diocesan archives to host the celebra— See diocese page 11 ▶
5 CDA
CDA Allocations
Generosity of 2012 donors puts love, Gospel values into action
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Media/Arts EWTN Family Celebration
Catholic media giant coming to Phoenix
4 Catholics Matter Kay Allen
1st Way director headed for Belize