localchurch
July 15, 2010
The Catholic Sun
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The
Serving the Church of Phoenix Volume 26, Number 9 • July 15, 2010
Catholic Sun www.catholicsun.org
© 2010 The Catholic Sun • 36 pages in two sections • $1.75
Catholic Charities finds homes for those in need By J.D. Long-García The Catholic Sun
FLAGSTAFF — Laura Treacy took a risk. Back in Philadelphia, her family lived in a bad neighborhood and gangs were recruiting her kids. So she and her husband left. They’d heard there were jobs in Flagstaff, so they brought the family there. Well, as it turned out, there weren’t any jobs to speak of and the Treacy family wound up living in a cheap hotel. “We were never great at budgeting our money,” Treacy confessed. “We just overspent on everyday things.” Money was getting tighter and tighter, and most homeless shelters in Flagstaff won’t put up an entire family. Then Treacy heard about Catholic Charities. Their transitional housing program provides accommodations for families for up to two years. During that time, Catholic Charities helps them get employed, back on their feet and into permanent housing. “It’s helped the kids to have a stable home,” Treacy said. “Not living week to week is a big thing for us.” It’s a big thing for a growing number of people in this economy. “People either can’t find jobs or have lost jobs,” said Sandi Flores, family shelter coordinator for Catholic Charities. The cost of living in Flagstaff, a college town, can get pretty steep. There’s also a transient homeless population. The city, a ganglion of train tracks, sees more homeless during the mild summer months. Some homeless individuals suffer from mental illness or substance abuse. Sometimes the substance abuse led to a lost job, other times — See CATHOLIC CHARITIES page 10 ▶
AUXILIARY BISHOP
EDUARDO ALANÍS
NEVARES
Special ordination preview: Pages I-XII
Bishops distinguish ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ abortion USCCB statement responds to debate over abortion at St. Joe’s By Joyce Coronel The Catholic Sun
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n abortion at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center last year has caused a flurry of national media attention, much of which has muddied or distorted Church teaching on the issue. The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine in a June 23 statement discussed the distinction between the Church’s definitions of a direct abortion and a legitimate medical procedure that could result in an indirect abortion. The statement comes at a time when ethicists are weighing in on the incident, which reportedly involved a mother who was 11 weeks pregnant and suffering from pulmonary hypertension, a serious medical condition the hospital said threatened her life. The committee’s statement drew a sharp distinction between the ethically permissible indirect abortion and the “intrinsically wrong”
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Resources and more information For diocesan statements, information and articles about the situation at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, visit: catholicsun.org/2010/phxdio-stjoes direct abortion, setting forth two scenarios to illustrate the difference. The first involves a pregnant woman who is experiencing problems with one or more of her organs, apparently because of the added burden of pregnancy. In this case, the doctor recommends an abortion to protect the woman’s health. In the second example, a pregnant woman develops cancer in her uterus. In this case, the doctor recommends surgery to remove the cancerous uterus as the only way to prevent the cancer from spreading. Removing the uterus also
will result in the death of the unborn child. The committee said the first case is an example of a direct abortion. The surgery, the committee explained, does not directly address the health problem of the woman by repairing the organ that is malfunctioning. “The surgery is likely to improve the functioning of the organ or organs, but only in an indirect way, i.e., by lessening the overall demands placed upon the organ or organs, since the burden posed by the pregnancy will be removed,” the committee’s statement said. “The abortion is the means by which a reduced strain upon the organ or organs is achieved.” In the second example, the committee explained, “an urgently needed medical procedure indirectly and unintentionally … results in the death of an unborn child.” The surgery directly addresses the woman’s — See USCCB page 11 ▶
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