Vatican highlights...

Vatican City, Jul 31, 2009 / 11:06 am (CNA).- Continuing its release of highlights from the last few months, the Vatican has published a summary of important events from April to July. Notable events included the Pope's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the canonization of five new saints, the inauguration of the Year for Priests and a minor operation on the Pope’s fractured wrist.

A list of highlights from January to March was released yesterday, as part of the Vatican’s periodic publication of important events throughout the year.

The full list for April to July is given below.

APRIL
1: Cardinal Umberto Betti O.F.M., former rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, dies at the age of 87.

2: Benedict XVI receives a second group of prelates from the Argentinean Episcopal Conference at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit.

2: Benedict XVI presides at Mass in the Vatican Basilica to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of his predecessor John Paul II.

3: Benedict XVI receives the Letters of Credence of Victor Manuel Grimaldi Cespedes, the new ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the Holy See.

(Continued here by clicking here)

Book contest!

I'm having a book contest. Check it out here.

St. Mary Magdalene

Go on over to my "Moments of Inspiration With Your Favorite Saints" blog to see a bit about Saint Mary Magdalene whose feast day is today.

My recent chat with Teresa Tomeo on Catholic Connection

In case you didn't get a chance to tune in to my recent segment with my dear friend, Teresa Tomeo on our "Mom's Corner" segment, you can listen right now. Just grab a drink, pull up a chair and click here! Teresa and I chat about my friendship with Blessed Mother Teresa and my new book about her.

Enjoy!

Donna-Marie

My recent "Morning Air" segment regarding my new Mother Teresa book

Here's a beter way to listen to my recent "Morning Air" segment in which I spoke all about my new Mother Teresa book coming out very soon! Just click here to listen!

God bless you!

Donna-Marie

I just have to share!

I wanted you to see my friend, Joan Lewis, EWTN's News Bureau Chief, who is stationed right near the Vatican and reports on all of the Vatican news. She just had the distinct pleasure and honor of being with Pope Benedict.

I just have to share!

Join us Tomorrow morning - "Mom's Corner"!

We're back! And we're waiting to share with you tomorrow morning!

Tune in to "Mom's Corner" on Catholic Connection at Ave Maria Radio on Monday, July 20th at 9:15 to 9:30 AM Eastern Standard Time. Teresa Tomeo and I will be chatting about some summery and motherly things. I hope that you can join us. Feel free to call in with a question or comment.

Tune in at 9:15 AM Eastern Standard Time by clicking here at avemariaradio.net and then click "listen live."

Talk to you then!

God bless!

Donna-Marie

Scapulars

I wanted to post yesterday for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I was certainly calling upon her for intercession yesterday, but never got a chance to say anything about the feast day. There's a great post over at Tea at Trianon about scapulars. It's really worth a read.

It begins..."In the last forty years many of the sacramentals of the Church, such as the scapular, have been either forgotten or misinterpreted. I have seen some very sophisticated Catholics on the internet mock the scapular as being superstitious. It requires a certain child-like piety to understand such things; an understanding of the history of the devotion does not hurt either..." Continued here at Tea at Trianon.

Speaking of scapulars and sacramentals, I cover them in my book that will be released later this year: The Heart of Catholicism.

Have a BLESSED day!

God bless and hugs,

Donna-Marie

My Mother Teresa book cover to be released soon!

Here's a draft of my new book cover. The cover will be fine-tuned and ready for print shortly, but I wanted to give you a visual since I'll be speaking about this book tomorrow morning on "Morning Air" on Relevant Radio (details for tuning in are in are here). My book will be released in September in time for the month of Mother Teresa's feast and twelfth anniversary of her death. I'll be taking pre-orders for autographed copies at my website: Donna Cooper O'Boyle.Com

I hope you can tune in...

I'll be on Relevant Radio LIVE on Friday morning, 8:30 Eastern time. You can listen by simply clicking here and at the top of the screen, you should click on the "listen live" or "on the air" button. I'll be on the "Morning Air" show. It should be fun and hopefully informative. I'll be letting you all in on my new book which is very near and dear to my heart! I hope you can join us.

God bless and hugs,
Donna-Marie

Planned Parenthood suppressing evidence of statutory rape again

Planned Parenthood Employee in Alabama Admits 'Bending the Rules' of Mandatory Reporting for Sexual Abuse

BIRMINGHAM, June 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Planned Parenthood counselor in Birmingham was caught on hidden camera telling an alleged 14-year-old statutory rape victim that the clinic "does sometimes bend the rules a little bit" rather than report sexual abuse to state authorities. This is the seventh Planned Parenthood clinic implicated in a multi-state child abuse scandal involving the deliberate and unlawful suppression of evidence of statutory rape. (View video here)

Lila Rose, 20-year-old UCLA student and president of the non-profit Live Action, went undercover at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Birmingham and told a counselor that she was 14-years-old, pregnant by her 31-year-old "boyfriend." Rose said she needed a secret abortion so her parents would not find out about her sexual relationship with the older man.

After telling the counselor that her "boyfriend" is 31, Rose asks, "Is it a problem about my boyfriend?" The counselor, identified as "Tanisha" in the video, responds, "As long as you consented to having sex with him, there's nothing we can truly do about that." Rose then says that her boyfriend "said he could get in big trouble," and Tanisha acknowledges that "he could, especially if your parents find out that he's 31." She then tells Rose that the clinic manager, OB/GYN Dr. Desiree Bates, "sometimes does bend the rules a little bit" and states that "whatever you tell us stays within these walls" and "we can't disclose any information to anybody."

However, Alabama code 26-14-3 requires health professionals to disclose suspected cases of sexual abuse to state officials immediately.

"The law is explicit about a healthcare provider's duty to report, yet Planned Parenthood pretends they cannot say anything," Rose said about the investigation. "Planned Parenthood increases its business and influence by circumventing state reporting laws, but inflicts terrible harm upon the vulnerable young girls sent back to statutory rapists."

In the video, Tanisha also seems to tell Rose that a signature from an "older sister that's over the age of 18" or someone "with the same last name" could function as a substitute for parental consent so Planned Parenthood could perform an abortion on a minor. Alabama law, however, specifies that the written permission of either a parent or legal guardian is necessary before a minor may obtain an abortion.

The new video is the sixth in Live Action's "Mona Lisa Project," a nationwide undercover investigation that documents Planned Parenthood's repeated noncompliance with state mandatory reporting laws for sexual abuse of minors. Alabama is the fourth state to be implicated in the controversy, along with Arizona, Indiana, and Tennessee. Recently, the investigation of a clinic in Memphis, TN assisted state legislators in their effort to successfully divert nearly $1 million in taxpayer subsidies from Planned Parenthood to law-abiding local health clinics.

"When to 'bend the rules a little' means hiding a case of statutory rape from Child Protective Services and looking for ways around the parental consent requirement, Planned Parenthood becomes directly responsible for ensuring that statutory rapists can continue their abuse of young girls," Rose said.