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Happy Thanksgiving!
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 We wish all of our MOCAN members a very happy Thanksgiving holiday! There won't be an issue of MCC Weekly Update next week, but we'll be back with the latest news on Friday, Dec. 1. |
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Missouri Supreme Court to Hear Satanic Temple Case
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 The Missouri Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument in the Satanic Temple case for January 23, 2018. The proceedings will be held in Jefferson City.
Mary Doe, who claims to be a member of a Satanic Temple, has argued that a Missouri abortion law violates her religious beliefs and constitutes the establishment of religion. She specifically objects to portions of Missouri's informed consent statute that require she be told before her abortion that life begins at conception and that "abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being."
She also objects to provisions in Missouri law that require an ultrasound be performed before the abortion, along with having to wait 72 hours before the abortion can be performed. She claims these regulations interfere with her right to have an abortion on her terms, her time schedule, and according to her religious beliefs. She denies that a fetus is a separate, unique human being.
Ms. Doe's lawsuit was initially dismissed by Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beteem for failure to state a claim, but the Appellate Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled that she has raised "real and substantial" constitutional claims that must be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court.
Keep this case in your prayers as the date for the oral arguments will be held on the day after the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision! |
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U.S. Bishops Gather for Annual Meeting in Baltimore
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 The U.S. bishops gathered this week for their annual assembly in Baltimore, MD. Included on the agenda was a vote to elect a new chair of the Committee on Pro-life Activities, and receiving an update on immigration and racism from working committees addressing those important issues. Read more about these issues in the following articles. |
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Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann Appointed Chair of Committee on Pro-life Activities
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 The U.S. bishops have voted to appoint Archbishop Joseph Naumann to chair the USCCB's Committee on Pro-life Activities. Naumann, who currently serves as the archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, has been a strong advocate for the unborn throughout his years as a cleric. He previously served as the Pro-life Coordinator for the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 1984-95, while a priest there. As a bishop, he has been an active member of the Committee on Pro-life Activities. Congratulations, Archbishop Naumann! |
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Report Focuses on Veterans and the Death Penalty
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 A report issued by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) shines light on military veterans facing the death penalty. The report, titled "Battle Scars: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty," exposes the scope of this crisis and calls on authorities to better account for service members facing execution. DPIC estimates that there are at least 300 veterans on death row, representing about 10 percent of the nation's death row population. Many more have already been executed.
Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who have committed heinous crimes present hard cases for the justice system. The violence that erupts into murder can easily overcome the special respect that is afforded most veterans. Defense attorneys representing veterans often fail to investigate and the present evidence of PTSD and other war-related mental injuries. As such, prosecutors, judges, and juries are often not adequately informed about the psychological effects of being immersed in combat.
The report is not offered as the final word on this issue, but rather as a wake-up call to government officials and the public that some veterans are being left behind. |
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Pope Francis is Gifted a Lamborghini, Plans to Auction it Off
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 There was a snazzy new car at the Vatican this week: a Lamborghini. The luxury sports car maker donated the car to Pope Francis and the pope plans to auction it off. Pope Francis signed his name on the hood which will likely increase the value. The car usually sells around $200,000. Proceeds will go to three charities: a counseling network to fight human trafficking, for missionary work in Africa, and to rebuild homes destroyed by ISIS in Iraq. We're just wondering one thing...will the pope take the car for a spin first before donating it? |
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Overcoming Temporary and Partial Considerations
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When Saint John Paul II visited the United States in 1995, he declared: "Democracy needs virtue...Democracy stands or falls with the truths and values it embodies." But how can one assure that virtue will be at the heart of a democratic government? Certainly, there will be no virtue in the government where there is no virtue in the people. This was a favorite theme of John Adams: "Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Yet, even a virtuous population cannot guarantee a virtuous country. How a government is structured matters. Prior to the opening of the constitutional convention in Philadelphia, Madison made an exhaustive survey of the various forms of government that had been tried since ancient times. The results were not encouraging. Factions could circumvent the virtuous. Democracies could embolden a tyrannical majority to run roughshod over the rights of weaker parties. What could be done?
Madison's answer is found in the U.S. Constitution, which he helped to draft and defend in the now famous Federalist Papers. In Federalist #10, he extolled the advantages of republican government, noting how public views could be refined "by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary and partial considerations."
The constitution ratified by the colonies sought to overcome "temporary and partial considerations." That effort included creating three branches of government to check and balance one another. It also entailed creating a U.S. Senate to try to tame the passions of the popular electorate. The new framework of government was an ingenious work of statecraft, but by itself it could not, as the founders knew, guarantee of the health of the American republic.
In our time, the preservation of democracy depends upon citizens who understand their constitutional rights and are willing to stand up for those rights whenever they perceive them being violated. It is this kind of participation in civic affairs that our Catholic faith calls us to. |
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With Thanksgiving approaching, it is a fitting time to recall how the pilgrims struggled to establish the new Plymouth Colony. See this brief