Catholic Chronicle

Quarterback's ups and downs ring true for teen battling cancer

Laurie Stevens Bertke — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:01:00 +0000

POTOMAC, Md. (CNS) -- In a football season marked by amazing fourth-quarter comebacks and four overtime victories, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow not only connected with wide receivers racing for the end zone.

Through prayer and an act of kindness, Tebow also connected with Joey Norris, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Our Lady of Mercy School in Potomac who is battling leukemia.

Joey Norris, center right, demonstrates "Tebowing" with some of his eighth- grade classmates at Our Lady of Mercy School in Potomac, Md., Jan. 12. Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow's prayerful gesture has caught on around the world. Norris, who is battling cancer, tweeted a photo of himself "Tebowing while Chemoing" to Tebow, and the quarterback immediately responded that he would pray for him. (CNS photo/Rafael Crisostomo, Catholic Standard)

This past fall, while Joey was undergoing cancer treatment at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, his dad, Jim, asked him if he had heard about "Tebowing." It's the prayerful gesture made famous by Tebow, who after scoring a touchdown, kneels on one leg and bows his head in prayer, with his arm resting on his bended knee and his fist touching his forehead.

Joey, an avid football fan, had earlier drafted Tebow to be the quarterback on his fantasy football team.

After seeing photos of his favorite player praying, the youngster said, "I want to do that." And there, in his room at Children's Hospital, Joey knelt down near his chemo pole, and his dad took a picture of him. Later, as the two were walking to their car, wondering what to call Joey's gesture, his dad suggested, "Tebowing while Chemoing."

Joey immediately tweeted that photo to Tebow, explaining that "I'm Tebowing while Chemoing!" The youth added that he was a cancer survivor who was trusting the quarterback with his fantasy team.

Within two hours, Tebow tweeted a response back to Joey, noting that the boy's tweet was "my favorite one of the day," and he told him, "Praying for you and God bless you, big man!"

Jim Norris said in an interview with the Catholic Standard, Washington archdiocesan newspaper, that Joey had been "on the fourth day of a brutal five-day chemo regimen" when Tebow tweeted him back.

"By the end of the week, it wipes you out, you don't feel well. He hadn't been to school all week," Jim Norris said. "When Tim tweeted him back, all of a sudden, his eyes lit up. He had the strength to get through that week and couldn't wait for the weekend."

Some weeks later, the Tim Tebow Foundation invited Joey and Jim Norris to attend the Broncos' Jan. 1 home game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. Joey proudly wore his No. 15 Tim Tebow jersey, and before the game at Mile High Stadium, Tebow finished his warm-up tosses and sprinted over to the sideline to meet Joey.

"He gave me a great big hug, and he gave me a game ball they were throwing around in pre-game," Joey told the Catholic Standard. The quarterback also gave him a copy of his autobiography, "Through My Eyes," and a student Bible.

That game, however, lacked a storybook ending, as Denver lost 7-3, and Tebow had statistically his worst game of the season.

Joey said that after the defeat, "you could see the disappointment in his eyes," and yet Tebow still managed to smile and offer encouragement to his two young guests, talking to them for about 15 minutes and autographing Joey's jersey, the book and the Bible he had given him.

Win or lose, Tebow "is just the nicest person, all around," he said. His dad agreed, saying, "He's the real deal. He's a caring, loving person who just happens to play football."

Tebow's season had its ups and downs, with exciting touchdown passes and runs, but also throws that missed their mark; thrilling victories and disappointing losses.

Joey, who has had his own struggles and triumphs in recent years during his four-year cancer battle, can relate. "He's such an inspiration to anybody going through anything," he said of Tebow.

The quarterback's struggles and end-of-game heroics offer a lesson about endurance, Joey said, adding that even when bad things happen during your day, you can turn it around by the end of the day.

As he continues his cancer treatment, that message resonates with Joey. "During those days when you think you can't go on anymore, you might lose the battle, but in the end, you'll win the war. That's more important than anything. Just have faith," he said.

Komen reverses decision, reinstates grants to Planned Parenthood

Laurie Stevens Bertke — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000

DALLAS (CNS) -- The Feb. 3 decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to reinstate grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates for breast cancer screenings was the result of a "vicious attack" on the organization, said a pro-life leader.

Pro-life leaders hailed Komen's announcement Jan. 31 that it would no longer give grants to Planned Parenthood, but it sparked a maelstrom of negative reaction and an online petition asking the group to reverse its decision.

"I am troubled that the Komen foundation has come under such heavy fire for their recent decision to tighten and focus their funding guidelines," said Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life.

"This week we have all been witness to highly partisan attacks from pro-abortion advocates and an ugly and disgraceful shakedown that highlights Planned Parenthood's willingness to pursue a scorched-earth strategy to force compliance with their pro-abortion agenda," she said in a statement.

Yoest also noted that Komen donors are "now confused about their association with the nation's largest abortion provider."

A statement from Komen's founder and CEO Nancy Brinker posted on the Dallas-based organization's website Feb. 3 apologized to the American public "for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives."

Brinker said the reaction to the decision to discontinue the funding was "deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not."

She also noted that Komen had planned to stop funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation but that it will "amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political."

Planned Parenthood is currently the focus of an investigation by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., to see whether the organization used federal funds to pay for abortions, which would be illegal. Stearns is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Komen raises millions annually for the detection, treatment and research of breast cancer. One of its signature events is the annual Race for the Cure held in communities around the country. Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions, also offers free breast exams and mammograms, considered key to early detection of breast cancer. The Komen foundation over the years has said that it intended its contributions go toward these exams but could not control how funds were allocated at Planned Parenthood.

Leslie Aun, a spokeswoman for Komen, told The Associated Press Feb. 1 that the organization's decision to end its relationship with Planned Parenthood was based on a new policy that says grants cannot be given to organizations that are being investigated by government authorities, whether it is at the state, local or federal level.

In the new statement, Brinker said the group's goal in the grant process "is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."

She also added that the organization hopes everyone involved will be able "to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics -- anyone's politics."

In a letter to Congress last April urging lawmakers to exclude from the federal budget any funding for Planned Parenthood or its affiliates, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston called the federation "by far the largest provider and promoter of abortions nationwide."

The cardinal, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said that Planned Parenthood also has opposed "any meaningful limits on abortion, including modest measures such as public funding bans, informed consent provisions and parental notice requirements on unemancipated minors."

In recent years, the St. Louis Archdiocese and several other U.S. dioceses have asked Catholic groups to suspend support for Komen, citing its contributions to Planned Parenthood and the fact the foundation does not exclude the possibility of funding research that uses embryonic stem cells.

Last April, the Archdiocese of St. Louis reissued one of its previous policy statements on the Komen foundation: "Due to its policy allowing affiliates to offer financial support to abortion-providing facilities, its denial of studies showing abortion as a cause of breast cancer, and its endorsement of embryonic stem-cell research, the Respect Life Apostolate neither supports nor encourages participation in activities that benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure."

Last July, Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio, told Catholic institutions and schools in that diocese to suspend fundraising efforts for Komen and instead direct such donations to a local group of Catholic-run cancer centers.

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Contributing to this story was Joseph Kenny in St. Louis.

Doctors wonder how federal mandate will affect practice of medicine

Laurie Stevens Bertke — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:01:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Whether they are just starting out or nearing the end of their careers, Catholics who want to practice medicine in conformity with the church's teachings wonder how a new federal regulation requiring health plans to cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge will affect their work.

Although the requirement will not directly impact physicians, some said it represents a governmental intrusion into health care that could grow in the future.

Dr. Anne Nolte, right, a family physician with the National Gianna Center for Women's Health and Fertility in New York, follows Catholic teaching and guidelines for health care in her practice. She said about 40 percent of her patients are Protestants or have no religious affiliation. She is pictured at her New York office with patient Judith Guzman in 2009. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Dr. Anne Nolte, a family physician with the National Gianna Center for Women's Health and Fertility in New York, thinks the mandate represents "such a dramatic violation of such clearly defined civil rights" that it is bound to be overturned in court.

But, she said, "If Congress failed to pass an act that provides an exemption for the groups affected by this, and the courts in some incomprehensible way allow (the mandate) to stand, then Catholic health care will have to make a decision to practice civil disobedience."

Dr. Kim Hardey, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Lafayette, La., said he hopes the decision by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Obama administration will cause Catholics and other Christians to rise up against "the liberal left" and "misguided feminists" who would like to see abortion also become a required part of every medical practice.

"If we can allow the infringement of any group's beliefs," everyone's beliefs are threatened, he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview Jan. 31.

The new contraception mandate, with a narrow exemption for religious organizations, is part of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which sets up new preventative health care coverage specifically for women at no cost.

That coverage includes services such as mammograms, prenatal care and cervical cancer screenings. But it also mandates free contraception, sterilizations and drugs (such as ella and "Plan B") considered by the church to be abortifacients -- all of which are contrary to Catholic teaching.

On Jan. 20, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced that nonprofit groups that do not provide contraceptive coverage because of their religious beliefs will get an additional year "to adapt to this new rule."

Sarah Smith is not a doctor yet, but she worries that the HHS mandate will further sour an atmosphere in which she already finds some challenges to her pro-life convictions.

"The one safe environment -- Catholic hospitals -- is not even going to be safe anymore" if the contraceptive mandate stands, she said in a telephone interview with CNS from Chicago, where she had just completed the last of "14 or 15" interviews for a residency position in obstetrics and gynecology.

A fourth-year medical student at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Smith made clear on each interview that her Catholic convictions prevent her from involvement in abortion, sterilization or contraception.

She said she has found that "most doctors as individuals respect my beliefs and my conscience; they might not agree with me, but they'll defend my right to practice medicine." Problems are more likely to arise at the institutional level, where medical students and residents are "culturally at the bottom of the totem pole," Smith noted.

"Some Catholic hospitals make it much easier for medical students and residents to live out their faith," she said. But at a secular hospital where "they are doing 400 tubal ligations a year, you might have the choice not to participate, but the work flow makes it harder," she added.

A native of Natick, Mass., and a 2007 graduate of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Smith said she enjoys "working with underserved populations" but might not ever be able to work at a federally funded community health center, since the government requires that all family planning options be offered at those centers.

"I am not at the point in my career where I have experienced" discrimination because of her pro-life beliefs, Smith said. "We are kind of insulated in medical school. But then you get out and you say, 'Wow, all these policies could really affect my practice.'"

After assisting in the delivery of about 6,000 babies over the past 29 years, Hardey has the real-world experience that Smith lacks. He believes that some in Washington would like to drive obstetrician-gynecologists, or OB-GYNs, who won't perform abortions out of business.

"There are not that many of us ... that we'd be too big to go after," he said.

Hardey prescribed contraceptives and even thought they were beneficial for the first nine years of his medical practice. But then he began to see some of their effects -- not only on his patients but on societal attitudes -- and decided to conform his practice to the church's teachings in "Humanae Vitae" ("Of Human Life").

The 1968 encyclical by Pope Paul VI on married love and procreation reaffirmed church teaching that artificial contraception is morally wrong.

At age 58, Hardey said he is thinking of leaving his work as an obstetrician, "not because of the environment the president has brought about" but because of the long hours and erratic schedule required to deliver babies.

"I love my practice," he said. "But to live the OB-GYN lifestyle, you have to really love it."

Nolte, who completed her medical training in 2009, focuses her family practice on providing "authentically Catholic" health care for women, especially in the areas of gynecology, infertility treatment and natural family planning. She sees the Gianna center as "an alternative to Planned Parenthood" in Manhattan.

"We do exclusively women's health care faithful to the" U.S. church's "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services," she said.

The directives, most recently revised by the U.S. bishops in 2001, guide Catholic health care facilities in addressing a wide range of ethical questions, such as abortion, euthanasia, care for the poor, medical research, in vitro fertilization, prenatal testing, and nutrition and hydration.

But that doesn't mean Nolte serves only Catholics.

About 40 percent of her patients are Protestants or have no religious affiliation. "Women come from other states just for their annual exams, and they bring their daughters," Nolte said. "They see that we treat patients differently."

Like Hardey, she expressed concern that "this administration is happy to violate civil rights" on the issue of contraception and could then decide to do the same on abortion or other problematic issues. But she said nothing will ever put Catholic health care out of business, even if civil disobedience is required.

"A large number of people would not have access if we get out of health care," she said. "And we can't let that happen."

Pro-life leaders praise Komen's decision on Planned Parenthood grants

Laurie Stevens Bertke — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:01:00 +0000

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- The Jan. 31 announcement by Susan G. Komen for the Cure that it will no longer give grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates for breast cancer screenings "shows we are making a difference and having an impact," said a coordinator of pro-life programs for the St. Louis Archdiocese.

Pro-life advocate Patricia Bankeser of St. Joseph Parish in Kings Park, N.Y., holds a placard near the entrance to a Planned Parenthood center in Smithtown, N.Y., Jan. 19, 2011. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Sarah Swaykus, who is with the Respect Life Apostolate, made the comments in an interview with the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the archdiocese.

Maureen Kane, the apostolate's parish and elementary program coordinator, said she was pleased that the Komen organization recognized the inappropriateness of working with Planned Parenthood and that she hopes "they can direct their attention to continuing to help people dealing with cancer."

Komen, an international organization based in Dallas, raises millions annually for the detection, treatment and research of breast cancer. One of its signature events is the annual Race for the Cure held in communities around the country.

Besides providing abortions, Planned Parenthood offers free breast exams and mammograms, considered key to early detection of breast cancer. The Komen foundation had previously said that it intended its contributions go toward these exams but could not control how funds were allocated at Planned Parenthood.

Leslie Aun, a spokeswoman for Komen, told The Associated Press that the organization's decision to end its relationship with Planned Parenthood was based on a new policy that says grants cannot be given to organizations that are being investigated by government authorities, whether it is at the state, local or federal level.

Planned Parenthood is currently the focus of an investigation by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., to see whether public money was improperly spent on abortions.

The Planned Parenthood Federation issued a statement that Komen "appears to have succumbed to political pressure" by pro-life groups and others that have called to end of federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Komen posted a statement on its website late Feb. 1 saying it was "dismayed and extremely disappointed that actions we have taken to strengthen our granting process have been widely mischaracterized."

"We regret that these new policies have impacted some long-standing grantees, such as Planned Parenthood, but want to be absolutely clear that our grant-making decisions are not about politics," the statement said.

Komen also posted a YouTube video Feb. 1 where Nancy Brinker, Komen's founder and chief executive, explains the foundation's recent action.

In the video, Brinker said the "scurrilous accusations being hurled at this organization have been extremely hurtful" and are a "dangerous distraction from the work that needs to be done" in eradicating breast cancer.

Comments posted online with the video Feb. 2 were primarily negative, although a few stated their support for the group's action.

Thousands of posts on other online sites also have criticized or supported Komen's action. Online petitions are asking the Komen foundation to reverse its decision.

Last July Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo told Catholic institutions and schools in that diocese to suspend fundraising efforts for Komen and instead direct such donations to a local group of Catholic-run cancer centers.

Father Shenan J. Boquet, president of Human Life International in Front Royal, Va., praised the Komen foundation for taking "the courageous step of separating themselves" from Planned Parenthood.

"The more organizations and companies who recognize Planned Parenthood for what it is -- a corrupt, divisive and destructive fraud perpetrated against women's health, and especially against children -- the more people of faith and reason can join together in supporting causes that truly improve women's health," he said. "Clearly, abortion is not good for women's health."

Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, also praised Komen for its decision.

"As a breast cancer survivor, I applaud the decision of the Komen Foundation to discontinue their partnership with the nation's largest abortion provider," she said in a statement.

Detroit bishops among those blogging about 'ad limina' visit to Vatican

Laurie Stevens Bertke — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:01:00 +0000

DETROIT (CNS) -- Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron and his four auxiliary bishops are the latest group of U.S. bishops to give Catholics back home an up-close look at their "ad limina" visit to the Vatican through blog postings.

Early in January, the Archdiocese of Detroit started a blog -- http://aodonline.wordpress.com -- to collect a "spiritual bouquet" for the intentions of Pope Benedict XVI.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit. pictured in an undated photo, and his four auxiliary bishops are the latest group of U.S. bishops to give Catholics back home an up-close look at their "ad limina" visit to the Vatican through blog postings. (CNS photo/courtesy of Archdiocese of Detroit)

Parishes, Catholic schools and individuals from the Detroit area used the blog to write their pledges of prayers and acts of charity for the pope's intentions. The spiritual bouquet was to be presented in the form of a scroll to Pope Benedict when the bishops from Michigan and Ohio visit with him and Vatican officials Feb. 1-5.

Bishops are required to make an "ad limina" visit to the Vatican every five years to report on the status of their dioceses.

Detroit's bishops were sharing their "ad limina" experience by writing updates as they made their way to the holy sites of Rome and the Vatican.

"The whole point of this pilgrimage is to reaffirm and strengthen our communion with the pope, the bishop of Rome," Archbishop Vigneron said in a letter to the Detroit Archdiocese prior to leaving for Rome. "And this communion concerns not just me as a bishop, but you as members of the local church entrusted to my care.

"Your communion in life and faith with your bishop, and my communion with the pope mean that you and I share the same life of grace as does Pope Benedict."

U.S. bishops began "ad limina" visits by episcopal region in November. By the end of January, bishops from five regions had been to the Vatican, with more of the visits scheduled through May. There are a total of 15 regions in the United States, 14 of them geographic and one that is for the Eastern Catholic bishops.

The bishops who have been blogging about their "ad limina" experience include Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Ala., www.mobilearchdiocese.org/wt/client/v2/story/WT_Story.cfm?SecKey=222, and Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans, www.arch-no.org/ad_limina.

The Detroit bishops planned to visit various sites, including the Pontifical North American College, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Mary Major, Casa Santa Maria, and the Basilica of St. Peter. During their "ad limina" visit, they were to meet with various church officials from the Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization and several others.

In addition to commentaries from Detroit's four auxiliary bishops -- Bishop Francis R. Reiss, Bishop Donald F. Hanchon, Bishop J. Arturo Cepeda and Bishop Michael J. Byrnes -- the Detroit bishops' blog contains excerpts from the Archdiocese of Detroit's quinquennial report to the Vatican, entries featuring the archdiocese's chancellor and archivist, and opportunities for readers of the blog to send messages to, and ask questions of, the local bishops.

The "ad limina"-themed blog isn't the first use of social media by Archbishop Vigneron.

The archbishop used the same means to encourage Catholics of the archdiocese to follow along on a pilgrimage in 2009 leading up to the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, when he received his pallium from Pope Benedict after having been named archbishop of Detroit earlier that year.