UK bishop calls for prayers as MPs urge ban on abortion clinic vigils

November 2, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

London, England, Nov 2, 2017 / 05:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Bishop of Portsmouth, England has called Catholics to pray for the conversion of 113 Members of the British Parliament who signed a letter urging the ban of prayer vigils outside of abortion clinics.

“It’s folly that Jeremy Corbyn and MPs want to restrict freedom of speech/prayer outside abortion clinics,” said Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth on Twitter.

“Let’s pray for their conversion,” he continued.

The MPs’ letter requested that Home Secretary Amber Rudd ban prayer vigils outside of abortion clinics, making them illegal. Members of five political political parties signed the letter, including Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, and Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

The letter was penned by the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, Rupa Huq, on the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act. In the letter, Huq claimed that participants in the prayer vigils harassed women seeking abortions and called them “murderers.”

“No matter how strongly protestors feel about abortion themselves, they don’t have the right to harass, intimidate or distress women who need to make their own very personal decision with their doctors,” said Yvette Cooper, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, according to the Telegraph.

The claim of harassment and name-calling has been denied by the Good Counsel Network, the group which organizes the prayer vigils.

“We try to make sure women are not being pressured into abortion,” said Clare McCullough, founder of the Good Counsel Network, according to the Catholic Herald.

“If we were harassing anyone we would be arrested. In fact, what we’re trying to do is help women to have an alternative,” McCullough continued.

The UK isn’t the only place that is trying to outlaw prayer vigils outside of abortion clinics. Last week, lawmakers in Ontario, Canada passed a bill that will make protests outside of abortion clinics illegal. The bill will create safe zones around the abortion clinics in which protests and prayer vigils would be banned.

 

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This Italian nun is helping brides say ‘yes’ to the dress

May 24, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Umbria, Italy, May 24, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Italian brides are finding wedding dresses at an unusual spot hidden in the Umbrian hills, where they are able to pick out their special gown – all for the cost of a donation.

Sister Maria Laura at the Augustinian monastery of St. Rita in Cascia, Italy began running the thrifty wedding dress service out of a surplus of donated wedding dresses.

“It gives me great joy to see a young woman who can fulfill her dream of love with a dress appropriate for the happiest day of her life,” said Sister Maria Laura, according to the DailyMail.  

Since about 1950, brides have been making pilgrimages to St. Rita’s to ask for her special intercession in marriage, and would leave their wedding dresses at the monastery in gratitude. Over the years, the monastery has collected hundreds of dresses.

Sister Maria Laura entered monastic life at the age of 28, having previously been a seamstress and designer in Tuscany. She has been running the bridal dress collection at the monastery for the past few years with the help of other nuns, and uses her skills to alter the dresses to fit each and every bride that comes through.

The sewing sister only sees brides-to-be by appointment, who often bring family members and bridesmaids for their opinion. But, Sister Maria Laura noted her special intuition about each of the dresses.

“I know which one she will take; you can tell from their faces,” she said, according to the New York Times. “If you have a dream and we can make it come true, we’ll do our best.”

Currently, they have about three women a week visit to pick out wedding dresses, while up to 10 dresses a month are donated. All of the dresses are offered for free, but they do ask for a simple donation. According to the New York Times, one donation amounted to $1,200.

The Augustinian monastery is a special spot for brides, as St. Rita is the patron saint of difficult marriages. When Rita was 12, her parents forced her into a marriage with a husband who abused her for years.

After her husband died, Rita entered the monastery of St. Mary Magdalene in Cascia at the age of 36, which is now the same place where brides visit to pray for their own marriages, and try on wedding dresses.

As Italy continues in their recession, the monastery considers their service a charity for economical brides who are getting married but trying to keep costs down.

One bride explained that the second-hand gown service was her only option to buy a dress, saying that “if I can’t find it here, I simply can’t afford to buy one.” Another bride explained how she had “felt at home here from the very first minute.”

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