Texas becomes 18th state to ban sex changes for kids

CNA Staff, Jul 16, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- The second of five federal prisoners slated for execution was killed in the early hours of Thursday, July 16. 

Wesley Ira Purkey, 68, was originally scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening. The execution was delayed as a series of last-minute legal filings arguing that Purkey was not mentally competent enough to be executed.

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote Thursday, let the execution proceed. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented and would have blocked the execution. 

The execution was held at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Purkey was sentenced to death in January 2004. His case was handled by the federal court system as he had kidnapped Jennifer Long, 16, in Kansas City, Missouri, and murdered her in Kansas, crossing state lines. Purkey confessed to Long’s murder while he was awaiting trial in Kansas for the murder of an 80-year-old woman with polio.

His lawyers argued that he should not be executed as he had dementia and claims of several other mental illnesses. 

On Wednesday, his attorney, Rebecca Woodman, described him as “a 68-year old, severely brain-damaged and mentally ill man who suffers from advanced Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.” 

“Though he has long accepted responsibility for his crime, he no longer has a rational understanding of why the government plans to execute him,” said Woodman.

Purkey apologized to Long’s family in his final words, saying “I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer’s family. I am deeply sorry. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever.” 

Long was last seen getting into Purkey’s vehicle on January 22, 1998. Purkey claims to have sexually assaulted her before stabbing and dismembering her, and that he later burnt her body. Authorities were unable to find Long’s remains in the area where he claimed to have disposed of them. 

Purkey is the second federal prisoner to be executed this week, following the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee on Tuesday. All five of the condemned prisoners were convicted of the murders of children. 

Unlike in Lee’s case, where the family members of his victims were opposed to the death penalty, Long’s relatives were supportive–although they thought the process was too long. 

Long’s stepmother was critical of the numerous appeals. 

“All these appeals, some of them he put through several times. And then we sat in a van for four hours this morning while he did a bunch more appeals,” she said. “We just shouldn’t have to wait this long.” 

The resumption of federal executions has been controversial since plans were announced last summer. Prior to this week, the last federal execution was in 2003. 

The next scheduled execution is Dustin Lee Honken, who was sentenced to death in 2004 for the murders of five people, including two young girls and their mother. Honken is scheduled to be executed on July 17. 

Honken’s spiritual advisor, Fr. Mark O’Keefe, OSB, attempted to delay the execution due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. His request was denied.

Among the supporters of Honken’s bid for clemency is Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, formerly the Archbishop of Indianapolis. Tobin personally asked President Donald Trump to commute Honken’s sentence to life in prison. 

In a letter to the president, Tobin explained that he had known Honken for seven years, and had witnessed his spiritual growth. Tobin wrote that Honken’s crimes are “heinous,” but that his execution “will do nothing to restore justice or heal those still burdened by these crimes.” 

“Instead, his execution will reduce the government of the United States to the level of a murderer and serve to perpetuate a climate of violence which brutalizes our society in so many ways,” Tobin wrote, noting that the use of the death penalty makes the United States an “outlier” in the world.  

“If his death sentence is commuted, Mr. Honken expects to spend his remaining days in prison,” Tobin wrote.

“By commuting this death sentence, you would help stem the tide of anger and revenge that threatens our country,” he told the president.

Other bishops have condemned the renewed use of the death penalty by the federal government after a 17-year moratorium. 

On July 7, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Bishop William Medley of Owensboro, Kentucky, Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City, Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Davenport, Iowa, and Bishop Richard Pates who is the apostolic administrator of Joliet, Illinois, all joined more than 1,000 faith leaders in calling for a stop to scheduled executions of four federal death row inmates.

“As our country grapples with the COVID 19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and systemic racism in the criminal legal system, we should be focused on protecting and preserving life, not carrying out executions,” the faith leaders stated.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2267 on the death penalty was updated in 2018 with a statement from Pope Francis, calling the death penalty “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

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Portland, Ore., Feb 9, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A week after Hispanic Catholics experienced racial harassment and taunts from a group of men during a Spanish Mass, the local community in Portland, Oregon sprang into action to show their support for the churchgoers.

Despite the chill and the rain, an estimated 200-300 people created a human barrier on Sunday, Feb. 5, protecting parishioners of St. Peter Catholic Church from possible harassment.

It was a different scene than what had greeted parishioners the week before, when a group of about eight men dressed as hunters shouted racial and sexual slurs at parishioners during Spanish Mass, and taunted the congregation for being made up of many immigrants, according to the Catholic Sentinel. The group of men was nowhere to be seen the following week.

The harassment came at an already tense time for the parish because of new federal immigration policy proposals. Pastor Fr. Raul Marquez, a native of Colombia who has been pastor at St. Peter’s for 5 years, said he had never seen anything like it.

“All that Sunday I felt upset and didn’t understand,” he told the Sentinel.

But the next Sunday came as a pleasant surprise. News of the previous attacks had spread on social media through two videos of the incident, and local community members banded together, with one post reading: “ATTN WHITE PEOPLE – USE YOUR WHITE BODY TO INTERRUPT RACISM!”  It urged people to place themselves “between violent bigots and people of color” to form a “strong human chain to stand as a buffer between Latino worshippers and those who hate them.”

And it worked. Catholics, Christians and non-believers showed up in force to provide support, complete with welcoming signs in both English and Spanish and a table of coffee and sweets.

Local priest Father Ron Millican from nearby Our Lady of Sorrows parish and Rev. Elizabeth Larson from St Mark Lutheran Church came to show their support for Fr. Marquez, as well as Matt Cato, director of the Archdiocese of Portland’s Office of Life, Justice and Peace.

Archbishop Alexander Sample expressed his support to St. Peter’s through a letter to the parish, saying that he was saddened by the harassment and offering his prayers for healing.

“Please be assured that I, as your Archbishop and shepherd, stand firmly with you in the face of such ignorant and hateful words. You are our brothers and sisters, and as members of the same family of faith, we must hold fast to our unity in Christ,” he said.

He added that the incident was not isolated and that the same group had been harassing other churches in the area. The men were reportedly part of a Portland-based group called “Bible Believers”—hard-right street preachers who appear at protests against President Donald Trump.

“Be assured of my love and prayers for all of you. May Our Lady embrace you all in her mantle of love and protection,” Archbishop Sample concluded.

Brenda Ramirez, a 21 year-old parishioner, told the Portland Tribune that she was shocked to hear about the attack at her church, but was happy with the large showing of support from the local community.

“It’s just beautiful. This is what America is — not racism or hate. This is what it should be.”

Where have civility and respect for one another gone?Can we please stop demonizing those with whom we (even vehemently) disagree?

— Archbishop Sample (@ArchbishpSample) February 4, 2017

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Washington D.C., Sep 11, 2020 / 11:01 am (CNA).-  

At least two U.S. Senators have joined the chorus of outrage against The Walt Disney Company after the company revealed it worked with Chinese propaganda departments in the Xinjiang autonomous region during the filming of Mulan.

“The ancient Chinese folktale of Hua Mulan is inspiring,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) in a Sept. 9 letter sent to Bob Chapek, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Disney’s partnership with a genocidal dictatorship is appalling.”

In the closing credits for Mulan, a live-action remake of the 1998 animated film of the same name, Disney gave a “special thanks” to, among other entities, the “Publicity Department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee,” and the “Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Security.” Parts of the movie were filmed in Xinjiang, which is located in northwestern China. The majority of the Uyghur population, a minority ethnic group that is mostly Muslim, resides in Xinjiang.

“The Publicity Department of the CPC Municipal Committee has pushed propaganda justifying the nature and purpose of the ‘re-education facilities,’” wrote Sasse, who noted that the Turpan Bureau of Public Safety is part of a larger entity that was recently sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury for its role in the operation of the detention camps in the region. The camps detain mostly Uyghur prisoners, who can be sent there for offenses such as “celebrating an Islamic holiday” and “wearing traditional religious clothing.”

The Chinese government claims the camps are for terrorism prevention purposes. Women who have been imprisoned in the camps have told stories of forced abortions and sterilizations.
Sasse stated that there needs to be a “deeper understanding of (Disney’s) production process” due to the company’s “willingness to partner with those committing genocide.” He requested additional information regarding when Disney was working in Xinjiang, as well as information regarding the agreements Disney made with the Chinese government when filming, and if the company raised concerns about human rights abuses in the region.

“Can Disney verify that the filming of Mulan did not benefit from Xinjiang-based forced labor,” asked Sasse, along with a request for information regarding any editorial requests made by the Chinese government.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who was sanctioned by China earlier this year, wrote a similarly worded letter to Chapek on Wednesday, noting that China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang were well-documented by the time Disney began production on Mulan in August 2018.

“Disney’s whitewashing of the ongoing Uighur genocide is contrary to all of your company’s supposed principles,” wrote Hawley.

“Just a few weeks ago, for instance, you wrote about the need to ‘confront the inscrutable idea that the lives of some are deemed less valuable—and less worthy of dignity, care and protection—than the lives of others,’” said Hawley. “Elsewhere, Disney has declared its commitment ‘to providing comfort, inspiration, and opportunity to children and families around the world’ and described its ‘commitment to respect human rights’ as a ‘core value.’”

Filming in Xinjiang and working with those committing human rights abuses is a violation of these values, said Hawley.

“How does glorifying the Chinese authorities perpetrating abuses in Xinjiang provide comfort, inspiration, and opportunity to Uighur children—including those who were never born because the CCP forced their mothers to abort them,” asked Hawley. “Disney’s actions here cross the line from complacency into complicity.”

Hawley requested that Disney donate the profits from Mulan to non-governmental organizations that are fighting human trafficking and “other atrocities underway in Xinjiang.”

The Walt Disney Company’s decision to work in Xinjiang and cooperate with Chinese Communist Party entities is interesting given that the company has been outspoken on what it perceives as human rights abuses in the United States.

In May 2018, Disney’s then-CEO Bob Iger said that it would be “difficult” for Disney to continue making movies in Georgia if the state moved to ban abortion after the detection of a heartbeat.
“Many people who work for us will not want to work there” should the law go into effect,” Iger told Reuters at the time. “We will have to heed their wishes.”
The law has repeatedly been blocked and cannot be enforced by the state of Georgia.

Jewher Ilham, a Uyghur Human Rights Fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation whose father was abducted by the Chinese government, told CNA that she believes Disney needs to become more aware of what is happening around the world.

“Disney needs to better educate themselves about the human rights abuses committed around the globe, especially in China,” she said. “Egregious human rights violations take place there every day at the hands of the Chinese Communist government. It’s amazing to me to see how the same company has such firm stances stateside but is willing to give in to China in order to make a profit.”

“If Disney’s stance on abortion was enough to make them boycott filming in Georgia, then they should have boycotted filming in the Uighur region where some of the world’s worst human rights abuses are taking place,” she added.

Denise Harle, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA that Disney choosing to film in Xinjiang was “hypocrisy,” and that she believes “consumers should take notice.”

“Disney threatened to halt all plans to film in the state of Georgia over its pro-life laws but does not hesitate to film in China, where egregious human rights abuses are consistently committed, including forced sterilizations and abortions,” said Harle.

“Mulan was filmed in Xinjiang, China, the very region where more than one million Muslims are being held in detention camps because of their beliefs. While some companies put profits over people, Americans should remember that all human life, born and unborn, is worthy of protection,” she said.

The film has also been criticized because its lead actress, Liu Yifei, has expressed support for police in Hong Kong cracking down on protests of the Hong Kong extradition bill last year.

The Chinese government admitted in October 2018 that “re-education camps” for members of the Uyghur population had been established. The camps were first spotted on satellite imagery in 2017.

The highest estimate sets the total number of inmates in the camps at 3 million, plus approximately half a million minor children in special boarding schools for “re-education” purposes.

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