Dear Friends of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary,

Nearly seven years ago Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary began a process to study the possible sale of a portion of its present campus.  After studying the costs to renovate a portion of the campus buildings, in 2016, the Seminary Board of Trustees recommended and Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Seminary Board Chair, accepted a recommendation to sell the entire seminary property and explore options to partner with a local Catholic college.  After an exhaustive review, in 2017, Saint Charles Seminary and Neumann University announced that they would begin a dialogue with the hope of leading to an affiliation agreement. While those talks are nearing completion, seminary officials and the Sisters of Saint Francis of Philadelphia are exploring the purchase of property owned by the Sisters near the university to construct new seminary buildings.

While the process with Neumann University was proceeding, a parallel process was occurring with Main Line Health.  As announced earlier, Main Line Health was selected as the successful bidder for the seminary property.  Main Line Health and Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary recently closed on a transaction for the sale of the Seminary’s Wynnewood property. The Seminary will continue to operate on the property for up to five years. During this time Main Line Health and Saint Charles Seminary will continue to work with the township and other community partners to assess the optimal future of the property, while considering both the historical significance of the buildings as well as the needs of our growing and vibrant community.

Sincerely in Christ,

Most Reverend Timothy C. Senior
Rector

Saint Frances would like to congratulate those children who received First Holy Communion this April and May.

On Tuesday, May 21, Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic Community joyfully welcomed Jame Robert Harer to the Catholic Church.  He was accompanied on his spiritual journey by his sponsor John McClure, as well as Monsignor McCormac and Audrey Wilson.  May God continue to bless Jim and fill him with His peace.

The so-called “Equality Act” (H.R. 5) being debated in Congress is quite possibly one of the most dangerous pieces of federal legislation that I have encountered in my lifetime. It would wreak havoc on religious freedom, free speech, churches and faith-based hospitals, as well as undercut all the gains made on behalf of women.

Many aspects of our daily lives – public accommodations, employment, housing, counseling, and more – would be impacted. Here are just a few samples of its likely impact if it ever becomes law:

• Force young girls to dress and shower in front of boys;
• Allow men onto women’s athletic teams and to compete against women in Olympic-style sports;
• Require religious hospitals to provide sex-change operations;
• Compel women’s shelters to allow men into their facilities and share housing with females who have already been subjected to trauma; and
• Prevent couples who believe in God’s design for marriage and sexuality from adopting or caring for a foster child.

While variations of this legislation have been introduced in Congress before, this particular version would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act by adding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes all throughout the federal code. The architects of this legislation claim it would protect people from discrimination, but in reality it forces people to deny basic biological realities and to compromise their deeply held beliefs and religious convictions in order affirm a person’s sexual behavior or preferred gender status.

Don’t just take my word for it. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), insists that “we cannot allow claims of religious freedom to be used to discriminate against an LGBT individual.” This legislation is so radical that even Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (D – WV) and Gregory Angelo, former leader of the “Log Cabin Republicans,” have publicly opposed it.

While upholding justice and human dignity are essential to any thriving society, and reflective of our core American beliefs, this so-called Equality Act offers no meaningful protections for individuals, but especially none for Christians. Instead, it removes time-honored decency protections for women and girls, violates privacy, regulates speech, and threatens the ability of every American to exercise their religious liberty – even expressly declaring that The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 cannot be used as a claim defense or claim against it!

We cannot allow the government to push people with strong religious convictions into compromising their beliefs – like they tried to do with Peter Vlaming, a teacher at West Point High School in Virginia who was recently fired for simply refusing to use male pronouns for a biological female student. (For a brief account of what happened you can read a post from our sister organization (Family Foundation of Virginia) about it here.)

CLICK HERE to contact your Members of Congress today, and urge them to OPPOSE H.R. 5, the Equality Act. You can also reach your Congressman and Senators at (202) 224-3121. Don’t delay, the House Democrats are pushing to hold a vote on this bill this week!

Thank you!

The Push to Legalize Marijuana is Coming to Bucks County

Lt. Governor John Fetterman is coming to Newtown tonight (Wednesday, May 15th), driven by his desire to go “full-on Colorado in Pennsylvania” with the legalization and commercialization of marijuana. For his “Listening” Tour stop in your area, I encourage you to attend and to voice your concern.

For the past thirty years, Pennsylvania Family Institute has been watching your State Capitol with the mission of strengthening families. The threat of “full-on” marijuana legalization is a direct assault on the family and we absolutely must get involved and speak out against it.

Here are the details:

Wednesday, May 15th
Bucks County Community College, Zlock Performing Arts Center
275 Swamp Road, Newtown, PA 18940
6:00pm to 7:30pm (Doors open at 5:30pm)

Whether you can make this tour stop or not, please also make sure you submit comments online as well. Over 30,000 messages since January have already been sent to Governor Tom Wolf. To submit online, go to governor.pa.gov/recreational-marijuana-feedback.

Make sure to let your State Senator and State Representative know of your concerns with going “full-on Colorado” with the commercialization of marijuana in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Family Institute is teaming up with groups like Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), who have become the nation’s leading organization dedicated to pushing back against the full-on legalization of marijuana. We want to work together with you to help educate and inform others on this growing threat and to provide resources for your comments at this “Listening” Weed Tour event.

Resources are readily available.
SAM has created a website for Pennsylvania – sampennsylvania.org – to help highlights the social costs and other negative impacts of marijuana legalization. There are various resources available, including talking points, facts and in-depth reports. Please make use of these.

We also have several one-page documents and videos available at pafamily.org/marijuana.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us. As always, we want to be a helpful resource to you. And thank you for doing your part in supporting these efforts and speaking out for the benefit of our community.

We should all want a healthy and productive Pennsylvania and that does not include the full-on commercialization of marijuana.

Please send this ‘thank you’ to your PA representative for voting YES on the increase for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), which is a HUGE help to Catholic schools. You have to check your rep to make sure they voted yes. ALL Republicans voted YES. Only four Democrats did: Mike Driscoll, John Galloway, Mark Rozzi and Tina Davis. It will now move on to the Senate for their consideration.

Click the link below to sign the petition:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/L9hw_HPnkQzPMAsuwmhRbg

STATEMENT OF ARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. CHAPUT, O.F.M. CAP. REGARDING HARASSMENT OF PRAYERFUL PROTESTERS OUTSIDE PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINIC

“Over the past few days, videos have gone viral on social media featuring State Representative Brian Sims aggressively harassing young and elderly women who were peacefully praying outside of a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Philadelphia.

These videos, which Representative Sims took himself, have rightly sparked broad outrage and garnered much attention in the press. His actions were unbecoming of an elected official. There is much bitter irony that he claims to be a champion for the rights of all women yet he trampled on the rights of others and disgracefully shamed them in public. It was particularly disdainful that he offered a bounty for the identity and home addresses of three young ladies in order to encourage protests at their homes.

Our country is one founded on democratic principles and civil discourse in the public square. Our elected officials represent all of their constituents—not just the ones with whom they agree. Representative Sims spoke often of shame and there was plenty of that to be found in his actions, which demonstrated a complete disregard for civility and basic human decency.

I’m calling on all people of good will to channel their indignation into right action and prayerful witness.

Live Action has organized a prayerful rally that will take place this Friday, May 10th outside the Planned Parenthood Clinic at 12th and Locust Streets here in Philadelphia at 11:00 a.m. I’m encouraging broad participation in this peaceful initiative. Let us meet the hateful actions of Representative Sims with the love of Christ and let us fervently pray for respect for life from conception to natural death.”

+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Philadelphia

Editor’s Note: For additional information on Friday’s Rally, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/857522957927221/

We have a fight on our hands; one that shows just how extreme some politicians and others in our state can be.

Yesterday, the PA House Health Committee voted on the Down Syndrome Protection Act, House Bill 321. It now moves to a vote by the full House of Representatives – which is why we encourage you to contact your State Representative today in support.

This vote should have been unanimous. Yet nine State Representatives voted against it. It ended up a party line vote, with 15 Republicans voting yes to 9 Democrats voting no (click here for the roll call).

What’s so tragic in seeing opposition to this bill is the reality that right now there are medical professionals pressuring pregnant women into having an abortion who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome into having an abortion.

• Parents in Pennsylvania have shared with us their experience of such pressure.
• Doctors are encouraging the “implementation of universal screening” to identify and “medically terminate” – to kill the baby that’s diagnosed with Down syndrome.

There are some extreme politicians, like the nine State Representatives who voted no, who are trying to allow this sad reality to continue. And extreme pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood are actively lobbying to stop this bill from progressing.

It shouldn’t surprise us. It’s exactly why we are actively showing our elected officials our support. Members of our team attended the committee vote with yellow roses in support of the Down Syndrome Protection Act. We also helped deliver roses and notes to every member of the committee to emphasize one message: Down syndrome is a life worth saving and why we must pass the Down Syndrome Protection Act.

As you may know, this is not our first go-around with this legislation. Last year, although it received a bipartisan majority vote in the House (enough to overturn any Governor’s veto), it failed to come up for a vote in the State Senate.

This is a chance to save lives in Pennsylvania.  No doctor should be pressuring women to have an abortion – especially for a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Please join us in contacting your state elected officials in supporting the Down Syndrome Protection Act. To email, visit pafamily.org/protect.

As Joni Eareckson Tada (Founder & CEO, Joni & Friends) has said in support of the Down Syndrome Protection Act,

“The presence of people with disabilities always enriches a community’s fabric, underscoring that vulnerability and weakness is a prime platform for strength, joy and love.”

Join us in using this platform of the Down Syndrome Protection Act to show love to these vulnerable children in the womb. And again, please share your support with your State Representative and State Senator. Join us in calling on them to protect these precious lives in law and recognizing Down Syndrome is a life worth living.

Sincerely,

Michael Geer
President & CEO
Pennsylvania Family Council