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PRESS RELEASES
Click here for the Communications Office
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When society abandons God’s law, it abandons humanity
Nov. 13, 2008 |
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In a column written for the Diocese of Fargo newspaper, New
Earth, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of Fargo, congratulated
President-elect Barack Obama and said he is praying for him as he prepares to
undertake “immense responsibilities” as president of the United States.
"One of those prayers,' Bishop Aquila wrote, "will be for the
conversion of his heart and mind to recognize the dignity of human life from the
moment of conception until natural death and the truth that no government has
the right to legalize abortion."
Noting that President-elect Obama’s voting record and speeches
have revealed that "he is one of the strongest supporters of legalized abortion,
as well as the Freedom of Choice Act," Bishop Aquila said the future president
"directly opposes the divine law of God concerning the dignity of each human
life, and so he strongly disagrees with the position of the Catholic Church. On
a purely political level, he even disagrees with the majority of Americans, who
at least want some limits on abortion."
(Read more.)
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Bishop Samuel J. Aquila |
Monsignor Brian Donahue begins
service as Chaplain at West Point
Nov. 12, 2008 |
Msgr. Brian Donahue, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo and
former Vicar General for the diocese, returned to active duty with the
U.S. Army today, Nov. 12, as a Catholic Chaplain (Major) at the United
States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Msgr. Donahue was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1983. Four years
later he entered the Army National Guard and began serving both
parishioners and soldiers. His position as chaplain with the Army
National Guard included serving in active duty during the Persian Gulf
War and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2007, he retired after 20 years of
service with the National Guard and focused solely on his service as
pastor of two Catholic churches: St. Benedict’s in Wild Rice and St.
Maurice in Kindred. |
Monsignor Brian Donahue |
| On Feb. 6, 2008, he announced to his
parishioners that he would again return to active duty, saying that,
although he loved serving as a parish priest, “my heart…has never left
the military.”
Read more
here. |
Bishop Samuel Aquila on the
fundamental right to life: “We will be judged”
Nov. 3, 2008 |
At a Nov. 2 Mass marking the completion
of the 40 Days for Life North Dakota campaign of prayer and fasting to
end abortion, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of Fargo, spoke of “the
four last things…death, judgment, heaven and hell.”
“Judgment is real, just as heaven and hell are real,” Bishop Aquila said
during his
homily
at the 11 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo. “When the
soul separates from the body and comes before God, we will be judged on
how we lived. It’s important to understand the reality of that
judgment.” |
Bishop Samuel J. Aquila |
| Bishop Aquila urged the nearly 200 people
in attendance to reflect upon the four last things and how they apply to
the 40 Days for Life effort.
Read
entire press release, click here. |
Bishop Samuel Aquila: Catholics must place the
God-given inalienable right to life above loyalty to political candidates and
parties
Oct. 23, 2008
In an Oct. 19 homily, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of
Fargo, reminded the faithful at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo that all
human persons are made in the image and likeness of God and said that Catholics
must put that truth above all else in their public life.
“You and I are not created in the image and likeness of Obama or
McCain or a political party. We are created in the image and likeness of God,”
he said. “We must, as our forefathers did, place the God-given inalienable
rights first, beginning with the right to life from the moment of conception
until natural death. Read more
No person who is truly Catholic
can take a position of “pro-choice” or vote for a law supporting the
so-called right to abortion, Bishop Samuel Aquila said in a Sept. 28
homily
Oct. 8, 2008
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At a Sept. 28 Mass which preceded a
Eucharistic procession of 1,000 people to the state of North Dakota’s
only abortion facility, Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Catholic Diocese of
Fargo said Catholics who are “pro-choice” are “pro-abortion and
participating in an intrinsic evil and promoting an unjust law.”
Bishop Aquila referred to Pope John
Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae in noting that abortion and
other intrinsic evils can never be justified by human law. He quoted the
encyclical: “In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law
permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey
it, or to ‘take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or
vote for it’” (Evangelium Vitae 73). Bishop Aquila then expanded
upon the quote. “In other words, if one is truly Catholic and truly
faithful to the laws of God, to reason and to faith in Jesus Christ, he
or she can never be pro-choice, because, if they are, they are
pro-abortion and participating in an intrinsic evil and promoting an
unjust law. No Catholic can take a position of pro-choice or vote for a
law supporting a so-called right to abortion.”
Bishop Aquila countered three
arguments that attempt to justify abortion. First, he said, the question
of when life begins “is a matter of reason and science”, not faith or
opinion. Life “begins at the moment of conception,” he said.
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Bishop Samuel Aquila led an estimated 1,000 people in
a Eucharistic procession to the state of North Dakota's only abortion
facility Sept. 28.
(Photo by Ron Fischer for New Earth)
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Second, the bishop said, some say
that because we live in a pluralistic society that has many different
points of view, people should be free to determine what they will
believe and support. “Every human society recognizes that there are
certain truths that can never be violated,” Bishop Aquila said. “We
cannot use the lie of pluralism to justify intrinsic evils.”
Read
more. |
Bishop Samuel Aquila prays at
abortion facility for 40 Days for Life North Dakota
Oct. 3, 2008 |
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Bishop Samuel Aquila prayed
outside the state of North Dakota's only abortion facility Oct. 1 as
part of the 40 Days for Life North Dakota effort. To Bishop
Aquila's right is Father Luke Meyer, chancellor for the Fargo Diocese.
(Photo by Tanya Watterud) |
Three days after leading an estimated 1,000 participants in a
Eucharistic procession to the state of North Dakota’s only abortion facility,
Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo fulfilled his scheduled
hour of prayer for the 40 Days for Life North Dakota effort by praying Oct. 1 on
the sidewalk outside the abortion facility.
Bishop Aquila was joined by Father Luke Meyer, diocesan chancellor, and others
who were praying for an end to abortion. Bishop Aquila joined in praying the
rosary, then prayed silently and interacted with people who stopped to talk.
Read the
entire press release. |
| Bishop Samuel Aquila cites Sen.
Joseph Biden’s “lack of knowledge and understanding of Catholic teaching
on abortion” |
Sept. 10, 2008
Two weeks after stating that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s Aug. 24
comments about Catholic teaching concerning when human life begins, made
on NBC’s Meet the Press, were “misinformed” and “created confusion,”
Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo cited Sen. Joseph
Biden’s “lack of knowledge and understanding of Catholic teaching on
abortion.”During a Sept. 7 interview on Meet
the Press, Biden said he accepted Catholic teaching that life begins at
conception but would not “impose that judgment on everyone else.”
Bishop Aquila, who has
frequently cautioned Catholics about separating their faith from their
public life, responded firmly to Biden’s statement, noting that both
Pelosi and Biden, who are Catholics, misrepresented Church teaching and
disregarded science.
“Senator Biden, and all others who mistakenly claim that the beginning
of life is a matter of religious opinion confuse matters more by
implying that the time of when life begins is a matter of faith, and not
that of science, the natural law, or truth,” Bishop Aquila wrote in a
Sept. 10
letter to priests which was posted on the diocesan Web site.
“Any person who has studied biology, whether they are a Catholic, Jew,
Muslim, Christian, agnostic or atheist, knows that human life begins at
the moment of conception.”
Bishop Aquila asked priests to share with people in their parishes the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’
fact sheet, “Respect for
Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching” which was written in
response to Pelosi’s Aug. 24 comments and to “address this clarification
of teaching from the pulpit.”
The bishop noted the responsibility of priests to “clearly articulate
the truths of natural reason and the teaching of the Church and help all
of our faithful understand the teaching.”
“We cannot be silent in the face of such a holocaust of innocent human
life,” Bishop Aquila added. |
November 12, 2008:
Monsignor Brian Donahue
begins service as Chaplain at West Point
November 3, 2008:
Bishop Samuel
Aquila on the fundamental right to life: “We will be judged”
October 8, 2008:
No person who is
truly Catholic can take a position of “pro-choice” or vote for a law supporting
the so-called right to abortion, Bishop Samuel Aquila said in a Sept. 28 homily
October 3, 2008:
Bishop
Samuel Aquila prays at abortion facility for 40 Days for Life North Dakota
September 24, 2008:
Bishop Aquila to lead
Eucharistic procession to abortion facility
September 10, 2008:
Bishop Samuel Aquila cites Sen. Joseph Biden’s “lack of knowledge and
understanding of Catholic teaching on abortion”
August 27, 2008:
Bishop Samuel
Aquila: Nancy Pelosi’s misinformed comments do not reflect the true teaching of
the Catholic Church
June 26,2008:
National
representatives of 40 Days for Life led rally in Fargo
June 1, 2008: Peter
Sharpe ordained a transitional deacon on May 31
May 26, 2008:
Father Kurtis Gunwall
ordained May 24
May 21, 2008: Deacon Kurtis
Gunwall to be ordained a priest May 24
April 14, 2008: North Dakota
teenager creates video greeting for Pope Benedict XVI To see the
welcome video, click here.
(4.0 MB)
April 11, 2008: Youth
group from Native American mission parish in North Dakota
to attend Papal Mass in Washington, D.C.
February 6, 2008:
Monsignor Brian Donahue, Vicar
General for the Diocese of Fargo, to return to active duty with the military as
a Catholic chaplain
January 17, 2008:
Fargo Bishop reminds Catholics
that opposition to intrinsic evils is a non-negotiable requirement of Catholics
September 13, 2007:
“God is calling us to put an
end to abortion in North Dakota,”
Bishop Samuel Aquila tells the faithful, encouraging participation in the
national “40 Days for Life” campaign
May 1, 2007:
Monsignor Brian Donahue
to be Recognized May 4 For His Service as a Chaplain in the North Dakota Army
National Guard
February 14, 2007:
Catholic
politicians must act upon the truth of the inherent dignity of the human person
to be faithful Catholics, Bishop Samuel Aquila writes in newspaper column
November 13, 2006
Local bishop [Bishop
Samuel Aquila] featured in national publication for his teachings on death
penalty, Eucharist, marriage, natural family planning and other topics
August 31, 2006
Statement of
Most Rev. Samuel Aquila, Apostolic Administrator of Sioux Falls and Bishop of
Fargo, on the appointment of Msgr. Paul J. Swain as Bishop of Sioux Falls
August 29, 2006 Bishop
Samuel Aquila notes death penalty rarely, if ever, justified in the United
States.
August 24, 2006
Bishop Samuel Aquila calls FDA
approval of over-the-counter sales of Morning After Pill tragic and a reflection
of today's culture of death
July 14, 2006
Dunseith
parishes to be united under new name
- The Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
May 19, 2006
Bishop Aquila
encourages faithful to participate in effort to support
federal constitutional marriage amendment
April 9, 2006 Dozens of priests will renew commitment to priestly
service and sacramental oils will be blessed at April 10 Chrism Mass
April 9, 2006 Bishop Samuel Aquila encourages faithful to pray Divine
Mercy Novena for vocations to the priesthood, for reparation for the sins of the
clergy, and for victims of sexual abuse
March 9, 2006
Diocese
of Fargo bishop urges faithful to seek out the "real' Jesus, one who 'does not
call us to what we want, but to what God wants"
November 2, 2005
Catholic radio station in
North Dakota marks one year of broadcasting
October 13, 2005 Approaching
the Eucharist without conversion is a crisis of love,
Bishop Samuel Aquila notes in Year of the Eucharist reflection
October 2, 2005 A Poverty of the U.S. is its Approach to Life, Bishop Samuel
Aquila notes on Respect Life Sunday
August 3, 2005
More than 100 area teenagers and
adults to attend World Youth Day in Germany
July 18, 2005
Fargo Catholic Diocese Only Second Diocese in the
Nation to Require Training in Natural Family Planning as Part of Marriage
Preparation
April 2, 2005 DIOCESE OF
FARGO BISHOP REACTS TO DEATH OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
May 24, 2005
FIVE MEN TO BE
ORDAINED PRIESTS JUNE 4
May 24, 2005
TWO MEN ORDAINED
TRANSITIONAL DEACONS MAY 21
April 20, 2005
BISHOP SAMUEL AQUILA OFFERS CELEBRATORY MASS FOR POPE
BENEDICT XVI
March 31, 2005
Statement
by Bishop Samuel Aquila regarding Terri Schiavo's death
March 25, 2005
JESUS’
WORDS “I THIRST” ECHO STRUGGLE TO PRESERVE TERRI SHIAVO’S LIFE ON GOOD FRIDAY is
Bishop Samuel J. Aquila's Good Friday homily at the Cathedral of St. Mary,
Fargo, ND
March 15, 2005
Priests and bishops must surrender fully to God the
Father if they are to be good
spiritual fathers to the faithful, Bishop Samuel Aquila notes at Denver
symposium
February 24, 2005 Fargo
Bishop named interim administrator for Diocese of Sioux Falls
March 1, 2005
Women’s Health Care Pioneer Presents Medical Conference
in Fargo March 11
February 24,2005
Fargo Bishop named interim administrator for Diocese of
Sioux Falls
Dec.
17, 2004
Bishop Aquila issues pastoral letter on truths of the
catholic faith
Sept. 10, 2004
Rev. Msgr. Brian Donahue, Vicar General, called into
active duty in Iraq.
August 21,
2004
Reorganization of parishes
June 11, 2004 Released from
CWNews.com
Pope John Paul declares Year of the Eucharist
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