Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • October 15, 2021 7 THANKSGIVING NOVENA TO ST. JUDE O Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful in- tercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need, to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me in my present and urgent petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked. St. Jude pray for us and all who invoke your aid. Amen. Say three Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glorias. Pub- lication must be promised. This Novena has never been known to fail. I have had my request granted. Publication promised. LCL In thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit, Blessed Mother and St. Jude, for prayers answered. BAB Parishioners from Our Lady of Victories Parish in Pascagoula, Sacred Heart Parish in Pascagoula, St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Moss Point participated in the Life Chain on Sunday, October 3. The annual pro-life event was held on Hwy 90 in Pascagoula. Among the participants were Father Everard “Lalo” Mora-Torres, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish and Father Arockia Doss IVDei, parochial administrator of St. Mary Parish. East Jackson County parishes participate in Life Chain Federal judge’s order temporarily blocks Texas’ abortion law BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A federal judge Oct. 6 temporarily blocked Texas from enforcing a law that went into effect Sept. 1 banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The order from U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas, granted an emer- gency request from the Justice Department, which had already sued the state saying the abortion law was unconstitutional. Pitman’s 113-page order said that once the new abortion law “went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising con- trol over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution.” “This court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right,” it added. The judge also criticized the means of enforcing the new law, saying lawmakers had “con- trived an unprecedented and transparent statutory scheme” with its emphasis on private citizens bringing civil lawsuits in state court against abortion providers. Texas planned to file an appeal of Pitman’s ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Texas Right to Life called the ruling “wildly broad, preventing Texas state officials from enforcing the law, including the shocking prevention to stop Texas elected officials and every Texas judge and court clerk from even receiving law- suits filed by citizens against the abortion industry.” Catholic activists speak out against execution of Missouri man BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Following the Oct. 5 execution of Ernest Johnson at a state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri, Catholic opponents of the death pen- alty emphasized that this didn’t have to happen. “Ernest Johnson should not have been executed. He was intel- lectually disabled and categorically ineligible for the death penalty. Ernest was a human being. He commit- ted a terrible crime and was deeply remorseful. This was not justice,” tweeted Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille, who is a longtime death pen- alty opponent. “Our work to end the death penalty, a system that targets some of our most vulnerable mem- bers of society, continues,” tweeted Catholics Mobilizing Against the Death Penalty, after Johnson was executed at 6:11 p.m. local time by lethal injection. An Oct. 6 statement from Missouri’s Catholic bishops, issued by the state’s Catholic conference, said they were disappointed with the state’s decision to move forward with Johnson’s execution. “Ernest Lee Johnson’s crimes were heinous and deserve to be pun- ished, yet as Missouri has shown itself to be a pro-life state, we should stop using the death penalty as a means of dealing with violent crimes,” said the bishops, who in September had called for clemency for Johnson. “The death penalty degrades us as a society,” they said in their October statement.