Little Sisters of the Poor Beg on Behalf of Elderly

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, Feb. 7 — The Los Angeles Times profiled the work of the Little Sisters of the Poor, the religious order devoted to caring for impoverished elderly citizens and comforting them on their deathbeds with prayer and song.

“Everyone likes to take care of kids, and the older people get forgotten sometimes,” Sister Mary Augustine told the paper. “But you can't dump old people. They are walking history books. They've made lots of contributions. All of a sudden they're not worth anything anymore?”

There are 3,100 Little Sisters in 32 countries, The Times noted, explaining what it means to call their group a mendicant (or “begging”) order: Following the instructions of their foundress, Blessed Jeanne Jugan, the Sisters do not build up an endowment, unlike most religious charities. Instead, the Sisters rely on divine providence, living from day to day by the motto, “If God is with us, it will be accomplished.”

The paper gave an example of this attitude being rewarded: at a Little Sisters home in San Pedro, Calif., where the nuns’ superior learned Feb. 3 that she faced a payroll of $80,000 within three days with only $21,000 in the bank. She told her staff: “Wait until the mail comes in.”

That day she received an unexpected check for $50,000 from a foundation and a note promising the rest of the money.

Man Convicted in Quebec of Defrauding Nuns

CANADIAN PRESS, Feb. 5 — A Quebec court has convicted accountant Denis Schmouth of fraud, corruption and theft for his part in defrauding an order of nuns of $100 million, according to the Canadian Press news service.

The court found that Schmouth lied to the nuns about his realestate deals, managing to persuade Les Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur of Quebec City and Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil of Saguenay, Quebec, to pour their money into a Montreal shopping center that went bankrupt.

Schmouth awaits sentencing. His co-conspirator, lawyer Jean-Pierre Cantin, pleaded guilty in 2000 and drew a five-and-a-half-year prison term, while Jean-Alain Bisaillon, the project's real-estate developer, committed suicide in 2002.

Mixed Signals on ‘Emergency Contraception’

KAISER DAILY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH REPORT, Feb. 6 — The Education Committee of the Virginia House of Delegates produced a puzzling series of decisions Feb. 4 regarding the pharmacological treatment called “emergency contraception,” which prevents conception or prevents a fertilized egg from implanting — therefore widely considered an abortifacient.

On the one hand, the committee approved a bill that would require public schools to teach students about emergency contraception as a resource for rape survivors as part of the state's Family Life Education curriculum, which also includes discussion of abstinence and adoption as a “positive response” to an unwanted pregnancy.

The same committee sent along two other bills relating to “emergency contraception” to the state House Courts of Justice Committee.

One would prohibit distribution of the medicine on state college campuses. The other would require that minors obtain parental consent before receiving the drugs.