Greatly Earned Praise

 You may notice that I do not criticize individual countries, political parties, or individuals on this blog (unless there is a direct connection to Christianity). That is not its purpose. The blog is intended to be completely non-political and to be devoted to the teaching ministry of the Church. That does not mean that I cannot praise countries, political parties, or individuals.

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup games there have been many positive things: great attendance and enthusiasm, the attendees seriously enjoying themselves, pleasantly surprised positive reactions to actually experiencing the United States, and highly competitive game play with no obviously overmatched teams.

Something not directly related to soccer (aka football) has stood out to me. At the end of all of their games, the Japanese fans have handed out plastic bags and cleaned up all the trash from the stands! What else needs to be said?

248 Lives Discarded as Trash

Vladimir Legoida , Chairman of the Synodal Information  Department of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church has re-affirmed the church’s firm opposition to abortion after 248 fetuses were found in a forest in the Sverdlovsk region..  The fetuses were found, preserved in formaldehyde, in four metal drums dumped beside a highway between Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Tagil.

   

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/248-human-fetuses-found-russian-forest-16842305

This occurred in Russia, but it is not just a Russian problem.  Worldwide, millions of human lives are discarded each year.