We are glad to offer our readers another testimony of a grace received from Our Lady of Good Success. Mrs. Anne Cillis from Canada wrote an interesting report on what took place this early December (2008) in the elections in Canada. Since her description includes a rich panorama of the political situation of her country, we deemed it more advantageous for our readers to read her original text. It can be found here.

TIA correspondence desk

Dear TIA,

Thank you for the moral formation you have given Catholic voters in the numerous and well researched articles of your website.

As Catholics we are obliged to uphold the natural law in public life and thus the civil order, inasmuch as it is just.

In the US, our fundamental law is the US Constitution, which though not perfect and in parts serious flawed, has been in part the basis of much of the peace and tranquility of the country and the Church for these last 200 years.

One grave crisis in our country, which the secular media has entirely ignored, is the brewing constitutional crisis regarding the recent presidential election.

As you may know, Article II, Section I, paragraph 5, if the US Constitution, requires that a presidential candidate meet certain requirements: he must be a natural born citizen, be at least 35 years of age and have lived in the USA for 14 years prior to seeking office.

All our previous presidents met these requirements. However, neither McCain nor Obama, are natural born citizens.

The mainstream media in recent months has at most, only spoken about the controversy regarding the highly improbable opinion of some that Obama was not born in the USA. BUT THAT OF WHICH I SPEAK has nothing to do with this.

The real controversy, which is the basis of several lawsuits before the Supreme Court, regards the natural born citizen clause of the US Constitution. To be a natural born citizen, you must be born on US soil AND at the same time have parents who are both US citizens at the time of your birth.

I beg your patience, while I explain this important issue, which we as Catholics and Americans should know.

First, I ask you to thoughtfully consider the following, and if necessary to confer with lawyers trusted by you, who have knowledge of constitutional and federal law. I make citations that they would be familiar with, and you can confirm them in any of the Law libraries in Boston. This is not my argument, but that which I have read in various articles by lawyers and constitutional historians.

Here is an explanation based on historical sources, US Law and Supreme Court rulings:

I. A "natural born citizen" (NBC for short) is a concept defined by Emmerich De Vattel, in his work, The Law of Nations, which was the handbook of political philosophy and law used by our Founding Fathers to write the US Constitution.

For Vattel's definition of natural born citizenship, in his treatise The Law of Nations, 1758 edition:

"The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens."

Entire 1883 Edition of De Vattel's, The Law of Nations may be found here

For other on line resources for de Vattel click here.

A scholarly article demonstrating that our Founding Fathers used Vattel as their guide in writing the US Constitution is "Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness: How the Natural Law Concept of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Inspired America's Founding Fathers" by Robert Trout, which appeared in Fidelio magazine, Vol. VI, No.1, Spring, 1997.

II. Thus a natural born citizen, according to the US Constitution, is a citizen born in the USA of parents who are citizens at the time of birth. This is well established: see Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325, 1939; Minor V. Happersett, 88 U. S. 162, 1874); a discussion on this may be found here; differing classifications of US citizenship, according to the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and Case law are expalined here.

Thus even if you were born in the USA, but your father was a British national at the time of your birth, you are not a natural born citizen. Or if both your parents were citizens, but you were born in Panama, you are not a NBC at birth.

III. Thus neither McCain nor Obama are natural born citizens. On the other hand, every president since Washington was a Natural Born Citizen. And this has always been understood.

IV. The support given to Obama by the Democratic Party, is thus, in contravention to the US Constitution, and the Senate will not be able to lawfully certify the votes of the Electoral College in favor of him on Jan. 8th. (cf. the numerous citations of Case law here under "Repugnance and Nullity", and in the subsequent Messages where in 16 Am Jur 2d, Sec 177 late 2d, Sec 256 and Norton v. Shelby County, 118 U.S. 425, 1886) are cited.

I would ask you to consider giving some news coverage to this important constitutional issue at TIA's website. Seeing that Obama has advocated many gravely immoral positions regarding stem cell research, abortion promotion, redefinition of marriage, etc. etc., Catholics need moral guidance on the issue of this constitutional issue, if the Senate should allow Obama to be inaugurated on January 20th.

A constitutional crisis hangs over this nation, and there will be great turmoil if we lack a legitimate holder of the office of presidency on January 20th. According to Dr. Edward Viera, a noted constitutional lawyer, such a lack of a legitimate president would mean that no federal law, not ambassadorial appointments, no judicial appointments, no spending bills, etc. would be valid in law.

For more on this, click here.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this point. I urge you to bring this issue to the knowledge of your readers.

May the grace and peace of the New Born Lord, and His Immaculate Mother, be yours this holy season of Christmas, which dawns upon us.

     Sincerely in Christ,

     Br. Alexis Bugnolo
     Mansfield, MA 02048

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