SAT,
NOV 17, 2001 -- Former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner, considered an
abortion pioneer who helped to liberalize the Canada's abortion law in
1969, was the chairman of the fundraising dinner for the Archdiocese of
Toronto on October 18. From an article
by Father Alphonse De Valk, C.S.B., from lifesite.net.: “After
all, Mr. Turner guided the infamous abortion legislation of 1969 through
Parliament. How could such a politician be invited to chair the
Cardinal's Dinner?
“The critics would not have objected if Mr. Turner
had been prepared to publicly acknowledge that he was wrong in 1969 and
during the years following, when he still publicly boasted of
"being one of the architects of the legislation." But
Mr. Turner has made it clear that he is not about to do so.”
FRI,
NOV 9 -- Attorney General John Ashcroft was in town last weekend. He attended the annual Red Mass at Holy Cross Cathedral for members of the judiciary, and
spoke at the annual Catholic Lawyers Guild brunch. We decided to pass on this one, since the thought of applauding
Mr. Ashcroft doesn’t feel quite right. While his enemies slur him for being a religious conservative, and pro-lifers enthuse
that he is “one of us,” we still have unpleasant memories from his senate
confirmation testimony when he took the “I’m personally opposed, but…”
[that's a direct quote] route. It was amazing to see then how the majority of pro-lifers made excuses for this denial, and apparently
still do. To refresh ourselves, here’s a
link to that testimony.
The US Rainbow Sash Movement ("Gay
and Straight Catholics") will meet in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with
the annual Bishop's meeting. Auxiliary Bishop Gumbelton of Detroit sent a letter
of support. See their web site: www.RainbowSashMovement.org.
A
"Catholic" U.S.
Senate candidate compares pro-lifers to Taliban.
TUE, OCT 23 -- Priests for Life
banned in Boston: The
recent Mass. Citizens for Life newsletter and flyers
in various churches advertised homilies and other presentations by Father Dennis
Wilde of Priests for Life that were scheduled at Sacred Heart parish in Weymouth,
MA and other area churches this past weekend. But Father Wilde's appearance was cancelled by Cardinal
Law in a letter sent directly to Father Wilde.
Father Wilde had been in communication
with Barbara Thorpe of the Archdiocesan Pro-Life Office due to some concerns she
had raised about the fact that Priests for Life believes in using graphic images
to "show
the American people what an abortion is." Father Pavone, the former
National Director of Priests for Life is on the board of the Center
for Bioethical Reform, which makes it a priority to share with the nation
the world's largest collection of images of actual abortions.
Father Wilde made it clear, however, that he
had no intention of showing pictures of any kind during any of his homilies. But
the mere involvement with this tactic--which is a good one--disqualified Priests
for Life. After some communiques with the Pro-Life Office, Father Wilde received
a letter from the cardinal himself, directing Father Wilde not to speak at any
of the masses. In a letter to one of the organizers, Cardinal Law explained that
the difference in philosophies of communication made Father Wilde's message unsuitable for
parishes in the archdiocese.
But one Catholic figure
well known in pro-life circles
was enthusiastically welcomed in a cathedral recently: Senator Ted Kennedy, who
was praised from the pulpit by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at St. Matthew’s
Cathedral in Washington, D.C. At a mass marking the one month memorial of
September 11, Cardinal McCarrick paused in the pulpit to praise Senator Kennedy,
who was seated in the congregation, because Kennedy had called to offer
condolences to the cardinal over the loss of the cardinal’s nephew, a New York
City firefighter killed in the World Trade Center. While we agree that this is a
commendable gesture, it does not justify the scandal created by a prince of the
Church praising an abortion champion, and who is, in fact, a traitor to the
Church whose praise he accepts. (Boston Globe, 10/12/2001)
SAT, OCT 6 --Pro-abortion
New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jim
McGreevey, is scheduled to
appear on the grounds of the Catholic monastery Holy Face today.
MON,
SEPT 24 -- One consequence
of the terrorist attack
has been to emphasize the fact that some innocent life is more widely
valued than other innocent life, and that some categories of killers and
their supporters are more widely disdained than are others. Case in
point: two pro-abortion Catholic politicians—Mayor Giuliani and
Governor Pataki—occupied the front pew at a September 16 Mass at Saint
Patrick’s Cathedral, where they were praised from the pulpit and then
hugged by New York’s Cardinal Egan for their leadership—in itself very
laudable—of disaster relief efforts.
Their support for killing
pre-born children evidently does not disqualify them from this honor
bestowed by New York's spiritual leader, an honor that only elevates
them politically, and therefore fortifies the policies they defend.
Implication: in the face of real disaster, decent men put aside
the small issues, like abortion. If their allegiances on these two issues
were reversed, it is self-evident that they would not be publicly
honored for opposing abortion while supporting terrorism.
Of course, the cardinal knows very well that abortion
is no small issue, but there is little incentive, humanly speaking, to
stress the point now since so many Americans find it convenient to
ignore the issue, having already denied
the humanity of pre-born persons.
President
Bush apparently sees nothing wrong in appointing Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Ridge, another pro-abortion Catholic, to his cabinet—with
no prominent Catholic objections that we are aware of.
Obviously, some victims are more valuable than others, and some killers
are to be more disdained than others.
SAT,
SEPT 8 -- The Pilot (Boston's
archdiocesan weekly) had a rather pathetic editorial
entitled, "Excommunicate
pro-abortion pols? It's a bad idea" in their September 7 issue,
reprinted from August 3 issue of the Catholic Exponent, the diocesan weekly from Youngstown,
Ohio. A sample thought: "[T]he
whole idea of excommunicating public officials who do not agree with Church
teaching is an outmoded, heavy-handed, almost medieval approach to changing
hearts and minds – not to mention public opinion."
It's possible that the story is
just making the rounds, but its appearance in The Pilot occurred
just days after the national Holy Name Society convention in Boston;
Catholic pro-lifers solicited conventioneers' signatures for the
excommunication petition after their September 1 Mass.
WED, SEPT 5 -- LIMA, PERU (CWNews.com)
Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani of Lima, the primate of Peru, has
instructed pastors to deny Holy Communion to politicians and other
public figures if they persist in public support for abortion.
Upon the request of Cardinal Cipriani, the archdiocesan Pastoral
Commission has sent to all pastors a documenten titled, Moral and
Legal Dimensions of Abortion, which is designed to set forth "a
pastoral and sacramental response to the increasing culture of death, as
well as consistent criteria to deal with this grave moral problem."
The document, written in a question-and-answer format, reminds pastors
that the Church describes abortion as "a horrendous crime,"
because "it takes away the life of an innocent creature entitled to
be loved by his parents, and who has been deprived of enjoying the goods
of this life,in particular Baptism and the graces of Christianity."
The text also recalls that the penalty of excommunication latae
sententiae -- automatically imposed -- is still applied to all those
involved in an abortion, "including the assistant doctors, the
nurse, whoever provides the money, etc."
It also says that those who assume a favorable position regarding
abortion "are committing a grave fault by supporting a crime.
...The pastor having a parish member in this condition can deny him Holy
Communion in public, only after warning him or her in private," the
text says.
Finally, the document call pastors to promote the culture of life
through positive initiatives, including "praying for
legislators," assisting women in crisis pregnancies, educating
people about the development of life inside the womb, and encouraging
the media to join in building a culture of
life.