![[IMAGE]](corp7.bmp)
|
Use this to Find an Article of Interest |
| June Newsletter, 1999 | Newsletter Index | CoR Home | Contact Us | Feedback |
|
|
Use this to Find an Article of Interest |
| June Newsletter, 1999 | Newsletter Index | CoR Home | Contact Us | Feedback |
By Barry Forbes
America will soon bridge the new millennium encumbered with a tragedy of almost unthinkable proportions. Since 1973's Roe vs. Wade, more than 38 million unborn children have been trashed, a slaughter without historical precedent. Generations from now, people will ponder how humankind could kill so many, so often, for so little.
One wonders, where are the Christians?
Every Saturday morning, five or ten of them gather to pray in front of Planned Parenthood's Apache Boulevard abortuary in Tempe, Arizona. It is a profoundly spiritual experience. It's also intriguing to muse about who won't ever make an appearance here.
Without exception, you'll find no media types praying on this sidewalk. Even though the vast majority of Christians abhor abortion, it's politically incorrect and could be noxious for the media type's image. No C.E.O.'s or executives either. Someone might recognize them championing their beliefs; that could be disconcerting. Politicians? Not on their life – far too controversial for comfort. Ditto for priests and ministers – not to save their souls, or anyone else's for that matter.
Sidewalk praying and counseling is one of the final front lines of America's abortion wars, and it is unequivocally legal. Here on Apache Boulevard, the faithful gather on a perimeter sidewalk bordering a strip mall, just a couple hundred yards from the front doors of the killing grounds. And they pray.
Young women arrive with and without partners. They enter the doors of the abortuary. The sidewalk people pray harder.
People of conviction influence women seeking abortions. The presence of pro-lifers makes all the difference, some young women say, furnishing not a few of them with the courage to say no – not now, not ever. Sidewalk prayers and counseling works. A child lives. Planned Parenthood is out $300.
Where are the Christians?
Years ago, that question ignited impassioned debate in one of my high school religion classes. While studying slavery and the holocaust, we deduced that there are always a few who benefit economically at the terrible human expense of others. Even though millions were enslaved and millions more died in concentration camps, a certain class of society prospered and completely justified their actions – or lack of them. Multitudes more simply couldn't be bothered to speak up.
Today, abortion is approaching a billion dollar business in the U.S. alone. Those who practice it seem to have little problem justifying themselves. Sadly, we enable their behavior by our universal inability to stand up for our own core beliefs. Our silence is deafening.
Protesting has always been a viable form of social expression, but risk is an inherent part of the equation. While slavery reined, one could endanger his own life, face deflagration or be ostracized from society – and it happened. During the holocaust, one could be hurled into ovens along with 12 million other Jews, gypsies and political undesirables – and many were.
On Apache Boulevard, your fate might include someone honking their horn at you, or screaming an obscenity your way, or even giving you the middle- finger salute. Frightening, isn't it? It certainly must be because the vast majority of Christians are scared to death. Only a tiny fraction is willing to draw a legal line on the pavement of life.
Somehow, my 1960s high school class missed a primary reason for the enduring longevity of slavery, the silence of the holocaust, the continuing acquiescence to abortion.
Christians, it turns out, are spiritual cowards. Worse, we are led by spiritual cowards who wouldn't be caught dead praying on a sidewalk, and who are seemingly blind to one of the greatest moral battles of all time. (Sorry, lip service doesn't count.) We deserve each other because we've abandoned 38 million unborn children en masse to the likes of Planned Parenthood, and we refuse to recognize our own culpability.
On an average day, 4,000 American unborn children will die a painful death, the vast majority simply because they are inconvenient, unwanted and very, very profitable.
Where are the Christians?
By Katherine Sabelko
In a lengthy article, Terminator, June 17, by Ann Silverman in Phoenix New Times, a third-rate rag newspaper, published in Phoenix, Arizona, Brian Finkel showed his normal, hate-filled personality. His language, actions and his prized possessions depict a dangerous personality.
His hatred for people shows in the statement about his own parents, saying, "I won't take it. From anybody. Not from the ejaculator who inseminated the cow that birthed me, to any one of those dysfunctional, hate-filled religionists that I'm forced to interact with."
He proudly displays a nude painting of a teenage girl, "quite young" as the author of the article describes her, while referring to Filipinos and Hispanics in racist terms.
Silverman reports, "Finkel's wearing a blood-red dress shirt, tie and cufflinks, a beeper on one hip and a Colt .45 on the other. He leads his visitors to the Squaw Peak Room. "This is where I do the deed," he says, patting a three-foot high metal box the manufacturer calls the Synevac Vacuum Curettage;
Finkel calls it the Super Sucker. "This is my abortion machine, where I do the Lord's work. I heal the sick with it. From the time I start the operation, it takes three minutes. With prep, about 10 minutes.
"See, you use the suction device to empty the uterus, it pulls the tissue out, then you take the sharp curettage with this little thing on it, and that scrapes the lining of the uterus to make sure everything's out," Finkel says matter-of-factly, holding up a long device that looks like a pair of knitting needles.
No reference to the baby, if you notice.
We can not even print the majority of Finkel's comments because they are heavily laced with crudeness, vulgarity and obscenities. His language and actions depict a man that no one wants to be around. The Finkels acknowledged that they have few friends in the medical profession. Just the poses he takes for the cameras, with fists full of dollars, calling it the "day's take" would turn any professional against him. As his wife complained, "No body calls."
Another portion of the article shows not the pro-life violent side but the abortionist's violent personality: This guy even calls his guns "sweetheart."
"Got a Tech 9. Every gynecologist needs a Tech 9."Here's his first semi-automatic, "so I could have more rounds, 'cause they were bringing me more Christians."
There's a Smith and Wesson .40 and a few rifles, "for crowd control down at the office."
"Ya ever looked down a gun?" he asks. "C'mon, it's fun. . . . Pretend the Catholic hordes are after you."
Here's a Chinese assault rifle. "You know why I bought this one? Because I could. . . . And I also have armor-piercing bullets." Here's the "classic girl chick gun" . And here, is his pride and joy: a handmade FBI sniper rifle. Finkel sets it up on the bed, points it toward the window, starts fiddling.
After a while he rises, puts the gun away and secures the metal shield that rolls down over the window, covering it completely.
"I'm not supposed to have the windows open after dark," Finkel says. He pauses to ruminate on his 30-weapon arsenal and his 17 years in Phoenix.
It seemed that in this extremely long article, Silverman just let Finkel ramble on, while interviewing him at his office and then at dinner at his home.
Silverman did more to help the pro-life movement than 100 articles in the mainstream press about the horrors of abortion. She stated:
As an osteopathic physician, he's largely estranged from the allopathic community, and lots of docs -- D.O. and M.D. -- simply don't want to associate with an abortionist. Finkel can't get office space on a hospital campus.And beyond all that, he's obnoxious. Finkel doesn't merely revel in his work. He rubs your nose in it. He's the Joe Arpaio of abortionists, and his self-promoting antics, chauvinism and gallows humor are enough to make a devout pro-choicer queasy.
Many teens read the free Phoenix New Times, sadly, because of the soft porn and the entertainment sections. In this case, the teens reading this article will see the sickness of this man. It is a quick jump from knowing Finkel to believing all abortionists are this crude, rude, racist and greedy. If they believe that, it might be the biggest deterrent we have for them to choose life for the baby and the mother.
The article can be found on the Internet at www.phoenicnewtimes.com/1999/061799/feature1-1.
By Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
"I've been pro-life from day one. I don't believe in abortion — it's against my wishes. I never wanted an abortion and never went for one."
Believe it or not, those are words spoken by the plaintiff in one of the two companion abortion decisions of the United States Supreme Court which legalized abortion throughout the 50 states and throughout [a] pregnancy.
January 22 is marked each year by the remembrance of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. But Roe vs. Wade was not the only decision on abortion issued that day. The Supreme Court issued a companion decision, Doe vs. Bolton, which is meant to be read in conjunction with Roe vs. Wade. The plaintiff was Sandra Cano. She describes January 22 not as a day of victory, even though she "won" the case, but as a day of tragic sadness for her and the babies. She is so deeply opposed to abortion that she wants the case re-opened and her name — as well as the lies associated with it — purged from the records.
Roe vs. Wade said the only abortions the state could prohibit, if it wanted, were abortions in the third trimester provided they were not necessary for the woman's life or health. The exact words of the Court are, "For the stage subsequent to viability the State, in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life, may, if it chooses, regulate, and even proscribe, abortion except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." (Roe, 410 U.S. at 164-65)
In the companion case of Doe vs. Bolton, the Court defined the scope of the "health" exception as follows: "The medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age — relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health." (Doe, 410 U.S. at 192).
What this means, as the analysis of the University of Detroit Law Review points out, is that the Supreme Court's decisions "allowed abortion on demand throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy" (Vol. 67, Issue 2, p.157, note 3).
And all based on lies.
When Sandra Cano of Atlanta, Ga. approached her attorneys for help, she understood her case as an effort to obtain a divorce and regain custody of her children. She was pregnant, and her attorney, in partnership with Sandra's mother, arranged an abortion for Sandra at Georgia Baptist Hospital. Sandra had no knowledge of this plan. Such an act was so far from her intentions that when Sandra finally found out about it, she fled to Oklahoma alone.
On March 23, 1997, Sandra Cano joined Norma McCorvey (the plaintiff in Roe vs. Wade) at the National Memorial for the Unborn at Chattanooga, TN, where they both publicly renounced their role in these abortion decisions. Her words are a sign of lasting hope for our nation: "I pledge that as long as I have breath, I will strive to see abortion ended in America."
By Mike Richmond
If one of every 50 full-term births resulted in a punctured uterus, pro-choicers would have a field day denouncing the dangers of motherhood. But since it is induced abortion (vacuum aspiration) that has the 1-in-50 risk of a punctured uterus, little is heard from the pro-choicers. From whence comes the 1-in-50 risk estimate?
Abortionists Drs. Steven Kaali, George Bartfai, and Ivan Szigetvari in an August 1989 article published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. [1] But since other studies have reported lower estimates for uterine perforation rates, why highlight the Kaali report? In the Kaali study the doctors could actually see (via "direct laparoscopic visualization") the punctures. In their words:
"Two perforations (2.8/1000 procedures) were reported before laparoscopy. Twelve (15.6/1000 [sic] procedures) unsuspected perforations were discovered during direct laparscopic visualization. This represents a 19.8/1000 procedures rate of perforation (14 cases)...Our data suggest that the true incidence of uterine perforation is significantly underestimated..."
How can a vacuum procedure possibly lead to a punctured uterus? Dr. J.C. Willke informs us, "He then inserts a hollow tube, which has a knife-like edge on the tip, into the uterus."[2] The plastic tube (with knife-like tip) serves TWO functions: first, a vacuum channel, and second, a uterus scraper.
Women under general anesthesia are much less likely to feel excess force being applied and thus, less likely to warn the abortionist.
In the 1970s induced abortion was BESSIE (Blind Elective Surgery, Sharp Instruments Employed). In the 1980s abortion was still BESSIE and remains so today. Talk show host Dr. Bill Wattenburg thinks BESSIE type procedures are just fine. Would he be willing undergo a Blind Elective Surgery himself? He hasn't said.
References - [1] The frequency and management of uterine perforations during first-trimester abortions, American J Obstetrics & Gynecology, Steven Kaali, et al., 1989;161:406-8 [2] Abortion: Questions & Answers (Dr. J.C. Willke, 1985)
What walked into Columbine High School Tuesday [April 20] was the culture of death. That is the Pope's phrase: it is how he describes the world we live in....Most of the children who wind up getting in terrible trouble and wind up with guns in their hands don't have anyone to counter the culture...So we think our children will be O.K. But they have never had a normal culture against which to balance the newer, slicker one. They have no reference points to the old, boring normality.
-- The Wall Street Journal, April 22, The Culture of Death, by Peggy Noonan
On pg. 10 of your May newsletter a reader takes you to task for opposing this award, on the grounds that Mr. Basha has done many acts of kindness.
I got the identical reaction from the head of our local St. Vincent de Paul, a wonderful gentleman who, along with his dedicated wife, has contributed thousands of hours serving the poor. My response: even a whole lifetime of kindnesses cannot begin to equal the importance of a single infant whose life is taken through abortion: End of conversation!
One positive development from this debacle is that it points to the need for pro-life to re-examine its educational efforts among its so-called allies and friends! I won't go so far as to say: with friends like these, who needs enemies? But I do say these people need carefully to evaluate their attitudes to determine just how pro-life they really are!
They start down a very slippery slope when they allow that good deeds entitle one to support even pro-abortionists who perform them. For example, how many acts of kindness entitle an abortionist to be exonerated? Is it 5, or 50, or 500 or more?
Or maybe they can receive absolution if they contribute enough dollars or other resources to "worthy" causes? But again, how many and how much of each!
If we are really pro-lifers we must believe life is too precious at any price!!!
Deacon Frank Lambert
Green Valley, AZ
I couldn't help but notice that The Catholic Sun newspaper in Phoenix chooses to advertise Basha's supermarket, who we all know is owned by the Pro-Choice, Eddie Basha. I called up The Catholic Sun to voice my protest. They felt justified in advertising him since they have done so for the past 14 years, (completely ignoring the fact of his pro-choice position). First St. Vincent De Paul, now The Catholic Sun newspaper. It is crystal clear the statement the church is making in regards to who and what they support.
Pat Veit
Phoenix, AZ
Thank you for your newsletter. The material on Eddie (and Mrs.) Basha and the St. Vincent de Paul Society was extremely interesting.
However, you may be missing what might be the biggest story of all:
The 1999 National (annual) Meeting of the Society will be in Orange County CA (Marriott Hotel in Newport Beach) on Sept. 8 to 12. Featured speaker is Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J. (Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille), a major opponent of the death penalty and author of Dead Man Walking. She is also a member of Amnesty International.
More importantly, there are reports in the publications of traditional Catholic organizations that Sr. Prejean's views on abortion are somewhat out of line with those of the Catholic Church. She quotes dissenting Jesuit theologian Richard A. McCormick who promotes the "conscience clause" whereby Catholics can ignore Church teachings by following their own conscience.
More recent news reports indicate that she now couches her answers more carefully, stating that she supports the position of the church while refusing to make an unequivocal statement of opposition to abortion.
At the time the St. Vincent de Paul Society made the announcement about Sister Prejean's appearance, the USA Today webpage listed "her new book," If Mama Ain't Happy, then Nobody's Happy., A Woman's Struggle To Obtain Equality in the Roman Catholic Church. It listed the book as being published by Random House in 1997; however, a search of current websites fails to find this book (or any new book under her name) in any catalog, so either the book was never published or some other author's name was used. However the title alone should give you some idea of how much a feminist she is.
If pro-life organizations over there can raise some public objections, perhaps there still is a chance of withdrawing the invitation.
Jonathan Hatherbrey
Phoenix, AZ
I have for many years worked at St. Vincent de Paul dining room as well as the Ask Women's Center and have participated in the weekly rosaries at Planned Parenthood.
In our April 1999 issue of the Children of the Rosary Newsgram the letter by Katherine Sabelko to Bishop Thomas O'Brien was printed but his response, if any, was not. Would it be possible to send me a copy of his response and, perhaps, also publish it in the next issue?
On the front page there is an article by Geoff Coleman, "Which Side Are You On?" Being actively involved in both organizations, I find it very difficult to have to make that choice.
My husband and I eagerly look forward to the monthly Newsgram as a source of encouragement and information.
Mary Novak
Phoenix, AZ
I was sad to read that Bishop Thomas O'Brien did not even have the decency to reply to your letter of concern about St. Vincent de Paul honoring Basha, a known supporter of homosexuality and abortion.
No wonder Our Lord warns us that the rich man has difficulty gaining heaven. We are not asking Basha or the Bishop to go through the eye of the needle. They aren't asked to give up all their worldly possessions - just not ignore or support the abortion issue.
St. Vincent de Paul has certainly lost my respect because I know that though many of the members were against it, I also am not dumb! If there were only 25 people there, it certainly shows that St. Vincent de Paul cares enough to join the picket line!
Alice Webber
Chandler, AZ
A quick note to say "Hi" from Connecticut and to share our newsletter. Our May 8th vigil was inspiring and prayerful.
My husband suggested that I send our newsletter and encouragement for you and your ministry. You were the people who impressed us with your love and concern for the unborn and the tidal wave of family devastation (of values and importance).
God bless all of you and keep your newsletter coming to keep all of us from becoming lazy and unfocused. All we have to do is to look around our poor country to know what DISRESPECT FOR LIFE has come to.
Phil and Mary Liquori
By Paul deParrie
Larry Donlan was amazed and not surprised when he heard it. Still, Donlan never thought he would be picketing against an abortionist at a church. Yet, on February 23, here he was in Lincoln, Nebraska. After years in the pro-life movement, Donlan, director of Rescue the Heartland, just shook his head when he first learned that the notorious abortionist, Winston Crabb, not only openly attended a local church, but was counted among their leadership, as a deacon.
The church was Westminster Presbyterian Church at 2110 Sheridan in Lincoln, Nebraska. Westminster is a part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination. Committed to dealing with the issue according to Scripture, Donlan and others first spoke to Crabb individually, then with witnesses present, as prescribed in Matthew 18.
After having done so, Donlan sent a letter to the governing board of the church — called a session. In it, Donlan reminded the leaders that Timothy's list of qualifications for leadership in the church said that such people were to be "above reproach" and that John Calvin, upon whose reformation teaching the denomination is allegedly based, called abortion "an inexpiable crime."
"How can someone whose very profession is to commit such crimes be considered 'beyond reproach?'" Donlan asked. After a cursory response from the session, Donlan went to the congregation as quietly as possible. Without any public fanfare, Rescue the Heartland leafleted the cars in the church parking lot during services with material laying out the complaint to the members of the church.
"Several members of the church came over and thanked us for what we had done," said Donlan. But when even this measure failed to draw an official response, another letter was sent to the pastor, William C. Yeager, informing him that unless some action was taken by the church, a public demonstration at the church would follow. Yeager's response? He would call the police to deal with any trespassers and that the church "is seeking legal counsel as to what our rights and privileges are." What he said about abortionist Crabb was that he was "elected by due process" to both a deacon and, later, to the session. "We welcome him and his Christian leadership," Yeager wrote and noted that the church was "broadly inclusive" regarding members' beliefs on abortion.
So, on Sunday, February 23, almost two dozen activists from Rescue the Heartland displayed large photos of aborted babies at all the entrances to the church grounds and passed out more leaflets on the 'scandal' of having Crabb as a church leader.
Media response was so hot that a large front page article appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star the day before the event. "Some of the people who came to the picket came as a result of the article," said Donlan. "Others deliberately drove by and indicated their support because of it." Dozens of news agencies had reporters on site. One television station, after issuing a disclaimer, showed the graphic posters the demonstrators were displaying.
Yeager did not mention the picket going on outside during the service but relied upon an insert in the bulletin to explain his position to the congregation. Again several congregation members indicated their support of Rescue the Heartland's actions. "One couple brought coffee and encouraged us," Donlan said. Crabb, though he attended that morning, was not seen by the protesters so the troupe drove to Crabb's residence at 2940 S. 24th Street in Lincoln for a prayer session after the demonstration at the church. While there, a man, accompanied by his young son, screamed obscenities at the group and ended by going to Crabb's door and offering his "support." The young boy followed his father's example in shouting obscenities at the praying group. As the man drove away, police stopped him for drunk driving, driving on a suspended license, and other outstanding warrants.
Picketing Westminster Presbyterian Church: The "Christian" response
As soon as the picket by Rescue the Heartland was over, the media began seeking out comments from pastors and leaders in other Christian churches in the area. It was a "given" that the Lincoln Journal Star would object to the tactic. And Larry Donlan of Rescue the Heartland was not surprised as the ever-insipid Lincoln Right to Life denounced them. But that pastors would condemn his actions and those of his group without so much as a phone call or an inquiry disappointed him.
One objector, Robert Kunz, a pastor at First Christian Church at 430 S. 16th Street said, "The thing that puzzles me about this particular group is that Christians are supposed to be able to talk about their differences.
"These people are using a violent, in-your-face approach that seems to go contrary to the idea of Christian servanthood." Donlan noted that Kunz never "sat down and talked" with him or anyone from Rescue the Heartland before trashing him in the press. Kunz did not attend any of the events and had no first-hand knowledge of whether the activities were "violent." Nor did Kunz acknowledge the lengths to which Rescue the Heartland went to keep the matter private and engage the issue according to Scripture. Lauren Ekdahl, pastor at Trinity Methodist Church at 1345 S. 16th Street said, "These are people who don't know how to engage in civil discourse." Ekdahl was not present for any Rescue the Heartland activity.
Other pastors who expressed similar sentiments were Otis Young, pastor of First-Plymouth Congregational Church at 2000 D Street, Bryan Clark, pastor of Lincoln Berean 6400 S. 70th Street. James Dawson, a priest at Risen Christ Roman Catholic Church at 3500 Sheridan Boulevard.
Stu Kerns, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church at 4000 Sheridan Boulevard, who has members who regularly picket at the local Planned Parenthood, declined to state whether the Rescue the Heartland demonstrations were themselves appropriate. "Nobody from our church was there," he said. But Kerns, whose church is affiliated with the same denomination as Westminster Presbyterian, said he agreed with the general statement by Lincoln Right to Life that opposed all picketing of residences or places of worship. "The question isn't whether or not people approve of protesting at a church," said Donlan, "but how a church that professes faith in Jesus Christ can appoint a known, active child-killer as a deacon and then as an elder. Our purpose was to expose this scandalous hypocrisy, and we accomplished that purpose."
Some U.N. agencies condition their aid to victims of hurricane 'Mitch' by imposing birth-control plans. This determined policy of U.N. agencies was made official during the meeting, which concludes today in Stockholm, of the Consultative Group for the Reconstruction of Central America, led by the Inter-American Development Bank, and including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
According to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, the Reconstruction Group was created last December to launch an international fund-raising campaign for humanitarian aid to the peoples of Central America affected by last October's hurricane 'Mitch.'
The donor countries have guaranteed the Stockholm meeting $6.2 billion but, in exchange, request from the interested governments certain commitments, salient among which are programs for birth control.
By Joseph Collison
On a recent afternoon I was working at Caring Families, a crisis pregnancy center in my town, when I noticed a young woman walking back and forth in front of our window. Soon I heard a tap on the door. The young woman stepped in timidly, shut the door, tried to smile, and began to cry. 'I'm in trouble," she said. "I'm pregnant."
She certainly was in trouble. Her husband (or boyfriend) had learned she was pregnant and had taken off. The landlord had told her to get out but wouldn't let her take her few sticks of furniture because no rent had been paid. She had come downtown looking for help, but none of the three agencies she talked to could do anything that day.
I'm not a counselor, and none was present, but I offered to make an appointment with a counselor for the following day. She began to cry again. She had no money, the needle on her gas gauge was on empty, and she had no food in the apartment. We talked awhile; I gave her gas money, made up a box of food, and told her to come back for her appointment.
The young woman came back to Caring Families and talked with a counselor, who gave her what help she needed and made what arrangements were necessary. Later the counselor told me that the woman was surprised to learn that Caring Families is a Christian agency. "I didn't know Christians would help me," she told the counselor. "I thought they were all mean."
I was startled. How could she believe that all Christians are "mean"? But on second thought, why should young people believe otherwise when their textbooks give them a twisted version of history, and every day they see religious belief mocked and ridiculed on television sitcoms and news shows?
In America today, those who really help young women in trouble are the prolifers, those whom the pro-abortionists have trained the news media to call "anti-choice zealots" and "religious fanatics." I have known hundreds of these "fanatics," people who help troubled young women with problem pregnancies, who reach out to women who have had abortions to help them to reconciliation and healing, who pray daily for abortionists and their victims.
Caring Families is typical of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). There are over 3,000 in the United States, about twice as many as there are abortion mills preying on our wives and daughters. Most CPCs are manned by volunteers, though some, like ours, have one or two part-time paid workers. A few in large cities can afford full-time paid directors, though these also have volunteer staffs. I'm not aware of any centers that charge for their services, though most are small and perpetually underfunded. I'm also not aware of any abortion mills that do not charge for their services.
Recently a young man denouncing prolife "fanatics" in a letter to the Hartford (Conn.) Courant wrote, "When it comes to sex, the Catholic Church doesn't have a clue." Normally, of course, I ignore such a sentiment, attributing it to cerebral deficiency. But that statement probably represents the presumption of a majority of our young people. So it might be worthwhile to consider who really "doesn't have a clue" - the prolife "fanatics" or the leaders of our culture of death.
In the U.S. today, half of all marriages end in divorce, and among those who have lived together before marriage divorce is three times as high as among those who haven't. On the other hand, among prolife "fanatics" divorce is rare. Indeed, among those who use Natural Family Planning instead of contraceptives, divorce is even rarer. According to Fr. Andrew Greeley, the sociologist with the odd penchant for fiction, studies have repeatedly shown that traditional Catholic married couples have more stable and satisfying marriages and more fulfilling sexual relationships than any other group in society. Perhaps after twenty centuries of experience the Church does have a clue.
But multitudes are clueless. Every day 33,000 Americans, mostly people in their teens and twenties, contract sexually transmitted diseases, which are now as common as the flu. Many of these diseases are incurable. Fifty million Americans are currently infected. Few of them are 'anti-choice zealots.' Perhaps we prolifers have a clue not only about sex and marriage but also about public health.
In 1995 my wife and I joined two thousand other prolife workers at a Human Life International conference in Montreal. We always enjoy these conferences. The people are warm and friendly. Many are young and some bring their children. My son and his wife joined us with their child.
The conference opened with a Solemn High Mass in the stunningly beautiful Notre Dame Basilica (where Pavarotti sang his famous Christmas concert). The Mass was to be followed by a candlelight procession back to the hotel six blocks away. As the principal celebrant, an archbishop from Africa, finished the opening prayers, a priest walked to the pulpit and announced that the homily would be postponed and there would be buses parked behind the basilica for anyone who would prefer not to walk back in the procession after Mass. The announcement seemed odd, but we turned our attention back to the Mass.
At the end of Mass, candles were lighted and passed around, and we all turned to process out. As the front doors of the basilica opened, we sensed a strange atmosphere without knowing what it was. We could see glaring white lights and hear an uncanny roar of human voices. As we slowly processed out of the church, holding our candles and praying, we found ourselves walking through a crowd (estimated by the media to be about two thousand) of screaming, cursing, chanting pro-abortionists.
Many carried signs with rude epithets; some were spitting and making obscene gestures. Some had garishly painted faces, and a number were dressed in costumes - devils, nuns, popes. Things came flying at us from all directions. For six blocks we carried candles and prayed and sang hymns while these pitiable people traipsed along beside us shouting and cursing. Since the police protection was good, no one was seriously hurt though a police car was demolished along the way.
In the abortion dispute, who are the real fanatics?
New Haven, CT
Nebraska Church Harbors Abortionist as a Deacon
Reprinted with permission from Life Advocate Ministries
United Nations Demands use of Birth Control by Hurricane Victims
Who Are The Real Fanatics?
Reprinted with permission from New Oxford Review, October, 1998. Mr. Joseph Collison is the Director of the Office of Pro-Life Activities for the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut.
![[IMAGE]](twst_bar.gif){kind=small}
Copyright © 2008 Children of the Rosary