CATHOLIC EYE
July 31-Aug 31, 2000
One group that's taking Church teaching on abortion (and euthanasia)
into the public square is Father Frank Pavone's Priests for Life. Concerned
about the disconnect between many Catholics (politicians
and voters alike) and the Church's positions on life issues, Father
Pavone is launching a million-dollar ad campaign to educate faithful and
non-faithful alike. "I want the public to understand abortion as it is," he told
Gustav Niebuhr of the New York Times, "as an act of violence." In a
full-page ad in the Times on July 21, he and 45 other priests proclaimed:
"We will not be intimidated, nor frightened into complacency, by those in the
government and the media who would prefer us to keep silent behind the walls of
the Church sanctuary." Inspired by two recent Bishops' statements, "Living the
Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics" (1998) and "Faithful
Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium" (1999), the priests
pledged "to repeat these teachings throughout this election season and
throughout the year, from thousands of pulpits all across America, using print
media, radio, television and the Internet."
It didn't take long for Catholics for a Free Choice president Frances
Kissling to weigh in. On July 24 the Times ran her letter to the editor re the
Priest for Life story: "After nine years of organizing," she wrote, "the group
has attracted only 6,000 of the nation's almost 55,000 Catholic priests." La
Quisling is slipping. By her own logic, one would think she would now want to
boast about her own membership numbers. Not so. When we called and asked how big
the organization was we got a runaround and a "we'll get back to you." Exactly
what we expected. For years, CFFC has gotten most of its funding from big-deal
foundations pursuing the Holy Grail of global population control. Their website
is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Latin countries, still largely
Catholic, are a big target. It's an old story that never gets told in the
mainstream press. But that may soon change. Just today a letter arrived from the
Catholic League's Bill Donohue, announcing plans for an ad campaign of his own:
"We'll blast our message all over the planet, letting everyone know just how
illegitimate this group is." You go, guy!
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