Priests for Life Newsletter

January 15 is the national holiday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. February is Black History month. The Civil Rights movement, and the evil of segregation which it fought, have many inspiring lessons for our current struggle to achieve justice for the unborn. One of the signs carried by Negroes who peacefully marched for their rights said, simply, "I am a Man." The need for society to rediscover the humanity of its oppressed members is a key link between the Civil Rights movement and the pro-life movement.

The pro-life movement refuses to believe that there are "insufficient funds" for the unborn. We refuse to believe that somehow our nation is incapable of opening the doors of equal protection to the tiniest and youngest human beings.

We cannot afford to let our preaching become disconnected from the injustices around us. That is why we cannot afford to be silent about abortion, just as the preachers in Dr. King's day could not afford to be silent about segregation.

There is an easy way to save lives in your community: Place, as a permanent item somewhere on the cover of your parish bulletin, a phone number where people can find alternatives to abortion.

The number itself is up to you. We can provide suggested hotline numbers that are accessible anywhere in the nation, and which connect people to local pregnancy resources. Alternatively, you can choose a diocesan or other local resource. That part is up to you.

We are providing the idea, because we know (from our experience and from polling data) that most pastors are favorable to this idea. We provide the following answers to some of the most frequently asked questions:

1. I want to keep the bulletin simple.

2. If I put a pregnancy assistance number on the bulletin, many other groups will want their numbers there as well.

3. I need to know more about whom people are calling when they dial these numbers.

4. My community is rather elderly, and therefore this would not be a concern of theirs.

5. People don't read the bulletin.

6. People may not be attracted to a "national" hotline.

The notice on the bulletin can take, for example, one of the following forms:

From its inception, Priests for Life has had the philosophy that it exists to serve the existing structures and programs of the Church's respect life mission. Priests for Life is not an arm of the USCCB or the Bishops' Committee for Pro-life Activities. We are a "Private Association of the Faithful" according to Canon Law (#299).

The relationship of Priests for Life to the wider Church should be understood in the context of the relationship between a priest and his bishop. In other words, we want to assist priests as they carry out the pro-life dimensions of their ministry, and as they do so in the context of the pastoral programs laid out by their own bishop, according to the need of the local diocese.

This is reflected in that part of our "Clergy Commitment Pledge" which reads, "I pledge to cooperate with the projects and programs of Priests for Life, to the degree that I am reasonably able to do so and within the policies set by my Ordinary."

The official commentary on the Pledge states, "Cooperation with Priests for Life projects is then mentioned, always within the context of union with one's own Ordinary. The idea behind this association has never been to come into a diocese in order to promote one or another program or activity. We come into dioceses everywhere in the country precisely in order to assist the clergy to work together with their bishop in the way he directs and according to the local circumstances. At the same time, we provide the benefit of the experience our network has, and the numerous contacts with all groups in the pro-life movement."

Our hallmark, in other words, is flexibility. We will help in the way the diocese wants us to help. It may be to provide a clergy seminar on the latest trends in pro-life preaching and counseling, or to prepare a teaching booklet on some specific aspect of the movement on which a diocesan program focuses.

Priests for Life is a networking hub for the entire pro-life movement, which consists of elements belonging to every political and religious affiliation, as well as those of no religion at all (see, for instance, www.godlessprolifers.org). We are therefore able to provide expert advice and networking. Such advice and information can assist a diocese or parish to further develop its respect life outreach. We will often make the public aware of specific pro-life initiatives that we think are useful. Our role is to provide information, make connections, increase awareness, and foster healthy debate about pro-life strategy. The role of setting policy is different, and belongs to others.

By Anthony DeStefano, Executive Director

Fr. Joseph Looney preached his first sermon at the tender age of 4 years old--- to his kindergarten class! It seems there was a lot of talk among his classmates how wonderful Kris Kringle was, and the future priest felt inspired to stand up and proclaim to everyone that "God was more magical than Santa Clause!"

That same spirit of faith, fearlessness and disregard of negative peer pressure has characterized Fr. Looney's entire life. Influenced strongly by his father, a bus driver who used to take him to watch his church's drum core practice, and later by one of his teachers, Sr. Mary Elaine Lavin, a Sister of Mercy, Fr. Looney was ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1967. His first assignment was St. Justin's in Hartford, Connecticut. He later went to Sacred Heart, in Waterbury, and finally, to St. Margaret's, also in Waterbury.

Fr. Looney has been a major pro-life activist since the moment he was ordained. Before the term "sidewalk counseling" was even coined, Fr. Looney was on the streets, talking to women, handing out pamphlets and picketing abortion clinics in Connecticut. Arrested once for leading a peaceful protest, Fr. Looney soon became friends with famed pro-life activist, Joseph Scheidler.

The encyclical Humanae Vitae, published in 1968, made a very strong impression on the newly ordained priest. He recognized early on the close connection between the contraception mentality and abortion, and consequently expanded his pro-life activities to include efforts against pornography and very public protests against artificial contraception. Possessing a tremendous flare for media, Fr. Looney achieved great notoriety in the 1980's and 90's by staging so-called "condom roasts," in which boxes of prophylactics were burned openly at the state capitol. Such media events attracted the ire of many in the secular press. Even Playboy Magazine reported on Fr. Looney's "subversive" activities.

Passionate about the right to life, Fr. Looney believes that "abortion comes from fear, while life comes from faith." He insists that, for the pro-life movement to be successful, priests need to "say that to the people, and show them what it means to live by faith through our celibacy, our prayer life, and by our prophetic witness." Fr. Looney also says that priests need to publicly identify themselves as pro-life, and at the same time as pro-mercy. "We're not there to put women down," he says, "but to give them a hand up."

Fr. Looney can be reached at St. Margaret's Church, at 289 Willow Street, Waterbury, CT, 06701. His phone number is: (203) 754-6101.