Priests for Life Newsletter

The prophets of old had the opportunity to challenge kings who departed from God's law. In our nation, we have the opportunity not only to challenge them but to choose them.

Yet too many Christians are not even registered to vote; polls in the 2000 elections, in fact, showed only half of Christians registered, and only half of those going to the voting booth. Yet our participation in the election process is an obligation for us. To take part in this process is a virtue. Here's what our bishops have written on the subject:

"We encourage all citizens, particularly Catholics, to embrace their citizenship not merely as a duty and privilege, but as an opportunity meaningfully to participate in building the culture of life. Every voice matters in the public forum. Every vote counts. Every act of responsible citizenship is an exercise of significant individual power…We get the public officials we deserve. Their virtue -- or lack thereof -- is a judgment not only on them, but on us" (1998, Living the Gospel of Life, n.34).

Priests for Life is happy to announce that specific weekends over the next two years will be designated as National Christian Voter Registration Sundays. Groups such as the Christian Coalition and the National Pro-life Religious Council are likewise joining in this effort and calling for this observance. This is simply a way to encourage pastors to do what any Church is entitled to do: to give their congregation an opportunity to register to vote, if they are not registered already. It only takes five minutes, filling out some information about one's name, address, and citizenship.

Fr. Frank Pavone, Founding Director

The Holy Father has given a new gift to the pro-life movement.

The faithful are increasingly familiar with the picture of Jesus standing with his hand pointed to his heart, from which red and pale rays emanate. The words "Jesus, I trust in you" are at the bottom. This image represents the devotion to Divine Mercy, based on revelations given to St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938). The image itself was revealed to her, as was the "Chaplet of Divine Mercy," in which we pray the following words:

Pope John Paul II has fostered this devotion within the Church, and has declared the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday. Many of the faithful, especially in the pro-life movement, practice this devotion.

Indeed, the link between this devotion and abortion is established by St. Faustina herself and recorded in her "Diary." Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, who was a principal translator of St. Faustina's diary, and the postulator of her cause of canonization, writes the following:

Now the Pope has personally emphasized this connection once again, by signing a special Papal Blessing for those who pray the Chaplet for an end to abortion. The blessing, signed on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 2003, is addressed to the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy and to "all the faithful worldwide who join them in offering the Divine Mercy Chaplet…for mothers, that they not abort their offspring; for infants in danger of being put to death in the womb; for a change of heart of providers of abortions and of their collaborators; for human victims of stem cell research, genetic manipulation, cloning and euthanasia; and for all entrusted with the government of peoples, that they may promote the Culture of Life, so as to put an end to the culture of death."

God cannot fail to hear our prayer; let's not fail to pray it.

"Todo llamado en favor de los derechos humanos es una ilusión si se ataca el derecho a la vida" (Obispos de los EU, Faithful Citizenship, 1999)

¿Qué pasaría si le dijeran que todos sus derechos están garantizados y asegurados, excepto su derecho a la vida? ¿No sería esto una promesa falsa? Después de todo, nuestros derechos no sirven de nada si no estamos vivos para disfrutarlos.

Éste es el problema con los candidatos que parecen buenos porque promueven todos los derechos, pero impiden que los niños nazcan privándoles así el poder disfrutar de esos derechos. Ése es el problema de la mentalidad "pro-aborto". Escoger terminar con la vida de un bebé por medio del aborto es negarle a ese bebé todos sus derechos presentes y futuros.

"Dr. [M.C.]…testified that the fetal skull is generally not intact following dismemberment of the body -- the jaw is often removed with the neck…[R]emoving the head intact…ensures that no parts of the skull are left behind" (Ohio: Women's Medical Professional Corp. v. Voinovich, 911 F.Supp. 1051).