Priests for Life Newsletter
Volume 15, Number 2
March-April 2005
Table of Contents
Can you make a gift to enable us to send this newsletter to every priest in
your diocese? Call Jerry at (718) 980-4400
Prayer Intentions
You are encouraged to remember the following intentions as you pray the
Liturgy of the Hours:
March intention: That vacancies on our nation's courts may be filled with
strong pro-life judges.
April intention: That youth leaders have the courage and creativity to speak
about abortion.
Priests for Life Advisory Board of Bishops
His Eminence Alfonso Cardinal Lopez-Trujillo
President, Pontifical Council for the Family
His Eminence Renato Cardinal Martino
President, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Most Rev. John F. Donoghue
Archbishop of Atlanta
Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput OFM Cap.
Archbishop of Denver
Most Rev. Edwin F. O'Brien
Archbishop of Military Services
Most Rev. John J. Myers
Archbishop of Newark
Most Rev. John W. Yanta
Bishop of Amarillo
Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted
Bishop of Phoenix
Most Rev. Ronald M. Gilmore
Bishop of Dodge City
Most Rev. Sam G. Jacobs
Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux
Most Rev. Emilio S. Allue
Auxiliary Bishop of Boston
Most Rev. Rene H. Gracida
Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi
Most Rev. Paul V. Donovan
Bishop Emeritus of Kalamazoo
Most Rev. James D. Niedergeses
Bishop Emeritus of Nashville
Most Rev. James C. Timlin
Bishop Emeritus of Scranton
Most Rev. James S. Sullivan
Bishop Emeritus of Fargo
Most Rev. Francis A. Quinn
Bishop Emeritus of Sacramento
Most Rev. Albert H. Ottenweller
Bishop Emeritus of Steubenville
Most Reverend Juan Fremiot Torres
Bishop of Ponce
Most Reverend John Quinn Weitzel
Bishop of Samoa Pago Pago
Priests for Life Prayer Cards
Order the Priests for Life daily prayer of commitment to end abortion.
Available in quantities of 25…excellent for pro-life events, parishes, schools.
Priests for Life Mass Cards
Friends and loved ones who have died will be remembered in the prayers and
Masses of Priests for Life. Our new Mass cards are available free of charge.
You may send in your offering for each enrollment when you use it.
Order Form for Prayer Cards and Mass Cards
Please mail your order to: Priests
for Life P.O. Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314
Or fax it to (718) 980-3900 or Email:
orders@priestsforlife.org
Name: ___________________________________
Address: _________________________________
City: ____________________________________
State/Zip: ________________________________
Phone: __________________________________
Email: __________________________________
r I have made my check payable to: Priests for Life.
r I have donated online at
www.priestsforlife.org/donate
r Please charge my contribution to my credit card:
Card Type:_______________________________
Card #:__________________________________ Exp:____/_____
Signature:________________________________
rPrayer to End Abortion prayer cards: product #1670
Quantity ____25; ____50; ____75;____100; _____other (increments of 25)
@ $.10 Each for total $______
rMass Cards: product #1708
Quantity_______ (Free)
r Additional Donation $__________
Total Donation $___________
Coming to your Community…
At the invitation of the local diocese, or of
individual parishes or pro-life groups on a national, state, or local level,
Priests for Life is ready to come to your community to inspire and instruct
those who work to defend life against abortion. Because we maintain regular
contact with all pro-life groups, we are ready to bring updates on pro-life
strategy and projects that are turning the tide on abortion throughout our land.
In addition to our 45 lay staff, Priests for Life is blessed to have a
Speakers' Bureau of priests, deacons, and other lay experts.
Among the speakers are our four full-time priests on staff: Fr. Peter West,
Fr. Denis G. Wilde, OSA, Fr. Walter Quinn, OSA, and Fr. Frank Pavone.
Our pastoral associates Jim Pinto and Dr. Paul Schenck, also serve the
organization, bringing to our Speakers' Bureau a wealth of experience in
pro-life activism and pastoral ministry prior to their joining the Catholic
Church.
Paul was raised Jewish. He became a Christian and served for 22 years as a
priest in the Anglican tradition. His pro-life activism brought him all the way
to the Supreme Court in the case Schenck vs. Pro-Choice network, which was
decided in his favor in 1997. In 2004, Paul was received into the Catholic
Church by Fr. Frank Pavone.
Jim Pinto served as a priest in the Anglican Tradition for over 20 years and
entered into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church in 2003. He is
recognized nationally as an advocate for the poor, for racial reconciliation,
and for the right to life.
The Speakers' Bureau also includes our Pastoral Associates Dr. Theresa Burke
and her husband Kevin, Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., and our Associate Director Janet Morana.
We also have other priests and deacons who are available for speaking on a
part time basis.
We are ready to visit your community for a wide range of activities.
We offer seminars for the clergy, both Catholic and Protestant, on how to
handle the abortion issue in preaching, counseling, and parish activities. We
conduct training sessions for lay people who want to become active in the
pro-life movement, or who have been active but are looking for new ideas and
motivation.
We speak at pro-life conferences, address students in their schools and youth
groups, give retreats, pray at abortion facilities, and conduct parish weekends
which include preaching at all the Sunday Masses. We are also glad to offer
individual consultation for the development of pro-life strategies and
activities in compliance with the Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro-life
Activities.
When we travel to an area, we want that to be the beginning of a fruitful
relationship of pro-life encouragement and activity. We are one movement across
the United States, and we want to work with you and your community on an ongoing
basis. When we are in your area, we want to get to know as many people as
possible, and help them to get to know us, our activities and initiatives.
And aside from travel expenses, we have no required stipend!
A partial listing of the travel schedules of our priests can be found
on our web site by clicking here.
Our hallmarks are availability and flexibility. We want to do whatever you
need us to do! To inquire about the availability of a Priests for Life priest,
contact our Travel Office at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel:
888-PFL-3448 ext. 258; 718-980-4400 ext. 258; Travel Dept. Fax: 603-908-3075;
email:
travels@priestsforlife.org.
Terri Schiavo
[Note: By the time this newsletter goes to print, we do not know what
Terri Schiavo's situation will be. Whatever it is, however, her life provides a
critical test for society -- a test we cannot afford to fail.]
She is not dying. She is not in a coma. She is not alone, but rather has
loving parents and siblings ready to care for her for the rest of her life. She
has not requested death.
Yet a battle rages regarding whether Terri Schiavo should be starved. She has
sustained brain injuries and cannot speak or eat normally. Nevertheless, the
only tube attached to her is a small, simple, painless feeding tube that
provides her nourishment directly to her digestive system.
Her legal guardian is her husband, who already has another woman -- by whom
he also has children. He wants Terri's feeding tube removed. Of course, he could
simply allow her to be cared for by her parents and siblings, and get on with
his life, but he refuses.
On February 6, Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, visited
Terri Schiavo for the second time, spoke with her and prayed with her. He found
her "wide awake, alert, aware, and responsive." At various times in the visit
she tried to vocalize responses, but otherwise communicated with her eyes and
her smile, and by returning the kisses of her parents.
Terri is not dying. This is not a matter of "letting her go," because she
isn't "going" anywhere. If, however, she is deprived of nourishment, then she
would slowly die in the same way that any of us would slowly die if we were
deprived of nourishment. It is called starvation.
If the courts permit that to happen, then why should that permission apply
only in Terri's case? And where does the state get the authority to starve
people?
For more information on this crucial case,
visit our website, www.priestsforlife.org. If you want educational cards on
Terri's situation, contact our orders department at
orders@priestsforlife.org, or by
calling 888-PFL-3448, ext. 237, or by writing Orders Department, Priests for
Life, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314.
Judges
The Constitution of the United States places the responsibility for writing
laws in the hands of elected lawmakers. These men and women serve in the State
legislatures and in the United States Congress. They are accountable to the
voters who put them into office and who can remove them from office. They are to
represent the voters as they craft and pass legislation that represents the will
of the people.
Meanwhile, however, key aspects of public policy that contradict the will of
the majority of Americans have, over the last several decades, been imposed upon
us by another branch of government, the Judiciary. Unelected Federal judges, who
are not accountable to voters and who serve for life, have given us policies
that ban prayer and Bible-reading in public schools, that allow
abortion-on-demand throughout pregnancy, and that remove more and more moral
boundaries to perverse sexual behavior.
In the Elections of 2004, many voters made their choice for President and for
their US Senators based on their view of the proper role of judges, namely, to
apply the law rather than write their own opinions into law. Now, the President
and the US Senate have a joint, solemn obligation to fill the many vacancies in
the Federal judiciary. The President presents nominees; the Senate votes to
confirm them by a simple majority.
In the past four years, we have seen an unprecendented and unconstitutional
effort by pro-abortion Democrats in the Senate to block well-qualified nominees
who enjoyed the support of the majority of the Senators. The blocking was done
by filibuster -- that is, a technique of prolonging debate indefinitely, and
hence preventing a final vote. The filibuster is a tool that can be used to
block legislation, but here it is being used to block judicial nominees.
Meanwhile, many courts remain vacant. The motive for these filibusters has been
that many of these nominees are considered too religious and too pro-life.
Now the question is whether we will see the
same behavior in this new Congress, especially with the prospect of Supreme
Court vacancies on the horizon, and whether the Senate will act to prevent the
filibusters. Contact your US Senators and demand that the Senate prevent the
filibusters of judicial nominees. Tell your Senator you want to see an
up-or-down vote on each of the President's nominees, without anti-religious
bias. If a Senator opposes a nominee of the President, then let the Senator vote
against that nominee. Let those who favor the nominee vote in favor. The point
is, let there be a vote, and let the process work like the Constitution says it
should.
Happy Anniversary, Evangelium Vitae!
This year marks the tenth anniversary of one of the most important documents
Pope John Paul II has ever written. "The Gospel of Life" ("Evangelium Vitae") is
an "encyclical letter" (meaning it is a letter of high authority sent around the
world by the Pope), and presents the Church's answer to the question, "Why is
life good, why is it sacred, why should it be protected in every circumstance?"
Priests for Life is preparing educational
materials that you can use throughout the year to deepen your understanding of
this historic document. For more information about these materials, or for
copies of the encyclical itself, contact our Orders department
orders@priestsforlife.org, or by
calling 888-PFL-3448, ext. 237, or by writing Orders Department, Priests for
Life, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314.
Gearing up for Commencement!
Over a million children per grade level throughout the nation would have been
with us had they not been killed by abortion. Over a million members of each
graduating class this year have been legally destroyed. Priests for Life asks,
therefore, that each school yearbook and graduation ceremony include a
remembrance of those who would have been graduating had they not been aborted.
A sample entry in a school yearbook could say the following: "In prayerful
remembrance of our fellow students who have been lost from abortion…We do not
condemn those who felt they had to do this; rather, we weep with them now…and we
pray for the day when the most frail and vulnerable lives will enjoy the same
protections the rest of us do."
In the graduation ceremony, an empty chair or a lit candle, or a cap and
diploma resting by themselves can stand as a reminder of these students, and the
words above can be spoken to explain the significance of these symbols.
Please, do something. How can we explain it if we forget or ignore these
children?
Alveda King joins Priests for Life Staff
Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., has become a Pastoral
Associate of Priests for Life. A pro-life advocate as well as a civil rights
advocate, Dr. King will head up the Priests for Life Office of African American
Outreach. She will be available for speaking engagements in parishes, schools,
and pro-life events as a member of the Priests for Life Speakers’ Bureau.
She also participates in the Silent No More Awareness Campaign (a project of
Priests for Life and NOEL), through which she speaks about her own two abortions
and how the Lord Jesus Christ has brought her forgiveness and healing. Alveda
has stood with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign in Washington, DC and
elsewhere at gatherings in which the women hold signs that say "I Regret My
Abortion."
On her website,
www.KingForAmerica.com, Alveda declares that like her uncle, she too has a
dream about equality. But she asks, "How can the dream survive if we murder the
children?"
Priests for Life Clergy Seminar
Washington, DC
April 12-13, 2005
If you are a priest, deacon, or lay pastoral leader, we want you to know
about the "Washington DC Briefing" that we are privileged to co-sponsor on
Tuesday April 12 and Wednesday April 13 in our nation's capitol.
The National Pro-life Religious Council and Priests for Life are teaming up
with Wallbuilders (www.WallBuilders.com)
to co-sponsor this inspiring briefing. Under the expert guidance of David
Barton, President of Wallbuilders, you will get a "Spiritual Tour of the
Capitol" on Tuesday evening. You will learn things you never knew about the
Christian convictions of our Founders, see some of the their original letters,
and learn how much the very foundations of our nation are rooted in the Gospel.
Then, on Wednesday, you will hear from members of the House of
Representatives, the Senate, and the White House. They will talk about the
issues of the day, but more importantly, they will talk about how they live out
their Biblical convictions as they handle the issues of the day.
When you read the newspaper or watch television, you only see a small
fraction of the men and women who serve in Washington. You will leave this
briefing greatly inspired to know how many men and women of faith are there,
living and spreading the Gospel of Christ.
These briefings are held by invitation, and space is limited. If you are
interested in receiving an invitation, call our office today at 1-888-735-3448
and ask for John at extension 224. Alternately, you can email
john@priestsforlife.org or fax
413-803-0073. You can also go to
www.WallBuilders.com and click on "Pastors' Briefings" under
"Upcoming Events." Find the April 12-13 event and request an invitation. Please
join us!
