I DEEPLY APPRECIATE receiving the Annual Villanova Respect Life Award. THANKS to all Villanovans for Life!
This Evening I’d like to tell you about the HISTORY......IMPORTANCE of the Pro-Life Movement......also about
Priests For Life......&....its People. & Programs. MY NAME is Fr. Walter J Quinn I am an Augustinian Priest......
& a member of the Eastern Province of St. Thomas of Villanova....with HQs here at VU.
........(in suburban Philadelphia, PA.) In a few weeks.......PFL will be moving our HQs from SI, NY....to TITUSVILLE, FL.
................across the Bay from CAPE CANAVARAL.......where the Space lift offs occur.
I WAS ORDAINED in 1961...& on June 3, 2016.....I celebrated my ANNIVERSARY of 55 YEARS in the Priesthood. I’ve been in
Parish work for OVER 40 YEARS. ”PFL”.....is a National & International Pro-Life Organization.....which I JOINED AFTER
returning from our Augustinian Monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada.....where the PRIMARY MISSION there is Confessions
& Retreats. NOTE: as of August 8, 2016.... I am 86 Yrs old....Retired....& now live at the Augustinian Monastery...here on
the VU campus.
I’VE HAD over 200.......PFL Trips......to some 44 States over a 10 Year period. So I saw what was going on....& NOT going in
many Parishes, Cities, & Rural areas. Our PFL Speakers....also visit Catholic, Protestant....&....Private:...Grade Schools,
High Schools & Colleges....& Radio & TV Stations, Newspapers, Local Bishops.....& Chancery Offices....& Seminaries.
IN THE EARLY DAYS there were.....just 3 of us Priests....Fr Denis Wilde,OSA.........a Diocesan Peter West......& myself
who worked.....FULL TIME with Fr. Frank Pavone....our National Director.......strhwhom you can see on EWTN Television
preaching on the LIFE Issues.
The PFL PADRES....& LAY SPEAKERS travel the ENTIRE Country.........LITERALLY from Coast to Coast....every SINGLE weekend.
We’re now SUPPORTED by a staff of some 44 FULL TIME paid employees. We have an 8 MILLION DOLLAR Annual Budget
....every CENT of which comes from the people........NOT ONE PENNY.........comes from any Church Structure.
PFL.........has visited.......ALL 50 STATES.......most of them many, many times.
OUR GOAL at PFL is to...Encourage...& Motivate all......Priests, Deacons & the Laity as well...to Uphold, Explain, Defend
& Practice.....ALL the Teachings of the Church.......when it comes to the Sanctity of Human Life ....& to address all these
many LIFE issues...........especially the terrible tragedy of Abortion.
....SO THAT.......ALL may become more ACTIVE, more VOCAL...& therefore more EFFECTIVE in helping the Clergy to restore the
Culture of Life to this great Land of ours. Our HQ is in Staten Island, NY...& we were all there in our NY Office on Sept 11th
.......& we could see across the River.... both World Trade Centers.......fall in smoke, flame & fire.... to the ground....one of
the greatest Horrors in US History!
OUR PFL WEBSITE opens with the words...”America will not stop Abortion until America SEES Abortion.” Our site is visited
by 12,000 people every 24 Hours. America hasn’t seen Abortion in the sense of the HORROR.........& that’s a good word...
the HORROR of killing MILLIONS of innocent Human Infants...has not.....& is not now......in the forefront of America’s
conscience.....concern........where it really ought to be!
AMERICA hasn’t seen TERRORISM until Sept 11th when it hit home! NOW America......& the whole World wants to put a stop
.......to the destruction of Innocent Human Life by ANY TERRORIST.......NO MATTER WHAT THE REASON! We now have ISIS.....
deliberately KILLING......1000s of people.... in major AREAS of the world!
NOW WE HAVE TO SHOW the whole World....HOW to CONNECT the DOTS...for the PRINCIPLE...the REASON that allows a
TERRORIST the RIGHT....at least in his mind.....to take the Life of somebody else....that Principle.....that Reason is exactly
the same as that which justified ...Slavery, Lynching, the Nazi Holocaust, Abortion, Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide....& now
Terrorism. The PRINCIPLES underlying each one...........of THESE ANTI-LIFE measures are absolutely Identical!
SO NOW WE ALL NEED TO UNITE....to help put a stop to this world-wide Terrorism....which has been destroying MILLIONS of
Lives BEFORE Birth. We worship God at Mass....because we believe in God...because we acknowledge God as Our Father in
Heaven, because we acknowledge Christ as Lord & God,....because we Worship the Holy Spirit. ALMIGHTY GOD throughout
ALL of Sacred Scripture.....is a God of LIFE. Perhaps no one word in ALL of Sacred Scripture is used more...than the word “LIFE.”
CHRIST HIMSELF tells us...”I am the Way, the Truth & the Life.” “I give them LIFE that they may have it more abundantly.” We
Pray in the CREED that the Holy Spirit is...”the Lord & Giver of Life.”. So we are truly a People of Life....People of the Father...
....of the Son....& of the Holy Spirit. Pope Saint John Paul II said that the Gospel of Christ....& the Gospel of Life are one & the
same Gospel. There is no such thing as Contradictory Gospels.
TO BE A PEOPLE OF LIFE means we stand for Christ. To stand for Christ means we stand for LIFE. So...this means we ARE & MUST
BE AGAINST anything that in any way....LESSONS or DESTROYS even ONE single Human Life. Yet we find all kinds of LAWS in
this Country...backed up by Fines....even Imprisonment for those who violate the Federal Endangered Species Act. On a Florida
beach just across the street from a Catholic Church...there is a SIGN which says...”Do not touch the Sea Turtles or their Eggs...
for they are protected by Local State & Federal Law.”
SNAIL DARTERS, Salmon, Snowy Owls, Whales, Sea Turtles & Eagles...& in the State of Oregon...TREES.....Trees are treated with
more respect.....when they’re about to be destroyed...than the Live, Unborn Human Baby...some times only 3 INCHES from
Birth....3 INCHES! This is called Partial Birth Abortion. The US Congress...both House & Senate passed as BAN on this barbarous
procedure..........not once but TWICE...& Twice it was Vetoed by President Clinton.
POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL in his Encyclical Evangelical Vitae (Gospel of Life)....perhaps the most profound document ever written
on the subject of Human Life says...”Let’s not be Silent any longer”. Our Religion is not meant to wrap us up in our own little world
...so that we are OBLIVIOUS to what’s going on around us.
AND SINCE SEPT 11TH we’ve all seen a great Outpouring & Recognition of each one’s need for God, Church, Faith, Prayer & Religion
.....& how we all need to respect our fellow man with Greater Charity & Justice........always respecting one’s very precious Gift of Life itself....which can Disappear in an Instant...in an Instant! No one in their wildest imagination....ever dreamed those Buildings would
come down...but they DID....& 3000 people died when they least expected it!
TO THOSE WHO SAY..”WHY PREACH TO ME.?....I know & agree Abortion is wrong. You should be Preaching to those who are NOT here. They’re the ones who really need to hear this message. This is TRUE. We call this preaching to the Choir...& there’s a very good reason
WHY we do so....because some 75% of Catholics no longer attend Mass on Sundays. And of this group 40% think Abortion is O.K......
.....maybe not for me.......but it’s O.K. for somebody else.
THEY WOULD NEVER use this kind of LOGIC.......when it comes to murder, child sacrifice...or any kind of CRIME...but they do for
......ABORTION. So this means....each one has to do their very best............to be what Our Lord called the LEAVEN in society.
He told St Peter.........”Now you being strengthened.....go strengthen your Brethren.”
THIS IS WHAT EACH of us must do...especially if it happens to be FAMILY, RELATIVES & FRIENDS who support & vote for
candidates, persons & programs....that favor & promote Abortion, Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide. No Catholic for any reason
whatsoever can...favor, promote & vote for that which is Intrinsically Evil...such as Abortion,Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide.
ALL POLITICIANS need to remember that there is..... no such thing as a PUBLIC MORALITY.......vs. a PRIVATE MORALITY.
TRUTH is something ONE. You cannot be Yes & No at the same time. To support, promote & Vote for Abortion
is to DISSENT. To Dissent is to Deny the Faith. Those who persist in doing so...should recall the words of the Old
Testament Prophet ISAIAH 5:20 who said...”WOE to those who call EVIL GOOD & GOOD EVIL...& put LIGHT FOR
DARKNESS...& DARKNESS FOR LIGHT.”
SO...IT’S LONG, LONG overdue...for all the Anti-Lifers & Pro Choice Catholics...to begin to suffer a Guilty Conscience.
Someday they will meet God....& then they will know the meaning of God’s Wrath. All these WARNINGS.....& that’s
what they are.......a WARNING.....which you can find in Scripture many times over....except too many of the CLERGY & PEOPLE....
........just don’t want to Think or Speak about such things.
SO....THE BEST WAY to bring about a CHANGE.....is for those who DO COME to Church..to become more Informed, more
Knowledgeable...& so Armed with all these Facts...about the Grave Evil of Abortion...WHAT it is....so that it becomes
more than some ABSTRACT thing going on all around us...its EFFECTS upon both Mother & Child...the MERCY & COMPASSION
of the Church...the HELP that’s easily available from........ONE simple Free Phone Call.......the ALTERNATIVES to Abortion.......
....HOW to Expose all the LIES of the Anti-Lifers......& then to DO SOMETHING about it.....because it’s NOT enough in
this Country to say I’m Pro-Life...that’s not enough anymore. We all have to DEFEND Life...which is WHY St Paul said..
....we have to be.......”DOERS of the Word...& not just Hearers only!”
WE CLERGY cannot do all this by ourselves...because it’s a BATTLE...& this BATTLE......AS IN AGES PAST...is going to be won
by the People in the Pews. Far too many have been PROMOTING...& VOTING their Party, Politics & Pocketbook....rather
than their FAITH....VIRTUE.... RELIGION.....& THE COMMON GOOD!
IN CONCLUSION...I urge everyone to HELP PUT A STOP.......to what Pope Saint John Paul in his Encyclical “Evangelium
Vitae”...in #58...VERY CLEARLY CALLs....“Murder by Abortion. ” You can join your Parish RTL (Right to Life) Committee.
Every parish NEEDS MORE HELP. Many are organizing on a Multi Parish Level.......many on a Multi County Level...& this is very Effective.
MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA said....”Abortion is thee most Unjust Form of Execution.” So...let’s all RESOLVE to do so.....
....that OUR LORD’S OWN WORDS...may become part of OUR OWN LIFE & DAILY LIVING...which after all...is WHY He Died
on the Cross in the first place. HE SAID...”I came that they may have LIFE.....and have it to the FULL!”
THANK YOU ....& GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU!