Priests for Life Newsletter

How Did Priests for Life Start?
By Anthony DeStefano
Executive Director

With all the TV and radio work that Fr. Frank Pavone does, and with all the seminars and parish pro-life weekends given by our five full-time priests, most people nowadays know about Priests for Life. In fact, a recent survey showed that over 80% of the clergy in America have at least heard of us and our mission. That’s quite an amazing statistic for an organization that is still relatively young.

But how did Priests for Life originally get started? Not many people know that story. Let me tell you.

In 1990, a West Coast priest named Fr. Lee Kaylor read about a piece of anti-life legislation on the ballot in Sacramento, California. Convinced he had to do something to stop it, he called two of his priest friends, Fr. Frank Felice, a member of San Franciscans United for Life, and Fr. Emmerich Vogt, a Dominican friar. Together, these three decided to mail a letter to all the priests of California, urging them to bring the issue into the pulpit and use it as a springboard to proclaim the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life.

At the time, Fr. Kaylor, who had been ordained in 1981, saw this strictly as a "one-shot" mailing. He never imagined it would go any further than that. However, the response from the California priests was incredible. Not only did he receive dozens of positive letters pledging further support, but he also received several cash donations for the project. Immediately, a light bulb went off in Fr. Kaylor’s head. If the response was so great on a local level, then there must be an equal need for such mailings on a national level. All at once, Fr. Kaylor conceived the idea of a national organization of clergy, dedicated to helping priests speak out more effectively on pro-life issues. The name of the group would be short, simple and powerful: "Priests for Life." The first thing needed to launch such a group, reasoned Fr. Kaylor, was a newsletter. With the help of a devout lay person named Delores Anderson, who donated $2000, he drafted, printed and mailed the first edition to all the dioceses of the United States. Along with it he sent a letter to all the U.S. Bishops, introducing the group and asking for their help in distributing the newsletter via diocesan priest-mailings. Once this was done, Fr. Kaylor left for vacation, putting everything "in God’s hands."

When Fr. Kaylor returned to his parish a week later, he found that God hadn’t wasted any time. Not only were there scores of letters waiting for him from priests all over the country, but his secretary informed him that the parish had been flooded with phone calls. Even more amazing, the San Francisco diocesan switchboard had been overwhelmed with calls asking about Fr. Kaylor and Priests for Life. Fr. Kaylor quickly arranged a meeting with Archbishop John Quinn and explained his idea for Priests for Life. Archbishop Quinn immediately embraced the concept and granted the group official approbation.

With the approval of the Church, the tiny organization was on its way. Enlisting the help of two more priests, Fr. Bob Keifer of San Jose, and Fr. Bob Cipriano, of San Francisco, Fr. Kaylor set about filing by-laws and applying for tax exempt status with the government. He was also assisted by a lay couple, Keith and Mariann Eiler, who headed the Bay Area chapter of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF), and a lawyer, Mr. Jerry McLaughlin. Together, this team was responsible for getting Priests for Life off the ground. Without them, the organization as we know it would not exist today.

Priests for Life grew slowly until 1992, when a young priest from the New York Archdiocese named Fr. Frank Pavone, learned of its existence and immediately signed up. Contributing articles to the newsletter, and meeting with Fr. Kaylor to discuss strategy, Fr. Frank soon became deeply involved in the work of the group. Recognizing Fr. Frank’s passion for the cause, and the great gifts he possessed for communicating the pro-life message, Fr. Kaylor asked the dynamic priest if he would be willing to take over for him. Fr. Frank, seeing the great potential of the organization, and discerning the hand of God, approached John Cardinal O’Connor, Archbishop of New York, and asked to be released from diocesan duties so that he could devote all his time to the work of Priests for Life.

In 1993, Cardinal O’Connor gave Fr. Frank permission to become the first full-time National Director of Priests for Life, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Priests for Life has five full-time priests; a staff of over 20 lay people; offices in New York, California, Washington DC, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Rome; pro-life television programming on EWTN and the Odyssey network, broadcast into 88 million American homes and 38 different countries; radio shows on WEWN, Catholic Family Radio, and Vatican radio; a newsletter that goes to 45,000 priests and an additional 50,000 lay people, and a website that has over 210,000 visitors a month. Fr. Frank is recognized the world over as one of the most important leaders in the fight for life.

And what of Fr. Kaylor?

That great man went on to other heroic activities. Soon after handing over the reins to Fr. Frank, he became a chaplain in the United States Air Force, and saw combat in the final months of Operation Desert Storm. In fact he was one of only two Catholic priests to serve in the entire region. For his bravery, he won the South West Asia Service Medal, the Kuwait Liberation medal, the Air Force Commendation for Meritorious Service, and the National Defense Medal.

In 1995, he was stationed at Tinker Air force Base in Oklahoma, when the Oklahoma City Bombing occurred. Rushing to the scene of the catastrophe, he began to assist in the rescue effort and later in grief counseling. For his courage and quick action, he received the Humanitarian Service Medal from the U.S. Government.

This kind of heroism doesn’t come without a price. When Fr. Kaylor was in the desert helping lift injured soldiers onto stretchers, he suffered a herniated rupture of the spine. This severe back injury left him in continued, agonizing pain, which he has been experiencing every single day for almost seven years. Until recently, he was the pastor of St. Sebastian’s Church in Greenbrae, California, just north of San Francisco. However, the pain to his back became so excruciating that he recently was forced to take a leave of absence and begin yet another series of back operations.

During this, the 10 year anniversary of Priests for Life, we think it is particularly fitting to honor Fr. Kaylor for his great vision and groundbreaking work. An extraordinarily humble man, he has never wished to take any credit for the accomplishments of Priests for Life, preferring instead, to call Fr. Pavone, the "Real Founder." Despite our attempts to give Fr. Kaylor credit on our stationary and to invite him onto our television shows, Fr. Kaylor has steadfastly chosen to remain in the background. He is perfectly content, he says, to have played "a small role" in launching this important organization a decade ago.

Fr. Kaylor can best be reached by writing to the Priests for Life main office at PO Box 236695 Cocoa, FL 32923. We will be sure to forward all his mail to him. We encourage all our supporters to send him a congratulatory letter, telling him how much he has meant to the pro-life cause, and letting him know that we are all praying for a relief to his suffering. Surely, God must have more monumental work in store for a man of this caliber.

New Bishops' Statement

Priests for Life welcomes the statement of the United States Catholic Bishops, "Abortion and the Supreme Court: Advancing the Culture of Death," issued at their November meeting in Washington, DC.

Fr. Frank Pavone, who was present at the meeting, stated, "Once again, the bishops have used very strong language indicating that no decision of any human government which claims to authorize the destruction of innocent human life has any legal validity. Referring to such cases as Stenberg v. Carhart, the Supreme Court’s June 2000 decision on partial-birth abortion, the bishops declare, ‘the Court’s abortion decisions deserve only to be condemned, repudiated and ultimately reversed.’ We encourage our brother priests and deacons throughout the nation to put the bishops’ words into practice by preaching clearly and vigorously that the right to life is more fundamental than any human law, government, or Court."

** Dr. James McMahon, now deceased, used to perform the partial-birth abortion procedure. He was interviewed about it in the American Medical Association News (July 5, 1993), and was asked how he justified it morally. He claimed that he did have some moral compunctions and thought it would be great if the child could be adopted. But then, he said, another and more important question enters his mind: "Who owns the child?" "It's got to be the mother," he answered himself. This is one of the clearest pieces of evidence that abortion is rooted in the same mentality which brought us slavery and is, in fact, simply a new version of the same. The Gospel message, on the other hand, is that we belong neither to our parents (in an absolute sense), nor to the state, nor to ourselves, but to God.

**The government of New York State placed the following anti-smoking billboards in various parts of the state in 2000: A picture of a cigarette was shown, and the billboard read, "All it takes to harm an unborn baby is a little stick." This is the message from a state that cannot even bring itself to ban partial-birth abortion.

**Abortion is the most commonly performed surgery in America, yet it is never seen. If you ask any group of people whether they have seen some form of surgery on television, all but a few will say yes. Why, on those same networks, have they never seen an abortion? The question is important to get people to think that perhaps someone is hiding the full truth from them about what this procedure is.

**The Daily Telegraph reported on October 11 that 80 percent of neuroscientists who responded to the British national newspaper survey said that unborn babies aborted after 11 weeks’ gestation should receive pain relief during the procedure.

**Most states have some type of fetal protection laws whereby the unborn child is recognized as a victim if killed in a context outside of abortion. This makes the following scenario possible: A woman is driving to an abortion clinic for her appointment. On her way, a drunk driver hits her car, injures her, and the unborn child dies as a result. That driver can be charged for the death of the child. Had she made it to the abortion clinic, however, the doctor who would have killed the same child would be acting legally. The case is even more absurd when you consider that the vehicle that strikes the woman's car could also be driven by the abortionist, on his way to the same clinic.

There is no lack of good ideas and projects within the pro-life movement. Nor does the movement lack evidence that these many projects work to reduce abortions and convert minds and hearts. What is needed above all are the people to carry them out!

The people in our society most likely to respond to the needs of the unborn and their parents are the people we minister to in our Churches day after day and Sunday after Sunday. As pastors who are called to stir into action the gifts of the laity and help them carry out their role in building the Body of Christ, we have the opportunity to recruit them into pro-life activity.

This might mean calling them to take part in a parish respect life committee, or in projects spearheaded on the diocesan level. It can also mean directing them to resources and activities in the local community, such as pregnancy assistance centers, or county and state pro-life groups.

In June 2000, the LA Times issued a major survey which included many questions on abortion. One of the questions was, "Have you ever been involved in the abortion movement, that is, tried to make it easier for people to have abortions or tried to convince people not to have abortions?" Of all those interviewed, a total of 8% said yes. A full 90% said no.

Talk about untapped resources!

The good news is that of the 8% who said that they had been active either to facilitate or to stop abortions, the vast majority were involved in trying to stop abortions by a ratio of 7 to 1.

If we recruit people in our pastoral care to get more involved in the pro-life cause, we can expect that ratio to grow even stronger in our favor. Much has been accomplished in the pro-life movement, with only 7% of the population doing something. Imagine if we can raise that number to 20 or 25%.

Keep in mind some of the keys to this recruiting:

* Many people think being "pro-life" means, "I would never have an abortion." By our preaching and teaching, we need to help them realize that it also means trying to stop others from having abortions. People often feel that this constitutes "interfering in someone else's business." We need to help them see that it is no more an interference in other's business than it is if we try to stop people from abusing their children, pushing drugs, or committing violent crime. When somebody's choice destroys someone else's life, that's everybody's business.

* Some people think that to oppose abortion means to oppose those who have abortions. Thus, although they are pro-life, they are afraid that being vocal or visible about it may compromise their relationship with friends or relatives who have had abortions, and whom they do not want to offend. A solution to this is to stress the activity of post-abortion healing and forgiveness, and to show our people that the Church and the pro-life movement embraces with love and mercy those who have aborted their children. In fact, one of the activities they may want to perform is to spread awareness of Project Rachel or their national hotline, 1-800-5-WE-CARE.

*Many form their impression of the pro-life movement from the secular media, and hence see it as a violent, extremist movement. We can counteract that impression by inviting guest speakers who can show our people the true face of the movement and its activities -- such as the countless people who provide alternatives to abortion, or who conduct educational, legislative, or direct action projects that are rooted in well-planned and guided strategies.

January intention: That radio and television ministries will carry effective commentary on life issues.

February intention: For the elderly who feel alone and abandoned.

We need to spread the pro-life message in any way we can, and custom license plates are another great way! Here at Priests for Life headquarters, Fr. Frank, his assistant, and some of his staff, have custom NY plates that proclaim exactly where we stand. We encourage pro-life people in all the other states to obtain custom plates that have some variation of the theme, such as "Prolife1", "Prolife2", "2Prolife", and so forth! Those who do so are encouraged to let us know by writing to Outreach Department, PO Box 236695, Cocoa, FL 32923.