Priests for Life Newsletter

Dear Brother Priests,

  On November 10, 1994, Pope John Paul II issued the apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, on preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000. "Preparing for the Year 2000 has become as it were a hermeneutical key of my Pontificate", the Pope explains. He asks "that the time leading up to it be lived as 'a new Advent'," for "it is aimed at an increased sensitivity to all that the Spirit is saying to the Church" (#23).

The Jubilee, marking the beginning of the third Christian Millennium, will be marked by numerous international and local celebrations, and by a specific, thematic preparation over the next five years.

The first phase of that period is a church-wide examination of conscience and repentance. The Pope points to several themes, including "the widespread loss of the transcendent sense of human life, and confusion in the ethical sphere, even about the fundamental values of respect for life and the family" (#36).

Priests for life certainly plays a key role in this aspect of the preparation. We ask all members to renew their commitment to preach and teach on the sanctity of life, and to dispel the moral confusion of our times. In this way we will assist the Church to more clearly be the Light of the Nations, into the Year 2000 and beyond.

Sincerely,

Fr. Frank A. Pavone

National Director

  PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE MUST NOT SPREAD

The time to respond vigorously to the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is now. Those in Oregon who voted for Ballot Measure 16, which allows physicians to prescribe lethal drugs, have made a serious mistake. It is the duty of the entire nation to see that this mistake spreads no further.

People who are suffering from terminal illness deserve better choices than death. They deserve the care and love of people around them, and the full extent of pain management treatments that are available to medical science. The law and the medical profession should not give them the false solution of throwing away their lives like they would junk a car that no longer works. Human life is not disposable, whether that life is another's or our own.

Priests for Life is responding to the tragic Oregon vote by organizing a euthanasia education campaign among the clergy, so that they may educate their people to reject death as a solution to suffering. Clergy and laity may write us for an educational packet, or contact the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force, P.O. Box 760, Steubenville, OH 43952, or the N.C.C.B. Office of Pro-Life Activities, 3211 4th St. NE, Washington, DC 20017 (202) 541-3070.

We tend to do it all the time. We think that because another person is different, he/she has less value. We make artificial distinctions, particularly with those to whom we are hostile. We forget that they are our neighbors.

We see in the Gospel that Christ constantly breaks down artificial distinctions regarding the value of people. He does so in regard to 1) race: Despite hostility between Jews and Samaritans, He does not hesitate to speak with the Samaritan woman and offer her and her people the gift of faith (Jn. 4); 2) gender: Despite His society’s unequal treatment of women, He allows women to travel with Him (Lk. 8) and entrusts a woman with the task of testifying to the Resurrection (Jn. 20:17); 3) health and condition of dependency: He tends to the sick, the lunatics and the possessed (Mk. 1:32); 4) occupation: He associates with tax collectors, who were despised in society, and even calls one of them to be an apostle (Mt. 9:9); 5) moral status: He calls His followers to love their enemies, to pray for their persecutors and to forgive from the heart (Mt. 5:44; 18:21-35); and 6) age: He welcomes and blesses children and infants over the objections of His disciples (Lk. 18:15-16).

Christ does not allow artificial distinctions to stand. He cuts through discrimination with the clarity of the truth that we are all children of one Father. Our attitudes to the preborn children will also be judged by this truth. Our society has falsely discriminated against them, pretending that because their age is different, their value is different. Is this not precisely the kind of false assessments of others that Christ continually challenges in the Gospels?

We who follow Christ need to be busy about unmaking distinctions between the born and the preborn. Physically, the distinctions are fewer than people imagine. In regard to this value, there are no distinctions at all. "See that you never despise one of these little ones" (Mt. 18:10).

Fr. Frank A. Pavone

We continue to address some obstacles to preaching on abortion.

1. Am I "turned off" by the eccentricity of some pro-lifers? There are "eccentrics" in every movement. But if our own prevailing impression of "pro-lifers" is that they are eccentric, it may indicate that we ourselves have had very little exposure to the people in the movement. Pro-lifers are among the most dedicated and selfless people in the world. They love those who cannot love them back, and endure ridicule, cost and injury in the process. The pro-life movement is the largest grassroots movement in the history of the United States. Of course there are eccentrics. There are also many saints. (Sometimes these categories overlap!) Studies show that the pro-life movement, vast and varied as it is, is more a reflection of America than the pro-abortion movement.

It is very much in our power, furthermore, to strengthen the pro-life movement by bringing as many people into it as possible, including professionals of every field. The parish itself (in conjunction with non-Catholic groups) should be the pro-life movement of the neighborhood! It is up to us to make that happen! Nobody is exempt from the call to be a "pro-lifer". What, after all, is the alternative?

2. Do I see the "consistent ethic of life" incompatible with a focus on abortion? The 1985 Reaffirmation of the Pastoral Plan for Pro-life Activities (NCCB) stated, "Focus on abortion and the Church's firm commitment to a consistent ethic of life complement each other." Consistency does not mean watering down anything. It means speaking up! Consistency also means that if abortion is murder, we need to treat it that way.

3. Do I feel the people already hear and know enough about abortion? Many priests feel this way. But think again. In over 21 years of fighting legalized abortion, every child in the womb today still remains legally abortable; these abortions still occur at the rate of one every 20 seconds (i.e. 4400 a day, 1.6 million a year), and Catholics procure abortions as much as anyone else. Knowledge is still lacking. Most people still do not know the extent of abortion, or the revolting ways it is performed, or the harmful physical and psychological after-effects of the procedure on the mother. Many know abortion is evil, but they do not realize HOW evil it is. Moreover, knowledge is not virtue. Our task is to rouse people to DO something about it. If they already know enough about it, where are our local pro-life groups? Where are our local crisis pregnancy centers and shelters for unwed mothers? Many exist, but so many more are needed! How many people are really responding to abortion for what it really is, the killing of a child? People need encouragement from us more than ever, as they are bombarded with pro-abortion slogans and lies, and as fear of lawsuits is keeping many away from perfectly legitimate pro-life activity. If at times we feel like we are "preaching to the choir", let's realize that people can quit the choir, which is exactly what the other side wants to happen.

Priests for Life has joined a host of other National pro-life groups in a consumer boycott that aims to persuade Hoechst AG to take RU-486 (used for abortion) off the market. For cards indicating more information, write Life Issues Institute, 1721 W. Galbraith Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45239.

TAPES AVAILABLE

"Abortion, Justice, and Worship", a talk given by Fr. Frank Pavone to the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation, is available through Priests for Life for $4.00 total. This tape shows why tolerating abortion is inconsistent with worship, and how worshippers can do more to assure justice for all.

  Ask for a list of our other resources as well! Quantities can be ordered for parishes.

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