Dear Friends,
Following is my regular column. Please feel free to use it in whole or in part for your educational efforts on behalf of life. Please note that the columns are available both in print and in sound format (both streaming and wav files) on our website at www.priestsforlife.org/columns/biweeklycolumns.html. If you have any questions, please email me at publications@priestsforlife.org.
Fr.Pavone's New Defending Life Series Begins airing on EWTN March 2, 2002
Defending Life begins its 7th Season on EWTN. Tune in and see 13 new, powerful and informative shows giving everyone enlightening information on abortion!
2002 Series NOW AIRING on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network)
Mondays, 4:30 AM Eastern Time
Wednesdays, 5:00 PM Eastern Time
Fridays, 10:00 PM Eastern Time
For more broadcast information contact EWTN at (205) 271-2900 or
www.ewtn.com or consult your local cable provider.
On the first episode you will hear the powerful testimony of
Jill Stanek, RN, who witnessed "Live Birth Abortion" at Christ
Hospital in Illinois.
Tune in starting the week of March 2!
Thank you for assisting in promoting our new series!
Sincerely,
Fr. Frank Pavone
Two Historic Hours
Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
It had not happened since President Lincoln.
On Tuesday, December 4, 2001, for two sacred and historic hours, about one-third of the US Senate and House of Representatives, with representation from both major parties, knelt together in solemn prayer and repentance. This did not take place in a Church. It took place in the Rotunda of the US Capitol.
Chairs were arranged so they all faced in a circle. Microphones were placed in aisles. In the center for the speakers was a prayer bench with knee padding and a microphone. Other prayer benches were scattered outside the seating area. Clearly visible were the large murals in the Rotunda itself, depicting prayer meetings. One shows the baptism of Pocahontas. The other shows a Bible study among the Pilgrims. Another mural depicts George Washington resigning his commission, while holding a copy of his Prayer for the States and State Governors in his hands.
It was a National Day of Reconciliation. The presence of God, the love of God, and our need for God's forgiveness and protection were among the dominant themes. "Who called this meeting...God did!" These were the words Chaplain of the Senate Lloyd John Ogilvie used in his opening remarks.
One Senator said that in the meeting, he could feel God forgiving us as a nation. Another elected official had the vision of the tribe of America marching toward the limits of God's sovereign protection, but that their leaders had stood at the edge and began signaling to the people to begin turning.
At the heart of such a gathering is God's promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Believers should rejoice that such a gathering took place. Although America's greatest sin, that of abortion, was not explicitly mentioned, some groundwork was laid for national repentance. After all, the attitude of humble prayer and worship is completely contrary to the attitude of "pro- choice." Prayer and worship says to God, "You are Lord of me, my life, and my choices." Pro- choice says, "I am Lord of me, my life, and my choices." The two just don't mix, and if we spend enough time on our knees, worship may begin to replace the destructive abortion mentality.
One's public and private life cannot be completely separated. One's beliefs and one's public service cannot be totally severed. As the US Catholic bishops have written, "Nor can we practice the Gospel of life only as a private piety. American Catholics must live it vigorously and publicly, as a matter of national leadership and witness, or we will not live it at all" (1998, Living the Gospel of Life, n.20).
Scripture urges us to pray for our leaders and our nation. Perhaps what happened on December 4, without the glare of media, will bring us a step closer to a Culture of Life
Contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; email: mail@priestsforlife.org; web: www.priestsforlife.org
Dos horas históricas
P. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
Algo así no ocurría desde la época del Presidente Lincoln.
El martes 4 de diciembre de 2001, durante dos horas históricas y a la vez sagradas, aproximadamente un tercio del Senado y la Cámara de Representantes, incluyendo miembros de ambos partidos, se arrrodilló en oración solemne como gesto de arrepentimiento. Esto no ocurrió en una iglesia, ocurrió en la Rotonda del Capitolio.
Las sillas estaban dispuestas en círculo de manera que todos miraran al centro. Los micrófonos estaban instalados en los pasillos. En el centro del círculo estaban los oradores junto a un reclinatorio y un micrófono. Había otros reclinatorios ubicados en el sector donde se iba a sentar la gente. Se divisaban claramente los murales de la Rotonda con escenas de gente orando. Uno de ellos muestra el bautismo de Pocahontas. El otro muestra a los peregrinos estudiando la Biblia. Otro mural muestra a George Washington renunciando su comisión, mientras tiene en la mano una copia de su oración por los estados y por los gobernadores.
Era un día nacional de reconciliación. La presencia de Dios, el amor de Dios y nuestra necesidad del perdón y la protección de Dios eran los temas dominantes. "Quién convocó esta reunión... Dios lo hizo!" Con esas palabras del capellán del Senado, Lloyd John Ogilvie, comenzó el encuentro.
Un senador dijo que durante la reunión pudo sentir que Dios perdonaba a nuestra nación. Otro funcionario electo tuvo la visión de una tribu de Estados Unidos marchando hacia los límites de la protección soberana de Dios, mientras los líderes que se encontraban parados en el borde les hacían señas para que dieran la vuelta.
El corazón de este encuentro es la promesa de Dios en 2 Crónicas 7:14, "si mi pueblo, sobre el que se invoca mi nombre, se humilla, ruega y me busca la cara, si se aparta de sus malos caminos, yo oiré desde los cielos y le perdonaré su pecado y curaré la tierra."
Los creyentes debemos alegrarnos que este encuentro haya tenido lugar. Si bien el mayor pecado de los Estados Unidos, el aborto, no se mencionó explícitamente, se sentaron la bases para un arrepentimiento nacional. Después de todo, la actitud de oración humilde y adoración es completamente contraria a la actitud "pro-elección." (pro-choice). La oración y la adoración dicen a Dios: "Tu eres Señor mío, de mi vida, y de mis elecciones." La postura pro-elección (pro-choice) afirma: "Yo soy el Señor mío, de mi vida y de mis elecciones." Estas dos posturas no pueden combinarse y si pasáramos suficiente tiempo de rodillas, la adoración comenzaría a remplazar la mentalidad destructiva del aborto.
Nuestras vidas pública y privada no pueden divorciarse. No puede haber una separación completa entre las creencias de uno y la forma en que desempeña la función pública. Como lo afirman los Obispos de los Estados Unidos, "tampoco podemos vivir el Evangelio de la Vida como si fuera una devoción privada. Los católicos estadounidenses debemos vivirlo vigorosa y públicamente, como una cuestión de liderazgo nacional y testimonio, o no viviremos de ninguna manera."
(1998, Living the Gospel of Life, n. 20)
Las escrituras nos instan a rezar por nuestros líderes y nuestra nación. Quizás lo que pasó el 4 de diciembre, aunque no tuviera el brillo que dan los medios masivos de comunicación, nos acercará un paso mas hacia una cultura de la vida.
Dear Friend,
I am happy to send you my bi-weekly column, which is now available in Spanish as well as in English. Please note that our columns, in English and Spanish, are available on our web site at www.priestsforlife.org/columns/biweeklycolumns.html.
We also call your attention to our new Online store, found at
www.priestsforlife.org/store.htm.
If I may be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at
publications@priestsforlife.org.
--Fr. Frank Pavone
Jail
Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
One of God's priests is in jail.
No, it's not for sexual misdeeds, it's not for mishandling money, and it's not for any sinful act.
It's for praying.
This priest, Fr. Norman Weslin, has been in jail since November 5 for peacefully praying on a public sidewalk in front of an abortion mill. He had been told not to by an injunction, but did so anyway. He will remain in jail until April 3. At Christmas, he completed a 39-day water-only fast.
Fr. Weslin has been battling the evil of abortion for decades, and calling forth the generosity of others to do the same. He categorically rejects all forms of violence, and the group he established is called the "Lambs of Christ." Nevertheless, he is considered one of the "violent extremists" by the pro-abortion groups.
But it is not the attitude of the pro-abortion groups that bothers me as much as the attitude of some within our own Church who won't go near Fr. Weslin with a 30-foot pole. They've probably been given "expert" legal advice that any semblance of association with him may get them and their institutions into trouble. Or perhaps they have received "expert" public relations advice that any semblance of association with him may tarnish their image as reasonable and balanced proponents of the Gospel of Life.
I would never advocate throwing legal advice or public relations advice out the window. I pay quite a bit of money to obtain such advice myself in my work with Priests for Life.
But Fr. Norman Weslin is a priest, and it seems to me that our Catholic Faith requires a bit more than the wisdom of law and public relations. Our Faith sees in him another Christ, and in these days especially, the suffering Christ. His hands have been anointed. They consecrate the Eucharist and absolve sin. And as a priest, Fr. Weslin should enjoy the strong fraternal support of his brother priests, and the active support of the Catholic faithful.
Going to jail is not popular. Yet Fr. Weslin believes that while Jesus Christ's babies are being legally slaughtered by the thousands each day, God wants at least one of his priests in jail. It is not that Fr. Weslin seeks jail; it is that he is willing to endure it if it is the price to pay for taking a stand for the babies.
Some say the price is too high. But what if the law said you could not go to Mass, or told priests they could not preach the Gospel? Many Christians have been and still are in such circumstances. What then? Do we obey God or man? Sometimes, jail is the only place for a just man to be. Bishop Austin Vaughan, now deceased, taught and lived the same thing. He realized one day that the three people depicted on his bishop's ring had all endured jail -- Peter, Paul, and Jesus.
Then, as now, God's Priest was in jail.
Contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718- 980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; email: mail@priestsforlife.org; web: www.priestsforlife.org
Cárcel P. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
Un sacerdote de Dios está en la cárcel. No, no es por cuestiones sexuales, ni por malversación de fondos, ni siquiera es por algún acto pecaminoso. Está preso por rezar. Este sacerdote, el Padre Norman Weslin, está encarcelado desde el 5 de noviembre por rezar pacíficamente en una acera pública frente a un abortuario. Una orden judicial le había prohibido hacerlo, pero el lo hizo de todas maneras. Estará en la cárcel hasta el 3 de abril. Hasta el día de Navidad ayunó 39 días, bebiendo solo agua.
El Padre Weslin ha batallado contra el mal del aborto por décadas, apelando a la generosidad de otros para que hicieran lo mismo. Rechaza categóricamente cualquier forma de violencia y la organización que fundó se llama "Lambs of Christ" (Corderos de Cristo). Sin embargo, los grupos pro-aborto lo consideran un "extremista violento."
Sin embargo, no es tanto la actitud de los promotores del aborto que me molesta sino la actitud de algunos dentro de la Iglesia, que prefieren estar lo mas lejos posible del Padre Weslin. Probablemente porque un "experto" asesor legal les ha dicho que cualquier apariencia de asociación con el Padre Weslin les puede traer problemas a ellos o a sus instituciones. O quizás algún "experto" en relaciones públicas les ha señalado que cualquier viso de asociación con él podría afectar su imagen de personas razonables y promotores balanceados del Evangelio de la Vida.
Jamás abogaría el rechazo de asesoramiento legal experto o en materia de relaciones públicas. De hecho, en Priests for Life pagamos bastante dinero en concepto de honorarios por estos servicios.
Pero el Padre Norman Weslin es un sacerdote, y me parece que nuestra Fe Católica exige algo más que la sabiduría de las leyes y las relaciones públicas. Nuestra fe ve en él otro Cristo, y en estos días especialmente, el Cristo sufriente. Sus manos fueron ungidas. Consagran la Eucaristía y absuelven los pecados. Como sacerdote, el Padre Weslin, debería recibir un sólido apoyo fraternal de sus hermanos sacerdotes y el apoyo activo de los fieles católicos.
No es popular ir a la cárcel. Sin embargo, el Padre Weslin cree que mientras haya miles de bebés de Jesucristo masacrados legalmente a diario, Dios quiere que, por lo menos, uno de sus sacerdotes esté preso. No es que el Padre Weslin desee la cárcel, sino que está dispuesto a soportarla si ese es el precio que debe pagar por tomar posición a favor de los bebés.
Algunos dicen que el precio es muy alto. ¿Qué pasaría si la Ley estableciera que uno no puede ir a misa, o le ordenara a los sacerdotes no predicar el Evangelio? Algunos cristianos se han encontrado y todavía se hallan en circunstancias semejantes. ¿Y entonces? ¿Obedecemos a Dios, o a los hombres? A veces, la cárcel es el lugar en que el hombre justo debe encontrarse. El fallecido obispo Austin Vaughan enseñó y vivió de esa manera. Un día se dio cuenta que las tres personas representadas en su anillo habían padecido la prisión: Pedro, Pablo y Jesús.
En aquel entonces, como ahora, el Sacerdote de Dios estaba en la cárcel.
Contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888- PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; email: mail@priestsforlife.org; web: www.priestsforlife.org
Dear Friends,
Following is my regular column. Please feel free to use it in whole or in part for your educational efforts on behalf of life. Please note that the columns are available both in print and in sound format (both streaming and wav files) on our website at www.priestsforlife.org/columns/biweeklycolumns.html. If you have any questions, please email me at publications@priestsforlife.org.
Sincerely,
Here's to Anger!
"How are you?" I asked my priest-friend prior to the Mass we were preparing to celebrate at his parish. "I'm angry," he replied. I thought perhaps I had done something wrong -- until he clarified that he meant he was angry that babies were being killed that day in his community.
Yes, I'm angry too. And here's to the precious beauty of anger! When it is directed against evil, when it spurs us to righteous activity to root out that evil, anger is virtuous. There can, in fact, be no love of good without anger towards evil.
And I don't think abortion will end in this country until more people who lament that it happens begin getting angry that it happens.
I quote British author William Hazlett (1778-1830), as given in Marcus Wood's
book "Blind Memory," in regard to slavery.
"Logical truth and practical reason are disparates. It is easy to raise an outcry against violent invectives, to talk loud against extravagance and enthusiasm, to pick a quarrel with every thing but the most calm, candid and qualified statement of facts: but there are enormities to which no words can do adequate justice. Are we then, in order to form a complete idea of them, to omit every circumstance of aggravation, or to suppress every feeling of impatience that arises out of details, lest we should be accused of giving way to the influence of prejudice and passion? This would be to falsify the impression altogether, to misconstrue reason and fly in the face of nature. Suppose, for instance, that in the discussion of the Slave-Trade, a description to the life was given of the horrors of the Middle Passage (as it was termed), that you saw the manner in which thousands of wretches, year after year, were stowed together in the hold of a slave-ship, without air, without light, without food, without hope, so that what they suffered in reality was brought home to you in imagination, till you felt in sickness of heart as one of them, could it be said that this was a prejudging of the case, that your knowing the extent of the evil disqualified you from pronouncing sentence upon it and that your disgust and abhorrence were the effects of a heated imagination? No. Those evils that inflame the imagination and make the heart sick, ought not to leave the head cool. This is the very test and measure of the degree of the enormity, that it involuntarily staggers and appalls the mind. If it were a common iniquity, if it were slight and partial, or necessary, it would not have this effect; but it very properly carries away the feelings, and (if you will) overpowers the judgement, because it is a mass of evil so monstrous and unwarranted as not to be endured, even in thought" (Wood, 15-16).
We must exercise reason, self-control, and virtue in our pro-life work. But to
pretend that we should abandon all emotion is the height of absurdity.
Dear Friends,
I hope to see as many of you as possible at next week's March for Life in Washington DC. I will be speaking at a number of events. If you are marching, look for me in front of the Supreme Court as you reach that point in the March. I will be eager to greet and bless you and your group, and we can get some updated photos.
Following is my regular column. Please feel free to use it in whole or in part for your educational efforts on behalf of life. Please note that the columns are available both in print and in sound format (both streaming and wav files) on our website at www.priestsforlife.org/columns/biweeklycolumns.html. If you have any questions, please email me at publications@priestsforlife.org.
Sincerely,
September 11 and Abortion
A number of commentators since September 11 have carefully drawn the comparison between the acts of terrorism that occurred on that day and the daily terrorism of abortion. Both are attacks on innocent human life.
Another link between the two is the perversion of religion.
Priests for Life maintains excellent working relationships with Muslims, and the people who work with us could never imagine a God who would justify people taking innocent human life. Yet we have learned that there are people in the world who call upon the one they regard as the world's Creator, and thank Him for the successful destruction of some of His creatures.
"You shall not use the Name of the Lord your God in vain." That commandment does not simply forbid using God's name as a curse word. It forbids invoking God to justify evil acts. It forbids thanking God for what happened on September 11.
The name of God is also taken in vain to justify abortion. Many supporters of the killing of innocent babies engage in the same kind of perversion of religion.
If you want proof, start by looking at the website www.rcrc.org. It is the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. A more accurate title for the group would be False Prophets. They take the name of Jesus Christ, and His saving Gospel, and try to find there a justification for the dismemberment of tiny children.
The logo on their website is, "We are pro-choice because of our faith."
They even have a Clergy for Choice Network. The "Clergy for Choice Pledge" reads in part, "We clergy members, representing many different religious denominations around the country, pledge our strong support for reproductive choice, which encompasses access to safe, reliable contraception, family planning education, comprehensive sexuality education, affordable and reliable childcare and health care, adoption services, and access to safe, legal, and affordable abortions."
If you still doubt that abortion involves an explicit perversion of religion, read the cover story in the October 1993 issue of New Age Journal ("Sister Against Sister," p.66). Author Brenda Peterson writes, "In her book Pagan Meditations, Ginette Paris describes abortion as an essentially religious act, a sacred sacrifice to Artemis. 'One aborts an impossible love,' she writes, 'not a hatred.' In her new book, The Sacrament of Abortion, Paris explains further that if we saw abortion as a sacred ritual, it would restore to the act a sense of the sanctity of life."
Newsweek magazine reports (October 17,1994) that many abortionists "have a missionary sense about their work." Dr. Curtis Boyd, a Texas abortionist, told the magazine, "I perform abortions because of my religion." Dr. Boyd is often asked by Native American women to bless the aborted fetus, and by Catholic women to baptize it. He proposes schools of theology develop special ceremonies and prayers to mark the loss of a fetus.
You shall not use the name of the Lord in vain -- neither for terrorism against the born or the unborn.
Dear Friends,
Following is the next issue of the Priests for Life newsletter. Please feel free to use it in whole or in part for your educational efforts on behalf of life. Please note that all of our newsletters can be found on our website at www.priestsforlife.org/newsletters/newsletter.html. Also, please note that we are about to launch our online store, so that you can order Priests for Life products through our website. If you have any questions, please email me at publications@priestsforlife.org.
Sincerely,
Priests for Life Newsletter
I am a Man
January 15 is the national holiday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday February is Black History month. The Civil Rights movement, and the evil of segregation which it fought, have many inspiring lessons for our current struggle to achieve justice for the unborn. One of the signs carried by Negroes who peacefully marched for their rights said, simply, "I am a Man." The need for society to rediscover the humanity of its oppressed members is a key link between the Civil Rights movement and the pro-life movement.
In his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the march on Washington on August 28, 1963, Dr. King used a vivid image which today is just as applicable to the unborn: "We've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.' We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity in this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."
The pro-life movement refuses to believe that there are "insufficient funds" for the unborn. We refuse to believe that somehow our nation is incapable of opening the doors of equal protection to the tiniest and youngest human beings.
It is also helpful for us to recall the criticism Dr. King -- now a national hero -- once endured for the demonstrations he organized. These criticisms came from clergy who, while agreeing with Dr. King's ultimate goal, disagreed with his strategy. Those clergy wrote to him, "We are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders. We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely. We agree rather with certain local Negro leadership which has called for honest and open negotiation of racial issues in our area."
Dr. King's response was his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail. In it he wrote, "You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.You may well ask: 'Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?' You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth."
Again, the same answer must be given today to those who fail to see the value of pro-life demonstrations.
Finally, the following word to the clergy was spoken by Dr. King at his last speech before he was assassinated:
"I'm always happy to see a relevant ministry. It's alright to talk about 'long white robes over yonder,' in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's alright to talk about 'streets flowing with milk and honey,' but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's alright to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do."
We cannot afford to let our preaching become disconnected from the injustices around us. That is why we cannot afford to be silent about abortion, just as the preachers in Dr. King's day could not afford to be silent about segregation.
US Bishops Announce New Pastoral Plan
Fr. Frank Pavone, Co-Founder of Priests for Life, praised the US Bishops for their revised Pastoral Plan for Pro-life Activities: A Campaign in Support of LifeThis document, which can be found at www.usccb.org/prolife/pastoralplan.htm, was approved at the November 2001 meeting of the US Bishops in Washington DC. The original version of the pastoral plan was issued in 1975, and then a Reaffirmation was published in 1985.
The new document, Fr. Pavone noted, draws heavily from two important sources given to us since the last version, namely the Holy Father's encyclical Evangelium Vitae, and our own bishops' 1998 statement "Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics."
The new statement calls on the whole Church to implement a vigorous plan involving public education, pastoral care, public policy, and prayer and worship. It is significant that the document specifically states, "Parishes should include in the petitions at every Mass a prayer that ours will become a nation that respects and protects all human life, born and unborn, reflecting a true culture of life." Priests for Life will continue to provide suggested intercessions. See the prayer section of our website at www.priestsforlife.org/prayers/addedplprayers.html.
The revised Pastoral plan points out, as the bishops have done in the past, that a commitment to the consistent ethic of life is compatible with giving "urgent attention and priority" to the abortion issue, saying it "necessarily plays a central role." The document also points out the link between abortion and contraception, as well as the link with Capital Punishment, which "diminishes the value we place on all human life."
Fr. Pavone pledged the intense efforts of Priests for Life to promote this new document, and to assist priests to be familiar with it and implement it at the parish level, in conjunction with the programs of their local bishop.
Other statements of the US bishops, as well as of the Holy Father and other bishops around the world, on the abortion issue can be found in a very large collection on the Priests for Life website at www.priestsforlife.org/magisteriumteachings.html
Please Put a Life-Saving Number on your Bulletin
There is an easy way to save lives in your community: Place, as a permanent item somewhere on the cover of your parish bulletin, a phone number where people can find alternatives to abortion.
The number itself is up to you. We can provide suggested hotline numbers that are accessible anywhere in the nation, and which connect people to local pregnancy resources. Alternatively, you can choose a diocesan or other local resource. That part is up to you.
We are providing the idea, because we know (from our experience and from polling data) that most pastors are favorable to this idea. We provide the following answers to some of the most frequently asked questions:
1. I want to keep the bulletin simple. This idea only takes a few words to implement. See the sample wording below. Concern about the layout of the bulletin is valid, but certainly subordinate to the actual service we provide the community, especially when that service saves lives.
2. If I put a pregnancy assistance number on the bulletin, many other groups will want their numbers there as well. We face this problem all the time, but as pastors, we make decisions based on the most urgent needs. It is certainly praiseworthy to place other types of hotline numbers on the bulletin as well; we do not suggest that this should be the only one. At the same time, the bishops have identified abortion as the most urgent moral problem of our day, and nothing else claims more victims.
3. I need to know more about whom people are calling when they dial these numbers. We encourage you to use the number you are most comfortable with, and this may involve contacting your local diocesan or community resources for abortion alternatives. We can provide information on the various national hotlines, and we encourage you to call them yourself to ask whatever questions you need to ask before using their number.
4. My community is rather elderly, and therefore this would not be a concern of theirs. The people of your parish may be too old to have a child, but they are never too old to save one. They can certainly spread the information to their grandchildren, and others, that help is available for those in crisis.
5. People don't read the bulletin. At least some people do, and it is better that those who do have this life-saving information than if they do not have it.
6. People may not be attracted to a "national" hotline. A local number can be used. Furthermore, most of these national numbers will refer the individual to the helping centers nearest to them.
The notice on the bulletin can take, for example, one of the following forms:
There are alternatives to abortion. Call 1-800-848-LOVE
Pregnant and in need? Call 1-800-848-LOVE
Pregnancy assistance services (nationwide): 1-800-848-LOVE
Prayer Intentions
You are encouraged to remember the following intentions as you pray the Liturgy of the Hours:
January intention: That Judges may decide cases in a manner consistent with the fundamental right to life.
February intention: For the protection of the free-speech rights of pro-life groups and individuals.
A Ministry of Encouragement: Priests for Life, the Bishops, and Pro-life Projects
From its inception, Priests for Life has had the philosophy that it exists to serve the existing structures and programs of the Church's respect life mission. Priests for Life is not an arm of the USCCB or the Bishops' Committee for Pro-life Activities. We are a "Private Association of the Faithful" according to Canon Law (#299).
The relationship of Priests for Life to the wider Church should be understood in the context of the relationship between a priest and his bishop. In other words, we want to assist priests as they carry out the pro-life dimensions of their ministry, and as they do so in the context of the pastoral programs laid out by their own bishop, according to the need of the local diocese.
This is reflected in that part of our "Clergy Commitment Pledge" which reads, "I pledge to cooperate with the projects and programs of Priests for Life, to the degree that I am reasonably able to do so and within the policies set by my Ordinary."
The official commentary on the Pledge states, "Cooperation with Priests for Life projects is then mentioned, always within the context of union with one's own Ordinary. The idea behind this association has never been to come into a diocese in order to promote one or another program or activity. We come into dioceses everywhere in the country precisely in order to assist the clergy to work together with their bishop in the way he directs and according to the local circumstances. At the same time, we provide the benefit of the experience our network has, and the numerous contacts with all groups in the pro-life movement."
Our hallmark, in other words, is flexibility. We will help in the way the diocese wants us to help. It may be to provide a clergy seminar on the latest trends in pro- life preaching and counseling, or to prepare a teaching booklet on some specific aspect of the movement on which a diocesan program focuses.
Priests for Life is a networking hub for the entire pro-life movement, which consists of elements belonging to every political and religious affiliation, as well as those of no religion at all (see, for instance, www.godlessprolifers.org)We are therefore able to provide expert advice and networking. Such advice and information can assist a diocese or parish to further develop its respect life outreach. We will often make the public aware of specific pro-life initiatives that we think are useful. Our role is to provide information, make connections, increase awareness, and foster healthy debate about pro-life strategy. The role of setting policy is different, and belongs to others.
To sum up, when we are invited to a diocese, we follow its policies to the letter, and if a diocese wants assistance in developing those policies, we have an expertise that we are happy to share.
To schedule a Priests for Life priest to speak in your area, contact our travel coordinator at Travel Office, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888- PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Travel Dept. Fax: 603-908-3075; email: travels@priestsforlife.org
Priest Profile -- Fr. Joseph Looney By Anthony DeStefano, Executive Director
Fr. Joseph Looney preached his first sermon at the tender age of 4 years old--- to his kindergarten class! It seems there was a lot of talk among his classmates how wonderful Kris Kringle was, and the future priest felt inspired to stand up and proclaim to everyone that "God was more magical than Santa Clause!"
That same spirit of faith, fearlessness and disregard of negative peer pressure has characterized Fr. Looney's entire life. Influenced strongly by his father, a bus driver who used to take him to watch his church's drum core practice, and later by one of his teachers, Sr. Mary Elaine Lavin, a Sister of Mercy, Fr. Looney was ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1967. His first assignment was St. Justin's in Hartford, Connecticut. He later went to Sacred Heart, in Waterbury, and finally, to St. Margaret's, also in Waterbury.
Fr. Looney has been a major pro-life activist since the moment he was ordained. Before the term "sidewalk counseling" was even coined, Fr. Looney was on the streets, talking to women, handing out pamphlets and picketing abortion clinics in Connecticut. Arrested once for leading a peaceful protest, Fr. Looney soon became friends with famed pro-life activist, Joseph Scheidler.
The encyclical Humanae Vitae, published in 1968, made a very strong impression on the newly ordained priest. He recognized early on the close connection between the contraception mentality and abortion, and consequently expanded his pro-life activities to include efforts against pornography and very public protests against artificial contraception. Possessing a tremendous flare for media, Fr. Looney achieved great notoriety in the 1980's and 90's by staging so-called "condom roasts," in which boxes of prophylactics were burned openly at the state capitol. Such media events attracted the ire of many in the secular press. Even Playboy Magazine reported on Fr. Looney's "subversive" activities.
Passionate about the right to life, Fr. Looney believes that "abortion comes from fear, while life comes from faith." He insists that, for the pro-life movement to be successful, priests need to "say that to the people, and show them what it means to live by faith through our celibacy, our prayer life, and by our prophetic witness." Fr. Looney also says that priests need to publicly identify themselves as pro-life, and at the same time as pro-mercy. "We're not there to put women down," he says, "but to give them a hand up."
Fr. Looney can be reached at St. Margaret's Church, at 289 Willow Street, Waterbury, CT, 06701. His phone number is: (203) 754-6101.
Fr. Frank Pavone
Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
Fr. Frank Pavone
Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
Fr. Frank Pavone
Volume 12, Number 1
January - February 2002