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Communique - Dec. 21, 2007
by Communique
Released December 21, 2007
in this issue:
hot button issues: ACOG / PLANNED PARENTHOOD
catholic clergy: EUTHANASIA / TERRI SCHIAVO
congress: MEXICO CITY POLICY
organ transplantation: PAUL BYRNE, MD
parent power: PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM HARM
voting records: LIFE ADVOCACY BRIEFING
zinger: MAHONY GLORIOSUS
reminders: SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS / ULTRASOUND
reflection for prayer: PEACE TO YOU!
hot button issues
ACOG: ALL's Judie Brown comments on the ACOG opinion that would seek to force pro-life physicians to refer patients to abortionists: "The ACOG committee's statement is but another in a continuing series of cheap shots against God, the Creator of every human being, and it could not have come at a more opportune time for Christians to decry it."
Link: "A cheap shot from ACOG," American Life League, 12/18/07
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: ALL takes a look at the 2007 line of "choice on earth" holiday cards from America's largest abortion chain.
Video: "The ALL Report: Choice on Earth," American Life League, 12/18/07
catholic clergy
EUTHANASIA: Father John Paris, SJ recently wrote a commentary, "Pulling the plug," in Forbes magazine (which unfortunately is not online due to editorial ownership). However, suffice it to say that once again, Father Paris, who is mentioned in Bobby Schindler's interview (see below), advocated denying treatment to the seriously ill and applauds a Texas law that enables doctor's decisions, once approved by ethics committees, to overrule parents.
TERRI SCHIAVO: Booby Schindler, Terri Schiavo's brother, recently revealed the extent to which Catholic clergy were involved in sanctioning the death of his sister.
Link: "Bobby Schindler reveals shocking support by Catholic clergy for sister's euthanasia killing," Life Site News, 12/14/07
congress
MEXICO CITY POLICY: Once again Congress has approved the flawed Mexico City Policy which contains exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother while making no provision for the banning of abortions caused by chemicals and devices which act during the early days of pregnancy. The bill in which this policy is contained also increases funding to Planned Parenthood.
Links: "America's deadly export," American Life League, 12/18/07 / "Mexico City Policy left intact in budget bill," Cybercast News Service, 12/17/07
organ transplantation
PAUL BYRNE, MD: The Michael Fund has published an interview with Paul Byrne, MD on the subject of "The vital organ transplantation controversy and informed consent."
Link: The interview must be requested from our office since it is not online at this time.
parent power
PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM HARM: Parents have joined together to publish reports on the serious problems facing our young people today. To learn more see Concerned Parents.
voting records
LIFE ADVOCACY BRIEFING: To receive a complete report on Congressional action in the current 110th Congress, please e-mail Life Advocacy Briefing.
zinger
MAHONY GLORIOSUS: The following is reprinted in full with permission of Catholic World News and is attributed to Diogenes:
His whole nature fails to persuade. That is because he has never remained silent about any of his good deeds. -- F. Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 1882
The unsinkable Cardinal Mahony continues to amaze and confound us with yet another escape from self-created calamity. The latest episode concerns Mahony's claim (made during an address to Archdiocesan priests in October) that he had been assaulted in mid-summer by attackers who, he said, were upset over the sex abuse scandal.
Mahony's account, like a Dr. Seuss illustration, stacks one teetering improbability on top of another. He claims to have been attacked while walking to drop off letters at a mailbox near his cathedral. The notion of the Cardinal's trotting off to the postbox himself is as plausible as his taking it into his head to get a mop and bucket and scrub the sacristy floor after hours. If he did, he'd have a photographer present.
One priest who attended the conference says Mahony further claims he was hospitalized as a consequence of the assault and took several weeks to recover. Are we to imagine that Mahony's assailants recognized him but that the doctors and staff at the hospital didn't? Or is it that everyone at the hospital forgot to mention they'd had a battered cardinal to tend to? Or that in the weeks that followed no one happened to notice the Archbishop of Los Angeles wasn't as sprightly as usual?
Mahony did not report the incident to the police. According to the priest-informant, the Cardinal declined to do so "because he felt he could offer it up in reparation for the sins of others." A noble gesture. Odd though, that his notion of "offering it up" included suffering in silence with respect to the police but not with respect to his fellow clergy. It's probably not a coincidence that the police could check up on the claim and the clergy couldn't. In any case, it's hard to see how suffering in tactically-selective silence accomplishes much in the way of reparation.
The commander of the LAPD's central region says the police are unable to investigate the incident unless the putative victim makes a crime report. An editorial in the Stockton (CA) Record adds the detail that "Los Angeles police have contacted Mahony's office but still are waiting to hear from him." In response to media inquiries, we're told that "The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese has declined to comment"
"The annual meeting of archdiocesan priests is a private meeting. Any conversation that took place during that meeting was between the priests and their bishop," spokeswoman Carolina Guevara said in an e-mail.
And there we have it. Lacking even the name of the hospital at which the Cardinal was treated, the news media can't get to the bottom of the story, and what looked at first like an embarrassment will, somewhat mistily, remain as an edifying act of reparation and timely instance of solidarity with the wounded clergy of the Archdiocese. Unsinkable.
Postscript: OTR wishes to quash the baseless rumor that the Cardinal has hired O.J. Simpson to assist him in the search for the real assailants.
Link: "Mahony gloriosus," Off the Record, 12/17/07
reminders
SAVING THOSE DAMNED CATHOLICS: Judie Brown offers a brief video synopsis of her latest book in a new posting on YouTube. Of her work, one reader writes, "The book mentions many things that bother me about the polarizing of the bishops over abortion and other life issues and their silence on these issues. Glad to know I'm not imagining it. Thank you for talking about it and exposing it!"
Video: "Saving Those Damned Catholics," American Life League, 12/07
TO ORDER: "Saving Those Damned Catholics" is available from ALL in hardcover or paperback. Call 866-LET-LIVE or purchase online.
ULTRASOUND VIDEO: "Baby Steps: Live from the womb, 16 stages of pre-birth development," is an amazing new video from American Life League that many in the pregnancy center movement say is certain to save lives. The video features dramatic 4-D ultrasound images of preborn babies from 8 to 34 weeks development.
TO ORDER: The "Baby Steps" DVD is available from ALL for $9.95 plus shipping and handling. Call 866-LET-LIVE toll-free, or purchase online.
reflection for prayer
PEACE TO YOU! Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests (Luke 2:14).
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