By DEXTER DUGGAN
In a statement to The Wanderer, Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life (priestsforlife.org), noted that clear instructions from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to Catholic politicians and voters to defend preborn babies are being supplanted in various dioceses with a preference to avoid what is called anger or divisiveness.
Pavone pointed to the USCCB’s 1998 statement Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics. Among its exhortations were these points:
— “Catholics who are privileged to serve in public leadership positions have an obligation to place their faith at the heart of their public service, particularly on issues regarding the sanctity and dignity of human life.
— “We urge those Catholic officials who choose to depart from Church teaching on the inviolability of human life in their public life to consider the consequences for their own spiritual well-being, as well as the scandal they risk by leading others into serious sin.
— “We call on them to reflect on the grave contradiction of assuming public roles and presenting themselves as credible Catholics when their actions on fundamental issues of human life are not in agreement with Church teaching.
— “The Gospel of Life must be proclaimed, and human life defended, in all places and all times. The arena for moral responsibility includes not only the halls of government, but the voting booth as well.
— “Laws that permit abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide are profoundly unjust, and we should work peacefully and tirelessly to oppose and change them. Because they are unjust, they cannot bind citizens in conscience, be supported, acquiesced in, or recognized as valid,” the USCCB statement said.
In his own statement provided to The Wanderer on August 4, Pavone said: “My 2015 book Abolishing Abortion pointed out the flawed excuse of ‘we’ll lose our tax exemption’ that many hierarchy utilize to distance themselves from Republican politics.
“Now the argument has shifted, as bishop after bishop…issue stern warnings not to be ‘divisive’ or make people angry. (Jesus didn’t get that memo.),” Pavone said. “My ministry team encourages churches to teach what the bishops have said about voting, and to pray for our elections.
“But instead of the fatherly encouragement bishops are supposed to provide, we get cold warnings not to be political,” he said. “Sorry, but this time the stakes are too high.”
Pavone’s statement linked to a couple of examples of bishops discouraging what they considered “divisive” views defending traditional morality. Rather than daring to acknowledge important differences between Republican and Democratic Party official positions, one Gulf Coast bishop wrote, in part, in September 2019:
“We need to be cautious not to side with any political party’s stance. I recently received a copy of a politically slanted letter that was published in a parish bulletin. All priests, deacons and religious men and women are to refrain from publishing or speaking in favor of one political party’s stance or issue preferred over another’s. . . .
“I am notifying you to refrain from writing and or speaking from the pulpit about any matter that may contribute or cause disunity and anger among our brothers and sisters,” the bishop wrote.
As reported in last week’s hard copy issue of The Wanderer (August 6), Pavone emphasized that he isn’t reducing his commitment to pro-life President Trump’s and Republicans’ re-election, but he was obeying a recent request from the Congregation for Clergy that he not have an official role in political parties.
Pavone told this newspaper:
“I’m not distancing myself from the Trump campaign or from the president. To do so in these circumstances would be to betray common sense and loyalty both to America and the Church. If anything, I’m redoubling my efforts to see to it that he is re-elected, along with a Republican Senate, House of Representatives, and state and local officials as well.”
Forces Of Darkness
Asked for a comment, conservative Republican political consultant Constantin Querard told The Wanderer on August 2: “The fight between good and evil would be simpler if we could simply include all of the churches on the side of good, proceed from that assumption, and head into battle against the forces of darkness with strong and united churches at our side.
“Instead,” Querard said, “we need to remind ourselves that the churches themselves are incredibly active battlegrounds in that fight between good and evil; good often loses the battles being fought within the churches, and they are relatively weak and timid in most fights against what I refer to as mainstream evil.
“The occasional mention of abortion in sermons, a semi-regular mention of ‘We pray for an end to abortion’ in our prayers, and that’s about it from the Church as a whole,” Querard said. “Think about it, Fr. Pavone is the national director of Priests for Life. Why isn’t every priest a Priest for Life?
“You shouldn’t need an organization to speak for a subset of priests who also have strong feelings about it being a sin to murder babies; that should be the standard position across the entire Church. But it isn’t,” Querard said. “Which is why they’re weak when it comes to standing up to Democrat politicians on these sorts of issues.”
Querard is Russian Orthodox and attends a Roman Catholic church.
Full Engagement
Northern California conservative commentator Barbara Simpson, a Catholic, told The Wanderer on August 4: “For a Church that tends to pride itself on staying out of partisan politics, the Catholic Church shows its true liberal politics in what it has done to Fr. Pavone.
“I admire his devotion to Church teachings, especially on abortion, yet his efforts to support our anti-abortion president in his campaign are shut down,” Simpson said. “Good for Fr. Pavone for saying he will continue to support the Trump candidacy because it’s a campaign to preserve our basic freedom of religion, of security, of law and order, and all that constitutes our rights as Americans.
“He is smart enough to see that if we lose those rights, we would also lose our rights as Catholics. Would that the good bishops of the Church would face reality. May God bless Fr. Pavone,” she said.
A promotion for Pavone’s Abolishing Abortion book (2015: Thomas Nelson), says: “The struggle against abortion in our nation has been going on a long time. Sometimes it seems like an evil that will never go away. People want to get involved in the fight, but it feels futile, and increasingly the culture tells Christians to stay out of politics.
“Longtime activist Rev. Frank Pavone counters this frustrated mindset with challenge, encouragement, plain facts, and a healthy dose of strategy,” the promotion says. “He explores biblical, moral, historical, and legal reasons Christians belong in the public square and challenges both churches and individual Christians to full engagement.
“Pavone argues convincingly that the battle against abortion not only can be won, but must be won. The soul of our nation depends on it,” it says.
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