Catholic Replies
Q. While praying recently at a rally seeking the overturn of the awful Supreme Court abortion decision of 1973, I recalled that some years ago you published a poem about abortion from the perspective of an unborn child. Could you print it again? — P.G., via e-mail.
A. You have a good memory. That poem appeared in this column about ten years ago. It was written as a pro-life “rap song” for a Confirmation class and was recited along with the display of an image of an 18-week-old unborn child from the famous 1965 Life magazine cover. We gave the child the name “Jolene.” Here is the biologically accurate poem that we called “A Pro-Life Rap-sody.”
Yo, everybody, my name is Jolene,
The cutest little chick you’ve ever seen.
I’m not very big in my 18th week,
But I’ll tell you more if you let me speak.
My heart is working, and so’s my brain.
Stick me with a needle, I’ll feel the pain.
I’m kicking my legs and sucking my thumb
And bouncing around on my tiny bum.
My mom’s just beginning to feel me move,
With all systems go, I’m in a groove.
I sure hope everything turns out right,
So in a few months I can see daylight.
I’ve heard some stories that make me worry
About friends of mine in quite a flurry.
They told me that millions of other kids
Have had their lives put on the skids.
It seems there are those who are kind of wild,
They talk about a “choice” and not a child.
They say that some of us shouldn’t be born
And never have a choice to see the dawn.
Never have a choice to laugh or smile,
Never have a choice to run the mile.
Never have a choice to be a dancer,
Or maybe to find a cure for cancer.
Never have a choice to watch a storm,
Never have choice to attend a prom.
Never have a choice to jump and sing,
Never gonna wear a wedding ring.
But why should people deny our portion
And impose on us the evil of abortion?
It doesn’t seem fair, so I raise my voice,
Don’t you think us babies should have a choice?
But our problem is that we’re hidden from view,
And if people can’t see us, what can we do?
We need some friends who will tell the truth,
Friends like you, our Confirmation youth.
So whadda you say, will you let them dis
This life of mine, big brother and sis?
I’m countin’ on you to save my skin
From the abortion crowd that would do me in.
I need your voice and I need your prayers,
I need you to help me with my cares.
As I told you before, my name is Jolene,
I’d like to grow up and become a teen.
So whadda you say, good friends of mine,
Will you step right up and draw a line?
Say a big NO to the “pro-choice” fraud,
And please help defend this child of God.
Q. Can you tell me the difference between a doctrine and a dogma? — G.M., via e-mail.
A. That the two terms bear some similarities is indicated by the glossary at the back of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which defines “doctrine/dogma” as “the revealed teachings of Christ which are proclaimed by the fullest extent of the exercise of the authority of the Church’s Magisterium.” In his Modern Catholic Dictionary, however, Fr. John Hardon, SJ, explains the distinction between the two terms.
First, he defines doctrine as “any truth taught by the Church as necessary for acceptance by the faithful. The truth may be either formally revealed (as the Real Presence), or a theological conclusion (as the canonization of a saint), or part of the natural law (as the sinfulness of contraception). In any case, what makes it doctrine is that the Church authority teaches that it is to be believed. This teaching may be done either solemnly in ex cathedra pronouncements or ordinarily in the perennial exercise of the Church’s Magisterium or teaching authority.”
A dogma, says Fr. Hardon, is a “doctrine taught by the Church to be believed by all the faithful as part of divine revelation. All dogmas, therefore, are formally revealed truths and promulgated as such by the Church. They are revealed either in Scripture or Tradition, either explicitly (as the Incarnation) or implicitly (as the Assumption). Moreover, their acceptance by the faithful must be proposed as necessary for salvation. They may be taught by the Church in a solemn manner, as with the definition of the Immaculate Conception, or in an ordinary way, as with the constant teaching on the malice of taking innocent human life.”
Q. We had an envelope in our Sunday collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, with a full-page flyer telling about the vision of CCHD and saying that it adheres to the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church. What is the status of the CCHD now, and what about other programs, such as Catholic Relief Services? Have any of them changed? — E.C., via e-mail.
A. If you mean have these Church agencies stopped sending some of their money to programs and groups that often support contraceptive and abortion services, the answer is no. The federal government gives hundreds of millions of dollars a year to USCCB entities, so the bishops do not want to bite the hand that feeds them by keeping the donations of the faithful away from questionable groups. A similar problem exists in the Vatican where, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal in December, only 10 percent of the $55 million sent to the Holy Father’s “Peter’s Pence” collection goes to help the poor. Most of the funds donated in 2018 were used to offset Vatican budget deficits.
