Mudville

How Bridgeport Diocese Spokesperson Dr. Joseph McAleer said what Fr. Owen Kearns of the NC Register couldn't.

Oh somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville-mighty Casey has struck out.
Ernest Thayer "Casey at the Bat" (1888)

Six score years later, there's still no joy in Mudville, at least for the fans of the New York Mets. The Mets have gone down in the history books, but not for reasons they would have liked or expected. After a season of stunning success, leading their division nearly every week, and fully expecting to play in the World Series, the team had a spectacular collapse last month-and lost everything.

In three words, the team caved.

It all happened so quickly, almost as if time stood still. Needless to say, fans are in a stupor, an almost indescribably state of sadness and bewilderment. Placing their trust in the team, not having any reason to doubt that the course begun last April was right and true, it was all suddenly reversed, for reasons no one can articulate.

Where do we go from here?

The Mets had a turbulent past, and often have played the role of underdog. No wonder the fans' motto is, "You Gotta Believe." It's not always popular to be a Mets fan, especially with the New York Yankees juggernaut next door, but fans are intensely loyal. Kinda like being Catholic- it's not always easy, but you know the truths are eternal and the ultimate goal is just. So you stick with it, striving for holiness every single day through challenges and temptations.

But sport is no substitute for religion, so let's stop the comparisons and get back to the Mets. What's a fan to do when the course changes abruptly and unexpectedly, and you feel wronged, let down, even betrayed?

Take the long view. Being part of a fan base involves a commitment to the team and its long-term well-being. It does not mean blind obedience, nor not being able to ask questions when things don't make sense. You have a right to seek the truth, so long as it is in the right spirit, and the motives are not ulterior.

Here a lesson from the Catholic playbook is handy: be watchful, be respectful, and be knowledgeable, but by all means keep the faith and stay with the team; don't undermine it. For as Yogi Berra, a member of that other New York team once observed, "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."

Could the people of Connecticut have done more?

I guess it's really our fault. NC Register Editor Fr. Owen Kearns sums it up very neatly:

The story of what happened in Connecticut should serve as an example of how effective laypeople can be when they support the Church — and what can happen when they don’t.

The Connecticut Catholic Conference planned a “Catholic Concerns Day” at the state Capitol — a great opportunity for the state’s 1.5 million Catholics to stand up and be counted. But only 100 people showed up. In the past, concerned voters have changed the minds of legislators by inundating them with phone calls and urging their friends to do the same. They could have done the same this time, making it clear that they weren’t about to let their elected representatives bully the Church on this or any other topic.

But they didn’t. At the crucial moment most pro-lifers did nothing.

I guess Fr. Kearns knows what a Connecticut Catholic is doing at home to make a difference-(nothing apparently), and believes that those 100 fervent people weren't enough to make a difference at the Capitol.

But here we are again, thinking only of numbers. Numbers of people at the Capitol, number of people in the pews, number of actual newly conceived human beings (maybe they don't exist!) being aborted. There's just not enough numbers to really make it worth fighting for.

I can think of a number, too- the number three. Three Bishops, God bless them, to stand up and support those meager 100 people (and the rest of us 1.5 million Catholics in the state), not to mention one Victim Advocate, Jim Papillo, all putting themselves on the line to stall or stop this legislation. Three Bisops to follow through, at whatever the cost, to save the life of (maybe only) ONE, and to let those 100 people (and the rest of us "do-nothing pro-lifers")know that what they were fighting for was real.

To quote one concerned Catholic citizen from the Connecticut Catholic Blog who did attend:

"I wonder what changed. Why didn't the CT Conference change their Plan B protocols 2 years ago? It would have saved me and countless other loyal Connecticut Catholics time spent writing letters, talking to fellow parishioners, defending Catholic teaching, protesting with several small children at the Capitol. What a waste of time! A holy, Catholic friend of mine can only think of the poor souls lost. But me, I'm concerned with the egg on our collective faces."

When I think of Fr. Kearns commentary, I think of another number-ONE. Genesis 18:32-one man, Abraham, petitioning God for the righteous in Sodom, Esther 7- one woman pleading for her race, Luke 18-one widow persistently petitioning a cranky judge.

While 100 visible people, representing 1.5 million, were marching on the Connecticut Capitol, those at home (invisible to Fr. Kearns), were writing and calling legislators, and praying and fasting in support of our collective mission.

Pope Benedict's Commission to Bishops

Six new Bishops ordained by Pope Benedict on the Feast of the Archangels on 9.29.07 were the first of his pontificate. Does the Pope call all Bishops to serve as he described? I would think so.

Noting the liturgical feast of the archangels, the Holy Father told the new prelates that in the early Church, bishops were considered to be like angels, because their service recalls that offered by the celestial creatures.

"They are God’s messengers. They bring God to man, they open heaven and earth," the Pope said. "Because they are near God, they can also be very close to man. God, in fact, is nearer to us than we are to ourselves.

"Angels speak to man about what his true being is, about what is very often covered and buried in his life. They call to him to go within himself."

The Holy Father affirmed that bishops, in particular, "must be men of God, must live a life oriented toward God."

"The bishop," he said, "must be a man of prayer, one who intercedes to God for men. The more he does this, the more he understands those entrusted to him and can become an angel for them -- God’s messenger, who helps them to find their true nature […] and to live the idea that God has of them."

How timely.

Plan B: What more is there to say? Plenty!

It's been paralyzing as an NFP teacher and a lecturer on TOB from Connecticut to think about this and believe it is actually happening. But plenty of people in blogdom have plenty to say. Here's some of it:

The American Papist comments: ""Reluctant compliance", as Bp. Lori calls it, is hardly an ideal state of affairs....I think the precedent of giving "reluctant compliance" to intrusive laws is imprudent. Practically speaking, it is no different than full compliance."

The Curt Jester comments: "I think what I found most disappointing about the Bishop's letters is that it seemed all about the prudence of challenging and resisting the law and zero emphasis on possibly allowing Catholic hospitals to kill human beings in the name of prudence."

An anonymous poster at the Papist comments:"If an elderly relative of my grandmother had had an abortion after a rape, then 10 children of her child would not have been born, including a Catholic priest."

Blogger 'She Said' from The Connecticut Catholic reports: " 'For those very same bishops to do a 180-degree turnabout two days before the legislation becomes law, without any adequate explanation, is incomprehensible,' Cafero said. 'It shows apparent disregard and disrespect for the political process and those of us who worked in their behalf.'

She continues: "I wonder what changed. Why didn't the CT Conference change their Plan B protocols 2 years ago? It would have saved me and countless other loyal Connecticut Catholics time spent writing letters, talking to fellow parishioners, defending Catholic teaching, protesting with several small children at the Capitol. What a waste of time! A holy, Catholic friend of mine can only think of the poor souls lost. But me, I'm concerned with the egg on our collective faces."

matthew archbold at Creative Minority Report says:" The Bishop's argument is absurd mainly because it is so inconclusive. They're intentionally viewing the science as inconclusive because it's easier to do so. Without moral constancy, the Church is just a socially benevolent organization."

Diogenes at CWNews says: "Last week the bishops said the state law imposed a morally unjustifiable obligation on hospitals. This week they say it doesn't. If you don't perceive a change in teaching, get yourself fitted for a miter. "

Then there's the pity, prayers and punishment (courtesy of The American Papist):

"Let's pray for the people of Connecticut - especially women who are victims of rape. Perhaps they can be strong regarding Plan B where others are not."

"This has not been a good day for Catholics. For Knights, its especially sad to hear the news coming out of CT given that its Bishop Lori's turf. "

" As a pharmacist who left retail pharmacy rather than dispense birth control pills, and now after 8 years have returned because I have a conscience clause in place such that I do NOT dispense birth control pills nor plan b because of their abortifacient properties! So these bishops now say the reason I put my career on the line is null?"

"I wonder how all those people who marched to the Capitol in Hartford for Catholic Advocacy Day feel now? I'm in the Diocese of Bridgeport. Nothing about this story surprises me given the shambles we are in here."

" The modernist heresy continues in Connecticut."

" I am from the Hartford Archdiocese and I feel so betrayed. If there are "serious doubts" about how the pill works, then err on the side of caution. What can we *do* to help the bishops to stand up to the state??? We can't be afraid to suffer for the Kingdom of God."

" I hope that the Vatican speaks and acts quickly on this. Now we have the whole nation of Catholics thrown into confusion. Are the bishops complicit or not in grave sin? Are they automatically excommunicated or not? Are these bishops teaching the Truth, or have they become renegades? What are we supposed to believe?"

Priest pleads to keep Plan B out of Catholic hospitals!

Human Life International President: "Plan A: Keep 'Plan B' Out of Catholic Hospitals"

Commentary by Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International
On September 28th the Connecticut bishops issued an unfortunate statement allowing the Plan B abortion-causing drug to be used in cases of rape in Catholic hospitals. I have written respectfully and urgently to the Connecticut Catholic Conference (CCC) and to each bishop individually to ask them to withdraw this potentially precedent-setting statement, and I pray that they do so. I am extremely concerned that this statement will begin to have a domino effect on other Catholic hospitals and healthcare institutions.

First, let me be clear about our obligations as Catholics. While our bishops operate in union with the Vicar of Christ, no individual bishop or conference of bishops, however wise or holy, has the charism of infallibility. Our respect for our bishops is sometimes exercised in presenting them with the clear facts that their advisors may have missed. It is an expression of our filial cooperation in their ministry. In this case, we have no option but to humbly ask them to reverse their decision due to some extremely egregious errors contained in the statement.

Errors of fact
Error number 1: "The administration of Plan B pills in this instance cannot be judged to be the commission of an abortion because of such doubt about how Plan B pills and similar drugs work."

The truth is that there is absolutely no doubt about how the Plan B pills work. Just ask the manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals, whose product insert states: "This product works mainly by preventing ovulation (egg release). It may also prevent fertilization of a released egg (joining of sperm and egg) or attachment of a fertilized egg to the uterus (implantation)." It's that third item that makes Plan B an abortion-causing drug. The same can be said for every chemical contraceptive.

Error number 2: "...the teaching authority of the Church has not definitively resolved this matter...." Here, regretfully, Catholics are led to believe that Rome has not unambiguously addressed the issue of Plan B (a.k.a., the "morning after pill") already.

The truth of this matter is evident by a simple recourse to a statement of the Pontifical Academy for Life on the Vatican's website. The Academy stated in a document issued in October of 2001 that "from the ethical standpoint the same absolute unlawfulness of abortifacient procedures also applies to distributing, prescribing and taking the morning-after pill. All who, whether sharing the intention or not, directly co-operate with this procedure, are also morally responsible for it." The Vatican did not need to invent any new teaching on the Plan B pills because these pills fall into the category of abortifacient contraception, pure and simple. The consistent teaching of our Church on abortion applies here.

Errors of judgment

There were other errors in judgment in the bishops' statement that confuse the issue from a moral point of view. The bishops state that "to administer Plan B pills without an ovulation test is not an intrinsically evil act." This type of language just confuses the issue. It would indeed be a seriously irresponsible act to administer a killing drug not knowing whether or not ovulation has occurred and a new life is present. It would be like a hunter shooting at something moving in a forest if he were not really sure that what he saw was an animal or a human being. To use the language of "intrinsically evil" would make us think - legalistically - that it would be okay to take an action if it were only possibly evil. Hair-splitting language like this does not give us guidance when our moral obligation is to err on the side of life whenever there is a doubt. Furthermore, Dr. Chris Kahlenborn has shown that Plan B only works to halt ovulation half the time. Thus fertilization may occur even after the pill is administered, and a chemical abortion would result.

The core of the matter
What we are faced with here is the long arm of the culture of death reaching into our Catholic institutions and coercing us to comply with its totalitarian dictates. The Connecticut state legislature, with the complicity of the governor, passed a law that forbad the use of ovulation tests in cases of rape - why? This unwarranted government intrusion into a purely medical decision was totally unnecessary and would not likely have affected any other institutions than Catholic ones. It is, in my opinion, a law that was drafted deliberately to coerce Catholic hospitals to comply with the contraceptive dictates of the abortion providers. Remember this same state was the origin of the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court case which legalized contraception! It is no wonder that Connecticut is reaping the rotten fruit of the seeds that it sowed over forty years ago.

The bishops were forced into a "reluctant compliance" with this law, according to Bishop Lori of Bridgeport, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Acts of blatant coercion of Catholic consciences are already far advanced and will only continue unless the Church is willing to stand up and rebuke the arrogance of these coercive measures and carve out strict realms of conscience which are unreachable by activist courts and corrupt politicians. That will require Church leaders to be willing to fight ferocious battles against the dictators of relativism in order to assert our rights of conscience and faith. All Catholics, but especially our leaders, will have to be clear-headed and uncompromising in the face of the temptations to put our Catholic institutions in league with the liars and manipulators of the culture of death.

I envision a day in which Catholic leaders may have to resign from lucrative positions in business and shut down Catholic healthcare institutions rather than cooperate in the arrogant and coercive programs of the culture of death. Actually, I think that day has already arrived.

What we can do

Our greatest weapon in this battle against the culture of death is prayer. I ask you to pray for the bishops, above all, who are usually the target of attack by the culture of death and are often surrounded by compromisers. We need their strong moral leadership unfettered by lawyers and "ethicists" who prevent them from taking up arms in the culture wars. We are at a point in our Church's history where bishops and priests are being called to martyrdom for the sake of the Faith, and only prayer will give them that courage to embrace their vocations to the last drop of blood.

Secondly, we all need to make a firm decision to never be silent in the face of any form of chemical killing. Abortifacient contraception is a back-door plague which enters into lives, institutions and societies in the guise of the birth control "savior," but it is just one more way to kill, and with greater frequency at that.

Finally, stay tuned for more battles in more states with more Catholic healthcare institutions. One phone call I had with the legislative advisor of the Connecticut Catholic Conference gave me the impression that the domino effect is already happening in other episcopal conferences, and that concerns me deeply. The vigilance of many great pro-life forces, coupled with prayer and massive protests from people of conscience will undoubtedly give our Church leaders the courage to imitate the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for His sheep.