An excerpt Kansas City - St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn's address to pro-life volunteers at an August 16 Respect Life Banquet held at St. Pius X High School in Kansas City:
In our work we must do much good and – just as important - we must act
against what is clearly evil. We must take this responsibility. It is
possible to commit sins of omission where there is grave
responsibility. The US bishops, for more than thirty years have held a
strategic principle that Roe v. Wade must be overturned. Why is this?
Because it is a grave evil that has become a fundamental element of law
in our country. It must be opposed. We always seek to do it legally,
but with the fervor of American freedom, and the fiery insistence born
of the Holy Spirit. We must overturn unjust laws. Obviously and with
great urgency, we must change a law that exposes human life to the
terror of abortion. It seems a long road. Progress is so slow. Through
many courageous and hard-fought battles we have put in place –
particularly in the States – some small but important limits on
abortions: waiting periods, parental notification requirements, use of
ultrasounds, alternatives counseling, etc. We have also been able to
establish limits on tax dollars used for abortion, and conscience
protection for individuals and, for example, for our Catholic Health
Care institutions.
Before I go further, it is very important to note: We, the Catholic Church, continue to do MORE than any other private institution – bar none – to support life at every stage. We do more to help the poor, the sick, the hopeless, certainly women in difficult pregnancies and those with young families. We will never stop doing these things. We must not. We will do them out of a conviction about the dignity and value of every human person, and out of a motive of love of Christ. But these things are NOT enough! We have to stop evil where we can. We must defeat or overturn destructive laws. As private citizens, we have to support elected officials who support life and defeat or remove those who boldly declare a pro-choice, anti-life agenda.
Because the efforts to dislodge what is evil are so arduous – we know that evil will not give up without a fight; It shouldn’t surprise us that certain groups – even those under the banner of “Catholic,” have set a different agenda, one that while supporting a public work of assistance to those in need, nonetheless chooses not to address unjust and destructive laws that take their daily toll of thousands of human lives. They seem to tolerate and even support, at times, a program that systematically continues its clearly declared strategy to remove all limits on access to abortion. They say, “Let us forget about Roe v Wade – concede it, because we have not yet been able to defeat it. … Let such evils run their course. We will try to do some good and this will be enough.”
I assure you, evil and selfishness looks for us to drop our guard. The Freedom of Choice act has not been enacted; but piece by piece all its elements are finding their way into our law. The efforts that had been won painstakingly over the last generation – limits on abortion that can be shown, statistically, to reduce the number of abortions in our country by hundreds of thousands per year - are today being nullified. We must do much charity, much work in mercy, and develop more safety nets for those who are in need. But, at the same time, we must work for the change of what is unjust. Our first call is to provide and protect justice – and the primordial human right is life – for those who are most vulnerable, who have no voice of their own. We will act with respect and we will not ever, ever, resort to violence, but we must not cease to work actively against evil, anymore than we would abandon the initiatives of active charity that mark the work of Jesus Christ. You and I must do these things. I am counting on you!
A year or so ago I didn’t know what a “Community organizer” was. I’m still not so sure. But perhaps you must become community organizers, provided that the organic foundation of what you do is of the Holy Spirit; that it is an authentic work of the apostolic Church. Do everything prayerfully, faithfully, peacefully, but with courage and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Work together so that the ONEness of the Church is notable in your efforts. Do the truth in love.
Before I go further, it is very important to note: We, the Catholic Church, continue to do MORE than any other private institution – bar none – to support life at every stage. We do more to help the poor, the sick, the hopeless, certainly women in difficult pregnancies and those with young families. We will never stop doing these things. We must not. We will do them out of a conviction about the dignity and value of every human person, and out of a motive of love of Christ. But these things are NOT enough! We have to stop evil where we can. We must defeat or overturn destructive laws. As private citizens, we have to support elected officials who support life and defeat or remove those who boldly declare a pro-choice, anti-life agenda.
Because the efforts to dislodge what is evil are so arduous – we know that evil will not give up without a fight; It shouldn’t surprise us that certain groups – even those under the banner of “Catholic,” have set a different agenda, one that while supporting a public work of assistance to those in need, nonetheless chooses not to address unjust and destructive laws that take their daily toll of thousands of human lives. They seem to tolerate and even support, at times, a program that systematically continues its clearly declared strategy to remove all limits on access to abortion. They say, “Let us forget about Roe v Wade – concede it, because we have not yet been able to defeat it. … Let such evils run their course. We will try to do some good and this will be enough.”
I assure you, evil and selfishness looks for us to drop our guard. The Freedom of Choice act has not been enacted; but piece by piece all its elements are finding their way into our law. The efforts that had been won painstakingly over the last generation – limits on abortion that can be shown, statistically, to reduce the number of abortions in our country by hundreds of thousands per year - are today being nullified. We must do much charity, much work in mercy, and develop more safety nets for those who are in need. But, at the same time, we must work for the change of what is unjust. Our first call is to provide and protect justice – and the primordial human right is life – for those who are most vulnerable, who have no voice of their own. We will act with respect and we will not ever, ever, resort to violence, but we must not cease to work actively against evil, anymore than we would abandon the initiatives of active charity that mark the work of Jesus Christ. You and I must do these things. I am counting on you!
A year or so ago I didn’t know what a “Community organizer” was. I’m still not so sure. But perhaps you must become community organizers, provided that the organic foundation of what you do is of the Holy Spirit; that it is an authentic work of the apostolic Church. Do everything prayerfully, faithfully, peacefully, but with courage and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Work together so that the ONEness of the Church is notable in your efforts. Do the truth in love.
Working against evil is so important for ourselves and our children. The future is dependent on people not standing by and letting the world be over taken by the devil. No one can say that they are ignorant of the world because they are living in it. Omission is a sin, and more often Catholics are guilty of this sin than any other because they do not work to stop evil from spreading.
Posted by: Catholic Femina | Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 01:26 PM