Abortion supporters rely on ‘subterfuges,’
Cardinal OʼMalley says
By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Supporters
of legal abortion are like the emperor
from the Hans Christian Andersen fairy
tale “The Emperorʼs New Clothes,” said
Cardinal Sean P. OʼMalley of Boston.
The “vain and proud king” gullibly
believed the swindlers who “told the
king that those who could not see the
(‘magicʼ) cloth were stupid and unfit for
office,” said Cardinal OʼMalley, chair-
man of the U.S. bishopsʼ Committee on
Pro-Life Activities.
“The king was quite deceived and
paraded through the street of his capital
to receive the ovations of his people. The
crowds lined the streets and applauded
when the king passed by. The crowd
shouted compliments and congratulated
the king on his magnificent clothing.
Suddenly a little child shouted, ‘But he
has nothing on at all,ʼ” Cardinal
OʼMalley said.
“‘The king's new clothesʼ today are called reproduc-
tion rights, termination of pregnancy, choice, and many
other subterfuges that disguise the reality and the bru-
tality that is abortion,” he added. “The voice of the
church is like the child who declares before the world
that the new clothes are a lie, a humbug, a deception.
The church with the candor of a child must call out the
uncomfortable truth. Abortion is wrong. Thou shall not
kill.”
Cardinal OʼMalley made his remarks in the homily
of the Jan. 21 Mass opening the National Prayer Vigil
for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception. The cardinal said he has been
to every vigil since they started 35 years ago.
“When the value of life is compromised or dimin-
ished, all life is at risk,” he said. “Human rights, with-
out the right to life, are the kingʼs new clothes -- itʼs a
fraud, an exercise in self-deception.”
Pope Francis, in his apostolic exhortation
“Evangelii
Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”)
, “laments the fact
that we have done little to adequately accompany
women in very difficult situations,” Cardinal OʼMalley
said. “The good news is that God never gives up on us.
He never tires of loving us. He never tires of forgiving
us, never tires of giving us another chance. The pro-life
movement needs to be the merciful face of God to
women facing a difficult pregnancy. Being judgmental
or condemnatory is not part of the gospel of life.”
Pregnant women considering an abortion feel “over-
whelmed, alone, afraid, confused,” he added.
Referencing the Gospel reading of the Mass, the cardi-
nal added, “We must never allow that woman to per-
ceive the pro-life movement as a bunch of angry self-
righteous Pharisees with stones in their hands, looking
down on her and judging her. We want the woman to
experience the merciful love of Christ.”
Shrine staff had the near-Sisyphean task of clearing
snow from sidewalks and roadways, not to mention the
dozens of icy steps leading to the upper church where
the Mass was celebrated.
While organizers have come to expect 10,000 each
year for the National Prayer Vigil for Life, the numbers
may have been down somewhat. Buses werenʼt parked
along streets leading to the shrine as they customarily
have. Looking from the shrineʼs choir
loft, the side aisles did not seem as
utterly crammed with people as they
typically do, and the occasional pew had
room for one person -- although it may
have been taken up by coats or back-
packs.
Bad weather in the Midwest and East
-- snow followed by diving temperatures
-- may have kept some away. It kept at
least two prelates away -- Archbishop
Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., pres-
ident of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, and Archbishop Charles J.
Chaput of Philadelphia, where there was
a record high snowfall of more than 13
inches for Jan. 21. Archbishop Chaput
had been scheduled to be the main cele-
brant and homilist at the Jan. 22 Mass
closing the vigil.
By mid-afternoon Jan. 21, the
Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., for
example announced that numerous par-
ishes throughout the diocese had to can-
cel bus trips to March for Life events.
Seminarians from St. Josephʼs Seminary in Yonkers,
N.Y., also called off their trip to the national shrine and
the march.
Those who did make it to Washington had an easier
time traffic-wise as the capital and its surrounding sub-
urbs were virtually shut down for the day, with govern-
ments and schools closed in anticipation of snow,
which ranged from 3 to 9 nine inches depending on the
location.
About 700 were expected to stay overnight in the
shrine basement where there was prayer through the
night, with another 1,200 headed to the athletic facility
at The Catholic University of America, next door to the
shrine, to spend the night.
But being prepared for the arctic blast of the March
for Life itself was a different matter. One young woman
who said she was from Miami had but a modest jacket,
thin cotton gloves and no hat. She said she hoped her
group would stop by a drugstore before hunkering
down in a Baltimore church to buy some hand-warming
packets.
U.S. prelates process at start of the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil
for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in
Washington Jan. 21. The all-night vigil is held before the annual March for Life,
which this year marked the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Courtʼs Roe v. Wade
decision that legalized abortion across the nation.
CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn
Blaise
fourth century
February 3
This bishop and martyr lived in the fourth century in Turkey and Armenia. For a time Blaise lived
in a cave to escape persecution. On his feast the church recalls a miracle cure associated with
him and celebrates the blessing of the throats. Blaise apparently saved the life of a boy who was
choking on a fish bone. The saint said that anyone who lit a candle in his memory would be free of
infection, thus candles are used in the traditional throat blessing. He is listed among the Fourteen
Holy Helpers, saints revered as healers.
12
Gulf Pine Catholic
•
January 31, 2014
