Cardinal Egan speaks the Truth and check out the Comments

Cardinal Egan: Abortion support equal to Nazism

Story from www.CatholicNewsAgency.com

Cardinal Edward Egan

New York, Oct 28, 2008 / 09:37 am (CNA).- In a strongly worded article published next to a moving photo of an unborn baby in the womb, Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop of New York, compared tolerating abortions to the reasoning used by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin to commit mass murders.

The cardinal begins his column for the latest edition of the archdiocesan newspaper “Catholic New York” by explaining that “the picture on this page is an untouched photograph of a being that has been within its mother for 20 weeks. Please do me the favor of looking at it carefully.”

“Have you any doubt that it is a human being?” Cardinal Egan asks.

“If your answer to this last query is negative, that is, if you have no doubt that the authorities in a civilized society would be duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if someone were to wish to kill it, I would suggest—even insist—that there is not a lot more to be said about the issue of abortion in our society. It is wrong, and it cannot—must not—be tolerated.”

The Archbishop of New York continues by asking: “Why do I not get into defining ‘human being,’ defining ‘person,’ defining ‘living,’ and the rest?”

“Because, I respond, I am sound of mind and endowed with a fine set of eyes, into which I do not believe it is well to cast sand. I looked at the photograph, and I have no doubt about what I saw and what are the duties of a civilized society if what I saw is in danger of being killed by someone who wishes to kill it or, if you prefer, someone who ‘chooses’ to kill it.”

After describing a recent video depicting the humanity of babies in their mothers’ wombs, the Archbishop of New York says that “if you can convince yourself that these beings are something other than living and innocent human beings, something, for example, such as ‘mere clusters of tissues,’ you have a problem far more basic than merely not appreciating the wrongness of abortion. And that problem is—forgive me—self-deceit in a most extreme form.”

Cardinal Egan continues: “Adolf Hitler convinced himself and his subjects that Jews and homosexuals were other than human beings. Joseph Stalin did the same as regards Cossacks and Russian aristocrats. And this despite the fact that Hitler and his subjects had seen both Jews and homosexuals with their own eyes, and Stalin and his subjects had seen both Cossacks and Russian aristocrats with theirs.”

“It is high time to stop pretending that we do not know what this nation of ours is allowing—and approving—with the killing each year of more than 1,600,000 innocent human beings within their mothers. We know full well that to kill what is clearly seen to be an innocent human being or what cannot be proved to be other than an innocent human being is as wrong as wrong gets,” he adds.

“Do me a favor,” Cardinal Egan writes, “Look at the photograph again. Look and decide with honesty and decency what the Lord expects of you and me as the horror of ‘legalized’ abortion continues to erode the honor of our nation. Look, and do not absolve yourself if you refuse to act.”

Read Cardinal Egan’s full column: http://www.archny.org/news-events/columns-and-blogs/cardinals-monthly-column/index.cfm?i=9314

   

        

Subscriber comments:

Published by: Diane
Houston, TX USA 29/10/2008 12:25 PM EST

Carderock: 
The number of dead in the war can't compare to 4500 babies killed by abortion per DAY in this country! The vote for president is a vote for a supreme court nominee...you bet it is. Don't fool yourself...abortion, by pure numbers, is a far greater evil than anything you have mentioned.

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Published by: Lisa
Illinois 29/10/2008 12:11 PM EST

It is clouding the issue to compare the war, where there can be a difference of opinion on the justice of it, to the issue of abortion where there is no justice at all involved. I think it's interesting that every time we mention the evil of abortion the same old tired song is sung about war. (i.e. change the subject) The two are so different as to be ridiculous and insulting to compare the two. Our soldiers, of which my husband, father, and grandfathers have all been proud to serve amongst, are able to defend themselves. They have weapons and are full-grown adults many of whom signed up so they could fight in this war. Preborn children are innocents being murdered. There is a big difference between dying in battle and being murdered in your own bed. Even if this were not true, the number of aborted babies are more than all the men who have died in all the wars since the beginning of our country. The war "out" is not logical here. My husband served in the military during the Clinton administration and during that time we were in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, ...etc. I too was one of those young gullible people who believed the media rhetoric and overlooked the abortion issue to vote for a "peace" that was never delivered. I quickly realized that there can be no peace without and end to abortion. One says more about our society and the state of our hearts than the other.

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Published by: H.J. D'Cruz
Karachi Pakistan 29/10/2008 12:59 AM EST

I wish the law makers of every country who approve abortion have the mind to think the way Cardinal Egan and other right minded leaders think.

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Published by: James
tampa/FL 28/10/2008 07:04 PM EST

Equating the Iraq war with abortion is laughable. War is always a huge shame of great proportion for lives are lost. How many American's have we lost in this war since 9/11 including the souls cowardly murdered by the terrorists on that supremely evil day of September 11, 2001? -Almost 3000 on 9/11 and since just over 7600 in American troops and allies. Of these lost, how many can anyone claim was truly innocent before God? Then look at the totals lost in the quiet of the "Women's Health" clinics at the hand of an abortionist? In American Planned Parenthood clinics (oxymoron) and other abortuaries across our land, there have been upward to 50,000,000 lost innocent babies; babies for which our beloved Lord created and called us to care for with great Love. The church teaches us this is a non-negotiable issue and we can't in any way shape or form support such intrinsically evil acts like Obama does. The church also teaches about just wars. So you disagree with the war, many do. I am not sure where I stand. There is still a debate about it being just. There is no debate about abortion. The truth will be known about Iraq and by God I sure hope this has not been all in vain. I suspect there will be evil intentions on each side of this political argument. Shamefully it is being exploited to confuse the masses about social justice by some in the church. What is more unjust? Easy answer---ABORTION!!!!

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Published by: Dr. Gustavo Valadez
Corpus Christi, TX, USA 28/10/2008 05:12 PM EST
Rate: Bad

Cardinal Egan does not need to go as far back as the Nazis. What Bush is doing to our American soldiers in Iraq equates to abortion. How many of our young men and women have died for a cause that was falsely endorsed by the US because we "believed" in Bush. May God have mercy on his soul.

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Bishop shows up unannounced at election forum, defends Church’s stance on abortion

We have a true follower of Christ leading the flock in Scranton Pennsylvania!

Bishop shows up unannounced at election forum, defends Church’s stance on abortion  Story from Catholic News Agency Website

Bishop Martino: "This is madness people."

Bishop Joseph Martino

Scranton, PA, Oct 22, 2008 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- An election forum at a Pennsylvania parish that took place last Sunday was organized to allow Catholics the opportunity to defend their support for McCain and Obama.  However, the forum took a surprising turn when an unexpected guest showed up to guide his flock, the Bishop of Scranton, Joseph F. Martino.

The forum, which took place at St. John’s Catholic Church in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, was underway when the bishop arrived.  Four panel members were sharing their perspectives on the presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, some pledging to vote for the Republican, others for the Democrat.

One of the panelists, Sister Margaret Gannon of Marywood University cited statements from “Faithful Citizenship” a document on voting released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  She noted that “a Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity. ”

After Sr. Gannon spoke, the bishop took the floor.  Bill Genello, a spokesman for the Diocese of Scranton told the Wayne Independent that when Bishop Martino arrived, his intention was to listen “to the presenters and how they might discuss Catholic teaching.”

However, he continued, “Certain groups and individuals have used their own erroneous interpretations of Church documents, particularly the U.S. Bishops’ statement on Faithful Citizenship, to justify their political positions and to contradict the Church’s actual teaching on the centrality of abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research.”

When the bishop heard the speakers using the bishops’ statement to justify their choice for president, he reminded the audience that those “groups and individuals who make statements about Catholic teaching do not speak with the same authority or authenticity as their bishop.”

The prelate then clarified his authority as bishop and the Church’s teachings on abortion as an election issue.  

“No USCCB document is relevant in this diocese,” said Martino according to the Wayne Independent.  “The USCCB doesn’t speak for me.”

“The only relevant document ... is my letter,” he continued, “There is one teacher in this diocese, and these points are not debatable.”

The letter he referred to was a pastoral letter to his entire diocese that was published in the first week of October. In his message, Bishop Martino states that a candidate’s abortion stance is a major voting issue that supersedes all others due to its grave moral consequences.

He wrote: “To begin, laws that protect abortion constitute injustice of the worst kind. They rest on several false claims including that there is no certainty regarding when life begins, that there is no certainty about when a fetus becomes a person, and that some human beings may be killed to advance the interests or convenience of others.”

“Another argument goes like this: ‘As wrong as abortion is, I don't think it is the only relevant ‘life’ issue that should be considered when deciding for whom to vote.’ This reasoning is sound only if other issues carry the same moral weight as abortion does, such as in the case of euthanasia and destruction of embryos for research purposes. ... National Right to Life reports that 48.5 million abortions have been performed since 1973. One would be too many. No war, no natural disaster, no illness or disability has claimed so great a price.”

He also touched on just war.  “Even the Church’s just war theory has moral force because it is grounded in the principle that innocent human life must be protected and defended. Now, a person may, in good faith, misapply just war criteria leading him to mistakenly believe that an unjust war is just, but he or she still knows that innocent human life may not be harmed on purpose. A person who supports permissive abortion laws, however, rejects the truth that innocent human life may never be destroyed. This profound moral failure runs deeper and is more corrupting of the individual, and of the society, than any error in applying just war criteria to particular cases.” 

“No social issue has caused the death of 50 million people,” he said, noting that he no longer supports the Democratic Party.  “This is madness people.”

When the prelate concluded his speech, most audience members gave him a standing ovation, while others were upset that the leader of the diocese made an appearance. Bishop Martino left the event shortly after making his remarks.

Organizers of the event had mixed emotions regarding the bishop’s appearance. 

Father Martin Boylan, pastor of St. John’s said that they “were very careful not to endorse anyone,” and that the forum was meant to be “a political slash editorial forum about the presidential election.”

He also explained that the state church guidelines were “carefully followed” for the event.