On Election Day, our country will make critical decisions about the types of leaders we will have for years to come. If you have not been doing so, it is time to begin looking more carefully at the candidates who will be running. There are races for the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. There are also races at the state and local level, such as state legislatures and governors.
To make the right decision when deciding on the candidates whom you will support, it is essential that you look carefully at the positions of the candidates in the race. This step in the process is critical in fulfilling your responsibilities as a faithful citizen, as you must participate in the political process with a fully informed conscience. This includes knowing the positions of the candidates. You can find this information in several places, such as newspapers, television news, voter guides, and on the internet. If these sources fail, you can always contact the candidate's campaign to make an inquiry about his or her position. If possible, this should be done well in advance of the election and should include a request for a response in writing. The reason for this is that, especially in local campaigns, phones can be answered by people who think they know more about the candidate than they actually do. Once you find sources of this information, be sure to review them carefully.
October 30, 2006
Dear Friends,
Yes, I'm motivated about next week's election. Before I share with you my column on that and an encouraging article, let me alert you to some important action you can take:
Today begins the final nine days of our 18-week Novena of Prayer for the Elections. Please sign up at
www.PrayerCampaign.org to download the prayer. You will also see a special prayer there for each of the states in which there is a special ballot initiative! This week is critical for mobilizing people to take action, especially in the distribution of literature about the candidates. Please contact John at our office at
vote@priestsforlife.org if you are able to help distribute literature, especially next weekend, and he'll help connect you with the groups that are doing it.
Speaking of candidates, you'll find that we have posted some candidate information at
www.priestsforlife.org/candidates. You may download and print out any of that information that would be helpful. Duplicating it is fine. As you can imagine, we are getting near the end of our supply of our own booklet "Voting with a Clear Conscience." Last minute orders can be sent to
orders@priestsforlife.org, and we'll rush them as the supply lasts. But you can also download the booklet at
www.priestsforlife.org/vote/voting-clear-conscience.pdf. As with all our products, this booklet relies on original sources. We're bringing you the words of the Pope and bishops just as they wrote them.
Another way to help people prepare for Election Day is to invite them to watch my homily on the EWTN televised Mass on this Friday, November 3. The Mass airs at 8am (ET), 12pm, 7pm and midnight. For more information see
www.ewtn.com, where it can also be heard online. Please promote this to your lists, because I'll be delivering a practical and powerful election message. Not only are we getting the election message out on TV and radio, but we've put video messages on the internet at "Youtube." One thing you can do is to help us spread these messages. Here are the links and a sample email you can send to your list:
Election 2006 - 5 Minute Spot
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e4u2K53mLA
Election 2006 - Christian Duty - 30 Second Spot
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4RlLQbaBCQ
Election 2006 - No Separation of Church and State - 30 Second Spot
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a8Cvb1eAgM
SAMPLE E-MAIL
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Dear Friend,
I want to share a special election video with you. The following links to an election related video featuring Fr. Frank Pavone.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e4u2K53mLA
"Christians aren't second class citizens, we aren't supposed to just sit on the sidelines and watch somebody else elect the people who will make the laws by which we will all have to abide. Help get this message to friends and family by sending them one or all of these links." - Fr. Frank Pavone
Thank You,
(your name)
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Regarding my travels: After EWTN on Friday morning, I'll be traveling to Houston to speak at the Fullness of Truth Conference Friday afternoon and evening. Then, looking ahead to next week, I'll be in the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning November 8 for the oral arguments regarding the federal ban on partial-birth abortions. You are invited to come and pray outside the Court from 9am to 1pm with our staff priests, with women of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, with youth, and with other pro-lifers from various states.
Let me also provide you with the upcoming schedules for our own TV shows and Radio programming:
Defending Life Topic: The Catholic Vote Part 6: Things You Can Do Today
Airing Schedule: Watch on EWTN Friday, November 3rd at 10:00pm ET and Saturday, November 4th at 2:30am ET. Listen on EWTN radio Friday, November 3rd at 1am ET, Saturday, November 4th at 6:30pm ET and Sunday, November 5th at 5am ET.
Gospel of Life topics (seen on Sky Angel satellite, Angel One)
Topic: Get out the Vote. Guest: David Barton, WallBuilders
Airing Schedule: Watch on the "Angel One" channel on the Sky Angel Satellite System (
www.skyangel.com) - Monday, October 30th at 3:30am, Tuesday, October 31st at 2am, Thursday, November 2nd at 8:30am and Saturday, November 4th at 7:30pm (all times Eastern). Listen to Gospel of Life episodes on the web!
www.gospeloflife.com/tv
Life on the Line radio program. Go to
www.lifeontheline.com/listen/index.html for stations and airing times.
Topic: Election 2006 Initiatives. Rev. Pavone offers last-minute counsel on the mid-term elections.
Airing Schedule: Listen on Saturday, November 4th and Sunday, November 5th.
Please tune in and spread the word! In fact, you can help us -- and your whole parish -- by asking your pastor to place in the parish bulletin an announcement about our TV shows. Thanks in advance! Finally, below you will find my latest column in English and Spanish, as well as a very helpful article called "Two Very Different Ways to Look at This Election." After that, you will also find the November-December issue of the Priests for Life newsletter.
Blessings and prayers,
Fr. Frank Pavone
Why I'm Voting Pro-life, and Motivated
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
Election Day is approaching, and I'm motivated to vote and to influence many other votes. I'm motivated because voting is part of what I need to do to fulfill my life's dream - a dream shared by many others -that abortion, the biggest holocaust the human family has ever known, will cease. Some, even in the Church, don't seem to get the fact that there's no problem in society bigger than abortion. But then again, when it's constantly celebrated by many others as a Constitutional right, and when we don't read the descriptions or see the pictures, it's easy for abortion's horror to escape us.
I'm motivated to vote, not because one election will end abortion, and certainly not because I expect our elected officials to be perfect or to do my work for me. The People of God have to do the work of ending abortion - providing alternatives, educating minds, changing hearts, changing laws. But part of that work is electing the people who will pose the least obstacle to that mission. We don't elect people to do our work for us, but rather people who will let us do our own work. So often it's a choice between those who will do the least damage, or permit the fewer numbers of abortions. It may be a choice between those willing to permit all abortions or those willing at least to draw some lines at where it should stop. I'd rather have the line-drawers, because when it comes time for the lines to become laws, at least they won't stand in the way. I don't look for the perfect candidate, but when I have a choice between a mess and a messier mess, I choose the mess.
I'm motivated, because we've made progress. We have two solid new Justices on the Supreme Court who don't believe in inventing new rights from "penumbras" -and just like in 2004, the Supreme Court is at stake again. If there's a vacancy in the next two years, the President needs a Senate that will confirm good Justices. We have lots of other new federal judges, who understand the limits of judicial authority. And we have new laws that bring us closer to the protection of the unborn, like the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and the first ban on an abortion procedure since Roe vs. Wade, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
So now it's a numbers game. We have to spend our time and energy not convincing the one stubborn person, but reminding the many who will listen, if we simply nudge them a little and tell them who the best candidates are. We should go for the "low-hanging fruit," those easiest to mobilize. And we should vote early. Many states allow voting before Election Day. Let's get others to vote early, so that unforeseen circumstances don't stop them from voting later.
The polls don't determine elections; the people who show up at the polling places do. Let's bring them out!
Remember to support our work at
www.priestsforlife.org/donate
This column an be found online at
www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2006/06-11-06motivated.htm Comments on this column? Email us at
mail@priestsforlife.org, Priests for Life, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; web:
www.priestsforlife.org This column can be listened to online in MP3 format at
www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2006/index.htm This column can be heard via podcast. See
www.priestsforlife.org/podcast for more details.
We are grateful for your willingness to receive these email blasts so that we can continue to bring you critical information. A few people at times feel they have to refuse these communications, and all they need to do is tell us by emailing
mail@priestsforlife.org. But we look forward to the privilege of continuing to send them to you!
October 27, 2006
Two Very Different Ways to Look at This Election
Posted by JOHN MCINTYRE
In 2004, there was a lot of talk about whether pollsters were correct to use traditional "likely voter" screens in their samples or whether a less restrictive "registered voter" model would turn out to be more accurate given the massive increases in voter registrations we saw posted all over the country. There's not much discussion of the subject at all this cycle, perhaps due to the fact that it's a midterm and not a presidential year, but it comes to mind because of the conflicting signals in this election and trying to get at just who is going to vote Nov. 7.
In some ways there are two very different ways to look at what is going to happen on election day.
1) Republicans are in big trouble. The generic ballot shows a huge lead for Democrats (over 15%) with fewer than 10 days until the election. Republicans in contested races are either trailing or polling in the mid-40's, and given the national mood toward the GOP as seen in the generic ballot, it is reasonable to assume that these races will break for the Democrats. With the close races tipping the Democrats way they are poised for substantial pickups in the House of 25 seats or more and perhaps the six seats needed for a majority in the Senate.
2)The generic ballot is problematic and is over sampling Democrats, pushing the raw numbers higher for the Dems than they should be. Trying to use the generic ballot to predict who will then win x, y and z house races is a jump that can't be made soundly. In 2004 the voter turnout was 60% of eligible voters. In 2002 and 1998 in the two previous midterms it was 40%. What if a significant number of that 15%-20% who aren't going to show up at the polls this year come from soft voters in the middle? These are the exact group of voters that are helping drive the big polling numbers for Democrats. What if they don't show up in these contested races at the same proportion they are representing in many of these polls? Following this line of thinking, it is possible the bulk of the races that the polls now say are close will actually go to the GOP because the pollsters aren't sampling a representative field of who will actually vote in the contested races.
Simplifying things dramatically, the first view is essentially the one taken by Charlie Cook, and it's why he is out forecasting a 20-35 seat pickup for the Dems in the House and a very good shot for them to take the Senate. The second view is the one taken by Karl Rove, which is why he believes the GOP will hold both chambers, losing less than 15 seats in the House and 3-4 in the Senate. Both of these scenarios are logical, possible, and have empirical data to support their positions. The harder question is determining which reasoning will prove to be more powerful. Right now, when we drill down and look at the individual races to see where each contest is heading the data, at least in the Senate, appears to be trending toward the Rove position. The question is: will this movement in the Senate toward the GOP hold and will the House turn the same way?
Priests for Life Newsletter
Volume 16, Number 6
November-December 2006
Election Day - November 7
Whether you are reading this before or after Election Day, please be sure to visit our website
www.politicalresponsibility.com for critical information about the midterm elections! Before and on Nov. 7, please vote and to get as many other people as possible to vote! Visit, Call and email your friends, co-workers, fellow parishioners, and get them to the polls! Take the day off on Election Day and work to get pro-life candidates elected! The results of Tuesday's elections will impact how quickly we can restore protection to the unborn! ZERO. That's the number of Churches that have lost their tax-exempt status by urging people to vote, helping them get to the polls, and teaching them that Christians are to vote as Christians, evaluating candidates by their fidelity to God's law, starting with the protection of life!
"At all times and in all places, the Church should have the true freedom to teach the faith, to proclaim its teaching about society, to carry out its task among men without hindrance, and to pass moral judgment even in matters relating to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it." -- Second Vatican Council: Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), n.76.
Priests for Life Holds Groundbreaking for New Community of Priests and Laity to End Abortion
Fr. Pavone becomes first Moderator General in Mass celebrated by Cardinal Martino
For the first time in Church history, a community of priests has been established whose primary mission is ending abortion. On August 24, Priests for Life held a groundbreaking ceremony in Amarillo, Texas, for its new headquarters and the central house of the new community, the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life. Cardinal Renato Martino, the President of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace presided over the ceremonies, which started with a mass in which Fr. Frank Pavone professed his permanent promises in the presence of Bishop John Yanta, Bishop of Amarilo, and thereby was incardinated into the Society and installed as its first Moderator General.
His first act as Moderator General was to present to the first two seminarians of the Society the emblem of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life. Patrick O'Donnell and Daniel Cochran completed their Year of Inquiry and began the Year of Aspirancy, reporting on August 25 to Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Fr. Pavone then received the promises of the first group of Lay Associates, consisting of James Pinto, Jr. (the national Coordinator of the Lay Associates program), Janet Morana, Dr. Paul Schenck, Kevin Burke, and Joy Pinto. He also introduced the four men who were just accepted for their Year of Inquiry: Heriberto Reyes, David Mullen, James Snow, and David Begany.
Concelebrating the Mass with Cardinal Martino and Bishop Yanta were Most Rev. Jose Gomez, Archbishop of San Antonio; Most Rev. Charles Grahmann, Bishop of Dallas; Most Rev. Kevin Vann, Bishop of Fort Worth; Most Rev. Michael Pfeifer, OMI, Bishop of San Angelo; Most Rev. Placido Rodriguez, CMF, Bishop of Lubbock; Most Rev. Renee Gracida, Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi; Most Rev. George Fitzsimons, Bishop Emeritus of Salina, KS; and numerous priests, including the full-time and part-time members of the pastoral team of Priests for Life.
Following Mass, the groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of the new facilities. Each of the Priest-Associates of Priests for Life read a prayer asking for God's favor upon a particular aspect of the ministry of Priests for Life and the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life. Cardinal Martino said a prayer of blessing over the land itself. In addition to remarks by Cardinal Martino, Bishop Yanta, and Fr. Frank Pavone, several special guests gave words of greeting at the groundbreaking ceremonies. These included Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a member of the Priests for Life pastoral team; Norma McCorvey, the former "Jane Roe" of Roe vs. Wade, whom Fr. Pavone received into the Catholic Church in 1998; Bob and Mary Schindler, the parents of Terri Schiavo, along with her brother Bobby; and Mary O'Connor Ward, the sister of Cardinal John O'Connor, who ordained Fr. Pavone and gave him permission in 1993 to lead Priests for Life. Cardinal O'Connor and Fr. Pavone discussed the idea of a community of priests dedicated to pro-life ministry back in 1993, and the Cardinal encouraged Fr. Pavone to explore the possibility.
Fr. Pavone received various letters of congratulations from civic and religious leaders, some of which were read at the ceremony. Among those who wrote were President George W. Bush, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Dr. James Dobson, Sandra Cano (the "Mary Doe" of Doe vs. Bolton, the companion case to Roe vs. Wade), Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, and Deacon Keith Fournier (Director of Deacons in the Service of Life, a national ministry of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life). At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Cardinal, with all the bishops and Fr. Pavone, took shovels in their hands and broke the ground to the cheers of all who were present. "The mission of Priests for Life bears new fruit today," Fr. Pavone explained. "Abortion is the paramount moral tragedy of our day. The Church acknowledges that in her teaching. She is also called to acknowledge that by the allocation of personnel and institutions focused exclusively on defending the right to life of the unborn. Our ministry, and our new community, is an example of that commitment."
"This is an historic day," Bishop Yanta commented, "and only God knows how significant it will prove to be for the pro-life movement in this country and around the world. Our diocese is proud to partner with Priests for Life in this work of the Holy Spirit." Fr. Pavone added, "We invite those who feel the call to devote their lives entirely to the protection of the unborn to come to us. Working in union with the entire pro-life movement, we will never turn back, and we will overcome." Last December, Cardinal Martino commented that this "community founded for the purpose of working to protect human life may seem like a sign of contradiction...but it may just be what the world of today needs! The call to protect life is not only a foundation of our faith as Catholics, but it is the very basis of our recognition of human rights and the right to life." On the morning of the groundbreaking, Fr. Pavone also convened a unique strategy meeting of priests from various organizations who work full-time on the pro-life cause. The next day, held a strategic meeting of pro-life leaders to discuss future initiatives of the movement. Cardinal Martino was present for both meetings.
December Brings Special Pro-life Feasts
The liturgical seasons and feasts always provide insight and incentive to our pro-life commitment, because they point to its source. The month of December, in particular, provides several high points. The Advent season, of course, is a time to adore the Unborn Jesus. Christ redeemed human nature by assuming it, including in its earliest stages of development. Advent urges us to accompany in prayer, led by our heavenly Mother, all those mothers who are carrying children within them. Christmas, moreover, is not only the Feast of Christ's Birth, but is more fundamentally the Feast of the Incarnation. All who share a human nature are in some way united with God through this event.
December 8 is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (nine months later being her birthday, September 8). Again, our attention is focused on the fact that God calls us from before our birth for the mission he has for us in life. The patroness of the pro-life movement, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is honored on December 12, and the one to whom her image was revealed - St. Juan Diego - is honored on December 9. Our Lady's image, in which she is pregnant, converted Aztecs and ended human sacrifice. The image today stops many abortions as it is brought to the killing centers worldwide.
December 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents. They remind us of the thousands of babies slaughtered each day in the womb.
Finally, on December 31 this year, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. The family is the sanctuary of life, where life, both born and unborn, is to be welcomed and nurtured. Without family, there can be no life, and without life, there can be no family.
Prayer Intentions
You are encouraged to remember the following intentions as you pray the Liturgy of the Hours:
November intention: That the disabled may be recognized and protected as persons at all times.
December intention: For the healing and reconciliation of all who have had or participated in abortions.
Product Offer
Ending Abortion, Not Just Fighting It
By Fr. Frank A. Pavone, M.E.V.
In a collection of stirring and informative pro-life essays, the author convincingly portrays the negative ramifications that the abuse of freedom and the right to choose have unleashed on our society since abortion was legalized. Father Pavone insists that people of goodwill can end the scourge of abortion and restore the right to life for those who cannot speak for themselves.
216 pages. Size 5-1/2 x 8-1/4.
Published by Catholic Book Publishing Co.
Flexible cover
ISBN 0-89942-131-8
Price $9.95.
Place your advance order now.
Suggested Donation: $9.95
To place your advance order use one of the following methods: Be sure to specify the title, item number and quantity and let us know whether you want to donate online or by check. Online donations can be made at
www.priestsforlife.org/donate.
1) E-mail us at
orders@priestsforlife.org.
2) Call us at 1-888-735-3448 x237.
3) Mail order to: Priests for Life Resource Department, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314.
4) Fax your order to 718-980-3900.
END
