Anti-abortion sermons and Catholic women [More evidence Plain Dealer Hates the Catholic Church]

http://www.cleveland.com ^ | Thursday, October 21, 2004 | Connie Schultz

[Diago]

Anti-abortion sermons and Catholic women Thursday, October 21, 2004 Connie Schultz Plain Dealer Columnist This column is for the Catholic women who feel they cannot speak publicly about their feelings of anger, hurt and betrayal with their beloved church. For weeks, Catholic women have written and called me, often anonymously. They approach me in public, at meetings and after speeches, or politely interrupt me at the grocery store, in restaurants, even sporting events. These are heartbreaking conversations.

[Diago]

Here's a link to the rest of this crappy article:

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living/1098351029110132.xml

[Diago]

Please ping other Catholics and pro-lifers. I would like to bring someone prominent to Cleveland to respond to this hit piece. Before the election. You can also freepmail if you have any contacts with some like Bill Donohue of the Catholic League.

[madprof98]

Oh, my Lord! The Church's anti-choice stand is making so many women FEEL BAD!!!! That is just so . . . MEAN!!! (/sarcasm)

[miltonim]

These are heartbreaking conversations.

Abortion is even more heartbreaking for the unborn baby.

[TOUGH STOUGH]

As a Catholic woman I am PROUD of my church's stance on abortion. If it ever relents and reverses it's opinion, it will cease to be a Catholic church and I'll leave so fast it will make your head spin.

BTW, I believe this is a highly exaggerated article.

[Diago]

From the article:

Peggy Driscoll, director of Pro Life for the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, says there is no official order for churches to step up anti-abortion efforts in recent months.

Note to the Diocese of Cleveland and its seemingly worthless prolife director:

OCTOBER is RESPECT LIFE MONTH!

[agere_contra]

"For weeks, Catholic women have written and called me, often anonymously."

I believe you Connie. For weeks, Democrats have been writing and calling me, often anonymously, to tell me that Kerry is a despicable traitor. But how can I get their story out?

[Diago]

Strangely, this article appeared the same day. The Diocese of Cleveland has so watered down its prolife message that one sign read, I kid you not: "Cleveland public schools need the same support as Cleveland sports teams".

Bishop, Catholic students rally for life Thursday, October 21, 2004 Donna Iacoboni Plain Dealer Reporter Aretha Franklin probably won't mind that 300 students from 10 Catholic schools borrowed her song Wednesday. The teens blocked traffic as they strode around Public Square, shouting R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Life. The rally started with a sermon by Bishop Anthony Pilla at St. John Cathedral. Pilla asked the high school students to work toward increasing the dignity of life for all, whether they be sick, elderly, homeless, incarcer ated, mentally ill or refugees. He was preaching to the choir. The students waved signs and shouted into the chilly breeze off Lake Erie. A dozen delivered sermons of their own. On poverty: "Cleveland public schools need the same support as Cleveland sports teams," one sign read. On the death penalty: "Why do we kill to show killing is wrong?" they chanted. St. Edward student Brendan Heil said life is sacred, "from the most horrendous murderer to the unborn child." The crowd chanted, "an eye for an eye. Soon we'll all be blind." On chastity: "Sex is a gift from God that should be reserved for marriage," home- schooled Medina resident Sarah Piatt said. "It takes guts to set boundaries." On abortion: Laura Harrison of St. Augustine Academy mourned the loss of 40 million people "we'll never get to know." And on civility: "Everyone has an equal right to a smile and a hug," Walsh Jesuit student Elizabeth Benninger said. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: diacoboni@plaind.com, 216-999-4852 Copyright 2004 cleveland.com. All Rights Reserved.

[Aquinasfan]

the parishioners who don't like your bumper sticker and tell you you're not a real Catholic if you support a woman's right to choose.

I'm glad to hear that there are a lot of parishioners like this. We have people going to Church wearing Kerry pins here in MA.

[Warrior_Queen]

Connie Schultz obviously graduated from the Dan Rather school of journalism!

[oust the louse]

I hate this rag of a newspaper! I cancelled months ago and now drink my coffee in front of my computer in the morning freeping like a good freeper should(like now). Those liberal writing dirtbags will never get another penny from me again.

[Capt. Tom]

I have to believe in the church, in my religion, and if I can't, then I'll have to leave."

That's the logical solution. Unfortunately heretics like Kerry don't seem to understand that. - Tom

[Diago]

I hate this rag of a newspaper! I cancelled months ago and now drink my coffee in front of my computer in the morning freeping like a good freeper should(like now). Those liberal writing dirtbags will never get another penny from me again.

I cancelled my PD subscription some time ago. My parents save their papers and I read the back issues for the local sports.

[sockmonkey]

We have people going to Church wearing Kerry pins here in MA.

On the Roman Catholic Anglican Use group on Yahoo, two Priests (one Anglican, and one Roman Catholic) were basically told to shut their yaps, or be banned when they said a serious Catholic could not vote for Kerry.

The list owner, and moderator are both in MA. I assumed they support Kerry because of the statements they made that a Catholic could vote for Kerry, if it were for reasons other than his stand on abortion.

[TOUGH STOUGH]

" But they also want to talk about how painful it is to sit in church these days because their wombs, and what they do with them, have become fodder for sermon after sermon meant to influence how Catholics will vote in this election."

It isn't the WOMB the church is focused upon, it' the BABY in the womb. It's egregiously wrong to kill that baby. DEAL WITH IT!!!!!

"It's not just what the priest says," one woman told me. "It's all the propaganda that comes with it. It's the leaflets at the back of the church, the parishioners who don't like your bumper sticker and tell you you're not a real Catholic if you support a woman's right to choose

I'm so teary eyed over this I can't see my typewriter..../sarcasm/ IF YOU ARE PROABORTION, YOU ARE NOT A REAL CATHOLIC, AND IN FACT ARE EXCOMMUNICATING YOURSELF FROM THE CHURCH......(As John McLaughlin of the McLaughlin Group says) "BYE, BYE"!!!

[TOUGH STOUGH]

Exactly. I don't understand what all the fuss is about. If you don't agree.....leave.

[NYer]

What upsets them the most is the church's assumption that a woman can't make this private decision by herself, for herself. The church argues that the life of the fetus trumps all else - including the life of the mother and victims of rape and incest - and that any argument about choice dehumanizes the fetus. Declaring that women are not stakeholders in decisions about their own bodies, however, dehumanizes them, especially when the person who declares you immoral is a man who will never have to face pregnancy or its consequences.

Just once ... once! ... I would like to see some statistics on the number of pregnancies resulting from rape ... just once! Of course, 'rape' may well be construed by some as an 'unplanned' intercourse with the husband.

There is only one church that still views abortion as "grave sin" and fights to protect the life of the innocent - the Catholic Church. If these women are so miserable in their church .... leave! It's that simple.

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[NYer]

Ping!

[Maximilian]

My parents save their papers and I read the back issues for the local sports.

St. X beat Ignatius yesterday. That's all the news you need, now you don't need to look at even the back issues of that rag. Every time I travel to Cleveland I'm shocked all over again at just how bad the Plain Dealer is. It's a NY-times wannabe without any of the redeeming qualities of the NY Times. They seemed to have copied only the very worst aspects.