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Jesus Is Pro-Choice Says Priest
Parish Bulletin from Our Lady of Good Counsel, Plymouth Michigan ^ | August 4, 2002 | Fr. Doc Ortman

Posted on 08/24/2002 1:26:21 PM PDT by happytobealive

ASSOCIATE PASTOR TELLS WHY ABORTION CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR IS A PARISIONER IN GOOD STANDING:

Many people have come to me in the two weeks just past to ask about television ads which point out that Ms. Granholm, our sister, is pro choice. The concern has come from a mistaken notion that being pro choice is equal to being pro abortion. However, choice is part of the very foundation of our Catholic Christian Community. There are some who would gloss over theological reflection for the sake of emotion; these people often end up persecuting other brothers and sisters through their ignorance. As disciples of the Lord Jesus we are required to pray for their good, and for their enlightenment.

The Lord God has created all people in absolute freedom. Every action we take, each word we utter, is a matter of choice. As Catholic Christians we understand that this Awesome freedom carries with it a grave responsibility. In the light of the teaching of Jesus we make choices according to a well formed conscience – a conscience which is founded in the gospel which proclaims the blessedness of all people in any circumstances.

Scripture tells us that when God was finished creating, everything was very good. The correct response to that good is a life which reverences and cares for all that God has made. This is our faith, and I know well that this is also Ms. Granholm's faith as a Roman Catholic Christian person.

To say that one is pro choice is, for the Christian community, an admission that we are created in freedom. This is a freedom that no state or government can grant or take away; it is a gift from the Creator. By the same understanding it is a grave error to assume that the ability to freely choose actions and words is sinful.

For the past several weeks we have been persecuted by people who are living with a misguided notion of the freedom in which we are created. These people, signs in hand, are not interested in the reverence of God's gift of life; they are concerned only with the threat of abortion. This is one small part of the reverence we are called to have for all that the Lord has Created. These people would have the state legislate the freedom that only God can give or take. The reverence of all life is a choice that we make according to our discipleship. It is a response to the love of God, in Jesus, which leads us to reverence the unborn, the challenged, the elderly , the sick, the brilliant, the talented, the humble, the simple, the peacemakers . . . you get the idea.

Those who regard Ms. Granholm as a "heretic" do not understand, nor do they wish to understand, that choice in itself is a blessed gift. As with many other things this blessing can be used for evil rather than for blessing.

Make no mistake, Christians are pro choice in the purest understanding of the term. We are free to choose between the Lord and the evil one. We are fee to choose the Lord's abundant and awesome love, and we are free to choose to deny it. The ability to choose is neither good nor evil. The choice made may be either. Many persecute because they choose not to hear or understand the depth of God's gift of freedom. The freedom to choose is a gift in which to revel. It is not a heavy burden. The Lord has given us direction, and has asked that we CHOOSE according to what he says and does.

To borrow from the gospel . . .

"Let those with ears to hear heed what they hear!"

Grace and peace,

Doc

Source: http://www3.catholicweb.com/bulletins/59371/Aug-04-2002.pdf


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: catholic; catholiclist; counsel; granholm; heretic; ortman; sasu
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To: alancarp; Antoninus; Aquinasfan; Askel5; Bob J; caddie; Dave S; d-back; DNA Rules; FR_addict; ...
The position of the local heirarchy as of July 27:

"Many bishops in the United States forbid pro-abortion politicians from participating in sacred liturgies and many dioceses have written policies banning them from participating in public events including speeches to groups.

"Despite countless complaints to both Cardinal Adam Maida and the pastor of the parish, Fr. John Sullivan, Granholm has regularly been a lector at the parish.

"A woman at the parish answering the phone call from Credo said, 'We are referring all calls from the media to the archdiocese.' The communications office of the archdiocese refused comment.

"No bishop in the state of Michigan has thus far made any public comment critical of Granholm’s continued assertions in the media that she is both Catholic and 'pro-choice.'"

Source: "Credo" at http://www.credopub.com/archives/2002/iss20020812/20020812p07.htm

61 posted on 08/24/2002 4:36:30 PM PDT by happytobealive
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To: happytobealive
These people would have the state legislate the freedom that only God can give or take.

So, in other words, when I get married, I should be able to off my spouse for her death benefit?

62 posted on 08/24/2002 5:04:05 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: happytobealive
Thanks for the ping.
63 posted on 08/24/2002 5:06:39 PM PDT by Land of the Irish
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To: marktwain
This priest's essay is a vicious travesty of Catholic teaching. The Catholic Church teaches that no human being should be the victim of unjust discrimination. When unborn people are denied the protection of the homicide laws that protect born people, then unjust discrimination is being practiced.

If leaving people free to commit homicide against the unborn is required by Christianity, in the name of "freedom," then the repeal of ALL homicide laws is required by Christianity, in the name of "freedom."

This is a priest who should be busted, laicized, and sent off to earn an honest living at McDonald's.

64 posted on 08/24/2002 5:10:43 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: happytobealive
She said she received a phone call from Fr. Jeffrey Monforton, secretary to Cardinal Adam Maida, who said Granholm was a “Catholic in good standing” and that Granholm was not “pro-abortion per se but does not think abortion should be illegal.”

Fr. Jeffrey Monforton is part of the problem. The Catholic Church teaches not merely that abortion is a bad private choice, as Fr. Monforton and the pro-abortion politicians say. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion must be illegal because it is a crime against an innocent person. The pro-abortion "Catholics" who claim to "accept the Church's teaching" on abortion because they themselves would never have one, are lying about what the Church teaches. In opposing making abortion illegal, they are directly rejecting what the Church teaches.

Granholm is technically a "Catholic in good standing," but she is a notorious public sinner and a notorious dissenter from Catholic teaching. Thus, she should not be given Communion, should never be allowed to function as a lector, and should be required to make a public retraction of her pro-abortion views and actions before being allowed to participate in the Sacraments. Any bishop who will not require this of her makes himself objectively pro-abortion.

65 posted on 08/24/2002 5:21:02 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: happytobealive
I chose to become an ex-Catholic.
66 posted on 08/24/2002 5:21:51 PM PDT by pankot
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To: happytobealive
Actually this has nothing whatsoever to do with choice. The pro-abortionists use the word choice in place of abortion to cover up the horror of what they are promoting.

If this priest was honest he would admit that the time to make a choice is before the conception of the child - not after.

67 posted on 08/24/2002 5:26:16 PM PDT by fellowpatriot
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To: american colleen; Betty Jane; conservative cat; Domestic Church; eastsider; narses; RightOnline; ...
Cardianl Maida is used to giving support to abortion politicians, for example:

AL GORE'S APPEARANCE A TRAVESTY FOR CHURCH

By Larry Giroux

When the news broke last week that Vice-President Al Gore was scheduled to be honored at Sacred Heart Church in Detroit during the Labor Day weekend, I was among many who called Cardinal Adam Maida’s office to ask that the event be cancelled.

No person who publicly promotes abortion has a rightful place of honor in a Catholic setting. The Catholic Church, including all recent popes, the U.S. bishops and even Maida himself, teach that abortion is the taking of human life, what the second Vatican Council termed a “heinous crime.”

Gore participated in a special Sept. 5 mass at Sacred Heart Church near Eastern Market designed to commemorate Labor Day. He appeared with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman and several other local Catholic politicians.

The widely publicized invitation to Gore is simply noxious to Catholics who try to abide by the teaching of the church on the “life issues.”

By virtue of his position, and the job he is campaigning for, president of the United States, Gore is the innocent unborn child’s worst nightmare. Both as a U.S. senator and as vice-president, Gore has campaigned for unrestricted abortion and even the most noxious of all styles of murder in America, partial-birth abortion, which requires that a baby be completely delivered except for its forehead, then her skull is punctured and her brain sucked out to more easily crush her skull.

Gore’s stance shows no sign of softening. Here’s what Gore told the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League on Jan. 22, 1997: “America’s women have the right to choose, and no one will steal that right away. The right to choose is fundamental, lodged in our Constitution, affirmed by our Supreme Court. And, on behalf of President Clinton, I vow to you here, and to all listening, that we will never ever let anyone take that right away.”

To be sure, Sacred Heart is no typical parish, which makes this event particularly significant. Its pastor is Fr. Norman Thomas, a veteran of both politics and controversy. Fr. Thomas is one of four priest-advisers to the Catholic Caucus, the aggressively liberal lobbying group formed nine years ago by Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton.

Yes, that was Fr. Thomas’ smiling face you saw repeatedly on TV last year in those paid political advertisements endorsing Geoffrey Fieger for governor. If you have a really long memory, you will recall that Fr. Norman Thomas almost a dozen years ago was repeatedly quoted in the local newspapers criticizing Cardinal Edmund Szoka for his closing of 26 parishes in Detroit. You could say he’s an independent sort of guy, accustomed to defying authority.

So it seemed obvious that Gore’s visit was going to be thoroughly political. And it was

Yet, from start to finish in this unfortunate fiasco, Cardinal Maida, through his various spokesmen, defended Gore’s right to be at Sacred Heart. Complainers were told, correctly, that the church welcomes everyone to the altar of God. But some of those who called to complain were told emphatically that Gore was not going to speak in the church and that this was not a special mass, but a regular 10:30 Sunday morning mass.

Events showed that Gore was not a visitor but the central figure in the two-hour event. Gore arrived at least 30 minutes late, and Fr. Thomas held up the proceedings for his arrival. When Gore and his contingent of politicians arrived, Fr. Thomas met them at the back of the church. Gore and the pastor then proceeded side by side to the front of the church, where Gore sat in the front row.

Gore spoke at the pulpit during mass after the homily for a good 15 to 20 minutes, which is a violation of liturgical law, which says only an ordained person may speak at the time of the homily. News clips of his talk were broadcast around the country, including photos of Gore on the pulpit and outside the church with several priests.

There was virtually no response to this sacrilege from the Catholic or pro-life community. I counted only 14 protesters, including me, who were forced to stand 500 feet away.

What can someone like me say to my seven children who all know what abortion is?

Larry Giroux, a 27-year member of the Detroit Building Trades union from Sterling Heights, was a chairman of Cardinal Maida’s Pro-Life Leadership Forum. Write letters to The Detroit News, Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, Mich. 48226, or fax us at (313) 222-6417, or send an e-mail to letters@detnews.com Source: http://www.mich.com/~buffalo/girouxoped.html

68 posted on 08/24/2002 5:26:17 PM PDT by happytobealive
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To: happytobealive
Correct reasoning is not that difficult if you:

1) actually read the Bible then

2) actually apply it to your thinking

For example:

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart"

together with:

Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder."

means: no abortions.

See, it's really quite simple. What's the big deal?

69 posted on 08/24/2002 5:48:25 PM PDT by Eccl 10:2
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To: happytobealive
Jesus Is Pro-Choice Says Priest

Brought to you from the same idiots that claim that Jesus is black,gay,or liberal.That's right,lets water the good book down some more and when you're through,tell the muslims you're going after the koran and see how long it takes before you stir up that hornet's nest.

70 posted on 08/24/2002 6:01:31 PM PDT by Uncle Meat
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To: Joe Boucher
"I am so proud of the catholics."

As one who attended 13 years of catholic schools, I would say no. I haven't met a priest or nun in years that didn't start spouting liberal propaganda. American catholic clergy has bought into the entire liberal adgenda including NOW, NAMBLA, and the rest.

Even the devil can quote scripture for his own purpose.

71 posted on 08/24/2002 6:08:54 PM PDT by SSN558
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To: happytobealive
Choice is beautiful -- choosing to reject those who would use our freedom of choice to introduce acceptance of evil among decent people is just plain good sense.
72 posted on 08/24/2002 6:40:43 PM PDT by WaterDragon
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To: happytobealive
This bishop should get his house in order before he meets his maker....that encounter ain't gonna be a love-fest.
73 posted on 08/24/2002 6:41:43 PM PDT by wardaddy
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To: happytobealive
This individual is a mealy-mouthed, intellectually dishonest jerk and a disgrace to the priesthood. He keeps trying to make it seem as if the issue here is some abstract notion of "free choice" when everyone with two brain cells to rub together knows that it's all about Ms. Granholm being PRO-ABORTION! This parish/diocese needs to be Freeped HARD!

Here's another recent article on the subject:

Priests Back Pro-Abort for Governor of Michigan
74 posted on 08/24/2002 6:52:38 PM PDT by Antoninus
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To: ConservativeTeen
This church is about 5 minutes from my house, I remember about a week ago a couple of people were holding pro-life signs near the church, which was pretty cool to see.

Do yourself, your community, the unborn, and maybe all of Michigan a favor, get some of your friends together and go join them next Sunday. The bigger this story gets, the harder it will be for the media hacks to ignore it.
75 posted on 08/24/2002 6:58:38 PM PDT by Antoninus
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To: happytobealive
Here are some other people to "cc" on your emails to Father "Doc":

The Michigan Catholic - Audrey Sommers - Sommers.Audrey@aod.org

General Email to the Archdiocese of Detroit - infodesk1@aod.org

Project Life in the Archdiocese of Detroit - ProjectLife@aod.org
76 posted on 08/24/2002 7:15:14 PM PDT by Antoninus
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To: ConservativeTeen
Cool to see?????

Our teen group did a miniature penant display for all the babies killed in our state in one year. Pink for girls and blue for boys.

Great display. Someone even complained about it to our local fish wrapper newspaper. Which proves they did a great job!

Catholics ARE pro-life!

77 posted on 08/24/2002 7:24:57 PM PDT by Salvation
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To: happytobealive
What this associate pastor needs to see and believe.

Scroll down.

78 posted on 08/24/2002 7:26:58 PM PDT by Salvation
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To: Joe Boucher
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church

1-4 records returned of 4 matching ABORTION .

2271. "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured ABORTION.
This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.
Direct ABORTION, that is to say, ABORTION willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:
You shall not kill the embryo by ABORTION and shall not cause the newborn to perish.[Didache 2, 2: SCh 248, 148; cf. Ep. Barnabae 19, 5: PG 2, 777; Ad Diognetum 5, 6: PG 2, 1173; Tertullian, Apol. 9: PL 1, 319-320.]
God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves.
Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: ABORTION and infanticide are abominable crimes.[GS 51 # 3.] "
To view the context, please visit

2272. "Formal cooperation in an ABORTION constitutes a grave offense.
The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life.
'A person who procures a completed ABORTION incurs excommunication latae sententiae,'[CIC, can. 1398.] 'by the very commission of the offense,'[CIC, can. 1314.] and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.[Cf. CIC, cann. 1323-1324.]
The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy.
Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society."
To view the context, please visit

2274. "Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.
Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, 'if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual....
It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an ABORTION, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence.'[CDF, Donum vitae I, 2.]"
To view the context, please visit

2322. "From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct ABORTION, that is, ABORTION willed as an end or as a means, is a 'criminal' practice (GS 27 # 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life."To view the context, please visit

Click on the source above and then the search engine to get the direct links for each of these quotes.

79 posted on 08/24/2002 7:32:26 PM PDT by Salvation
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Comment #80 Removed by Moderator


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