051774 Cardinals testify before Senate

When four U.S. cardinals testified before a Senate committee in opposition to legalized abortion and in favor of a constitutional amendment that would protect the right to life of unborn infants, you would have expected they would be blasted by pro-abortionists.

They were.

What you would not have expected was that they would be criticized by Catholics and by those who are opposed to legalized abortion. But that's what happened.

When they were invited to testify before the Senate Committee, the leaders of the hierarchy made certain the Catholic position was unmistaken. They chose four cardinals who represented different parts of the country.

Cardinal Humberto Medeiros of Boston represented the Catholics of eastern United States. Cardinal John Cody of Chicago represented the Catholics of the mid-west. Cardinal Timothy Manning of Los Angeles spoke for the Catholics of western United States. Cardinal John Krol, president of the U.S. Bishops, represented all the rest of the country.

Forceful

They spoke forcefully. They made clear the Church's position. There was no equivocation. They proclaimed the stand of Catholics.

And for this they were criticized by some Catholics. One Catholic editor described the testimony of the cardinals as a "blunder" and said it was an almost tragic mistake. Some of those in the pro-life movement who are not Catholics were upset that so much attention was given to the testimony of Catholic cardinals.

Their point can be understood. They complained because they thought that having four cardinals testify might have given the impression that abortion is a Catholic issue, that the only opposition to abortion comes from Catholics.

Concern

Some said that only one cardinal should have appeared, along with a Protestant clergyman, a Jewish rabbi ' and a lay representative. That -would have given the impression that the opposition to abortion is shared by people of all faiths, the critics have said.

Maybe from a public relations standpoint that might have been good. But it would have been contrived. When the four cardinals spoke, they spoke from the heart. They weren't thinking about public relations, they were thinking about infants who are being killed in the womb, and they expressed their horror at this and their devout hope that this carnage will be ended.

The opposition to abortion is not something that belongs to only Catholics. The Gallup Poll says that 41 percent of Protestants are opposed to abortion, too. The referendums in Michigan and North Dakota demonstrated that there are many Protestants who will vote against legalized abortion - it would not have been possible for Catholics alone to have won the day in those referendums.

So the opposition to abortion is not just Catholic. But it is Catholic and we should not in any way hesitate to make this known. Catholics are committed to respect for human life and if they are to make their witness to the nation then they must make clear their opposition to the attack on human life.

It is an unfortunate thing that the Protestant and Jewish opposition to abortion does not come, for the most part, from the institutional churches. Mormons and Missouri Synod Lutherans have taken a stand, against abortion as churches
but the tragedy is that other churches have hesitated to take a stand against abortion - and some, like the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church, have taken a stand in favor of legalized abortion.

But there are millions of Protestants who do oppose legalized abortion, who have given leadership to pro-life organizations, who are battling as strongly as Catholics are against this evil.

Bold Action

Their voices must be heard and their voices are being heard. But it is in no way necessary that Catholics mute their voices. We all of us must speak boldly, act boldly, against an evil that threatens the moral fiber of our nation.

The furor raised against the cardinals is a tempest in a teapot. Let this one Catholic say he is proud that cardinals from every part of the nation made absolutely clear to everyone where the Catholic Church stands. I would have been disappointed if they had failed to take such a stand, disappointed if they had worked out some coordinated plan. They spoke as our shepherds should have spoken.