The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana Aug
No Time for Childhood Abortion opponents denounce kiUing
COMMENTARY
By MSGR. CLARENCE SCHLACHTER
Mission Director
"Come Play ball with Me."
"I can't. I have to go to work."
If this sounds like a typical parent-child conversation, con-
sider that in India it's just as likely to occur between two
children• The severe poverty prevalent in this Asian country
means that many kids must take on adult responsibilities.
It's common to see them working in factories, fields, and on
the streets by the age of six or seven. Some are helping their
families to get by. Others have no families and must rely on
themselves for survival. Those who don't work outside the
home are often the sole caregivers for younger siblings.
India is a land of warm chappattis, beautiful and unique
arts, bustling markets, and sidewalk barbers. It's also a land
of street children, child laborers, illiteracy, malnutrition, and
families torn apart by disease and natural disaster•
Most of India's people are farm families living in rural
areas who have little or no chance for education and can't af-
ford medical care. They work hard, but that's not always
enough.
That's why places like St. Joseph's Boarding School in Gu-
jarat and Kusumia Hostel in Rajasthan are making such a
difference. These Catholic missionary run institutions offer
destitute children a place to live while they go to school• All
over India, places like thes.e open their doors to kids who
might otherwise fall through the cracks, providing them with
nutritious food, education, and basic medical care. They are
able to do this good work because of the contributions of
other members of our global family of faith -- Catholics who
are supporting the mission efforts of our Church and re-
sponding to Jesus' command to love one another.
Our Holy Father has continually emphasized the impor-
tance of involving children in these mission efforts. Through
the Holy Childhood Association (HCA), a pontifical mission
society, young Catholics are putting their faith into action by
reaching out to other children who are hungry, alone,
unloved• The contributions of HCA kids allow places like St.
Joseph's and Kusumia to offer help to more youngsters. For
destitute children in developing countries, HCA donations
mean opportunities they otherwise would not have. For their
parents, HCA means hope for a better future for their family.
You can help the Holy Childhood's young Catholics as they
gain a better understanding of what it means to be a Christ-
ian witness. To find out how, contact your HCA diocesan mis-
sion director: Rev. Msgr. C. ,4. Schlachter, P.O. Box 4169,
Evansville, IN 47724-0169.
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as 'mockery' of their mission
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The
killing of a Florida abortion doc-
tor and a clinic escort was de-
cried by church leaders and
other opponents of abortion.
As the Justice Department
announced U.S. marshals
would be assigned to protect
some abortion clinics, main-
stream organizations opposed
to abortion said violence has no
place in the movement and de-
nounced the killings of Dr.
John Bayard Britton and
James Herman Barrett in Pen-
sacola, Fla., July 29. Barrett's
wife, June, who worked as a
volunteer escort at the Ladies'
Center abortion clinic, was
wounded.
Paul Hill, an outspoken ad-
vocate of using violence to stop
abortion, was arrested and
charged with the shootings.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger
M. Mahony, chairman of the
U.S. bishops' Committee for
Pro-Life Activities, said vio-
lence in the name of the pro-
life movement "makes a mock-
ery of everything we stand for,"
"We are deeply saddened by
the killings," said D. Michael
McCarron, assistant executive
director of the Florida Catholic
Conference. "We condemn these
killings in no uncertain terms.
Such violence shows no under-
standing of the pro-life move-
ment and serves, no purpose in
stemming the tide of abortion.
"The commandment 'Thou
shalt not kill,' the basis of the
pro- life movement, has been vio-
lated," he said. "We call on all
people in the pro-life movement
to condemn these violent acts."
Bishop John M. Smith of the
Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahas-
see said it "defies logic and flies
in the face of divine law" for any-
one to take a human life in the
name of the pro-life movement.
"No one has the right to take the
life of another human being as a
solution to the issues surround-
ing abortion."
A statement from Father
Frank A. Pavone, national di-
rector of Priests for Life, said
consistency demands denunci-
ation of both the killing of
abortion providers and the
killing of babies.
"The response to today's
tragedy should not be to further
protect the abortion industry,
but to stop all violence, including
abortion itself," he said.
American Life League presi-
dent Judie Brown said killing
suspect Hill "is a creation of
the tabloid talk-show media.
He is not a leader in the pro-
life movement."
The death of anyone dimin-
ishes each person's sacred role
in life, said Mrs. Brown in a
statement. "I pray for all those
who have been affected by this
tragic loss of life. We are called
to convert abortionists and
their accomplices, not kill
them."
Beverly LaHaye, president
and founder of Concerned
Women for America, called the
killings "barbaric vigilantism"
and said "we cannot allow Paul
Hill to become a symbol for the
pro-life movement."
"The urgency of the pro-life
message can only be advanced
through prayer, education and
peaceful protest," said Benedic-
tine Father Matthew
Habinger, president of Human
Life International. "We cannot
trade evil for evil. Just as those
people had no right to kill any
of the millions of unborn chil-
dren who are executed in their
mother's wombs every year,
the person who shot them had
no right to take their lives
away. Adding to the body
count won't make it go away."
A spokeswoman for Ameri-
cans United for Life said any-
one who fails the criteria of
compassion and nonviolence is
not pro-life.
At a Washington press confer-
ence, Myrna Gutierrez said the
"real face of the pro-life move-
ment" is found among those pro-
viding care for women, working
the legislatures, lobbying Con-
gress and battling in the courts
to make abortion less a part of
American life.
At the same conference, Ser-
rin M." Foster, executive direc-
tor of Feminists for Life, said
life-affirming solutions to the
problems facing women need to
be found.
"Out of frustration, there are
people who are targeting the
messenger, so to speak, when
it's the message that needs to
be changed; the message that
abortion liberates women has
been wrong from the start,"
she said. "Just as abortion is
an inequitable action taken in
response to a crisis
the shootings that have
place cannot be justified.
The National Right to!
Committee issued a
said it "is false and
suggest, as some
groups have done, that
ing in favor of the ri
somehow causes
a suggestion is like
the civil rights ovement
and all those who
spoke in favor of the rights
African-Americans for
riots or deaths that were
of that era."
In Chicago, Cardinal
L. Bernardin issued a state"
ment saying the use
in the name of fighting
tion "not only defies
the law of God and the
ings of the church."
The co-chairman of
House Pro-Life CaucuS,
Christopher H. Smith,
called the shooting "a
ing tragedy." He also
to news reports describing
• " t"
as a "pro-life actlvls •
"No one who
human life -- through
or any other means ca
called pro-life. It is a
tion in terms," Smith said.
On Aug. 1, Justice D,
ment spokesman Carl
said U.S. marshals had
assigned to some
ics after the shooting
at a Falls Church, Va
tion clinic the same
Commonwealth . Wome
Clinic was burned at its
entrance by a fire
night of July 29.
Fire inspectors said i
the. cause was stilI
vestigation but that
had been found
lieved to have starte¢
blaze. The Falls Church c
reopened the next daY.
In March 1993, D
Gunn was shot to
Pensacola's only other
clinic. Anti-ab0 rti°n ac
Michael F. Griffin was
of first-degree murder
tenced to life in prison
chance of parole.
In August 1993 Dr.
Tiller was injured
Wichita, Kan.,
His assailant,
non, was sentence(
under 11 years in prisOn.
r-
POSITION WANTED
Parish Music Minister/Choir Director.
Full-time or Part-time.
Have a BS degee with major in church00
music administration and voice.
20+ years of liturgical music experience"
Contact Jill Kremer Jackson
Phone (812) 476-0986
