Matt C. Abbott
Priest-activist comments on New York Times story; When gays bait and sue the church
By Matt C. Abbott
From The New York Times (July 30):
I asked Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life (based in Staten Island, New York), to comment. Father's response is as follows:
From WLS-TV Chicago (ABC):
Some other recent examples of homosexuals who were fired by their Catholic employers for participating in, or planning, same-sex "marriages" (courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com):
A pox on them for participating in the persecution of the Church.
© Matt C. Abbott
July 31, 2014
From The New York Times (July 30):
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Last month, the United States Supreme Court unanimously struck down a Massachusetts law that barred protesters within 35 feet of clinic entrances, saying the law went too far in restricting their free-speech rights. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. cited New York City's law as an alternative that might surmount constitutional hurdles....
I asked Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life (based in Staten Island, New York), to comment. Father's response is as follows:
Having prayed in front of almost every abortion facility in the nation, I can say from first-hand experience that there is no place that you can find more compassionate, loving people who, as Justice Scalia pointed out recently in the Supreme Court case McCullen vs Coakley, are not protesters, but rather people trying to offer help to other people.From the legal point of view, there is an easy way to 'balance' the two sides of this equation. Anything that it is wrong to do to somebody 15 miles away from an abortion facility should be wrong to do to them 15 feet away, and what is perfectly legal to do to them 15 miles away should be perfectly legal 15 feet away. In other words, there are laws that protect us all from abusive behavior, and there are also laws that protect our rights to communicate with one another. What the abortion industry is looking for is not protection for women, but rather protection for their business.
From the moral point of view, we do not want to balance the so-called 'right to abortion' with the right to free speech, because in fact there is no right to abortion. It is murder. There needs to be more intervention, more presence on the streets, more signs revealing the horrific reality of abortion, and more concrete, practical assistance offered to those who, because they were not reached by any other form of intervention, find themselves walking into one of these abortion facilities and therefore need an advocate – for them and their babies – in those final moments.
Next week, I will be speaking, as I do each year, at the National Sidewalk Counseling Symposium. You can be sure that our efforts at Priests for Life in conjunction with many other groups will see to it that, buffer zones or not, and New York City-style laws or not, wherever abortion is, there will we be working to stop it.
From WLS-TV Chicago (ABC):
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A suburban Roman Catholic church employee claims he was fired from his position because he plans to marry his same sex partner....
[Colin Collette] had worked at Holy Family as director of worship for nearly 17 years and he says his sexuality was no secret. His partner has been to mass at the church, and even read scripture on special occasions. What changed was his intent to get married....
The Archdiocese of Chicago doesn't dispute Collette's version of events, saying in a statement: 'Those that serve as Ministers of the Church, including worship ministers, are expected to conform their lives publicly with the teachings of the Church.'
Some other recent examples of homosexuals who were fired by their Catholic employers for participating in, or planning, same-sex "marriages" (courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com):
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A former Catholic parish employee in Missouri is suing the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph two months after she was fired when the diocese learned she had 'married' a female Lutheran minister....
Earlier this year, a former vice principal in Washington State sued the archbishop of Seattle and the school at which he was employed after he was forced to resign because of his 'marriage' to his male partner.
Likewise, this month a former teacher in Georgia filed a complaint after his contract was not renewed when his employer [a Catholic school] found out about his homosexual relationship [and plans to 'marry' his male partner]. The teacher, Flint Dollar, has hired a lawyer who is calling the situation 'gender discrimination'....
A pox on them for participating in the persecution of the Church.
© Matt C. Abbott
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