'Pro-choice' position at a record low

From Gallup Politics:

The 41% of Americans who now identify themselves as "pro-choice" is down from 47% last July and is one percentage point below the previous record low in Gallup trends, recorded in May 2009. Fifty percent now call themselves "pro-life," one point shy of the record high, also from May 2009.

Gallup began asking Americans to define themselves as pro-choice or pro-life on abortion in 1995, and since then, identification with the labels has shifted from a wide lead for the pro-choice position in the mid-1990s, to a generally narrower lead for "pro-choice" -- from 1998 through 2008 -- to a close division between the two positions since 2009. However, in the last period, Gallup has found the pro-life position significantly ahead on two occasions, once in May 2009 and again today. It remains to be seen whether the pro-life spike found this month proves temporary, as it did in 2009, or is sustained for some period.

The decline in Americans' self-identification as "pro-choice" is seen across the three U.S. political groups.

Centennial moment: Archbishop Noll on church-state relations

The decision by Our Sunday Visitor and 42 other Catholic organizations to sue the federal government for violating religious liberty got us thinking about how OSV's founder, Archbishop John F. Noll, viewed the proper relationship between church and state. 


John F. Fink, former OSV president and publisher, wrote about Archbishop Noll's views on this and related matters in his book "Patriotic Leaders of the Church" Here is an excerpt:


In the process of defending the Church against the forces of anti-Catholicism, Bishop Noll wrote often about the separation of church and state. He ... emphasized the difference between this separation in the United States and that practiced in some European countries:

In the United States, not only is perfect freedom granted to all religions to carry on their work without interference from the State, but the Church’s religious activities are actively encouraged by the State. This sort of separation of Church and State has always been quite satisfactory to the Catholic Church, which demands only liberty to execute her divine mission. But in European countries separation of Church and State has almost invariably meant a great curtailment of religious activities after the confiscation of property of the Church and the closing of its schools.


When discussing this subject, the bishop always asked for the meaning of the words “separation of church and state.” “Do you understand it in the American sense of ‘a free church in a free state,’ or in the European sense of ‘an enslaved church in an anti-religious state’?” He was, however, also quick to point out that the Catholic Church does not believe in absolute separation of church and state:

The Church’s clear teaching is that there should be cooperation rather than antagonism between the state and church because both deal with the same citizens, one in relation to his eternal interests and the other in relation to his temporal interests. Where practically all the people of a nation are also members of the one Church, under the democratic principle that the people rule, there certainly should not be a complete separation of church and state, especially not such separation as enemies of the Church demand, which consists in the subjugation of the church, divinely commissioned to promote religion and morality, to the state. Where is the recognition of people’s inalienable rights to liberty or religious practice and the pursuit of eternal happiness under such conditions?


... Although he did not want a union of church and state in the United States, Bishop Noll wrote and spoke vigorously against those who promoted the “separation of religious influence from the lives of the people and the nation.” He felt strongly that America could be strong only when its citizens obeyed moral principles. “Genuine citizenship is based on justice,” he wrote, “as is also a sound social and economic order, but there can be no justice without religion."

Read the entire chapter on Archbishop Noll.

Cardinal Dolan: White House 'strangling' Church

Cardinal Timothy Dolan had strong words -- "strangling," "straight-jacketing," "handcuffing," "choking" -- about White House policy during an interview on CBS This Morning:

From CBS News:

The spat between Catholic leaders and the Obama administration over its contraception policies is heating up again, with one of the nation's most prominent Catholic leaders charging that the White House is "strangling" the church over the matter.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan told "CBS This Morning" Tuesday that the compromise reached earlier this year is not sufficient because the exemptions made for churches are too restrictive.

"They tell us if you're really going be considered a church, if you're going to be really exempt from these demands of the government, well, you have to propagate your Catholic faith and everything you do, you can serve only Catholics and employ only Catholics," Dolan said.

"We're like, wait a minute, when did the government get in the business of defining for us the extent of our ministry," Dolan said.

More than 40 Catholic organizations sued the Obama administration Monday over a government requirement that most employers provide birth control coverage as part of their employee health plans.

Continue reading HERE.

BREAKING: Catholic dioceses/organizations, including OSV, file massive religious liberty lawsuit

At 11 a.m. Eastern time today, 43 Catholic dioceses and organizations — including Our Sunday Visitor and the University of Notre Dame — filed religious liberty lawsuits against the federal government in a dozen different jurisdictions around the country.

At issue are regulations that require Catholic organizations, employers and insurers to provide or facilitate abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception — in violation of their consciences.

Equally troubling is the extreme narrowness of the government’s new test for determining which religious organizations are exempt from this mandate — which would appear to exclude Catholic schools, health care facilities, charities and others like Our Sunday Visitor.

In an editorial in OSV Newsweekly explaining why we’re filing suit, we write:

Today, Our Sunday Visitor stands proudly with our fellow Catholic apostolates and with our bishops in resisting this challenge. We ask all of our readers to stand with us – in charity, praying first and foremost for conversions of heart; in civility, arguing the facts of this case without recourse to bitter partisanship or political rhetoric; and in solidarity, knowing that whatever sacrifices we bear and whatever challenges we endure, we are only doing what is our responsibility as American citizens practicing our faith in the public square.

Our Sunday Visitor’s participation in the religious liberty lawsuit is consonant with our mission of service to the Church and the nation instilled by our company founder.

It seems to us hardly a coincidence that this suit is taking place in the centennial year of Our Sunday Visitor. Founded 100 years ago by then-Father John Noll, Our Sunday Visitor from its beginning sought to inform Catholics about the issues of the day, form them in the Faith, and defend that Faith from attack. It was Father John Noll who stood up to those who attacked Catholic immigrants as un-American and seditious. It was Father John Noll who faced down false preachers who spread slanders about the Church. It was Father John Noll who resisted the power of the Ku Klux Klan when it was such a powerful political force. And it is in his courageous spirit that we invoke as we engage in this great struggle today.

For more information about this lawsuit — including a full list of the other litigant Catholic organizations, a link to the filing itself, and a wealth of background material — go to www.osv.com/religiousliberty.

A dying bishop ponders life, faith

The late Bishop Joseph Estabrook, who was ordained a priest for the Albany Diocese in 1961, served as a U.S. Navy chaplain, and was auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, died in February of pancreatic cancer. He left behind this reflection on his journey through illness toward death, his trust in God, and his gratitude for the men and women who serve in the military.

The reflection originally ran in Salute, the magazine of the Military Archdiocese, and was reprinted this week in The Evangelist, the weekly newspaper of the Albany Diocese. It seems fitting as we head toward Memorial Day to hear Bishop Estabrook's message, and reflect on his words: "Faith and fear can't live in the same space."

An excerpt from The Evangelist:

It is quite interesting to me that immediately after the diagnosis at Bethesda Navy Medical Center, I found myself stopping at the Newman bookstore near Catholic University and staring into a picture of the face of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin on the cover of his book, "The Gift of Peace: Personal Reflections, 1997."

As I paged through the first few chapters, I was amazed to read how all of his experiences at the onset of his diagnosis of the same disease were exactly parallel with my own. I have since read his book many times and he has been my constant companion from that moment until now.

This leads to my first insight: None of us, especially those of us who are disciples of the Lord, enter into this final part of our journey alone. One may feel isolated at times but, if anything, the intensity of the Christian community becomes almost overwhelming.

It starts with the powerful presence of the Lord Himself when, in the flash of seconds, your future is laid before you. You can actually feel the Lord take your hand and hear Him say the words, "Do not be afraid."

...The second insight: This new kind of powerful presence of the Lord helps you become aware of and understand that you yourself become a presence to others in similar situations. Opportunities to share the essence of who we are and what we believe become prominent.

The night after my biopsy at Bethesda, one of the young doctors lingered behind. He kept staring at me while I, not knowing what else to do, smiled back and tried to eat my pudding and keep it down at the same time.

I eventually asked him, "What's up?" And he asked how I could take the news they had just delivered and remain so positive. I paused thoughtfully, thinking that possibly I was just in a state of denial - but then, dismissing that, I looked at him and replied with what I knew in my heart was the true answer, then and now.

"Faith and fear can't live in the same space," I said to him. "It's eventually got to be one or the other. The Lord has put me here and it's up to me to go where He wants in the way He wants."

He said, "How do you do that?" And I told him the story of the disciples meeting Jesus in John 1:39 and repeated the answer of Jesus: "Come and see."

...We must embrace the sufferings of the moment and the fears as they come to us, but, at the end of the day, we must let joy be the victor (or consolation, as Paul refers to it) that Christ alone can give to us.

Ultimately, we must do what God wants us to do.

In all these months at MD Anderson, I've met people with some unbelievable challenges, and the question most of them have is the same as the young doctor's: "How do you do that?"

The answer is the same, and Cardinal Bernardin attests to it in his book. It's especially persuasive coming from another cancer patient: "Come and see."

How one lives one's faith within the inescapable realities in which you are called to live can have a powerful effect on others and help them on their journey as well.

A final thought: A 19-year-old Marine ran up to me suddenly one day and, grabbing me square by the shoulders, looked me in the eye and, full of fright, said, "Father, I'm not a very good Catholic, and I don't want to get out of my responsibilities, but I'm leaving for Iraq tomorrow. I'm scared and I know I've let God down in so many ways - but please, Father, will you pray for me, please?"

"Every day," I said to him, "I will."

At the end of the news every night, they scroll down the names of our military who were killed that day. Most always, they are in their 20s. It's a spine-chilling moment of silence.

With all the great gifts God has given to me in my life - almost too embarrassing in His generosity to mention - among the greatest gift has been the honor to serve these young men and women of our military. How pathetic would it be for any among us to feel any remorse at all over the conditions and challenges handed to us after witnessing what they have been called to do and how courageously most of them have done it.

Rather, these men and women, besides my faith, are my inspiration and ongoing strength. Let them be yours as well.
Read the full essay HERE.