Posted on 10/02/2001 8:25:54 PM PDT by madprof98
Invoking the Catholic teaching that following an individual's conscience is key in making moral decisions, the president of Catholics for a Free Choice said any decisions Catholics make about birth control and abortion should be a matter of personal choice, not church dogma.
Frances Kissling spoke at the annual luncheon for Planned Parenthood of Buffalo and Erie County and told about 400 audience members Monday that institutions like Planned Parenthood should not consider Catholics an enemy to the cause of women's reproductive rights.
"Catholics are friends of this movement," Kissling said.
She also made a distinction between the conscience of a male-dominated Catholic institution and the consciences of the 65 million individual Catholics in the United States, many of whom have expressed disagreement with church teachings on contraception and abortion issues in public polls.
That distinction is becoming increasingly important for reproductive rights groups that are pressuring New York State lawmakers to remove the "conscience clause" from a Women's Health and Wellness bill that allows religiously affiliated employers and insurance companies to opt out of covering birth control under their insurance plans.
Kissling said a goal of her organization is to neutralize the effectiveness of Catholic bishops in the public policy arena and to remove the perception that the church hierarchy is morally superior to groups like the Red Cross or the Sierra Club.
"The Catholic Church should speak out on public policy," she said, "but they can't expect to participate in the public policy arena at a higher level than other lobbying groups."
Unfortunately, she said, legislators often feel intimidated by Catholic leaders and are afraid to oppose them.
"Nobody wants to pick a fight with the pope," she said.
Though Kissling said no Catholic leader has threatened her with excommunication, many have assailed her organization, and plenty of lay Catholics have condemned the group's position and stated that they do not believe the group's members are true Catholics.
Some of those critics were on hand Monday outside the Hyatt Regency, where the luncheon was held.
Said Anne Dill, a Catholic protester from Buffalo: "These Catholics for a Free Choice - they're not Catholics at all. They're not even Christian."
Judy Gorman, director of pro-life activities for the Diocese of Buffalo, agreed with the protesters' assertion that no one who believes in abortion rights can be Catholic. She also questioned polls showing Catholic support for abortion rights issues, saying many of those polled may not be practicing Catholics.
"If you have a true Catholic faith, then your conscience would tell you that abortion and artificial contraception are wrong," she said. "Reproductive health is one thing, but abortion is not reproduction."
Kissling said Catholics are free to disagree with church teachings and noted that the church has many positions with which she and other members of her organization do agree: belief in Jesus Christ, Mary, the Trinity, and social callings such as advocacy for the poor and the denunciation of racism.
She said she does not believe reproductive issues should be the defining issues when it comes to matters of faith.
I wonder how many people know that her organization has no members. Seriously, it's nothing more than a front for her to spout her nonsense.
My guess is that she hasn't been excommunicated because people who aren't yet seven years old haven't yet reached the age of reason.
The concept of individual conscience trumping either church or Pope is more Protestant than Catholic, Sandra. The difference between you and Luther is what shapes your conscience. For Luther it was the Bible. "My conscience is held captive to the Word of God."
I expect for Pope Sandra conscience and self interest are fused.
dr. j
Whenever I read about Frances Kissling and her (no members) Catholics for a Free Choice, the scripture reading about MILLSTONES comes to mind. She and her ilk have done so much to confuse Catholics for so many years, aided and abetted by the major media which seems to be gleeful when it repeats this kind of tripe!
She claims to believe all the other things the Church teaches, yet she balks at the Church's teaching on abortion? Somehow, I don't believe HER.
There is no such thing as a pro-abortion Catholic.
Nor is there any such thing as a pro-adulterer Catholic or pro-murder Catholic.
They cannot co-exist.
That's heresy! She should be execommunicated immidiately!
Makes me sad.
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