February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012 Column Father De Celles
“We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law.” Last Sunday we read a letter from Bishop Loverde and Bishop DiLorenzo (Richmond) addressing the President’s new regulations requiring the Church and individual Catholics to purchase medical insurance that covers sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, thereby casting aside the 1st Amendment and our freedom of religion and conscience. Kudos to our Bishop for taking a courageous stand: “We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law.” Wow. At several Masses the congregations broke into loud applause. Although I’m not generally a fan of applause at Mass (following Pope Benedict’s lead), sometimes, in extraordinary situations, spontaneous and heartfelt applause seems appropriate—so at one Mass I joined in the applause for the Bishop. Let’s all keep in our prayers Bishop Loverde and all the bishops, that they may have the wisdom, faith and courage to see this through to the glory of Christ and the good of His Church.
I mentioned at several of the Masses a very troubling development in this saga: during the preceding week the Army Chief of Chaplains ordered the Army chaplain-priests under his command not to read from the pulpit a similarly courageous letter that their bishop, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese of the Military Services, had given them. In other words, an Army Major General ordered Catholic priests to disobey their bishop—directly contrary to the vows they took at ordination, not to mention the oath they swore as officers to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” After some back and forth, the Army relented, and allowed the letter to be read. But this was apparently only after the Archbishop told the chaplains to be ready to face military discipline, and promised legal support. Kudos to Ab. Broglio! And shame on the Army Chief of Chaplains, who is, himself, a Catholic priest: Father Donald L. Rutherford! Pray for bishops and chaplains, and all priests.
What will be the outcome of all this? It seems to me that in the end the Church will not back down, but the president probably will—if only because of the unified opposition of Catholics, who make up about 27% of the electorate. But even if we “win” this issue, we have to ask ourselves: what does this say about this president that he would so blatantly ignore the constitution and willfully discriminate against Catholics. Was it simply a “faux pas,” or a “misunderstanding,” as some say? Or was it a fundamental lack of respect for the basic human right of religious liberty; or retribution for opposition to his pro-abortion, pro-gay, anti-marriage agenda; or both? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
For more information on this topic, and for suggestions for what you can do to help defend the Church and religious liberty, please go to this excellent website: www.usccb.org/conscience
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Many of you may have followed the story of how the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, which raises money to find a cure for breast cancer, decided first to end it’s funding for Planned Parenthood (PP) and then reversed that decision after coming under scathing attack from pro-abortion leaders.

Komen’s efforts to cure cancer are noble indeed, and many good people have supported them in various ways, including running in the “Race for the Cure.” Moreover, Komen has restricted it’s funding to PP for use in breast cancer screenings. Unfortunately, good intentions don’t mean much in when it comes to PP. As you know, PP is the leading provider of abortion in America, not to mention one of the leading providers of contraception.
We need to remember is that cash is “fungible.” For example, let’s say you’re at a ball game and you want to buy a hot dog for $10 and a coke for $5, but all you have is $10 dollars. So you decide to go hungry and just buy the coke, when suddenly your friend gives you $5 to pay for the coke. Guess what? He also made it possible for you to spend $10 on the hot dog. Same thing with Komen and PP: if Komen gives PP $600,000 for breast cancer screenings that frees up the rest of PP’s funds for other things, like abortion (and contraception). Which is why the loudest attacks against Komen came from the pro- abortion crowd.
Because of Komen’s well-known good intentions and “restrictions” on funding, and the indirect nature of the connection between contributions to Komen and abortion (and contraception) funding for PP, many people have thought it morally acceptable to support Komen. Now, however, after Komen has willingly becoming identified with pro-abortion crowd, things have changed. All the facts aren’t completely clear, but if things continue to work out along these lines, it would seem to me it’s time to for serious Catholics to end support for Komen in any form. That’s a shame, because they were, and are, trying to do good and important work. But you can’t dance with the devil and not get burned.
Proposed Mass Time Change. I’m considering changing the Monday to Saturday morning Mass time from 9am Mass to 8:30am. (No change to the time for the 6:30am Mass). Many people have asked for this for various reasons, including that it makes it possible to “start the day” a little earlier. But I am interested in hearing what you have to say about this. So if you have any input that might be helpful, please email me or call the office and leave a message. Please don’t just say “yes” or “no”; rather, please give me reasons why it should be “yes” or “no” that will help me make my decision.
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles