special issue
action alert
USCCB: American Life League president Judie Brown issued the following statement regarding the comments made by a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops staff member following the death of a former Planned Parenthood board member:
While prayers for the soul of Rabbi Balfour Brickner are certainly proper, the statement offered by an official of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops upon Rabbi Brickner’s passing is a source of scandal that offers the faithful a most confusing view of the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion and the sanctity of life. The USCCB should immediately recant this misguided pronouncement and disassociate itself from the man who made it.
According to a Planned Parenthood web posting, “Rabbi Brickner served on the boards of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the PPFA Board of Advocates, the PPFA Clergy Advisory Board, Planned Parenthood of New York City, and the New York affiliate of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.” In short, Rabbi Brickner was no friend of those who support the restoration of a culture of life.
However, Eugene Fisher, associate director of the USCCB’s Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, heaped praise on Brickner in a September 2 statement, calling the rabbi “one of the greatest American religious leaders of the second half of the twentieth century.”
By definition, a “great religious leader” does not abandon the least of the least – God’s innocent preborn. A man of “social vision and moral courage” does not advocate abortion. Yet the USCCB published Fisher’s observation that “We in the Catholic community involved in interreligious and social work have lost a great friend. And the world has lost one of its most important voices.”
The Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion are simple and non-debatable. Rabbi Brickner’s ecumenical efforts notwithstanding, his relentless support of pro-abortion organizations cannot be overlooked – least of all by the official voice of the Catholic Church in the United States. Abortion is not an “issue” that can be balanced by good deeds in another area. Abortion is evil. It is mortal sin. It is a most grievous offense against God.
Since he clearly does not understand the gravity of the situation, Fisher must be removed from any official position with the USCCB. The USCCB communications department should be censured for disseminating such a misleading statement, and steps must be taken to ensure that those who speak for America’s Catholic bishops understand that a person who supports the sin of abortion should not be given unqualified adulation.
ACTION: Please contact the following members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and request the dismissal of Eugene Fisher as associate director of the USCCB’s Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the censure of communications staff members who authorized dissemination of his statement about Rabbi Balfour Brickner:
Most Reverend William S. Skylstad
Bishop of Spokane
President of the USCCB
1023 W. Riverside Avenue, P.O. Box 1453
Spokane, WA 99210-1453
Phone: 509-358-7305
E-mail:
Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire
Bishop of Stockton
Chairman of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
1105 N. Lincoln Street
Stockton, CA 95203
Phone: 209-466-0636
Fax: 209-941-9722
E-mail:
Other members of the Secretariat include
His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler
Archbishop of Baltimore
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Fax: 410-727-8234
Phone: 410-547-5446
E-mail:
Most Reverend Alexander J. Brunett
Archbishop of Seattle
910 Marion Street
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-382-4927
Fax: 206-382-3495
Most Reverend Tod D. Brown
Bishop of Orange
2811 East Villa Real Drive
P.O. Box 14195
Orange, CA 92863-1595
Phone: 714-282-3105
Phone: Fax: 714-282-3107
Most Reverend John H. Ricard, SSJ
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
P.O. Drawer 17329
Pensacola, FL 32522
Phone: 850-432-1515
Fax: 850-436-6424
Most Reverend Pl?cido Rodr?guez, CFM
Bishop of Lubbock
4620 4th Street
P.O. Box 98700
Lubbock, TX 79499
Phone: 806-792-3943
Fax: 806-792-2953
Most Reverend Nicholas J. Samra
Titular Bishop of Gerasa
8525 Cole Street
Warren, MI 48093
Phone: 810-558-0143
Fax: 810-558-0144
Most Reverend Carlos A. Sevilla, SJ
Bishop of Yakima
5301-A Tieton Drive
Yakima, WA 98909
Phone: 509-965-7117
Fax: 509-966-8334