Washington, D.C. (30 June 2010) – American Life League president Judie Brown asked supporters to pray and make reparation for the sins of pro-abortion Sen. Robert Byrd, who passed away June 26.
The call comes after West Virginia’s sole bishop, Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, released a statement offering condolences to the late senator’s family, praising him as “a great statesman and public servant,” and suggesting that he is now “at peace with the Risen Lord and, with his late wife Erma Ora Byrd, is experiencing Perfect Joy.”
“We are saddened by Bishop Bransfield missing an opportunity to instead encourage Catholics to pray for Sen. Byrd’s soul, rather than scandalize the faithful by suggesting that he is ‘at peace with the Risen Lord,’” Brown said.
“Clearly, no one knows the state of Sen. Byrd’s soul. We do know that during his lifetime, he consistently advocated the killing of preborn children, an act that is anathema to the risen Lord and a crime described by the late Pope John Paul II as murder. There is no indication that Sen. Byrd publicly repented for his consistent support of abortion prior to his death. The public record testifies to this.”
Brown emphasized the message of Our Lady of Fatima during her 1917 apparitions in Portugal: that the outrages, sacrileges and the indifference of men greatly offend God and that many souls go to hell because there is no one to pray for them.
“Our Lady’s admonition at Fatima is directly relevant to the current debacle in West Virginia,” Brown said. “To hear a shepherd and prince of the Church laud this champion of death and suggest that he is experiencing ‘Perfect Joy,’ rather than beg for prayers for Sen. Byrd’s departed soul should terrify us all.”
“In missing an opportunity to call the faithful to prayer and reparation on behalf of Sen. Byrd’s many public sins against God and humanity, Bishop Bransfield also risks doing a great injustice to the late senator himself,” Brown continued. “Let us all continue to pray for Sen. Byrd’s soul – that Our Lord visit His justice and mercy upon him and for Bishop Bransfield, that he may realize the opportunity he missed before any others are scandalized by his words of praise for the Senator.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- Catholic Culture: West Virginia bishop: Late Senator Byrd is now ‘experiencing Perfect Joy’ (29 June 2010) http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6787
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