An Open Letter to:
Mr. Terrence Donilon
Secretary for Communications & Public Affairs
Archdiocese of Boston
June 29, 2011
Dear Mr. Donilon:
My name is Judie Brown, cofounder and president of American Life League. ALL is the largest and oldest Catholic pro-life group in the nation. I introduce myself so that you will not confuse me as part of the “cooperative of anonymous bloggers” of which you profess concern.
I read your response to a concerned Boston archdiocese Catholic regarding Cardinal O’Malley’s position on abortion, homosexuality, and Canon 915 in light of the Mass celebrating gay pride that His Eminence authorized.
In apparent exasperation, this Catholic said the following in his third e-mail to you on June 26:
Please stop dodging the question. This is now the third time I am asking you.
Does Cardinal O’Malley intend to enforce Canon 915 during the upcoming Mass of inclusion at St. Cecilia’s and deny reception of the Blessed Sacrament to Mayor Tom Menino and the other pro-abortion/pro-homosexual marriage Catholic politicians who will be in attendance?
You responded with this ad hominem attack:
May I ask what you have done today to build up our Church? To serve the poor, evangelize the faith, spread the beauty of our Church? I’m concerned that you have joined a cooperative of anonymous bloggers and critics who are more interested in spreading vitriol in the name of “defending” the Church? Do you honestly think we in the leadership are out to do harm to the teachings of the Church? If you feel that way I want to say in the strongest terms that you insult our faith and our Church with such vitriol.
I hope and pray you find some peace in the fact that the Cardinal has brought us back from some of the darkest moments in the history of the Archdiocese. These attacks remind me of my days in politics when anyone could say anything as long as it got into the public arena and harmed your opponent. The one difference is we are not opponents. We are part of one true Catholic family. Please think about these attacks and the harm they are causing to our faith.
Rather than answer the gentleman’s question, you accuse him of the very vitriol you heaped upon him. It would be better if such rhetorical red herrings and tricks were left to the politics of which you opine. I shall not ask you your own questions because your actions speak on your behalf.
But still, you do not answer: Does Cardinal O’Malley intend to enforce Canon 915 against your pro-abortion/pro-homosexual political friends? Perhaps you cannot answer because the answer is indefensible.
You told the National Catholic Reporter on July 8, 2010, that the Catholic message must be “clear and concise.” The clear and concise message of this Mass is that the diocese has learned nothing from its $84 million “dark days” of embracing homosexuality, the progenitor of the ruinous sex abuse scandal comprised of 81 percent homosexual incidents overall and 86 percent homosexual acts not falling into the pedophile category.
In closing, let me correct one presumption you made: While it may be true that we are part of one Catholic family, the difference is that we may indeed be opponents.
I will always be an opponent of those that do harm to the teachings of the Catholic Church no matter the misguided intent, no matter how politically correct, no matter the action or inaction.
Sincerely,
Judie Brown, President
American Life League
Three-term member of the Pontifical Academy for Life
Media inquiries, please contact Paul E. Rondeau at 540-659-4942 or PRondeau@ALL.org
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American Life League, co-founded by Judie Brown in 1979, is the oldest national Catholic pro-life organization in the United States. She is the author of Saving Those Damned Catholics and will soon release her new book, The Broken Path. For more information, please visit https://www.all.org or call 540-659-4171.
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