Previous
Next
"No Catholic should be confused about abortion,” Bishop Anthony B. Taylor proclaimed from the pulpit during the annual Mass for Life Jan. 20 at the Robinson Center ballroom in Little Rock.
The bilingual Mass was sponsored by the diocesan Respect Life Office to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decisions, which made abortion legal in all nine months of pregnancy.
The bishop’s homily homed in on the distinctions that some Catholics might not make when they say they are pro-life.
“Many Catholics remain blind to the full meaning of the sanctity of life,” he told 1,100 people assembled, including 600 teens and chaperones who participated in the Weekend Extravaganza the night before. He said the “seamless garment” of protecting life from conception to natural death is unraveling.
“Today I invite you to open your eyes to two often overlooked truths: one, that life does not cease to be sacred once the baby is born, and two, that no child in the womb will be fully secure until we reject everything that threatens human life or degrades human dignity,” he said.
“Jesus’ Gospel of Life proclaims the sanctity of life at every stage of human existence from the first moment of conception to natural death and at every moment in between,” he said. “That means that if you came here today to oppose abortion, but rely on artificial contraception or sterilization to exclude any possibility of welcoming new life, you may be anti-abortion but you are not pro-life. If you use in vitro fertilization or an IUD, you’re not even anti-abortion.”
Being pro-life also means opposing capital punishment, assault weapons, unjust wars and unjust immigration laws, he said. Those who are pro-life work to end poverty, addiction, domestic violence and support access to medical care.
“God’s gift of life is sacred, regardless of a person’s usefulness to society,” the bishop said. “It doesn’t become sacred once a mother chooses to carry her baby to term — and not if she doesn’t.”
The most pressing issue today is the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate, the bishop said, which is forcing most health insurance plans to offer artificial contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs for free.
“Why don’t politicians take us seriously when we say that to compel us to do this violates our religious liberty?” he asked. “Because so many Catholics contracept. If Catholics don’t take this dimension of the sanctity of life seriously, why should they?”
The youth-centered Mass featured contemporary music by Team Jesus from Christ the King Church in Little Rock.
“I thought the bishop’s homily was very on-point for what is going on in the world of politics this year. I very much appreciated his words,” said Danny Gunderman, master of ceremony and Respect Life Committee chairman at Christ the King Church in Little Rock. “I am very proud of the bishop for instituting in Arkansas the requirement for all couples preparing for marriage to go through the (natural family planning) program. I think it will raise a lot of awareness on the issue of contraception and abortion.”
Following the Mass, most of the Catholics traveled to the state Capitol grounds for the March for Life. The march was shortened to only four blocks this year as a cost-saving measure. The traditional march down Capitol Avenue required 27 Little Rock policemen to block traffic, costing $2,310. Arkansas Right to Life, which has organized the march for 35 years, worked with the State Capitol police to route the march only on Capitol grounds for free.
About 4,000 marchers gathered west of the Capitol and marched around from the back of the building and gathered on the Capitol steps for the program. Father Thomas Keller, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in Carlisle and Holy Trinity Church in England, offered the invocation this year. Father Keller owns the Life Center on University Avenue where Arkansas Right to Life has had its offices for the past 18 years.
Speaker Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette who is Jewish, offered a “confession” to the pro-lifers who assembled with banners and signs.
“When Roe v. Wade was first pronounced from on high, I welcomed it,” he said of the 1973 decision. “I believed the court’s assurance that its ruling would not be a blanket permission for the taking of human life but a carefully crafted, limited decision applicable only in some exceptional circumstances.”
As the number of abortions performed annually increased, Greenberg began to look at the facts.
“It is a fact and facts are stubborn things so I changed my mind and changed sides,” he said.
As a former pro-choice supporter, Greenberg cautioned the marchers against thinking the other side is evil.
“They are not our enemies,” he said. “They are just allies in waiting.”
Click here to read the full text of Bishop Taylor's homily.
