NEWS RELEASE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (781) 251-9739
CARITAS CHRISTI REVERSES DECISION
ON RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF LANDMARK HOSPITAL
On August 27th, Landmark Medical Center of
Woonsocket submitted a signed asset purchase agreement to the Rhode Island
Superior Court providing for its acquisition by Caritas Christi Health Care,
the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of
Boston. The Boston Globe previously reported that the merger would result in
Landmark becoming a Catholic hospital. Now, The Providence Journal reports
that Landmark will remain a secular facility.
According to Landmark spokesman Bill Fischer,
"The goal is to remain secular, and that's what we're aiming for," while
Caritas Director of Media Relations Chris Murphy stated " Our intent is to
preserve Landmark in its current form, which includes no religious
affiliation."
This means that Caritas will own and operate
a facility where sterilizations are performed and abortifacient
contraceptive services are provided.
Approval of the sale must be granted by
Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, Superior Court Judge Michael A.
Silverstein, and the Rhode Island Department of Health. Meanwhile, approval
is still pending from the Holy See, the Supreme Judicial Court of the
Commonwealth, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the
acquisition of Caritas Christi by the Steward Healthcare System, the for
profit subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management.
The Catholic Action League called the
decision to keep Landmark secular "further evidence that the Archdiocese of
Boston has not been straightforward about the future Catholic identity of
Caritas Christi Health Care."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C.
J. Doyle stated: "It is morally impermissible for a Catholic health care
entity to participate in contraception and sterilizations. That is gravely
contrary to Catholic moral teaching and is a direct violation of the Ethical
and Religious Directives of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
"More troubling
however, is the lack of candor. During the 2009 controversy over a proposed
joint venture between Caritas Christi and the Centene Corporation, Cardinal
Sean O'Malley gave repeated assurances that Caritas would do nothing
contrary to Catholic moral principles, going so far as to assert that those
who suggested otherwise were 'doing a grave disservice to the Church.'
Caritas was later forced to withdraw from the venture when it became
apparent that it would entail abortion referrals.
"In the public
discourse about the impending transfer of Caritas Christi to Cerberus, the
Cardinal, the Archdiocese, and Caritas have all claimed that the hospital
network's continuing Catholic identity is assured. In testimony at a public
hearing on July 1st however, James Karam, Chairman of the Board of Governors
of Caritas Christi stated, 'I told the Cardinal that we cannot guarantee the
future Catholic identity of Caritas.'
"The retention of
Landmark's secular identity is a disturbing harbinger of the likely future
secularization of Caritas itself. It is now clear that what remains of the
Catholic identity of Caritas Christi is being progressively abandoned, that
the Archdiocese of Boston has consented to this abandonment, and that
neither the Archdiocese nor Caritas is being forthright with the public and
with the Catholic community about the consequences of this policy."
ADDRESS BY C. J. DOYLE TO THE SOUTH
BOSTON TEA PARTY
Fort Independence
Castle Island, Boston
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Thomas Paine
spoke of summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. None are to be found
here today. I admire your dedication for persevering in this inclement
weather.
It is a great
privilege to be here today on the same platform as one of the heroes of
the pro-family movement in Massachusetts---Brian Camenker. It is also a
privilege to be here with retired Justice Joe Nolan, the only jurist on
the Supreme Judicial Court to defend the Constitution and religious
freedom in Boston's Saint Patrick's Day Parade case, whose sole dissent
was vindicated by a unanimous 9 to 0 decision by the United States
Supreme Court. Read
rest of speech
August 11, 2010
Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
James Carroll's revisionist attempt to
portray Christians as purveyors of religious hatred towards Muslims ("Enter
Christianity," 8/9/2010) is contradicted by history.
Over a period of eighty years, beginning in
634, Muslim armies overran what is now Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel,
Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Portugal, and most of
Spain --- all heretofore Christian provinces and kingdoms. After 1071,
Seljuk Turks began the conquest and ethnic cleansing of Christian Asia
Minor, and threatened Constantinople.
Carroll's ideological contortions cannot
conceal the identity of the aggressor in these conflicts, nor the identity
of the aggressor's victims.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle
Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
July 27, 2010
The Boston Globe Magazine/Letters
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
Like many secularized Catholics, Charles Pierce helped his
career along by conforming to the dominant culture, and then boasted of his
intellectual independence (WHAT I BELIEVE, 7/11/2010).
Pierce announced that he has become "an anti-Catholic
Catholic." Of course he has. He works for a newspaper that has been
criticizing the Catholic Church since the nineteen seventies, and which has
never hired an orthodox Catholic to write on religious issues. If Pierce was
a faithful, pro-life Catholic, he would not have a cover story, a byline, or
a job at The Boston Globe Magazine.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle
Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
NEWS RELEASE
SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2010
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (781) 251-9739
CARITAS ADMITS CATHOLIC IDENTITY UNCERTAIN
James Karam, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of
Caritas Christi Health Care --- the network of six Catholic hospitals
affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston --- has admitted that he cannot
guarantee the continuing Catholic identity of Caritas after it is sold to
the Steward Health Care System, a subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management.
Addressing a packed audience in Dorchester Thursday night at a public
hearing held by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Attorney
General Martha Coakley's Office on the future of Carney Hospital, Karam said
he told Cardinal O'Malley that he could not guarantee the future Catholic
identity of Caritas, but could guarantee that the hospitals will be closed
without the sale.
Karam's statement contradicted repeated assurances by
both Caritas Christi and the Archdiocese of Boston (including some given at
the same hearing) that the system's Catholic identity and mission, and its
Catholic medical ethics, would be preserved under the new owners. The
Catholic Action League has repeatedly cited the termination clause of the
Notice of Transaction --- which allows Steward to end the Catholic identity
of Caritas at any time for virtually any reason provided it pays just 3%
above the purchase price --- as evidence that the so-called guarantees are
meaningless.
The Catholic Action League called Karam's statement
"confirmation from an official source that the hospitals are likely to be
secularized."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle
stated: "It is now clear, that with this sale, 147 years of Catholic health
care in Greater Boston is coming to an end. This will have adverse
consequences for Catholic medical ethics, including the protection of human
life from conception to natural death, for the conscience rights of Catholic
and other pro-life physicians and nurses, and for charitable care for the
poor."
"Ironically, most of the resistance to this transaction
is coming from the secular left, rather than the religious right. Despite
the obvious implications for the right to life issue, liberal groups
concerned with access to health care have done a better job of due diligence
in examining and scrutinizing this agreement and warning of its dangers,
than mainstream pro-life groups, who have been silent out of deference to
the Archdiocese. The time has come for the Massachusetts pro-life movement
to put principle before politics and join the opposition to the
secularization of Caritas Christi."
ACTION ALERT!!
MONDAY, JUNE 28, 2010
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (781) 251-9739
KEEP CARITAS CATHOLIC!
Boston's Catholic health care system, which dates back to
1863, is about to be sold, converted to a for-profit entity, and rapidly
secularized. Caritas Christi Health Care --- the network of six Catholic
hospitals affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston --- is being acquired by
the Steward Health Care System, a subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management.
Despite assurances by Caritas and the Archdiocese that the
hospitals' Catholic identity will be retained for at least three years, the
Notice of Transaction filed by Caritas with the Public Charities Division of
the Attorney-General's Office on May 5th, 2010 clearly indicates that the
new owners may unilaterally terminate the Catholic identity of the hospitals
at any time for virtually any reason provided they are willing to pay just
three percent above the original purchase price, which is an additional
twenty-five million dollars.
If the Steward Health Care System finds compliance with
Catholic medical ethics to be "unlawful or materially burdensome," which is
broadly defined as anything which would "jeopardize the welfare of its
patients, employees, or the communities in which it operates," the
determination of which will be in "the sole discretion of Steward," the
system's Catholic identity could be immediately abandoned upon payment of
the termination fee.
This is an impending disaster for the Church, the
Catholic community, the Pro-Life movement and Catholics in the medical and
nursing professions!
This means that such iconic Catholic institutions as Carney
Hospital, and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center may become participants in
abortion, contraception, sterilization and passive euthanasia. Catholic and
other pro-life doctors, nurses and administrators will lose their conscience
protections. Charitable care for the poor will suffer, and Catholic
principles of social justice in employee relations, such as the Catholic
principle of the just wage, will be replaced by the capitalist law of supply
and demand.
There will be a public hearing on the future of Carney
Hospital on Thursday, July 1st, 2010 at 6 p.m. at the IBEW Hall, Local
103, at 256 Freeport Street in Dorchester. The hearing is being sponsored by
the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Attorney-General Martha
Coakley's Office. Please make every effort to attend this important public
event and oppose the sale of Caritas Christi until stronger guarantees of
its continuing Catholic identity are in place.
If you cannot attend the hearing, or wish to comment
on the other five hospitals, or on the entire Caritas system, members of the
public may file comments regarding the transaction by emailing
caritas@state.ma.us or by regular
mail to: Public Charities Division/Caritas Transaction, Office of
Attorney-General Martha Coakley, One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108.
You may also submit written testimony, before July 30th,
to the Department of Public Health, Determination of Need Program, 99
Chauncy Street, Boston. MA 02111.
Powerful corporate, financial, political, and ideological
interests are working to destroy Catholic health care in Massachusetts.
Given the culture of death which afflicts our country, we need Catholic
hospitals now more than ever. Saving Catholic health care should be the top
priority of every pro-life citizen of Massachusetts. Please join us in this
vital struggle!
(For those of you in the Merrimack Valley, there will
be a public hearing regarding the sale of Caritas in the Holy Family
Hospital service area at the Tenney Middle School, 75 Pleasant Street,
Metheun, MA at 6 p.m. on Tuesday June 29th. Once again, we urge you to
testify in person, or send written comments to the above addresses. Thank
you.)
NEWS RELEASE
FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 2010
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(781) 251-9739
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CALLS UPON PROVINCETOWN
TO ABANDON CONDOM DISTRIBUTION POLICY
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today called
upon the Town of Provincetown to reverse its decision to make condoms
available to elementary school children without an age limit, and without
parental notification and consent. Following the intervention of Governor
Deval Patrick, who is seeking re-election this year, the Chairman of the
Provincetown School Committee, Peter Grosso, indicated that the policy would
likely be modified, restricting distribution to 5th grade students and
older.
The Catholic Action League called the policy "a
government sponsored, taxpayer funded assault on parental rights, religious
freedom and moral sanity."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle
stated: "This bureaucratic aggression against the family, intruding into
the relationship between parent and child, is more characteristic of a
totalitarian society than a democratic one. It requires Olympian arrogance
for the officials of a public school system, who are agents of the
government, to believe that they have a mandate to usurp the right of
parents to control the moral and religious upbringing of their own
children."
"This affront to the innocence of children and the
authority of parents exposes minor children to sexual experimentation, and
sends the message that sexual activity by young people is both expected and
inevitable, and the use of contraceptives is not only morally permissible
but socially responsible."
"The separation of church and state demands government
neutrality, not government hostility to religion and religious values. This
policy violates that separation by effectively telling Catholic children to
ignore the teachings of their Faith, and to disregard the moral convictions
of their parents. This policy should not be amended. It must be
abolished." ###
NEWS RELEASE
THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2010
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (781) 251-9739
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CALLS UPON ARCHDIOCESE TO HALT
SALE OF CARITAS CHRISTI
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today
called upon Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, to halt the sale of
Caritas Christi Health Care --- the network of six Catholic hospitals affiliated
with the Archdiocese of Boston --- to the Steward Health Care System, a
subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management, citing concerns over the Catholic
identity of the hospitals.
Steward, which will convert Caritas to a
for-profit entity, has promised not to sell the system or close any hospitals
for three years, and during that time abide by the Ethical and Religious
Directives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the
administration of the hospitals. A buy-out clause however, allows Steward, for
the payment of 25 million dollars, to terminate the Catholic identity of the
system if it finds compliance with Catholic medical ethics to be " unlawful or
materially burdensome," which is broadly defined as anything which would
"jeopardize the welfare of its patients, employees, or the communities it
serves." What constitutes "materially burdensome" will be within the sole
determination of the Steward Health Care System.
The Catholic Action League called the supposed
guarantees for the system's Catholic identity "manifestly inadequate, defective
in substance, and utterly lacking in credibility."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J
Doyle stated: "This impending transfer of ownership means that the future of 150
years of Catholic health care in Boston will be within the discretionary
authority of a non-Catholic, for profit, out of state, capitalist corporation.
It is now clear that Caritas Christi will be rapidly secularized, that such
iconic Catholic institutions as Carney Hospital and St. Elizabeth's Medical
Center will no longer defend the culture of life, (and may well be compromised
by the culture of death) and Catholic and other pro-life doctors, nurses, and
administrators will lose their conscience protections."
"This comes just four years after Catholic
Charities withdrew from adoption services in Greater Boston. Beautiful and
historic churches are being closed, the parish based Catholic school system is
being effectively downsized into 'consolidated', lay-governed regional
academies, and now the Catholic hospital system, which dates back to 1863, is
about to be abandoned. A two hundred year legacy of Catholicism in Boston, as
reflected in an institutional infrastructure, is being systematically dismantled
and improvidently discarded. The time has come for the Catholics of Boston to
demand that their patrimony, built by the sweat of immigrants, be preserved for
future generations."
NEWS RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2010
CONTACT: C.J. DOYLE (781) 251-9739
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS PROHIBIT REMOVAL OF PRO-ABORTION POLITICIANS
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today
criticized the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus for prohibiting state
and local jurisdictions in the Order from suspending the membership of
candidates and elected officials who support abortion and same gender marriage.
At its annual state convention last weekend, the Massachusetts Knights of
Columbus refused to take action on a resolution authored by Former District
Deputy Joseph B. Craven Jr. urging the State Deputy to suspend such members,
citing a letter from Supreme Advocate and General Counsel John A. Marrella.
Marrella stated: "... a subordinate council may
not impose fraternal discipline with respect to a public figure's official
actions on matters pertaining to faith and morals. Rather, any such discipline
must be made by or at the direction of the Supreme Board of Directors, which
will consider the prudence of addressing the conduct of the public figure in
light of the overall good of the Order."
In the thirty-seven years since Roe v. Wade,
the Supreme Board of Directors has never, to public knowledge, removed a single
pro-abortion political figure from the Knights of Columbus. In Massachusetts, a
majority of Knights serving in the Legislature voted in 2007 against a
constitutional amendment restoring traditional marriage, and voted in 2005 for a
law which compels Catholic hospitals to distribute the so-called morning after
pill to rape victims.
The Catholic Action League called Marrella's
letter "a shocking abdication of responsibility, and a shameful surrender to the
culture of death."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C.J.
Doyle stated: "This letter effectively kills any grassroots initiative within
the Knights to address the scandal of pro-abortion pols in the Order. It is now
clear that the Knights of Columbus, for the foreseeable future, will continue to
harbor in its ranks public officials who oppose Catholic morality, and who
believe that the killing of 1.3 million pre-born children each year ought to
remain legal in the United States."
"Apparently, for the national leadership of the
Knights of Columbus, the protection of its insurance business, tax exempt
status, and its ratings from Standard and Poors is more important than defending
the right to life. Despite its pretensions to the contrary, the Knights of
Columbus has now made its peace with legal abortion in America."
A copy of the letter
from Supreme Advocate John A. Marrella to State Deputy William F. Donovan
follows.
April 15, 2010
Mr. William F. Donovan
State Deputy
Worthy State Deputy and Dear Brother Donovan:
You have asked our opinion with respect to a
proposed resolution calling on the State Deputy to summarily suspend certain
public figures who are members of the Knights of Columbus and who have
publicly taken positions contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church.
For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the proposed resolution
would be imprudent and contrary to the policy of the Knights of Columbus
Supreme Council.
We recognize that some of our members who are
public figures may use their public position to advocate or support policy
positions that are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church on
matters of faith and morals. We further recognize that such conduct may
cause confusion in that, among other things, it contradicts the Catholic
identity and mission of the Order. We also recognize that such conduct can
be the source of internal dissension within councils and among members.
We understand that some subordinate councils
have the impulse to address real or perceived scandal caused by members who
are public figures. Because of the public stature of such members, however,
decisions to summarily suspend the member necessarily affect the entire
Order. For this reason, a subordinate council may not impose fraternal
discipline with respect to a public figure's official actions on matters
pertaining to faith and morals. Rather, any such discipline must be made by
or at the direction of the Supreme Board of Directors, which will consider
the prudence of addressing the conduct of the public figure in light of the
overall good of the Order.
The reason for this is straightforward. Any
action by a state council likely will be understood by the public as an
action of the Supreme Council on behalf of the entire Order. Of course,
subordinate councils, including state councils, do no have the authority to
speak on behalf of the entire Order with respect to such matters. To the
extent that any subordinate council addresses the public acts of particular
public figures, they may do so only at the express direction of and in
concert with the Supreme Board of Directors, only in the rarest of
circumstances, and only after careful consideration of all possible
ramifications relating to the good of the Order.
Finally, the Order must be sensitive to the
role of the bishops, with whom we stand in solidarity. If the public
figure's bishop has not excommunicated him for his public positions on
issues relating to matters of faith and morals, it would be highly
inappropriate for the Knights of Columbus to do so.
We thank you for bringing this important
matter to our attention. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to
discuss this matter further.
Sincerely and fraternally,
John A. Marrella
Supreme Advocate and General Counsel
NEWS RELEASE
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2010
CONTACT: C.J. DOYLE, (781) 251-9739
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CALLS UPON ARCHDIOCESE TO SUPPORT DECISION OF ST.
PAUL'S SCHOOL
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today
called upon the Archdiocese of Boston to vigorously defend the decision of Saint
Paul's Elementary School in Hingham to refuse admission to the child of a
lesbian couple.
The Catholic Action League called the decision
"entirely appropriate, warranted and necessary."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C.J.
Doyle made the following comment: "A student is admitted to a parochial school
with the expectation that the parents will cooperate in imparting Catholic
values, a condition which clearly does not obtain in this case. The real
question here is why two people who radically repudiate the moral teachings of
Catholicism would want their child educated in a Catholic school. It would seem
that they are either looking for an excuse to litigate, or an opportunity to
embarrass the Church in the court of public opinion."
"The religious freedom rights guaranteed by the
Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and by
Article II of the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution
safeguard the right of church affiliated institutions to preserve their
religious character, integrity and identity. The admission of a child of a
lesbian couple to a Catholic school would only result in self-censorship, and de
facto acceptance of same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption. The Archdiocese
must support Saint Paul's."
May 10, 2010
Letters to the Editor
The Anchor
887 Highland Avenue
Fall River, MA 02720
To the Editor:
A recent Anchor story on Massachusetts health care reform inaccurately
characterized the partisan group Catholic Democrats as a pro-life organization
("Abortions decrease under Mass. health care reform," 4/9/2010).
Catholic Democrats do not support legal protection for human life from
conception to natural death, do not support the overturning of Roe v. Wade,
and do not support Humanae Vitae.
As an organization, Catholic Democrats is a pro-abortion front group whose
cynical purpose is to spread disinformation about the mainstream pro-life
movement by asserting that pro-life opposition to pro-abortion politicians is
motivated by some partisan Republican agenda. Its stock in trade is intellectual
dishonesty.
Faithful Catholics should view Catholic Democrats as having the same
credibility as Frances Kissling's Catholics for Free Choice.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle
Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
April 30, 2010
Letters
Boston Herald
P.O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor,
Margery Eagan didn't let the facts get in the way
of a good argument when she included in her column a story that had already been
exposed as a fraud (ABUSE TOO HEAVY A CROSS TO BEAR, 4/25/2010).
Contrary to Eagan's inaccurate assertion, the
Pope's former Vicar General in Germany was not pressured into defending the Holy
Father, and stands by his original story that he, not the Pope, made key
personnel decisions in the Munich Archdiocese.
Bernie McDaid's plan to insult Catholics by
bringing the symbolism of the Protestant Reformation into St. Peter's Square
tells us all we need to know about the victims groups criticizing the Catholic
Church. As many Catholics have long suspected, these groups, for all their talk
of healing and accountability, seem more interested in affronting, at every
opportunity, the religious sensibilities of faithful Catholics.
There is one aspect of Martin Luther's life
however, which Eagan and McDaid may want to imitate. Luther, at least, had the
integrity to leave.
Sincerely,
Joseph B. Craven, Jr
Executive Secretary
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
PRESS RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2010
CONTACT: C.J. DOYLE, (617) 524-6309,
CALMDOYLE@AOL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CALLS
FOR APOLOGY FROM PRIEST WHO SLANDERED POPE BENEDICT
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today called for
an apology from the Reverend James J. Scahill, Pastor of St. Michael's
Church in East Longmeadow, for suggesting Pope Benedict XVI has lied in the
sexual abuse scandal and ought to resign. Scahill, a priest of the Diocese
of Springfield, made the charge during his Sunday homily, and repeated it in
numerous interviews with both local and national media.
The Catholic Action League called Scahill's remarks "a gross
and defamatory injustice to the Holy Father."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C.J. Doyle stated:
"It is a serious matter when a priest suggests that the Vicar of Christ is a
liar. Prudence and justice would demand that he had unassailable
facts and irrefutable evidence to substantiate his charge. Sadly, James
Scahill has neither."
"Media critics of the Pope have resorted to innuendo,
distortions, reckless assertions, sweeping generalizations, and tendentious
misinterpretations. Ignored in all of this is the leadership which the Pope
has demonstrated in confronting the sexual abuse issue, which includes his
removal of Father Maciel, head of one of the most powerful religious orders
in the Church, the Legionaries of Christ."
"A Catholic priest ought to be cognizant of the Eighth
Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. It
requires no courage to join a lynch mob. Father Scahill ought to be ashamed
of himself."
April 13, 2010
Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
In his criticism of Pope Benedict XVI, James
Carroll offered a revisionist version of Catholic history which contained
multiple and manifest inaccuracies (Rescue Catholicism from Vatican, 4/5/2010).
As he has done before, Carroll continues to
erroneously assert that the doctrine of papal infallibility was proclaimed as a
sort of compensation for the loss of the Pope's temporal power. This
unsupportable contention is contradicted by the sequence of events. Pope Pius IX
was the Sovereign of the Papal States on July 18, 1870 when the Dogmatic
Constitution on infallibility was passed by the First Vatican Council. Two
months later, on September 20,1870, Rome was seized by the forces of the Kingdom
of Italy, following the unexpected evacuation of the city's French garrison
after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.
Carroll went on to claim that late nineteenth
century popes centralized church government by signing concordats with various
states, and by establishing Roman educational institutions for priests. In these
matters, Carroll errs by several centuries. The Concordat of Worms with the Holy
Roman Empire was signed in 1122, and Concordats with France and Scotland were
signed in 1516 and 1535 respectively. Roman national seminaries for priests
began with the German College in 1552. A half dozen others were products of the
Counter-Reformation in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Incredibly, Carroll argued that the Second
Vatican Council was called to make the pope a "first among equals". This claim
is refuted by the council's own teachings. Lumen Gentium states that "In
virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of Christ and Pastor of the whole Church,
the Roman Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church."
Carroll treats history not as an objective
reality obliging a truthful presentation, but as malleable material which may be
subjectively rearranged for ideological purposes. His assertions are not to be
trusted.
Sincerely,
C.J. Doyle
Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
March 31, 2010
Letters to the Editor
Boston Herald
P.O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week, the
most solemn time of the liturgical year for Catholics. The Boston Herald's
gift to Catholics on Palm Sunday was a venomous diatribe by a shrill bigot
culminating in the insolent demand that our Holy Father resign and give himself
up for prosecution (He's got to go! 3/28/2010).
The Herald should be ashamed of itself for
publishing such vitriol. As for Margery Eagan, it is time to end her twenty year
campaign of inciting contempt for Catholicism. Eagan should resign.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle
Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
January 31, 2010
Letters to the Editor
The Patriot Ledger
400 Crown Colony Drive
Post Office Box 699159
Quincy, MA 02269-9159
To the Editor:
The recent Patriot Ledger story on Voice
of the Faithful referred to that organization's so-called reform mission
("Faithful carry on after the Crisis," 1/22/2010).
The Catholic conception of reform has always
entailed interior conversion, that is, turning away from the temptations of the
culture to practice the personal pursuit of holiness. Voice of the Faithful
however, wants the Church to conform to the culture. VOTF provides platforms for
dissidents, refuses to affirm Catholic morality, and advocates "structural
change" in the institutional Church.
Given its secular values, sterile spirituality,
and aging demographics, Voice of the Faithful might more accurately be
characterized as an anti-reform movement on the margins of the Catholic Church.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle
Executive Director
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
January 25, 2010
Letters to the Editor
The Pilot
66 Brooks Drive
Braintree, MA 02184-3839
To the Editor:
While pro-life Catholics may justly celebrate the defeat of a pro-abortion
extremist in the special U.S. Senate election held on January 19th, The Pilot
story on Scott Browns' victory conveyed the impression that I believe
Senator-elect Brown is in accord with Church teaching on the sanctity of
innocent human life. I don't and he isn't ("Many Catholics react favorably to
Browns' election," 1/22/10).
Brown supports Roe v. Wade, and as a legislator has voted for buffer
zones, emergency contraception and Commonwealth Care, which includes state
funding of abortions, sterilizations and birth control. The best we can expect
from Senator Brown is that he will support restrictions on abortion, limitations
on abortion funding, and conscience clause protections.
The longstanding and bipartisan tradition in Massachusetts politics however, is
for those seeking office to accept the votes, endorsements and contributions of
social conservatives during an election, and then move leftward after the
election.
In Scott Brown's case, he didn't wait for election day to tell the Boston
Herald that he now considers same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth to be
"settled law."
Sincerely,
C.J. Doyle
Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
NEWS RELEASE
SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010
CONTACT: C.J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
COAKLEY VS. THE
CONSTITUTION
The Catholic Action League of
Massachusetts today rebuked Attorney General Martha Coakley for suggesting that
pro-life religious believers should not work in hospital emergency rooms. During
an interview on the Ken Pittman Show on WBSM Radio in New Bedford, Coakley ---
the Democratic nominee in the special U.S. Senate election to succeed the late
Edward M. Kennedy --- criticized her Republican opponent for attempting to
insert a conscience clause in the state law requiring hospitals to dispense
so-called emergency contraception to rape victims. When asked about the
conscience rights of hospital personnel, Coakley, after raising the separation
of church and state, responded "You can have religious freedom, but you probably
shouldn't work in the emergency room."
The Catholic Action League called
Coakley's remark "a chilling expression of extremism, effectively endorsing
religious discrimination in the workplace."
Catholic Action League Executive
Director C.J. Doyle stated: "Martha Coakley evidently believes that anyone with
sincerely held moral and religious convictions about the sanctity of innocent
human life --- such as Catholics, Evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and
others --- should be excluded from the medical and nursing professions. For
pro-life religious believers, the only 'choice' Coakley is prepared to allow is
one between violating their consciences or sacrificing their jobs."
"It is no wonder that Martha Coakley
has kept such a low profile in this campaign. Her handlers obviously understand
that a candid enunciation of her far-left views would shock and offend
mainstream voters."
"The religious freedom rights
guaranteed by both the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, and even more broadly, by the Declaration of Rights of the
Massachusetts Constitution include not only freedom of worship but the right to
act in accordance with a religiously informed conscience. This principle was
affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth as recently as 1995
in the Desilets case, when the court ruled that the Attorney General had to
demonstrate a compelling state interest --- a substantial burden in law --- to
enforce an anti-discrimination statute against two Catholic brothers in Turner
Falls who refused to rent an apartment to an unmarried couple. That the chief
law enforcement officer of Massachusetts is unaware of this, or indifferent to
it, or opposed to it, should alarm anyone concerned with religious freedom in
America."
Contact the Catholic Action
League
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