WASHINGTON (May 10, 2000) -- Galveston-Houston Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza,
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/U. S. Catholic
Conference, issued the following statement on the status of the
organization "Catholics for a Free Choice":
"For a number of years, a group calling itself Catholics for a Free
Choice (CFFC) has been publicly supporting abortion while claiming it
speaks as an authentic Catholic voice. That claim is false. In fact, the
group's activity is directed to rejection and distortion of Catholic
teaching about the respect and protection due to defenseless unborn
human life.
"On a number of occasions the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB)
has stated publicly that CFFC is not a Catholic organization, does not
speak for the Catholic Church, and in fact promotes positions contrary
to the teaching of the Church as articulated by the Holy See and the
NCCB.
"CFFC is, practically speaking, an arm of the abortion lobby in the
United States and throughout the world. It is an advocacy group
dedicated to supporting abortion. It is funded by a number of powerful
and wealthy private foundations, mostly American, to promote abortion as
a method of population control. This position is contrary to existing
United Nations policy and the laws and policies of most nations of the
world.
"In its latest campaign, CFFC has undertaken a concentrated public
relations effort to end the official presence and silence the moral
voice of the Holy See at the United Nations as a Permanent Observer. The
public relations effort has ridiculed the Holy See in language
reminiscent of other episodes of anti-Catholic bigotry that the Catholic
Church has endured in the past.
"As the Catholic Bishops of the United States have stated for many
years, the use of the name Catholic as a platform for promoting the
taking of innocent human life and ridiculing the Church is offensive not
only to Catholics, but to all who expect honesty and forthrightness in
public discourse. We state once again with the strongest emphasis:
`Because of its opposition to the human rights of some of the most
defenseless members of the human race, and because its purposes and
activities deliberately contradict essential teachings of the Catholic
faith,....Catholics for a Free Choice merits no recognition or support
as a Catholic organization" (Administrative Committee, National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1993)."
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