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| December 20, 2007 Edition | ||||
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The hope which
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(printable version)
(en Español)
Dear Friends,
Christmas is upon us - the time when we celebrate the mystery that, as St. Paul so beautifully described, "Grace has appeared." With the appearance of Grace in Christ, we receive the true definition of our humanity and the authentic truth about human freedom. Human freedom is ultimately freedom to be like Christ.
Our Holy Father gave us a wonderful Christmas gift in his Encyclical on hope, entitled Spe Salvi, "it is hope by which we have been saved," which again quotes St. Paul. Our Holy Father makes a most helpful distinction in terms of clarifying which hope it is that saves us. He speaks about our everyday lesser and greater hopes.
'Lesser and greater hopes'
As I plan to go on vacation after Christmas, for instance, I hope for good weather. Many people who have suffered misfortune in terms of financial difficulties, or family problems, or health in 2007 tell me often of their hope that 2008 will be a better year for them. And then there are those who get caught up in hope of winning the lottery or other such things. These hopes are normal, good human experiences, but they are hopes which can easily be disappointed. None of these hopes could ever become the hope that saves us.
Benedict proclaims the truth that the hope that saves us is Jesus Christ himself, the sure anchor of our hope, as he is called in the Letter to the Hebrews. Christmas is a very special time to look into the face of Jesus Christ and place all of our other hopes in the perspective and under the burning glow of His own light, so that we can see the true priority of our hopes.
How things go in this world of ours can never be the end of the matter. Whether or not our greater or lesser hopes of everyday life are fulfilled can never be the end of the matter. If we experience poor weather on our vacation, if we experience ill health, if we experience financial difficulties, if we experience family problems - nothing of that sort can be the end of us. Even if those normal and good human hopes turn out to be disappointed, we still are blessed by our call to gaze into the face of Christ at Christmas - the one who is the anchor of all of our hopes, the one who alone fulfills our deepest hopes, the one who defines our humanity.
Protection of conscience
It is interesting that at Christmas time the Legislature of Wisconsin has voted explicitly against conscience protection for those institutions or individuals who might want both to protect women who have been raped - a terrible tragedy - and to protect possible pre-born babies who might have been conceived because of that rape. The legislature seems to be yielding to the promotion in our culture of a contraception ideology, which has its own dynamic and is focused on expanding state-coerced contraception and possibly abortion.
Women who have suffered the tragedy of rape need to be protected, but if a pre-born child has been already conceived, the future of that child also requires our protection. What better time to proclaim this conviction of science, human reason, and faith than during this season of the birth of the Messiah. I encourage you to read the letter which I have written to our legislators in this regard, which is also contained in this issue of the Catholic Herald.
'Similarity to Christ'
Lastly, let me close with a beautiful quote from our Holy Father during his discourse at the Angelus, at St. Peter's Arch-Basilica, on Sunday, December the 9th, last: "In the twilight of our days on earth, when we are about to die, we shall be judged on the basis of our similarity to the Child whose birth shall occur in the plain grotto in Bethlehem since it is he who is the God-given standard by which humanity shall live." This reflection of our Holy Father gives us, indeed, much to think and pray about at Christmas time.
Be sure of my remembrance at the Masses of Christmas Day for you and yours. May you have a truly blessed Christmas and a New Year of health, safety, and above all deeper faith in the Lord who alone is our Hope! Thank you for reading this. God bless each one of you.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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Dec. 17 Letter to the Legislature
17 December 2007
Dear Members of the Wisconsin Legislature,
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I write to you in light of the recent legislative action on Assembly Bill 377, with regard to emergency contraception. This letter also serves as a follow-up to my letter of October 24th, wherein I indicated a strong concern that conscience exemption for institutions and individuals be preserved. The Assembly recently voted not to accept the amendments with regard to conscience exemption for which I had hoped, but a final vote on the bill, as it stands, was delayed until mid-January. I write at this time to indicate a clear change in my position toward this particular legislation.
But first, let me indicate what has not changed. As bishops, we want women to be protected from the consequences of rape. We deeply care about the safety of women, about their inherent dignity, and their God-given rights. In fact, Catholic hospitals have always provided emergency contraception when this was appropriate, that is, when every effort had been made to assure that emergency contraception would not prevent implantation in the womb of a pre-born human being - because this would amount to abortion.
Biology tells us that a fertilized egg is a unique individual of the human species. I am writing to all legislators in the State of Wisconsin who accept this datum of science and the subsequent conclusion of reason. I am not writing specifically to Catholic legislators, because this is not a distinctively Catholic issue, but a matter of biology and human rights.
In the paragraphs above I have referred to what has not changed, that is our compassionate concern for women who have suffered the terrible tragedy of rape. The hoped-for effect of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's earlier stance of neutrality on this bill was to protect women who are the victims of rape, while also protecting the possible pre-born human being, by affirming the necessary conscience exemption for institutions and individuals with regard to the appropriate testing, so as to avoid abortifacient emergency contraception. It is my judgment as Bishop of Madison that the earlier position of neutrality did not have its hoped for effect, and so it is now moot, and this neutrality position has now expired. Our conference's neutrality stance has also unintentionally provoked scandal among Catholics who have been persuaded by statements in the media that we are becoming less fervent in our defense of the dignity of pre-born human life.
As we continue along the line of what else has changed, I would point out the following: 1) It is clear that we have more time to debate this issue, until mid-January, which is good - I had no expectation that we would have such an additional time period. 2) It is clear that the Assembly, in rejecting explicit conscience exemption language in this AB 377, is opening the door to the coercion of consciences by the state. As the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, we had been advised that there would be statutory protection of conscience exemption from another statute. If this were assured, there would be no reason why the Assembly would have rejected conscience exemption protection for the reasons they gave. Therefore, I am firmly convinced that our conscience exemption protection is threatened by the approach in the legislation presently being considered. 3) It is clear that Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and their colleagues are more interested in promoting a state-supported, contraceptive ideology than they are in simply, reasonably, protecting women.
So I urge you, by this letter, to oppose AB 377. Please think about it in this season, where the beautiful glow of lights symbolize our hope for peace, which as Pope Benedict has recently indicated, can only happen when there is respect for every human being, protecting every woman and every pre-born human child. This is definitely a time for you to reconsider your vote on AB 377. Circumstances have changed and we are called to change accordingly.
Without clear assurance of conscience protection for institutions and individuals, and with the manipulation of this legislation to promote a contraceptive ideology, it is clear to me that we must oppose the particular version of this bill which will come up for a vote in mid-January. I might add that Bishop Jerome Listecki of LaCrosse finds himself completely in accord with the sentiments that I have expressed. Let us go forward during this holiday season with a sense of the peace that Christmas brings, which depends on the promotion of a culture of life, the life of women who have a right to defend themselves, and the right of pre-born human beings who have a right to a future.
With prayerful best wishes and gratitude for your consideration, I am,
Sincerely Yours,
The Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino
Bishop of Madison
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