Boston
CATHOLICS ARE USED TO having people protest outside their churches. Because Catholics are one of the last socially acceptable objects of bigotry, it seems as though activist groups are always showing up at their churches. Gay and women's rights groups make up the usual crowd, although these days it's common to find hecklers there to beat up on Catholics for the priest sex-abuse scandals. However, today may mark the first time a Catholic church has been picketed by anti-abortion protesters.
Dozens of such protesters were gathered on Park Street in front of the Paulist Center an hour before Sunday's 10:00 a.m. Mass. They strummed guitars, sang hymns, drew slogans on the sidewalk in chalk, and carried placards saying "Stop Killing My Generation" and "You CAN'T be Catholic & Pro-Abortion." Some of the protesters hailed from Operation Rescue, other were from the American Life League. All of them were respectful and cheery as they stood in the morning sunshine, down the block from the Massachusetts statehouse.
The reason for their protest is that the Paulist Center is John Kerry's home church.
KERRY'S CATHOLICISM has put him in a bizarre position. Kerry is Catholic. As such, he is, by his own proclamation, personally opposed to abortion. He does not allow this opposition to get in the way of supporting abortion rights as a matter of public policy. Nor do his personal convictions prevent him from vigorously courting the support of explicitly pro-abortion groups. "Abortion should be rare, but it should be safe and legal, and
the government should stay out of the bedroom," Kerry said recently as he accepted the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's endorsement. According the Los Angeles Times, the assembled Planned Parenthood Crowd "whooped" and "chanted" their approval. The eagerness with which Kerry stumps for abortion suggests that putting aside his "personal" convictions does not cause him a heavy heart.
In response, the Catholic Church very nearly decided to take a stand. A small group of American bishops posited that public officials who enthusiastically flout Church teachings should be sanctioned. The proposed sanction was the denial of the Eucharist. After much soul-searching, the bishops decided, nearly unanimously, against a formal sanction, and left each diocese to decide for itself.
In Boston, Archbishop Sean O'Malley refused to single Kerry out, but instead put him on the honor system, saying that politicians who work against the teachings of the Church "shouldn't dare come to communion." So warned last spring, John Kerry came to the Paulist Center for Mass and took communion.
IF KERRY SEEMS UNTROUBLED by his decision to work against the teachings of the Church, the Paulist Center seems equally unperturbed about being put in the position of having to look the other way while he does it. The Paulist Center is a curious kind of Catholic church.
Built in 1970, the Paulist Center of Boston is as much a community center as a church. Founded by the Paulists (a religious order, like the Jesuits), it operates with the permission of the local bishop, but is financially independent from the Church. As such, the Paulist Center differs from traditional Catholic churches in both superficial and serious ways. (For instance, the Center is permitted to celebrate Mass, but may not perform marriages.)
|
