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DEFEND LIFERS PICKET BISHOPS

For the third straight year, Defend Lifers demonstrated at the U.S. bishops’ annual fall conference, calling on them to refuse Holy Communion to pro-abortion politicians.

As the 280 bishops emerged from the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C., November 14 to board buses for Mass at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the pro-lifers held aloft signs with photos of specific bishops and politicians in their dioceses.

The signs bore messages such as, “Theodore Cardinal McCarrick:  Bravely Refuse Holy Communion to Pro-Abortion Senator Teddy Kennedy.”

“Look for your picture!” veteran pro-lifer Olga Fairfax called out to the bishops.

And look they did.

Several picketers noted that the bishops’ reactions were more cordial than they had been at the two previous fall conference demonstrations.

“Nobody’s snarling at us, and some of them were smiling – and they were reading the signs,” said Defend Life Director Jack Ames.

“One of them even said, ‘Keep it up!’”

Demonstrator Missy Smith concurred with Ames’ assessment, remarking, “They were more user-friendly than they were last year.”

Pro-lifer Joan McKee reported that four or five clergymen – she could not tell whether they were priests or bishops – smiled and said “Thank-you!” as they walked past her.

Ames, holding a sign asking William Cardinal Keeler to refuse Holy Communion to Maryland pro-abortion Sen. Barbara Mikulski, spotted Keeler waiting to board the bus and called out, “Cardinal, how do you like your picture?”

The Cardinal smilingly replied, “Nice picture!”

Ames also displayed a poster admonishing Bishop Kenneth Angell of Burlington to refuse Communion to Sen. Patrick Leahy.  He said that Bishop Angell saw the sign and called out, “Have you talked to the senator?”

Ames said he was tempted to reply, “That’s your job, your Excellency!

“But we got their attention; they’re getting the message that it’s their job to lead, and the priests and the laity will follow.”

The demonstrators want the bishops to comply with Canon Law 915, which states, “Those who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Communion.”

Over the past few years several bishops have declared that politicians who persistently support and vote for pro-abortion legislation cannot receive Communion, but most have been silent on the issue.

“I think we’ve got to keep doing it,” said Ames.

“Nothing is a panacea.  You have to do a lot of little things and do them consistently, even if there are no visible results.  

“You do them because God wants you to do them.”