Sent to the Star Banner, December 15, 2000
Editor,
Within hours after the US Supreme Court Roe v Wade decision in 1973 authorizing legal
abortions, the Vatican in Italy declared war on US civil laws, calling our laws the "culture of
death". Writer S.D.Mumford reports, "...the (US) bishops knew they would need to mount a
political campaign in favor of a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion."
For centuries, the Vatican approved certain abortions. Pope Pius IX in 1869 declared himself to
be infallible and declared all abortions to be illicit. Changing the Vatican's stance on abortion in
1973 would erode its authority. The Vatican chose to defend its doctrine..
In 1975, bishops issued their Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities. As Mumford reports, " the
plan was a blueprint for infiltrating and manipulating the democratic process at the local, .state
and federal levels...maps out a political machine controlled by the Vatican through the bishops.
...elect officials." Instead of starting a Catholic political party, they founded the Moral Majority
then the Christian Coalition then won over the Republican Party. In 1995, the pope questioned
the legitimacy of the US government and instructed Catholics they must impose papal teachings
on all Americans through political commitment, even if it means they must sacrifice their lives to
do so. The pope did not say what should be done to Americans who did not accept papal
teachings.
In 1986, Presidents Reagan, favoring the pope, appointed Catholic activist Antonin Scalia to the
US Supreme Court. It paid off for the Catholics in 2000, when Scalia led the court in giving the
presidency to pro-life Bush. Bush is expected to appoint Scalia to succeed Rehnquist as Chief
Justice and help enact the bishops' agenda, including making all abortions illegal. Scalia helped
the Vatican launch its Ave Maria School of Law this Fall in Ann Arbor, MI and sits on its board.
Staff, which includes Robert Bork, and students in the School are to be involved in making laws.
In 1999, Catholic Sen. Robert Smith, proposed a constitutional amendment making citizenship
begin in a fertilized egg. Anything a person would do to prevent that egg from becoming a person
would be a crime.
Americans need to be aware of the increasing political influence the Vatican has on us, taking us
in directions most of us, including many Catholics, don't want to go. The Vatican plays a major
role in causing US politics, as former congressman, R. Michel states, " to become more partisan,
more polarized and much meaner."
James M. O'Hara