New Order of Priests Will Fight Abortion

A new order of missionaries specifically devoted to the fight against abortion has been established by the Roman Catholic Church.

Calling abortion the "fundamental human-rights issue of our day," the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life founder Fr. Frank Pavone wrote in a statement: "The church finds herself battling a plague as spiritually fatal as any she has ever fought before — the plague of the culture of death."

Fr. Pavone, longtime head of Priests for Life, a nationwide group of anti-abortion activist priests, told the Los Angeles Times that the new order will be headquartered in a vacant Catholic high school and dormitory on the grounds of the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas.

The society will begin accepting priests and seminarians this summer, Pavone told the Times, with training to start in the fall. Activists and other members of the lay community probably will be trained there as well.

According to Fr. Pavone, the missionaries will have a decidedly political bent, and unlike many priestly orders will be active rather than contemplative. He said the priests will be trained to conduct voter-registration drives, use the media to get out their anti-abortion message and lobby lawmakers to restrict the practice of abortion. They also will learn to lead demonstrations outside offices where abortions and family-planning services are provided.

"There is a difference between knowing the teachings and knowing how to effectively advance a movement," Pavone said, adding that the society's priests will be given the general mission of "preaching and teaching the pro-life message effectively," Pavone said.

They also will "bring healing and forgiveness" to those who have had abortions and will provide what they describe as counseling services to women who are "tempted to abort their child," he said.

Fr. Pavone said he had received "a couple of hundred e-mails and calls" from young men interested in joining the society; a document sent to church leaders that outlined Pavone's plan suggested the number of priests could be "40 or 400."

The Catholic Church already has similar organizations, the Times noted. In 1991, the late Cardinal John O'Connor of New York established a women's religious community called Sisters of Life, dedicated to "protecting and advancing a sense of the sacredness of human life.

But, Pavone said, this is the first time the church has established an apostolic society for priests who will concentrate exclusively on abortion and euthanasia.

The society will be funded through private donations, Amarillo Bishop John W. Yanta said, and is being established with the knowledge and blessing of the Vatican.

In a statement from Rome, Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said the new order "may be just what the world of today needs."

"We are living in a very secular culture," Bishop Yanta said. "There are many institutions that think they are the center of the world. Jesus Christ should be the center. We are going to act like Jesus. Jesus wasn't afraid of controversy."

Although the order's mission would be to fight for an end to abortion, other facets of the "culture of death" — such as euthanasia and the death penalty, both of which are opposed by the church — also would be addressed, Bishop Yanta explained.

In recent months, Pavone has been focused on marshaling religious conservatives around Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman whose feeding tube was removed March 18 and who died today from court-ordered starvation and dehydration.

Editor's note: