October 4, 2004

Dear Friends,

I am happy to send you our Priests for Life newsletter. Welcome to those who are
newly subscribed!

This newsletter has been sent to every priest in the country, as we do with every
issue. Usually our newsletter at the end of the year is mailed in November, but we
sent this one early in order to have one more issue arrive before elections.

There are 29 days left until Election Day. May I review a few key questions with
you.

a) Have you made a financial contribution to the campaigns of the candidates you
are supporting? Are you expressing support for that candidate by a bumper-
sticker on your car, a pin on your jacket, and a yard sign on your property?

b) Have you joined our prayer campaign, www.PrayerCampaign.org ?

c) Have you signed up to help with election activities at
www.VoterSunday.org/join.html ?

d) Have you educated others on the positions of the candidates? You can
download, print, and distribute voter guides, found at
www.priestsforlife.org/candidates

e) Have you watched our Election series on EWTN? If you don't get EWTN, you
can get the videos and show them to others this month. See
www.priestsforlife.org/elections/ewtnpolitseries.htm for details.

f) If your state permits it, have you made plans to vote early? See
www.priestsforlife.org/elections/votetoday.htm for details.

My friends, it is no exaggeration to say that just the group of people receiving this
email can sway the entire election. That's how close it is. Elections are not contests
between candidates, but between teams. I thank you for your commitment to do as
much as possible in these final weeks.

With prayers,
Fr. Frank Pavone


Priests for Life Newsletter
Volume 14, Number 6
October - November - December 2004

A Single Stop for Election-Related Materials and Information:
www.priestsforlife.org/elections

You will find the following and more:

*Statements of the Pope and Bishops on Political Responsibility
*What Churches and Pastors can do legally regarding Politics
*How to vote early (that is, cast your ballot before Election Day)
*Homily materials and bulletin inserts
*Audio of inspiring election talks
*Ways to persuade others to vote pro-life
*Positions of Candidates on many issues


Quotes from the Bishops' Pro-life Office and the Vatican on Voting and on the Number One Issue

Following are quotes taken from interviews that Priests for Life conducted
recently with officials of the Vatican and of the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-life
Activities.

Cathy Cleaver-Ruse, Director of Planning and Information, Secretariat for Pro-life
Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Q. Is it true to say that our bishops teach that the priority issue is abortion?

A. "Sure, that's absolutely true.  The Church has taught on this issue of
abortion and its immorality since the Apostolic Age.  It's one of our longest
standing moral public policy issues and it is not like any other issue. There
are no instances where it is morally licit or justifiable.  That sets is apart
from other issues like capital punishment, like just war theory and many
other social issues that are very, very important but don't have that kind of
no exceptions policy.  Abortion is one of those fundamental issues.  If the
very right to life is taken away then no other right matters."

Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director, Secretariat for Pro-life Activities, United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

"What the Church has said is that because it is the first gift from a loving
God and the condition for all other human goods, all our other rights - life
itself has to be a top priority it is the most basic gift and if we lose the right
to live we lose everything else.  Now within the whole network of issues
about life, the first priority has to be the right of each individual at every
stage simply to exist at all.  To be inviolable.  To be free from direct
attacks. So the church has said that issues that involve direct attacks on
innocent human life - and in our society  today, obviously abortion which
takes over a million lives in the United States every year - issues like
euthanasia for the terminally ill are primary.  They are the most basic
threats to human life because they are direct attacks on life because they
attack innocent life that's not doing anybody else harm or attacking
anybody else and because they are attacking life at its most vulnerable and
defenseless - the very stages where children and the elderly should be able
to expect the respect and protection of their families because it is where
they are weakest and most vulnerable."

"What the Bishop's said in their 1998 document Living the Gospel of Life,
was that this whole edifice of human goods and ways of enhancing human
life are like a house but the other issues that enhance the quality of life for
everyone are like the walls of the house and protecting the inviolability of
life itself from attack is like the foundation.  You cannot have a house
anymore if you don't have a foundation. It's meaningless to say we are
going to enhance all these qualities of human life and say that human life
itself has no inherent worth.  Those have to primary.  Everything else grows
from that.  We promote a consistent ethic of life and at the same time there
are priorities, some things are more fundamental than others."  

Quotes from the Vatican

"I consider the right to vote as essential in a democracy.  If people neglect
that basic right I think it borders on the sinful. We have to take part in our
democratic process.  If we are fortunate enough to have it we have to take
part in it." -- Archbishop John Foley, President, Pontifical Council for
Social Communications, Vatican City

"Party loyalty is and must be a secondary value, albeit important, often
very important, but nonetheless, secondary.  Political parties have the
obligation to defend the common good, and where the political party no
longer defends the common good, but rather only ideological interests, then
the members of that party are obliged to vote against the party.  They are
obliged." -- Bishop Karl Romer, Secretary, Pontifical Council for the
Family

"All of these [other fundamental] rights presuppose the right to life.  If the
right to life is not defended, the defense of all these other rights is useless. 
It becomes a lie, because it would mean that the defense to the right to
work, to society, etc. applies only to some, and not to all." -- Bishop Elio
Sgreccia, Vice-President, Pontifical Academy for Life


A Seven-Point Plan for Churches

In these final days before our National Elections, here is a seven-point plan of action for
your Church. The pro-life movement is counting on you to do you part, which only you
can do - to reach the people only you can reach and activate the voters that only you can
activate. Thank you in advance!

Our Election website www.priestsforlife.org/elections contains the information you need
on all the following projects:

1. Prayer Novena for America: We are in the final part of our national prayer campaign
of nine weeks leading up to Election Day. Please sign up and commit to prayers, Masses,
Divine Mercy Chaplets, and days of fasting. The intention is that believers will be active
in voting, and that our nation will embrace a culture of life. For more details, see the
"Prayer Campaign" link at www.priestsforlife.org/elections.

2. Homily hints for the final Sundays before the Election: Utilize them and share them
with other pastors!

3. Bulletin inserts: We provide text boxes with quotations for use in your bulletin. We
also have prepared full-page inserts, such as the one on page four of this newsletter. That
insert is available as a pdf file on our website also.

4. Please Publicize our TV Shows on Elections 2004

Our special television programs about political responsibility are now airing
nationwide on two major Christian networks, EWTN and Sky Angel. These
programs are action-oriented and serve as an excellent way to both inform and
activate people.

Please publicize these air times in your bulletin

EWTN - Wednesdays at 5am and Fridays at 10pm ET
Sky Angel (Angel One)  -- Mondays at 3:30am; Thursdays at 8:30am;Saturdays at
7:30 PM ET

5. Study guide - We have prepared a study guide on the US Bishops' document Living
the Gospel of Life, which provides clear teaching about our political responsibility and
the issues that matter most. Available online at www.priestsforlife.org/gospel

6. Alert your people about the positions of the Presidential candidates by referring them
to www.votinginfo.org - This is a special website that has been prepared in accordance
with all the legal guidelines that Churches are required to follow, so that it is safe to
promote it, publicize it in the bulletin, and link to it from your parish website.

7. Church Voter Activation Plan - In the final days before the election, call your
parishioners and remind them to vote. Encourage early voting. (Our website has
information on how far before Election Day each state allows its residents to vote.) If
your people need assistance to get to the polls, arrange for car pools or other
transportation assistance.


Prayer Intentions
You are encouraged to remember the following intentions as you pray the Liturgy
of the Hours:

November intention: For hospital patients who are unable to communicate, that
they may be blessed with the loving companionship of others.

December intention: For survivors of abortion.

Historic TV Series Now Airing!

Spread the word - and set your VCR for 5am (EDT) on Wednesday or 10pm
(EDT) on Friday!  

That's when the next of Priests for Life's six ground-breaking television programs
will air on Mother Angelica's EWTN cable network. 

This 6-part television series has the potential to change the political landscape
of America for generations to come!

Using the teachings of our U.S. bishops and the Holy Father, as well as video-
taped interviews with Vatican officials and members of the U.S. hierarchy, every
single one of these six half-hour programs can empower the Catholic laity.  Each
program will, in its own unique way, give viewers the resources they need to go to
their fellow Catholics, quote to them the teachings of our U.S. bishops, and show
them that "the right to life is the fundamental civil rights issue of our day" ... and
that all other rights are based solely on the primary RIGHT TO LIFE!

Again, the shows air every Wednesday at 5:00 AM (EDT) - with a repeat
showing every Friday at 10:00 PM (EDT)!

A Word about Literature Distribution

As Election Day draws near, many people exercise their right and duty to inform
their neighbors about the positions of candidates. Such activity should be
encouraged. It flows from the spiritual works of mercy, which include instructing
those who do not know things they should know.

This activity may take the form of distributing literature throughout the
neighborhood, including to those who come to Mass. It should be noted that
citizens have the right to distribute literature on public sidewalks without
interference from other citizens, from the Church, or from law enforcement. The
right to make one's message heard is unhindered, as long as one is not doing
violence, blocking traffic or pedestrian access, or disobeying relevant local
ordinances.

Both civil law and the Gospel open the door for citizens to undertake this peaceful,
educational activity. The First Amendment is a gift that should be exercised freely.
And when people respond to the Lord's call to be active and vocal, we their priests
should never squelch those gifts, but rather stir up and encourage them, as we have
been ordained to do.


Faithful Christians, Faithful Citizens

"Every voice matters in the public forum. Every vote counts... We encourage
all citizens, particularly Catholics, to embrace their citizenship not merely
as a duty and privilege, but as an opportunity meaningfully to participate in
building the culture of life. (United States Bishops, "Living the Gospel of
Life," n.34)


Our bishops and the Holy Father have urged us to be faithful and active citizens.
As we approach our national elections, Priests for Life has prepared resources to
help you to carry out your civic responsibilities and to evaluate candidates and
issues in the light of the moral law. You will find these resources at
www.priestsforlife.org/elections

(Or you can reach us using the contact information below.)

There resources will help you to

* Register to Vote
* Learn the positions of candidates on issues
* Understand why the Right to Life is the primary election issue
* Appreciate how close elections are, and that your vote does count
* Mobilize others to vote responsibly
* Vote Early

The common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights -- for
example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture -- is
false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right
and the condition of all other personal rights, is not defended with
maximum determination  (Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, 1988).

Contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-
PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; email: mail@priestsforlife.org;
web: www.priestsforlife.org
 
Please see specific resources you can order on the back of this flier. This insert is
also available for parish bulletins, free of charge.


Contact Priests for Life, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314;
tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; web: www.priestsforlife.org; mail@priestsforlife.org