Catholics for Choice
Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
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President | Jamie L. Manson |
Website | catholicsforchoice.org |
Part of a series of articles on |
Abortion and the Catholic Church |
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Official opposition |
Catholic Church portal |
Catholics for Choice (CFC) is a
A number of Catholic bishops and conferences of bishops have unequivocally rejected and publicly denounced CFC's identification as a Catholic organization.[4] For example, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops,[5] have stated that CFC is not a Catholic organization and that it promotes positions contrary to Catholic teaching.[6]
History
CFC was founded in 1973 by Catholics Joan Harriman, Patricia Fogarty McQuillan, and Meta Mulcahy as Catholics for a Free Choice, with the aim of promoting access to abortion in the context of Catholic tradition.[7] It emerged from Catholics for the Elimination of All Restrictive Abortion & Contraceptive Laws, a New York lobby group that had been formed in 1970.[8]
1970s
In an early bid for publicity in 1974, on the first anniversary of the
An early member of the board of directors was
1980s
In 1979, Patricia McMahon became CFFC president. McMahon shifted CFFC's legal status from a lobby to an educational association, opening up the group to tax-exempt status and to foundation support.[15] One result of this was a $75,000 grant on behalf of the pro-abortion rights Sunnen Foundation, which funded the group's first publications, the Abortion in Good Faith series.[15][16]
In 1978, Frances Kissling joined CFFC. Kissling had operated an abortion clinic and was a founder and director of the National Abortion Federation. In 1980, she became a member of CFFC's board of directors and in 1982 was made president, which position she held until her retirement in February 2007.[1][17][18] Kissling lobbied politicians and activists, many Catholic, to work in favor of giving women access to contraception and abortion.
The New York Times ad
In 1982, CFC sponsored a briefing of Catholic members of Congress, highlighting the majority of American Catholic opinion that dissented with the Catholic Church on the topic of abortion.[9] Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro wrote an introduction to the briefing, and endorsements were also received from Congressmen Tom Daschle and Leon Panetta. Ferraro wrote that responses varied to the problem of abortion, and that "the Catholic position on abortion is not monolithic...."[9]
During the 1984 presidential campaign, Ferraro was chosen as the vice-presidential running mate of Walter Mondale. Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, sharply criticized Ferraro's pro-abortion rights position, and in October 1984 Kissling responded to O'Connor by placing an advertisement signed by 97 Catholics, including theologians, lay persons, priests and nuns, in The New York Times.[1][9] The advertisement, entitled "A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion", stated that "direct abortion ... can sometimes be a moral choice" and that "responsible moral decisions can only be made in an atmosphere of freedom from fear of coercion."[19]
The ad directly challenged Church authority. The Catholic Church took disciplinary measures against some of the nuns who signed the statement, sparking controversy among American Catholics, and intra-Catholic conflict on the abortion issue remained news for at least two years.[19] In the end, CFC was seen to gain credibility and status by the advertisement, while the Church hierarchy was unable to advance their political goals on the topic of abortion.[7][9][20]
1990s
In 1992, CFC was classified as a non-governmental organization by the United Nations (U.N.); CFC subsequently participated in some U.N. conferences.
In April 1995, the National Catholic Reporter published a letter by Marjorie Rieley Maguire, a theology professor, former CFC activist and co-author of CFC's 1984 The New York Times advertisement, "A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion". In her letter, Maguire described CFC as "an anti-woman organization" devoted to "the promotion of abortion, the defense of every abortion decision as a good, moral choice and the related agenda of persuading society to cast off any moral constraints about sexual behavior." Maguire also charged that when she was involved with CFC, she "was never aware that any of its leaders attended Mass" and that "various conversations and experiences convinced [her] they did not."[21]
2000s
In March 1999,
The campaign was begun after Vatican representatives at various UN conferences blocked consensus on certain topics related to sexual and reproductive health, such as condom distribution and safe sex education in AIDS prevention programs and family planning, birth control, and abortion.[22][23][24][28] Kissling, then CFC's president, asked: "Why should an entity that is in essence 100 square acres of office space and tourist attractions in the middle of Rome with a citizenry that excludes women and children have a place at the table where governments set policies affecting the very survival of women and children?"[28]
The campaign was supported by European Parliament politicians from three Dutch parties.[29] It was also supported by Marco Pannella, a founder of the Italian Radicals.[30]
The campaign faced difficulty in the UN from the start and, according to U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq in 1999, seemed "unlikely" to succeed.[23][24] Anglican Bishop John Baycroft said "The Vatican has as much right to be [in the UN] as any of the other countries", as the modern remnant of the Papal States. Pennsylvania State University professor Philip Jenkins wrote that the See Change campaign is anti-Catholic, and that the major diplomatic and mediation activity of the Vatican makes it deserve recognition far more than many other UN members.[31]
In 2007, CFC's former Vice-President and Director of Communications, Jon O'Brien, was appointed President.[citation needed] In 2019, CFC's former Vice-President and Domestic Program Director, Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe, was named Acting President.[citation needed] In October 2020, National Catholic Reporter columnist Jamie L. Manson took over as president of the organization, leaving her position at NCR.[32]
Operations and funding
CFC is not a membership organization but an advocacy group. It relies upon paid employees and committed volunteer activists that it selectively recruits in various regions.[19]
In 2007, CFC had a budget of $3 million, increased from $2.5 million annually in the years leading up to 2003.
Conflict with the Catholic Church
Criticism
CFC and the Church hierarchy are moral and political opponents. For Roman Catholic officials, CFC's potential to cause harm to their aims is intensified because CFC's positions are taken in the name of Catholics, publicly undermining the authority of the Church.
Helen M. Alvaré, an associate professor of law at the Catholic University of America, has asserted that CFC has "no grass-roots base among Catholics."[18] She said the CFC arguments were not different from other pro-abortion rights groups.[18] Pennsylvania State University professor and historian of religion Philip Jenkins wrote that CFC is a public voice for anti-Catholic opinions. He wrote that in 1991 Frances Kissling stated, "I spent twenty years looking for a government that I could overthrow without being thrown in jail. I finally found one in the Catholic church." Jenkins also writes that Kissling engages in "solid seventeenth-century anti-popery".[31]
Excommunication
Bishop
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Djupe, Paul A. and Laura R. Olson, Encyclopedia of American religion and politics, p. 84, Infobase Publishing 2003
- ISBN 9780521639590.
- ISBN 978-0313375965.. The Pittsburgh Press.
"Catholics for choice protest in Rome". The Washington Times. Reuters. July 12, 1994. Retrieved June 6, 2012.(subscription required)
"Stupak Like a Fox". Newsweek. November 18, 2009.
"Catholic group urges Harper to include abortion in G8 plan". Macleans. April 7, 2010.
"Hands off health care, US Catholic group tells bishops". TurkishPress.com. Agence France-Presse. March 5, 2010. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014.
"Events planned for World AIDS Day". USA Today. Associated Press. November 30, 2003.
Tumulty, Karen; Vickers, Robert J. (November 13, 1989). "Pro-Choice Advocates Rally Coast-to-Coast". Los Angeles Times.
"U.S. nuns get Vatican ultimatum". The Montreal Gazette. UPI. December 19, 1984.
"Bishops' role in debate on abortion questioned". The Washington Times. October 26, 1990.(subscription required)
Sharpe, Jerry (June 9, 1984). "Abortion up to women, Catholic group contends" - ISBN 978-1-4144-7527-1. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
Catholic bishops and conferences of bishops have consistently repudiated the claim of CFFC to be a Catholic organization.
- ^ "Comment by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Regarding a group calling itself 'Catholics for a Free Choice'". Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ a b c U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – NCCB/USCC President Issues Statement on Catholics for a Free Choice Archived November 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, May 10, 2000.
- ^ ISBN 0-8135-3493-3.
- ^ Brubaker, Pamela K. (2010). "Gender and Society: Competing Visions of Women's Agency, Equality, and Well-Being". Women and Christianity. ABC-CLIO.
- ^ ISBN 0-253-34688-6.
- ^ a b c d "Religion: Sins of the Mother". Time. September 2, 1974. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
- ^ Harriman, Joan (January 1975). "Correspondence". Commonweal. 101 (12).
I will clarify some facts surrounding the Baptism in Marlboro, Mass. In the name of Catholics for a Free Choice, as president, I called Rev. Joseph O'Rourke who is on our board of directors and asked him to baptize the Morrealle baby. I placed the call Aug. 12 and he returned it Aug. 13th. On Aug. 16th I went to Boston for the press conference to announce that Rev. O'Rourke would perform the Baptism. I stated at the press conference that Father Keane was unacceptable to all since he had publicly condemned "Free Choice." CFFC supports "Free Choice" and protects Catholic laypersons and clergy from oppression by the hierarchy. There was a clear-cut issue of reproductive freedom that was made public before Catholics for a Free Choice was ever involved. The date for the baptism was set after the press conference; a prime consideration was that it be a time when relatives and friends of the Morrealle family would be able to attend.
[permanent dead link] - ^ "Priests Call Baptism 'Heresy'". Wisconsin State Journal. August 22, 1974. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
- ^ Priest Expelled for Forbidden Baptism Sarasota Herald-Tribune, p. 4b, October 18, 1975
- ^ "When the swallows come back to Capistrano" Bottum, Joseph. First Things, October 1, 2006. at highbeam.com. Retrieved 2011-07-14.[dead link]
- ^ ISBN 9780313250736.
- ^ Ellingston, Jenefer (March 1981). "We Are the Mainstream: Dissent in the Catholic Church" (PDF). Abortion in Good Faith. Catholics for a Free Choice. p. 20.
- ^ a b "After 25 Years, a Catholic Warrior Steps Aside" Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Burke, Daniel. Religion News Service. 2007-02-22. at CFC website. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- ^ a b c d e f The New York Times. Backing Abortion Rights While Keeping the Faith. Banerjee, Neela. February 27, 2007
- ^ ISBN 9780521639590.
- ISBN 0-253-21332-0.
- ^ D. DeMarco, "'Catholics for Choice' Is Neither", National Catholic Register, January 15, 2008
- ^ a b "US-based Catholic group, feminists oppose Vatican position at UN". Agence France-Presse. March 15, 2000.
- ^ a b c Sandrasagra, Mithre J. (March 14, 2000). "NGOs Call For Review of U.N. Status of Holy See". Inter Press Service.
- ^ a b c d Eckstrom, Kevin (June 2000). "Pro-Choice Catholic Group Challenges Vatican at U.N.". Religion News Service.
- ^ Shulgan, Christopher (April 19, 1999). "Canadians join move to oust Vatican from UN International coalition". Ottawa Citizen.
- ^ Pollitt, Katha (June 26, 2000). "Women: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?". The Nation.
- ^ Cornwell, Rupert (August 29, 1999). "Catholics bid to strip Vatican of statehood". The Independent on Sunday.
- ^ a b McGarry, Patsy (March 25, 1999). "Campaign to challenge Vatican's status at UN". Irish Times.
- ^ van der Laan, Lousewies; Plooij-van Gorsel, Elly; Swiebel, Joke (November 18, 2000). "Doorbreek machtspositie Vaticaan". Trouw.
- ^ "Italian maverick politician urges abolition of Vatican state". Agence France-Presse. November 27, 2000.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Philip, The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice, pgs. 84–87, Oxford University Press US 2003
- ^ October 15; Religion, 2020 | Angela Bonavoglia |. "Pro-Choice Religious Community Making Their Voices Heard - Women's Media Center". womensmediacenter.com. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Hunter, James Davison, Before the shooting begins: searching for democracy in America's culture war , p. 74, Simon and Schuster, 1994
- ^ Comment by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Regarding a group calling itself ‘Catholics for a Free Choice’ Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, April 16, 2010.
- ^ Archdiocese of Mexico: “Catholics for a Free Choice” are not Catholic, Catholic News Agency, November 27, 2003.
- ^ Extra-synodal Legislation: Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz at ewtn.com. March 19, 1996. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
- ^ "Catholics in 12 Groups Excommunicated in Nebraska". Daily News. Los Angeles, California: The Free Library, by Farlex. Associated Press. May 16, 1996. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ^ "Nebraska Bishop Excommunicates Catholic Reformers". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. March 25, 1996. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016.(subscription required)
External links
- Catholics for Choice Official website
- Conscience Magazine
- Catholics for Choice Records, at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections