Volume > Issue > Time to Communicate What Catholicism Is & Is Not

Time to Communicate What Catholicism Is & Is Not

EXCOMMUNICATION IS A NECESSARY FORM OF COMMUNICATION

By Juli Loesch Wiley | July/August 1996
Juli Loesch Wiley, of Johnson City, Tennessee, is a Contributing Editor of the NOR and a homeschooling mom.

Back in 1982 a Sister of Mercy named Agnes Mansour ran for Congress. Mansour believed in what was called “political ministry.” Among other things, she favored federal funding for Medicaid abortions.

Her 1982 campaign was unsuccessful, but in 1983 the Governor appointed Sister Agnes head of the (State) Department of Human Services. Part of her job involved administering the budget for deliberately killing some 13,300 children in the State of Michigan.

Myself, I thought having a Sister of Mercy running a massive abortion program was high irony — like having the Little Sisters of Jesus in charge of running the electric chair, or Franciscans in the Strategic Air Command. In any case, the Archbishop of Detroit got involved, and then the Vatican. Major controversy. Sister Agnes left the Sisters of Mercy.

That year I attended a Catholic peace and justice conference at which the main speaker held up Agnes Mansour as a “model” for “ministry.” The audience roared its approval. After the speech, I, trembling with fear, approached the Audience Response microphone and questioned how we as peace and justice people could support a proabortion bureaucrat as a model for ministry.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Are All Human Beings Persons?

"'Person' is not a generic term," writes Robert Spaemann, "it is the way in which individuals of the human genus exist." One's neighbor is unique and non-fungible.

The Virtue of Reverence & Respect for Life

Every human being possesses dignity, value, and worth. There are factors that can obfuscate our ability to see their dignity, but it exists whether we see it or not.

From Abortion to Family Breakdown & Child Abuse

With today’s lax morals, children witness loose, impermanent, and immature relationships among the adults on whom they depend.