CULTURE & COSMOS

July 20, 2004 Volume 1, Number 50

Belgian Cardinal Calls Pro-Abortion “Catholic” Group Deplorable

Efforts by “Catholics” for a Free Choice at making Cardinal Godfried
Danneels into a symbolic figure for their pro-condom campaign were
thwarted when the Belgian prelate strongly rebuked the dissident group’s
attempt at making him a spokesman for their cause.

In late June “Catholics” for a Free Choice (CFFC) called on Catholics
and other Christians to send letters of support to Cardinal Danneels. The
letters praised Cardinal Danneels, archbishop of Brussels-Mechelen, for
comments he made in January that seemed to promote using condoms to
prevent AIDS. In an interview on a Dutch Catholic television station,
Daneels said a person with AIDS ought to abstain from sex but if such a
person decides to have sex there is a moral obligation to use a condom.

The televised statement put Cardinal Danneels at odds with the
Vatican’s teaching and CFFC thought it could exploit the perceived rift.
They sent a letter thanking him for his comments and asked him to lead a
campaign against Catholic Church leaders who uphold Church teaching on the
immorality of condom use. Cardinal Danneels rebuffed CFFC’s advances
calling the organization “deplorable.” He said his comments were misused
by CFFC to serve its own objectives. The Cardinal also said the only
long-term solution to ending the spread of AIDS is a moral education that
teaches chastity and fidelity to one’s husband or wife.

The letter to Cardinal Danneels was part of larger campaign sponsored
by CFFC called Condoms4Life. According to their website Condoms4Life was
begun in 2001 as an “unprecedented worldwide public education effort to
raise public awareness about the devastating effect of the bishops’ ban on
condoms.” The website encourages visitors to send a letter to Bishop
Wilton Gregory, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, asking
him to “lift the ban on condoms as a moral and humanitarian matter.”

Ads for the campaign have appeared on billboards, subway stations and
newspapers in seven countries including the US, Chili, Mexico and the
Philippines. One ad displays a picture of a couple sitting on a couch in
an embrace with expressions of surprise on their faces. Below the photo
are the words, “Abstinence has a high failure rate.” Another ad features a
close up of two men caressing one another’s cheeks. The text for the ad
reads, “We believe in God. We believe that sex is sacred. We believe in
caring for each other. We believe in using condoms.” Several of the ads
make vulgar comparisons between a bishop’s mitre and a condom. Featured
prominently on each ad is Condoms4Life’s slogan, “Good Catholics Wear
Condoms.”

The Cardinal’s rebuff of CFFC is the second major defeat for CFFC in
the month of June. Just two weeks ago the UN General Assembly unanimously
endorsed and expanded the role of the Holy See at the United Nations. For
many years CFFC has sought the ouster of the Catholic Church from its
Observer role at the United Nations. CFFC has run a global campaign for
that purpose and has at various times hired full time staff to direct the
campaign. Not a single nation ever joined the campaign and now the General
Assembly’s action should close the door on the CFFC campaign. So far, the
usually media hungry president of CFFC, Frances Kissling, has remained
silent.

Copyright, 2004 --- Culture of Life Foundation.
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.