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CATHOLIC JANUARY 29, 2017 THE FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME VOLUME 66:17 DIOCESE OF COLUMBUS A journal of Catholic life in Ohio ‘SOLES FOR SOULS’ DISPLAY INTRODUCED AT STATEHOUSE PRO-LIFE RALLY 2 Catholic Times January 29, 2017 The Editor’s Notebook Life is the right that precedes all others By David Garick, Editor This week, Catholic Times again focuses all human life and on the premier issue of our times -- in fact, to appoint Supreme the transcendent issue for all time: the right Court justices that to life. This week marked another anniver- will restore the right sary of the most shameful and insidious to life in the Consti- chapter in the history of the American na- tution. tion, the decision by our government that The abortion rate nationwide is down to abortion is a right, that the killing of unborn its lowest level since the Supreme Court children is protected by the Constitution. made abortion legal virtually on demand in Forty-four years have passed since the 1973. It is at half of its early-1980s peak. U.S. Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade According to a study issued Jan. 17 by the decision. More than 53 million children Guttmacher Institute, the abortion rate for have died. Suporters of free access to abor- U.S. women ages 15-44 is 14.6 per 1,000 in tion call this the right to choose. In any 2014, the last year for which statistics are other instance, the systematic killing of 53 available. This represents a 14 percent de- million people would be called genocide. cline from the 2011 numbers and less than We also face increasing threats to life in the half of the 1981 rate of 29.4 abortions per form of doctor-assisted suicide and eutha- 1,000 women of childbearing age. nasia. The percentage of pregnancies ending The spirit of our times tells us that we in abortion is down to 18.8 percent, a de- must not bring our faith into the public cline of nearly two-fifths below its 1983 square. The implication is that our peculiar peak of 30.3 percent. A statement by the beliefs should be kept to ourselves, locked away behind the closed doors of our homes Guttmacher Institute, which supports legal and churches. We must not interfere with abortion, said the study “did not directly the right of every person to make up his or investigate reasons behind the declining Don’t forget to renew your her own concept of right and wrong. But abortion rate,” but suggested “the wave of if we do that, we deny the very dignity that abortion restrictions passed at the state lev- CATHOLIC TIMES subscription God created in a humanity made in his own el over the last five years” could have con- image and endowed with the most basic of tributed at least in part to the decline. Laws in February! all rights -- the right to life. are changing in favor of life. Even more That is a right we are called to defend. We importantly, hearts are changing. People each bear a responsibility to act on this fun- are beginning to see abortion, euthanasia, damental right. In a democracy, that means assisted suicide, and other affronts to the OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT we carry out our duty in the marketplace dignity of life for what they are. Clergy Assignment of ideas. We advocate for laws to protect We have won some important battles. Confirming the appointment of the Provincial Director of the Dominican Fathers and innocent life, we vote to elect lawmakers But the struggle continues. The forces of Brothers, Father Edmund Ditton, OP, to ministry, St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Zanes- who will enact laws that protect life, we ap- evil are very strong and will rise up again ville, effective immediately. ply all legal means to pressure our govern- to challenge the sanctity of life. We must Confirming the announcement of the Provincial Director of the Dominican Fathers ment to respect and defend life. That has remain resolute. Our challenge is not just and Brothers, Father Christopher Saliga, OP, Parochial Vicar, St. Thomas Aquinas led to a host of laws that help to protect life to defend the theology of our church, but Church, Zanesville, to service outside the diocese, effective immediately. in states around the nation. A new admin- rather to stand up for a principle that is Confirming the appointment of the Provincial Director of the Paulist Fathers, Father istration has taken its place in Washington, universal: that all human life is sacred and Edward Nowak, CSP, to Associate Director, St. Thomas More Newman Center, effec- with a pledge to support laws protecting must be protected. tive Jan. 1. Front Page photo: Bishop Frederick F. Campbell, D.D., PhD. ~ President & Publisher Participants in the Jan. CATHOLIC David Garick ~ Editor ([email protected]) 23 pro-life rally at the Tim Puet ~ Reporter ([email protected]) Statehouse fill Greater TIMES Alexandra Keves~ Graphic Design Manager ([email protected]) Columbus Right to Life’s Copyright © 2017. All rights reserved. Mailing Address: 197 E. Gay St., Columbus OH 43215 “Soles for Souls” display Catholic Times (USPS 967-000) (ISSN 745-6050) is the official newspaper with about 200 pairs of of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. It is published weekly 45 Editorial/Advertising: (614) 224-5195 FAX (614) 241-2518 baby shoes, representing times per year with exception of every other week in June, July and the number of abortions August and the week following Christmas. Subscription rate: $25 per Subscriptions (614) 224-6530 FAX (614) 241-2573 per month in Columbus. year, or call and make arrangements with your parish. (subscriptions @columbuscatholic.org) Postage Paid at Columbus, OH 43218 CT photo by Ken Snow Postmaster: Send address changes to Catholic Times, 197 E. Gay St., Columbus, Ohio 43215. Please allow two to four weeks for change of address. January 29, 2017 Catholic Times 3 Pope asks Dominicans to lead people to certainty of Gospel By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service In an age that often seems to be a “car- nival of worldly curiosity,” Christians are called to lead people to the solid ground of the Gospel as St. Dominic did, Pope Francis said. “We are moving in a so-called ‘liquid society’ which is without fixed points, scattered, deprived of solid and stable reference points, a culture of the ephem- eral, of the use-and-dispose,” the pope told members of the Dominican order. At Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lat- eran, the pope celebrated Mass on Jan. 21 with the Order of Preachers, which was founded 800 years ago, and with women religious and lay people who trace their spirituality to St. Dominic. Left photo: Pope Francis greets Dominican Father Bruno Cadore, head of the Dominican In his homily, Pope Francis reflected order, during a Mass marking the closing of the Dominican order’s 800th anniversary on St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy ask, “Why does that person act that way?” celebrations at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome on Jan. 21. CNS photo/Paul Haring and its description of proclaiming the The Gospel calls Christians to be salt Closing the celebrations of the Do- spond to those questions.” Gospel at a time when people were “al- of the earth and light for the world, he minicans’ 800th anniversary, the Mass He said Pope Francis is an example ways seeking new teachers, myths, dif- said. “Woe to a church that loses its fla- came at the end of a five-day Congress ferent doctrines and ideologies.” for members of the order in helping vor. Woe to a priest, a consecrated per- on Mission to examine the situations others not just through their words, but He said the situation today is even son, a congregation that loses its flavor.” in which Dominicans are called to also with concrete action. more exaggerated because of “the se- preach, to promote cooperation across St. Dominic, he said, was “full of the “I think that’s something that we’ve duction of subjective relativism.” the different Dominican branches, and light and salt of Christ” and preached to evaluate where the order’s mission- learned again from him during the past The response must be to attract peo- the Gospel with “the word and his life,” ary outreach needs strengthening. year” after Pope Francis addressed the ple to the unchanging truth of faith helping many men and women to “not Dominican Father Vivian Boland, order’s general chapter, Father Boland in God and in the Gospel, he told the become lost in the carnival of worldly vicar of the master of the order, told said. “He talked about how we need Dominicans. curiosity,” but to experience “the taste Catholic News Service on Jan. 17 that to source our words in relation to the When a Christian gives glory to God of sound doctrine, the taste of the Gos- in almost any situation of difficulty cry of the body of Christ, the needs of through his or her actions and words, pel, and become, in turn, light and salt, or challenge, “there are Dominicans people. Not just our words, but acts of Pope Francis said, people will notice and artisans of good works.” somewhere in the world trying to re- tenderness.” New Marist poll shows Americans strongly support abortion restrictions By Kurt Jensen respondents were Catholics. Further, 74 percent said they wanted “has a negative, long-term impact on a Catholic News Service Fifty-two percent of the respondents the Supreme Court to rule on these re- woman’s life,” while 19 percent were A few days before the annual March indicated that they thought of them- strictions, indicating support for over- unsure.

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