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Lay Witness
Statement of U.S. National
Conference of Catholic Bishops on "Catholics For a
Free Choice"
May 10, 2000
For a number of years, a group
calling itself Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC), has been
publicly supporting abortion while claiming it speaks as an
authentic Catholic voice. That claim is false. In fact, the
group's activity is directed to rejection and distortion of
Catholic teaching about the respect and protection due to
defenseless unborn human life.
On a number of occasions the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) has stated
publicly that CFFC is not a Catholic organization, does not
speak for the Catholic Church, and in fact promotes positions
contrary to the teaching of the Church as articulated by the
Holy See and the NCCB.
CFFC is, practically speaking,
an arm of the abortion lobby in the United States and throughout
the world. It is an advocacy group dedicated to supporting
abortion. It is funded by a number of powerful and wealthy
private foundations, mostly American, to promote abortion
as a method of population control. This position is contrary
to existing United Nations policy and the laws and policies
of most nations of the world.
In its latest campaign, CFFC
has undertaken a concentrated public relations effort to end
the official presence and silence the moral voice of the Holy
See at the United Nations as a Permanent Observer. The public
relations effort has ridiculed the Holy See in language reminiscent
of other episodes of anti-Catholic bigotry that the Catholic
Church has endured in the past.
As the Catholic Bishops of the
United States have stated for many years, the use of the name
Catholic as a platform for supporting the taking of innocent
human life and ridiculing the Church is offensive not only
to Catholics, but to all who expect honesty and forthrightness
in public discourse. We state once again with the strongest
emphasis: "Because of its opposition to the human rights
of some of the most defenseless members of the human race,
and because its purposes and activities deliberately contradict
essential teachings of the Catholic faith,... Catholics for
a Free Choice merits no recognition or support as a Catholic
organization" (Administrative Committee, National Conference
of Catholic Bishops, 1993).
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