by Anthony DeStefano, Executive Director
In what many pro-lifers around the country are hoping will become a trend, Bishop William K. Weigand of Sacramento, California, called upon Gray Davis, the pro-abortion Catholic governor of the state, to stop receiving communion until he changes his position on abortion.
“Anyone — politician or otherwise — who thinks it is acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error,” said Bishop Weigand, “and puts his or her soul at risk and is not in good standing with the Church. Such a person should have the integrity…to abstain from receiving Holy Communion until he has a change of heart.”
The Bishop's forceful comments have caused a stir in the pro-life community, as well as in the secular media. They have placed him at the forefront of a growing movement — long championed by Fr. Pavone and Priests for Life — to hold Catholic politicians accountable for their stance on abortion.
The remarks were initially made by the bishop in order to defend one of his priests — Msgr. Edward J. Kavanagh, pastor of St. Rose Parish in Sacramento and director of St. Patrick's Home for Children. Msgr. Kavanagh, a priest-member of Priests for Life, barred Governor Davis from setting foot in St. Patrick's Home back in December, when the governor asked to distribute Christmas gifts there.
“The governor has to repent first,” said Msgr. Kavanagh, “and then I will allow him on this property.”
Msgr. Kavanagh was born in 1925 in County Kilkenny in Ireland. He was ordained on June 6th, 1948 at St. Mary's Cathedral, and in December of that year was sent to the diocese of Sacramento and St. Rose's Parish, where he has been for the past 54 years!
Msgr. has been active in the pro-life movement since the 1960s. His work with orphans and poor children at St. Patrick's Home has made him even more sensitive to the plight of the most innocent victims of society — the unborn. When Governor Davis asked to come to the Home in what amounted to a “slick publicity stunt,” Msgr. Kavanagh immediately recognized the hypocrisy.
“Pro-abortion politicians who claim to be Catholic are using the Church. We can't let them get away with that. The Church is not something to be used when it suits them.
“We in the clergy have got to stand up and be counted!” he emphatically continued. “We've got absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Our bishops will defend us. The sooner we priests stand up for the sanctity of life, the sooner abortion will be outlawed.”
“It's important that we in the clergy affirm each other,” said Msgr. Kavanagh. “I want to get Fr. Pavone out here to California to give a retreat for the priests of the diocese. Fr. Pavone is a great man, and we've all got to be on the same page when it comes to abortion. We've all got to work together to end this tragedy.”
Bishop Weigand was quick to praise Msgr. Kavanagh for his actions. “Thank you, Msgr., for standing up for the unborn,” he said, soon after the governor was barred from St. Patrick's. “Thank you for your dedication to the truth and for your pastoral concern for souls — including the governor's.”
We at Priests for Life applaud Msgr. Kavanagh and Bishop Weigand. These two pro-life heroes have demonstrated by their boldness and their fidelity to Church teaching that the Catholic Church does has the power to lead the pro-life movement to victory in this country! What we need more than anything else is for priests to have the courage to do what is right, and for bishops to have the strength to stand behind them.
Fr. Kavanagh can be reached at St. Rose Parish, 5961 Franklin Blvd., Sacramento, CA, 95824; (916) 421-1414.
This update courtesy of the Priests for Life newsletter. You may contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448 or 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; Email: [email protected]; Website: www.priestsforlife.org.
