
Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Rev. Kilian McCaffrey | 09/19/2024 | Pastor's Letter“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
This is one great example of what our retired Bishop Thomas Olmsted called Catholics in the Public Square, Christ Himself teaches us on critically-important moral issues in our modern times. Bishop writes very clearly:
“There are cases where Catholics in public life serve with great courage and distinction. They measure up to the high standards set by Christ. There are others, sadly, who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin where the risk of scandal is great. In the matter of abortion, for example, abortion is the killing of a completely innocent life and thus bad news for both unborn children and their mothers. It is a horrible wrong. It is intrinsically evil.
“We have a serious obligation to protect human life, and especially the lives of the most innocent and vulnerable among us. Whoever fails to do this, when otherwise able to do so, commits serious sins of omission.” Catholics In The Public Square, Section 20).
This vitally important document can be read at: https://dphx.org/catholics-in-the-public-square/
“Rejection of human life, in whatever form that rejection takes, is really a rejection of Christ” (Pope John Paul II, Evengelium Vitae, 104).
Fr. Kilian, Fr. Samuel, our Deacons, Parish Staff, Disciples and Volunteers.
As Catholic Bishops of Arizona, we want to express our strong opposition to Proposition 139.
If passed, this initiative threatens to enshrine a constitutional right to virtually unrestricted abortion in Arizona.
What makes a constitutional amendment especially grave is that our own Arizona legislators could lose the ability to regulate abortion in any meaningful way, leaving us with the potential for what would likely become nearly unrestricted abortion.
Arizona law currently allows for abortions up until 15 weeks of pregnancy. Proposition 139, however, would go far beyond even this current law.
The proposed amendment, among other things, would likely remove most safeguards for girls and women that are currently in place at abortion clinics, permit a minor to obtain an abortion without parental involvement or permission, and allow for painful late-term abortions of viable pre-born children.
While this ballot measure claims to be moderate in nature, its vague language would make Arizona one of the most extreme states in terms of abortion. We believe that even many of those who support abortion in limited instances would find this proposed constitutional amendment extreme and misleading.
Arizonans deserve far better than the measures being proposed in this initiative, which is why we strongly oppose Proposition 139.
Most Rev. John P. Dolan
Bishop of Phoenix
Most Rev. Edward J. Weisenburger
Bishop of Tucson
Most Rev. James S. Wall
Bishop of Gallup
Most Rev. Eduardo Nevares
Auxiliary Bishop of Phoenix