Who's obsessed with abortion? Certainly not the Catholic clergy

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jan 22, 2014

Introducing a friendly interview with Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the Boston Herald notes that the cardinal will be attending the March for Life, then continues: “And although he and the Church are pro-life, there’s a little-known, compassionate outreach program the Catholic Church runs for women who have had abortions called Project Rachel.”

What’s the word “although” doing in that sentence?

There’s no contradiction between hating abortion and caring for women scarred by abortion. It’s perfectly consistent—just as it’s consistent to hate cancer and care for cancer victims. And by the way, if Project Rachel is still “little-known,” 30 years after it was founded, maybe that reflects on the journalists who have been covering the political debate all these years, while ignoring the searing aftermath experienced by so many women.

And speaking about a narrow focus on the political debate, later in the interview, when questioned about the Pope’s advice that we should not be “obsessed” with abortion, Cardinal O’Malley replies:

The normal Catholic in the parish might hear a sermon on abortion once a year. They’ll never hear a sermon on homosexuality or gay marriage. They’ll never hear a sermon about contraception. But if you look at the New York Times, in the course of a week, there will be 20 articles on those topics. So who is obsessed?

He’s right, of course, on both counts. But while it’s a mordant observation that the Times is obsessed with abortion, it’s a shocking admission that priests rarely preach on the issue. When he says that lay people hear few sermons about abortion, and none at all about homosexuality or contraception, Cardinal O’Malley is not speaking as a detached observer. He’s the Archbishop of Boston!

I know the observation is accurate; I’ve made it myself. But if I were a bishop, I could not acknowledge this failure without a deep sense of shame. And of fear.