Catholic Bishop Supports Right to Abortion?

On the eve of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference in Los Angeles (June 15-17), more and more Catholics are asking, is Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas (Tucson, Arizona) assisting pro-abortion candidates in their campaigns for public office? “The Bishop’s deafening silence vis-à-vis pro-choice politicians campaigning in locales under his canonical oversight is fueling this developing scandal,” says Kelly Copeland, Director of the Holy Family Society of Tucson. “Does the Bishop’s tacit consent, and permission given to pro-choice politicians to speak, constitute support for abortion rights and politicians supporting them?”

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, well-known for her aggressive pro-choice activism, generated large protests among the faithful when she came to Tucson on March 25th to draw support for Richard Elias, member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, and Steve Leal, Tucson City Councilman. According to witnesses at the event, held at the hall of a local Knights of Columbus chapter under the canonical oversight of Bishop Kicanas, the right to abortion was publicly advocated. In days preceding and following the event, Bishop Kicanas refused to be vigilant as he is obliged to be under canon 305 of the Code of Canon Law. In April 2005, Bishop Kicanas even allowed Napolitano to speak from the pulpit at a Tucson Catholic Church. “What is going on here?” asks Copeland. “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

In June 2004, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops forbade the granting of speaking platforms or the giving of honors to “those who act in defiance of fundamental moral principles which ‘would suggest support for their actions’ according to the Statement “Catholics in Political Life” adopted by the Bishops at their semi-annual meeting that year. “In an increasing amount of smokescreen activism reported by the press, Bishop Kicanas has not only remained outrageously inactive when obligated to enforce this USCCB norm in his Diocese, but has heaped lavish praise upon those who notoriously defy fundamental moral principles in contradiction with both Vatican and USCCB norms – and not only in matters concerning abortion” says Copeland.

“In open departure from official doctrine, Bishop Kicanas has preached that the fight against poverty - - not abortion as Pope John Paul II taught -- as “first and foremost” among moral duties; honored radical pro-homosexual marriage activists such as Rep. Jim Kolbe with glowing and fond words; spoken against Vatican policy encouraging intervention by public authority in regulating Internet content; and sided with migrants who break the law to gain access into this country against the explicit teaching of the Catechism, which holds that a nation has the sovereign right to set conditions for legal entry.”

“The bottom line is this,” says Copeland: “When you see a thief entering your neighbor’s house and the neighbor being robbed heaps praise upon the thief, you seriously begin to wonder.”