By Michael Motes

Referring to a small group of pro-abortion pickets proclaiming that the Catholic bishops violate the law of separation of Church and State by spending money on the Pro-Life Movement, Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan told an audience of nearly 200 at the Annual Archdiocesan Respect Life Day, “I deny a violation of law, but I’m happy to plead guilty to supporting pro-life.”

The day-long gathering at Mount Vernon Christian Academy drew representatives from throughout the Archdiocese of Atlanta, as well as some from the Diocese of Savannah.

In his plea of guilty to supporting pro-life activities, Archbishop Donnellan elaborated, “This archdiocese spends money on a pregnancy counseling service. Is this a violation of separation of Church and State?”

“This archdiocese supports Saint Joseph’s Village to improve the quality of life for emotionally disturbed children and their families. I regard this as a service to the community.”

“This archdiocese supports rehabilitation of the homes of poor, aged people. It conducts a testing and counseling program of exceptional children. It supports a cancer home where loving and devoted care is given to those in the last stages of life.”

“If such activities violate the rights of our pickets -- so be it!”

Archbishop Donnellan was one of nearly a dozen speakers at the series of workshops and addresses and used as his overall theme, “The Church At the Service Of Human Life.”

Dignity of Man

“The Church is solicitous for the dignity of man since in man, the image of God and the humanity of Christ are at issue,” the archbishop stated. “The Church seeks the progress of man; she does so because God made man worthy of such solicitude. But also because God so made her that she cannot do other than love and serve man.”

Quoting from THE CHURCH IN OUR DAY, Archbishop Donnellan told his audience, “Indignity, injustice, and inhumanity at any time, in any place, toward any man or woman or child, should arouse in us a deep and burning concern.”

‘Firm and Clear’

He added, “The Christian principle of respect for human life at every stage of its existence is firm and clear... God’s commandment, ‘Thou shall not kill’ unconditionally forbids all taking of innocent human life, from its beginnings to in the womb, until the end that God, not man, has set for it. We must have firm respect for human life as coming from God’s hands at the very first moment of conception and as remaining under God’s care on earth until He takes it back to Himself in death.”

The archbishop reminded those attending that the Church has labeled abortion and infanticide as “unspeakable crimes” and stated, “I believe this can serve to remind us how important it is that we do not permit ourselves to be labeled with the mentally negative phrase: ‘The Church is against abortion.’ Indeed it is. But more accurately, and more importantly, the Church is FOR life. The Church has been saying without any hesitation or reservation, for two thousand years...The Church is not simply against abortion, she is FOR LIFE. And for human kind. And for human dignity and social justice.”

Moral Principles

Archbishop Donnellan stated that those who would argue “that unless the unborn life can be assured of a certain quality...or that if the existence of the unborn life seriously lessens the prospect of an acceptable mode of life for the family, then the unborn life cannot be said to have a right to exist” have been “turning moral principles upside down.”

In addition to delivering the opening address at the Respect Life Day Assembly, Archbishop Donnellan also closed the meeting as principal celebrant and homilist at the Liturgy.

Other Speakers

Among the other keynote speakers and workshop leaders were Patrick Trueman, Executive Director and General Counsel of Americans United For Life; Mrs. Judi Lindsey, Assistant Director of the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, Inc., Washington, D.C.; Mr. and Mrs. Dan Buckley of Natural Family Planning; Attorney Ferdinand Buckley; Mr. and Mrs. Jay Bowman, Chairman and Co-Chairman, Georgia Right to Life; Miss Mary Ellen Hughes, Coordinator, Archdiocesan Respect Life Committee, and Mrs. Mary Ellen DuVarney, Director of Clinical Services, Catholic Social Services, Inc.

Also assisting on the program were the Reverend Bob Spencer, pastor, Metropolitan Baptist Church of Atlanta, and Mrs. Sheila Mallon and Mrs. Marietta Pompilio of the Archdiocesan Respect Life Office.