Local News
Letter to the Editor
Published: August 6, 2009
To the Editor:
The article on page one of the July 16 edition of The Georgia Bulletin (“New Social Encyclical Called Groundbreaking” by Nancy Frazier O’Brien) was very inviting, with its creative graphics and powerful headline. I had heard a little about Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), and was looking forward to learning more about this document and how it could enhance our view of the issues facing our society in light of the teachings of the Gospel. I was aware that the pope had masterfully shown the connection between its major themes and issues like abortion, contraception, bioethics, and marriage and the family.
This is why I was shocked and disappointed to read that the author of the article had selected a quote stating that Bill Gates could be considered a “poster child for this document.” How strange, when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated over $38 million to Planned Parenthood organizations across the world since 1998. It seems odd to use such an example when writing about a document that proclaims that “openness to life is at the centre of true development,” and “when a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man’s true good.”
I wonder if the author of the article realized the peculiar irony of using the example of Bill Gates, a man who supports and promotes abortion and artificial birth control, as someone who exemplifies the high moral standards expressed by our Holy Father? I hope and pray that we may all respond to the challenges offered by Pope Benedict XVI and “work together towards respect for each human life and its authentic development.”
Mary Boyert, Pro-Life Director, Archdiocese of Atlanta
