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Covington
Bishop Vetoes Kentucky Governor
Bishop
Muench cancels fundraising dinner featuring pro-abort
governor
April 1, 1998, Covington,
Ky.--A May 15 fundraising dinner celebrating the 150th
anniversary of Covington, Kentucky’s Diocesan
Catholic Children’s Home and featuring Kentucky
governor Paul Patton as the keynote speaker was canceled
by Bishop Robert W. Muench.
Muench’s decision was
a response to Governor Patton’s pro-abortion record,
and more specifically his recent veto of pro-life
legislation. The Covington bishop called the
governor’s invitation to speak at the dinner
"an irreconcilable conflict." The $100-plate
dinner, according to the Home’s Board of Directors,
was expected to raise as much as $50,000. Due to the
cancellation of the dinner, the Home has already received
more than $200,000 in donations.
Earlier this year three
pro-life bills were introduced in the Kentucky
legislature. One bill proposed a ban on the partial-birth
infanticide technique, the second regarded the regulation
of abortion mills and the third proposed "informed
consent," requiring waiting period and disclosure of
information for women seeking an abortion.
On March 10, 1998, in an
unprecedented action, all four of Kentucky’s
Catholic ordinaries—Bishop Muench, Archbishop Thomas
Keely of Louisville, Bishop Kendrick Williams of
Lexington and Bishop William McRaith of
Owensboro—testified before a legislative panel
considering these three bills. They each indicated their
unequivocal support for all three bills.
"Demonstrate your respect for life and for women by
supporting" the bills, Bishop Muench urged the
Senate committee.
The bills eventually were
passed in both the state house and senate, and were then
sent to Governor Patton for ratification. On April 7
Patton vetoed the informed-consent bill. Further, he made
over fifty telephone calls—some of them on the
morning of Easter Sunday—to Kentucky legislators
urging them to back his veto. Mr. Patton stated that he
vetoed the bill because it "infringes upon the
rights of individuals to make decisions which are
guaranteed under the United States Constitution to be
both free and private." The bill, however, received
overwhelming affirmation and Patton’s veto was
overridden by the legislature on April 15. All three
bills became the law of the commonwealth effective June
15, 1998.
Fred Summe, a Covington
attorney and vice president of Northern Kentucky Right to
Life, wondered how any Christian could oppose legislation
which would require that an abortionist inform a woman of
the fetal development of the child growing within; show
the mother photographs of her developing child; explain
the medical risks of abortion; and inform her of her
alternatives to abortion, recommending agencies which can
offer her assistance throughout her pregnancy. This is
what Gov. Patton vetoed.
Patty Haubner, director of
the Pregnancy Center of Northern Kentucky, from her
first-hand experience, attests: "I can tell you the
number of times women have said to me, ‘If someone
had only told me this before my abortion, my baby would
be alive today.’"
In a letter of explanation
of his decision to cancel Patton’s appearance at the
fundraising dinner, Bishop Muench wrote that he began to
ponder the impact of the governor’s veto action and
to pray about the most proper response to the Home’s
invitation to Patton.
Muench said he concluded
that there was "an irreconcilable conflict between
the governor’s action on the informed-consent
legislation and his planned appearance as the keynote
speaker" for the Children’s Home fund raiser.
Muench said that upon consulting Archbishop Kelly of
Louisville, he found that he was fully supported by the
other Kentucky bishops in his decision to cancel the
event.
In the face of much
opposition to the bishop’s decision, he met with the
board of the Diocesan Catholic Children’s Home to
explain the reasoning behind his decision. Muench wrote,
"I told them the governor’s action on the
informed consent bill made it inappropriate for us to
have him keynote the opening celebration of the 150th
anniversary. The governor’s veto was a direct
affront to our fundamental beliefs in the dignity and
value of human life."
When asked if his decision
might affect the Church’s relationship with the
governor, especially concerning pro-life issues, Muench
responded, "I took the most courteous way I knew to
inform the governor… This action might even enhance
such dialogue since it demonstrates how strongly the
Church stands on life issues."
Backlash against the
decision
Bishop Muench joins other American prelates—Cardinal
John J. O’Connor, Bishop James Timlin of Scranton
PA, Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, Bishop Fabian W.
Bruskewitz of Lincoln, NE, and former Bishop of
Covington, Richard Ackerman—who have spoken out
similarly against public figures who are opposed to the
Church’s teaching on pro-life issues, especially as
regards abortion. Each has been bitterly criticized by
secular media for witnessing to the truth and defending
the unborn and Church teaching.
Such a policy was adopted
by Covington’s local Knights of Columbus. Their
formal statement, published by the diocese’s
"We Choose Life," proclaims: "We again
affirm our policy of not inviting to any Knights of
Columbus event persons, especially public officials or
candidates for office, who do not support the legal
protection of unborn children against abortion or who
advocate the legislation of euthanasia or assisted
suicide; or not allowing such persons to rent or
otherwise use facilities over which we have control; and
of not bestowing on them honors or privileges of our
Order of any kind, inviting them to serve as honorary
chairpersons of events, celebrations or committees, or
allowing them to hold any office in the Knights of
Columbus."
Northern Kentucky Right to
Life (NKRTL), which has provided a strong moral witness
for the past 27 years, has persistently urged the Diocese
of Covington, its parishes, institutions, and agencies to
take the Knight’s policy seriously.
The Board of
Director’s for the Catholic Children’s Home,
however, did not bear such a policy in mind when they
extended an invitation to Gov. Patton, who along with his
wife have for years openly lobbied for abortion rights.
Patton’s pro-abortion record was well-known,
including his campaign promises during the last election
that he would veto the informed consent bill. The
invitation put Bishop Muench in tough situation. As one
might expect, his decision was not well-received by
members of the Children’s Home board.
One of those members,
Michelle Keller, resigned over the issue, saying that the
children should come before politics. Another board
member expressed her disapproval by telling The
Kentucky Post that "The board thinks that the
abortion issue is separate from the issue of raising
money for the children’s home." She told The
Cincinnati Enquirer that "the best interest of
the children have been sacrificed for political
reasons."
Reacting immediately to
Bishop Meunch’s decision, Sr. Jean Marie Hoffmann,
executive director of the children’s home, said she
had hoped to announce that $50,000 had been raised for a
program to rescue troubled boys ages 6 to 12. She told
the Post that while she opposes abortion she beleives
groups such as NKRTL –which urged Muench to cancel
the benefit dinner with Patton—"need to broaden
their focus. Sometimes I feel like our Right to Life
group gets tunnel vision. I’m not belittling at all
what this group does. However, I don’t see them
picketing or trying to get additional services for
children."
Board vice president Bruce
Kozerski, a retired lineman from the Cincinnati Bengals
said the children at the home, most of whom have been
removed from abusive situations, "have been made
pawns in the turf war of the abortion debate… To
draw the conclusion that the governor is an inappropriate
speaker for issues of importance to children and families
is myopic and a failure to understand our representative
form of government." Kozerski claimed that the
children have suffered a "horrible setback"
because of the cancellation.
Playing to the emotions of
the general public, local newspaper editorialists focused
first on the children who, they say—taking their cue
from the Board of Directors—would "suffer"
as a result of Bishop Meunch’s decision. With almost
complete disregard for the facts, The Kentucky Post
claimed that "the diocese’s slap at Patton will
end up costing kids."
In an April 25 editorial
the Post stated that "Disinviting the governor to
speak at the children’s home violated a principle
that makes our free society function. That principle is
the willingness to listen to one another, though we may
disagree… There are principles at work here—and
we fear politics as well. And there’s the charged
atmosphere of abortion that seeingly electrifies
everything in our society today. Sadly, those caught in
this situation are kids at the children’s
home."
Activists in the
right-to-live movement are often
criticized—unfairly—for caring more about
unborn children than for those who are born into abuse,
neglect and poverty. Even Mother Teresa was criticized in
the secular media as not caring about children who are
born, when she spoke against the sin of abortion. In
northern Kentucky these pro-life activists have
demonstrated otherwise. Just as NKRTL members flooded the
Diocese with phone calls urging the bishop to cancel
Patten’s appearance, they flooded the
children’s home with generous donations. Wanting to
support their bishop’s decision, Catholics (and
others) in northern Kentucky raised more than four times
the amount expected.
Responding to initial
rumors that Muench was canceling the fundraising dinner, Cincinnati
Enquirer columnist Patrick Crowley editorialized in
the local daily that Muench must have been duped by the
"blinder-wearing one-issue zealots" from
Northern Kentucky Right to Life. He wrote, "the
politically-omnipresent Northern Kentucky Right to Life
and its following of unquestioning zombies have linked
abortion with Gov. Paul Patton’s appearance at a
benefit for a group of orphans and abused kids….
Dissing an orphanage. The last time we read about that
was in a Dickens novel."
But Muench, in his formal
written explanation, responded that the innocent
residents of the home will not suffer because of the
cancellation. On the contrary, wrote Muench, "the
money initially raised for the event will be raised by
one means or another. It will quite possibly be
superseded. I believe that doing the right thing will be
rewarded. In actuality, the funds raised by the dinner
were to be used for a new supplementary program (a crisis
stabilization unit), in essence, new money for a new
project."
The Cincinnati Enquirer
then invited a Catholic representative to editorialize on
the controversial cancellation. Quoted in an April 25
editorial, Sr. Marla Monahan, S.N.D., expressed her
profound regret over Muench’s decision. Monahan, a
member of the Pro-Life Commission of the Diocese of
Covington, said, "I believe we need to work toward
finding common ground regarding issues we do not agree on
so that we can work together for good things."
Didn’t Jesus sit at the table with sinners, she
asked? "Gov. Patton’s presence at the
Children’s Home fund raiser would never mean that
the diocese was supporting abortion just as Jesus’
presence at the table with tax collectors does not mean
that Jesus promotes being a sinner," said Monahan.
Although the local secular
media seemingly worked overtime to set public opinion
against Covington’s bishop of two years, when Muench
made the announcement at a Catholic Men’s Conference
in Cincinnati, he received a standing ovation from the
nearly 10,000 men in attendance. Covington’s
diocesan paper received dozens of letters applauding the
bishop’s decision and pledging their support for the
Children’s Home. Further when The Kentucky Post
put the bishop’s decision to a telephone poll, 90%
of the respondents supported Bishop Meunch. Several of
the bishop’s supporters told the Post that "God
will provide if we do that which is right."
Many other Catholics from
Cincinnati and northern Kentucky have pledged to donate
money to the Children’s Home as a way of supporting
the bishop’s decision. One donor, the David Meyer
family, doubled its initial pledge from $50,000 to
$100,000.
Attacking the messenger
Once it became clear to almost everyone—judging from
the enormity of the funds raised for the home—that
Bishop Muench had indeed made the proper decision, the
local media, which has long been a vocal pro-abortion
minority, trained its guns elsewhere. Although Bishop
Muench himself continued to catch some of the flack for
his appropriate decision, the media began to focus its
ire instead upon NKRTL, one of the most effective and
successful Right to Life groups in the country.
In northern
Kentucky’s Community Recorder columnist and
politician Kevin Murphy attacked NKRTL’s president
of 27 years, attorney Robert Cetrulo, for being a bit too
successful over the years. Murphy called Cetrulo’s
leadership "extreme" for "all but
dedicating his entire life to [the pro-life] cause."
Cetrulo, wrote Murphy, "was the catalyst in running
an abortion clinic out of Covington 25 years ago. He has
never hesitated to lend his legal skills to the cause,
and has almost single-handedly made the organization a
force to deal with in Northern Kentucky politics."
For this he has been criticized. And although all of
northern Kentucky has been spared an abortion clinic for
25 years, Murphy and other members of the local press
take him to task every time he speaks up for the helpless
unborn.
NKRTL has grown over the
years and gained its political clout through the
publication of a bi-monthly newsletter, which carefully
monitors local politicians and candidates as regards
their record on pro-life issues. Since its inception
NKRTL has insisted that they will not support any
candidate for political office who is not 100% pro-life.
"No compromises!" is Cetrulo’s oft-invoked
slogan.
In his Recorder
editorial Murphy laments that "extremist" NKRTL
policy. "Cetrulo has criticized me and many other
politicians who supported Bob Dole for president,"
he writes. "To the members of NKRTL I ask
you—would we have had a better chance of eliminating
partial birth abortions with Dole or with Clinton?"
In a letter to the editor of the same paper, attorney
Carl Freihoffer explained that NKRTL advises that
"if no candidate for office meets the 100% pro-life
position, the organization advises not voting in that
election rather than following the principle of voting
for the ‘lesser of two evils’—on the
theory, quite simply, that Count Dracula would be an
unsuitable choice over Dr. Frankenstein.
Following up on
Murphy’s editorial, William Weathers, assistant city
editor for The Kentucky Post, accused NKRTL of using
"bullying" tactics. "It’s unclear
just how much influence the group had on the
bishop’s decision. But there has been an outpouring
of feeling against Northern Kentucky Right to Life over
its perceived role in pressuring the cancellation."
Why is NKRTL perceived as a bully, asked Weathers?
"Because it trafficks in zealotry… the
organization under the direction of Robert Cetrulo and
Fred Summe has made a habit of attacking those it deems
to have strayed even an iota from its doctrine.
Summe defended NKRTL,
explaining that the group is portrayed as bullies because
"We bear witness to moral truth." He pointed
out that when Mother Teresa spoke out against the sin
In an April 23 editorial
by Patrick Crowley in The Cincinnati Enquirer lamented
NKRTL’s "far-reaching" power. "Hand
it Northern Kentucky’s anti-abortion movement. Every
time it looks like its zealot-like members can’t go
any further, they do." Crowley quotes Bob Hoffmann,
a Catholic father of 14 who claims that he is against
abortion: "They’re extremists," said
Hoffmann to Crowley after he registered a complaint with
the diocese about the benefit’s dinner.
--Michael
S. Rose
[ St. Catherine Review ]
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