ARTICLES
June 1998 ARTICLESLETTERS
Contents © 1998
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
We Regret Any Controversy
PRO-ABORTION PRIEST CONCELEBRATES RED MASS
By Maggie Garcia
On May 7th, Father Robert Drinan, a Jesuit professor of law at the Georgetown Law Center and a supporter of abortion on demand, gave the homily at the San Bernardino diocese's Red Mass, which he concelebrated with San Bernardino's ordinary, Bishop Gerald Barnes. Each year, in May, dioceses across the country have a Red Mass to recognize the work of lawyers, paralegals and others in the legal profession. The Red Mass was held at St. Catherine of Alexandria in Riverside, the residence of Father Thomas Burdick who is in charge of the diocese's pro-life ministry.
Father Drinan was a strong supporter of abortion rights during his tenure in the United States Congress -- a career cut short by the Vatican in 1980. He also played a role in the ill-fated partial birth abortion ban that President Clinton vetoed in 1996.
In a New York Times op-ed piece, June 4, 1996, Father Drinan urged President Clinton to veto the partial birth abortion ban. This op-ed piece coincided with the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' appeal to Clinton not to veto the ban. There was widespread support on the proposed ban, even among some pro-choice Democrats. The American Medical Association also came out and said that the procedure should be outlawed. Father Drinan's op-ed piece sparked controversy. Cardinal John O'Connor of New York wrote in his diocesan paper: "Father Drinan, you're wrong, dead wrong...you could have raised your formidable voice for life; you have raised it for death. Hardly the role of a lawyer. Surely not the role of a priest. "
The Georgetown Ignatian Society, a group of lay Catholics faithful to the Church's magisterial teachings, petitioned Cardinal James Hickey to revoke Drinan's priestly faculties. Initially, the cardinal refused to respond to the Georgetown Ignatian Society; but when the group pressed the matter in Rome, Father Drinan recanted his support of the partial birth abortion procedure. Father Drinan's statement was read into the record on the House floor.
I contacted Mitchell Norton, a member of the committee that invited Father Drinan to San Bernardino's Red Mass to ask why Father Drinan had been invited to be the homilist when there are score of other Catholic lawyers that would not prove controversial. Norton, a 1993 graduate of the Georgetown Law Center, replied that he was aware of the controversy surrounding Father Drinan but that the committee had decided to invite Father Drinan because of his stature in the legal community and his background as a legal scholar. Norton noted that the committee had made its decision prior to any controversy surrounding Drinan, though this reporter then pointed out that Father Drinan has been creating controversy since the early 1970s. Norton emphasized that, "We regret any controversy and it was not our intention to create any controversy. We selected Father Drinan because of his work in ruman rights, legal ethics and as a noted scholar. Father Drinan will not address any controversial issues at the Red Mass."
I then contacted Bishop Gerald Barnes' office and Father Howard Lincoln, a spokesman for the diocese, issued the following statement: "At the time when the invitation was extended to Father Drinan, we were unaware of any recent political activity or involvement. His name was presented without controversy and if we had known of valid objections, we would have reviewed the invitation." When I pointed out Father Drinan's support of partial-birth abortion and his recent support of population control as evident in a column Drinan wrote for the August 29, 1997 National Catholic Reporter, Father Lincoln refused comment. In this column, Father Drinan wrote: "Organizations that seek to slow or control growth of world population have never received much attention from Catholics. Resistance, even hostility, have long marked the attitude of Catholics towards groups like Zero Population growth. The unspoken premise behind the Catholic view has been that as a human being it is better to be than not to be, and that God in his loving providence creates every person for good if imponderable reasons. Meanwhile, population growth continues at a startling rate."
A group of lay Catholics, Concerned Catholics of San Bernardino-Riverside, contacted Bishop Barnes' office prior to the Red Mass in order to plead with the Bishop to withdraw the invitation that had been extended to Drinan. In a letter to Bishop Barnes, the group pointed to Drinan's support of abortion, including his opposition to the partial-birth abortion ban. The bishop refused to speak with the group and, instead, referred all calls to Father Howard Lincoln.
In his homily for the Red Mass, Father Drinan spoke of the great need for legal services amongst the poor and how the congregation, mostly lawyers, could help fill this tremendous void. Over and over he spoke about the injustices in the legal system. Father Drinan spoke about "other signs of a society that does not respect the rule of law. Every other marriage ends in divorce, every third pregnancy is terminated by abortion..."
About 15 persons belonging to Concerned Catholics protested outside the church during the Red Mass. One protester recalls that only one priest acknowledged their protest, saying, "Shame, shame on you" to the protesters. However, three women, wives of lawyers attending the Mass, came out of the church, and taking up signs, joined the protest.