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by Jim Holman.
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Herod Resurrected

PRO-ABORTION CANDIDATE DOUBLED AS ST. BONIFACE LECTOR

By Maggie Garcia

Lou Correa, challenger to incumbent Jim Morrissey's 69th Assembly District seat, has recently come under fire for his pro-choice stance though he is Catholic and a lector at St. Boniface's parish in Anaheim.

According to members of the Respect Life Committee at St. Boniface parish, whenever questioned on the abortion issue, Correa has repeatedly insisted that he is pro-life. In spite of Correa's insistence, on September 26, Pro Choice Orange County held a rally "in support of Lou Correa for Assembly." Pro Choice Orange County states in its literature that it is a "bi-partisan political action committee dedicated to protect a woman's right to choose." A September 14 letter sent by Pro-Choice Orange County to pro-abortion supporters begins: "On November 3rd, 1998, we have an opportunity to make history in Orange County by electing a pro-choice candidate to represent the 69th Assembly District--Lou Correa. Two years ago [he] lost by 93 votes. It was a heart breaking loss for all pro-choice supporters and we plan on making sure it does not happen again."

There is no question that Pro Choice Orange County will only support a candidate who is firmly committed to abortion on demand, government supported abortions, and opposition to parental consent laws. A questionnaire that the group sends to all candiates spells out their agenda with questions such as: "Do you consider yourself to be pro-choice? Do you support government funding of abortion services for women... who wish to terminate a pregnancy? Do you believe that minors should be required by law, to consult with or to obtain the consent of an adult prior to obtaining an abortion?"

The September 26 rally for Correa did not materialize as organizers had hoped; the campaign office that Saturday morning showed only signs of a few workers stuffing envelopes and talking on the telephone. Outside of the Correa campaign headquarters, three pro-life Catholics--Ken Fisher of Concerned Roman Cathoics of America, Bill Hayes of the Saint Boniface Respect Life Committee and John Rodenbour, a long time pro-life activist and member of St. Boniface parish--prayed the rosary while holding signs pointing out Correa's stance on abortion. When this reporter approched Chris Leo, Correa's campaign manager, for comment on Correa's stance on abortion, Leo replied: "He feels it's a personal decision."

After reading a March 28 Los Angeles Times article which stated that Lou Correa was pro-abortion, John Rodenbour began to question the suitability of Correa's activities as a lector at St. Boniface. Rodenbour asked Carole Alcaron, the St. Boniface lector coordinator, about the situation. According to an April 2 letter that Rodenbour sent to then Bishop of Orange, Norman MacFarland, Alcaron told Rodenbour that Correa had assured her and Monsignor Wilbur Davis "last year that he was pro-life when he joined the Lector Group." Wanting to be certain about Correa's abortion stance, Rodenbour then contacted Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Warren who had written the March 28 article. Warren, according to the letter, told Rodenbour that in his opinion, Correa was pro-abortion.

The letter to Bishop MacFarland goes on to describe a March 29 visit Correa paid Rodenbour where Correa "proclaimed himself to be pro-life...' He stated, "I am personally against abortion but abortion is a decision that should be left between a woman, [her] doctor and her God.'"

On March 30 Rodenbour again spoke with the lector coordinator, Carole Alcaron, who stated "that Mr. Correa has again assured her on Sunday he is pro-life. Mrs. Alcaron states that she is again going to talk to Mr. Correa and Msgr. Davis."

Pro-lifers at St. Boniface have repeatedly said that Monsignor Davis does not appear concerned with Correa's pro-abortion stance in the upcoming election. When Pro Choice Orange County sent out the flyer which announced their rally in support of Correa's candidacy, some of the members of the St. Boniface Respect Life Committee took the flyer to Monsignor Davis to show him how much support Correa had among pro-abortion groups and politicians. Monsignor Davis, they said, seemed surprised to see the flyer and he told the committee that Correa would not be lectoring at Saint Boniface until after the election.

Monsignor Davis told the Mission that, "at the present time, Lou Correa is not a lector." They agreed, said Davis, that Correa should not lector the duration of the election. "We've had many discussion on this subject [i.e. the abortion issue]," said Davis. "Mr. Correa is opposed to abortion." Monsignor Davis said Correa had given Davis a letter so stating.

Assemblyman Morrissey was, until recently, also a parishioner at St. Boniface. According to Morrissey's campaign office, Morrissey left St. Boniface because of the "politics" that seem to embroil the parish. Although some pro-lifers question Morrissey voting for the budget this summer (because of the monies earnmarked for 'family planning'), Morrissey has received the support of the California ProLife Council.

The retired Bishop of Orange recently re-issued an article he first wrote in May 1992. The article was published in the Diocese of Orange's paper, the Bulletin. In this article the bishop stated that there cannot be a separation between a private conscience and a public conscience. He added that "legislators are not exempt from these norms. If such a one believes abortion is the unjust killing of an innocent person, then he has no choice but to promote laws that protect that innocent life and oppose those that attack it. This is a mandate of conscience. To say that he believes that abortion is murder but because some others do not, he must not restrict by legislation their accessibilty to abortion, is the worst kind of intellectual prostitution."

The Mission called Monsignor Lawrence Baird, director of communications for the Diocese of Orange, regarding the situation at St. Boniface. Baird reiterated a May 1996 editorial that he wrote in the Bulletin: "As election day approaches, we must be reminded that Catholics cannot support candidates for elective office, who like modern day Herods, advocate liberalized abortion" legislation.

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