ARTICLES
July/August 1998 ARTICLESLETTERS
Contents © 1998
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
She's Okay, Vote for Her</H1>CATHOLIC PARISHES ENDORSE PRO-ABORT CANDIDATE
By Maggie Garcia
In an attempt to portray herself as having the support of the Catholic Church, Loretta Sanchez, member of the House of Representatives (Democrat-46th District) has been making the rounds of Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Orange. On March 1, Sanchez appeared at St. Boniface parish in Anaheim where pastor, Monsignor Wilbur Davis, introduced Sanchez from the pulpit, praising the freshman congresswoman's record in Congress. Mgsr. Davis omitted any reference to the fact that Sanchez had been a staunch supporter of President Clinton's veto of the ban on partial birth abortion as well as her being investigated by Congress due to allegations of voter fraud in her election to Congress in 1996. In that election, Sanchez defeated Republican incumbent Robert Dornan. The Orange County District Attorney's office performed a separate investigation into alleged voter fraud.
When a group of parishioners, including the Right to Life coordinator Bill Hayes, approached the pastor about his support of a politician who voted in support of partial birth abortion, Monsignor Davis seemed unfazed with the parishioners' concerns. He did admit that Sanchez had called him and asked to be introduced during the Mass. He also admitted that he called other pastors asking whether it would be prudent to allow Sanchez to speak from the pulpit, given all the controversy surrounding her. According to Monsignor Davis, half of the pastors advised him not to let Sanchez speak and half advised him to allow her to speak.
On Respect Life Sunday, Sanchez went to speak at St. Callistus Church in Garden Grove. After the homily, Father Rudolph Preciado introduced Sanchez as a fellow Catholic. Pro-life activist, Dolores Wimann's son and his girlfriend were at the Mass and told Mrs. Wimann that the impression they got from the introduction was that "Sanchez was okay, vote for her." Mrs. Wimann contacted the priest the next day asking why he had introduced Loretta Sanchez as a fellow Catholic given her pro-abortion stance in Congress. Father Preciado replied that he thought people would know that Sanchez was a supporter of abortion on demand but then conceeded that perhaps he would take some action to correct the situation. Father Preciado told Mrs. Wimann that most priests are too busy to keep up with current events.
Alarmed by Sanchez's use of Catholic pulpits to bolster her candidacy, Bishop MacFarland wrote a letter to Sanchez at the end of March questioning her motives for appearing at the parishes.
In his two-page letter to Sanchez, the bishop wrote: "I also earnestly pray that you will heed the Church's call for a comprehensive culture of life. The fact that you are a public person makes it even more incumbent upon you to give witness to the consistent ethic of life that should animate all conduct, but most especially political conduct. Your visits to local Catholic parishes...in my judgement, are not in accord with these aspirations, particularly in light of the March 13 Los Angeles Times article on your allegiance to the Democratic party's duplicitous abortion strategy. While recognizing some of your earnest and worthwhile efforts to improve the quality of life in the 46th District, I am disheartened that you would deliberately choose to leave the unborn on the margins of our society." The bishop goes on to say: "Becoming increasingly alarmed by your visits, I want to share with you my inquietudes in this matter before more public gestures on my part become necessary". In spite of the bishop's appeal, Sanchez ignored his request and went to St. Columban's Church in Garden Grove and Holy Family Church in the city of Orange.
The Mission called Loretta Sanchez' campaign headquarters for comment on the controversy but none of her staffers were familiar with the scenario, including Stuart Durst, her campaign manager.