Memo to Archbishop Hanus: Silence Implies Consent

I have mentioned in this blog that Planned Parenthood (PP) is in the process of opening a clinic in DBQ. The news 1st came out arround the 1st part of July. Since then many voices have spoken up on both sides of the issue. However, there has been 1 voice that has been completely silent about the issue, Archbishop Jerome G. Hanus OSB, Archdiocese of DBQ. & except for 1 article mentioning the Mass with Fr. West of Priests For Life in this week's Witness, there has been nothing from the chancery either.

A week ago I wrote a letter about his silence to both the TH & The Witness. Neither has printed it. The Witness ignoring it was expected. & while it is possible the TH might still print it, having been on their naughty list recently for my on line comments, I suspect they won't either. So, I decided to post the letter on my blog. Here it is:

"A little over a month ago the fact that Planned Parenthood was coming to Dubuque came to light. Since then, Dubuque County Right to Life and others have been working to keep that from happening. Sadly there has been one voice that has been surprisingly silent about their plans. In fact the silence has been down right scandalous. I am referring to the Archdiocese of Dubuque and Archbishop Jerome Hanus in particular.

Archbishop Hanus, I applaud your concern for those in Postville. This makes your silence all the more puzzling. Planned Parenthood is one of the biggest abortion providers in the nation. In addition there are the chemical abortions. And they promote a lifestyle that goes against everything the Catholic Church stands for. That is why, as chief shepherd of the diocese, your voice should have been one of the 1st to speak out. So why are you silent about an organization that kills over 700 humans a day by abortion (their own statistics)? At the least you should have been calling the Church in Dubuque to prayer (especially the rosary) & fasting.

Archbishop Hanus, your leadership as our chief shepherd is desperately needed at this time. I beg you to please end your silence and speak out. On behalf of your flock, I ask you to please give us the guidance and the leadership that we need at this time and that you alone can provide."

On 7 Aug 2008 there letter to the TH asking why there was no Catholic leadership in the PP issue. In yesterday's (17 Aug) TH there was a letter commenting on what the author of the original letter ment. Since the TH hasn't printed my letter, I decided to put a bit of my response in the comments section. Here is what I wrote there:

"What Mr. Dolter is bemoaning is Archbishop Hanus' silence about the arrival of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the USA. The Church teaches that abortion is an intrinsic evil. Archbishop Hanus should be leading the battle against PP by calling for prayer (esp the Rosary) & fasting. He should be clearly proclaiming what the Church teaches & calling on all priests to do the same instead of maintaining his scandalous silence. Since silence implies consent, Archbishop Hanus' silence implies his approval of Planned Parenthood & what it stands for."

Archbishop Hanus' silence is is contrast to Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City. In explaining his dealings with Catholic Kansas Governor Sebelius he said the following: "“One of the things that I said when I met with the governor at one point, is that some day she’s going to have to stand before God and account for her public service. And I hope that she’s going to have something better to say than what she does to this point on the protection of the innocent unborn. But I said if you go to God and you say, ‘Well, I didn’t understand how important this was’ or ‘I didn’t understand that this was such a crucial issue’ then as your bishop I’m the one responsible because I didn’t do enough to try and make sure of that. I told her I wasn’t comfortable with that and so I wanted to make sure that she understood what a serious matter this was.”" (Emphasis mine) (Archbishop Naumann hopes Obama realizes Sebelius is a bad Catholic advisor)

Archbishop Naumann got it right, Archbishop Hanus hasn't. As a result of his silence, Archbishop Hanus will bear responsibility for every abortion that comes about because of the DBQ PP clinic being here. & that doesn't include the responsibility that he will bear for all the other sins from premarital sex on that will occur as a result of PP's existance here.

For those who may question my challenging Archbishop Hanus to act I quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: ""In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, [lay people] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard to the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons."" Par 907 quoting Canon 212 § 3 (Code of Canon Law ) In other words, I am taking my responsibilities as a lay Catholic seriously.