According to the newspapers and television, more than 200 supporters of Francis Cardinal George held a rally on the steps of Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on Sunday afternoon to encourage the Cardinal to continue his fight to protect children and not to lose heart under pressure by secularists to discourage him into resigning.
Rally Supports Cardinal George
The show of moral support must have heartened the Cardinal who had issued an apology at Sunday masses, saying “I must apologize to all of you for the great embarrassment every Catholic must now feel in the light of media scrutiny of these events. I pray that a failure to act more quickly on my part will not harm the archdiocese itself.”
The rally was organized by John McCartney who said, “The Cardinal is the one to make repairs in the archdiocese.” Rally goers held signs that said “In Cardinal George we trust,” “Proud to be Catholic,” and “Who do we love? Cardinal George.”
While none of our League staff could attend the rally, due to other long-standing commitments, we did sent our bullhorn. Cardinal George did not attend the rally, either, and said that he was not consulted about it. But he said it is nice to find support in a difficult moment, so long as it does not lead to controversy, but to “help and forgiveness.”
Members of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, handed out a brochure urging George’s supporters to remember the victims of pedophile priests. The two groups remained affable toward each other, and SNAP members left before the rally got under way.
New State Laws Restrict Abortion
While Illinois can do little more than fend off vicious pro-abortion bills, due to a top-heavy pro-abortion General Assembly, some states are introducing bills that could virtually stop abortion.
Take Indiana for instance. Women in our neighboring state would have to be told that life begins at conception, and be given information about the grizzly operation itself, while also being informed that the baby they are planning to abort will feels the pain of the abortion.
A bill requiring that these facts be given before she can have an abortion is pending. This Indiana proposal has already passed in the house by a 70-30 vote, and a Senate panel will be considered later this month.
Twenty-nine other states require a description of the operation, but only South Dakota has a law that contains the beginning of life language that Indiana is seeking. The Indiana proposal is the kind of law we hope someday to introduce into the Illinois General Assembly.
Call Your Illinois Senator
As we mentioned on an earlier action news alert, efforts are being made by strong pro-abortion forces in Illinois to introduce a new set of pornographic sex education classes into Illinois public schools. Bad as things are now, the new program is disgusting beyond description. In our recent hotline we tried to describe it to our callers, but for now, here’s just the bill’s number, with an urgent appeal that you call your Senator and tell him or her to vote against SB-2267. Please do it now, before the porno-peddlers get to them with their specious arguments that our children need this filth. The sex-peddlers are having a rally in Springfield at the end of the month and you may be called on to go down to counter it.
SpeakOut Illinois Talks Available
If you were unfortunate enough to miss the excellent talks given at the recent Speak Out Illinois conference, you can still get a set of the talks. Give us a call at 773-777-2900. You’ve got to hear Fr. Frank Pavone, Mark Crutcher, Eric Scheidler and all the great speakers. Any one talk is worth the price you’ll be paying for eight talks. If you heard the talks, you’ll want to pass this package on to your friends who missed the event, so call us now.
