A selection of Cardinal O'Brien's pro-life/pro-family statements (from John Smeaton SPUC Director:
"Our Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has given the government's support to
the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. It is difficult to imagine
a single piece of legislation which, more comprehensively, attacks the
sanctity and dignity of human life than this particular bill." (23 March 2008)
"We are facing a crisis in society and we must ask ourselves is human
life important to us or is it not?...[The Human Fertilisation and
Embryology] Bill is a monstrous attack on human rights, human dignity
and human life. …MPs must search their hearts and their consciences in
this extra time in which they have been given to decide whether or not
the value of human life really matters or whether or not it is simply
one more commodity to be cast aside in our throw-away society." (July 2008)
"Such behaviour [the procedures proposed by the Human Fertilisation and
Embryology bill] was last seen under the Nazis. Following the liberation
of the concentration camps in 1945, the full horrors of the Nazi’s
atrocities were revealed to a shocked world. The hideous savagery of
their experiments convinced the civilized world that such practices must
be outlawed forever." [28 October 2008]
"The 2008 abortion statistics confirm the abject failure of the so
called 'sexual health strategy' of recent years. They represent a human
rights violation, in our midst, on a massive scale. We destroy 53
unborn children each day in Scotland. Were this carnage to take place
among children lucky enough to have been born our outrage would be
boundless. The victims of this inhuman and degrading violence are
firstly the 13,817 Scottish children killed before they have been born
and then the thousands of women who agree to their own off-spring being
aborted ... [When i]n 2007 I claimed that 'we kill the equivalent of a
classroom full of school children every day' many objected to the
vehemence of my language. Grotesquely, since then we have seen
classroom sizes in Scotland fall and abortion numbers rise. Today we
abort over 50 children per day or two classrooms full. These statistics
shame and debase us all ..." [26 May 2009]
"The Church's teaching on marriage is unequivocal, it is uniquely, the
union of a man and a woman and it is wrong that Governments, politicians
or Parliaments should seek to alter or destroy that reality." (22 August 2012)
"The Church opposed the Abortion Act passed in 1967, and the Human
Fertilisation and Embryology Act passed in 1990, even although none of
these legislative acts imposed any requirement or burden on the church
it opposed them vigorously and completely. Why? Simply because it cares
for society and humanity." (2 September 2012)
Is it any wonder that the power of darkness have been gunning for him!
Feast of the Holy Family
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*"Christ in the house of his parents" by Sir John Everett Millais, the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The painting depicts the young Jesus assisting
Joseph ...
1 hour ago
Thanks for this timely reminder of the faithful Catholic leadership of Cardinal O'Brien. Would that other Bishops speak out with the same courage and honesty on these grave matters. We know of perhaps a handful, but where are the others? Weasel words or no words at all seem to be the order of the day. Cardinal O'Brien was a flawed shepherd but a true one, a courageous Catholic leader not afraid to publicly proclaim his faith, and we thank him for it.
ReplyDelete"Weasel words or no words at all seem to be the order of the day."
DeleteIndeed. What has happened to Cardinal O'Brien is doubtless meant as a warning to the other shepherds.