Pro-life Zealots

The Catholic League does not ordinarily discern threats to civil and religious rights coming from anti-abortion Catholics, but then Randall Catholic Terry isn't your ordinary anti-abortion Catholic. A few weeks ago, the founder of Operation Rescue managed to embarrass Vatican bigwig Raymond Burke by publicly playing a taped interview in which Burke called on faithful Catholics to protest against those bishops willing to give communion to pro-choice Catholic notables. That was part of Terry's campaign to get Washington D.C. Archbishop Donald Wuerl and Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde removed from office for being soft on pro-choice communicants.

Now Terry is tilting at Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop John D'Arcy for turning thumbs down on "unseemly and unhelpful demonstrations" against President Obama when he gives his commencement address at Notre Dame next month. To be sure, D'Arcy has condemned the invitation to the president. But for his call for civility, Terry, in a column in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, identifies him with the Peter who thrice denied Christ.

"I wish," Terry pronounced, "the bishop had followed biblical teaching and contacted me before making his public statement against our efforts." Which biblical teaching was that?  He also declared that he knew "for certain" that D'Arcy had "stepped far beyond his canonical authority by urging the faithful to abandon the babies." D'Arcy does have a doctorate in spiritual theology rather than canon law, but that, coming from a recent convert to Rome, pushed League Eminence Bill Donohue over the edge. "This is arrogance on stilts," he sputtered.

The problem with pro-life zealots is that they expect everyone to line up single file and do exactly what they want. Thus do they play to the worst stereotype floated by the pro-abortion camp. Terry needs to take a deep breath and get off his high horse.

Ipse dixit.