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Herald Staff Writer |
His resume is both impressive and shocking. His commitment to stop abortion in this country and elsewhere is aggressive, yet compassionate. And his Catholicism does not end with attending Sunday Mass.
Bob Laird is not Father Laird, nor is he Deacon Laird. He is a plain, ordinary citizen --- a husband, a father, a worker. He is also a man who looks at events in the world from a Catholic view "as opposed to the view of The Washington Post," he said jokingly in an interview.
After a flashy military career as a nuclear scientist and physicist that took him to such places as the West Point Military Academy in New York, Germany and Moscow, Laird, 51 years old, retired in 1992, following the steps of the late Deacon Frank Early of St. Lawrence Parish in Alexandria, "a giant of a man," Laird said, who had 13 children and left a life-long career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, deciding the best thing for him to do would be to work for the Church.
Laird also was influenced by Father Christopher Buckner, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Fredericksburg.
"I looked to him for advice prior to making the decision to get out of the Army and join the Diocese of Arlington," said Laird.
Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde recently appointed Laird to head the Office for Family Life, a key diocesan office that strives to translate into action the pro-life message emerging from the bishop's desk.
When Bishop Loverde came to Arlington, Laird could hardly contain his enthusiasm to see such an advocate for life who, right after installation, started to go from place to place along with Laird and many others praying in front of abortion clinics that operate in diocesan territory.
Laird moved to the Washington area in 1985 to work at the Defense Nuclear Agency. He remained there five years. From 1990 to 1992 he worked for the assistant Secretary of Defense. Then, he retired. Well, sort of. What he really did was to join the forces of the Diocese of Arlington.
Laird's relationship with the Church began in Erie, PA, with his parents. But currently, Lairds's Catholicity is most present at his own home.
Laird and his wife, Gerry, have five children. Rob, the oldest, spent six years in the seminary. Cynthia is a Daughter of St. Paul stationed in their convent in Los Angeles, CA. Another daughter, Sister Marie Celine, is a novice with the Dominican Sisters in Nashville, TN. Jonathan is an 11th grader at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington and an accomplished pianist, organist and percussionist. And then there is Michael, who is a seventh grader at Aquinas School in Woodbridge.
"We are very proud of all our children and never discouraged them to begin discerning their vocation, whatever that might be," said Laird. "At one time both my daughters wanted to get married and have 10 kids each. It seems that God had other plans."
Not many years ago. Laird's number one priority was to help the Russians dismantle their nuclear arsenal. And when the Russians heard what he was going to do next, they just could not believe it.
"My number one job in life is to get into Heaven," he said. "My number two job is to get my wife and my kids into Heaven. And my number three jobs is to get other people into Heaven. I guess my goals are different."
Laird defined the secular priority as one that places money, fame and "this attitude of I am going to do what I want" on top of everything else.
"The Christian priority is God-centered," he said. "Just because I'm not a priest doesn't mean I can not serve God --- and that doesn't mean either that we isolate from the world."
According to Laird, the overall purpose of the Office for Family Life is to serve the bishop and the pastors.
"The pro-life activities reside in the Office for Family Life," Laird said. "And within the pro-life movement, our priorities are prayer, penance, education and action. The areas that we need to focus on more are prayer and education."
Copyright ©1999 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article was published in the Arlington
Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 24, No 45,
page 3, dated November 11, 1999.
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A note from the Web Master:
It is noteworthy and honorable that some folks are willing to stand up for a ban on Partial-Birth Abortion. Let us not forget that ordinary everyday run of the mill abortion is also murder. We must understand that aborting the life of a baby is murder no matter the method. Because one method of abortion seems to be horrible does not make the other methods less so. We should be horrified and sickened by any abortion regardless of the method. The Fifth Commandment spells it out clearly:
"Thou shalt not kill."
A fetus is a person, a human being with a God given soul.
Imagine the pain the Lord must feel when any abortion occurs. Please
contact both of your Senators and Representative, via letter or phone,
to let them know how horrified you are that abortions are legal and to
stop, once and for all, Partial-Birth abortions and all other abortions
as soon as possible.
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