Sen. Rick and Karen Santorum will receive the 1999 Distinguished Service Award from the Brent Society of the Arlington Diocese. The award will be presented at the society’s annual dinner May 6 at Fort Myer Officers’ Club in Arlington.

The senator is being recognized for his 100 percent pro-life voting record, as well as for leading the Senate charge against partial-birth abortion, including a failed attempt last fall to override President Clinton’s veto of the partial-birth abortion ban.

"Partial-birth abortion is nothing but infanticide," Santorum said. "This is one of the most important moral issues of our day."

Karen Santorum is the author of the 1998 book Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum, which details her family’s heartbreaking struggle following the 1996 death of their infant son.

The Santorums are members of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Great Falls.

A native of Virginia, the senator moved with his family to Pennsylvania where he received bachelor of arts degree. in political science from Penn State University, an master’s in business from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctor of jurisprudence from Dickinson School of Law.

From 1981-86, he was administrative assistant to State Senator J. Doyle Corman and executive director of the Senate Transportation and the Senate Local Government Committees. He left private practice upon election to the U.S. Congress in 1990. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. Santorum currently serves on the Armed Services and Agriculture Committees.

Karen Santorum is one of 12 children. She has a nursing degree from Duquesne University and has worked in a neonatal intensive care unit. She is an at-home mother of four children and works part-time as legal counsel for a communications firm.

She recently was invited to speak about her book at St. Mark Church in Vienna. Twenty weeks into her 1996 pregnancy, Karen learned of a serious valve problem involving her unborn child.
The baby lived for two hours following a premature delivery.

The book, with a forward from Mother Teresa of Calcutta, is a series of letters Karen wrote to her unborn child during her troubled pregnancy. It has been described as an uplifting book that
celebrates love while accepting God’s will.

The Brent Award for Distinguished Service was established in 1976 by Bishop Thomas J. Welsh. The award integrates the concept of contemporary Christian service with an historical perspective of the Church in Virginia. It was named after the Brent family, who were the first permanent Catholic settlers in the state.

Previous award winners include Bishop Welsh, Hazel Hagarty, William Bentley Ball, Father Joseph Fessio, S.J., William Donahue, Mary Ellen Bork, Justice Antonin Scalia and Congressman
Christopher Smith.

The Brent Society was formally established in 1980. Father James R. Gould, pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Arlington, serves as society moderator. For reservations or more information, contact society president Gordon Hermes at 533-1843.
 

Send a pro life letter (letter is preferable) or an email to your  Senators and representatives using the Directory at the Congressional Email Directory.  Point and click here to surf to their web site.

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 9;
page 3, dated Mar 4, 1999.
E-mail: letters@catholicherald.com
Fax: 703/524-2782;
Editorial: 703/841-2590;
Advertising: 703/841-2594;
Circulation: 703/841-2565

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 murder 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 Partial-Birth abortions and all other abortions as soon as possible.

(It has become apparent that they do not respond to email therefore you will have more of an impact by writing or telephoning.)

Return to Pro Life Corner

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