| Return to Pro Life Corner |
|
|
|
Herald Staff Writer |
The 1999 Brent Society Distinguished Service Award was presented to Senator Rick and Karen Santorum, members of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Great Falls, Virginia. Virginia Delegates Richard Black, Bob Marshall and Roger McClure were honored with pro-life legislation awards. The honors were presented at the annual Brent Society Awards Dinner held May 6 at the Fort Myer Officer's Club in Arlington.
Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde spoke briefly about the necessity to stand up for life.
"We must be united in our witness of life," he said. "Ultimately, the victory will be ours, but there are miles to go."
He said prayer must be weaved into witness so that "those who have been seduced by the media and hype" can be helped to see the truth. He especially commended those "who pray and witness in front of abortion clinics.
"We must be present in all facets of society unashamedly," he said. "May this evening be a moment of reinforcement."
Santorum (R-Pa.) was recognized for his leadership in trying to achieve a ban on partial-birth abortion and in attempting to override President Clinton's veto of the ban. The second attempt to override the veto was defeated last fall.
Karen was honored for her 1998 book Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum, which chronicled the family's journey through the loss of their infant son, Gabriel Michael, 1996.
Karen told the audience that she began writing to her fourth child early in the pregnancy so "when he was old enough, he would know how much we loved him."
It was during a routine sonogram the Santorums were told the baby had a serious heart valve problem and they were advised to abort.
"It didn't make sense to me to make distinctions that do not exist," she said. "We must do whatever we can to protect children. The most important thing we could do was trust in God."
The baby was immediately named after the two most powerful archangels and although Karen underwent a risky surgery to save him. Gabriel was born prematurely and lived for two hours.
"God blessed us with two hours," she said. "He died in Rick's arms knowing only a life of love."
After her baby's death, Karen worked through her grief by continuing to write letters to Gabriel through which, she said, she began to realize that he was a gift from God.
"He left us with so much love, our little Gabriel was a messenger," she said. "His life is a reminder of truth so sanctified and pristine and we need to help others to understand this truth.
"His life had such importance in such a short time. It is a reminder of what we all can do in our much longer lives."
Santorum compared his family's tragedy with the recent tragedy in Littleton, Colo., and said that both were opportunities to help the country.
"I have learned that from every tragedy God will appear and teach us a lesson," he said. "God reached in and used the loss of our son because we were open to Hi will."
"We as a country are going through that now and the discussion itself is in many ways a blessing."
Santorum said that the heart of what is going on in America can be summed up in two statements made during the Columbine killings. One was from gunman Eric Harris proclaiming himself to be the law and the other by Cassie Bernall who responded with a simple "yes" to the question, "Do you believe in God?" She was shot and killed before she could say anything else.
Santorum said he thinks these two statements are "the debate in our culture today."
This is classic Judeo-Christian belief versus the post-modern man," he said. "It is between someone who believes in God and someone who rejects Him."
He went on to ask himself and the audience "What is my role in promoting the culture of life and defeating the culture of death?"
Santorum said that he views his opportunity to stand up for life in Congress as a blessing. He said that for years he shrunk from being vocal about pro-life issues but through the influence of his wife and former pastor, Father Jerome Fasano, he realized that he could not remain silent.
"As the Bible says, to whom much is given, much is expected," he said. "I wandered to the floor one day and heard what was going on about partial-birth abortion and I was shocked.
"If any of us allowed ourselves to realize what is really going on, we could hardly stand it. We tell lies to ourselves so we can live. Each one of us has been given much and in this, the greatest fight for our country and the souls of the world, much is expected.
To illustrate the need for openness to God's will, he told the story about what happened on the eve of the last vote to override the birth abortion ban veto. The debate had concluded in the evening, there was no senator left and the C-Span camera was still on when, Santorum said, he felt he had more to say. Even though there was virtually no one to hear, he proceeded to speak for one hour and a half.
"I felt awful," he said. "I felt I had just poured out my heart -- what the Holy Spirit had put in my heart to change the vote."
But there was no one listening -- or so he thought.
Four days later, after the vote had been defeated, he received an e-mail from a student at Michigan State University, who wrote that he and his girlfriend had been sitting around, channel surfing, a few nights earlier. They stopped at Span and started listening to Santorum's speech. After a while, the young man noticed his girlfriend was crying. He asked her what was wrong and she confessed that she was pregnant and was scheduled to have an abortion the next day, but, she said, she could no longer go through with the procedure and would keep their baby. The e-mail concluded with the line, "thank you for saving my child's life."
Santorum said although this may seem like a "little thing," he insisted that "if you open up, you will realize what you can do -- what little thing you can do," to promote the culture of life.
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 19,
dated May 13, 1999, on page 13 .
.
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 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.
| Return to Pro Life Corner | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|