Bishop Blair: "Peace on Earth, in Communities, Homes"

Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair writes in the December issue of The Catholic Chronicle:

Peace on earth, in communities, homes

Written by Bishop Leonard P. Blair
Sunday, 09 December 2007

... There is something terribly wrong when people sing beautiful Christmas carols about the “virgin with child,” conceived in the womb of Mary, yet are indifferent to today’s abominable crime of abortion against human life. The so-called “choice” of abortion against the infant Jesus or John the Baptist in their mothers’ wombs is unthinkable!

And as the U.S. bishops reaffirmed last month at our meeting in Baltimore: “Other direct threats to the sanctity of human life include euthanasia, human cloning, and the destruction of human embryos for research. Catholic teaching about the dignity of life calls us to oppose torture, unjust war, and the use of the death penalty; to prevent genocide and attacks against noncombatants; to oppose racism; and to overcome poverty and suffering.” (Faithful Citizenship, 2007, no. 44)

In the same way, how can people be moved by the Christmas scene of the Holy Family — Jesus, Mary and Joseph — and then fail to recognize, again to quote the bishops, that “the family — based on marriage between a man and a woman — is the first and fundamental unit of society and is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children. It should be defended and strengthened, not redefined or undermined by permitting same-sex unions or other distortions of marriage.” (Faithful Citizen-ship, 2007, no. 46) ...

[Read the whole thing]

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Bishop Blair Urges Toledo-Area Catholics to Reject Domestic-Partner Registry

Bishop Blair: "Listening to Our Mother"

"How a Shepherd Speaks"

Bishop Blair: "A Dialogue of Truth and Love"

Bishop Blair: "Upholding the Bond of Love" (Part 3)

Bishop Blair: "Upholding the Bond of Love" (Part 2)

Bishop Blair: "Upholding the Bond of Love"

Bishop Blair: "The Gospel of Life Revisited"

Bishop Blair: "Building Your House on a Rock"

Meeting the Bishop - After Action Report

Bishop Blair Teaches: "And With Your Spirit"

Bishop Blair: "What God Joins Together"