It's like slavery. The veto of the bill to ban partial-birth abortions has helped educate and mobilize Catholics into action, Father Pavone said. Catholic clergy have urged the nation's estimated 50 million Catholics to inundate Congress with postcards demanding an override of the veto. Catholics, Father Pavone said, have a moral obligation to become involved in the political process by voting, and by holding accountable those who have been elected to public office. Church teaching is clear.
Catholics have an obligation to vote.
Growing up in Port Chester, a small town in upper Westchester County, he attended the local public high school, but was active in his parish youth ministry. I listened and I listened to the arguments on both sides and concluded that abortion is a fundamental contradiction of our country's most basic rights, and here was the Supreme Court saying it was perfectly OK to deny one group of our society its most basic right, the right to life. Years later, after his ordination, Father Pavone heard of a newly established organization, based on the West Coast, called Priests for Life. He brought the organization to the attention of Cardinal O'Connor, the archbishop of New York, who is known for his outspoken pro-life stance. According to Father Pavone, at about the same time Priests for Life was seeking a new national director, Cardinal O'Connor was seeking a priest of the archdiocese who could be his liaison for pro-life and could mobilize the clergy of the archdiocese.