The Vatican’s Declaration On Procured Abortion

The Vatican’s Declaration On Procured Abortion… A Charter For Political Action

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
June 19, 1975

Editor’s Note: With a few notable exceptions, Catholics in this Country have given little attention to the Vatican’s Declaration on Procured Abortion, issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last November. In the following commentary on this landmark document, Mr. Marshner demonstrates that the Declaration is more than a moral exhortation against abortion; it is a call for Catholics and all men of goodwill to take the offensive against all those who seek to institutionalize — in the name of the common good—this most heinous of crimes.

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Abortion: The Chickens Come Home

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
July 11, 1974

From the very beginning of the anti-abortion movement, long before there was a Supreme Court decision, two camps vied for leadership. One stressed the need for national action (include here The Wanderer Gang); the other preferred to work primarily at the State level (include here Msgr. James T. McHugh).

Then came Black Monday, Jan. 22nd, 1973. The two camps changed focus to some extent, but essentially the same leadership struggle went on. The same quarrel — over effective national action — remained central. It is still central.

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U.S. Supreme Court Approves Death Penalty For The Unborn

U.S. SUPREME COURT APPROVES DEATH PENALTY FOR THE UNBORN

By W.H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
(Special to The Wanderer)
February 1, 1973

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a sweeping 7 to 2 decision, the Supreme Court struck down on January 22nd the abortion laws of Texas, Georgia, and all but four of the other 50 States. On the basis of a “right to privacy” allegedly guaranteed by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, the Court majority ruled that during the first three months of pregnancy, a woman and her doctor have the unconditional right to decide whether she will bear or abort her unborn child.

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This Time Father McHugh Has Gone Too Far: Part 2

This Time Fr. McHugh Has Gone Too Far

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
October 26, 1972

PART II

When the head of the Family Life Division of the USCC decides to repudiate the chief Catholic doctrine relating to family life, namely the indissolubility of marriage, he needs a plausible gimmick. It would never do simply to come out and say, “Marriages are dissolvable.’’ One must come up with some ingenious way of saying, “I pledge allegiance to the Catholic doctrine,” while emptying the doctrine of all vitality. The trick, if you will, is to promote the Faith into Heaven, so that here below more comfortable ideas may prevail. And the exact method of performing this trick may be learned by reading the October 7th issue of America, in which Msgr. McHugh signed a committee document called “The Church and Second Marriages.”

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This Time Father McHugh Has Gone Too Far: Part 1

This Time

Fr. McHugh Has Gone Too Far

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
October 19, 1972

I

Msgr. James T. McHugh’s years as head of the Family Life Division of the USCC have been years of unparalleled opportunity for prophetic witness. These have been the years when the Church was left standing totally alone on contraception, almost alone on abortion, alone on the indissolubility of marriage, alone even on the nature of marriage. Yet, incredibly, American Catholics are less certain about these teachings now than they were ten years ago, less certain both in their own minds and in their grasp of what the Church herself teaches. Somehow, the heroic stand which the Church has made for truth and human love has not been communicated to vast numbers of the laity. How has this been possible? In greatest measure, of course, the fault lies with an anti-Catholic press, and with apostate Diocesan bureaucracies. But it would be hard to deny a share of the blame to one man.

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