Legion newspaper sells out

A guest post by REV. THOMAS J. EUTENEUER

Editor's note: Earlier today, I linked to a statement by Father Euteneuer that was published in Matthew C. Abbott's RenewAmerica column. After Daniel Kane of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person, a Legion of Christ apostolate, posted a comment questioning the veracity of Abbott's column, I wrote Father Euteneuer an e-mail requesting confirmation that he had made the statement that was attributed to him. He responded by sending me what he had sent the columnist. It is identical to what Abbott published, save for the headline; the one above is the original. I have added relevant links. For the record, as a former newspaperwoman, I do not support the call for Tom Hoopes's firing, but I agree with Father that concerned Register subscribers should "refuse to be part of the problem."—Dawn

The Legion of Christ priest who defended Sean Hannity’s dissent on birth control on Fox News last year was bad enough, but the editorial in the National Catholic Register after the election shows that the Legionaries have allowed another misguided agent to speak in their name and on their watch. They are now officially part of the problem, not part of the solution. Editor Tom Hoopes is a layman, but he does the Legion's bidding and should be fired immediately for his absurd editorial in support of Barack Obama. Even were it not for Hoopes' personal glowing support of the most radical abortion President in American history, certain other points of his editorial are just naive:

1. “In America, there’s no reason to fear the president.”—Has Mr. Hoopes ever heard of the coercive power of the Attorney General, the IRS, the FBI or the ATF that viciously persecuted pro-lifers in the previous pro-abortion administration? I have personally been visited by the two latter entities, and they are not boy scouts. Has Mr. Hoopes seen the radical federal judiciary (appointed by the President) routinely overturn the will of the people on critical moral issues? Doesn’t he know that the President appoints the delegation to the UN which will now use our tax dollars to ram abortion down the throats of poor countries like never before? Let us hasten to emphasize that the unborn "in America" have every reason to fear this president, but apparently they can be overlooked because, in Hoopes’ opinion, Obama is "a civil, decent man."

2. Mr. Hoopes seems to think that he can just have a little gentleman's disagreement with Obama, "…if [he]dare attack the voiceless, defenseless unborn." This is the measure of the insanity of this editorial. What does he mean "if"? Is he simply unaware of the public record of this man who is preparing to attack the unborn in unprecedented ways? The radical cabinet appointments Obama is making should be curbing all the naive estimates of this man’s beneficence toward the unborn both at home and abroad. Extreme pro-aborts like Hillary Clinton (Sec. of State), Tom Daschle (Sec. of HHR) and Ellen Moran (White House spokesperson) will only be marshaled as attack dogs of an Obama administration against the voiceless, defenseless unborn. Where exactly is that "change” America voted for?

3. Mr. Hoopes says that teaching children to dislike and belittle the President "undermines civic responsibility and social cohesion." Well, outside of the fact that it was the Obama supporters who engaged in that type of vicious behavior towards the current President, his idea of "civic responsibility and social cohesion" does not come from Catholic social doctrine. It comes from political correctness. Our Church says that these are based on solidarity with the poor and suffering, and in violation of that principle, President Obama will systematically exclude the unborn from any measure of our social concern. Mr. Hoopes' "Can't we all just get along?" ground rules for talking nice about that "impressive man" are not even realistic, let alone Catholic.

There is more that could be said about this terrible editorial, but I would violate charity if I went further. Suffice it to say that I thought for a moment that I was reading the other NCR (the National Catholic Reporter). HLI has worked with the Register in the past to expose the evils of the culture of death, but I am tired of sell-outs. We decidedly refuse to be part of the problem. I am immediately canceling our subscription to the newspaper and will encourage others to do the same. The Legion has finally lost it on this one, and I will not support such dereliction of duty from a religious order that claims to represent the Church and bears the holy Name of Christ.

The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer is president of Human Life International.

RELATED: Tom Hoopes responds in Matt Abbott's latest column and on the Register's Web site.