Catholic Exchange

Bishop Compels Priest To Apologize For Pro-Life Defense



PLYMOUTH, MI (LSN.ca) – Amidst pressure from his Bishops and criticism from fellow priests, a Catholic priest who advocated abortion asked forgiveness in the bulletin of Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Parish last Sunday. “At the request of Cardinal Maida, Bishop Kevin Britt has asked that I write to allay the fears of some that I am less than Catholic in my dedication to life,” began the apology from Fr. Doc Ortman, associate pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) parish.

Faithful Catholics took to the streets in protest after the parish refused to recant the false teaching Fr. Ortman put forward in a previous parish bulletin which said being “pro-choice” was an authentically Catholic position. In the controversial bulletin the priest was attempting to give support to a pro-abortion politician – Jennifer Granholm – who is a member of the parish.

Meanwhile, other Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit printed condemnations of Fr.Ortman's views. Fr. Dan Zaleski of St. Albert the Great Parish in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, said in his Sunday bulletin that priests who champion the pro-choice abortion view are “dead wrong,” and that Catholics who vote for a pro-choice candidate “sanction murder.” In his “Sunday Column,” Fr. Eduard Perrone of Assumption Grotto in Detroit expressed his desire that the Cardinal apply the “one-strike and out” policy.

Lay Catholics who had been demonstrating outside the parish welcomed the apology but are demanding that Adam Cardinal Maida of the Archdiocese of Detroit further publicly censure the pro-abortion gubernatorial candidate and OLGC parishioner. Matt Bowman, a spokesman for the group said “The lie that a Catholic can be 'pro-choice' on abortion must be clarified now so that Catholics do not vote believing Granholm is a faithful Catholic.”

See Lifesite’s related coverage.

See the bulletins on-line and the contact infor for the parish by clicking here.

Contact Information for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)

Comments

One response to “Bishop Compels Priest To Apologize For Pro-Life Defense”

  1. Cbooth151 Avatar
    Cbooth151

    It’s too bad Catholics don’t see the complete picture. While they protest and demonstrate against one of their priests who voiced his opinion that it’s okay to murder unborn babies, they completely ignore the fact that Catholics in the military in the Middle East drop bombs on villages that maime and kill babies and other innocent civilians. If Catholics claim to be guided by the words of Jesus, why do they ignore what he told his followers. For instance, when Peter used a sword in a violent attempt to keep Jesus from being arrested by a mob of Jews, Jesus rebuked him, saying: “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matt. 26:52)
     
    Don’t Catholics know that physical warfare is not the way for true Chistians? Are they unfamiliar with Paul’s words that “although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh”? (2 Cor. 10:3, 4)

    So, while it is wrong to promote the wanton slaughter of unborn babies, it is also wrong to participate in armed conflicts that take the lives of unborn babies and others countless human beings. Catholics can’t seem to understand. This shows how misguided they are.

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