Letters & Op-Eds - 2001

Washington Times Catholic Bishops Share Responsibility for Spread of HIV/AIDS

The response of several Roman Catholic officials to a Catholics for a Free Choice ad campaign about the dangers posed by the Catholic Church’s ban on condoms is somewhat surprising (“Pro-choice poster campaign targets bishops,” Dec. 24). One anti-choice leader, the Rev. Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International, states that the “bishops . . . […]

Frances Kissling

Irish Times Debate on Abortion

Sir, So Mr Conor Lenihan TD thinks the vote on abortion is “a matter of huge personal conscience” (Dáil Report, November 9th). One could only wish that Mr Lenihan were as respectful of the consciences of individual women who are pregnant and need to decide, as a matter of conscience, what to do. It may […]

Frances Kissling

USA TODAY Church and State at the United Nations

“At most UN conferences, the Vatican is granted the full status enjoyed by member states, including not only a voice, but a vote.” There is increasing concern that the traditional barriers between church and state in the U.S. are under threat. Pres. Bush’s decision to set up a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community […]

Frances Kissling

New York Times Bishops’ Blind Spot

To the Editor: Re: “Nuts and Bolts vs. Holiness as the Bishops Meet in Rome” (news article, October 21): The world’s Roman Catholic bishops may have a month to spend discussing the relative urgency of modifying the chain of command in the church or calling the faithful to holiness; the world’s women, however, have more […]

Frances Kissling

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS The Place for Individual Conscience

From a liberationist, feminist, and Catholic point of view, this article attempts to understand the decision of abortion. People are constantly testing their principles and values against the question of abortion. Advances in technology, the rise of communitarianism and the rejection of individualism, and the commodification of children are factors in the way in which […]

Frances Kissling

Ms. Magazine The Sins of the Fathers

A friend in the Sisters of Loretto told me after a trip to Ghana in the early 1990s that sisters there reported that priests forced them to have sex before they were allowed to receive grants from groups abroad. Many of us in the Catholic community had heard these kinds of stories before, but it […]

Frances Kissling

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Ambassador Not Consistent about Attacking Abortion

Ray Flynn’s attack on Seton Hall University for awarding an honorary degree to Dr. Dolores Cross was surprising (“Link to abortion group may put award in peril,” Metro, May 30). Flynn has one standard of behavior for Cross and another for himself. Flynn did not disassociate himself from the pro-choice administration of President Clinton. To […]

Frances Kissling

Newsday Is There a Choice?

Phyllis Clark is off the mark when she says you cannot be a practicing Catholic and be for choice [“Abortion Is Not a Choice,” Letters, April 26]. A few examples of practicing Catholics who are for choice include former Gov. Mario Cuomo, former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, and Sens. Patrick Leahy, Ted Kennedy, and […]

Frances Kissling

The Nation Bully in the Pulpit?

Ellen Willis is right but does not go far enough. Even without Bush’s faith-based initiatives the Catholic Church not only demanded but received exemption after exemption from providing the most unexceptional forms of reproductive health. No emergency contraception for women who have been raped. No voluntary postpartum sterilization for women who are having what they […]

Frances Kissling

ABOUT.COM The Catholic Church at the United Nations: Church or State?

The Vatican at the United Nations Around the world increasing scrutiny is being paid to the role the Vatican plays at the United Nations. While the Holy See-as it is called in diplomatic circles-does a lot of good work at the UN, when it comes to women’s rights, gay rights, reproductive rights and preventing the […]

David Nolan

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