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Bishop Vasa Recommends Archbishop Cordileone's Pastoral Letter
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May 4, 2021Statement
by Bishop Robert F. Vasa
In Support of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s Pastoral Letter
Before I Formed You in the Womb, I Knew You
May 4, 2021
On Saturday, May 1, the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco issued a Pastoral Letter titled, Before I Formed You in the Womb, I Knew You.
We have lived with abortion in our country for nearly 50 years. Perhaps our hearts have grown calloused to the moral and physical evil of this denial of humanity. Archbishop Cordileone reminds us that legalized “abortion is the axe laid to the roots of the tree of human rights: when our culture encourages the violation of life at its youngest and most vulnerable condition, other ethical norms cannot stand for long.”
I commend the Archbishop for offering encouragement to Catholics in public life who advocate for life. I join him in asking that those who participate in or support this grotesque industry to actually look at the evil that is being done and open their hearts to God converting grace. I, too, call upon those in public life, especially Catholics, to recognize that the killing involved in an abortion is not in any way justifiable or defensible. They cannot support such evil and expect no spiritual consequences. The Archbishop makes it clear that we hate the evil of murder which abortion perpetrates but do not condemn the women or others who have been misled into choosing this evil. Finally, there is a call to all men and women of good will to persevere in respecting and affirming the goodness of every human life, born and unborn.
The Pastoral, which I encourage all to read, can be found in English, Spanish, and Chinese, as well as in Audio format, at: https://sfarchdiocese.org/inthewomb
