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BISHOP COMPELS PRIEST TO APOLOGIZE FOR “PRO-CHOICE” DEFENCE

Catholics Demand Detroit Cardinal Publicly Censure Pro-Abortion Catholic Candidate

PLYMOUTH, MI, August 27, 2002 (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 on Sunday August 25th. "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 (enacted for clergy sexual-abusers) "to such priests who dissent publicly from Catholic teaching."

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:
CATHOLICS TAKE ACTION AFTER PRIESTS DEFEND PRO-ABORTION POLITICIAN
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/aug/02081401.html

See the bulletins on line and the contact info for the parish at:
http://www.catholicweb.com/directory.cfm?fuseaction=display_site_info&sitetype=4...

Contact information on the Archdiocese of Detroit (See Services)
http://www.archdioceseofdetroit.org/

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