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BOSTON, MA, July 13, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Massachusetts state Senator Brian A. Joyce turned his back on his Catholic faith by abandoning his pro-life stance after opinion polls demonstrated voters in his area supported abortion by a 3-1 ratio. Rev. Thomas Foley, parish priest at St. Mary of the Hills, where Joyce was an altar boy and has attended all his life, condemned the move. The Boston Globe reports that in a handout to parishioners last Sunday, Fr. Foley reprinted an opinion column from diocesan newspaper, which accused Joyce of demeaning the Catholic faith by suggesting that ‘‘deep consideration’’ allowed him to ‘‘move beyond Catholic teaching’’ to support abortion.

The article by R.T. Neary, a past president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, states, ‘‘How much more insulting could anyone be to those who subscribe to Roman Catholic beliefs and the Church’s bedrock belief in the fundamental dignity of all human life from conception to natural death?’’ Fr. Foley also included a comment of his own following the article: ‘‘A Catholic candidate for political office should be guided in conscience by our Church’s teaching on the sacredness of human life as the fundamental issue among all other issues.’‘

See the Boston Globe at:  https://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/192/metro/Joyce_s_pastor_hits_his_abortion_stance+.shtml