Rev. Euteneuer Speaks Out On Sebelius and Brownback

We would like to highlight a column by Human Life International's (HLI) Father Tom Euteneuer. It's harsh -- brace yourself! And, obviously, it's written from the perspective of a Catholic priest. But this is the kind of honesty Colorado Right to Life respects and demands.

Colorado Right to Life has the good fortune to have been blessed by what may be a unique alliance between steadfast Catholics and steadfast Protestants for a common goal -- two groups that all two often follow common goals by different means or different paths.

Along with American Life League, another of the major Catholic pro-life groups which has cooperated and collaborated with Colorado Right to Life is Rev. Euteneuer's Human Life International, the largest international pro-life group in existence.

Father Euteneuer is one of the stalwarts of the pro-life movement -- one of the most admirable, stellar spokesmen on behalf of the unborn child, who has the courage and fortitude to take on others who are considered pro-life heroes but who have sullied themselves by hypocrisy.

The pro-life movement is harmed and weakened when we cover up the weakness and compromise of those who are pro-life one day, and who turn their backs on the unborn (and us!) on other days. What priorities a leader holds matters -- if the unborn are not their priority, how pro-life are they?

Calling a spade a spade is even more important considering that Sen. Brownback ran for President last year, drawing from a constituency which was undoubtedly comprised almost entirely of committed pro-lifers who were led to believe the senator was one of the most dedicated pro-lifers running.

-- Bob Kyffin

Brownback - Turncoat
A column by Rev. Thomas Euteneuer
President, Human Life International

I am not a politician, I am a priest. So I would like to give my priestly perspective about the recent endorsement of Senator Sam Brownback for the candidacy of Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services: Senator Brownback's cowardly betrayal of his Catholic faith is even more damaging than his political permission for this renegade to take office.

The situation is atrocious. An extremist abortion hack (called the most pro-abortion governor in the nation by many), who falsely calls herself "Catholic," is given the opportunity to preside over the nation's healthcare system and normalize abortion even further; this radical is then endorsed by a US senator who also calls himself "Catholic" and who, many believe, wants her job back home when she becomes the abortion queen in DC.

With pro-lifers like Senator Sam Brownback, who needs pro-aborts?

Moral theologians can work out what level of cooperation in evil the Senator's endorsement represents - he is, after all, an influential senator whose opposition, if he had given it, may very well have stopped her nomination. Yet, those of us who do not breathe the rarified air of Washington DC and who have dedicated our lives to defending the sanctity of human life understand one thing: any covenant with the abortion industry or its promoters is consent to the killing. As a convert to the Catholic Faith, Senator Brownback seems not to understand the Church's profoundly wounded heart with regard the slaughter of the innocents. The Church tells us never to participate in that slaughter, no matter what the cost; we do not give aid and comfort to the enemies of human life, we do not stand by while the innocent are being dragged off to a violent murder, and under no circumstances do we endorse the political aspirations of their executioners. Politicians who sell the lives of babies for political gains are the worst kind of turncoats.

Yet, this Catholic Senator's decision constitutes, I think, a watershed moment for all of us who want to see an end to the immoral industry of baby-killing in our country. We will never be served by the compromise of our principles in any form. Catholicism is the solution to this culture of death. If only Catholics ourselves would fully live up to our doctrine and put it into practice, there would be no "Tiller the Killer"s in Kansas, no partial birth abortions, no immoral sex education in the schools or Planned Parenthoods dominating our public life. Self-described "Catholics" like Brownback (in politics), Doug Kmiec (in academia), Hannity, Matthews and O'Reilly (in media) and others are not the solution to the problem - they are enablers of the problem. Despite their high-sounding lip service to the culture of life, they are compromisers. They will never end abortion because they don't want to end abortion.

I have often said that false Catholics, whether they be Cardinals, politicians or janitors, are the ones who have the most to account for on the Day of Judgment when they will have to account for ignoring Christ in His "least brethren," the unborn. Whether through advocacy of the evil (like Sebelius) or negligence in stopping it (like Brownback), they have blood on their hands. They've been given everything the Church has to offer: the teaching, the sacraments, the example of the saints and the grace to stand against Satan and all his works and all his empty promises. In other words, they know better, and the Biblical warning applies to them: "To whom much has been given, much will be required." Cowards and turncoats beware.

Sincerely,

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
President, Human Life International


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On a side note, here is an article which details an earlier disagreement with Sen. Brownback's questionable methods: A Growing Split In the Pro-Life Community