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When I write about what I'm about to say, it is not uncommon for people to react with good natured skepticism. But if I keep writing it, people may eventually have to concede I am genuinely sincere.

I am in the final throes of putting together the combined November/December issue of NRL News. There are, as there always are, a hundred different loose ends to tie up--and no sooner do those get tucked into place than a couple of other threads come undone.

So you might think spending several hours responding to e-mails from our readers would be, at best, a chore. Not so. Talking back and forth (and back and forth: people respond to my responses) has been the highlight of my day, perhaps my week.

This particular batch addressed the last two editions of "Today's News & Views": the media's infatuation with President-elect Obama, so obvious as to make a professional journalist's skin crawl; and the first post-election meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. THEY understand the dangers posed by a man who is the anti-life movement's dream come true and our nightmare.

As you would expect from pro-lifers, my readers voiced a deep appreciation of and concern about the fragility of our social institutions. They are genuinely worried that a Democratically-controlled Congress (every bit as eager to inflate the death toll as Obama himself is) will work hand in hand with the new President to start an undeclared but obvious war on those who have fought the abortion ethos for well over 30 years.

That's the bad news. The good news is they are unafraid, unintimidated, and unwilling to concede an inch.

Likewise are the Catholic Bishops. My readers expressed joy that the Catholic Bishops are sending out strong, unambiguous signals even before President-elect Obama takes office. Let me quote from a letter issued yesterday by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, on behalf of the Bishops.

"The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world," he wrote. "If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve," he added.

"Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion," George said. He concludes by stating, "This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops, who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us." Most of their statement is reprinted in Part Two.

Solidarity among like-minded people is always a great blessing. In our present hour it has become an imperative.

Part Two -- Excerpts from the Statement of Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops