Pro-Life Champion John Cardinal O'Connor - Our Good Friend- Is Laid to Rest

By Ernest Ohlhoff
NRLC Director of Outreach

A dear friend, counselor, mentor and spiritual advisor to many in the pro-life movement has passed on. But his spirit lives on in each of us as we remember him, imitate him, carry on his work, and seek his prayerful intercession.

New York City (May 8) - - A Mass of Christian Burial was held yesterday for John Cardinal O'Connor, the nation's leading Catholic pro-life spokesman and archbishop of New York. Cardinal O'Connor died May 3 at the age of 80 after suffering eight months of brain cancer.

During his 16 years as spiritual leader of the nation's second-largest diocese, Cardinal O'Connor made the pro-life issue the cornerstone of his archdiocesan public policy. Cardinal O'Connor often lamented that while he could preach on a variety of social issues such as poverty, discrimination, homelessness, and apartheid and be praised to high heavens, it was only when he dared to preach about abortion that he came under unmerciful attacks from the media and other national figures. But the criticism never altered his pro-life message.

Before being appointed to the archdiocese of New York, Bishop O'Connor, then head of the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, made a powerful pro-life statement:

You can be certain of my position. I will give no support by word or action, that could in any way be construed in favor of any politician, of any political party, who professes either a specific pro-abortion position, or takes refuge in a so-called "pro-choice" position. I categorically reject the evasion: "I am personally opposed to abortion, but this is a pluralistic society, and I must respect the rights of those who disagree with me." It is imperative that every one of us take the pro-life movement seriously.

Also in his first year as archbishop of New York, this always-compassionate pastor made his famous offer that any woman in need should come to him for help rather than abort her child. That generous, gracious offer was repeated in subsequent years and implemented for hundreds of women by the archdiocese and Catholic Charities. The cardinal himself, who has a graduate degree in clinical psychology, often gave private counseling to women in need.

In 1990, Cardinal O'Connor addressed one of the questions often raised by religious pro-lifers who avoid legal and political aspects of the pro-life struggle:

Some people argue that changing laws will not eliminate abortions. It is certainly true that a change of heart is more important than a change of law. What is forgotten, however, is that the law is the great teacher. Children grow up believing that if a practice is legal, it must be moral.

The National Right to Life Committee gave its first Proudly Pro-Life Award to Cardinal O'Connor in 1994. NRLC President Wanda Franz, Ph.D., said of the cardinal: "His stalwart opposition to abortion was grounded in compassion and love-both for the mother and her unborn child."

Another one of Cardinal O'Connor's special gifts to the Pro-Life Movement was to found the religious community, the Sisters of Life. This order attracts many professional women to follow a vocation to prayer for the

re-establishment of respect for the sanctity of human life, to minister to women tempted to abort or suffering post-abortion trauma, and to support pro-life workers and leaders. The order is based in New York and has grown each year.

Cardinal O'Connor was originally from Philadelphia. He was ordained a priest in 1945. In 1979 he was consecrated auxiliary Bishop of the Military Ordinate. On May 10, 1983, he was appointed Bishop of Scranton.

Cardinal O'Connor served on the Bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities continuously since 1983 and as its chairman from 1990 to 1992.

In the words of the Catholic prayer for the dead:

May his soul and the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

To which this author would add:

Thank you for your patience, your friendship, and your loyalty. May God richly reward you for all you have done for the unborn, for those who work in the pro-life movement, and for all those who are defenseless.