Bishop James T. McHugh – The Forgotten Man in the McCarrick Equation – Part 4

 

Although Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (above) is most often credited with originating
the “Consistent Life Ethic,” McHugh claimed that the basic concept originated with
his 1972 Respect Life Program

In the final installments of this series on the influence of Bishop James T. McHugh and other homosexual prelates on the Right-to-Life Movement, the reader will have an opportunity to see how McHugh’s “prolife” and “anti-abortion” compromise policies and strategies became the formal policies of the American bishops via the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference (NCCB/USCC), later the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and how these instruments of compromise and accommodation to the Antilife Establishment have worked against the interests of the unborn child in the past, and will continue to do so in the future unless the McHugh legacy is buried forever in the prolife consciousness of Catholic laymen and clerics alike. 

I’ll begin with some background archival material on how the Prolife Movement successfully operated in its early years using the U.S. Coalition for Life (USCL) as an example, and how, in contrast, the programs and strategies employed by McHugh and implemented by the bishops’ bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. and carried out by the State Catholic Conferences ultimately served the interests of the Antilife Movement.

First, to clear the air, it should be noted that McHugh initially favored the research and legislative agenda of the U.S. Coalition for Life.  (more...)

Bishop James T. McHugh – The Forgotten Man in the McCarrick Equation – Part 4

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3