c. 2005 Religion News Service
Abortion Rights Group Pulls Controversial Ad on Roberts
(RNS) An abortion rights group plans to replace an ad that drew criticism for its characterization of U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ record on abortion.
“We … regret that many people have misconstrued our recent advertisement about Mr. Roberts’ record,” wrote Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, in a Thursday (Aug. 11) letter to Sen. Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Unfortunately, the debate over that advertisement has become a distraction from the serious discussion we hoped to have with the American public.”
The ad featured a nurse who was seriously injured in the 1998 bombing of a Birmingham, Ala., women’s clinic. She criticizes Roberts for his past legal work in support of abortion protest groups.
Roberts’ advocates considered the ad deceitful. He had argued that a particular federal law did not apply to abortion protesters but did not defend the violent tactics used by some of them.
“America can’t afford a justice whose ideology leads him to excuse violence against other Americans,” the announcer in the ad states.
Conservative Christian groups welcomed NARAL’s change in plans.
“NARAL’s decision to pull the ad reflects what the American people already understand _ that a smear campaign based on untruths will not be tolerated,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice, in a statement.
But Wendy Wright, senior policy director for the Washington-based Concerned Women for America, wondered what the replacement ad would look like.
“While NARAL responded to sharp criticism from both ends of the political spectrum by pulling the ad, we are concerned that they are not really dropping their deceptive attack on John Roberts for his successful defense of constitutional rights,” she said in a statement.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Catholic TV Network Drops New York Priest Accused of Having Affair
(RNS) A worldwide Catholic TV network based in Alabama has decided to drop a show hosted by a priest accused of having a sexual relationship with a married woman.
Monsignor Eugene V. Clark has denied the accusations but resigned Thursday (Aug. 11) as pastor of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
He has hosted a program called “Relationships” that has aired on Irondale-based EWTN since 1999.
Clark, 79, has been having an affair with his longtime personal secretary, Laura DeFilippo, 46, according to her husband, Philip DeFilippo. Several New York newspapers have printed accounts of Philip DeFilippo’s accusations in his divorce filing. DeFilippo, in his filings, says he has a videotape provided by a private detective showing the priest and DeFilippo’s wife at a Long Island hotel.
Scott Hults, a spokesman for EWTN, said Clark taped programs for the network in 1999 and 2000 and they have been airing as reruns since then.
Michael P. Warsaw, president of EWTN Global Catholic Network, previously issued a statement saying that the series would continue. But on Thursday he released a statement saying that, after further review of media reports regarding Clark, the program had been put on hiatus.
_ Greg Garrison
Religious Conservative Leader Paul Weyrich Has Surgery
(RNS) Paul Weyrich, a longtime leader of religious conservatives, has undergone surgery for the amputation of both his legs.
Weyrich, 62, the chairman and CEO of the Washington-based Free Congress Foundation, is expected to continue his work, said Annaghia Oliver, office manager of the foundation.
“His first surgery on Monday (Aug. 8) went very well,” she said. Weyrich, who has been using a wheelchair, had a second surgery later in the week, Oliver said Friday.
Weyrich founded the foundation in 1974 and also founded the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank. He also played a role in the founding of the now-defunct Moral Majority with the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Deal Hudson, executive director of the Washington-based Morley Institute for Church and Culture, paid tribute to Weyrich in a Wednesday column and asked for prayers for his colleague.
“Weyrich had the original vision of bringing people of faith into the political process,” Hudson wrote. “The involvement of religiously active Catholics and evangelicals _ a decisive factor in recent elections _ can be traced back to Weyrich’s initiative in the early ’70s.”
Weyrich, a former reporter and radio news director, serves as a deacon of his Eastern Orthodox congregation.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Falwell Says He Was Misunderstood, No Longer Using `Vote Christian’ Phrase
(RNS) The Rev. Jerry Falwell said his use of the words “Vote Christian” in a fund-raising letter was misunderstood and he has stopped using the phrase.
“What I was saying was for conservative Christian voters to vote their values, which are pro-life and pro-family,” he told The News & Advance in Lynchburg, Va., where his Thomas Road Baptist Church is located.
His comments followed criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, which called his use of the phrase “divisive and un-American” and urged him to retract it.
“Rev. Falwell’s recent statements are directly at odds with the American ideal and should be rejected,” said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the New York-based Jewish organization, in a Monday (Aug. 8) statement.
“Understanding the danger of combining religion and politics, our founding fathers wisely created a political system based on individual merit and religious inclusiveness.”
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: Author and Speaker Anne Graham Lotz
(RNS) “He’s at total peace, which makes me think it’s really the right decision. There’s no second-guessing; there’s no struggling. In fact, he told me, `Anne, I have perfect peace.’ And you can look at his face and his demeanor, and you can see it.”
_ Anne Graham Lotz, the Raleigh, N.C.-based author and speaker, discussing the decision by her father, evangelist Billy Graham, to halt his preaching of crusades. She was quoted by the Associated Press.
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