Fr. Groeschel on Politics and Abortion

Yesterday's issue of The New York Times has a profile of priest and author Father Benedict Groeschel (ht:Insight Scoop). It is surprisingly an exceptional piece. Here are a few excerpts:

“I wanted to live in the South Bronx with the poor,” said Father Groeschel, who teaches pastoral psychology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, “but I couldn’t say no when Cardinal Cooke asked me to head the Office of Spiritual Development here.”

Father Groeschel lives in a converted garage next to the retreat house, in a cell-like bedroom that looks out on the Long Island Sound. Beneath his long white beard and kind demeanor is a wise-cracking, street-smart Jersey boy who is unafraid of ruffling feathers. He preaches orthodox Catholicism in the retreats he leads around the world, on his popular show on the Catholic cable network, and in the three dozen religious books he has written — forums in which he is well known for outspoken attacks on hypocrisy, bureaucratic complacency and the news media. ...

Since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, fighting abortion is a top priority for Father Groeschel, who has made it a point of praying outside abortion clinics when he can. He was arrested in 1995 for praying in the driveway of the Women’s Medical Pavilion, a Dobbs Ferry clinic that offered abortions, where demonstrators on both sides of the abortion issue protested weekly for decades until it was closed in 2002.

The church’s views on issues like abortion and homosexuality put Father Groeschel on the opposite side of the political spectrum from many who support his work for social justice.

“I used to be a liberal, if liberal means concern for the other guy,” Father Groeschel said. “Now I consider myself a conservative-liberal-traditional-radical-confused person.”

I first met Fr. Groeschel in 1998 at an evangelization conference after watching him on EWTN for many years. My husband and I purchased two of his books - In the Presence of Our Lord: The History, Theology, and Psychology and Eucharistic Devotion and Arise From Darkness: What to Do When Life Doesn't Make Sense. Although there was a long line of people waiting to sign his book, he took the time to chat with us briefly and addressed his written comments in both of our names, which impressed me. He was a physically smaller man than I had expected. But what power this man of Christ conveys not only through his speech, but also through his actions. He is a man of holiness, humor, and humility - someone who has suffered greatly in union with Christ. What a wonderful example he is for all of us during this Lenten season.

Comments

Blog Archive

Show more

Popular posts from this blog

The Spirituality and Miracles of St. Clare of Assisi

Saint Michael de Sanctis: Patron of Cancer Patients

Saint Gerard of Brogne: Patron of Abbots