• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori is seen in this Oct. 30, 2020, file photo. The archbishop is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. (CNS photo/courtesy Knights of Columbus)

Archbishop Lori, Cardinal Dolan decry attacks on pro-life centers

June 13, 2022
By Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Respect Life, Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore pleaded for peace in light of recent attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers in the United States.

“Each of us must choose the path of peace and open our hearts to the love that God has for his children,” said a joint statement June 13 by the two prelates. “O Sacred Heart of Jesus, touch our hearts and make them like your own.”

They made the comments as committee chairs of the U.S. Conference of catholic Bishops. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Religious Liberty and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore is chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

The two prelates noted the pace of attacks had stepped up since a draft version of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Services was leaked in May. The final ruling has yet to be released.

The leaked draft suggested the Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade, the court’s 1973 decision which legalized abortion nationwide, in its highly anticipated ruling in an abortion case from Mississippi that bans most abortions after six weeks.

Since then, Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Lori said “charities that support pregnant mothers in need have been firebombed, and pro-life organizations have been attacked almost daily and terrorized.”

“And even the lives of Supreme Court justices have been directly threatened,” they said, referring to the June 8 arrest of a man outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home in Chevy Chase, a Washington suburb. The man, police said, had planned to kill Kavanaugh but ultimately decided against it.

He was identified as Nicholas John Roske, a 26-year-old from California, who was carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties. Roske was arrested after he called 911 to turn himself in. He told police he planned to break into Kavanaugh’s house and kill him and then planned to kill himself. He has been charged with attempted murder.

“For two years now, Catholic churches have been attacked and vandalized at an alarming rate. In July of 2020, we strained to understand this violence,” Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Lori noted in their statement. The U.S. bishops, in May 2020, started tracking violence directed against Catholic churches. The number of such attacks hit the 100 mark last October.

In May of this year, a pro-life pregnancy center in Madison, Wisconsin, was set afire. A group calling itself Jane’s Revenge took credit for the act. In early June, a second such center in Buffalo, N.Y., was subject to an overnight attack. Scrawled with spray paint on the center’s outside wall was “Jane was here.” However, no group has claimed responsibility.

“We urge our elected officials to take a strong stand against this violence, and our law enforcement authorities to increase their vigilance in protecting those who are in increased danger,” Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Lori said. “We thank those who have already done so, and we encourage them to continue.”

Read More Respect Life

Wyoming becomes first state to ban abortion pills

‘New pro-life agenda’ sees wins in state battles to expand Medicaid coverage for new moms

South Carolina GOP lawmakers’ bill opens up women to death penalty over abortion, a move pro-life leaders reject

At prayer breakfast, Catholics challenged to assist Ukraine, mothers and children post-Dobbs

Catholics must reject ‘sectarian partisan lens’ and ‘live the truth’ of their faith, says former congressman

Assisted suicide proposals in Maryland called ‘unethical, discriminatory and dangerous’

Copyright © 2022 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is a leading agency for religious news. Its mission is to report fully, fairly and freely on the involvement of the church in the world today.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day
  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Trainor to retire from post as Mount St. Mary’s president in 2024
  • Movie Review: ’65’
  • Sister Mary Kathleen Marie Saffa dies at 86

| Latest Local News |

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

| Latest World News |

Church calls for ‘international protection of holy sites’ after attack on church at Tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem

Papal message to focus on people’s right not to migrate

Medically changing person’s sex characteristics to those of opposite sex ‘not morally justified,’ say bishops

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Movie Review: ‘In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis’
  • Church calls for ‘international protection of holy sites’ after attack on church at Tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem
  • Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94
  • Papal message to focus on people’s right not to migrate
  • Medically changing person’s sex characteristics to those of opposite sex ‘not morally justified,’ say bishops
  • Pope Francis is praised in U.N. talks for efforts to combat anti-Muslim prejudice
  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm
  • Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED