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Welcome to the official Web site for the
Catholic Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota.
We invite you to learn about the Diocese and our
parish families by looking through
the categories listed on the left.
May God
bless the time you spend here with us.
No person who is truly Catholic
can take a position of “pro-choice” or vote for a law supporting the
so-called right to abortion, Bishop Samuel Aquila said in a Sept. 28
homily
Oct. 8, 2008
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At a Sept. 28 Mass which preceded a
Eucharistic procession of 1,000 people to the state of North Dakota’s
only abortion facility, Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Catholic Diocese of
Fargo said Catholics who are “pro-choice” are “pro-abortion and
participating in an intrinsic evil and promoting an unjust law.”
Bishop Aquila referred to Pope John
Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae in noting that abortion and
other intrinsic evils can never be justified by human law. He quoted the
encyclical: “In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law
permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey
it, or to ‘take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or
vote for it’” (Evangelium Vitae 73). Bishop Aquila then expanded
upon the quote. “In other words, if one is truly Catholic and truly
faithful to the laws of God, to reason and to faith in Jesus Christ, he
or she can never be pro-choice, because, if they are, they are
pro-abortion and participating in an intrinsic evil and promoting an
unjust law. No Catholic can take a position of pro-choice or vote for a
law supporting a so-called right to abortion.”
Bishop Aquila countered three
arguments that attempt to justify abortion. First, he said, the question
of when life begins “is a matter of reason and science”, not faith or
opinion. Life “begins at the moment of conception,” he said.
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Bishop Samuel Aquila led an estimated 1,000 people in
a Eucharistic procession to the state of North Dakota's only abortion
facility Sept. 28.
(Photo by Ron Fischer for New Earth)
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Second, the bishop said, some say
that because we live in a pluralistic society that has many different
points of view, people should be free to determine what they will
believe and support. “Every human society recognizes that there are
certain truths that can never be violated,” Bishop Aquila said. “We
cannot use the lie of pluralism to justify intrinsic evils.”
Read more. A video of
Bishop Aquila's homily can
be found here. (Trouble with the video?
Try the audio
version, requires Windows Media Player.) |
Bishop Samuel Aquila prays at
abortion facility for 40 Days for Life North Dakota
Oct. 3, 2008 |
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Bishop Samuel Aquila prayed
outside the state of North Dakota's only abortion facility Oct. 1 as
part of the 40 Days for Life North Dakota effort. To Bishop
Aquila's right is Father Luke Meyer, chancellor for the Fargo Diocese.
(Photo by Tanya Watterud) |
Three days after leading an estimated 1,000 participants in a
Eucharistic procession to the state of North Dakota’s only abortion facility,
Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo fulfilled his scheduled
hour of prayer for the
40 Days for Life North Dakota effort by praying Oct. 1 on the sidewalk
outside the abortion facility.
Bishop Aquila was joined by Father Luke Meyer, diocesan chancellor, and others
who were praying for an end to abortion. Bishop Aquila joined in praying the
rosary, then prayed silently and interacted with people who stopped to talk.
Read the entire press release. |
| Bishop Samuel Aquila cites Sen.
Joseph Biden’s “lack of knowledge and understanding of Catholic teaching
on abortion” |
Sept. 10, 2008
Two weeks after stating that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s Aug. 24
comments about Catholic teaching concerning when human life begins, made
on NBC’s Meet the Press, were “misinformed” and “created confusion,”
Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo cited Sen. Joseph
Biden’s “lack of knowledge and understanding of Catholic teaching on
abortion.”During a Sept. 7 interview on Meet
the Press, Biden said he accepted Catholic teaching that life begins at
conception but would not “impose that judgment on everyone else.” |
Bishop Samuel J. Aquila |
Bishop Aquila, who has
frequently cautioned Catholics about separating their faith from their
public life, responded firmly to Biden’s statement, noting that both
Pelosi and Biden, who are Catholics, misrepresented Church teaching and
disregarded science.
“Senator Biden, and all others who mistakenly claim that the beginning
of life is a matter of religious opinion confuse matters more by
implying that the time of when life begins is a matter of faith, and not
that of science, the natural law, or truth,” Bishop Aquila wrote in a
Sept. 10
letter to priests which was posted on the diocesan Web site.
“Any person who has studied biology, whether they are a Catholic, Jew,
Muslim, Christian, agnostic or atheist, knows that human life begins at
the moment of conception.”
Bishop Aquila asked priests to share with people in their parishes the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’
fact sheet, “Respect for
Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching” which was written in
response to Pelosi’s Aug. 24 comments and to “address this clarification
of teaching from the pulpit.”
The bishop noted the responsibility of priests to “clearly articulate
the truths of natural reason and the teaching of the Church and help all
of our faithful understand the teaching.”
“We cannot be silent in the face of such a holocaust of innocent human
life,” Bishop Aquila added. |
| Bishop Aquila: Nancy Pelosi's
misinformed comments do not reflect the true teaching of the Catholic
Church |
Bishop Samuel Aquila, in an Aug. 26
letter
to priests, deacons, seminarians and others, noted that Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi's comments on abortion and Catholic teaching,
made Aug. 24 on "Meet the Press," were "misinformed. By her statement in
a public manner she has created confusion in regard to Catholic
teaching."
Those who have studied the Catechism of the Catholic Church, John Paul
II's encyclical
The Gospel of Life and have read the Church Fathers, the bishop
wrote, "can easily recognize the flaws in her remarks on the teaching of
the Church concerning when human life begins. The right to life from
conception is the pre-eminent social justice and human rights issue of
our time." |
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He continued, "As your bishop, I have the responsibility to
present to you the authentic teaching of the Church, to correct the
misinformation she has given, and finally to warn you that those who oppose the
true teaching are not in good standing with the Church."
Bishop Aquila noted that he fully supports a
statement issued by Archbishop
Charles Chaput and Auxiliary Bishop James Conley which clarifies the Catholic teaching on abortion and
addresses Pelosi's comments.
"The Christian teaching on abortion throughout history is unchanged," Bishop
Aquila wrote. "Human life from the moment of conception is to always be
respected, treated with dignity, and protected. Catholics who support so called
abortion rights support a false right, promote a culture of death, and are
guided by the “father of lies” rather than by the light and truth of Jesus
Christ. Out of respect for the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Church, any
Catholic who supports abortion rights has placed himself or herself outside of
visible unity with the Church and thus should refrain from receiving Holy
Communion. Catholics have a responsibility to study the teaching of the Church
on human life and when life begins. This teaching is affirmed by revelation and
is a basic truth of natural reason. I ask all of you in your presentations,
teaching, or preaching to state the truth of this teaching in an unequivocal
manner."
To help end confusion caused by recent misrepresentations of
Catholic Church teaching on abortion, the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life
Activities has issued a two-page fact sheet called
“Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching.” |
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