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Defend Life Lecture Series

Fr. Euteneuer Rallies Pro-Lifers At Loyola High

Loyola Dons packed Room 114 in Burk Hall September 16 to hear the president of Human Life International deliver a no-holds-barred analysis and indictment of the Culture of Death, and challenge them to take up the fight against it.

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer first regaled his audience, which included a sprinkling of girls from Maryvale and John Carroll high schools, with an apocryphal tale of how in Florida he once delivered a Lenten sermon on sin in Spanish, but confused the word for sin—pecado—with the word for fish—pescado.

Then he got down to business:  in order to effectively uproot abortion, we must first understand why today it is legal and virtually unlimited, he said.

“The battle to legalize abortion was fought decades before Roe v. Wade,” he explained.  “The main reason we have abortion is because we first had birth control.”

Contraception, which the Catholic Church has always opposed because it sets up barriers between husband and wife, was once illegal.

But through the efforts of Margaret Sanger, who set up the first birth control clinic in 1916, and other advocates, birth control laws were eliminated and the practice became widespread.

“Birth control says sex is free and there are no consequences,” he said.  “But birth control fails a certain percent of the time.  What happens when it fails and you get pregnant?  Abortion is used as a back-up.”

In 1973 all abortion laws were wiped out by one ruling, Roe v. Wade.

Margaret Sanger’s organization, Planned Parenthood, has augmented its support of abortion by pushing sex education in schools, said Euteneuer.

Sexuality is a gift of love to be given to one’s spouse for the purpose of having children in a loving relationship.  But sex education has instead broken down natural barriers of modesty and promoted sexual promiscuity.

“Now we have what the Holy Father calls the Culture of Death,” said Father.  “Abortion is not just practiced, it is celebrated!

“If you want to make any significant contribution in this world, you’ve got to do your part and fight it.”

But he cautioned that the battle is a spiritual one.

“Murder comes only from one source:  the Devil.  He wants to destroy God’s kingdom and build up his own kingdom.

“You can see this whole thing as a demonic reality.  The abortionist performs his bloody ritual just like the priest offers his unbloody sacrifice.  The Devil is worshiped with these bloody sacrifices.”

Abortionists get fabulously rich, said Enteneuer, “but no one is happy in that job, because they know what they’re doing.  So we pray for them.”

Father Enteneuer responded to questions with some practical pointers.

To a Maryvale student who asked, “How do you talk to someone about abortion who doesn’t believe in God?” Father suggested, “Just keep talking about God.  Even if they say they don’t believe in Him, it is imprinted on the human heart.”

She could also “put it in terms of human rights,” he added:  “does this little child deserve to be killed because of the misdeeds of his mother and father?  Does the little child have the right to life?”

A Loyola student’s query, “What’s a good answer when a woman says she got pregnant because of rape?” brought the response, “There’s no crime in this country where we put to death the child of the person who committed the crime.

“If we push the woman into having an abortion, she is doubly victimized.  This woman is a victim, and we have to surround her with love.”

Father noted that only .01 percent of all rapes result in pregnancy.

Father Euteneuer concluded by telling the students that some time in their life, one of their friends or acquaintances is going to come up to them and tell them either that she is pregnant or that his girlfriend is pregnant.

“You are going to be put in the spot where the life of the baby is in the balance.  Think of this image:  a little baby with a gun to his head.  You’ve got to help save the baby.

“Kids like you see the truth.  Tell your friend, ‘You’re not going to have an abortion and I’ll help you!”

Father Euteneuer’s Defend Life-sponsored talk was hosted by Loyola’s Respect Life Club.

Defend Life also sponsored September 16-17 talks by Father Euteneuer at Visitation Academy, Frederick; St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Damascus; Holy Trinity Church, Glen Burnie; Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg; and Blessed Sacrament Parish Center, Washington, D.C.