Fr.
Euteneuer asks to meet with Hannity about birth control
Sean
Hannity
Fox News
2 Penn Plaza, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10121
July
19, 2004
Dear
Mr. Hannity,
I
was listening to your radio program today and heard your
response to “Heather” towards the end of the
show concerning birth control and denying Communion to
pro-abortion “Catholics” in public life. I
was shocked at your open dissent to the Church’s
teaching on this issue. What you effectively did in that
short segment was to solidify in the minds of Catholics
and all other listeners a moral relativism about a sacred
teaching. You also unfairly denigrated your own Church
and confused listeners when you said that your pastor
considers this issue “baloney,” a term that
can be applied to many political opinions on the airwaves
nowadays. However, on this issue you did not and do not
apply your normal standard of intellectual rigor, and
because of that you used your position in the media irresponsibly.
You gave scandal. This is of greatest concern to me as
a priest and ought to be of concern to you as a Catholic
who professes to follow the teaching of Christ.
When
I talk about lack of intellectual rigor I am being specific.
In your show yesterday you did not offer the slightest
challenge to the statistics that Heather was so irresponsibly
using. She said that she “had read somewhere that
93-95% of Catholics use artificial birth control.”
The point of the matter is that it is impossible
to know how many “Catholics” use birth control
without violating the privacy of millions of people. Even
if that were the case, it is irresponsible for this issue
to be played out so nebulously in a forum that reaches
millions of people without any possibility for someone
to offer an intelligent response. Al Sharpton should have
been given such a pass.
You
then would have made Planned Parenthood proud with your
“I have no problem with birth control” comment.
You did not offer even a passing nod to other points of
view about your own Church’s centuries-old well-developed
teaching on this matter. You did not mention that the
Holy Father condemned birth control and abortion in every
single major speech he gave on all of his tours to the
United States. You did not clarify the distinction between
things that are intrinsically evil and others that are
open to debate in the Church and public life. Furthermore,
you sounded oddly liberal in saying that the Church cannot
get into the business of “reading people’s
hearts,” but you plainly ignored the notion that
Church leaders have a right to maintain the discipline
of the sacraments among the faithful which is a matter
of judging deeds not hearts.
In
short, you gave the impression to millions of people that
birth control is okay because you think it is okay and
that you will not allow the Church’s teaching to
disturb your lifestyle. Apparently your reason for remaining
in the Church whose teachings you openly reject boils
down to this: “so we can all humbly learn something
and grow in our belief in God.” With this attitude,
how are you different from John Kerry?
You
said in the show that Church is meant to help us “change,
grow and be enlightened.” I could not agree more.
I am writing to invite you into a dialogue on the subject
of birth control for your enlightenment and growth. I
am not asking for an interview on your show or any public
attention. I want to address your dissent on birth control
and abortion from a standpoint of faith and intellectual
honesty, not politics. I am concerned that you will be
totally absorbed by the secular culture on this and other
issues and so be a continuing source of scandal for other
Catholics who are trying to live their faith in difficult
circumstances. If you truly believe as you said in your
show that the Church is to assist people in repenting
and changing their hearts, then I urge you to accept this
invitation. You need real repentance on this subject,
and as a priest I will help you to return to the house
of the Father.
I
am available at [phone] or at [email] if you or your staff
wish to contact me. Otherwise, I will make an attempt
to contact your offices sometime before the end of August
to set up an appointment with you.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer
President
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