Priests come to Obama's defense
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH, Chicago Sun-Times, May 16, 2009
On the eve of President Obama's controversial commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, priests and lay ministers who worked with him in his community organizer days on Chicago's South Side are having a reunion today.
It's not scheduled to coincide with Obama's speech, which has inflamed anti-abortion Catholics.
But the reunion is happening because the priests and lay ministers have been calling each other, aghast at the vitriol being tossed at the man they consider a friend who wants to reduce the number of abortions.
Critics say Obama's strong backing of abortion rights trumps the issues on which he agrees with the Catholic Church.
"I am very concerned and very sad to see so much of the Catholic Church coming out so strong against him," said the Rev. Tom Kaminski, 68, who spent an hour or two every Tuesday or Wednesday sitting at his kitchen table with Obama plotting strategy to fight poverty and unemployment.
"I'm amazed, amused and confused. I find it interesting that we have the first African American to be elected president, and all of a sudden there's all this hullabaloo. President George Bush held positions that were in conflict with the Catholic Church.”"
The Rev. Bill Stenzel, 64, who ran Obama's program out of his parish, added, "It certainly is not the first time that a president who is not in full conformity with the church in all things will speak at the university."
The two priests and lay minister Jerry Kellman disagree with Obama's position on abortion, but they say it's not as hardline as his critics portray it.
"I distinctly remember hearing him say on the campaign trail that he doesn't know anybody who's pro-abortion," Stenzel said. "He doesn't view abortion as a positive, good thing. It needs to be addressed in ways that can make a difference. His approach wouldn’t be all that different than the approach we might take in any parish: How do we bring people together? I see him as committed to reducing the rate of abortion."
All three men say they are hopeful about Obama's task force seeking to find common-ground ways to reduce the numbers of abortions in America.
"The Obama administration will cut the number of abortions -- historically they go down percentage wise under Democratic presidents," Kellman said.
Statistics show the abortion rate climbed under Presidents Reagan and Bush until 1990 and have been dropping since.
