Weathering the Storm
TFP Book is Focus of Washington Event
A full house at the TFP book launching
in Washington
On Friday, January 24, the TFP Washington
Bureau invited friends and supporters to a local launching
for the hard-hitting book just authored by the TFP Commission
for American Issues, I Have Weathered Other Storms:
A Response to the Scandals and Democratic Reforms that
Threaten the Catholic Church. Speaker John Horvat
of the American TFP spoke to a full and lively auditorium
of nearly 100 people.
The talk at the TFP office in McLean,
Va. came on the tails of the 2003 March for Life two days
before. As a result, anti-abortion delegations associated
with the TFP in France, Italy and Poland attended the
event. The TFP especially welcomed Dr. Antoni Zieba of
the Polish Association for the Protection of Human Life.
While Poland still suffered under communism, Dr. Zieba
started the movement that later defeated decades-old abortion
laws and gained Poland the honor of being the only country
in the world to reverse legislation allowing the killing
of the unborn.
Fr. John Trigilio was an honored guest
together with several clergy members from the Washington
area. Exiled King Kigeli V of Rwanda, a devote Catholic,
was also present. The audience reflected a cross section
of concerned Catholics from all walks of life.
In speaking about the sexual abuse scandals
and cover-up, Mr. Horvat put the issue into perspective
by focusing on three problems. The first is the monumental
crisis of the Faith that affects all sectors of the Church
which he qualified as a veritable “scandal factory”
churning out the most degrading practices including pedophilia.
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| The evening was marked by lively conversation and
conviviality |
Secondly, the speaker discussed the role
of the process of self-destruction inside the Church as
essential element to consider when looking at the present
scandals. Finally, he described the deliberate attack
on the Church itself by pressure groups of the Catholic
left aided by the media to capitalize on the poor plight
of victims to introduce democratic reforms inside the
Church “What is at issue here is not the reality
of the crisis,” Mr. Horvat noted. “All acknowledge
that. Rather, our book is a response to the scandals and
the proposed reforms that threaten our Church.”
Citing authors of the Catholic left and
the secular press, the speaker showed how the consistent
message of the current sexual abuse scandals is that of
systemic change. Media and reform groups alike cite the
clerical system and not the individual offenders as responsible
for the scandals. They want changes that will alter the
structure and therefore the essence of the Church.
The TFP book sustains that such changes
are unacceptable. It takes the very points of Faith threatened
by the sexual-abuse scandals and proclaims them loudly,
clearly and succinctly.
Mr. Horvat exhorted the audience to
use this book as a handbook as they weather these scandals.
"Speak out with courage and confidence,
because by citing the traditional teachings of the Supreme
Magisterium of the Church, we cannot err.”
The session ended with an unexpectedly
lively question-and-answer session, Catholic conviviality
and book signings.
Buy your own copy of I Have Weathered
Other Storms now, by clicking
here.
