Just a friendly letter to the Bishop of my Diocese. I wasn't able to make the march in Washington this past weekend, but I did want to make my voice heard locally.

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Dear Bishop Foys:

I am writing this letter in reference to the Diocesan/Parish Annual Appeal. On Friday, April 23, 2004, I spoke with someone in your office regarding my concerns as to how my donation to the annual appeal would be spent. That person encouraged me to write a letter voicing my concerns.

I noticed as I was preparing my donation to the appeal that one of the ministries that benefits from the donations is the Pro-Life ministry. I gave serious consideration to not making a donation at all to the annual appeal; that is how strong my aversion to this particular ministry is. However, after discussing the matter with my husband, we decided that some of the other ministries are so important to us, i.e. inner city parishes and inner city agencies, not making a donation was not an option. However, I feel I must emphatically state that I do not, under any circumstance, want any part of my donation to go to the Anti-Choice ministry. I find it reprehensible that any money I would donate to the Diocese of Covington would go toward a hateful ministry, like Northern Kentucky Right to Life, which trades on misinformation and bullying tactics.

I feel incredibly strongly about this matter. I am a practicing Catholic who believes that a woman’s reproductive choices should remain between herself and her God. I also believe that a woman must be permitted to make choices regarding childbearing and birth control according to her own faith and conscience. And lest you trot out the hate-filled and specious argument that people who are pro-choice hate God, hate the notion of family and hate children, I feel compelled to inform you that I am also pro-faith, pro-family and pro-choice.

Furthermore, please do not attempt to deny the Diocese’s continued hypocrisy on this issue. In the past several years, I have made donations to the Annual Appeal, to my local parish, and to a retired religious fund. Each and every check I have written has been on a Pro-Choice check, emblazoned very visibly with the words Pro-Choice and the message “Protect a woman’s right to choose.” You have had no compunction in cashing every single one of those checks and yet you continue to spread a message of misogyny in your writings in the Messenger concerning matters of reproductive choice.

I feel it is imperative to shed light on your own hypocrisy, Bishop Foys. You are willing to spend the Diocese’s money, of which we have precious little according to other articles in the Messenger, to attend anti-choice rallies around the country. You are willing to call those Catholics who have contemplated their own faith and who are pro-choice names and say that we are not “good Catholics.” I would argue, sir, that I am not alone in my beliefs in our diocese, I am merely willing to be vocal about my aversion to any donated monies from this appeal going to Pro-Life ministries. Furthermore, I am a “good Catholic.” I live my life according to my conscience. I give back to my community, both financially and through volunteerism. I even attended RCIA classes to become a Catholic during a time in history when people are leaving the church in droves because of the behavior of our church leaders.

And as far as the argument that anyone who supports a woman’s right to choose is not a “good Catholic,” perhaps you should look in the mirror. You have no problem cashing the checks I send and yet you spread a message of discord and exclusion regarding reproductive freedom; how precisely is that being a “good Catholic?” I would argue that being a “good Catholic” means living a life of contemplation, a life of conscience, faith and community building.

Please use the donation I am enclosing to do the aforementioned things. Use the money to build our inner city parishes. Use the money towards scholarships for inner city youth to obtain a Catholic education. Use the money for the Mary Rose Mission. Do not, however, use my donation for the anti-woman, anti-family, anti-choice ministries of the Pro-Life movement.

Finally, please be aware that not only am I supporting the Covington Diocesan Annual Appeal, but also I have made a matching donation to the Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice for their continued work on behalf of women’s reproductive freedom in Kentucky.

Sincerely yours,

Michelle