Pope Francis Asked to Ban Planned Parenthood Staff From Catholic Church Positions

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 25, 2014   |   1:21PM   |   Washington, DC

Should volunteers or employees of the Planned Parenthood abortion business be allowed to hold leadership positions within the Catholic Church? A pro-life group says no and is asking Pope Francis to deem the abortion giant an enemy of the Catholic Church.

In anticipation of the Vatican’s October 2014 Synod on the Family, American Life League is launching a new campaign called Defend the Family. Rooted in prayer, this campaign seeks to expose Planned Parenthood as the most dangerous enemy of traditional families and of the Catholic Church.

featurecatholicbAmerican Life League president, Judie Brown, stated, “Planned Parenthood has torn apart the family like a pack of ravenous wolves. The pro-life movement and the Church must stand together, face this threat, and shield our families from Planned Parenthood’s continued assaults.”

Click here to sign up for daily pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com

The Defend the Family campaign is centered around a report entitled The Vatican Can Help Save Souls from Planned Parenthood in 2014. HERE’S HOW! The report, which has been translated into Spanish, Italian, and French, builds a case that an official declaration from the Vatican that Planned Parenthood is an enemy of the Church would be a powerful way to defend families. The report is available on the campaign web page at www.DefendTheFamily.org.

Should Pope Francis make the declaration, it would have far-reaching effects on the ability of staff and volunteers to hold leadership positions in local churches.

Michael Hichborn, ALL’s director of Defend the Faith,told LifeNews: “An official declaration of Planned Parenthood as an enemy of the Church will be a real game changer. Such a declaration will prevent Planned Parenthood employees and volunteers from serving in positions of responsibility in our parishes. Simply put, Catholics could no longer hide behind an uninformed conscience in order to assist or promote Planned Parenthood or its agenda and be able to continue calling themselves Catholics in good standing.”

But how likely is it that Pope Francis would make such a declaration?

Jim Sedlak, vice president of ALL, responded: “Some people have told us this campaign has an impossible goal. But with God, nothing is impossible. In addition to being a massive educational effort, this campaign has a large spiritual dimension.”

ALL’s new campaign encourages regular prayers after Mass for the conversion of individual countries from the ideologies of Planned Parenthood, offers prayers for the pope, and aims to open communication with local bishops about the dangers Planned Parenthood poses to the family.

Even if no designation occurs, the increased communication could help local Catholic Churches ensure they are not letting Planned Parenthood abortion business officials receive a platform within the church.