Fr. Dwight Longenecker: From the Lion’s Heart

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Crisis Magazine, May 5, 20211

Father Dwight Longenecker is the pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Greenville, South Carolina. His upcoming book, Beheading Hydra: A Radical Plan for Christians in an Atheistic Age, will be published by Sophia Institute Press in the Spring. …

As many have observed, the Archbishop of San Francisco (Salvatore Cordileone) is lion-hearted. His namesake, King Richard, was a famous crusader, and with Before I Formed You in the Womb, his recent pastoral letter on abortion and Catholics in public office, Archbishop Cordileone steps forward as a prominent voice in our culture wars.

Some Catholics (including highest ranking members of the hierarchy) seem weary of the fight to ban abortion—saying we should talk about other issues. Those who advocate for that tattered vestment “the seamless garment” argue that many other issues also have to do with the sanctity of human life. True enough, but equating abortion with immigration, racism, prison reform, and ecology is to miss the fundamental aspect of the abortion battle. All human rights depend on the most basic right—the right to life. ….