Dear fellow workers,
Please stand with our Patriarch, Bishops and Church in our stand for the unborn. In this letter to us, the Patriarch shows clearly that this holocaust isn't simply about the children but is resulting in the very melt down of civilization as we know it. Later this month I will lead a contingent of our people in the March for Life in San Francisco. If you can't make it, stand with us in prayer and on the 16th of January, preach to your people that Jesus loves the little children, born and unborn and take up a good offering for our pro-life arm. Please be faithful in your own obedience and renew your yearly membership to CEC for life.
Yours servant and His,
Bishop +Doug
Letter to All Bishops Regarding the Feast of the Lord and Giver of Life
Dear Brothers,
We are the only communion of churches in the world that celebrate the Feast of the Lord and Giver of Life. (January 16th this year). This day is set aside to declare in the heavenly realms that all life comes from God and ALL LIFE IS SACRED from fertilization to natural death.
Therefore, death is never a solution to a problem. The universal Church has proclaimed this message for 2,000 years and it is only recently that some liberal Protestant denominations have taught otherwise. Yet, their voice is a minority voice confined mostly to the churches in Europe and North America. Those of the historic church continue to teach the sanctity of all life.
Why then did the ICCEC, under the leadership of the Patriarch's Council, see a need to set aside a specific Feast Day? First, the ICCEC was birthed in the Pro-Life Movement in the United States. Second, because the secular voices are calling for increasing the availability of abortion and euthanasia and are gaining in roads around the world. The attacks on Christianity by the secular humanists are centered primarily on the sacredness of life.
This is not an American issue nor is it a political issue. It is true that the vast majority of financing for legalizing abortion and euthanasia comes from American and Europeans through groups like Planned Parenthood and the United Nations. It is also true that the battleground is often the political arena. We must understand that this is a clash of worldviews between people of faith and people who are humanists.
The cultural war is being waged in Brazil, the Philippines, and Africa. Even as I write this letter billions of dollars are being spent to legalize abortion in these areas. They hide behind labels like "women's rights", "feminism", "reproductive rights", "women's health care", and "reproductive health care." But when you explore the real agenda it is abortion.
It is clear, and becoming clearer, that abortion not only kills an innocent child (millions upon millions of abortions are performed each year) it also damages the lives of women and destroys the family, which is the very fabric of our civilization. Women who have had abortions are at a higher risk of ovarian cancer, breast cancer, depression, obesity, suicide and addiction. The free access to abortion on demand increases not only sexual promiscuity but has also destroys family by relieving men of their responsibility as protectors and providers.
There could be no better time for our Convocation 2012 to be held in Europe. Church attendance is France, Sweden, and the Netherlands is less than 10%. And as attendance dwindles across Europe, so does attention to the traditions and beliefs that the Church has always encouraged. Simple things that, when ignored, produce much more complicated ramifications. For example, the belief that children are a blessing. Europe is not a place that encourages their people to have children. In an article in USA Today, Director of the World Values Survey, Ronald Inglehart says, "The biggest single consequence of the declining role of the church is the huge decline in fertility rates." World Values Survey is a Swedish based group that has tracked beliefs of more than eight societies around the globe. For Europe, lower fertility means fewer people entering the work force. Over time countries like Italy, Germany and France won't be able to maintain the generous welfare programs that have given most workers a lifetime of economic security. Simple beliefs. Complicated ramifications.
Though many of these battles will be fought in the political realm, the real answer is not politics but the Lord and Giver of Life. John 10.10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The mission of the Church is to proclaim this Good News. We know that when a person comes to Christ there is a fundamental transformation that occurs in the heart so much so that those who are dead in sin are brought to eternal life in Christ.
The Church must engage in the cultural wars. She must speak for the innocent children and for women who are being deceived. The Church must reach out to the orphans. Provide abstinence education. The Church must reach out to the victims of rape and incest. The Church must be at the forefront of the fight for economic justice and provision for the poor. The Church must also be clear that the solutions to the problem is not the murder of unborn children or the use of abortive means of birth control.
One of my first acts as Patriarch of the ICCEC was to make CEC for Life and international branch of my office. Up till that time CEC for Life acted on behalf of the American House of Bishops. Now, CEC for Life acts on behalf of all the Bishops of the ICCEC. This past year, Fr. Terry Gensemer, who has been the Director of CEC for Life since its beginnings has taken the bold move of faith - given the unanimous support of the American House of Bishops and the Patriarch's Council - to leave Parish ministry and work full time for CEC for Life and my office. He has traveled with me to Africa and Europe and soon will be in Brazil. He is gathering information and ways that each of us can educate our people and take action to fight the culture of death.
Since the beginning of the CEC, the American Church has asked for members of the CEC-NA to become members of CEC for Life. Each member would pay roughly 50 dollars for membership. On what use to be called Sanctity of Life Sunday, Rectors and Vicars would encourage their people to join. This membership supported Fr. Terry and CEC for Life. But only part time. Now that Fr. Terry is full time and his scope is international there is an increased financial need.
The Patriarch's Council, at its last meeting, in consensus, determined that on the Feast of the Lord and Giver of Life, every Cathedral and Congregation in the world would take up a special offering for CEC for Life, which would then be sent to the Patriarch's Office to support the Pro-Life work. (Patriarch, ICCEC, 122 Broadway, Malverne, New York 11565) It also suggested that we continue seeking memberships and my hope would be that every Bishop, Priest, Deacon, and baptized Christian would become a member. (Information on this is available from CEC for Life. See CECforLife.com.)
My brother Bishops, I pray that this Christmas when we celebrate the coming of the Christ child your Cathedrals and Diocese will encounter the vastness of His love, mercy, and grace. You are my joy and I am humbled to be among you as a servant. My prayer is to be able physically and financially to be able to see you in the year 2011.
I remain,
Under His mercy,
The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates,
Patriarch, ICCEC
