Campaign Defending Catholic Church at UN Grows to More than 4,000

By Austin Ruse | 2000

     (NEW YORK – C-FAM)  More than 4,800 organizations have now joined in support of the Catholic Church at the United Nations. Campaigns supporting the Vatican's position are running in countries all over the world. In recent days, 1,000 groups from Mexico have joined the campaign.

     More than a year ago a small group of pro-abortion and population control groups began a campaign to have the Vatican removed as a Permanent Observer at the UN. The Vatican has been a non-voting Permanent Observer since 1964. Called "See Change," the campaign began with seventy groups and in the intervening 18 months has grown to roughly 500. Their position comes from the strong stance the Vatican has taken at UN conferences against the spread of abortion on demand.

     "See Change" is being led by the dissident pro-abortion group "Catholics" for a Free Choice whose president is former abortion clinic owner Frances Kissling. When Kissling began her campaign it is certain she did not expect the overwhelming support the Vatican has received from many unlikely sources. The largest Protestant groups in the world as well as some of the most prestigious Muslim groups have signed the declaration in support of the Vatican at the UN.

     Support for the Vatican has also come from three national legislatures. The national Senates of Chile and the Philippines have passed resolutions condemning Kissling's campaign and explicitly supporting the Vatican. Only last month by a vote of 416 – 1, the US House of Representatives passed the same kind of resolution. When the resolution was first proposed last March, Kissling said it was only supported by "anti-choice" Republicans. Even Kissling's closest pro-abortion allies in the House of Representatives agreed to the vote, which rejected Kissling's campaign. Similar resolutions are expected from a number of other countries.

     The Kissling campaign has also been sharply criticized by Republican Presidential candidate George Bush. Spokesmen for President Bill Clinton and Democratic Presidential candidate Albert Gore have also distanced themselves from Kissling's campaign. Spokesmen for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan say the Secretary General will not review the status of the Holy See, and not a single government has joined Kissling's call for the Vatican's ouster.

     What is striking about the two campaigns is the money. Kissling's "Catholics" for a Free Choice has an annual budget of more than $4 million. She hired a full-time staff member to run the "See Change" campaign, and also hired a very well connected Washington DC public relations firm to stop the House resolution.

     The campaign in support of the Holy See is being run by Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (publishers of the Friday Fax), which has an annual budget of $160,000 and has run the campaign for the Vatican mostly on the Internet and by word of mouth.

     Kissling says her campaign has been a success.

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