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Image provided by: Rochester Regional Library Council
Catholic Diocese of Rochester Thursday- December 1. 1988 r~ HOLIDAY SPIRIT Colorguards for the Aquinas Institute Marching Band (left) wave their flags in time to the music during Rochester's Very Merry Downtown Holiday Parade on Saturday, Nov. 26. Police estimated that more than 100,000 people attended the festiv- ities, which also marked the opening of the reconstructed Main Street. Parade volun- teers (below) hold the reins of a giant stocking balloon as they make their way down the parade route. For more parade photos, see the Calendar, page 7. Linda Dow Hayas/Courier-Joumal Judge's sentence spurs visit by rescue leader By Richard A. Kiley Operation Rescue leader Randall Terry — who has drawn national attention for his relentless crusade against abortion — was in Rochester last weekend, but it wasn't to join in picketing outside an abortion clinic His sojourn to western New York was made - as a sign of solidarity with pro-life activif the Flower City, where two antirabortion lead- ers last week were sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine by a Brighton judge. Terry harshly criticized Town Justice John J. Ark for the severity of his sentence, calling him \a judicial tyrant\ and accusing him of trying to impede the,pro-life movement. Terry joined activists David E. Long, execu- tive director of Project Life of Rochester, and Gerald Crawford for a news conference Satur- day afternoon, Nov. 27, in front of Genesee Hospital. For the past two-and-a-half years, the Rochester hospital has been the site of weekly demonstrations by anti-abortion demon- strators. Ark handed down his sentence to Long and Crawford last week after a Brighton jury found each guilty of third-degree criminal trespass and other related charges. Long and Crawford were among 36 activists arrested for blocking a Brighton doctor's office September 24. Terry called on local pro-life activists to demonstrate at Ark's home and law office. He alio compared pro-life demonstrators to civil rights activists of the '60s and claimed that Ark's, sentence] would not have been so severe had Long and Crawford been protesting apartheid. - -After' their sentencing in Brighton Town Court last week, Long and Crawford refused to pay the $1,000 fine because they said doing so would be admitting their guilt and would also compromise their moral grounds. Ark has given the two pro-life leaders until December 12 to reconsider their refusal to pay the fine. Both Long and Crawford were convicted November 11 of third-degree criminal trespass and resisting arrest. Long was also convicted of second-degree obstructing governmental ad- ministration, while Crawford wmconvkted of fourth-degree criminal mischief for breaking a window of a Monroe County Sheriff's trans- port bus. The two faced a maximum sentence of a year in jail for the misdemeanor convictions. Throughout the trial, Atk did not allow Long — who was representing himself — Crawford or Crawford's attorney, Scott C. Smith, to use the \necessity defense,\ in which they would have argued that the two demon- •straf&rs blocked the doctor's jofffce to save the lives of fetuses. He did allow Long and Craw- ford to speak freely about abortion before their sentencing. Crawford knelt before Ark and asked the Brighton judge to \use your authority to pro- tect the lives of unborn children. I beg you to protect .these children:' During sentencing, Ark acknowledged the significance of the trial in terms of pro-life ac- tivists! efforts to change abortion laws and ex- pressed admiration for their beliefs. He then, however, berated Long and Craw- ford for the means by which they have endea- vored to change abortion laws, saying \there is nothing more important in our society than the riile of law!' Long and Crawford are also among the 42 demonstrators currently on trial in Rochester City Court on charges resulting from a rescue mission May 21 at Highland Hospital. Ark said the two can begin their sentences when that tri- al ends. The trial of the group Long calls the \High- land 42\ resumed this past Monday, Nov. 28, after a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. City Court Judge John Manning Regan, who is presiding over the ongoing proceeding, has allowedjpro-Iife activists to use the \neces- sity\ defense in response to inquiries as to why they were at the hospital. The 42 defendants— the largest group ever on trial in Monroe County history — face charges of third-degree criminal trespass and resisting arrest. Assistant District Attorney Joanne Winslow rested the prosecution's case on Wednesday, Nov. 23. Most of the prosecution's testimony came from police officers who arrested ac- tivists on May 21. Much as in the earlier trial of Long and Crawford, the jury watched a police videotape of the arrests. Even with his jail sentence looming from the Brighton .demonstration and a possible sen- tence stemming from the Highland rescue mis- sion, Long has vowed that rescue missions in Rochester will continue. Since Randall Terry's arrest last summer on charges of conspiring to commit a crime, Long has said the effort to \decentralize\ leadership of Project Life has heightened. The Project Life director also said he would also like to see more clergy become involved in the pro life movement, and specifically cit- ed' Catholicpriests among those he hopes to attrart4d the protests. - Ed panel gets mixed reviews from planners By Rob Cullivan Representatives from five of the nine groups charged with reorganizing Monroe County's Catholic school system greeted the formation of the Commission on Reorganization of Cath- olic Schools with a mixture of relief and concern. The commission, whose nine members were named last month by Bishop Matthew Clark, will spend the next few months reviewing recommendations from three of the four quad- rant planning boards and from the Implemen- tation Committee for Catholic Elementary School Planning for the City of Rochester and Monroe County. The commission, headed by Dr. William Pickett, president of St. John Fisher College, is charged with framing by De- cember, 1989, a plan to reorganize diocesan Catholic schools, beginning in September, 1990. According to Paul Morehouse, chairman of the southeast quadrant planning board, the key to the commission's effectiveness wuTbe uni- form communication with the quadrant boards. \We asked Dr. Pickett to be sure that each quadrant gets the same information?' he said of. last month's meeting between the com- mission and quadrant representatives. Noting that the commission members he met wanted each board's input and cooperation, Morehouse observed, \I would have a great deal of confidence in the commission.\ The northeast quadrant planning board's chairwoman, Susan Schaefer, said she was im- pressed by the backgrounds of the commis- sion's members, seven of whom are employed in education. Dierdre M. Hetzler, a representative from St. Mary of the Assumption in Scottsville to the southwest quadrant planning board, said Pick- ett assured representatives from her board that the commission's final plan won't unduly al- ter the quadrants' recommendations. \Our initial reaction was, 'Oh dear, do we have to go through one more level?'\ Hetzler remarked, \but Dr. Pickett assured us that (wouldn't be the case).\ She also noted that Pickett's vision of the commission as acting on recommendations rather than pursuing fur- ther study was \good news. \There's a level of frustration;' she said refer- ring to her co-representatives fear of working with another diocesan group. \We believe in collegiality, but we're committee-crazy!' Patricia Glogowski, a representative to the northwest board from St. Lawrence, said the commission members \wanted to know-where Continued on Page 3 Around the Diocese... Page 2 Calendar Page 7 Classifieds Page 17 Columnists Pages 14-15 Editorial & Opinion... Page 18 Features Pages 4-6 Obituaries Page 16 Sports Page 13 World & Nation Page 3 Youth Page 8
