Dallas bishop ‘communicating’ with nuns on their support for Gates’ global contraceptive campaign

by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

May 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to a spokeswoman of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, is “communicating with the sisters” of the Ursuline Academy of Dallas, following statements attributed to the nuns that appear to support billionaire Melinda Gates’ campaign to inject millions of of impoverished women with contraceptive drugs.

Diocesan spokeswoman Annette Gonzalez Taylor told LifeSiteNews.com that she could not make further comments regarding the situation, but that a statement would soon be posted on the diocesan website. 

The communique, which appeared on Friday at approximately 6 pm central time, speaks for Farrell, stating that “in light of recent news events” the bishop “reminds all faithful that the Catholic Church is unwavering in Her teaching which states that through Divine Law, God is the giver of life.”

“Human life and the duty and privilege of transmitting it are not limited to the horizons of this life only. As Catholics, God has empowered us to be partners with him and through mutual self-giving be open to his plan for new life. Human sexuality and sexual expression in marriage are among God’s greatest gifts,” the statement reads.

“Artificial contraception violates the meaning of this gift.  The mutual unconditional gift that a married couple offers to one another in love must remain open to render them co-creators with God in new life.  Every Catholic has a serious responsibility to inform themselves about this teaching and to form their consciences in its light.”

The bishop’s comments come in apparent response to recent statements made by Melinda Gates, wife of billionaire tech mogul Bill Gates, claiming that the nuns who manage the Ursuline Academy of Dallas, where she once attended high school, were supportive of her plan to begin a global contraceptive campaign.

Gates recently told Newsweek magazine that she intends to raise $4 billion to distribute contraceptives to 120 million women in poor countries by 2020. She emphasizes the injectable drug Depo-Provera, which can cause abortions by preventing the implantation of a newly-conceived human life in the uterine wall. It is also associated with a host of medical problems, including osteoporosis, cervical cancer, and even memory loss. It contains a black label warning from the FDA.

According to Gates, the nuns at her old school were delighted to hear about her plans to initiate a global contraceptive campaign and contacted her to tell her: “We’re all for you. We know this is a difficult issue to speak on, but we absolutely believe that you’re living under Catholic values.”

“It was just so heartening,” Gates said of the phone call, which she says the Ursuline sisters made to her hotel room in Berlin, where she had just announced her intentions at a TEDxChange conference in early April.

Following the Newsweek story, published on May 7, the Academy’s president, Margaret Ann Moser, issued a statement declaring that “the nuns are “proud of Melinda French Gates, her dedication to social justice, her compassion for the underserved, and the great work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”

“Melinda Gates leads from her conscience, and acts on her beliefs as a concerned citizen of our world,” adds Moser, explaining, “The mission of Ursuline Academy of Dallas is to educate young women for such leadership.”

While claiming that “Ursuline is committed to the moral and doctrinal teachings of the Catholic Church” and recognizing that “Melinda’s beliefs on birth control are different from those of the Catholic Church,” the sisters nonetheless say they “respect her right” to “speak from her research and experience of the world we live in.”

The statement does not affirm nor deny that the nuns called Gates to support her contraceptive campaign