Mahony Defines Role of Protests : Activism: Cardinal calls for peaceful anti-abortion demonstrations but warns that some tactics may be self-defeating.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony sought middle ground Saturday in the debate over anti-abortion protests by calling for the continuation of peaceful demonstrations in the aftermath of the murders of two clinic workers near Boston.

At the same time, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles cautioned against sit-ins inside clinics and other acts of civil disobedience intended to block access to abortion clinics. Such tactics, he warned, could be self-defeating and would not change “hearts and minds.”

Mahony’s two-track approach comes as supporters and opponents of abortion are taking stock of their tactics because of the increasing violence by abortion foes. It also comes at a time when the nation’s leading Catholic bishops are divided over how to respond to the violence.

Shortly after two clinic receptionists were fatally shot Dec. 30 in Brookline, Mass., Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston called for a moratorium on peaceful demonstrations. But his plea has met with limited agreement among the nation’s Catholic bishops.

On Saturday, Mahony--the chief spokesman for the nation’s Catholic bishops on abortion and euthanasia--said that while he understands Law’s desire for a cooling-off period to defuse an emotionally volatile situation in the Boston area, there could be unintended consequences.

“If we start canceling all of the prayer vigils and nonviolent peaceful things that we do around clinics across the country, we could give the impression that we are assuming responsibility for these few nuts that create violence,” Mahony said.

Mahony said he offered his views to Law last weekend in Washington during an annual vigil Mass and march on the Capitol to protest the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling liberalizing abortion. “I said we have to be very careful,” Mahony said.

Speaking Saturday to an estimated 350 anti-abortion activists at St. Anne’s Maternity Home near Downtown, Mahony made it clear that those guilty of such crimes cannot be considered “pro-life.”

“There are individuals out there that are going from time to time to come and do something like that and really blame, in broad-brush fashion, the pro-life efforts,” Mahony said.

“These are not authentic pro-lifers and we have to make sure everyone in the public understands that,” he said. “They don’t stand for what we stand for.”

But during a question-and-answer session, Mahony said that as a rule, he does not favor sit-ins within clinics or other tactics to block women from entering clinics.

Asked about his views by John Madrid of El Monte, who spent 32 days in jail in 1990 after being convicted of such tactics, Mahony said: “I think we should choose those strategies that are more likely to change hearts.

“I think there is room from time to time to people who wish to have civil disobedience simply to make sure that the general community understands that there’s a problem,” he added. “But I think on a continuing basis . . . that works against us more than for us.”

Afterward, Madrid said he disagreed with Mahony. He said church activities such as an annual Sunday event to oppose abortion are “like squirting a water pistol at a forest fire.”

Overall, Mahony offered an upbeat assessment of the future of the anti-abortion movement. He reported that every U.S. senator and representative opposing abortion was reelected in last year’s elections, while 29 backers of abortion rights were defeated.

Mahony said he senses a growing hunger by Americans for moral direction, as evidenced by such bestsellers as Pope John Paul’s “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” and William J. Bennett’s “Book of Virtues.”

Mahony also disclosed a major West Coast plan to fight ballot measures legalizing euthanasia by the archbishops of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He said they have formed a corporation to produce literature and mount a major anti-euthanasia campaign that will reach every Catholic in Washington, Oregon and California.