Consistent Life News
Issue #5, Fall 2005
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By Way of Introduction . . .
by Paul Magno

Consistent Life is quite pleased to introduce Paul Magno as our interim Executive Director. Paul has also been working on fundraising and member development for CL for much of this year. We've asked him to tell you a little about himself.

Paul Magno

My name is Paul Magno and I've been involved with the consistent life ethic since my college days at Georgetown University. One of my most important mentors, Richard McSorley, SJ, made it clear to me that affirming peace and affirming life are all of a piece from a moral point of view. I've tried to honor that truth ever since.

One of the ways I chose was to attend the founding conference of Prolifers for Survival, organizational predecessor to Consistent Life, convened by Juli Loesch in Erie, PA in 1981. Subsequently, I worked locally in the Washington, DC area to make the connections. One result was coordinating between our Catholic Worker vigil at a weapons engineering lab and the Prolife Nonviolent Action Project's vigil at a nearby abortion clinic to organize joint civil disobedience, one of the few times I know of such a thing ever happening anywhere!

Another was through many years' involvement in the Catholic Worker movement, both locally in Washington, DC and through work with many CW colleagues & fellow travelers across the country and indeed internationally. The Worker puts a premium on living with integrity and nonviolence through the Works of Mercy. Invariably it demands of its adherents a comprehensive upholding of life - against a world habitually seeking to impose suffering and death, generally on those who are vulnerable to begin with.

Yet one more way I've honored the truth of the consistent life ethic has been through concentrating my attention on contesting the institution of war. There are many, many outrages against human dignity and life in this world. Often we get drawn to one or two in particular, and by way of Fr. McSorley, I've come to dwell on the problem of war.

Consider what it says about our society that we dedicate so much of ourselves, our spirits, our energy and imagination, our money and material resources to the maintenance and exercise of war. The 20th century was the bloodiest in history, in terms of the consequences of warfare, and we're not off to a very good start in this new century. War is certainly not the only life issue around, or the only one on which I'll be working here at Consistent Life, but it's virtually the oldest form of violence in the world, and abolishing it feels like a very good way to propel the world to nonviolence on many fronts.

There you have it, a few insights into who I am and what makes me tick as a Consistent Life advocate. It's not all of who I am (I'm also an unapologetic Red Sox fan), but it's a start.

So, get back to me. Fill me in a little on your Consistent Life story. Once we learn more about each other, it will help us work toward a movement in which we simply don't attempt to solve our problems by taking others' lives. A good and gentle world waits in the wings for our hands.