ARTICLES

Human Life International Responds

Santa Clara Conference is Off

By Art Brew

Human Life International announced in mid-February that it had cancelled its 19th World Conference scheduled to occur in Santa Clara in late April. This cancellation came just two weeks after its president, Father Richard Welch, assured the Faith that the event would go on "even if only ten people showed up". The Santa Clara venue attracted almost 2,000 pro-lifers to an identical session eleven years ago. One of the scheduled speakers, Father Raymond Dunn of Palo Alto, said he was notified by phone of the decision but was told that HLI is planning a conference this October in Bombay, India instead. HLI confirmed this in a February 21 press release announcing the switch from Santa Clara to Bombay in late October. This long running controversy has torn apart the national pro-life movement and has undermined much of the fine work and good will HLI has built up over the years. Some have recommended to HLI that it seriously consider naming Alan Keyes as its president, or, failing that, appoint him to its board of directors.

In our February issue, I described some of the internal problems of Human Life International surrounding the retirement of Father Paul Marx, its founder and long time president. I spoke with HLI's current president, Father Richard Welch, just days after the February edition went to press. Responding to what he termed 'misinformation' and 'outright lies' circulating about the Virginia-based pro-life organization, Father Welch said he was anxious to set the record straight. He is unhappy with coverage in the Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly, which has been highly critical of HLI since the departure of Father Marx last year. The paper did not publish HLI's rebuttal to a litany of charges in the Wanderer against the Front Royal organization by disgruntled former employees and unidentified sources.

"It is a cult type of journalism which portrays Father Marx as a victim and myself as the villain," Father Welch said. "We'll have nothing further to do with this paper even though many of our long time supporters are Wanderer subscribers. We will have to build a support base independent of that paper." In a recent Wanderer editorial it was recommended that Father Welch resign to bring stability and credibility to HLI. He said he has no intention of leaving at this time and is working to restore its good name and continue its worldwide apostolate. Charges that HLI had plans to move its headquarters to Rome are completely false, Welch said. According to Father Welch, the idea was never formally presented to the board of directors of HLI. Welch said that at the time, the idea was to place an additional two persons in Rome to internationalize the organization while leaving the main operations in the United States. Father Welch said, "The Holy Father runs the Catholic Church from Rome and International Planned Parenthood is based in London. We thought it would show HLI as more than a merely American group but there was never any intention of moving the entire operation to Italy."

Father Welch said that in its initial articles about HLI, Wanderer reporter Paul Likoudis talked only briefly with him and to no members of the board of directors and relied primarily for his information on former employees of HLI. According to Father Welch, HLI had invited Wanderer publisher Al Matt to come to Virginia to review its records for alleged financial irregularities as claimed by the paper, but the offer was never accepted. According to Father Welch, HLI books and financial records were in shambles prior to his taking charge and recently an Internal Revenue Service audit has given the organization a clean bill of health. Welch also said that the Wanderer refused to print a rebuttal by Ann Sheridan, a Wanderer writer and member of the HLI board of directors.

Welch also believes that he is the inheritor of the bad outcome of decisions made before he became president. He points out that HLI is currently housed in a $7.5 million building on too much acreage when he believes an expenditure of $250,000 towards a new bay at the original Gaithersburg, Maryland warehouse would have served the purpose well. He thinks HLI is saddled with too much land and burdened by extremely cumbersome zoning regulations. As for reports that 35 employees have left recently when, according to Father Welch, it has been 17 -- a not unusual figure, according to Welch, for younger workers who are constantly leaving to return to school, take another job, get married, have a baby, and the like.

Father Marx will be 80 years old in May, and Welch says that the state of his health and mental acuity has been a subject of considerable discussion. "Many people cannot accept the fact that Father Marx is up in years and has health needs. We can't take care of him at HLI, and his abbot in Minnesota ordered him to remain there to recuperate. He has had two operations to clear a blocked carotid artery, minor strokes, cancer of the prostate, has fallen several times, and suffers memory lapses. He fell in a shower in Germany and had internal bleeding. The airline refused to let him on board until he fully recovered. We cannot take care of him in Virginia but we are paying for his medical expenses and hospitalization, including diagnostic check-ups at the Mayo Clinic."

Father Welch complained that negative coverage of HLI has relied heavily on John Cavanagh-O'Keefe who, Welch says, was fired twice by HLI -- once by Father Marx and later by Father Welch, for insubordination. O'Keefe brought a complaint against HLI before the National Labor Relations Board, saying he was fired for attempting to unionize his fellow employees. Welch says that two other senior employees claimed they were defamed by Father Marx and brought suit against HLI. It was settled out of court recently and, Welch believes, could have been more costly had the cases gone to trial. As to the assertion that HLI intended to spend $1 million on a public relations effort to restore its image, Father Welch said once again this was nothing more than a suggestion by a member of the finance committee and never went anywhere.

Father Welch made clear that HLI opposes the controversial sex education program of Hanna Klaus. Welch said he sent a letter of apology to her for defamatory remarks made about her program by Father Marx. Charges of nepotism at HLI are ludicrous, said Father Welch. His father, Richard Welch, was hired by Father Marx, and his mother, Alma Welch, works at HLI as an unpaid volunteer, often in excess of forty hours a week.

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