May 20, 2005 - Issue #10
Local News | Opinion/Editorials | Letters to the Editor
Ursuline Sisters celebrate a century of service to Alaska
The Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union recently celebrated 100 years of service to Alaska with a two-day celebration in Anchorage.
The April 28 and 29 festivities honored a group of women who were true Alaskan pioneers, particularly in the small villages and missions of rural Western Alaska. Theirs is a story of establishing and building schools in a brutal climate, using the Yukon River as their highway, fishing and canning fish for survival, nursing orphans and teaching students who came to them speaking no English.
"They were very hospitable, very welcoming," recalls Ursuline Sister Josephine Aloralrea, a native of the Cup’ik village of Chevak who has seen the Order of St. Ursula from inside and out.
Over 100 years, more than 60 Ursuline Sisters served, or still serve, Alaska, some of them for their entire careers. During the 37 years that St. Mary’s Mission operated on the Andreafsky River, Ursuline Sisters put in over 270 years of collective service at that one mission site alone.
Sister Aloralrea, who entered the Ursulines in 1969, remembers what it was like to leave Chevak in 1964 after graduating from the Bureau of Indian Affairs grade school, and attend the boarding school that the Ursulines and Jesuits ran in St. Marys, Alaska.
Leaving home wasn’t easy, but she remembers a sister who was "so solicitous of us when we were sick." And Sister James McLaughlin, a former Montanan with a quick sense of humor, made freshman homeroom "so much fun."
She also remembers the biographies of St. Teresa of Avila and Thomas Merton that the sisters made available to their students, an example of the high quality of education they provided.
"They respected each individual," said Sister Aloralrea, who is now the administrator of St. Ann Parish in Yakutat in the Diocese of Juneau.
Alaska was far from statehood, and there were no dioceses in the region, when three Ursuline sisters first set foot in the mission territory in 1905. They came to Akulurak, a village that no longer exists, to staff an orphanage and boarding school at the request of Jesuit Father Joseph Crimont, then the prefect apostolic for Alaska.
In 1950, because of deteriorating soil conditions at Akularak, the Sisters moved the operation to the banks of the Andreafsky River, where the village that grew up around them took the name St. Marys. By that time the number of orphans in the sisters care had dwindled and their focus had shifted to education. Most of the 200 or so schoolchildren who attended the boarding school came from Eskimo families in the area.
In 1953 the Sisters started St. Mary’s High School there, which operated until 1987. Their mission also gradually became a center for both student and adult Eskimo activities, and graduates of the school assumed important roles among their people throughout Alaska and beyond.
Another group of Ursuline Sisters arrived to run a school at Pilgrim Hot Springs, near Nome, in 1919. But the great influenza epidemic of 1918 was devastating rural Alaska, and the five Ursulines who arrived opened an orphanage for the young survivors of the flu, which, unlike many epidemics, hit those of child-bearing age the hardest.
Twenty Ursulines served Pilgrim Hot Springs until it closed in 1941.
Ursuline Sisters also worked briefly in Valdez, from 1912 until 1919, and served in many villages, including Hooper Bay, Toksook Bay, St. Michael, Delta Junction, Holy Cross and Pilot Station, primarily as religious educators.
Virginia Dalilak remembers some of the pioneer Ursulines. Growing up in Fish Village, a now abandoned Yup’ik enclave of a few families near Mountain Village, Dalilak spent years in the 1950s with the Ursuline Sisters, first at Akulurak, then at St. Marys, as well as years at a sanatorium for that other epidemic of rural Alaska, tuberculosis.
"They taught us to love one another, no matter," said Dalilak, who knew Sister Thecla Battiston, an Italian Ursuline who arrived at Pilgrim Hot Springs in 1919.
Sister Battiston, who always retained her heavily accented English, taught sewing and knitting in the early days. She shares, with Father David Melbourne and Jesuit Father George Endal, the distinction of serving the longest ministry — 60 years — in Alaska.
"They were strict," Dalilak said of her Ursuline mentors, "but they made things fun."
When the sisters took the students berry picking — a necessity for the mission’s subsistence survival — they turned it into a contest to see who could pick the most. And, said Dalilak, the expedition always included a picnic.
"They taught us to think of people as God’s flowers," she added. "When you look at a field, you see many colors, many kinds. In God’s eyes, they are all beautiful."
The Ursulines in Alaska represented a variety in God’s fields as well. They included women such as Sister Lucy Daly, a gentlewoman from New York City, as well as Sister Battiston, who was said to have left her native Italy for Alaska on a troop ship following World War I.
There was Sister Scholastica Lohagen, a sturdy German who served as cook and later laundress, into her 80s, for St. Mary’s Mission. Sister Dianne Baumunk, who served as principal at St. Mary’s during the early 1980s, was with Sister Lohagen when she died at the mission in 1985.
"As she lay on her deathbed, she came in and out of consciousness. But she kept working her hands as if they were still folding laundry," Sister Baumunk recalled with a smile.
Still serving in the Diocese of Fairbanks are Sisters Maria Clarys and Monique Vaernewyck, both natives of Belgium who entered the Ursulines in the 1960s with the intention of serving in the Alaskan missions.
Sister Clarys arrived in Alaska in 1968 and taught home economics in St. Mary’s, helping students become expert at Native skin sewing, beading, and making "qaspeqs," or traditional hooded dresses.
Arriving a year later, Sister Vaernewyck taught Native crafts — soapstone and ivory carving — as well as pottery.
Both Belgian natives later served in Tanana, and now Fairbanks in what they call a "ministry of presence."
In addition to Sisters Aloralrea, Vaernewyck and Clarys, the only remaining Ursuline in Alaska is Sister Lorene Griffin of the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
Sister Griffin, who came to Anchorage in 1991, is a retired psychologist who now devotes her time to spiritual direction and teaching Scripture.
The sisters reserve special praise for their foundress, Angela Merici.
"Angela wanted us to move with the times," said Sister Vaernewyck.
"She takes every person uniquely, like they are," added Sister Clarys.
Merici founded her Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Italy, hoping not for a cloistered religious community but for a group of women who would live and work among the people.
Since the Second Vatican Council, this charism of Merici’s has been renewed, the sisters said. Both Sister Vaernewyck and Clarys took part in "Angela Sessions," intensive workshops held in Europe in the spots where Merici lived and worked.
The Western Province to which the sisters in Alaska belong has been especially strong and is "moving forward," Sister Clarys said. "It’s a life-giving province."
Although there are more than 500 Ursulines in the United States, there are just 35 in the Western Province.
There are no Ursuline novices presently studying in the United States, but the number of Ursuline associates, lay people committed to service and prayer in the tradition of Angela Merici, continues to grow.
Priest accused of sexual harassment; archdiocese is sued
An Anchorage parish priest accused of sexual harassment has left the state, and the man he allegedly harassed is suing the Anchorage Archdiocese.
Father Robert Bester, 74, resigned his position as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, which is in the final stages of building a new church, after Anchorage television news station KTVA Channel 11 broadcast a sexually explicit excerpt from secretly recorded conversations the priest had with the man.
Archbishop Roger Schwietz placed Father Bester on administrative leave and accepted his resignation as pastor. The archbishop also wrote a letter of complaint to Channel 11 and sent a copy of it to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Father Bester, a priest of the Diocese of Crookston, Minn., left Alaska May 6, two days after the initial Channel 11 broadcast. Archbishop Schwietz said the priest had gone to California.
Crookston Bishop Victor Balke is respecting Archbishop Schwietz’s administrative leave directive for Father Bester, the archbishop said. The directive means the priest is not allowed to perform any priestly ministry until further notice.
At least twice in the past few months, Channel 11 outfitted Father Bester’s accuser, Fredrick May Jr., with a hidden video camera and audio recorder.
The conversations May recorded took place in Father Bester’s office at the parish. The station aired an excerpt May 4 and posted a 34-minute downloadable audio file of the conversations on its Web site.
In the recorded talks, the men discuss explicit sexual topics and Father Bester’s role of authority in the parish. The priest also talks about being Dracula and combating angels.
"My personal reaction was one of unbelief that anyone could talk that way, much less a pastor," Archbishop Schwietz told the Anchor after reading a transcript of part of the recording. "I immediately thought that there must be something seriously wrong, medically wrong, with (Father Bester) to be talking that way."
The archbishop said he had never before received any complaints of a sexual nature about Father Bester.
On the morning of May 4, Channel 11 informed Father Bester about the recording and provided the partial transcript, which the priest then shared with Archbishop Schwietz.
The archbishop said he immediately placed Father Bester on administrative leave and informed the Archdiocesan Review Board, a standing committee of six local Catholics — five lay people and one priest — that investigates allegations of sexual misconduct.
The review board later suspended its investigation when the archdiocese learned of the lawsuit, which May filed May 6 in state court. The board is expected to resume its work when the legal process concludes.
The lawsuit alleges that Father Bester befriended May, who was unemployed, offered to get him a job on the church construction project, then requested sexual favors in return.
It alleges that when May refused the priest’s advances, the job offer was rescinded.
"The actions of the priest have caused plaintiff to suffer, and to continue to suffer, great anxiety and emotional distress," the suit says.
Archbishop Schwietz celebrated Masses at Our Lady of Guadalupe over the May 7-8 weekend and met with parishioners to begin forming a transitional leadership team.
The archbishop also wrote a letter (see page 5) to the parishioners of Our Lady of Guadalupe and of St. Mary Parish in Kodiak, where Father Bester served for a little over a year before coming to Our Lady of Guadalupe in July 2004.
In the letter, the archbishop apologized for the "pain and embarrassment" parishioners may feel, and said there is "more to the story" involving "how Channel 11 operated."
The archbishop’s letter says he is unable to provide further detail at this time because of the lawsuit and the review board investigation.
For the same reason, he declined to provide more details to the Anchor about his complaint against Channel 11. However, he said he hoped to be able to provide more information "when it is appropriate to do so."
Father Bester was ordained for the Crookston Diocese in 1979 and served there until 1991, when he retired.
Archbishop Schwietz and Father Bester know each other from their Minnesota days. The archbishop was bishop of Duluth from 1990 to 2000, when he was appointed to Anchorage; in his retirement Father Bester served as a chaplain at two Catholic facilities in the Duluth Diocese from 1995-99, according to diocesan records.
The archbishop said he thought that Father Bester had to scale back his ministry for health reasons around 1999; he had problems with his feet and arthritis, the archbishop said.
But his health improved over the next few years, and eventually Father Bester offered to return to ministry, the archbishop recalled.
With Bishop Balke’s permission, Archbishop Schwietz assigned him to Kodiak in spring of 2003.
Archbishop Schwietz spoke with Father Bester by phone last week and asked if he wished to be interviewed by the Anchor; Father Bester declined.
Changes in the Mass take effect in churches across archdiocese
Last weekend, people in the pews throughout the Anchorage Archdiocese may have noticed some changes in the Mass. There are now some different postures — sitting, kneeling, standing, bowing — for certain parts of the liturgy.
The changes stem from the 2002 revision of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the basis for Mass texts and norms throughout the Roman Catholic Church. As instructed by Archbishop Roger Schwietz, the new worship practices went into effect May 14-15.
In a March letter to his people published in the Anchor, Archbishop Schwietz said he hoped the liturgical adaptations would "contribute to the dignified, prayerful, and orderly celebration of the Eucharist."
The letter kicked off a catechetical series about the new adaptations written by Father LeRoy Clementich. The Holy Cross priest is one of nine members of the archdiocese’s liturgical commission, which made recommendations to Archbishop Schwietz as he met with Alaska’s two other bishops for six months regarding the adaptations.
The Juneau and Fairbanks dioceses are implementing the adaptations as well, but not on the same timeline as Anchorage.
Perhaps the most significant changes to the postures and gestures of liturgical worship come during Communion.
Worshippers are now to bow just before receiving Communion, and the assembly remains standing until the last person has received the Eucharist before sitting or kneeling together in silence.
Another bow, a "profound bow" at the waist, comes during the Apostle’s Creed, when the assembly proclaims that Christ, "by the power of the Holy Spirit … became man."
"It’s our sign as reverence for Christ — the Son of God," Father Clementich said.
Another change, particularly evident to priests, "strongly discourages" removing previously consecrated hosts from the tabernacle for Communion. Instead, they will consecrate hosts to be received by parishioners at that same Mass.
Dominican Father Garry Cappleman of Holy Family Cathedral said this way more closely resembles how Eucharist was originally celebrated in the early church.
"This bread and this wine is consecrated at this particular celebration for this particular gathering of the assembly of God," Father Cappleman said. "When you go to the tabernacle, you’re going to a previous celebration, so to speak."
St. Patrick (Anchorage) parishioner Don Lederhos describes himself as an "old-time, traditional Catholic" who is resistant to change. The 49-year-old member of the Knights of Columbus grew up with priests celebrating Mass in Latin with their backs to the assembly.
When the Second Vatican Council made significant changes to the way Mass was celebrated in the 1960s, Lederhos said there was not much explanation from clergy as to the reasons why.
"They just said: ‘We’re doing this. This is the new way,’ " Lederhos recalled.
When he heard recently that people were meeting again to propose adaptations to the liturgical norms, Lederhos said he was leery.
His pastor, Father Scott Medlock, devoted a homily to the meaning behind the adaptations.
Standing until everyone received Communion was going to be "odd," Lederhos thought at the time. "I’m used to coming back (after Communion) and kneeling and basically disappearing into prayer for myself," he said.
"One of the points that (Father Medlock) made — that we’re there for community, we’re there to support everybody else in the liturgy — I actually never really thought about that," he said. "Standing together there, receiving God as one community — that struck me."
He said if the changes outlined by Vatican II "were a ten, these are like a point-five." But, he added, catechesis is still important.
Deacon Ted Greene of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also an archdiocesan liturgical commission member, said that in addition to unifying liturgical practices, the adaptations provide an occasion for Catholics to learn more about the theology behind the rituals.
"This is all in an effort for conscious and active participation," Deacon Greene said. "If you’re standing, if you’re singing, if you’re kneeling, if you’re doing it consciously and you know why, then you’re participating."
Father Clementich acknowledged that changes in the Mass may be difficult to accept and some people are "just not able" to make the switch.
"They say, ‘… I can’t worship God unless I do this,’ " he said.
"There will be some people whose devotions are very precious to them and no one’s going to take that away from them," Father Clementich said.
"We are sometimes a contentious community," the priest added. "It’s because we love the church so much. There’s room for all of us."
Processions are a ritual expression of ourselves
Most Catholics think that the liturgy begins with the sign of the cross. However, liturgy begins the moment we arrive in the church parking lot. Indeed, there is wisdom in that, at least for the person who has given some thought beforehand to the Scriptures assigned for the liturgy of the day.
Even from the viewpoint of time, space and distance, however, Mass does begin when we begin making our way, mentally, emotionally and physically, to the place of worship.
One might say that there are grand neighborhood processions that begin on Sunday mornings as Catholics from all directions drive or walk from their homes and converge on the parking lots of the church and from there make their way into the sacred precincts.
Getting there is ultimately more than covering some ground between home and church. In the words of the psalms, it is "going up to the house of the Lord."
Spiritually speaking, therefore, walking or traveling is a sacred experience.
It has obviously been done for centuries: People find the need to go from their homes, their domestic church, to the place where the entire community, the assembly, gathers for prayer and worship.
It’s called processing, making one’s way from one place to another for a sacred purpose.
Muslims have a similar concept they call "the Hajj," the journey to Mecca. Jewish people make their way to the holy Western Wall of the temple to pray. Christians also have been processing to their sacred shrines for centuries: Compostella, Fatima or Lisieux.
There is obviously something that occurs at those sacred places that the Christian cannot experience at home. It is worth the time and effort to "get there."
Theologically and liturgically speaking, processions are a bodily or ritual expression of who we are and what we are about. We are pilgrims on a journey, a journey to God’s kingdom.
Indeed, all life, from birth to death, from baptism to last anointing, is such a journey.
For Roman Catholics there are also certain special processions within the sacred liturgy that are models or paradigms of the great pilgrimage we call life.
First, we make our way as a community into the house of the Lord. It is called the entrance procession. The ministers of the liturgy also make this procession to introduce the Mass, moving from the entrance of the church into the sanctuary to the accompaniment of song.
The Book of the Gospels is carried in a place of honor in the procession as though to say Christ comes among his people. Later, at the time of the proclamation of the Gospel, the deacon or priest, accompanied by acolytes and incense bearer, process with the Book of the Gospels to the ambo from which the Gospel is proclaimed.
Several minor processions also occur at Mass: The people’s offerings are brought to the altar to be prepared and set apart for Eucharist. The assembly approaches the altar at Communion time to partake of the sacred gifts they offered earlier. At the conclusion of Mass the entire assembly makes its way out of the church in a sending forth procession (hopefully not in a mass exodus) and people return once again to their homes, the domestic church.
Lastly, we Catholics also have a long tradition of special processions: On Palm Sunday we commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We process to adore the cross on Good Friday. On the feast of Corpus Christi we process in adoration of the Lord’s body and blood.
Finally, we process as we celebrate sacraments: baptisms, weddings and funerals. Processions are not just a way to get people or ministers from here to there. Truly, they are a ritual expression of who we are: God’s pilgrim people on life’s journey to the kingdom.
Archbishop's Column
Bester accusations are being dealt with fairly and quickly
I would like to share in this space the letter I mailed last week to the people of Father Robert Bester’s former parishes, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Anchorage and St. Mary in Kodiak:
"I am writing to explain to you some of the details surrounding the accusations of sexual harassment made last week against Father Bester. I know that this has been a difficult experience and I apologize for the pain and embarrassment you and others in the archdiocese have felt as a result of the allegations. I pray that God will turn this pain into a moment of grace for you.
"When I learned about the accusations against Father Bester I placed him on administrative leave and convened the Archdiocesan Review Board to begin an investigation. Father Bester subsequently offered his resignation as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which I accepted. In doing so, I returned him to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of his home diocese in Minnesota. His bishop there has agreed that Father Bester is to remain on administrative leave, not conducting any type of priestly ministry, until I decide, based on the conclusions of the Review Board, if any changes to that status are appropriate.
"I want to assure all of you that prior to this incident I had never received a complaint of sexual harassment or sexual abuse about Father Bester, nor had the bishops in the other places Father Bester has served.
"Meanwhile, the man who has accused Father Bester of inappropriate conduct has filed a lawsuit against the archdiocese. As a result, the Archdiocesan Review Board has chosen to suspend its investigation until the legal process has concluded, at which point it will resume its own investigation.
"There is more to the story, including our concern about how Channel 11 operated; however, these two processes — the lawsuit and the temporarily suspended Review Board investigation — preclude me from providing more detail about this matter. I hope to provide more information when it is appropriate to do so, but I must also respect the legal process and the independence of the Review Board.
"I hope that as we go forward, we can come together in faith, celebrating the goodness and hard work of this community, giving witness tot he rich diversity and unity you have voiced to me. May we all look forward to sharing our lives in faith in the weeks to come as we work to complete the church and dedicate the faith home that you have worked for years to create."
Editorials
Catholic leaders predicted Iraq unrest
The current situation in Iraq should give pause to everyone who dismissed the Catholic Church’s desperate attempts to avert America’s pre-emptive attack in 2003.
The body count — around 450 civilians, most of them Shiites, murdered in the past three weeks — is worrisome evidence that the insurgents are trying to foment civil war in the country.
Pope John Paul, the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops and many other Catholic leaders worried about such a result. It is instructive to read the Sept. 13, 2002, letter from Bishop Wilton Gregory, then-president of the U.S. bishops conference, to President Bush (www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/bush902.htm).
In a section on just-war theory, the bishop wrote: "How would another war in Iraq impact the civilian population, in the short- and long-term? How many more innocent people would suffer and die, or be left without homes, without basic necessities, without work? Would the United States and the international community commit to the arduous, long-term task of ensuring a just peace or would a post-Saddam Iraq continue to be plagued by civil conflict and repression, and continue to serve as a destabilizing force in the region? Would the use of military force lead to wider conflict and instability? Would war against Iraq detract from our responsibility to help build a just and stable order in Afghanistan and undermine the broader coalition against terrorism?"
President Bush had to make difficult decisions about Iraq, and it is entirely possible that the situation there would be worse now had he not opted for war.
It is also possible that this apparent shift in the insurgency strategy is a final desperate move to rattle the neophyte Iraqi government, which has taken great care to prevent factional strife.
We pray that the Iraqi people will hold together and, with international support, overcome the vicious elements attacking them.
Meanwhile, Bishop Gregory’s letter and others like it are reminders of the wisdom of the Catholic moral tradition, a tradition that should command even more respect now.
More advice for Alaska Right to Life
We’re pleased that the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has weighed in on the continuing fight between the board of Alaska Right to Life and local Catholic groups.
The Anchorage Archdiocese provided a packet to the Catholic League (catholicleague.org) with background on Alaska Right to Life’s claims that Providence Alaska Medical Center and Archbishop Roger Schwietz are violating their own Catholic code of ethics by allowing early induction of labor. The packet included stories and editorials printed in the Anchor as well as material Alaska Right to Life has published on the topic. League director William Donohue told the Anchor he read through the packet and did some research on his own before drawing a conclusion.
In a May 11 press release, Donohue wrote: "It is patently untrue, and grossly unfair, to say that Providence Alaska Medical Center performs abortions and that Archbishop Roger Schwietz approves of them. To his credit, Archbishop Schwietz sought the counsel of Dr. John Haas, one of the nation’s leading Catholic bioethicists; he is a person I know and trust. Dr. Haas helped the hospital revise its guidelines, which are constantly being updated, so that there would never be any loopholes.
"Alaska Right to Life stands for a noble cause, but its intrusive manner — lecturing the Catholic community on what the Catholic Catechism says — has turned off the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Daughters of America. Add the Catholic League to this list. The final straw for us was the April edition of its newsletter wherein it asked its members to appeal to the Vatican to intervene in this issue. This crosses the line — a secular group like Alaska Right to Life ought to learn to mind its own business. Its reputation as a meddler does not help its cause."
The Catholic League’s support is most welcome, and we hope Alaska Right to Life will heed its advice.
Letters to the Editor
Thank you, foster parents!
As proclaimed by Gov. Frank Murkowski, May is Foster Parent Appreciation Month. Although we may not always take the time to show our gratitude to the several hundred foster parents we have in Alaska, the Department of Health and Social Services knows the importance of the care a foster parent gives to children who need to live in an alternative setting. Foster parents are the lifelines of the child welfare system. They are called on to care for some of the neediest children in the state. Foster parents are asked to feed, clothe, shelter, teach, nurture and love children who come into their homes. The plan is that it only be temporary — until the child’s own parents are able to have their children returned. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent please call the Alaska Center for Resource Families at (800) 478-7307. Thank you!
Juneau
Postures don’t hold merit
If kneeling is a penitential posture, shouldn’t we kneel during the penitential rite, and stand for the Eucharistic Prayer? Father Clementich’s arguments are specious. It is Jesus who is lifted up in the hands of the priest for us to adore, the same Jesus who walked this earth 2,000 years ago, who healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons. We must continue kneeling to adore him, to make reparation for the many times he is held up in the hands of lecherous priests, and to strengthen our belief and the belief of our priests that this is indeed the second person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, redeemer of the world, savior of souls, that they hold in their hands. If we saw him as he appeared at the transfiguration, we would have no debate about posture. We would be prostrate with awe as the apostles were.
Anchorage
Pro-life group deserves space
I’m no fan of morally squishy anti-abortion groups that act pro-life only when it’s politically correct to do so. Nor am I a fan of the latest fad of relying on secular political groups for our moral direction whenever church authorities run afoul of political correctness. But I am a fan of fairness. The archdiocese used church bulletins to give its side of the dispute with Alaska Right to Life and repeated the message on the back page of the Catholic Anchor in the May 6 issue. How about providing space in the bulletins and the Anchor for Alaska Right to Life to respond to the charges? In my view, the Seventh Commandment and Christ’s Second Commandment require us to treat Alaska Right to Life fairly.
Anchorage
Editor’s Note: Alaska Right to Life has been granted ample opportunity to state its views in every news story the Anchor has reported on the issue of early induction of labor at Providence. The Anchor’s opinion pages are reserved, generally, for Catholic individuals or groups wishing to express their views on a Catholic topic. Still, we would consider publishing an opinion by non-Catholic Alaska Right to Life, and in fact we have considered it in the past, but what was submitted violated our prohibition against unsubstantiated allegations and factual inaccuracies.