Wake up and smell the saline
Some North Texas Catholics are upset with a letter written and distributed by their local bishops, saying it amounts to an endorsement of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
The letter by Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Diocese of Dallas and Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Fort Worth says in part: "To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or `abortion rights' when there is morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil - and, therefore, morally impermissible."
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, supports abortion rights. Sen. McCain favors overturning Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects the right to an abortion.
The bishops' letter was distributed or read at parishes across the Diocese of Dallas this weekend. The Fort Worth diocese is distributing the letter through its newspaper, which is being mailed to all registered Catholic families in the diocese.
Nicole LeBlanc said several people walked out of Dallas' Holy Trinity Catholic Church during the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass, when the letter was read at the time usually reserved for a homily.
Ms. LeBlanc, an Obama supporter, said she, too, was upset.
"As a Catholic, we're taught about being independent moral agents with free will," she said. "That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled." [article]
Yes another Catholic that has no idea about the Church's teaching on having an informed conscience, not a conscience independent from Church teaching. We should never be independent from the truth. It is not the Church's fault that one candidate is so radically pro-abortion along with supporting other intrinsic evils. The bishops saying this is not telling people who to vote for, but by what grounds you would eliminate a candidate from consideration. Just because you can't vote for Sen. Obama, doesn't mean you are forced to vote for Sen. McCain. That is still the prudential decision of the voter who could chose a third party candidate. But Obama Catholics will overlook a lot to support their candidate. What is support of five intrinsic evils among friends. After all he will bring us socialized medicine. Though unfortunately for the unborn the first bit of health care they might receive from a doctor will be with a scalpel or other device trying to cut them up. I suspect Catholics who supported Hitler were also upset by Mit Brennender Sorge.. It is long past time for Catholic Democrats to stop putting up with pro-abortion candidates and demand ones that will support a true culture of life. The Democratic Party has gotten away with this because a large block of Catholic Democrats allowed it to happen with hardly an outcry.
The Bishop's letter was as clear as could be, for example:
To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or "abortion rights" where there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in evil - and, therefore morally impermissible.
You can read their whole letter here. PDF
At a homily I heard yesterday the priest reminded people about the 6 million people between the ages of 18 and 21 who would have been voting if they hadn't been aborted. Those are six million people who can't vote for hope and change this election cycle or any other.
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"That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled."
Oh no, Bishops who are actually faithful to their vocation & are doing what they are supposed to, what is the Church coming to? (Heavy sarcasm for those who may think I am serious.)
Seriously, I wish my Archbishop would even say something, anything rather than hiding out like he has.
At a recent visit to Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine in Orlando, FL (Disney's Church, if you will) the homilist gave a rousing and moving homily in support of life in our political process. I scanned the floor to see if anyone would leave in protest. The church was packed, and yet, not only did no one leave, many heads bobbed in support. This was refreshing to witness.
I think there should be a LOT more mention from the pulpits that we are supposed to FORM OUR CONSCIENCES FROM CHURCH TEACHING, preferably with the priest holding up a Bible, then the Catechism, and perhaps a collection of Church documents....or getting volunteers to set up a booth outside on Sundays selling the pertinent church documents in those cute little blue and white and yellow booklets that Pauline press (I think) puts out. It might make a good fund raiser for the youth groups!
Then, after drilling into the parishioners that they are to be forming their conscience from church teaching, then start including a few difficult bits, like the fact that abortions is intrinsically evil--and to co-operate in it makes you part of it--like being OK with pro-abortion leadership--when if EVERY Catholic voted pro-life there would be a HUGE shift in what Democratic candidates were available for them to vote for.
Take a few elections where nobody voted for anyone not pro-life (checking voting records!!) and I expect that we'd see change in the right direction!
Nicole LeBlanc sums up the attitude that too many Catholics have. She wants to accept one Church teaching and reject another (cafeteria style).
The Truth is that she is absolutely correct that she can use her free will to reject Church teaching. She may think it's upsetting now that the "Church" is trying to infringe on her free will, but the Truth is, it's not the Catholic Church that she has to worry about. It's the conversation with God on her judgment day that will truly be ... "upsetting".
"if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled."
Ummmm - why, yes! That's right!
"As a Catholic, we're taught about being independent moral agents with free will,"
Where did she read that in the Catechism exactly?
Bull flows...
What if I don't believe that McCain is actually pro-life? Then wouldn't I be free to vote on the other issues.
ASimpleSinner, I assume she is thinking about CCC 1782.