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Guest
Catholic Clergy and Their Puzzling Support for Liberal Parties and Candidates
August 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) Recent U.S. and Canadian elections have brought the issue of the involvement of the Catholic Church in politics to the forefront, most notably the question of whether and under what circumstances stubbornly pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be denied Communion.
While a few heroic bishops such as Canada’s Bishop Fred Henry and US Bishop Raymond Burke have taken clear stands in saying they would refuse communion to certain politicians, the majority have remained non-committal or even stated outright that they would not refuse communion to anyone. Not surprisingly this has sent a mixed message to the faithful. Despite clearly worded directives coming from the Vatican this conflict is far from over, especially given the canonical complexity of the issue and the newness of the ground being tread.
Unfortunately this complexity (which is often overstated), combined with the rhetorical ferocity of the debate, has resulted in the obscuring of a more basic underlying issue – the systemic reluctance of seemingly most, although not all, U.S. and Canadian priests and bishops to make the life and family issues a high priority, to take consistently strong stands on them in the public sphere, and to exhort the faithful to inform themselves and vote for life before party affiliation.
A common refrain heard from faithful Catholics is that life issues such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research are under-emphasized in many dioceses and parishes; many pro-lifers complain that they have encountered uncooperative indifference and even overt hostility from pastors when they have sought to distribute material simply identifying the stances of candidates on pro-life issues.
more…
August 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) Recent U.S. and Canadian elections have brought the issue of the involvement of the Catholic Church in politics to the forefront, most notably the question of whether and under what circumstances stubbornly pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be denied Communion.
While a few heroic bishops such as Canada’s Bishop Fred Henry and US Bishop Raymond Burke have taken clear stands in saying they would refuse communion to certain politicians, the majority have remained non-committal or even stated outright that they would not refuse communion to anyone. Not surprisingly this has sent a mixed message to the faithful. Despite clearly worded directives coming from the Vatican this conflict is far from over, especially given the canonical complexity of the issue and the newness of the ground being tread.
Unfortunately this complexity (which is often overstated), combined with the rhetorical ferocity of the debate, has resulted in the obscuring of a more basic underlying issue – the systemic reluctance of seemingly most, although not all, U.S. and Canadian priests and bishops to make the life and family issues a high priority, to take consistently strong stands on them in the public sphere, and to exhort the faithful to inform themselves and vote for life before party affiliation.
A common refrain heard from faithful Catholics is that life issues such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research are under-emphasized in many dioceses and parishes; many pro-lifers complain that they have encountered uncooperative indifference and even overt hostility from pastors when they have sought to distribute material simply identifying the stances of candidates on pro-life issues.
more…
