My Church Endorsed a Political Party

[otjm]

I might have voted that way anyway but I think it inappropriate and an abuse of the name of the Church for them to be partisan.

Considering that murder of the innocent is not a minor issue, I think they were extremely well intentioned, following the bishops who have held strongly to pro-life, and that there is way too little of this going on, or having gone on since Roe v. Wade.

If an individual who identifies as Catholic, has had two bishops tell him to not present himelf to Communion, and has a running mate who is openly anti-Catholic, and has said he will force the Little sisters of the Poor to violate their faith by forcing them to include abortion in any insurance they provide is the best that the Democrats can do in terms of morals and moral leadership, then it should be the duty of the Church to take a more aggressive stand than they have done in the past how many decades.

I get it that a lot of people are Trump haters; I am not fond of him at all. But he is the first President to openly back pro life groups.

I am not interested in the Church getting into issues of any number of political positions directly, but murder of the unborn is a direct offense against God and life. And it is not just on the national level; it gets down to State and local positions which support murder.

So going through the State and local races is perfectly fine by me on that issue.

 

[Rau]

A lot of Catholics will vote for Biden for other issues that are important to them and dismiss abortion or suggest that while they don’t like it, they can’t be single issue voters.

I sense many take the view that the abortion status quo won’t be much changed regardless of who is President. I don’t know the US situation well enough to know if that’s an arguable position.

 

[pnewton]

I don’t believe that we are supposed to be comfortable in church sitting next to a neighbor that, in essence, supports abortion.

We are.

Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

I assure you, most people at Mass are sitting next to sinners, but your use of the word “in essence” on this thread is troublesome. If you have a problem, for example, of going to Mass with Democrats, for example, then that is a serious matter indeed.

 

[1ke]

From what I understand from my pastor, he’s allowed to say who a Catholic in good standing cannot vote for,

I disagree. Firstly, because he is not the arbiter of the individual’s conscience.

So in his homily, he said “a Catholic cannot vote for Joe Biden.”

He is woefully misinformed and this is NOT a faithful application of church teaching and the principles outlined in the documents on conscience, voting, faithful citizenship, etc.

No one, and I mean no one, can tell you who you can and cannot vote for. Nor tell you it’s a sin to vote for X or Y candidate.

 

[Thomas54]

If you have a problem, for example, of going to Mass with Democrats, for example, then that is a serious matter indeed.

I do have a problem, as do many of my friends, with our faith that does not preach on a regular basis from the pulpit, that supporting any part of the abortion industry is wrong.

A Catholic friend of mine, that passed away several years ago, worked for planned parenthood in the summers because she said that she needed the money, which she didn’t as her and her husband were loaded, and she said that little girls needed to learn about birth control because they weren’t learning at home. Is that a good Catholic position?

My family has been affected by abortion and we all know the walking in one’s moccasins story …

Thomas

 

[Ridgerunner]

What is the foreseeable consequence of voting for a candidate and a party that are and have been fiercely pro-abortion for decades?

Death, and the corruption of the society, particularly the young.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We are.

I don’t recall Jesus telling us what our visceral reaction should be.

 

[blackforest]

My diocese for decades has heavily promoted the Democratic platform (except abortion) without explicitly mentioning the Democratic party

Then your diocese is well within its bounds. Many Catholic values align with the Democratic platform, as does the Republican value of the right to life.

The Bishops put out guidelines for Faithful Citizenship. That is different. Aligning with a specific party seems out of bounds to me.

I’ve served on a couple of SJ committees. Both stuck straight to the USCCB playbook and endorsed issues broached by the bishops. But they never endorsed specific parties.

 

[pnewton]

I don’t recall Jesus telling us what our visceral reaction should be.

John did:

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

I am not saying we should not be tolerant of others, only that we need to see it for what it is. I know a preacher who took decades to get over a hatred of Japanese (we had a guest from Japan) because his brother died in the Bataan March. With the grace of God he did, but it was quite a process.

But if there is a visceral reaction to half of the people in this country who are Democrats, while it may be understood, it must also be seen for the baggage it is. St. Paul wrote:

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Some of these are some really bad people, so this whole issue of needing to overcome our viscera is not new.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A visceral reaction is not “hate”. It’s just a visceral reaction; body chemistry. Hate is when one desires evil for another.

 

[pnewton]

I will decline to live by my baser emotions, thank you, except when I cannot. Even then, I will not excuse them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I will decline to live by my baser emotions, thank you, except when I cannot. Even then, I will not excuse them.

Always better, certainly. But neither is it required of us that we assume guilt because of feelings we cannot help. At some point, it becomes unhealthy. A proper sense of guilt is good for us, but at a point it becomes excessive and destructive or simply an excuse for bad behavior if we convince ourselves that we’re “of benevolent disposition”. Acts matter a lot more than feelings.

 

[phil19034]

He quoted two documents from Pope Benedict that clearly indicated who a Catholic cannot vote for.

One doc when he was Pope and another he wrote and JPII signed

 

[Shakuhachi]

Then why not endorse American Solidarity Party. Its platform is aligned with Catholic teaching.

 

[1ke]

He quoted two documents from Pope Benedict that clearly indicated who a Catholic cannot vote for.

One doc when he was Pope and another he wrote and JPII signed

Again: no one can tell you who to vote for or not to vote for. You form your conscience and you follow it.

There are no documents to quote from that say don’t vote for Biden or don’t vote for a Democrat or don’t vote for a whatever.

Your priest has misrepresented Church teaching in a way that is really unconscionable.

 

[phil19034]

Well, I don’t know how anyone can read the following and not come up with what Father said.

• EVANGELIUM VITAE (esp 68 - 79)
• DOCTRINAL NOTE on some questions regarding The Participation of Catholics in Political Life - from the CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
• ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO THE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PEOPLE’S PARTY ON THE OCCASION OF THE STUDY DAYS ON EUROPE

http://www.vatican.va/content/john-...s/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...s/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20021124_politica_en.html

http://www.vatican.va/content/bened...ben-xvi_spe_20060330_eu-parliamentarians.html

Furthermore: many priests on EWTN have made it clear that it is sinful to vote for a candidate who is pushing for the legalization or increasing the ease of abortion. If these priests were wrong, I’m sure their bishops would have told them to remove what they wrote:

• A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters | EWTN
• Sin To Vote For Pro-Abortion Politicians? | EWTN

 

[1ke]

Not at all.

I’m not sure how you get here unless you take them completely out of context .

 

[Shakuhachi]

Some people see everything as black and white. Others see shades of gray as well.

 

[JimG]

I don’t see the Democratic Party’s ardent promotion of abortion in any shade of gray. It’s just wrong to promote this evil.

 

[pnewton]

If these priests were wrong, I’m sure their bishops would have told them to remove what they wrote:

An argument from silence is not very reliable when we actually have a USCCB guide that is more precise and specific to the voting system in the United States.

If we could directly vote for abortion, considering most polls on the subject, I do not know the outcome would be different. If we want change, we must start with changing the nation. That is a more daunting task and will require more work than simple campaigning for candidates, but it is more precise.