Politics In Homilies

[WingsOfEagles]

The tricky thing about homilies on abortion is remembering that 1/4/ - 1/3 of American women have had an abortion. And that doesn’t account for the men who accompanied them and read Sports Illustrated in the waiting room. That’s a lot of post-abortive people sitting in the pews. So the issue needs to be treated both firmly with conviction and gingerly with compassion. It’s a tough feat to accomplish in a 10-minute homily, but I’m sure that some priests are up to the challenge!

All of that said, I’d agree with the other poster who stated that abortion technically isn’t political.

Certainly, there are Catholic women who’ve had abortions, but I would be willing to bet the number isn’t as high as the national average. Regardless, a priest can and should speak on the topic (delicately).

 

[AdamP88]

Regardless, a priest can and should speak on the topic (delicately).

I don’t agree to be honest. My country just legalised abortion and our priests have bee speaking “delicately” on the subject for years. I think we need to be clear to people and offer alternatives.
A priest should be frank about the topic of abortion and state that if you promote it in any way, or if you have had an abortion, you need to go to confession before you can take receive communion again.

And that politicians who have promoted it must publicly reverse their positions.

 

[WingsOfEagles]

When I say delicately, I don’t mean tiptoe around whether it is right. I mean be sensitive in delivery to the grieving process most women who get an abortion feel afterwards. A fire and brimstone homily is hardly helpful.

 

[Hodos]

Your question is hard to address since there are no specifics, but I would be glad to give a Lutheran perspective of why addressing politics in a sermon may be not only acceptable, but is an important part of a pastor’s job.

We have a doctrine that makes a distinction between the temporal civil realm and the heavenly realm. The temporal realm is concerned with running things in the here and now to accomplish God’s will. This includes the civil authorities as instruments of God to administer justice in the world through the application of the law. These God ordained institutions are concerned with how man fulfills his obligations to his fellow man (see Romans 12 and 1 Peter 2 for examples). The heavenly realm is concerned with our standing before God. This includes the proclamation of the gospel to bring men to salvation by faith before God. Both of these realms belong to God.

Going back to the role of the civil realm to administer God’s justice through the application of the law…The civil government, whether they acknowledge it or not, is still accountable to God for performing its role in administering justice. So when for example, unjust laws are passed or unjust actions are done in the name of government, the civil authorities are accountable to God (see Psalm 82 for example). The pastor, as a spokesman, can and should speak up to address egregious examples of the civil government violating its role as administrators of God’s justice. The purpose is to bring those agents of civil governance to repentance. So when the government, for example, passes unjust laws allowing for things like the murder of unborn children, the Church can and should speak up and address these things. I hope this offers some clarification for you.

 

[blackforest]

To a Catholic or pro-life Lutheran church, pressuring officials to protect the unborn and support their mothers would be a no-brainer.

How does your church handle more nuanced issues? A lot of socio-political issues can create divisions within a particular church.

Pro-life Christians may reasonably disagree, for example on what it means to “support mothers.” Conservatives may call for more pregnancy resource centers while more liberal Christians, (Catholic or Protestant), may want more social welfare programs. Nobody is acting against Scripture, but divisiveness can escalate quickly and dangerously.

I don’t envy the thankless work of clergy who have to walk this fine line. I’m guessing there’s a time for churches to draw definitive lines in the sand and a time simply to encourage conversation and problem-solving.

 

[Hodos]

That is a really good question. I agree with much of what you say here. There are definitely lines we don’t cross, but as you are saying, sometimes we hold the same values but differ in opinion on how we accomplish those values from pragmatic standpoints. My feeling is that in these areas where we both might agree in a specific value, but could disagree on the best means of accomplishing that value, we should deal with those we disagree with grace and respect. I agree with you, that can be a very difficult line to walk.