Catholic Bishops Plan to Forcefully Confront Obama
Catholic bishops plan to forcefully confront Obama
By Manya Brachear | Chicago Tribune
America's Roman Catholic bishops, long one of the leading political forces against abortion, vowed on Tuesday to accept no compromise for the sake of unity until there is legal protection for the unborn.
About 300 prelates gathered here for their national meeting adopted a formal blessing for a child in the womb and advised Chicago's Cardinal Francis George as he drafted a post-election letter to America's Catholics. The moves were meant to tell the incoming Obama administration, which supports keeping abortion legal, that the nation's Catholic bishops are stepping up their opposition to abortion.
"This is not a matter of political compromise or a matter of finding some way of common ground," said Bishop Daniel Conlon of Steubenville, Ohio. "It's a matter of absolutes. Either you didn't have slavery or you did have slavery. So it is with abortion."
The bishops spent the first part of Tuesday behind closed doors reportedly debating the merits of "Faithful Citizenship," a nuanced guide for Catholic voters issued last November. Though the document made clear that "the direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life is always wrong and is not just one issue among many," it also advised Catholics to weigh issues like poverty, war, the environment and human rights.
Though bishops approved the creation and passage of the document unanimously, some did not expect Catholics to cite it as justification for selecting candidates who support abortion rights, including President-elect Barack Obama. A slim majority of Catholics voted for Obama.
After Obama pledged to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, a measure that would overturn states' restrictions on abortion such as bans on partial birth abortion and requirements for parental consent, several Catholic bishops proclaimed that Catholics could not in good conscience vote for a candidate who favored abortion rights.
Bishops Thomas Paprocki of Chicago said the Freedom of Choice Act could threaten conscience clauses, putting Catholic health care institutions in jeopardy.
"There are grave consequences," Paprocki said. "If Catholic hospitals were required by federal law to perform abortions, we'd have to close our hospitals."
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Catholic Bishops
After all they have done such a good job of protecting children outside of the womb.
Where can I send them the bill?
I have a daughter to get through college. I am sure they want to help me with that since they are so pro-childbirth.
4Peace
Freedom From Religion
DonP I think the time has come, actually it came a long time ago, to tell the pious worshippers of invisable dead people that we the people do not wish to have our lives run by their made up rules. If it is against their belief to practice birth control or allow a woman freedom of choice I really don't care. This country is not a nation run by the churches (not yet anyway) and the Constitution was written to give freedom from religion. Lets keep it that way and tell all of these holy rollers to stfu.
A slim majority of Catholics voted for Obama.
Here it is said in a succinct nutshell. More Catholics than not voted contrary to the moral "dictates" of the American Bishops!
This speaks volumes about the impact of this self-proclaimed group of supposed leaders. These "shepherds" really have failed to know their "flocks"!
Gone are the days of the Diocese Bishop and Parish Priest being able to influence uneducated immigrants who were unaware of their newfound rights as Americans once citizenship was acquired.
The Bishops now have to deal with highly educated parishioners who have the intelligence and the fortitude to refuse blind moral dictates from people who may be highly learned in Cannon Law but woefully ignorant about secular affairs and civil laws.
Many highly intelligent educated catholics have abandonned the Catholic Church because of this heavy handed dictatorial moralizing by the American Bishops. I resent being spoken down to by these people. I am more than happy to support the good work done by parishes in thier communities. I draw the line at the Church involvement in political matters.
If the Catholic Church wants to delve into politics as deeply as this intention indicates, maybe it is high time to examine preferential tax treatment received heretofore from the government by all churches and religious organizations.
Catholic and voted for Obama
I believe abortion is wrong. I also believe that making it illegal will only make it unsafe, not stop it.
We should work to prevent abortions where we can through teaching and offering alternative choices to women. The church already tried to get Catholics to vote against Obama and we have seen how powerful the bishops really are. I’m Catholic, and I voted for Obama and for Kerry. I think the American public realizes that the Catholic bishops all voted for George W. Bush–twice. How stupid do they think we are?
Ask yourself now: why was Sarah Palin flying back and forth from Alaska to Texas when she was 8 months pregnant with a downs syndrome baby? When her water broke in Texas, a month premature, why would she go on with her speach and then fly back to Alaska to deliver the baby? Does she not know that the baby was at risk from the time her water broke–especially a premature downs syndrome baby? Was she trying to lose that baby? Why do you think she did not release her medical records, a healthy woman like her, but rather waited until the day before the election to give us a “letter” from her doctor? What do you think she could be hiding?
Women have been causing abortions since the time of Eve. Should we have voted for a hypocrite who tried to end her pregnacy but still wants to make abortions illegal?
Come on bishops! This is a country not a Catholic school. You can’t threaten the voters or the President with corporal punishment. I’m Catholic, but I’m not stupid, and I’m not Evangelical. Obama will do what he thinks is best. That is why we elected him.
If they think you would do better, then they should run in 2012.
Catholic Church
John J. Coghlan
It would be better if the Catholic Church turned its concerns from the unborn to the children who are already here, and are being abused and violated by Catholic Priests. The big problem was not the thousands of children who have been molested by sick mentally ill Priests, it is the Church it self. The Catholic Church has had a policy of hiding, covering up and paying off victims family to keep them silent. When stories of pedophile priests were circulating in an area, what the Catholic Church did was to move the priests to a new area, and put them in charge of children again. The church not only condoned crimes against children they were accomplices to them. Not reporting these crimes to the authorities is not only morally wrong, it is against the law. This organization is surly not in a position to be making judgments against others. If they want to try and enforce their warped versions of morality on us, using political means, they should have their tax privileges taken from them.
Breaking Away
I was fortunate enough to be able to make a clean break with the Catholic Church, in which I was raised, at the age of eighteen. My condolences to those who still remain in this organization. All these years in the streets protesting this Administration's criminal wars and torture and where is the Catholic Church? With the exception of many individual Catholics and a few wonderful priests, where is the Church? Pope John Paul called the Iraq invasion immoral. The Church should be able to muster a little opposition after that statement. But no the Church is still pushing its just war theory.
They want to concentrate on a woman's abortion rights. It's pitiful that an all male institution sets itself up as the final arbiter on a woman's issue.
Being raised in the Catholic Church, we weren't actually exposed much to the teachings of Jesus. The Catholic Church prefers to concentrate on church law and dogma. Only recently have I been able to actually think about the life and teachings and life of Jesus. I like him. It's too bad that the Christians have hijacked his teachings to promote their own agendas. Maybe I'll start an Atheists for Jesus group.
Nick Egnatz
Just Jesus
The Christian religion was created by politicians and it is evil, Jesus is someone altogether different from that religion.
I'd like to see Catholic Church confront AIPAC too
IMPEACH BUSHCO & RICO PNAC/FARA AIPAC...PNAC is Bush/Cheney's "Helter Skelter" !
UNITE IN SOLIDARITY !!!