Posted on 10/14/2008 11:43:09 PM PDT by Publius804
Wuerl: 'Conceptually possible' not to support Roe v Wade ban
By JOHN ALLEN JR.
NCR: Speaking of engaging the issues of the day, as you and I speak we’re 25 days away from election day in the United States. What should pastors across the country be saying in the pulpits?
Archbishop Wuerl: I think one of the things that all of us need to recognize is that in a democracy, in the United States, every single person bears responsibility for what happens in the country. We may be multiple levels removed from final decisions, but every one of us bears a responsibility. When you vote, you vote as conscientiously as you can, and then you can say before God, ‘I did my best to see that this country is moving in a direction that’s in conformity with your gospel.’ I think the big challenge is to convince all of our faithful people that each one of us has a responsibility.
Lots of pastors don’t want to touch politics in the pulpit because it’s so divisive. You live in Washington, D.C. so I imagine it’s tough for you to steer clear of politics. What’s the trick to doing it right?
One of the things we did as a conference of bishops is to produce the ‘Faithful Citizenship’ document on forming conscience. I think that’s an excellent document. What it says is that the role of the bishop is to teach. We present what the gospel says, what it means in terms of today, but the translation of that teaching into action belongs to the lay person. It belongs to people with responsibility for the “transformation of the temporal order,” as the council put it. That’s their responsibility. It’s the task of the faithful.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncronline3.org ...
“Misleading”? How about “incoherent”? How does one “ban” a Supreme Court ruling? I swear, the daily abuse of the English language makes me want to support a total change to Spanish.
Now I’ll look at the article :-).
Q: To reiterate, is it possible to be pro-life without seeking a legal ban on abortion?
A: The question is, can you translate your faith conviction that taking innocent, unborn life is always evil into practice in any other way?
It would have been nice if the Archbishop had called him a Satanic minion and thrown some holy water on him, but one can't have everything.
I am glad he is still true to form in DC.
The Knights of Columbus magazine ran his articles for many years. They were always informative.
Talk about taking something out of context!
Interesting interview. They were clearly trying to get a “gotcha” quote, but this was the closest they could get because Wuerl stayed one step ahead of them and was very careful. I don’t particularly like him because he has been very wishy-washy in his dealings with pro-abortion Catholic politicians, but he handled this well.
“...but he handled this well.”
I disagree. The archbishop once again showed that he is a part-time Catholic and a full-time Democrat:
“[NCR]'To put the question in its sharpest form, is overturning Roe v. Wade an article of the Catholic faith?’
“[Wuerl]'No, but it is one of the most clearly aligned practical ways to stop what’s happening.’”
The archbishop is wrong. It is an article of Catholic faith, derived from the natural law, that unborn persons have a right to life and must be protected in law. In that Roe v. Wade forbids even the attempt by governments to protect unborn persons in law, it is a conclusion that proceeds directly from doctrine that Roe must go.
sitetest
“I believe that’s what we’re going to be judged by historically, down the road. I think one hundred years from now, people are going to look back and wonder how it was possible that we could have had a culture that builds into it the wholesale destruction of unborn life.” (from the article)
I think we are going to look back and say that one of the biggest failings of the Church was that it didn’t call out folks who think baby butchery is cool by name, and didn’t use any real type of discipline to enforce the blindingly simple teaching that abortion is baby butchery.
Freegards
I agree.
I actually read those comments after the article. The arguments are so vapid and dull from the pro-baby butchery Catholics my eyes were bugging out in disbelief at their nimroditude.
Freegards
Any student of history knows its a republic. A democracy is mob rule.What an ignorant putz !
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua
The media is desperate to get one Bishop to use to support Obama.Thank God they have been unsuccessful so far.
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