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U.S.: Catholics Split Fifty Fifty Between Republicans and Democrats
La Stampa-Vatican Insider ^ | 11/7/12 | Alessandro Speciale

Posted on 11/08/2012 6:48:56 AM PST by marshmallow

Early figures show that 50% of Catholics chose Obama and 48% opted for Romney. The Catholic hierarchy’s hopes of a Republican victory were dashed

After an election which saw Catholic voters take sides like never before, American bishops are finding themselves having to deal with Barack Obama’s re-election to the White House. According to the bishops of Pennsylvania, one of the key U.S. states that had been split between the two parties but then won over by the Democratic candidate, Obama would lead the United States to “los[e] its soul by little steps.” In recent weeks, many representatives of the Catholic hierarchy have expressed their preference, for Mitt Romney, albeit discreetly in many cases, in letters, homilies and online messages.

Early poll figures, however, showed that in the past, U.S. Catholics listened to their bishops but then tended to follow their own conscience when voting: the majority sided with Obama although the majority was lower than four years ago. In fact, by nature of their choices, Catholics are the group that is most representative of the positions of everyone in the U.S.: just like the average American, 50% of Catholics voted for Obama and 48% for Romney.

Naturally, from a voting point of view, this fact should be read in light of one determining factor: religious practice. Catholics and Protestants who go to church every week chose Romney over Obama with a difference of 20%, whereas the Democratic candidate was 25% ahead in terms of the votes gained from individuals who practiced their faith less regularly.

The “defeat” was made all the more bitter for the Church, by the success, in many States, of the referendum on issues such as same-sex marriage, the death penalty and the use of marijuana. These are all issues which Catholics are deeply.....

(Excerpt) Read more at vaticaninsider.lastampa.it ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Moral Issues; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: catholic
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To: fwdude

No, they still attend, and act holier than thou.

I know them.

Their real religion is Dem Party.

They disagree with men tenets of the Catholic Church, but if the Democratic party says Sh*t they ask where and how high to pile it.


21 posted on 11/08/2012 7:35:24 AM PST by Venturer
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To: marshmallow

“For Wales? Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world ... but for Wales!”


22 posted on 11/08/2012 7:38:38 AM PST by Never on my watch (GALT)
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To: marshmallow
The “defeat” was made all the more bitter for the Church, by the success, in many States, of the referendum on issues such as same-sex marriage, the death penalty and the use of marijuana.

::Facepalm::

23 posted on 11/08/2012 7:39:11 AM PST by Zionist Conspirator (Ki-hagoy vehamamlakhah 'asher lo'-ya`avdukh yove'du; vehagoyim charov yecheravu!)
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To: bmwcyle
SATAN has split your church.

Satan has slit a lot of churches.

I'm ticked off at how many libs are in at my church, most likely the pastor too. It makes me wonder if we worship the same God?

How could anyone who calls themselves a christian vote for Obama? Where the hell is there discernment?

24 posted on 11/08/2012 7:41:53 AM PST by dragonblustar (Allah Ain't So Akbar!)
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To: marshmallow
Personal opinions on who is or is not a Catholic are two a penny. The hierarchy cannot decide if supporting a pro-abortion politician is a sin or not and if it is what to do about it.

So the 50-50 split is simply a reflection of the surrounding society and would indicate that all the official pronouncements against abortion, birth control, etc. has made little or no lasting impression upon Catholics going to the polls.

25 posted on 11/08/2012 7:42:38 AM PST by count-your-change (You don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: marshmallow

Does anyone know if the national exit polling for Catholics is made up all the states or what? I mean there should be a state by state breakdown somewhere if that is the case, and I can’t find it. I have found one article that says Ohio Catholics went for Romney by + 9 points, but everything else just seems to be a national number, which is pretty useless.

Freegards


26 posted on 11/08/2012 7:46:11 AM PST by Ransomed
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To: dragonblustar

The half that does not read and understand the Bible are the Obama voters. They never read or study the Bible. They come to church, sing songs, and go home.


27 posted on 11/08/2012 8:23:13 AM PST by bmwcyle (Women reelected Obama)
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To: bmwcyle
The devil has been busy within the Protestant Churches too.

8 out of 10 white Protestants voted for Romney...95% of black Protestants voted for Obama...

6 out of 10 White Catholics voted for Romney...75% of Mexican Catholics voted for Obama...


28 posted on 11/08/2012 8:28:44 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Ransomed

That’s encouraging.


29 posted on 11/08/2012 8:30:38 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

In the Catholic Church the Pope has made it clear who to vote for in the election. The Protestant Church is a mess.


30 posted on 11/08/2012 8:49:09 AM PST by bmwcyle (Women reelected Obama)
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To: Salvation

Well, I don’t know if it is encouraging or not. Catholics went for McLame last time in Ohio as well, in addition to places like Pa and Mn. But in the huge blue states like NY and Cali Obama won the Catholic vote handily in 2008.

My point is all we ever hear is a national number, but we vote by the electoral college by state. The biggest split I could find for 2008 was NM vs La, where Catholics in NM voted for Obama by 70% and Catholics in La voted for Mclame by 70%. How is a national number in any way useful when there are splits of 70% one way or another?

Freegards, thanks for all the pings on FR


31 posted on 11/08/2012 9:04:28 AM PST by Ransomed
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To: Ransomed

In Russia, after the communists eliminated their political enemies, they went after Christians. The average church then dwindled from 300 to 15. That’s a 95% falling away. The same thing will happen in America.


32 posted on 11/08/2012 9:23:15 AM PST by aimhigh
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To: marshmallow
Many of the US Bishops are for social justice.

If it weren't for the abortion provision they may have backed Obamacare 100%.

This is the main problem. Socialism.

33 posted on 11/08/2012 9:28:56 AM PST by what's up
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas
By leaving the Church, you decrease the influence of orthodox Catholics —the very thing you oppose.

Nice try! By the Church LEADERSHIP failing continuously to address the problems posed by the CINO's, the Church LEADERSHIP has itself failed to maintain it's influence, period.

34 posted on 11/08/2012 12:45:36 PM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: usconservative
"Nice try! By the Church LEADERSHIP failing continuously to address the problems posed by the CINO's, the Church LEADERSHIP has itself failed to maintain it's influence, period."

Nice try, but the Church is a voluntary organization whose membership is predicated in being in Communion with her. Those who have walked away from their Church in favor of secularism are not going to heed the advice or admonishments of the bishops anymore than those who have walked away from their Church to become Evangelicals or Mormons.

Blame it on the Reformation. When it became common and acceptable for some to reject Church teaching in favor of a contrived belief system or heresy every other rejection of the Church became acceptable and routine. When one can judge for themselves what is right and what is wrong you not only get 33,000+ denominations, but millions of individual heresies as well, all equally invalid.

Peace be with you

35 posted on 11/08/2012 1:02:11 PM PST by Natural Law (Jesus did not leave us a Bible, He left us a Church.)
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To: Natural Law; what's up
Dear Natural Law,

As the Catholic Church was instituted by Jesus, not even if nearly every bishop espoused outright formal heresy would I be persuaded to leave her.

But unfortunately, most American bishops are part-time Catholics and full-time Democrats.

As the poster what's up points out a couple of posts above yours, if it weren't for the funding of abortion and the HHS mandate, most all the bishops would be fine with Obamacare.

Bad bishops are a bad reason to leave the Church.

But unfortunately, we have a surplus of these bad reasons.


sitetest

36 posted on 11/08/2012 1:18:18 PM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: sitetest
"But unfortunately, we have a surplus of these bad reasons."

This is exactly why we are called to the New Evangelization. We are the Church, we must be the change, the Church Militant. If the gates of hell will not stand against us, what are a few wayward bishops?

Peace be with you

37 posted on 11/08/2012 2:42:24 PM PST by Natural Law (Jesus did not leave us a Bible, He left us a Church.)
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To: Natural Law
Dear Natural Law,

“If the gates of hell will not stand against us, what are a few wayward bishops?”

There are roughly 200 dioceses in the United States. I doubt the ordinaries of more than 10 are worth more than a bucket of warm spit.

As well, these are supposed to be our shepherds. Sadly, nearly all of them behave like hired hands. And they lead many, many laity astray.

I’ve told this story at FR before, but it perfectly illustrates my point, so I’ll repeat it.

I’m a Past Grand Knight of my Knights of Columbus council. One would think that folks in the Knights would all be solid, pro-life Catholics. And many are. But a horrifyingly large number are not.

One of the wives of one of our members worked closely with me on any number of council projects. We were doing a pro-life program, and we were chatting, and she revealed that she’s pro-abort.

I was stunned. I questioned her, “How can you be a pro-abort? How can you think abortion should be legal and be a devout, involved, active Catholic?”

She said, “Well, I believe in a woman’s right to choose and that the government should keep their hands off women’s bodies.”

“But don’t you believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church?” I asked.

She said, “Yeah, for the most part. Especially the important ones.”

“But the Church has made crystal clear that there can be no right to abortion, that abortion is always the killing of an innocent person, and no Catholic can be in favor of laws granting a license for abortion,” I replied.

“They don’t really mean that about abortion,” she said.

“How can you say that?? They have EMPHATICALLY said these things,” I said.

“They don’t really mean them. If they did, they would have excommunicated Ted Kennedy [he was still living then] years and years ago,” she concluded.

What could I say? She was right! If the bishops, the hierarchy were serious about the life issues, they’da started excommunicatin’ folks a long time ago. That they have not has given scandal, in the Catholic sense of the word, and has led many Catholics right off the cliff into gravely objective evil. The bishops have induced millions into committing the matter of mortal sin. They have caused millions, potentially, to commit spiritual suicide.

It’s difficult for the laity to do the New Evangelization thingy when the bishops are leading roughly half of us to Hell.


sitetest

38 posted on 11/08/2012 3:43:07 PM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: sitetest
"As well, these are supposed to be our shepherds. Sadly, nearly all of them behave like hired hands. And they lead many, many laity astray."

The history of the Church is that it doesn't act until it is smacked in the face by something, this is no exception.

I was shocked at how poorly so very many Catholics had been catechized. It was everywhere I looked, Nuns, Priests, DREs, Catechists, lay ministers, KofC, parents, kids, former, lapsed and failed Catholics, everywhere. It was only when I studied the heresy of modernism that it struck me; Vatican II had opened the door to modernism and it has literally taken control of much of the US Catholic Church.

You see, the Church and the Clergy is comprised of what I call "Huggers", "Shruggers", and "Sluggers". I, like Jesus' choice to establish His Church, am a slugger. I made it my mission to do what I could do to turn things around, to re-Evangelize the Church every way I could. I teach adults in Faith Formation, with special emphasis on parents of children in "late start" catechism. I am in Diaconate Formation and have unequivocally established my role as the head of my domestic Church. I will not fail my Church when she needs me most. I encourage everyone to do the same.

Peace be with you.

39 posted on 11/08/2012 4:17:33 PM PST by Natural Law (Jesus did not leave us a Bible, He left us a Church.)
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To: usconservative

Both can be true.


40 posted on 11/08/2012 4:22:42 PM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas (Viva Christo Rey!)
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