Replies

Wednesday in St. Louis, Kerry said that he shares the Catholic Church's anti-abortion views as an article of faith. But as a public official, he said, it was not "appropriate in the United States for a legislator to legislate personal religious beliefs for the rest of the country."

"The bishop said that he acted for two reasons. One was to warn Catholic legislators that their unjust acts were spiritually harmful to them — "a grave sin." The other was to prevent "scandal": that is, weakening the faith and moral resolution of others by one's bad example. Having made every effort to persuade pro-abortion Catholic legislators to fulfill their obligations in justice to the unborn, Bishop Burke articulated the obvious: Any Catholic who exercises political power to expose a disfavored class of human beings to unjust killing sets himself against the very faith he claims to share. The Church cannot permit such a person to pretend to share in the faith he publicly defies. By receiving communion — the sacrament of unity — pro-abortion Catholics are pretending exactly that. The bishop has called a halt to the pretense."

Leading His Flock: Has the new archbishop of St. Louis crossed a line?

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

The gravely evil nature of abortion is not some private, subjective "belief" eccentrically idiosyncratic to Catholics exclusively. The results of a late abortion leave hard, visible evidence of a body which meets the standards of habeas corpus. When abortion was considered a crime in the U.S. before 1973 it was not because civil law had been captured by Vatican theologians. Kerry needs to do his homework all over again. What a moron!

John Kerry should be shown the actual remains of a partial-birth abortion. He should then be asked to DESCRIBE what he is looking at empirically, scientifically, and legally.

"So...um...Senator Kerry...ahem...how would describe what happened here?"

IT's NOT a private matter of "personal beliefs" or any other theological hocus pocus.

Bishop Burke should hold classes for Catholic priests, pastors all across the country. I'm Catholic and I spoke with one of my parish priests re urging Catholics to do their homework before they vote for a candidate. The priest explained they could not tell people who to vote for...separation of Church and state. I responded I was not suggesting that the Church tell parishoners whom to vote for..but, I believed the Church should remind Catholics that abortion is against the teachings of the Church and, thus, Catholics should not support candidates who pro-choice. Further, Catholics should be urged to learn about judicial candidates before voting. If we continue to elect liberal judges, celebrating the true meaning of Christmas may someday be against the law. My parish priest agreed with my concerns but was not too anxious to address the issue from the pulpit. Needless to say, I felt discouraged and angry when I walked away from my parish priest.