Catholics allowed pro-choice vote (Ratzinger at it again)

Detroit Free Press ^ | Tue, Sep 07, 2004 | PATRICIA MONTEMURRI

[presidio9]

Anti-abortion Catholics can support pro-choice candidates, as long as they agree with the candidate on a range of other issues.

That pronouncement in an Italian magazine from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's top spokesman on Catholic teachings, went unnoticed in the din of presidential election-year politics.

But it could reverberate in a close election, which pits President George W. Bush, a conservative Christian abortion opponent, against Democratic Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic who favors abortion rights.

Catholics account for about one-fourth of the Michigan electorate and are evenly split between Kerry and Bush, said pollster Ed Sarpolus of the Lansing-based EPIC/MRA. Michigan is among a handful of battleground states expected to decide the election.

[marty60]

Anti-abortion Catholics can support pro-choice candidates, as long as they agree with the candidate on a range of other issues. That pronouncement in an Italian magazine from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's top spokesman on Catholic teachings,

Looks like even the Vatican has a RAT problem.

[NavySEAL F-16]

I'd have to see the article for myself.

I find it hard to believe the Detroit Free Press' interpretation of Catholic Doctrine.

[presidio9]

ping

[alkaloid2]

What th'...?

Goddang Catholics are gonna send us all to hell. It really chaps my hide that the Catholic church is not proclaiming from the pulpit that genocide is the Ace of Spades - it trumps all other issues. And they were doing so well not too long ago...

If I could just hear those words on Sunday morning from a priest - "as Catholics, you cannot support a politician who supports abortion or homosexual marriage", I would be a happy man.

tSG

[Rutles4Ever]

I gotta call BS on this one. This is like the Pope giving odds on the NFL Week One. What "magazine" was it and what is their agenda?

[Rutles4Ever]

This doesn't ring true. Ratzinger's as conservative as they come.

[rushmom]

As a practicing Catholic, I'm disgusted by this. No other issue should trump abortion for a practicing Catholic.

[alkaloid2]

This doesn't ring true. Ratzinger's as conservative as they come.

God I hope not.

tSG

[rushmom]

You'd have to know Ratzinger. I can believe it.

[rushmom]

Some are saying it, but they're a distinct minority.

[Awestruck]

I let God guide me at the voting booth.. HE is the ultimate authority.

[HamiltonJay]

Don't believe it... sorry in Catholicism LIFE STARTS AT CONCEPTION, PERIOD. Abortion is MURDER. MURDER IS A VIOLATION OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS... VIOLATING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS IS AN AFFRONT TO GOD!

THEREFORE, VOTING FOR PRO-ABORTION, IS AT ITS ESSENCE VOTING FOR MURDER AND IS AN AFFRONT TO GOD!

There is no logical way in the world go be pro-infanticide and claim to be a devout Catholic. TO be pro-infanticide is to reject the fundamental belief that all life is a gift from God.

[rushmom]

By the way, all you have to know is that 80% of Catholic Charity money comes from the government.

[wideawake]

This is false.

Ratzinger's point was directed at a European audience where voters are often asked to choose between two candidates who are both fully supportive of abortion on demand.

The Cardinal said that, rather than not vote, Catholics should vote for the candidate who takes the more moral stance on other issues.

[BlessedBeGod]

This is not like Ratzinger at all. I wonder if he was misquoted or if the publication purposely spun what he said.

This conflicts with what he said before about voting for pro-abortion candidates.

[BlessedBeGod]

I know Ratzinger, and I don't believe it.

[BlessedBeGod]

Thanks for the explanation!

[marty60]

I'm Catholic, I know. What the Vatican needs to do is remove this heretic immediately.

[wideawake]

You are wrong and you slander the Cardinal.

He may be notoriously weak on disciplinary issues like the liturgy, but he has never compromised the Church's moral or dogmatic teaching.