“So no Catholic involvement in the March for Life?”
Of your hierarchs, or ours for that matter? No, despite what the Metropolitan of the OCA might think, but I say that only because the pro life movement has been highjacked by the political right.
Rather than “hijacked”, I’d say the pro life movement was a political orphan till it was adopted by the right. I am not about to kid myself that the segment of the political establishment self-identifying as right wing gives a flip about abortion as a matter of natural law or civil rights: for them it’s boob bait for the bubbas.
The GOP has historically had a very substantial pro-abortion membership (let’s not forget who appointed Justice Blackmun to the SCOTUS, and whose National Security Advisor produced a National Security Memorandum declaring abortion to be “vital” to US interests).
There is no political home for right-wingers in this country, perhaps because there’s almost no true right wing. Catholics are natural right-wingers, but in America their political perception is clouded by centuries of cohabitation with protestants.
It is perfectly fine for politically active lay Catholics to proclaim themselves as such; indeed, it’s an evangelical duty. We lay people are the ones who have to live in the world and promote its sanctification. The clergy serve in a different sphere. Yes, there’s no lack of Catholic clergy in the March for Life (probably plenty of Orthodox as well). Is this hypocritical or un-american? I don’t think so. Taking it to the streets is an extraordinary expedient, to meet an extraordinary need. It’s not at all the same as having priests running for office or accepting secular positions in business.
I’ve no idea of Archbishop Chaput’s credentials as a theologian. Given the unserious formation and environment now prevailing, not to mention the process by which non-clubbable men are culled from the lists of priest marked for early promotion, I don’t expect anyone in the American hierarchy to resemble an Old Testament prophet, much as I’d enjoy the prospect. As for Chaputs’s politics, he’s a citizen and entitled to his views. I’ve never heard him accused of partisanship, and I hope he’s shrewd enough to avoid being co-opted by those interested in the Church only as a flag of convenience.