Posted on 10/29/2009 1:00:21 PM PDT by marcbold
Wow! This is big news. For months the bishops have been threatening to oppose the healthcare legislation as long as it included abortion funding. But I didn't expect this. Wonderful news. Catholic.org reports:
An E-mail directive has been sent from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-Life Activities Secretariat mobilizing every parish in the United States of America. It contains an urgent message which is to be distributed in every parish this weekend and announced at every single Mass. This massive and urgent appeal may be unprecedented in our history as Catholics in America. It is an effort to mobilize the Catholic faithful on an urgent matter of public policy concerning the fundamental and foundational human right to life.
The E-Mail specifically asks that no parish opt out of this initiative.
The bishops are urging all parishes to insert a document into all parish bulletins across the country. The pdf of the file is here.
The text reads:USCCB NATIONWIDE BULLETIN INSERT
Tell Congress: Remove Abortion Funding & Mandates from Needed Health Care Reform
Congress is preparing to debate health care reform legislation on the House and Senate floors.
Genuine health care reform should protect the life and dignity of all people from the moment of conception until natural death. The U.S. bishops’ conference has concluded that all committee approved bills are seriously deficient on the issues of abortion and conscience, and do not provide adequate access to health care for immigrants and the poor. The bills will have to change or the bishops have pledged to oppose them.
Our nation is at a crossroads. Policies adopted in health care reform will have an impact for good or ill for years to come...
“No one should be required to pay for or participate in abortion...
(Excerpt) Read more at creativeminorityreport.com ...
Ping
The text reads:USCCB NATIONWIDE BULLETIN INSERT
Tell Congress: Remove Abortion Funding & Mandates from Needed Health Care Reform
Hey knuckleheads! Tell Congress: Remove Health Care Reform!
Show me just one Catholic bishop who will speak up against coveting your neighbors’ goods. That is why Catholics ignored the Bishops on abortion. They know abortion is wrong but overlooked the Dems on that point because those same politicians pandered to their covetousness. Same for protestants and evangelical pastors, leaders and activists. American politics and government at all levels is driven by government-mediated coveting. Until the Church takes a stand against this we can expect to sink deeper and deeper into socialism and, oh yeah, abortion.FReeper all the best, November 5, 2008.
The Catholic Church leadership is abhorent. They are right on this by accident, but right none the less.
Even a blind squirl finds a nut now and then.
Ya know...I have always thought that you guys, especially Alex Murphy, were probably alienated former Catholics who were so PO’ed they spent most of their time attacking the Church. And that may be the truth.
But why don’t you go for something positive? Many bishops in the US have spoken out against the very concept of the government controlling what are referred to as “life decisions” (birth and death), and they have obviously managed to strong-arm their weaker brethren into doing at least this much.
Condemn what is bad. But encourage what is good. Unless, of course, your whole project is hatred of the Catholic Church, in which case maybe you should go back to the Jack Chick Comic Book Circle.
They keep telling us that this church (and others) are not preaching socialism from the pulpits, but their own press releases make it clear.
Once the abortion issue is off the table, they’re gonna have to answer some REAL questions.
It works only if Pelosi goes all in on abortion.
If she and Obammy cave, then you’ve got some Bishops on record supporting Obamacare because they’ve got the only thing they’ve requested.
What about the other issues?
Now they’re on record as being FOR those other things.
Win or not, it proves a point about these Bishops and the leanings of this church.
It’s because the real issue here is not abortion, healthcare or Obama. It’s that we all recognize how clever and on the money Tenacious is. The actual issues, the outcomes do not matter as long as prejudices are advanced.
obamacare must include the bomb- the legislation he promised to NARAL when he was campaigning.
No opt-out of abortions for reasons of conscience..
Any provider (Dr, nurse, hospital) that treats fed patients or receives any govt funding - must abort on demand.
Hey folks, you need the Catholics on board against Obamacare.
You should be thanking your lucky stars that we are on board, rather than trashing us for our opposition to abortion. Do you want to lose and get Obamacare? Please. I know there are folks who are pro abortion and against Obamacare, but I’ll take their support in a common clause. We both have the same enemy here, so lets defeat him on Obamacare.
This Bishops' statement on Health Care Reform is to be be printed or hand-stuffed in every parish bulletin and/or distributed in pews or at ALL church entrances THIS SUNDAY.
The message is to be announced at all Masses THIS SUNDAY.
The following petition is to be used in the Prayer of the Faithful at all Masses THIS SUNDAY:
That Congress will act to ensure that needed health care reform will truly protect the life, dignity and health care of all and that we will raise our voices to protect the unborn and the most vulnerable and to preserve our freedom of conscience. We pray to the Lord.
Health care reform could be voted on as early as next week. These materials need to be in the hands of Catholics starting this weekend. Thank you for your efforts in getting the word out.
Note: I'm, personally, not interested in a lot of chat about "This isn't the exact message I would have chosen" or "This isn't the proven best tactic" or "Why didn't they do this two months ago" or "The USCCB sucks moldy citrus" or "Why doesn't the Pope excommunicate ... followed by a list the length of the Boston phone directory and bolding your own particular favorites.
The fact is, if 1/10 of the Catholics (joined by 1/10 of the non-Catholic pro-life people) act on this, it will
Because if a Life/Conscience amendment is demanded by, oh, say, 6 - 10 million voters, and the ghastly Madame Pelosi blocks it from going to a floor vote, people will raise holy hell and the center-right section of Dems in the House will revolt and kill the bill.
If a Life/Concience amendment is, in fact, brought up, it will pass and the Left will kill the bill.
Thus saith Mrs. Don-o. Please act, please make this as big as possible as fast as possible.
If you wish to be removed from my Ping List, please PERSONAL MESSAGE ME. I'm asking for PERSONAL MESSAGE so I see it and act on it promptly.
Thank you.
What happens if it does get pulled? Do they then support it?
I think the illegal immigrant issue is being pulled and they are just trusting prior court precedent requiring them to be covered will put it back in after the fact. I wouldn't put it past the Rats to try the same two step with abortion.
bump
That is not going to be off the table because it is an essential part of the Obama agenda. Eventually many bishops are gojng to realize that the Democratic Party is anti-Catholic. One problem is that Nancy Pelosi and the other pro-abort Catholics did not get her false notions about Church teachings out of the air but from bishops/clerics who have not been true to Church teachings.
“What are our dear Bishops going to do when the government takes government funding of abortions out of the bill? They will support it.”
Fault them then for that. The fact remains that their opposition is not accidental.
I said the bishops are stupid politically. If abortion funding were taken out of Obamacare and they support it (which is likely, I agree), they’d be stupid.
Their stupidity has and will cost us dearly.
But this was not accidental. It’s the very principle that will save us. They may be stupid politically but they are right and principled theologically.
They realize that as long as one favors legalized abortion one cannot be working for the common good.
The Democrats have made legalized abortion the hill on which they will die.
Thank God that the bishops have a theological, principled moral center. If the Democrats continue on this trajectory, the Democrats’ principled, die-hard pro-abortion stupidity may prove the means by which the bishops finally wean themselves from Democratitis in general. A new generation of bishops will help.
I am sorry I misunderstood your post. Perhaps it’s because you wrote it misunderstoodably. You wrote that it’s accidental that they oppose Obamacare.
That’s just plain false.
If you meant that their opposition to Obamacare is a “double-effect” of their opposition to abortion, you could have written that.
“Accidental” however denies them any moral credit for their stand. And that’s wrong. In this instance, despite their other stupidities, they are morally creditable, particularly morally creditable because we both know they (stupidly) would like to support the rest of Obamacare.
Write precisely and you won’t be misunderstood.
And devout Catholics can readily fall into a knee-jerk anticlerical pettyness that is anti-Catholic. I have breakfast after Mass with a group of conservative Catholics who regularly fall into that trap.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.