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A Fight Among Catholics Over Which Party Best Reflects Church Teachings
New York Times ^ | October 4, 2008 | David D. Kirkpatrick

Posted on 10/05/2008 6:11:38 AM PDT by reaganaut1

As the Roman Catholic Church observes its annual “respect life” Sunday in this heated presidential election season, the unusually pitched competition for Catholic voters is setting off a round of skirmishes over how to apply the church’s teachings not only on abortion but also on the war in Iraq, immigration and racism.

...

The escalating efforts by more-liberal Catholics are provoking a vigorous backlash from some bishops and the right.

In Scranton, Pa., every Catholic attending Mass this weekend will hear a special homily about the election next month: Bishop Joseph Martino has ordered every priest in the diocese to read a letter warning that voting for a supporter of abortion rights amounts to endorsing “homicide.”

“Being ‘right’ on taxes, education, health care, immigration and the economy fails to make up for the error of disregarding the value of a human life,” the bishop wrote. “It is a tragic irony that ‘pro-choice’ candidates have come to support homicide — the gravest injustice a society can tolerate — in the name of ‘social justice.’ ”

...

To underscore the point, a nun is collecting the signatures of prominent Catholic leaders there for a newspaper advertisement reminding those who may be wary of voting for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic nominee for president, that the church also considers racism a sin that threatens the dignity of life.

“Here in Scranton, racist attitudes often prevent us from seeing all of our fellow citizens and candidates for public office as God’s children,” says the petition, circulated by Sister Margaret P. Gannon, a professor at Marywood University.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: abortion; catholics; catholicvote; election08; pa2008; religiousleft; schism
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To: silverleaf
No doubt many nuns are bitter women who feel cheated out of a normal life.

The whole nuns and celibate priests is unnatural and seems to spring more from Paul's teachings than from Jesus.My observation is the people with no family tend to take up "causes" to fill the void in their lives,and the cause reflects their personality.

I would hope the Pope and other good spiritual leaders would make it even plainer that one cannot call oneself any kind of Christian while supporting the killing of the unborn.

41 posted on 10/05/2008 8:01:22 AM PDT by hoosierham (Waddaya mean Freedom isn't free ?;will you take a creditcard?)
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The real “fight” is between, real, practicing, Mass-going Catholics and those who were born Catholic but have abandoned the Faith—Pelosi, Biden, Kerry, Kennedy “Catholics.” Catholic Doctrine is clear: there is a hierarchy of values. Assisting the poor and sick, for example, is a core value for Catholics. But Church Doctrine acknowledges there can be genuine policy disagreement about the best way to do this. Some would argue that higher taxes, for example, may actually hurt the poor by killing job creation.
But about abortion, there is no argument. Catholic Doctrine teaches that a child in the womb is a human being, an image and likeness of God, with inherent rights to life and dignity. Catholic Doctrine teaches that the unjust, premeditated,deliberate taking of such INNOCENT life is a grave sin. There is no dispute about this among orthodox Catholics. It outstrips all “social” concerns if only because one can enjoy the dubious fruits of socialist health, welfare, and education programs if one is alive.

Liberals in the media and the democratic party are attempting to fool Catholics about this. But faithful Catholics will nor be fooled. Obama is the most extremist pro-abortion candidate ever to run for office. He promises to use federal funds for abortion. He promises legislation that will outlaw state restrictions on abortion. He will appoint only pro-abortion lawyers to the Supreme Court. And, very quietly, the Democratic Party has altered its platform language. Since Clinton, party platforms had said that abortions should be safe, legal and “rare.” This election, with no media notice, the word “rare” has been deleted from the platform. In communications with its members, abortion industry lobby group NARAL boasts that it is responsible for the deletion.

42 posted on 10/05/2008 8:04:13 AM PDT by Godwin1
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To: RedRedRose


The good Mister.....er...Sister
43 posted on 10/05/2008 8:23:59 AM PDT by mom3boys
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To: livius

Corpus Christi, TX. People have given me some places to try and I am still looking. Our Lady of Perpetual Help seemed really good but soo many people. Three huge masses on Sunday morning and packed to the brim! This church is on fire and I liked the Priest and the people but when you are one in seven thousand you can feel lost and alone. They called people out for RCIA but I didn’t go. It looked like mostly teenagers. I am going to keep looking. Possibly going out to Padre Island for a maybe smaller group. I really don’t want to be exposed to any more rubbish from the reds, though. I want red-meat doctrine and thats that.


44 posted on 10/05/2008 8:38:57 AM PDT by RedRedRose
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To: mom3boys

Thanks! I’m still such a newbie that I have a hard time posting and doing a picture would have taken a good 30 minutes.
LOL Mister.


45 posted on 10/05/2008 8:42:21 AM PDT by RedRedRose
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To: livius
I'm going to write to the pastor and complain.

Be specific in your letter about his deviation from the magisterium. If he does not recant, he should be reported to the bishop. If you do not get action from the diocese you should write to Archbishop Burke in the Vatican, who is newly appointed and is looking for bishops to straighten out, if necessary the hard way.

46 posted on 10/05/2008 8:43:13 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (White Trash for Sarah!)
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To: RedRedRose

Have you heard about Blessed Sacrament Convent, 4105 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi? The nuns are Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters and seem to be quite orthodox. It’s a cloistered order, of course, but I saw somebody mentioned as a “lay volunteer” there, so maybe they have auxiliaries who spend some time in Adoration, as well. In any case, if they have an extern sister that you could talk to, she might be able to point you to a good priest in the area.

There’s also a monastery of Poor Clares in Brenham (I don’t know if that’s close or not). You might be able to meet some orthodox people through that, since a lot of the time people who visit monasteries like that or even help out as lay volunteers are connected to orthodox priests and parishes.

It is hard to be one of 7000. I think the mega-parish is a serious mistake. Regardless of how good the priest is, he can’t be a real pastor to 7000 people. Still, I think you might check into their RCIA program. These big parishes function, in a sense, by being broken into smaller units. That is, most people who go to, say, the 8:00 mass go only to that mass, and they end up forming a sort of subgroup that gets to know each other, etc. The RCIA people probably form a subgroup like this. Also, if you sing, the choir can be a good way of making things feel less “institutional.” It’s a real challenge, though.


47 posted on 10/05/2008 9:13:44 AM PDT by livius
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To: txzman

the dem party leader for my county lives a few houses away from me...and goes to the same Catholic church....he rabidly debated me on this the ONE time I ever brought it up.

other parishioners have hounded me across the church after mass to advocate that I vote for Hillary for our senator......

they get all moonbatty on you if you try to debate them and they sit in the pews making disgusted noises IF the priest dares give a homily advocating the life issue, ie abortion, as THE issue.

as a Catholic and a Republican they are so foreign to my faith that I do not understand them at all.

our bishop is about as far left as you can get in the Catholic church, even attending gay “unions” during mass at one of his parishes. mandatory retirement age is coming soon, JP2 appointed him, I trust our new Pope to give us a better bishop.


48 posted on 10/05/2008 9:40:44 AM PDT by tioga (My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Luke 1:47)
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To: livius

Evidently the Blessed Sacrament Convent Chapel doesn’t have enough room for many people. It’s in the priest residence. I will try to go to mass anyway one Sunday and see what happens. The Poor Clares are quite far. Oh, but I would love to go to Mass there. I have seen their pictures and read about them here on FR. They look so wonderful! Pretty, womanly, faces glowing with true joy and the love of God.


49 posted on 10/05/2008 10:28:58 AM PDT by RedRedRose
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To: tioga

How does the Priest tolerate them? If they can make disgusted noises against Church doctrine spoken by their own Priest in the presence of God, they are not acting like Catholics or Christians at all. Who do they think they are? I wouldn’t dream of doing that in my wildest nightmares. These people don’t know how lucky they are. I am still struggling to get in and receive the Sacraments. I consider it an honor and the greatest priveledge of my life to even walk through the doors of the Church and be in the presence of His flesh and blood.


50 posted on 10/05/2008 11:03:06 AM PDT by RedRedRose
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To: RedRedRose

ego and arrogance......that THEY are so much smarter......(read about the seven deadly sins)...their high intellect allows them to dismiss Catholic teaching....trouble is they will stand before Jesus one day and have to explain it all, including each and every time they sat in church and were so dismissive of the priest’s homily.

Welcome to the Church, it is well worth the struggle to get there. God Bless you on your journey.


51 posted on 10/05/2008 11:13:43 AM PDT by tioga ( are)
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To: livius

That happened in a catholic church?

Geez, its been all out war against abortion and the phony democratic position and lies they spout for the past month at my church today.

Its about time the bishops are getting on the parish priests to bail this issue head on.


52 posted on 10/05/2008 11:39:28 AM PDT by Finatic (this species has amused itself to death)
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To: livius

I hope you report this to your bishop.


53 posted on 10/05/2008 6:16:54 PM PDT by Salvation ( †With God all things are possible.†)
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To: reaganaut1
In addition to Martino these bishops have spoken out against abortion in general -- although remarks were initially directed at Pelosi et al.

livius, show this to your pastor too!

Updated: American Bishops who have spoken against Pelosi

Here is the complete list of American bishops who have responded to Nancy Pelosi's comments so far:
  1. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver was the first American bishop to respond
  2. ... Bishop James Conley, his auxiliary, joined him
  3. Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington DC responded twice, first in a press release and second in a statement to The Hill. He has also appeared on Fox News, I am told.
  4. Cardinal Justin Regali of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued this statement through the USCCB website...
  5. ... Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, joined him
  6. Cardinal Edward Egan of New York publised a strongly worded statement of his own
  7. Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo issued a letter correcting Pelosi's claims
  8. Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh and...
  9. ... Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs have chimed-in
  10. Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, CNA reports has added his voice ...
  11. ... Bishop Oscar Cantu, his auxiliary bishop, has joined him
  12. Bishop William Murphy of Rockville has published an extensive letter
  13. Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa has a detailed response
  14. Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas has joined the USCCB's efforts
  15. Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin is on-board
  16. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston mentions the USCCB on his blog
  17. Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando has written at length
  18. Archbishop John Nienstedt of Saint Paul/Minneapolis challenges Pelosi's statement
  19. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, President of the US Bishops, has weighed-in
  20. Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, OR publishes in the Catholic Sentinel
  21. Bishop Jerome Listecki of La Crosse, WI responds in a word document
  22. Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland, OH will comment in his September 5th column (PDF)
  23. Bishop Ralph Nickless of Sioux City, IA has one of the very best responses I've read
  24. Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco has invited Pelosi to a "conversation"
  25. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn: "Judging the Candidates"

{Last updated on September 10th.}

Notes:

  • Previous #23 has been removed. Bishop Joseph Gossman of Raleigh, NC is actually the bishop emeritus, and the new bishop, Michael Burbidge has not, to my knowledge, made a personal statement.
  • Previous #16 has also been removed, it was an erroneous duplication of current #13.
  • #26 was added September 10th, although he published his column September 6th

54 posted on 10/05/2008 6:18:35 PM PDT by Salvation ( †With God all things are possible.†)
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To: rlmorel
The Catholic Church has long stood against abortion. People need to be educated. Pass it on!

enter the Table of Contents of the Catechism of the Catholic Church here

1: CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2271  (618 bytes )  preview document matches
1 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion,
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2271.htm
97%**********

2: CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2272  (580 bytes )  preview document matches
2 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2272.htm
96%**********

3: CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2322  (290 bytes )  preview document matches
2 From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal" practice (GS 27 § 3),
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2322.htm
96%**********

4: CCC Search Result - Paragraph # 2274  (554 bytes )  preview document matches
gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent
URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2274.htm

55 posted on 10/05/2008 6:19:54 PM PDT by Salvation ( †With God all things are possible.†)
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