The House's Catholic Democrats Detail Role Religion Plays

Washington Post ^ | Wednesday, March 1, 2006 | Alan Cooperman

[Mrs. Don-o]

Still reeling from the attacks on Sen. John F. Kerry's brand of Roman Catholicism during the 2004 presidential race, 55 House Democrats issued a joint statement yesterday on the central role that the Catholic faith plays in their public lives.

The signers said they were fed up with being labeled "good Catholics" or "bad Catholics" based on one issue -- abortion. They said their religion infuses their positions on many issues: poverty, war, health care and education.

"Some of us are pro-choice and some of us are pro-life," said Rep. William J. Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.). "But we respect each other and we're going to defend each other, because we're all operating in good conscience."

...But Tom McClusky, a Catholic who is acting vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council, predicted they would fail.

"What is at the core of being Catholic is the life issue, and that's something the pope has never strayed from," he said. "While other issues are important -- such as helping the poor, the death penalty, views on war -- these are things that aren't tenets of the Catholic Church."

[Mrs. Don-o]

Listen up: you really, REALLY can't be pro-choice on abortion and be a "good Catholic." Got that? The most fundamental role of govenrment --- according to our own American founding documents --- is to to secure "inalienable" human rights, the first of which is LIFE --- the right to simply go on living.

But these "pro-choice" Catholics are starting to sound defensive and nervous. Good. Let's hold their feet to the fire.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Hope you don't mind my pinging y'all...

[madprof98]

What this statement needs is just one strong Church leader to come out and condemn it for the pile of crap that it is. Do we have such a leader among the US Catholic bishops? I doubt it.

[Notwithstanding]

"We are Catholic too, dammit. We are just as Catholic as all those people who don't support the legal slaughter of 45 million US babies since 1973."

[Notwithstanding]

It ain't Mahony.

He has decided that immigration is the hill his priests should die on. Not abortion - an always reprehensible moral atrocity - but immigration.

[Salvation]

You are so correct!

Catechism of the Catholic Church and what it says about those who support abortion

[Campion]

Their blather about "poverty" and supporting the "poor" is such B.S. -- there is nobody poorer than an unwanted, unborn child. The 'rats are big on helping the "poor," as long as they can get votes from those same "poor" come November. "You can't vote, kid, so into the medical waste pail you go. Sayonara!"

[Salvation]

Burke, Chaput, Rigali?

[wolfcreek]

I'm not Catholic and don't agree with a lot of what they have to say or believe but, You are 'right on' about the abortion issue.

[siunevada]

"We envision a world in which every child belongs to a loving family and agree with the Catholic Church about the value of human life and the undesirability of abortion -- we do not celebrate its practice," the statement said. "Each of us is committed to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term."

Well, that sounds good.

The statement also said that though the Catholic Democrats "seek the Church's guidance and assistance," they "accept the tension that comes with being in disagreement with the Church in some areas."

Oopsie. Actions speak louder than words, ladies and gentlemen. Pretty statements about hopes and dreams are one thing; "being" in disagreement is your reality.

[Salvation]

I wish there was a list so we could grade them!

+ pro-life
- pro-killing babies

[Nihil Obstat]

Add Vasa to that list. Any of them would be good as the next bishop of DC.

[A.A. Cunningham]

because we're all operating in good conscience."

because we're all operating in relative conscience."

[Mrs. Don-o]

I seriously suggest that we copy this article on paper (print it) and send it to the best of the Bishops, asking them to comment, and quickly:

Archdiocese of Denver
Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, OFMCap
Catholic Pastoral Center
1300 S. Steele Street
Denver, CO 80210-2599

Diocese of Lincoln
Most Reverend Fabian W. Bruskewitz
P.O. Box 80328
Lincoln, NE 68501

Archdiocese of Philadelphia
His Eminence Justin F. Rigali
222 North 17th Street
Suite 1207
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1299

Archdiocese of St. Louis
Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke
4445 Lindell Blvd.
St. Louis, MO. 63108-2497

I mean, DO IT NOW!!

[A.A. Cunningham]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    Contact: Kate Cyrul
Tuesday, February 28, 2006                              (202) 225-3661

House Democrats Release Historic

Catholic Statement of Principles

Expresses Commitment to Dignity of Life and Belief that Government Has ‘Moral Purpose’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A majority of Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House led by Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today released a statement of principles.  Signed by 55 House Democrats, the statement documents how their faith influences them as lawmakers, making clear their commitment to the basic principles at the heart of Catholic social teaching and their bearing on policy – whether it is increasing access to education for all or pressing for real health care reform, taking seriously the decision to go to war, or reducing poverty.  Above all, the document expresses the signers’ commitment to the dignity of life and their belief that government has moral purpose. 

The full text of the statement and the complete list of signers follow.

Statement of Principles

By Fifty-Five Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives

As Catholic Democrats in Congress, we are proud to be part of the living Catholic tradition -- a tradition that promotes the common good, expresses a consistent moral framework for life and highlights the need to provide a collective safety net to those individuals in society who are most in need. As legislators, in the U.S. House of Representatives, we work every day to advance respect for life and the dignity of every human being. We believe that government has moral purpose.

We are committed to making real the basic principles that are at the heart of Catholic social teaching: helping the poor and disadvantaged, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and ensuring that all Americans of every faith are given meaningful opportunities to share in the blessings of this great country. That commitment is fulfilled in different ways by legislators but includes: reducing the rising rates of poverty; increasing access to education for all; pressing for increased access to health care; and taking seriously the decision to go to war. Each of these issues challenges our obligations as Catholics to community and helping those in need.

We envision a world in which every child belongs to a loving family and agree with the Catholic Church about the value of human life and the undesirability of abortion B we do not celebrate its practice. Each of us is committed to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term. We believe this includes promoting alternatives to abortion, such as adoption, and improving access to children=s healthcare and child care, as well as policies that encourage paternal and maternal responsibility.

In all these issues, we seek the Church=s guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience. In recognizing the Church's role in providing moral leadership, we acknowledge and accept the tension that comes with being in disagreement with the Church in some areas. Yet we believe we can speak to the fundamental issues that unite us as Catholics and lend our voices to changing the political debate -- a debate that often fails to reflect and encompass the depth and complexity of these issues.

As legislators, we are charged with preserving the Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom for all Americans. In doing so, we guarantee our right to live our own lives as Catholics, but also foster an America with a rich diversity of faiths. We believe the separation of church and state allows for our faith to inform our public duties.

As Catholic Democrats who embrace the vocation and mission of the laity as expressed by Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici, we believe that the Church is the "people of God," called to be a moral force in the broadest sense. We believe the Church as a community is called to be in the vanguard of creating a more just America and world. And as such, we have a claim on the Church's bearing as it does on ours.

Rosa L. DeLauro                        David R. Obey

Wm. Lacy Clay                          Hilda L. Solis

James R. Langevin                      Bart Stupak

Anna Eshoo                                Bill Pascrell

Betty McCollum                         Gene Taylor

Raul M. Grijalva                         Carolyn McCarthy

John B. Larson                           Ed Pastor

Joe Baca                                    William Delahunt

Tim Ryan                                    Silvestre Reyes

Mike Thompson                         Linda T. Sanchez

Charles A. Gonzalez                   Xavier Becerra

Diane Watson                            Michael H. Michaud

Nydia Velazquez                        Jim Marshall

Frank Pallone                             John T. Salazar

James P. McGovern                   George Miller

Tim Holden                                James L. Oberstar

Dale E. Kildee                            Patrick J. Kennedy

Cynthia McKinney                      James P. Moran

Michael Capuano                        Richard E. Neal

Mike Doyle                                 Peter A. DeFazio

Maurice Hinchey                         Dennis A. Cardoza

Joseph Crowley                          Jim Costa

Lucille Roybal-Allard                  Loretta Sanchez

Robert Brady                             Marty Meehan

Grace Napolitano                       Luis V. Gutierrez

Jose Serrano                              Stephen Lynch

Edward J. Markey                     Nancy Pelosi

Lane Evans

-30-

www.house.gov/delauro

[marshmallow]

Take a bow Cardinal Bernardin.

This document is essentially a paraphrase of his "seamless garment" doctrine. Namely, there are many "life" issues which ought to concern a Catholic; war, poverty, immigration etc., and abortion is just one more.

Is it permissible to dig up a dead body and beat it?? Bernardin's surely deserves it.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Rep. Rosa DeLauro 2000-2003 abortion votes

[onedoug]

Anyone who's not a communist should've been out of that party a long time ago.

[kerryusama04]

I wish the RC would kick Kerry, Kennedy, Pelosi and the rest of the Catholic dems out of their church and draw a line in the sand already. Especially after what they did to Roberts and Alito, eating their own, man, that was despicable.

[madprof98]

Good Lord! Nancy Pelosi signed this thing!!!!!