Last week, yours truly predicted the debate on pro-choice Catholic politicians receiving Communion is going to heat up big time if Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius gets nominated as Obama’s new HHS secretary. That is, it’s one thing if the governor’s own archbishop, Joseph Naumann, has told her not to partake within the borders of the Kansas archdiocese. But what happens when she comes here?
Well, I got a very unhappy e-mail from the archdiocesan spokeswoman about that column. But, folks, this issue is not going away. I just saw a column written by Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura the Vatican’s highest court, posted Thursday, that states the governor should not be taking Communion anywhere in the country. His exact wording: “Whether Governor Sebelius is in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, or in any other diocese, she should not present herself for Holy Communion because, after pastoral admonition, she obstinately persists in serious sin.”
This was after Thomas McKenna, the interviewer, specifically asked him about whether she should take Communion in Washington, D.C. Burke also backs Archbishop Naumann for showing Sebelius the door, so to speak. The whole interview appears here on the Catholic Action for Faith and Family’s Web site.
Cal Thomas has a column on Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Catholic Republican many think could be a candidate for higher office in 2012 or 2016.
What do Republicans need to change most? Jindal said, “The Republican Party needs to do two things: One, we need to stop worrying about the Republican Party and start worrying about our country. Second, we need to stop worrying about the messenger and start worrying about substance. We will deserve to be a majority party again when we show the American people we are competent, we truly believe the principles we espouse and we’ve got relevant solutions to the things they care about, whether it’s the economy, health care, international terrorism.”
And Jindal said that Republicans have had a faulty campaign strategy of late.
“We have to apply our ideas to the problems Americans care about. I oppose greater government intrusion into our lives, but on health care, for example, for too long the Republican answer to this problem has been dumb.” Dumb? Did he just say a Republican idea is dumb? Yes, he did. And he admires Sen. Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, because, “He is relentless; he is consistent; he knows where he wants to go.”
You know the party is in trouble when a Republican uses Ted Kennedy as a political role model.
Calling for the GOP to again be the party of “ideas and solutions,” Gov. Jindal said, “Too often the rhetoric from the party has been ‘vote for Republicans because the other side is worse’. That doesn’t motivate or excite voters. You have to have a positive, proactive agenda for America.”
Bobby Jindal is hitting the right notes. Other Republicans would do well to listen.
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 article mentions the CatholicVote.com video produced by the Fidelis Center for Law and Policy and how widely the video is getting play:
The Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington, Del., where Mr. Biden lives, is promoting a video produced by the conservative Catholic group Fidelis that is intended to persuade Catholic voters to put opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage above all other issues when they go to the polls.
“Many issues are at stake,” a caption reads as the video displays a fetus and choral music swells. “Some are more important than others.”
Brian Burch, president of Fidelis, said the group had created the video as “a voter guide for the 21st century.” Many Catholic churches across the country have put it on their Web sites, and Mr. Burch said some statewide advocacy groups had been distributing it to their members.
At the Cathedral of St. Peter, the Rev. Joseph Cocucci has displayed the video prominently on the church’s [web] page, and at each Mass he is urging parishioners to view it. Father Cocucci noted that the video also features smaller visual references to Catholics carrying peace signs and marching for civil rights.
“The video does say life is the most important issue, but if you notice it isn’t only abortion,” he said.
The new Bishop of Wilmington had this to say at his installation:
Mary’s mother, St. Anne, carried a very special life in her womb which serves as a vivid reminder that every life is special. We will continue to stress the constant teaching of the Church that each person must respect every lifefrom conception to natural death. And we will continue to seek the intercession of Saint Thomas More for Statesmen, Politicians, Supreme Court Justices, Judges and Lawyers—that they may be courageous and effective in defending and promoting the sanctity of human life, the foundation of every human right, the foundation of our love for the poor.
No surprise that Senator Biden couldn’t make it. Tom at American Papist had more details on the Biden vs. Bishop controversy.
Charlie Spiering has this report for National Catholic Register. Here’s a taste, which includes a quote from yours truly:
Catholic Democratic activists believe that Biden’s faith will be an asset to the Obama campaign — particularly in Pennsylvania, his native state.
Chris Corzen of Catholics United stated, “Senator Biden’s selection as vice presidential candidate is a positive development for Americans who respect leaders who have strong religious, family and personal values.”
But Stephen Dillard, the founder of a new blog, Catholics Against Joe Biden, disagreed. “I think Obama’s selection of Biden may help him with cultural or cafeteria Catholics,” he said, “But I don’t see faithful Catholics voting for the most pro-abortion presidential ticket ever simply because Biden grew up as a Catholic.”
Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George has issued a statement related to the controversy over Speaker Pelosi’s comments on Church teaching on abortion.
The good Cardinal confirmed the constant teaching of the Church saying:
“Laws that place unborn children outside the protection of law destroy both the children killed and the common good, which is the controlling principle of Catholic social teaching. One cannot favor the legal status quo on abortion and also be working for the common good.”
Echoing the teaching of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, His Eminence once again confirmed that political leaders who publicly support the right to abortion forfeit any claim to defend the common good on other issues. Put simply, you can’t pretend to care about the poor, the worker, the environment, or health care, if you defend the right to kill innocent human beings.
His statement also reminded faithful Catholics of the need to uphold Church teaching with charity saying, “There is no room for self-righteousness in Catholic moral teaching.”
His statement seems a good reminder that in the midst of publicly responding to Pelosi’s clear errors, we must be unceasing in our prayers for her conversion, as well as many of our fellow Catholics, especially those whose scandalous behavior often elicits our disgust.
Douglas Kmiec, a former Reagan administration official and a Catholic who is supporting Obama, portrayed Biden as a Catholic not just by belief but by culture, someone who can connect with people at a gut level.
“You can’t find a more regular guy than Joe Biden,” said Kmiec, a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University. “He would be the kind of guy you would expect to find in the parish hall, in the neighborhood. That kind of personality, when combined with the kind of reflective Christianity Barack Obama has demonstrated, is a winning combination.”
Kmiec argues the Obama campaign is “ultimately premised upon Catholic social teaching” like care for working families and the poor and foreign policy premised on peace over war. Democratic efforts to tackle social and economic factors that contribute to abortion hold more promise, Kmiec said, than Republican efforts to criminalize it.
Denver’s Archbishop Chaput offers more excellent commentary on the responsibilities of Catholics in public life today over at FirstThings.com. Anytime I hear Catholics complain about “those darn Bishops,” I usually respond with two words: Charles Chaput.
A must read:
“First, surrounding a bad social policy or party platform plank—for example, permissive abortion—with religious people doesn’t redeem the bad policy or plank. It merely compromises the religious people who try to excuse it.”
…
“Obviously, we have other important issues facing us this fall: the economy, the war in Iraq, immigration justice. But we can’t build a healthy society while ignoring the routine and very profitable legalized homicide that goes on every day against America’s unborn children. The right to life is foundational. Every other right depends on it. Efforts to reduce abortions, or to create alternatives to abortion, or to foster an environment where more women will choose to keep their unborn child, can have great merit—but not if they serve to cover over or distract from the brutality and fundamental injustice of abortion itself.”
…
“Our leaders should inspire us; they should stir our hearts and call us to live the ideals that make America great. But sometimes the answer to the realities we face is not “yes, we can,” but “no, we can’t.” No, we can’t spend money like hedonists and outrun our debts forever. No, we can’t ignore the poor of the Third World and expect to be loved abroad. No, we can’t allow the killing of roughly one million unborn children a year and then posture ourselves as a moral society. No, we can’t make wicked things right by spinning them in a clever way.”
Politico.com ponders the contribution that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine might add to an Obama ticket:
Pundits were quick to point out that Obama was long ago endorsed by Kaine, who pledged his support for the Illinois senator way back in February 2007. Some have also noted how Kaine is a Catholic with a proven ability to connect with other Catholics.
Nowhere in the article does it mention a certain liability that picking Kaine might hurt Obama with feminists, who already harbor frustration in the wake of Hillary’s defeat.
You see, even though Tim Kaine fully supports legal abortion, he feels bad about it. In fact, he repeatedly has said that he has “faith-based opposition to abortion.” Don’t worry, pro-choicers. Just like “personally opposed” Mario Cuomo, Tim Kaine still supports legal abortion on demand.
Kaine makes just one, minor caveat: If you are going to abort your baby, you simply can’t perform the abortion if the baby is in the process of delivery. No partial-birth abortions. To feminists, this is compromise. This is admitting it’s a baby. Unacceptable!
Bill McGurn pounces on Obama’s National Catholic Advisory Council, a topic Bill Donohue at the Catholic League has been raising since May. McGurn notes that 17 of the 21 members of the advisory council have a NARAL rating of 90%-100%.
His summary of Obama’s position on life:
Mr. Obama is for using tax dollars to fund abortions, and against restrictions on partial-birth abortion. In the Illinois Senate, he voted against legislation protecting a child who was born alive despite an abortion. In sum, if you want to know what Mr. Obama’s policies mean, it’s this: taxpayer-funded abortion on demand.
When you look past the soothing language about “change” and the willingness to “listen,” the actual policies and voting record are to the left of Ted Kennedy’s and Bernie Sanders’.
Of continued interest to me is a question raised by Deal Hudson after the group was first announced. Namely, why is Doug Kmiec not on the advisory group?
The Governor of Louisiana goes on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and talks about the rebuilding of New Orleans, the passage of the country’s strictest ethics laws and… well… the Brady Bunch. I’m glad the anti-Catholic smear campaign against Jindal last year didn’t deprive Louisiana of his excellent leadership.
