The Catholic Lions Roar!
It appears that the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi in the past few days has succeeded in accomplishing something American Catholics have been waiting for months now. Her incorrect understanding of Catholic teaching on the matter of abortion has caused the sleeping lions, namely the American Catholic Bishops to awaken from their silent slumber. Yesterday, the roars of the Arch-lions of New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Denver strongly rebuked Pelosi while reaffirming the correct teachings of the Catholic Church. This call to action is precisely the event that is needed to continue the campaign of Pro-Live advocacy in the Catholic Church, as the American bishops have finally returned from what has seemed to be an extended summer hiatus.With His Eminence Cardinal Rigali issuing the first pastoral reminders to the Catholic flock through the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops website, the political scenario again brings Catholic voters back to an awareness of the sanctity of human life in Church teachings. At the same time, yesterdays declarations against Pro-Choice candidates reaffirm the importance of the Catholic voters in this upcoming presidential election.
The misconceptions of such groups as, Catholics United, that advocate platforms contrary to the genuine teachings of Catholic moral and ethical teachings based upon the humanist formed conscience, the American Bishops have appropriately responded to the ever deepening chasm that separates the real appreciation of the true Catholic moral life as proclaimed by the Magisterium and the distorted and often secular humanism influenced understanding of morality that continues to spread in more liberal factions of the Catholic Church.
The declaration of the American Bishops last year, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship marks the beginning of the American Bishops finding their political voice prior to the election season. Now with the presumptive Democratic candidates firmly entrenched in a Pro-Choice direction, the Bishops need to more strongly proclaim the orthodox and traditional teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church and roar, Pro-Life as the unifying Catholic anthem.
Most Catholics do not realize the true political clout they bring to the ballot box in November. Catholics as a majority are the largest single block of voters by religious denomination in the United States. The American Catholic Bishops need to close ranks and unite not only their faithful followers, but also reintegrate all of the Catholic populace that is morally passive or politically uncommitted to the Pro-Life platform. The impetus towards a Pro-Life President and political control of the Congress is attainable if the Catholic hierarchy continues to preach loudly and with absolute moral determination the Catholic commitment to the eventual overturn of Roe versus Wade and other legislation and decisions that diminish the sacredness of all human life.
It is also the right time for the Catholic hierarchy to reinforce and reeducate the misguided Catholics that have mistakenly been led into an anti-Catholic and anti-Gospel sense of ethical, moral and political immorality in regards to correct Catholic teachings. The opportunity for Catholic moral and ethical reawakening among our own faithful is critical to the future of the Catholic Church as it continues to proclaim Catholic moral and social teachings to a worldwide audience as well. The call for a new evangelization, orchestrated by Benedict XVI is the perfect opportunity not only for Catholics to proclaim the message of Christ to the globe, but also to each other peace and Gospel charity.
The inappropriate nature that exists that permits some Catholics to maintain opinions and beliefs that are contrary to the Church’s true teachings and mission is a dilemma that is capable of being conquered and suppressed. Most especially, Catholics need to unite their schizophrenic allegiances in the American political process with their Catholic theological heritage and realize there is only one correct interpretation of Catholic moral and social teaching, namely the deposit of faith that has been revealed through God’s Divine revelation of Natural and Moral Law and the teaching authority of our divinely instituted Church.
Faithful citizenship in the Catholic Church in any form of government does not allow Catholic to abandon their faithful citizenship in the People of God, nor in the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. As the American Bishops awaken from their silent slumber, we need to pray earnestly that the strong message they will continue to proclaim will be one that unites our roles as both American Citizens and global Catholics into one that proclaims the correct ideals of our democratic republic and our Catholic message of the preservation of life from the moment of conception until the moment of natural physical death.
Hugh McNichol is a Catholic author and journalist that writes on Catholic topics and issues. Hugh studied both philosophy and theology at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He writes daily at: http://verbumcarofactumest.blogspot.com & http://catholicsacredarts.com & http://pewsitter.com He writes about Irish Catholic experiences at http://graysferrygrapevine.blogspot.com Comments are always welcome @ hugh.mcnichol@trinettc.com
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6 users commented in " The Catholic Lions Roar Against Speaker Pelosi and The Democratic Pro-Choice Platform! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI didn’t hear anything.
too many abortions would reduce the supply of children to the priesthood.
I am also a catholic and agree that Catholic teaching was misrepresented. Should it be challenged is another question. It is astonishing that the bishops have the hubris to speak in public about sexual matters after their dismal (criminal?) record of aiding and abetting sexual predators. If the catholic bishops want to be a credible moral force in American politics, they should now speak about the immorality of the Iraq war, American poverty, lack of universal health care, etc. Their silence is deafening.
“Quo usque tandem abutere, “Pelosi”, nostra patientia” ….. excerpt from Cicero’s Catiline Orations.
Tom,
You can make some claim to improper handling of the sexual abuse scandal. The Church has consistantly opposed the war in Iraq. Pope John Paul opposed it personally in messages and audiences with Bush.
Also, the Catholic Church is not one of the strongest proponents of economic social justice (and provider of services to the needy) in America today. Undocumented immigrants in the Southwest have their strongest ally in the Church both spirtually, and tangibly.
If you can find a Bishop in the Country who teaches that the economic structure of America is just and sound I’ll give you an internet arguement dollar.
I’m sorry the silence is deafening you, but I suspect the problem is not the Church.
Tom.
I didn’t hear anything from this mostly Roman Catholic town that I live in…
While don’t like abortions, I do not feel that it it is the US Government’s place to regulate it — this is a religious moral not secular moral. Our forefathers believed in separation of church and state. Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1803 “to build a wall of separation between Church and State”. The first amendment does build this wall. Thomas Jefferson was very religious and believed this way. I am also very religious and believe in separation of Church and State. No bill should be introduced to put religious morals on the books and those that are on the books should be removed from the books — marriage laws fall in this category as these laws make it possible for religious tyranny on anybody that doesn’t believe the same as you do. Our forefathers where not the strong religious types as most people paint them to be most were either deist or agnostic. Those that who say otherwise are history revisionist. They came here to escape religious tyranny and were not a real part of any mainstream religion. Mainstream religion has tried to capitalize on our forefathers by saying that the were a part of Mainstream religion.
When you have one man that runs the entire church with supreme authority and with infallibility where the living person that is the “king” cannot easily undo what previous “kings” have done as it would show the actual fallibility of the previous “kings” therefore showing the fallibility of the current “king”. The incorrect dogma grows and grows with no stopping it as it would show how invalid the whole church is. The non-biblical dogma surrounding the Pope is enough for me not to become a Roman Catholic even though I like the liturgical service. I thank God everyday that there are other liturgical churches which don’t have this dogma.
OAB
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