Statements by religious and other leaders
* NON-CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS
* POPE JOHN PAUL II
* CANADIAN BISHOPS
* COMMENTS ON DUTIES OF RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP
* U.S. BISHOPS
* INTERNATIONAL BISHOPS
* VATICAN
* CATHOLIC RESOURCES
* PRIESTS FOR LIFE
"I am committed never again to cast a vote for a politician who would kill one innocent baby… Some would ask, 'Shouldn't we vote for the lesser of two evils when the choice is between pro-abortion candidates?' I believe not. To compromise on so fundamental an issue gives [pro-life politicians/parties] no incentive to defend the pro-life position". (Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family March, 1995)
…would you vote for a candidate who would support the killing of 5-year-old boys and girls whose parents no longer wanted them? Would it matter whether or not you agreed with that politician on economic matters or other issues? Would you get under a "big tent" with a party that had this one teeny weeny flaw which they might call "pro-choice on child eradication" within its platform? I pray not." (Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family)
Abortion "is such a fundamental wrong, that when it comes to voting, a candidate's stance on the issues is irrelevant if he or she favors abortion," since "the voter participates in promoting the agenda of the candidate in an intentional action." "You shall not murder ... Therefore ... a Christian cannot debate the pros and cons of abortion any more than he can debate the pros and cons of rape or stealing or adultery." (Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb, Executive Director of Lutherans for Life, from a pamphlet written prior to the 2000 U.S. Election)
"Christianity
and the Cultural Mandate:" Vote Wisely Warns
US Evangelical Leader Colson
"We must not stand by while our culture is hijacked by alien
philosophies hostile to the created order." He describes
the issues we face today, such as homosexual "marriage,"
cloning, abortion, terrorism. "If Christians do not seize
the moment and act on the cultural commission, there soon will
be no culture left to save." "But
when we do our duty, we can change the world," Colson contends.
The duty Colson refers to includes such things as "voting
wisely, contending for truth, and helping redeem our neighbors
and our neighborhood."
POPE JOHN PAUL II
“Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights – for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture – is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition of all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination” (Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, “The Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World” [December 30, 1988], n. 38b).
Civil leaders have a duty "to make courageous choices in support of life, especially through legislative measures. No one can ever renounce this responsibility, especially when he or she has a legislative or decision-making mandate which calls that person to answer to God, to his or her own conscience and to the whole of society for choices which may be contrary to the common good." (Evangelicum Vitae 90).
Peterborough
Bishop Nicola De Angelis - June 18, 2004
Urged his priests during their annual retreat to inform the
Catholics of the diocese of "the importance of supporting
candidates in the upcoming federal election who declare themselves
to be pro-life and in favour of the traditional family".
In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com confirmed that his use of
the term "supporting candidates" "means more than
voting" and involves "many things" such as "campaigning
and so on".
Archbishop of Kingston, Anthony Meagher - June 14, 2004
Speaking of Canadian Catholic political leaders the Archbishop
says, " they must unequivocally and publicly state
their opposition to abortion, and be willing to do what can be
done to protect the dignity of all human life."
"They must also ask themselves honestly if it is reasonable
to equate the value to society of a same-sex union with the union
of a man and a woman who will give life to and nourish a family.
Similarly, in order to be faithful to Christ, they must never
fail to protect those nearing the end of their lives."
Bishop
Fred Henry of Calgary Alberta - June 6, 2004
"In
much of the secular media Prime Minister Paul Martin is frequently
described as a 'devout Catholic.' However, his recently clarified
position re abortion and same sex unions is a source of scandal
in the Catholic community and reflects a fundamental moral incoherence... No Catholic can responsibly take a ‘pro-choice’
stand when the ‘choice’ in question involves the taking
of innocent life. Nor is there a right of couples in same sex
unions to marry...All Catholic politicians, including
the Prime Minister, would do well to imitate the example of St.
Thomas More, who by his life and death taught that man cannot
be separated from God, nor politics from morality".
Archbishop
Roussin of the archdiocese of Vancouver says about voting, "Support those who uphold the sacredness
of life and marriage and the family". Pro-Life Sunday statement,
June 21, 2004
"I must
remind you of your duty to uphold what is necessary for the common
good of the country. Those who defend abortions whether
legalized or not, or who refuse to make a clear commitment to
defend the rights of the unborn or the aged and the ill, or who
in other ways promote the corruption of family life, disqualify
themselves from public office, no matter what their other qualifications
may be. Conscientious citizens may not support such politicians
any more than they could support racists, hate peddlers, opponents
of true social justice, or anyone else who, in a similar manner,
threatens the common good". (Bishop
James Mahoney, Diocese of Saskatoon, Pastoral letter,
march 19, 1977)
COMMENTS ON DUTIES OF RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP
U.S.
Catholic Bishops Conference Says Pro-Abortion Politicians Should
be Shunned
"Our obligation as bishops at this time is to teach clearly.
It is with pastoral solicitude for everyone involved in the political
process that we will also counsel Catholic public officials that
their acting consistently to support abortion on demand risks
making them cooperators in evil in a public manner."
June 21, 2004
Pope
Warns Bishops Failure to Speak-Out Firmly on Defence of Family
is "Grave Omission"
Bishops "need to continue to proclaim firmly the truth about
marriage and family, established by God, as an authentic service
to society." The Pope added, "Not doing so would be
a grave pastoral omission that would induce believers to error,
as well as those who have the serious responsibility to make decisions
for the common good of the nation." June 18, 2004
Congressman Henry HYDE: "I
am greatly disappointed," Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) told columnist
Thomas Roeser, "with the failure of much of the church hierarchy
to take an unequivocal stand on abortion." Hyde added that "If the church doesn't come out strong and condemn
those who want to receive Holy Communion while not in the state
of sanctifying grace, then the church has lost its moral authority,
and that is tragic."
Chicago Sun Times June 12, 2004
Nova
Scotia Pro-Life Leader Asks Bishops and Clergy for Leadership
During Election
"Most Catholic bishops and clergy remain silent on the duty
of Catholics, as citizens, to vote for pro-life candidates, and
to vote against pro-abortion sitting members. They rarely challenge
Catholic politicians with anti-life voting records, and in failing
to publicly defend the innocents, Catholic clergy create an unfortunate
by-product, that is, Catholics in general are misled in belief
that nothing can be done to stop abortion …, and that we
have no collective responsibility, as Catholics, to stop the killing."
The many years experienced pro-life activist concludes, "These
beliefs are simply not true".
April 2, 2004
Florida
Bishop Rebukes Criticizes Failure to rebuke Pro-Abortion Politicians
Coadjutor bishop of Orlando Florida, Thomas
Wenski pastoral statement, May
3, 2004
Bishop Wenski compares the failure to chastise pro-abortion politicians
with the failure of the bishops in general to protect young people
from predatory homosexuals in the priesthood. He writes, "But
to fail to rebuke when necessary is to fail in the charity we
owe our brethren".
U.S.
Catholic Bishops Conference Says Pro-Abortion Politicians Should
be Shunned
Pro-abortion pliticians "should not be given awards, honors
or platforms which would suggest support for their actions,"
"Those who formulate law therefore have an obligation in
conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws, lest
they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the
common good." June
21, 2004
US
Bishop: It is a grave sin to Vote for Pro-Abortion and Pro-Homosexual
Marriage Politicians
Bishop Michael J. Sheridan Colorado Springs, Pastoral letter, may 2004 - "Any Catholic
politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research
or for any form of euthanasia ipso facto place themselves outside
full communion with the Church and so jeopardize their salvation.
Any Catholics who vote for candidates who stand for abortion,
illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful
consequences." The Bishop noted that while there may be many
issues to consider when voting, the right to life "trumps
all other issues." "As in the matter of abortion,
any Catholic politician who would promote so-called 'same-sex
marriage' and any Catholic who would vote for that political candidate
place themselves outside the full communion of the Church and
may not receive Holy Communion until they have recanted their
positions and been reconciled by the Sacrament of Penance."
Archbishop
Raymond L. Burke, of the La Crosse Diocese Orders Priests
to Refuse Communion for Anti-Life Politicians - decree is
binding on priests
“I hereby call upon Catholic legislators, who are members
of the faithful of the Diocese of La Crosse, to uphold the natural
and divine law regarding the inviolable dignity of all human life.
To fail to do so is a grave public sin and gives scandal to all
the faithful. Jan. 9, 2004
Archbishop
Burke Issues Pastoral Letter Saying Right to Life is
Most Important Political Issue
“Some will say that the defense of innocent life is only
one issue among many, that it is important but not fundamental.
They are wrong. In the natural moral law, the good of life is
the most fundamental good and the condition for the enjoyment
of all other goods.” Jan. 9, 2004
Archbishop
Charles Chaput of Denver, Colorado - June 12, 2004
"The Church is never partisan but that doesn't change the
fact that abortion is the central social issue of this
moment in our national history -- not the only issue, but the
foundational issue; the pivotal issue. For Catholics to ignore
it or downplay it or 'contextualize' it would be an act of cowardice."
Archbishop
John Myers of Newark, New Jersey - May 4, 2004
"There is no right more fundamental than the right to be
born and reared with all the dignity the human person deserves...On
this grave issue, public officials cannot hold themselves excused
from their duties, especially if they claim to be Catholic. Every
faithful Catholic must be not only 'personally opposed' to abortion,
but also must live that opposition in his or her actions...As
voters, Catholics are under an obligation to avoid implicating
themselves in abortion, which is one of the gravest of injustices.
Certainly, there are other injustices, which must be addressed,
but the unjust killing of the innocent is foremost among them..with
abortion (and for example slavery, racism, euthanasia and trafficking
in human persons) there can be no legitimate diversity of opinion..we
have a most grave obligation to defend all human life from the
moment of conception until natural death. God help us if we fail
in this most fundamental obligation."
Bishop
Robert McManus Warns Catholics of Serious Spiritual Harm
from Support of Homosexual Unions
it must be pointed out that Catholics, especially public officials,
who willingly and with approval facilitate the legal sanctioning
of same-sex unions are involving themselves in cooperation with
evil. Such cooperation is not free from serious moral and spiritual
harm." May 25, 2004
US
Bishop Aquila Warns Catholic Pro-Abortion Politicians
They "Risk the Possibility of Hell"
Fargo Bishop Samuel J. Aquila Bishop of the diocese
of Fargo in North Dakota. "In the light of the last few days
and all of the media coverage regarding John Kerry's unambiguous
support of abortion rights, his personal opposition to abortion,
and his insistence on the separation of his Catholic faith from
his professional life, I, as a successor of the apostles, cannot
remain silent. " Catholics who separate their faith life
from their professional and social activities are putting the
salvation of their souls in jeopardy. They risk the possibility
of hell"
Many Catholic leaders both clerical and lay have urged that citizens not vote for anyone who does not have a strong pro-life position. I do not see how a disciple of the Lord could ignore the fundamental importance of public policy protecting human life.To support candidates who would continue or even expand the possibilities for more people to die by human choice is seriously wrong. -- Bishop John Myers, Bishop of Peoria, October 17, 2000
ARLINGTON, VA, Jan 15, 2001 (LSN.ca)"What disturbs me, then, is the politician, man or woman, who wants to have it both ways." "They say, 'I'm a Catholic,' then espouse all sorts of things that the Catholic Church says are wrong," said Bishop Thomas J. Welsh, the founding bishop of the Arlington Diocese in an interview with the Arlington Catholic Herald. "If you say the Church is wrong about one serious issue like the pro-life stance, then you're undermining the whole nature of the Church.
DENVER, Colorado,
Jan. 25, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Archbishop Charles
Chaput of Denver
"We can't simultaneously commit ourselves to human rights,
while voting for people and policies that attack the weakest among
us. Nor can we practice a commitment to the sanctity of human
life only as a private piety. People of religious faith
must live their pro-life witness courageously, as a matter of
public record and civic responsibility - or we'll lose
it even as a matter of private principle."
"I will give no support by word or action, that could in any way be construed in favour of any politician, or any political party who professes either a pro-abortion position or takes refuge in a so-called pro-choice position. I categorically reject the evasion, I am personally opposed to abortion, but…" (Cardinal John O'Connor, Archdiocese of New York, 1984)
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY, Oct 6, 2000 (LSN.ca) - Bishop James T. McHugh of Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY - "no pro-abortion public official or candidate is to be invited to address Catholic agencies or organizations, school or parish groups, even if he/she does not intend to express their pro-abortion views." The bishop explains, "The reason for this is that it would be foolish and counterproductive to provide a platform to those who favor or support a public policy of abortion on demand or of euthanasia or assisted suicide. It would also be extremely misleading to provide such persons a platform to promote their views, even on other issues, lest they claim that the Church somehow implicitly tolerates their rejection of Church teaching on pro-life issues."
Catholic citizens especially should affirm a personal stance that respects and sustains human life and makes it unmistakably clear to all candidates and officials that this will be a determining factor in their choice of candidates. -- Bishop James T. McHugh, Bishop of Rockville Centre, NY ("Voting the Gospel of Life," Columbia Magazine, September 2000).
BOSTON, Oct 23, 2000 (LSN.ca) - The Bishops of the four Roman Catholic dioceses in Massachusetts have issued an election statement calling on Catholics to exercise their "moral obligation" to vote and to recognize the "absolute centrality" of the protection of human life when choosing candidates on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7. According to the Bishops' statement, Faithful Citizenship in Massachusetts: "It is our responsibility to vote for candidates who will promote life and the culture of life over the culture of death." The statement emphasizes that support of abortion and euthanasia by any candidate "is always wrong and can never be ustified."
Archbishop
Elden Francis Curtiss of Omaha
"Catholic Democrats have an obligation to do everything they
can to reverse the pro-abortion policy of their party and to support
those candidates who will protect life in the womb ... There is
no place for discrimination against pre-born or partially born
babies in the Catholic Church. Catholics who are against the Church
on this...are in serious dissent....They and everyone else need
to be clear about this breach with the Church. It is not
a liberal cause to support abortion. It is anti-life and anti-Church". (August 2000 diocesan paper column)
Cardinal James A. Hickey, Archbishop of Washington, Catholic Standard newspaper, October 26,2000 (Many issues) "require careful consideration on the part of all voters. But there is one issue that rises above the others. When you vote on November 7, I hope and pray that you will not forget the most disenfranchised citizens in this land - the unborn. Truly they have no voice but ours."
Bishop William Murphy, Archdiocese of Boston, Pilot Column "The four areas of public issues that the bishops propose for our reflection in this election year are human life, family life, social justice and solidarity. Of these four areas the most fundamental and the most important is human life. Defense of human life is the only foundation on which all else must be built, or else, all else is eventually going to collapse. .."
I fail to understand how any Catholic can support a candidate who is outspokenly and unambiguously pro-choice", who supports the idea that the child in the womb is the property of the mother to be disposed of at will, and will make appointments to the Supreme Court that will reinforce the tremendous error of Roe v. Wade.-- Bishop William Murphy, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston
[Abortion is] a defining issue not only personally but also socially. Poverty can be addressed incrementally, but the death of a child is quite final. -- Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, October 2000
Abortion is the issue this year and every year in every campaign. .The taking of innocent human life is so heinous, so horribly evil, and so absolutely opposite to the law of Almighty God that abortion must take precedence over every other issue. I repeat. It is the single most important issue confronting not only Catholics, but also the entire electorate.-- Bishop James Timlin, D.D., Bishop of Scranton, "The Ballot and the Right to Life" Fall 2000
INTERNATIONAL
BISHOPS
SALZBURG,
Dec 11, 2000 (LSN.ca) - "The abortion law has a common denominator
with the spirit of the Nazis and of communism: We may kill,"
said auxiliary Bishop of Salzburg Andreas
Laun in an interview with an Austrian magazine News.
Speaking about the law which allows women to abort "severely
disabled" babies up to the ninth month of pregnancy he said
that "Hitler would have been pleased" with it.
Vatican
Cardinal Arinze Says Pro-Abortion Politicians Must be
Denied Holy Communion
When pressed on such "unambigiously pro-abortion" Catholic
politicians, Arinze said such a politician "is not fit"
to receive communion. "If they should not receive, then they
should not be given," he said.
VATICAN CITY, Oct 3, 2000 (LSN.ca) - Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family has just emphasized that Catholic politicians must act according to the principles of their faith and that, "everything collapses without respect for life." The Cardinal said, "Politicians must have the defense of the right of life in their own heart and mind to offer it to the community. Without this defense, instead of contributing to the construction of society, the politician destroys it."
ROME, Oct
12, 2000 (LSN.ca) - A new Vatican document prepared by the Pontifical
Council for theFamily for the Jubilee of Families to be celebrated
this weekend in Rome includes "legislators who have promoted and
approved abortion laws" as bearing "responsibility" for the "abominable
crime" of abortion - which the document describes as "murder".
Voters
Guide for serious Catholics
"A well-formed Christian conscience does not
permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law
that contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals"
(CPL 4).
Some things always are wrong, and no one may vote in favor of them, directly or indirectly. Citizens vote in favor of these evils if they vote in favor of candidates who propose to advance them. Thus, Catholics should not vote for anyone who intends to push programs or laws that are intrinsically evil.
THE FIVE NON-NEGOTIABLE
ISSUES
1. Abortion
2. Euthanasia
3. Fetal Stem Cell Research
4. Human Cloning
5. Homosexual "Marriage"
Vancouver
Catholic Diocese Tells Catholics to Vote Pro-Life, Pro-Family
FIRST
June 21 issue of B.C. Catholic - "two
basic issues stand out in Canada today: the right to life and
the status of marriage and family. The most basic of all our rights
is the right to life, the right from which all other rights flow.
Without life, no other right can be enjoyed. Any threat to the
right to life, then, is a threat to all our rights. Any threat
to the right to life not only puts human beings at risk of being
killed, but also ''is a threat capable, in the end, of jeopardizing
the very meaning of democratic co-existence', Pope John Paul II
warns in Gospel of Life". "First, we must vote
for candidates and parties that uphold the right to life for all
Canadians and for all human beings everywhere. Second,
we must vote for candidates and parties who recognize that a family
is "a man and a woman united in marriage, together with their
children."
NEW YORK, July 24, 2000 (LSN.ca) Speaking about the necessity to vote pro-life if you are Christian, Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life said "don't claim to be a believer if you don't act like one, and don't claim to be a member of the Church and then misrepresent its teachings." Moreover, he warned politicians: "To supporters of abortion who profess Christianity, of any denomination, we say stop being a scandal to the Gospel of Jesus Christ."