It seems to me that His Excellency Most Rev. Charles Chaput of Philadelphia is probably the heavy-hitter of the US episcopal conference right now.
CNA has this:
Archbishop Chaput: Be Catholic before you are Democrat or Republican
By Carl Bunderson and Matthew A. RareyRome, Italy, Oct 25, 2012 / 04:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the country approaches election day in two weeks, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia is encouraging Catholic voters to place their faith above their allegiance to political parties.
“I’m always encouraging our people minimally to vote, maximally to run for political office, and make sure that they’re Catholic prior to being Democrat or Republican and that they put that into practice politically,” he told CNA in Rome on Oct. 22.
Archbishop Chaput echoed the calls of other American bishops to have their flocks consider their faith in the voting booth.
“We do believe in the separation of church and state, but we don’t believe in the separation of faith from our political life,” he said.
“It’s very important for Catholics to make distinctions when voting that they never support intrinsic evils like abortion, which is evil in all circumstances. That’s a lot different from different economic policies” that people can reasonably disagree on, the archbishop explained.
His remarks come as an Oct. 22 Gallup poll shows the “economy in general” is the issue rated most important by Americans as the election nears.
“But people who are practicing Catholics cannot have alternate views on abortion,” he stated. “Such foundational issues have a huge impact and it’s important that Catholics make those distinctions.”
“A person (candidate) might be right on a lot of secondary issues but wrong on the foundational issues. And if that’s the case, it would be very difficult for a Catholic to vote for someone who, for example, favors unlimited access to abortion … undermines the meaning of marriage or supports policies that really undermine the foundation of our culture.”
[…]
Read the rest there.
I will remind you also of this post from some time ago. Take time to review it. Archbp. Chaput’s HOMERUN in Houston!
Also, learn from these posts how to talk with your friends and relatives about these burning issues and about voting. I don’t post these things simply so that people who are already convinced can nod and, from a distance, agree. Get out there and change some minds and hearts and also get out the vote.
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I would love to change some people’s mind on the focus of the election. Just a few days ago on the bus I heard a middle-aged Black man commenting that young unmarried Black women want more babies in order to get a larger government check and that if Romney gets elected, they will get cut off. He did not seem to recognize either that fornication is a sin or that Romney is planning on only making a smaller increase in Federal funding for entitlement programs compared to Obama, not a decrease. Either way, it can be dangerous to say anything on a bus, anymore, and this bus route had an actual shooting on it a few years ago, so talking to some people is definitely riskier than others.
Likewise, I can’t talk to my students for fear of being fired. Everyone else I know (outside of family and good luck with that) is reliably Catholic and voting for Romney.
The Chicken
Oh, I just realized that I’m going to hear it for that, “reliably Catholic,” remark. Still, that is the question, G.E. M. Anscombe’s husband asked about her from a friend before he started dating her.
The Chicken
It continually surprises me that a woman would have more babies in order to get more government money. The cost of raising children, even the most basic costs, are so high, how can this be a financial motive? And of course I’m not taking into account anything that would enhance the upbringing of this child. I guess with this mind set, Obama can buy votes and we will continue to see young children brought up in a bleak environment and with the attitude that they are commodities.
I am so happy to see His Excellency’s remarks. One thing troubles me, though; namely that he “…believe[s] in the separation of church and state… ” It has been demonstrated time after time that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment clearly does not intend this separation. The fact that he follows up with an assertion of the unity between faith and political life is laudatory, but I still wonder why he would repeat this error concerning the founding document. Thoughts?
If HE +AB Chaput did not have his hands full right now cleaning up the mess in Philadelphia, he would be an ideal candidate to replace HE +Cdl Dolan as President of the USCCB.
Mark Ingoglio says:
I am so happy to see His Excellency’s remarks. One thing troubles me, though; namely that he “…believe[s] in the separation of church and state… ” It has been demonstrated time after time that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment clearly does not intend this separation.
The Establishment Clause is one half of the Freedom of Religion. Too often overlooked is the Free Exercise Clause that prohibits govt from interfering in the practice of religion.
Thanks, Rob, and true enough. Separation, though… Why is His Excellency adopting Jefferson’s non-authoritative reference in a letter as an established legal principle?
The Fishwrap is going to throw a nutty when they hear about this one.
The Fishwrap is going to throw a nutty when they hear about this one.
And that makes today special in what way?
We do believe in the separation of church and state
Who are the “we” in this sentence?
It makes me absolutely batty to hear someone say he/she is Catholic, even worse a “faithful” or “devout” Catholic, but is voting for a heavily pro-abortion candidate. These two things do NOT go together.
That is the “stuff” of my question, Dcs. His Excellency? Certainly not I.