The Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, His Excellency Most Rev. Joseph Naumann, issued some thoughts about the candidates in the upcoming – important – presidential election. Writing about Dem VP candidate and catholic quisling Tim Kaine (who spent time where Naumann is now bishop) we read towards the end (my emphases and comments)… HERE
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It is ironic that Senator Kaine expressed such profound concern about imposing his religious beliefs on others, while supporting efforts: 1) to coerce the Little Sisters of the Poor and other faith-based ministries to violate their conscience by including abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilizations in their employee health plans; 2) to put small business owners (e.g., florists, bakers, photographers, etc.) out of business with crippling fines if they decline to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies; and 3) to force every American taxpayer to help fund abortion.
This presidential election presents all Americans with a difficult choice. Both major political parties have nominated very flawed candidates. In making your decision as a voter, I encourage you to think not only of the candidate, but who they will appoint to key Cabinet and other powerful government positions if he or she becomes president. We are choosing not just a president, but an entire administration. [For me, SCOTUS appointments are of paramount importance.]
Finally, be wary of candidates who assume to take upon themselves the role of defining what Catholics believe or should believe. Unfortunately, the vice-presidential debate revealed that the Catholic running for the second highest office in our land is an orthodox member of his party, fully embracing his party’s platform, but a cafeteria Catholic, picking and choosing the teachings of the Catholic Church that are politically convenient.
I implore you, dear readers, don’t stay home. VOTE!
I would vote for the corpse of Millard Fillmore to keep Clinton and Kaine away from the White House.
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I have voted in every election since I turned 18 and I have never been so unhappy with both candidates as I am with this one. Nevertheless I will vote as early in the day as I can (and the polling place is literally across the street from me). Then I will go to a chapel and pray.
Why can’t the usccb bishops collectively condemn Kaine and state that his allegiance with the democrat party first and the Catholic Church last is unacceptable?
Meanwhile just in time for elections on Ovtober 23, it is announced
(https://www.diocesetucson.org)
that the bishop of Tucson, AZ and the bishop of Nogales Mexico will concelebrate mass at the Mexican border as some kind of unspoken political campaign message
– one can only infer its meaning.
Which I could vote to keep him out, but as a Canadian, I think we’re only allowed to vote Democrat.
Well — someone in the Democratic Party, probably Al Gore, seems to have broken the Internet this evening in a clear attempt to hack twitter to prevent the dissemination of sundry Wikileaks.
whoops-a-daisy what % of the internet relies on twitter ???
Likely the exact % that is unavailable right now …
God reward Archbishop Naumann. Would that the entire American hierarchy be composed of such men.
Tomorrow morning at ten o’clock I will take advantage of the first opportunity provided in this state to vote, lest the Lord call me before November 8th and I will be found to have neglected my duty. It will be a vote for life, for the constitution, for religious liberty.
I will vote for Donald Trump. He is not Ted Cruz, but he will do just fine in this dark time.
Ellen, there will be a lot of rosaries said that day.
I appreciate the Archbishop’s efforts but here is where I struggle. How many times have key cabinet and political positions not upheld the beliefs that they claim to hold? The Republican judges on the SCOTUS have voted to uphold Roe vs. Wade. The pro-life Democrats have sold us down the river with Obamacare. How is this time going to be any different? Sure one person claims to be willing to put pro-life judges on the bench but will they honestly uphold that value or just talk the talk without walking the walk.
Like Ellen, I plan to vote early in the day. However, since I have to go to work, I want to return home first to take another shower. That said, I will also weaponize my vote this year to do my best to keep HRC and her disastrous would-be SCOTUS appointments from ever happening.
However, no matter who wins this election, I think we need an Article V Convention of the States. The Federal government has become bloated, unwieldy and unrelenting in its lust for power. The States have to step up to the plate and get some of that back. Mr. Trump is on record as having supported a convention of the States.
There was an excellent and fascinating discussion of the process on Relevant Radio the other day, by the way.
. . . or not look too hard to find its message with its suspicious timing:
From the Diocese of Tucson website:
“On Sunday, Oct. 23, Dioceses Sin Fronteras, or Dioceses Without Borders, an organization dedicated to broadening awareness of the need for all to treat those on both sides of the Mexico/United States border with dignity and respect in the spirit of faith . . . ”
There indeed appears to be collusion beteeen some in the Catholic Church and the democrat party.
Well said. Wish all the leadership of the Church would speak unequivocally and in unity with this message; but, we’ll at least be grateful for those that do.
Nothing really says “establishment politics” quite like a bigoted condemnation of Catholics, and the attempt to court them, all in the same breath. If there is one thing this weird election year seems to be indicating, it is that particularly the younger generations of voters are tired of that sort of…thing. They see it as fundamentally dishonest and lacking in integrity. Kaine is the ultimate pass for lace curtain, name only, sure go ahead and persecute our Sisters, kind of a sad pretension Catholic, and his party obviously takes full latitude and keeps him on a tight tether.
Kaine represents the majority of US citizens’ beliefs about abortion, but is not true to his faith. Pence represents his personal/faith beliefs, but is not true to his constituents. Politics as usual in the US…
Praying for ALL the candidates. None of these people are evil. Misguided, perhaps. Driven by power, yes. Crazy… one, at least. All are loved by God.
Whoever is elected, we are in peril. Whites against blacks, liberals against conservatives, republicans against democrats, police against civilians, gun owners against pacifists, Christians against Muslims, Americans against Mexicans, etc. So much hatred has been incited during this election process. Much more violence and death ahead of us. THIS is why we should be praying rosaries and fasting.
Well done, America!
Why do so few bishops defend the faith when it comes to errant catholic politicians?
I have already voted for Trumpet.
Crooked Hillary is not in the best of health. Imagine, if you will, her VP becoming Pres.Neither of them are,as my dad would have said,worth the power to blow them away.
” but will they honestly uphold that value or just talk the talk without walking the walk.” Trump has put out his list.His VP is absolutely pro life. We can hold his feet to the fire.
Hillary,on the other hand,cannot be trusted with ANYTHING. I am angry that such a corrupt person is even permitted to run for President.Trump may be flawed but he hasn’t been part of a very corrupt government. We KNOW what kind of justices/judges she’ll appoint. There can be no doubt.NONE. You will not be able to hold her feet to the fire.She is above the law. As is our FBI,DOJ,IRS all the way up to the top of the chain-the President.If you think he’s not involved in the Clinton scandals you’re living in a cave. Remember the riots that shut down the Trump rally in Chicago? Paid thugs from the Clinton campaign. 1,500 and a cell phone. A ‘nice’ throw back to the brown shirts of Nazi Germany.If she can do that now-imagine what she would do as President. I say her choice of VP tells you everything you need to know. Further, consider the shadow gov’t of George Soros.We would have to be insane to let Hillary and Kaine get elected.
Absit invidia, the Mass at the border is the last of a series of three held at different locations along the Arizona border with Mexico. Bishop Kicanas is very involved in the issue of immigration reform and has testified before congressional committees on behalf of the USCCB. In 2014, he, Cardinal O’Malley and others also celebrated a Mass at the border, distributing Communion through the fence to people on the Mexican side.
Does “don’t vote for Hillary” HAVE to equal “vote for Trump”? Here is a column recently composed by my own Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. concerning this issue:
http://ct.dio.org/bishops-column/message/unprecedented-and-challenging-election-ahead/read.html
“…the presidential election this year is unprecedented and most challenging. Those who are concerned with protecting human life from conception until natural death, promoting marriage and family life, and defending religious liberty point to the Democrats’ aggressive pro-abortion stance and activist agenda expanding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, while restricting religious liberty…. On the other hand, Republicans historically have not fared very well in these same areas in practice, as Supreme Court Justices appointed by Republican presidents in the past have rendered decisions advancing abortion rights, recognizing same-sex marriage and restricting religious freedom…..
“Both candidates for president are seen as having such serious flaws as to lead some people to wonder if they can vote for either candidate of the two major parties or if they should skip voting in this year’s election. In the end, people must follow their consciences, but they should also take care to form their consciences properly and make informed decisions.
“… Voters may also legitimately conclude in conscience that they cannot vote for either candidate of the two major political parties. In such cases, voters in most jurisdictions can write in the name of a candidate of their choosing. In all cases, voters can skip voting for a particular office, but still vote for other offices on the ballot.”
I encourage you to read the whole thing. As regular readers of this blog know, Bp. Paprocki has a very well established reputation for orthodoxy.
Now, I will add — and it’s merely speculation on my part — that one reason I suspect he is NOT emphasizing the “lesser of two evils” approach to the presidential election is because he’s aware that the Catholics of his diocese — a largely rural/small town swath of downstate Illinois — are not in any position to influence the electoral vote outcome. There were, as of about 10 years ago, about 150,000 Catholics in our diocese (of which about one-third to, at most, one-half would be “practicing”); it’s almost certainly gone down since then. Even if every single practicing Catholic in our diocese voted for Trump or another non-Democrat candidate, it would not stop Hillary from getting all of Illinois’ electoral votes, because Chicago. So why compel them to vote for a candidate they find morally repulsive when it’s not going to do any good?
Does “don’t vote for Hillary” HAVE to equal “vote for Trump”?
Yes.
They are only 2 people on the ballot and ONE of them is going to be President.
“Even if every single practicing Catholic in our diocese voted for Trump or another non-Democrat candidate, it would not stop Hillary from getting all of Illinois’ electoral votes, because Chicago.”
We simply don’t know that. We have no way of knowing that. What we DO know is that there are 2 people on the ballot.One of them with certainty will become President and the way that happens depends on one thing:VOTES;another words it’s a matter of numbers.
Fr Frank Pavone http://www.lifenews.com/2016/10/10/father-frank-pavone-i-am-voting-for-donald-trump-and-pro-life-voters-should-too-heres-why/
I think it’s also worth noting;Justice Scalia’s widow is voting for Trump. I trust the good judgment of Fr Pavone, Mrs Scalia and Fr Z (among others).
“One of them with certainty will become President and that depends on one thing: VOTES”
It depends on ELECTORAL votes which are determined on a state by state, winner take all basis (with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, which allot electoral votes by Congressional district). How much your vote could advance your chosen candidate toward the 270 electoral votes needed to win, depends on what state you live in and how each candidate is polling there.
I personally agree that no observant Catholic should vote for Hillary and I certainly won’t, but to translate that into an absolute moral obligation to vote FOR Donald Trump, whose significant and outright dangerous character defects are well known, is IMO a bridge too far. For reasons which I have explained in other posts, since I live in IL, I do not believe I am obligated to vote for Trump since my vote would almost certainly do nothing to help him win the national electoral vote; and as explained above, my own bishop (as well as my pastor, in our parish bulletin) agrees. For persons who live in critical swing states, it’s another story.
Ok .Pls. What are his “outright dangerous character defects” ?
Does anyone realize what has happened…exactly what has happened?
Hillary Clinton has commited FELONIES, put our national security at risk,accept donations from foreign countries in exchange for favors from the State Dept and ILLEGALLY put classifed info on an ILLEGAL server.The FBI director came out and basically said,nothing to see here. (Even though she had lied under oath to Congress). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In the meantime Bill Clinton meets with Loretta Lynch;the atty general. We’re not stupid. We all know that he promised Lynch something in return for a favor for Hillary. Furthermore,this week we learned that the Clinton campaign was paying thugs(and that’s what they are)1,500 and a free phone to incite riots at Trump rallies. Remember Chicago where it was so bad Trump called it off? Those weren’t spontaneous riots-they were planned and paid for by the Clinton campaign. The DOJ looking into it?[ Inciting a riot is a crime.]NOPE.We also know that the IRS targeted certain conservative groups.Were they held accountable? Not that I’m aware of.The bottom line here is this:you want to talk about dangerous consider what has actually happened. The DOJ,the FBI and the White House all made sure Hillary not only got off but is running for President. We all know that the Obama administration tried to force religious institutions to violate their conscience. You take one Hillary Clinton who is ABOVE THE LAW-who can now collude with the DOJ,FBI and IRS – and see what happens. A woman who has no love whatsoever for the Catholic Church in particular and Christinaity in general. She’s made that clear.She has also made it clear she supports abortion on demand,funding for Planned Parenthood(will increase it)and has PP funding her campaign. NOTE:They are NOT funding Trump’s. We also know that she supports a Canadian style of health care; meaning when Obamacare fails she will go to a single payer Socialized health system. Who will be in charge then? GOVERNMENT. Do we get the picture yet?
Here is the TRUTH; OUR GOVERNMENT has become totally corrupt and our media has made it clear they want Hillary Clinton elected. Now you have the government,its agencies and our media all in bed together. It doesn’t get any more corrupt. Once Hillary has flooded our country with illegal aliens,gives them Amnesty and the right to vote, 2020 is all sewed up.We don’t even have to imagine the kinds of justices/judges she will appoint.
Hillary should have been indicted.She should probably be in prison. She is actually running for the office of President.Her largest donor is George Soros and her mentor was Saul Alinsky.She and her husband have been corrupt from the time they left Arkansas back when. She is a Saul Alinsky radical,period. And you think Donald Trump is dangerous? The only way we know half of what we know is because of Wikileaks and Project Veritas .The TRUTH has been covered up. Trump is a danger but not to the American people,not to people of faith and certainly not to the country.
I’m begging. Make sure you vote and in spite of what you’ve told me i simply wouldn’t chance it.I’m voting Trump. Not conflicted at all.And PRAYING.
The Electoral College has to award it’s delegates to the candidate that wins their state.It all comes down to numbers and he who has the most votes,wins.
“I do not believe I am obligated to vote for Trump since my vote would almost certainly do nothing… ”
If that’s the reasoning we use then why should any of us bother to vote?
Fr Frank Pavone summed up his vote for Mr Trump very well.
“Finally, according to Pope St. John Paul II, a government that authorizes the killing of babies by abortion has become “a tyrant state” (Evangelium Vitae, 20). This is not just about one issue; it’s about the very nature of the state, the type of government we have.NOTE: The Democratic Party and Mrs. Clinton believe that when they are voted into power, they have authority over human rights, a veto power over the right to life. That is a tyrant state, moral corruption institutionalized in policy. That’s far worse, and far more monumental, than anyone’s personal faults, past or present.
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