Catholics allowed pro-choice vote

[Rose Siding]

Anti-abortion Catholics can support pro-choice candidates, as long as they agree with the candidate on a range of other issues.


That pronouncement in an Italian magazine from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's top spokesman on Catholic teachings, went unnoticed in the din of presidential election-year politics.


But it could reverberate in a close election, which pits President George W. Bush, a conservative Christian abortion opponent, against Democratic Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic who favors abortion rights.


Catholics account for about one-fourth of the Michigan electorate and are evenly split between Kerry and Bush, said pollster Ed Sarpolus of the Lansing-based EPIC/MRA. Michigan is among a handful of battleground states expected to decide the election.

http://www.freep.com/news/politics/abort7e_20040907.htm

[acmavm]

1. The Pope must be convinced that bush* is the Anti-Christ if the church

would allow this.

[fearnobush]

2. He is. The Pope is said to believe that Bush is the Anti-Christ.

<http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MKY/is_9_27/ai_108881880>

According to journalists close to the Vatican, the Pope and his closest advisers are also concerned that the ultimate acts of evil - the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon - were known in advance by senior Bush administration officials. By permitting the attacks to take their course, there is a perception within the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy that a coup d'etat was implemented, one that gave Bush and his leadership near-dictatorial powers to carry out their agenda.

The Pope worked tirelessly to convince leaders of nations on the UN Security Council to oppose Bush's war resolution on Iraq. Vatican sources claim they had not seen the Pope more animated and determined since he fell ill to Parkinson's Disease. In the end, the Pope did convince the leaders of Mexico, Chile, Cameroon, and Guinea to oppose the U.S. resolution. If one were to believe in the Book of Revelations, as the Pope fervently does, he can seek solace in scoring a symbolic victory against the Bush administration. Whether Bush represents a dangerous right-wing ideologue who couples his political fanaticism with a neo-Christian blood cult (as I believe) or he is either the anti-Christ or heralds one, the Pope should know he has fought the good battle and has gained the respect and admiration of many non-Catholics around the world.

<http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen04222003.html>

[napi21]

3. You have to remember, the term is PRO-CHOICE not Pro Abortion!

No Pro-Choice candidate, or supporter, has ever said you have to get an abortion! This statement is what the Bishops in the States should have been saying all along. You as a Catholic MUST make the choice NOT to break God's law and have an abortion. Those Bishops were being rediculous in saying no Catholic can support a candidate who doesn't agree with all church laws, because they are telling people they can't vote for ANYONE! Kerry is pro-choice, but Shrub is Pro-Death Penalty, and pro-war.

The whole thing was a power ploy I suspect, to somehow show their power. It didn't work.

[Rose Siding]

4. The article says this isn't a "new postition"

"The position is not new for the church, but it has been obscured in the debate about access to abortion."

IMO, it was all about the radically conservative wing trying to squeeze Kerry exclusively. I'm unaware that they were aiming the current "outrage" at any other pro-choice candidates of either party.

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. I went round and round on this with several people in our parish...

That we can vote beyond one issues. Besides, this election, they'd both be labeled "babykillers". Just one before birth, and one after.

[acmavm]

5. I really must remember to do the <sarcasm on/off> think when I post.

But I really do think that as far as evil goes, bush* and his nasty criminal cabal have the market cornered. There just may be something to it.

[K8-EEE]

6. Uh, What About The "Death Penalty" Vote?

I mean, didn't these people see Passion Of The Christ? BY WHAT STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION DO THEY THINK JESUS FAVORS THE DEATH PENALTY?

[Rose Siding]

7. The politically motivated, selectively pious,....

letter-of-the-law addicts don't do the "reason" thing. They are exactly the types that Jesus ragged on and rattled down to their sandals.

[lovuian]

8. Well the Church has A Bush Cheney sticker on his chair

I'm glad the church realizes we have the freedom to vote as we wish

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

9. I just LOVE that headline. </sarcasm>

Catholics allowed pro-choice vote.
Allowed? Like who I get to vote for is a damn priveledge?
Another reason I've become disillusioned with the Catholic Church. (I've got quite a list going)

[noonwitch]

10. American catholics have always been able to vote for whomever they wish

It's a secret ballot, right? No one is telling anyone's priest who is voting what way.

Liberal catholics can always quit the catholic church or cut off their donations. This would be a good time to cut off donations, with various archdiocese' facing multi-million dollar lawsuits over pedophile priests, they could make a real point to the church hierarchy by hitting them in the pocketbook. Maybe then they'll have to melt down some of those gold icons to pay off the children their priests have raped. The last thing the church wants is for liberal american catholics to splinter off and form their own denomination or leave and join the epsicopalians. They may be willing to make some concessions on matters of individual conscience to prevent that from happening.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

12. Don't stop donations - make them out to Catholic Charities

or Holy Orders