Is John Kerry a good Catholic?

[whometense]

I thought I'd start this thread while waiting for TayTay to come back from the convention. The question of Catholic voters came up in her thread last night.

This morning I stumbled across this article that was written exactly a year ago.

http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/fwis/pc051204.htm

Is John Kerry a good Catholic? By Joan Chittister, OSB

"The spirit we have, not the work we do, is what makes us important to the people around us."

A Benedictine Sister of Erie, Sister Joan is a best-selling author and well-known international lecturer. She is founder and executive director of Benetvision: A Resource and Research Center for Contemporary Spirituality, and past president of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Sister Joan has been recognized by universities and national organizations for her work for justice, peace and equality for women in the Church and society. She is an active member of the International Peace Council.

When I was growing up, for a Catholic to eat meat on Fridays was a "mortal sin," the kind of thing for which you went directly to hell, they told us -- no passing go, no collecting $200. But no Catholic lawmaker I know of introduced legislation to close grocery store meat departments on Fridays to protect Catholics from error or to save others from sin.

When I was growing up, Catholics were not permitted to get divorced but no Catholic legislator, as far as I can discover, opposed divorce legislation for the rest of the population.

Hysterectomies, long a moral question for the Catholic church, were unopposed by Catholic doctors, lawmakers and politicians.

Birth control legislation became the law of the land, despite a papal encyclical opposing it, and Catholic legislators accepted it.

Nor did any bishop excommunicate them for doing so.

Lots of things, in other words, that went on in this country violated Catholic discipline or Catholic conscience or Catholic spiritual practice.

But two things prevailed, simultaneously and clearly, in every case: Catholic conscience itself and respect for the conscience of other equally sincere, totally dedicated religious traditions and spiritual people for whom such things were evaluated through a different theological lens.

The point is that Catholics weren't required to do any of these things and, at the same time, others were not obstructed from doing them in cases where their own consciences or religious traditions dictated otherwise.

On the contrary: the U.S. Constitution protected a person's civil rights and honored their religious traditions at the same time. The function of legislators was to do the same. It was not to impose any particular religious code on anyone.

Now we have new questions facing the public arena and voting Catholics at large: Is John Kerry a "good Catholic" if he supports a pro-choice voting position on the abortion question, when, as a matter of fact, few other religious traditions absolutely condemn it under any and all conditions? Or, if John Kerry is not a "good Catholic" can Catholics in good conscience vote for him? And is John Kerry -- or any other Catholic politician -- to function in the U.S. government as a "good Catholic" or a "good American?"

The questions are crucial, not only for Catholics but for the future of the country and the identification of good leadership. The answer depends on what it is to be a "a good Catholic."

Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical "Rerum Novarum," clearly thought Catholic morality had to do with establishing balance between capital and labor. John Kerry supports increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. That's a very Catholic position.

Pius XI wrote that being a good Catholic involved working against financial monopolies that restrict enterprise. Kerry intends to stop the offshore banking that hides corporate profits from the tax rolls and shrinks the revenue needed to provide public goods and services. That's a very Catholic position.

Pius XII wrote that the right of private property is a lesser right than the rights of all to the goods of the earth. John Kerry promotes legislation designed to support U.S. farmers, the reunification of immigrant families and the restoration of benefits for legal immigrants. Those are very Catholic positions.

John XXIII condemned sexism, the arms race and systemic poverty. John Kerry opposes the wage gap that now exists between men and women workers. He supports arms control and non-proliferation measures. He supports welfare programs. Those are very Catholic positions.

Paul VI taught that social justice includes the obligation of rich nations to honor the rights of poor nations. Kerry has denounced the policies of unilateralism and preemptive war. He promises to renew U.S. alliances around the world so we are seen as an international partner not a bully. Those are very Catholic positions.

The 1971 bishops document on "Justice in the World" called social sin as immoral as personal sin. Kerry sponsored legislation to stop the arms trade to nations that are undemocratic. He worked to create the UN genocide tribunal in Cambodia. Those are very Catholic positions.

John Paul II, in his encyclicals calls for the transformation of structures that oppress the poor in capitalist countries. Kerry has spoken out against racial profiling. He supports the restoration of affirmative action. He has pledged himself to restore civil liberties, lost during the Ashcroft era, to the United States itself. Those are very Catholic positions.

And all of them -- along with subsidized housing programs, educational supports, minimum wage proposals, child-care credits and anti-capital punishment propositions -- are essentially, fundamentally and profoundly pro-life positions.

Can Catholics vote for him in good conscience? If "good conscience" has something to do with upholding the highest ideals of the faith and its commitment to all human life, they can.

Can a Catholic politician be a good Catholic and a good American at the same time? Only if they are, in fact, both at the same time. The Catholic politician who functions in the U.S. government as a good citizen, who lives by his own conscience and at the same time safeguards the sincere conscience of others, is, in fact, functioning as a good Catholic.

Fortunately, most bishops, as in the case of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, realize that the Catholic church is not a single-issue tradition. He said: "One (issue) may be primary, but there are many issues that have to be considered....All these things have to be weighed very carefully -- without giving anybody any direction on how they should vote."

Bishops know what it means to be a Catholic politician in a pluralistic country and, I am convinced, they will defend that to the end. In fact, "The Faithful Citizenship Guide" published by the US Bishops calls us back to "an old idea with new power -- the common good." Surely the "faithful citizenship guide" is calling the bishops, too. Otherwise, Catholic participation in common good, the fullness of the Catholic voice in the public arena, the entire Catholic vision of life, may well be lost here again for decades to come.

From where I stand, that would really be a sin.

Comments or questions about this column may be sent to: [email protected]

[globalvillage]

1. Honestly, whome...

I have always felt it would be contrary to my Catholic upbringing to vote against John Kerry. Not because he's a Catholic, but because his ideals are so closely aligned with those of the Church. As Sister Joan says, his vision and his actions are very much the same in so many ways.
Had the media reported this, and had many of our priests and bishops looked beyond the literal to the core teachings of our faith, or better yet, had they both stayed out of the 'religion and politics' thing altogether, our country's leadership might be very much different today.
Not for me to judge, but I'd say he's a better Catholic than most.

[fedupinBushcountry]

2. I agree

That is a wonderful article. You know I was brought up to love my neighbor and to help those in need. Not to look down upon anyone. I think John Kerry exemplifies what an American Catholic is.

How any Catholic could be a Republican really boggles my mind. I have never seen such hate shown to a fellow human being as some Catholics did to John Kerry. There is one judge at the end of the day and I think He will like John Kerry very much. As my daughter says to the ones who preach that you will go to hell if you don't believe how they do, "I'll be dancing in heaven and asking myself, where are they? where are they?". O8)

[vinessa4freedom]

3. She so gets it

You should check out some of Sr. Joan's other "From Where I Stand" columns. She is definitely a visionary and realizes that liberal values are in-line with not only Christian, but every other major religion's core values. It's the very narrow-minded who have the loudest voices, unfortunately. And although we call it "fundamentalism" those war, death, power and greed anti-values have nothing to do with the fundamentals of real spiritualism.

[ginnyinWI]

4. Bill Moyers had her on NOW last October

Did anyone see it? She was great. Not only very smart, but a very positive, loving, and smiling individual. Made me almost want to become a Catholic. :)

[whometense]

6. I'm sorry to say

I missed that. She sounds to me like a stellar representative for the Church, one they should be proud of.

I wonder if she's still welcome in her order? You probably saw the story last week (it was a very big story in Boston) about the pope yanking moderate Jesuit, Rev. Thomas J Reese, away from his job as editor of AMERICA because of "articles on touchy issues such as same-sex marriages and stem cell research".

Boston Catholic intellectuals were screaming.

[ginnyinWI]

8. no, I hadn't seen that

There seems to be something like an Inquisition going on in religious circles. I hope the liberal ones can stand up and not be intimidated by the RW zealots.

[elshiva]

5. Thanks, yet again, whome!

I wish those bishops wouldn't have said it was a sin to vote for him!!!

[politicasista]

7. Thanks for posting this whome

:)

[TayTay]

9. Wow! Did this ever come up in forums

(And not just because the founding doc is a hotty! I'm still tired, forgive me.)

http://www.catholicdemocrats.net/news.php

This is an outgrowth and a continuation of the 'Catholics for Kerry' movement that was started in Massachusetts and went national last year. Again, if John Kerry hadn't won Protestants by overwhelming numbers in MA last year, he might have lost Massachusetts. (Yeah, Massachusetts. The good old liberal oasis.) Senator Kerry took the Catholic vote in MA 51-49%. That is way too close for a Catholic Senator from Massachusetts.) Kerry carried Catholics voters in Penn. and Calif. by very wide margins. (But MA, WTF?)

We had a fascinating slide show (Powerpoint is big at break-out sessions) that shows exactly how Karl Rove developed this meme and how the RNC is trying to permanently peel Catholic voters away from the Dems. I learned that Karl Rove learned his trade in advertising, starting with the Marlboro Man ad campaign. His strategy was to take the weakest side of a product and use that as a target. So, in cigarettes, use the fact that the product, if used correctly, kills 50% of it's users and make that an advantage. Make Marlboro's the nicotine delivery system of choice for outdoors, individualists and people who work with their hands.

Same thing in politics. (This was friggin scary stuff.) Also, the RNC has identified about 13,000 national Catholics that it keeps in an e-mail database. Whenever one of the phony 'issues' like the newest proposed abortion law comes up, these 'Catholic Team Leaders' are sent the e-mails and told to go to their priests and fellow congregants and yell about how the 'Bad Catholics' are once again proving that they are against the 'Culture of Life.'

Many Catholic Churches allowed the RNC through their Catholic Team Leaders to set up Voter Registration drives in the rectories themselves. Lists of parishioners were shared with the RNC as were donor lists. (This is illegal.) This is an outrage, for ow so many reasons. First of all, according to 3 medical doctors, none of the abortion laws that have been passed under * in 4 1/2 years will result in any fewer abortions at all. Second of all, there is a pill that can take care of 90% of most abortions. This pill is a simply thing to mix up and costs pennies to produce. So, if Roe V. Wade is ever overturned, the net effect of the 'Culture of Life' will be to turn a lot of people into abortion drug pushers. (Think about that.) More later. What a bunch of douche-bags. And John Kerry was not a 'Bad Catholic.' (What a room full of pissed off people, let me tell ya!)

[globalvillage]

10. How painful it must be

for Sen Kerry to have been rejected by so many Catholics and by much of the Catholic leadership.
It really hurts me that over half of us seem to have forgotten the real teachings of the Church. If they had only considered that *'s policies do nothing to promote a "culture of life". Even if they only considered the abortion issue, the one issue that was being pushed on them, a little thought and research would have shown that nothing was done in the previous 4 years to reduce abortions.
But we failed to convince them that saying "pro-life" and being "pro-life" are not the same thing.
Damn, is that what they meant by shepherd and flock? Somehow I didn't get the sheep reference all these years. Until now.

[karynnj]

12. It really has to hurt that it affected even the MA Catholics

who should know him well. It seems that the Catholic leadership may have felt that with the number of Supreme court judges potentially at stake, that they were willing to ignore many other issue - where Kerry is clearly closer to their views. During the fall, there was some discussion that Kerry being Catholic led to the church more aggressively lobbying against him. However, if it is abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research etc - they will probably hit any Democrat as hard.

What it seems to amount to is that they were willing to reject Kerry, who at least the MA church had to know as a basically decent guy, because he would keep abortion legal even when the alternative was a man who had already done many really evil things. They were willing to trust him to pick pro-life justices. So, we destroy the world in the process.

I read the Chicester article and some of TAY TAY's fascinating comments Saturday, before leaving to go to a First Communion of a family friend's child. I realized how really angry I was, when I mentally completed each call for prayer (for peace in the world etc) with the thought "yeah, it would be a lot more likely if Kerry were President!". My youngest daughter was unhappy when I wouldn't give her money for the collection plate or put any in myself. (My husband followed suit - after whispering "still mad about the election?" - I guess he knows me.)

[TayTay]

13. There is an upside (Finally)

The Dems have finally, finally realized that they are at war with the Rethugs over the whole question of 'moral values.' And that we, the good guys, must win this fight. (The world is depending on us. No pressure.)

This is so fascinating to me. The panel discussion was both sad and very hopeful. There was a long period of time when talking about religion for Dems was just not done. Well, that time is past. Now we recognize that we need to do this. Not to piss people off, not to become holier than thou and not to look for converts, but because this is the root problem. Dems have strong moral values. We believe in the same values that the majority of Americans believe in. But we are get butt-kicked in elections because the REthug lies over extremely narrow religious questions are boxing us in.

We have to change the dialog. We can't do that by ignoring faith as an issue. Hell, we own those issues. The Rethugs have just borrowed and distorted them. They are Democratic values. Poverty is a moral issue. We own it. Health care is a moral issue. We own it. Social injustice is a moral issue. We own it. The national party is going on a push to re-invigorate those issues. We don't have to rethink our values. We have strong moral and family values. But we do need to talk about them and to not step on our our best stuff.

[whometense]

11. People pissed off at

the Catholic establishment, I take it.

This baffles me, frankly. After the couple of years the MA Catholic churches have had, the brutal pounding (I thought) their credibility had taken, and Catholics still pay attention and do as their told like good sheeple?? I honestly don't understand this. I thought MA Catholics as a whole were more independent minded and free thinking than this.

And BTW how totally apt is it that Rove would have learned his trade pushing nicotine, an addictive drug. He will assuredly burn in hell.