Posted on 06/29/2007 3:35:19 PM PDT by wagglebee
MILWAUKEE, June 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a letter to the New York Times on Monday, Daniel C. Maguire, a professor of moral theology at Marquette University, stated that bishops should stop harassing Catholic politicians who vote in favor of abortion.
Maguire drew on St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas who both thought that to allow certain moral evils would prevent “greater evils.” He further cited Aquinas, who said that the “wise legislator” imitates God, who “tolerates certain evils lest greater evils ensue.”
The letter continued, “Similarly, today legislators who truly think abortion immoral could vote to keep it legal since greater evils, multiple deaths of women (especially poor women) from botched abortions as seen before Roe v. Wade, would follow.”
He concluded, “Catholic bishops, even though they are pastors and administrators and not professional theologians, should know this and cease harassing Catholic candidates, thus making Catholic candidates less electable.”
Maguire's theology, however, is condemned by the Church. The notion of promoting the "lesser of two evils" is condemned as the error of "proportionalism," while the attempt to draw such a position from the works of Augustine and Aquinas is condemned by orthodox academics as gravely erroneous.
Maguire has had a record of dissent from Catholic Church teaching ever since the sexual revolution in 1960’s. This March the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) condemned Maguire’s views (published in certain pamphlets) on same-sex “marriage”, contraception and abortion as being “contrary to the Church’s faith”. The USCCB further declared, “We deplore as irresponsible his public advocacy of his views as authentic Catholic teaching” (see http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032301.htm).
Shortly after this event, Catholic organizations Human Life International and the Cardinal Newman Society called for the dismissal of Maguire from the Catholic University Marquette. Despite these requests, however, he still retains his position as a professor of ethics (see http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032713.html).
LifeSiteNews.com contacted the office of Rev. Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, but was unable to obtain a comment by press time.
For the full text of the statement of the Bishops Committee on Maguire:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/070323a.html
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
US Bishops Denounce False Abortion, Marriage Teaching by “Catholic” Theologian
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032301.html
Dissident Professors At U.S. Catholic Universities Pave Way To Euthanasia
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jun/05060203.html
To contact the Department of Theology at Marquette University and respectfully voice concerns:
Department of Theology
P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee, Wis. USA
53201-1881
Phone: (414) 288-7170
Fax: (414) 288-5548
The letter continued, “Similarly, today legislators who truly think abortion immoral could vote to keep it legal since greater evils, multiple deaths of women (especially poor women) from botched abortions as seen before Roe v. Wade, would follow.”
3500 murders a day IS NOT the "lesser of two evils"!
Pro-Life Ping
Catholic Ping
Bishops are “ordered” not to harass certain US politicians.
Who does this guy think he is, the Pope? Where does he get off, giving commands he has no authority to issue?
Imperfect men making imperfect decisions and drawing imperfect conclusions.
What could be more evil then killing a human being?
Moral edicts from the gang of lefties running Marquette University are meaningless.
So women dying from botched abotions is more evil than putting to death a helpless baby, or really all helpless babies? I don't understand the (il)logic.
Especially when you consider that the drop in abortion deaths was underway BEFORE Roe v. Wade, it was due to antibiotics, not legalized infanticide.
“In a letter to the New York Times on Monday, Daniel C. Maguire, a professor of moral theology at Marquette University, stated that bishops should stop harassing Catholic politicians who vote in favor of abortion.”
Time for the bishop’s to start threatening university professors.
It’s on a slightly different issue, but that’s what the Archbishop of Omaha has done.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1858508/posts
I think it is also academically dishonest, heinous and grievous to use the teachings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas to support an immoral position that proportionally is not even close to what they were originally teaching.
Looks like his theological “tenure” should be terminated.
Maguire is a heretic, plain and simple. It’s long past time that Marquette removed this aging hippie from its theology department.
The Cardinal Newman Society has recently been trying to put pressure on the president of Marquette to take action.
Smoking in public. Voting Republican. Opposing abortion. Driving an SUV.
The New York Times gets zillions of letters from crackpots of all stripes. So why did they pick this one to publish? Obviously, because Maguire comes with the label CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN which allows the NYTimes to do yet another “in your face” to the institution they loathe the most. But why is Maguire allowed to continue advertising himself in this deceptive way? Because the bishops are too wimpy to stop him from it. After all, the only ones who really suffer from this nonsense are those who actually believe what they teach.
"Greater evils" like voting Republican,perhaps?
Stop harassing them? You mean they started and I missed it??!! :(
Yes, the professor seems a bit confused about his order in the RCC chain of command!
Time for Archbishop Dolan to come down hard on this heretic.
Daniel C. Maguire This devil is not a Catholic.
Illogic indeed, instead of comparing legal vs illegal abortions, shouldn't Maguire be encouraging women to give birth and life as nature and God intended.
This guy obviously saw “Sophie’s Choice” and believes that to kill only a few million is better than to suffer the indignity of losing others. Some times, as horrible as it is, it is the right choice to die, with your kids, than to choose murder of the innocent. Sadly, I would choose to die with my family than to condone the murder of one.
Ah ha ha!! Good one and oh so very true, Marron! I feel discrimnated against.
Mr. Maguire is dancing on the trapdoors of hell.
Maybe the bishops should start harassing their university professors who don’t believe what their church teaches.
Whatever happened to the Mandatum?
Is he tenured?
He needs to be fired for his arrogance and disrespect.
This is why I would not allow my son to even apply to any of these CINO colleges. I would rather have him go to a secular college where he knows to be on guard against the lies being told.
McGuire is an old man who left the priesthood and still
wants to control peoples lives. I thought he most probably was dead by now.
is a 24K POS. An ex-priest, who married Marjorie Reiley while she was a grad student at Catholic University, claims he can find a woman's right to abort her baby in Scripture. Those two wrote Abortion: A Guide to Making Ethical Choices for Frank Kissling and the anti-Catholic CFFC back in 1983.
Their particular judgments, along with those phonies at Marquette who enabled them, will be interesting to say the least.
“Orders, eh? Who does he think he is?”
Professor Maguire has no business teaching at a Catholic university and advising the Bishops on matters of faith. It is the duty of a Catholic university professor to teach the Catholic faith, not what he would like it to be. It sounds like he would fit in better with a liberal Church like the Metropolitan Community Church.
Is there a webcam at Marquette where we can see the puff of white smoke?
“What could be more evil then killing a human being?...”
Well according to this clown, challenging the faith of those that support killing a human being is more evil...
The letter continued, “Similarly, today legislators who truly think abortion immoral could vote to keep it legal since greater evils, multiple deaths of women (especially poor women) from botched abortions as seen before Roe v. Wade, would follow.”
The mythical thousands versus the factual millions, to say nothing of the psychological and spiritual carnage women and men suffer post-"choice"...
And this so called Catholic is teaching.
If irresponsible sex had more consequences, there’d be less irresponsible sex.
Hey ‘teach’, got any stats on the number of women who died in any given year, from botched abortions?
Nah?.....Didn’t think so!
If only that bishops would disassociate the Catholic Church with that university as this one did.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1858508/posts
Kennedy is probably on that list.
Unfortunately in this guy’s case a flat EEG has not lead to a death certificate.
Geeze, in the Moral Theology class that I took it was clearly stated that abortion is a sin.
The USCC has had enough of “Whopper Dan” and has issued at least one public letter of admonishment.
And, thanks be to God, the Archbishop of Milwaukee also did so.
(No, it was not Abp. Weakland.)
See:http://dad29.blogspot.com/2007/06/marquette-us-perennial-embarassment.html
and follow the internal links.
History:
Abp. Weakland never required the Mandatum from anyone in Milwaukee at ANY ‘Catholic’ school—Marquette (SJ), Stritch (SSSF), Alverno (OSF), or Mount Mary (SSND).
Needless to say, those institutions also buried the Mandatum stuff somewhere in the ‘inbox.’
And there lies part of the problem. Are Catholic Universities “Catholic”? I would hope prospective students will do a bit of research before applying to any school.
According to Dr. Nathanson, there were deaths from botched abortions in the “old days.” He saw them as a young doctor. But when he founded NARAL, and they needed a statistic on deaths from “back-alley abortions,” they just made one up: 5000 per year. The real figure was somewhere in the neighborhood of 100, at most. And that’s for the entire U.S., in the bad old days of illegal abortion.
Marquette has issued a public statement that Maguire remains on their faculty only because of the exorbitant expense of firing him. (He has tenure.) But they also assured the public that they do not allow him to teach!
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