Bishop scolds Casey (Sen. Casey; "cooperating...with evil")

The Times Tribune (Scranton PA) ^ | 2/6/09 | BORYS KRAWCZENIUK

[Born Conservative]

Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph F. Martino accuses Sen. Bob Casey of “cooperating with … evil” by refusing to back legislation to block U.S. tax dollars from flowing to foreign family planning groups that refuse to renounce abortion.

In a Jan. 30 letter to the senator, the bishop also calls on Mr. Casey to live up to his Catholic faith and “oppose abortion and other clear evils, including contraception.”

Bishop Martino left unclear whether Mr. Casey should be denied the Catholic sacrament of Communion, a suggestion he made during the presidential election about politicians who support abortion. Mr. Casey opposes abortion.

The letter was published in Thursday’s edition of The Catholic Light, the diocesan newspaper.

Efforts to interview Bishop Martino were unsuccessful. Over the past few months, Bishop Martino, through spokesman Bill Genello, has refused repeated requests for an interview with The Times-Tribune. “He does not do interviews,” Mr. Genello said. “He’s only saying what he says in the letter.”

The letter was prompted by Mr. Casey’s vote against an amendment to the state Children’s Health Insurance Program, which the Senate adopted last week. The amendment, authored by Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, would have required family planning groups abroad to agree, before they receive U.S. aid, that they would not perform or promote abortions.

The prohibition is known as the Mexico City Policy, first adopted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, but reversed by President Bill Clinton. President Bush reinstated it, but President Barack Obama lifted it days after taking office.

Mr. Casey contends legislative amendments authored by the late Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina and the late Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois and adopted into federal law forbid the use of U.S. funds by foreign groups to pay for or promote abortions.

The senator also argues that giving the groups money reduces the number of abortions by promoting contraception and other family planning that avoid unintended pregnancies.

Efforts to reach Mr. Casey on Thursday were unsuccessful.

Larry Smar, Mr. Casey’s spokesman, issued a statement restating the senator’s position.

“Sen. Casey fully supports the Helms amendment, and its enforcement, and will continue to do so,” Mr. Smar said.

In the letter, Bishop Martino praises Mr. Casey for supporting children’s health insurance, but disputes his arguments. The Helms amendment, he says, does nothing to stop groups from promoting abortion with their own money. He chastises Mr. Casey for supporting artificial contraception.

“I remind you that it is never permissible to use immoral means (e.g., artificial contraception) to achieve a good end,” Bishop Martino wrote.

The bishop also claims Mr. Casey’s vote against the Mexico City Policy “will mean the deaths of thousands of unborn children.” The bishop also stated that “this is an offense against life and a denial of our Catholic teaching on the dignity of every human being.”

Quoting church doctrine, the bishop contends Catholics are required to oppose “any law that attacks human life” and some Catholics “are given a particular title to this task … including those who hold economic and political power.”

Bishop Martino said Mr. Casey should reverse his vote because his “responsibilities as a Catholic … exceed even those of your office.”

“Your failure to reverse this vote will regrettably mean that you persist formally in cooperating with the evil brought about by this hideous and unnecessary policy,” he wrote. “As I have done several times before, I offer to make myself available to you to discuss the grave concerns that I raise here.”

The bishop’s letter marks his latest effort to inject himself publicly into the political debate over abortion.

During the presidential election, the bishop ordered diocesan priests to read a letter telling church-goers to remember the church’s position on abortion on Election Day. Some Catholic groups suggested the letter overemphasized abortion and ignored the need for a broader view of social justice.

Later, the bishop told a meeting of Catholics discussing abortion at a Honesdale church that abortion should be paramount in deciding which candidate a Catholic should support.

In the letter read in church, the bishop said he would remain vigilant on the issue.

“Public officials who are Catholic and who persist in public support for abortion and other intrinsic evils should not partake in or be admitted to the sacrament of Holy Communion,” he wrote.

Mr. Genello declined to elaborate on whether the bishop believes Mr. Casey should be denied Communion for his vote or for supporting contraception.

[Born Conservative]

Related thread on Bishop Martino

[Ann Archy]

Democrats made a deal with the DEVIL....they will indeed pay for it.

[TPOOH]

The age old question.......will you serve God or the devil?
Pols usually don't get it right.

[neb52]

I think the problem resides more with the DC Archbishop. Once elected, politicians do not spend much time in their districts or states. The DC Archdiocese becomes the home away from home and the Archbishop, the bishop to the politicians. The current man in that post is a hand wringer and spineless. Archbishop Donald Wuerl needs to stiffen up and start wagging his finger or be reassigned.

[FES0844]

Evil is rampant.

[HenpeckedCon]

This is the famous “pro life” Senator Casey, correct?

[Dems_R_Losers]

Yes, and every election year he trots out his alleged Catholic pro-life bona fides, and the dumbass voters in Pennsylvania believe him. He's a dyed-in-the-wool socialist who was an early supporter of Barack Obama. Nobody should be surprised that he voted in lockstep with his new Messiah.

[Christian4Bush]

Related thought:

If Ronald Reagan, Republicans, and conservatives are so evil, ineffectual, and inconsequential, then why does the Left continue posturing themselves as Ronald Reagan, Republicans, and conservatives (and by extension, pro-life) every election cycle?

Part of their electoral victories in 2006 and 2008 employed this tactic...including the aforementioned Casey against Rick Santorum, and Jim Webb against George Allen.

Of course, once elected, these “conservative” Democrats and “Blue Dog” (House) Democrats immediately put on the kneepads for Dingy Harry and Stretch Pelosi. But it is interesting to note the successful use of a “failed strategy and ideology” by those who are the exact opposites.

[Born Conservative]

This is the famous “pro life” Senator Casey, correct?

Supposedly.

[Born Conservative]

and the dumbass voters in Pennsylvania believe him

Don't blame me; I voted for Pat Toomey.

You are right about the dumbass voters. The Catholic voters in his "hometown" of Scranton (where have we heard that before) probably vote Dem over Pro-Life, and of course, the voters in Philth-adelphia vote Dem/liberal, so Casey is making decisions based on politics, and not his values, unlike his father.

[Born Conservative]

Ping

[Little Ray]

God bless Bishop Martino for calling on his parishioner to live according to his faith.

[Coleus]

Catholic Bishop Blasts Pro-Life Democrat Bob Casey for Abortion Funding Vote

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Catholic Bishop Joseph F. Martino of the Diocese of Scranton is taking Sen. Bob Casey to task for voting to fund groups that promote and perform abortions overseas. The Pennsylvania senator is supposedly one of two pro-life Democrats in the Senate, but his vote betrayed any pro-life principles.

As LifeNews.com previously noted, Casey opposed an amendment to a Senate bill to restore the Mexico City Policy. That's the federal provision that makes it so taxpayers are not forced to fund groups that promote or perform abortions in other countries and it is a provision that pro-abortion President Barack Obama rescinded in his first week in office. In a letter to the senator, Bishop Martino accuses Casey of “cooperating with … evil” by casting the pro-abortion vote. In the letter, published in Thursday’s edition of The Catholic Light, the diocesan newspaper, he urges Casey to live up to his Catholic faith by voting to “oppose abortion."

Bishop Martino said Casey vote against the Mexico City Policy “will mean the deaths of thousands of unborn children" and reminded him that “this is an offense against life and a denial of our Catholic teaching on the dignity of every human being.” Martino said Casey should reverse his vote because his “responsibilities as a Catholic … exceed even those of your office.” “Your failure to reverse this vote will regrettably mean that you persist formally in cooperating with the evil brought about by this hideous and unnecessary policy,” he wrote. “As I have done several times before, I offer to make myself available to you to discuss the grave concerns that I raise here.”

Larry Smar, Casey’s spokesman, responded to the accusations that Casey has betrayed his pro-life views with the claim that the amendment did not regard direct funding for abortion and that Casey supports a current law prohibiting direct abortion funding abroad. “Sen. Casey fully supports the Helms amendment, and its enforcement, and will continue to do so,” Smar said, according to the Citizens Voice newspaper. The Mexico City Policy does not concern direct abortion funding but it does prevent taxpayer money from going to abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood and Marie Stopes International that would otherwise have to use their own funds to promote family planning efforts. They money also funds abortion promotion efforts, whereby the two abortion businesses actively lobby nations with pro-life laws to legalize some or all abortions.

[Coleus]

Biden's Pro-Abortion Stance Rejected by His Hometown Bishop

[Coleus]

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