http://www.freep.com/news/religion/sisters7e_20040907.htm
The Rev. Thomas Reese, a longtime Vatican observer and Jesuit priest who edits America magazine, said the sisters' donation falls into the parameters of Catholic doctrine.
That's especially true after the Vatican's Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said it's OK for Catholic abortion opponents to support pro-choice candidates if they agree with the candidate's other stands.
"I think the same principles that Cardinal Ratzinger articulated on voting would also be pertinent in terms of donations to support a candidate," Reese said.
But isn't it true that the same principles DO apply? And that the nuns are doing no more than the USCCB employee with the "catholicsforkerry" website? And don't you think that 90% of the US bishops are going to be pulling the lever for Kerry this November? Even one of the suppposed "good guys," Burke in St. Louis, turned around and came out with a more "nuanced" statement. Let's face it, today's Catholic Church doesn't stand for moral absolutes anymore than today's Anglican church does.
So giving money to Emily's List isn't out of character for the hierarchy of the Catholic Church all the way from these IHM nuns up to the top with Cardinal Ratzinger. And the pope certainly hasn't supported Bush in any way. Of course it's true that these particular nuns along with virtually all the few nuns left in the New Mass establishment are supporting "Emily's List," not just with a $200 donation, but with every single thing they say and do. Like some of your own favorite nuns there in Cleveland who run schools designed to transform girls into anti-Catholic feminists.
The DFP mis-stated Cardinal Ratzinger's statement and I believe they did it intentionally to confuse Catholic voters. The Cardinal has said that Catholics should only vote for pro-abortion candidates if there is no other pro-life candidate in the race and that candidate is the less rabidly pro-abortion of the two, or if the candidate is a member of a party that is pro-life, and whose presence will increase the power of the pro-life party. These exceptions are mentioned because Catholics should always take part in elections; they should not disenfranchise themselves because of the candidates' positions.
Some bishops have taken Ratzinger's statement and altered it to say that it is ok to vote for a pro-abortion candidate instead of the pro-life one, if that candidate's other positions are in line with the Church, e.g. social justice, etc. They are WRONG!