Cardinal O’Malley explains the pope’s silence on abortion

The Deacon's Bench ^ | August 7, 2013 | Deacon Greg Kandra

[NYer]

From National Catholic Reporter:

Pope Francis has not mentioned traditional hot-button Catholic issues like abortion because he prefers to emphasize that Catholics “love people” and are not “mean or old-fashioned,” Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley has said.

O’Malley, the only North American Francis asked to serve on a group of eight cardinals advising him on reforming the church, made the comments during a keynote address Tuesday in San Antonio at the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus.

“Some people think that the Holy Father should talk more about abortion,” O’Malley told approximately 2,000 attendees, according to a copy of the remarks posted online.

“I think he speaks of love and mercy to give people the context for the Church’s teaching on abortion,” he continued. “We oppose abortion, not because we are mean or old fashioned, but because we love people. And that is what we must show the world.”

O’Malley’s focus on explaining the pope’s lack of abortion talk may be seen by some as a reaction by the cardinal to recent reports that some American Catholics have been underwhelmed by the new pope’s emphases, which have also not highlighted other more controversial Catholic teachings on issues like gay marriage or divorce and remarriage.

From text posted on the Knights of Columbus website:

Recently I read about an American relief worker in Africa, who reported on being at a camp for a food distribution line, it was very chaotic, even scary. He could see that they were running out of food and that these starving people were desperate. At the end of the line, the last person was a little nine year old girl. All that was left was one banana. They handed it to her. She peeled the banana and gave half each to her younger brother and sister. Then she licked the banana peel. The relief worker said at that moment he began to believe in God.

We must be better people; we must love all people, even those who advocate abortion. It is only if we love them that we will be able to help them discover the sacredness of the life of an unborn child. Only love and mercy will open hearts that have been hardened by the individualism of our age.

…The Church’s teaching is about loving and caring for everyone. In his talk to the Brazilian bishops last week, Pope Francis said: “We need a Church capable of rediscovering the maternal womb of mercy. Without mercy we have little chance nowadays of entering the world of wounded persons in need of understanding, forgiveness and love.” The Holy Father alludes to Cardinal Kasper’s work on mercy when he says that mercy without truth would be consolation without honesty and is empty chatter.

On the other hand, however, the truth without mercy would be cold, offputting and ready to wound. The truth isn’t a wet rag that you throw in someone’s face, but a warm cape that you wrap around a person, to protect and strengthen them.

Read the rest of the speech.

[NYer]

Ping!

[ClearCase_guy]

I understand this approach. But it should be clear: the pro-Death people will hate the Godly whether the Godly take a judgmental approach or a strictly loving approach. Makes no difference. Actually, if I had to guess, I’d say the pro-Death people will respond with greater hate if approached in a loving manner. But I guess it’s still what we are called to do.

[Huskrrrr]

Pope Francis has not mentioned traditional hot-button Catholic issues like abortion because he prefers to emphasize that Catholics “love people” and are not “mean or old-fashioned,”

Don’t the innocent unborn deserve love, too?

[piusv]

Pope Francis has not mentioned traditional hot-button Catholic issues like abortion because he prefers to emphasize that Catholics “love people” and are not “mean or old-fashioned,” Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley has said.

OMG. I can't roll my eyes hard enough at this.

[Hieronymus]

OFM explanation of SJ—likely to end badly.

[Hieronymus]

Correction—O’Malley is a Cap—not the same thing, but I still wouldn’t give it a lot of weight.

[The Unknown Republican]

As a Christian I understand preaching love. However, on abortion, ignoring the issue doesn’t serve to love anyone. You love on young women by giving them real choices and showing them that the “fetus” is actually a human being. How much more love can you show a pregnant young woman than to offer them the hope of human life? If we remain silent, we condemn such women to lives of guilt and regret.

The prevailing attitudes about abortion are changing in this country...not because we have been silent, but because we have spoken up! We’ve shown women the attrocity of the act and people are being convinced.

[detective]

Any Christian who is afraid to speak out against the killing of innocent, unborn children is not a follower of Jesus Christ.

It is as simple as that. Abortion is a brutal, painful procedure that destroys a human being.

Cardinal O’Malley sounds like so many in the American Catholic hierarchy who have no morals or faith and have nothing but contempt for the millions of faithful Catholics who contribute their time, talent and treasure to the Catholic Church.

[maryz]

but I still wouldn’t give it a lot of weight.

My guess is that he's projecting (yes, I'm in Boston); his own guiding philosophy seems to be "never say anything that might conceivably discomfit a Democrat!" Well, he avoids unsympathetic coverage from The Boston Globe, so I guess it's working!

[Heart-Rest]

Some sinful behaviors and nefarious efforts are just crying out for some form of "tough love", as well as bold declaration of the truth (not political double-talk), including these:

• Atrocities like those committed by the "butchers of abortion".    (How many innocent little babies must die a horrible death before one should talk boldly and with righteous anger about it -- out of love, both tender for the babies, and tough for the perps.)

• Efforts to subvert "marriage" by trying to force societal approval of sinful, perverted behaviors like active homosexuality by falsely and artificially extending "marriage" to homosexuals.

• The efforts of some (including some bishops in the USCCB) to reward the multiple illegal activitities involved in illegal immigration, contrary to Church teaching in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2241).

The Apostles and Early Church Martyrs might have been able to avoid martyrdom if they had made use of more slippery, mealy-mouthed weasel words, rather than boldly proclaiming the truth, but what would that have really achieved for the goal of spreading of the truths of the Gospel?

[flaglady47]

This Pope is all about Social Justice and very little else. Give me back Pope Benedict any day. Luckily, as this Pope is elderly, he won’t be in office that long. Hope they choose more wisely next time. This one is a poor choice for this time in history when you need a Pope who draws bright moral lines, and does not succumb to moral relevancy.

[campaignPete R-CT]

i guess the real speaker that the K of C scheduled must have cancelled and they needed somebody to sub at the last minute.

[Mrs. Don-o]

That's where the sub-headline at the top of the page (written by an editor) differs from what Cardinal O'Malley said. You have to be alert to what's actually in quotes:

"We oppose abortion, not because we are mean or old fashioned, but because we love people."

He's saying we're anti-abortion because we love (the unborn, etc!) --- he did NOT set up the implied either/or that was in the subhead.

In this kind of story, you can expect media distortion in the headlines, the captions, and the first 15 words (which is all some people ever read.)

[irishjuggler]

This Pope is all about Social Justice and very little else. Give me back Pope Benedict any day. Luckily, as this Pope is elderly, he won’t be in office that long. Hope they choose more wisely next time. This one is a poor choice for this time in history when you need a Pope who draws bright moral lines, and does not succumb to moral relevancy.

I agree 110%. Wasn't it nice when we had Benedict 16, or even John Paul 2, who were willing to loudly proclaim the Catholic position on the social issues of the day? Sadly, this pope is turning out to be a dream come true for the Left which has pushed for decades (centuries, actually) to get the Church to basically sit down and shut up.

[Huskrrrr]

Thanks, that DOES make a difference.

[steve86]

“We oppose abortion, not because we are mean or old fashioned, but because we love people..."

Don't know about y'all but whether or not I love people has nothing to do with whether I oppose abortion. I oppose abortion because the babies are God's children and He loves people. I'm a hermit myself; never made babies.

In the old days women were taught that one of the reasons not to have an abortion was because she probably would end up in hell for it (absent absolution, Divine forgiveness, etc.) Has the new pope mentioned the inferno even once, directly or indirectly? Or is that too "mean or old fashioned"?

[steve86]

Sadly, this pope is turning out to be a dream come true for the Left

This is true. The opportunists among them (most of them), always ready to ambush the Catholic Church, could not have dreamed of a better opportunity.

[steve86]

could not have dreamed of a better opportunityies.

(should be plural -- new ones seem to come along about twice per week)

[AmericanInTokyo]

Believe me. Being tossed ass-first right straight into the pit of Gehenna (the lake of fire/aka Hell) will indeed be a "hot button issue" for those who took the life of an innocent all for the sake of not crimping their single lifestyle, was drunk at the time and really didn't love the guy, had plans for law school that were "distrupted" or whatever.