Catholic Pols Told to Toe Line [Barf Alert!]

New York Newsday ^ | January 19, 2003 | Ellis Henican

[heyheyhey]

Catholic Pols Told to Toe Line

Ellis Henican

January 19, 2003

Geraldine Ferraro has been down this bumpy road before, a road that other Catholic politicians have traveled when their strongly held beliefs collided with the laws and teachings of their church.

She still carries the dents and the memories of 1984. That year, she was the first woman - not to mention the first Catholic woman - ever to run as a major-party candidate for vice president of the United States.

"No one promised an easy ride," she said.

As a local civic leader and then a congresswoman, Ferraro had spent a lifetime standing up for Democratic values and progressive social causes, including a woman's right to choose an abortion. But there she was, this product of the nuns and Marymount Manhattan College, this lifelong practicing Catholic, this great national symbol of equality and achievement - being viciously denounced by some of the leaders of her own beloved church.

One day, she was uninvited to speak on a Catholic campus.

Then, she was barred from the microphone in St. Patrick's Cathedral, where her college was celebrating its 50th anniversary. She was Marymount Manhattan's highest-profile alumna - ever.

Protesters actually stood on the sidewalk and yelled at her when she came out of Sunday Mass: "How dare you take communion!"

All because she dared dissent from the church's teaching on the single issue of abortion.

That was almost 20 years ago. But this past week, the authoritarians in Rome were laying down the law again.

Not bashing Ferraro directly. Her days in elected office are long over.

But on Thursday, the Vatican put out a 17-page document called a "Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life." Despite the gentle-sounding title, this was one rigid piece of work.

Aimed at all the Geraldine Ferraros of tomorrow.

It was the church hierarchy saying Catholic politicians must toe the line on abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage, whatever their personal consciences or their public duties dictate.

Mostly, this new Doctrinal Note seemed concerned with abortion. Catholic politicians, it said, have "a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law" supporting a woman's right to choose. Catholics in public life "cannot compromise" for the sake of tolerance, pluralism or freedom of choice.

Yes, it was sounding like 1984 all over again.

"I think the church is wrong on this," Ferraro said at week's end, plainspoken as ever. "I think the pope is wrong. When you get elected to office, you raise your hand to take an oath. You promise to adhere to the laws of the country and of whatever office you are in. You don't make a pledge that you really need to follow the laws of Judaism, if you are Jewish, or, as a Catholic, the laws of the church. There is a place for the separation of church and state."

Wasn't it odd, she said, that the only issues the Vatican seems bothered by are the hot-button conservative ones.

"If Catholic legislators are expected to adhere to Catholic teaching with respect to abortion, what about the Catholic teachings with respect to the death penalty and unjust wars and stem-cell research? It runs the gamut," she said. "There's no mention of that."

Catholic members of Congress who voted for the war in Iraq - should they be excommunicated?

[...]

Ferraro has obviously given plenty of thought to the special challenges of being a Catholic in public life. She's making no apologies now.

"The answer is to do what I did and Mario Cuomo has done," she said. "You do what you believe is right."

And take the heat from the hierarchy.

"You know what?" she said. "Nothing is easy. People don't take positions on issues - not on difficult issues, like choice - and expect it to be easy. The easiest thing for a Catholic politician to do is embrace everything socially conservative and accept the Knight or Madam of Malta and all the other benefits of being accepted by the church."

But that's not how this Catholic woman was raised.

"We were taught to take care of people," said Geraldine Ferraro, who can still be found at Mass each Sunday. "That Catholic teaching is why I became a liberal and a Democrat."

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[APBaer]

Okay, so the Vatican told Catholic politicians they must oppose laws on abortion, euthanasia and gay marriages and can not accept compromises

So what's next?
Will you feel equally mellow if:
The Seventh Day Adventists Church told their politicians they must oppose blood banks and transfusions and can not accept compromises?

The Christian Scientist Mother Church told their politicians they must oppose laws giving access to medical care because only prayer was appropriate and it can not accept compromises?

And late news from Rome,
"The Vatican told Catholic politicians that war with Iraq was wrong and they must give Saddam a big wet kiss and can not accept compromises"?

[heyheyhey]

I responded to it already.
You copy-and-paste the same imprudence of yours all over the threads.

Try to be a little more creative, please :-D

[heyheyhey]

Your precious quadruplets,

POST #26

POST #10

POST #4

POST #3

[APBaer]

Thank you for pointing out, more elegantly than I ever could, how often you yearners for a theocracy have posted your most recent orders from the Vatican on how to implement your dreams.

[madprof98]

Protesters actually stood on the sidewalk and yelled at her when she came out of Sunday Mass: "How dare you take communion!"

NO! Tell me they didn't do that! Anything but that! Boo-hoo-hoo!!!

[haole]

kennedy, daschle, coumo, et al : anyone who says that " they are personally against abortion.. but that they have to vote for it for 'thier constituents wantit' " are nothing but modern day Pontius Pilates. And should be called such.

[RobbyS]

When did pregnancy become a disease? An abortion is a tragedy for a woman and death for her child, but an abuse of medical training for a doctor. The inherent danger of abortion to a woman can be understood by considering what the death rate would be among women if the unrestricted right to abortion existed but antibiotics did not.

[heyheyhey]

The Vatican cares about you, too!
One day you too were a fragile baby, and one day you too will be a shaky elderly.
The Church says your life is precious from the beginning to the natural end. And no Catholic who happens to be a lawmaker may legalize killing you at will.

[TotusTuus]

But this past week, the authoritarians in Rome were laying down the law....

Heeheehee, Has a certain ring to it....

[TotusTuus]

Okay, so the Vatican told Catholic politicians they must oppose laws on abortion, euthanasia and gay marriages and can not accept compromises

So what's next?

Well, let's see, uh, OK! Christ through His Church requires, among other things, for people to live in light of natural law. Our Constitution and Declaration of Independance recognizes the prudence of this fact as well, though, not necessarily from divine revelation as much as from natural reason.

What's next if we fail to do so as a society? I don't know the specifics, but it can't possibly be good.

[Jeff Chandler]

Okay, so the Vatican told Catholic politicians they must oppose laws on abortion, euthanasia and gay marriages and can not accept compromises So what's next?

Nobody is forcing anybody to be a member of the Church. It is an association by choice, and it involves certain restrictions. These politicians want to eat their cake and have it too, but there is no inalienable right to membership in the Church.

[Jeff Chandler]

Your fear of religious influence in the public sphere is not rational. If the Pope were requiring Catholics to seek public office for the purpose of Vatican control of the United States, then you would be justified in your concern for the seperation of church and state. There is nothing wrong, however, with a man's faith informing his conscience in regards to his decisions as a citizen and/or political leader. It is, in fact, in keeping with the best tradition of our republic.

As for the Catholic man, he must either decide to act in accordance with the faith, or reject the faith. No one is forcing him to run for office, and no one is forcing him to remain in the Church.