Lest I be painted –
especially by me – as kid-gloves-only with Democrats / liberals, and
boxing-gloves-only with Republicans / conservatives, let me put up here in full
and verbatim (and without permission… but attribution and link included) an article posted by Dan Morris-Young last month
via Catholic News Service.
I strongly favor women in
politics, and when in doubt will vote for a woman's name where I'm not
adequately familiar with the issues/candidates on that portion of the ballot.
Exception, of course, being women of the Republican party – sorry, ma'am;
ma'am. An exception to that exception was the mother of a close friend
and associate some years back, for whom I voted (over a Democrat – whom I
didn't know – because she'd raised a good (and adopted) son) back in the early
nineties. (Also voted for a Green woman, who still lost, more recently.)
I state without a quibble
that I am a feminist almost entirely across the board of causes, concerns,
and issues. (I do not, and cannot, support abortion – to which a woman has no
more "right" than I would to shooting dead a man who might have cut
me off in traffic. It's not her body alone – what's gestating
there within is someone else, no more that woman than I am my mother.) The more
women running things, the better. Obvious overwhelming argument: look at the
utter mess we men have made of it around the world. QED.
Oh, and speaking of abortion:
Watch this music video:
http://catholic777.blogspot.com/2008/08/this-is-my-body.html
(blog-posting)
It's had me in tears more
than once (including just a couple minutes ago), and says far more beautifully,
and simply, everything and anything I could say about this terrible issue.
Back to women in politics:
Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi I have a particularly deep respect and high regard for. However, several
weeks ago she inexcusably crossed a line in pulling the Church down a peg to
(rather weakly) support her own abortion-stance. Here follows Dan
Morris-Young's article on Pelosi's statement, and the first immediate fallout
(Cardinal Rigali I'm familiar with; he has a very good – and quite orthodox –
intellect; Cardinal George I know of; and Bishop Lori also serves as Supreme
Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, of which I'm a member… but
am not here representing):
Archbishop Niederauer to
Pelosi: Can We Talk?
Dan Morris-Young | Catholic
News Service | Posted: 09.08.08
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) | Calling
recent nationally broadcast comments by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
"in serious conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church,"
Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco invited the Catholic lawmaker
"into a conversation with me" about church teaching on abortion, the
beginning of human life and the formation of conscience.
Archbishop Niederauer said in a
Sept. 5 statement that he regretted addressing the issue so publicly, because
Pelosi — a Democrat who represents San Francisco area — has been a dedicated
public servant who has promoted some legislation that is in line with the
social teachings of the Catholic Church.
"But the widespread
consternation among Catholics made it unavoidable," he added.
The statement, which was carried
in the Sept. 5 issue of Catholic San Francisco, [the city's] archdiocesan newspaper, was
Archbishop Niederauer's first public comment on the matter since Pelosi's Aug.
24 remarks drew national criticism.
The House Speaker said on NBC's
"Meet the Press" that day that church leaders for centuries had not
been able to agree on when life begins.
Cardinal Justin Rigali of
Philadelphia and Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairmen of the
U.S. bishops' pro-life and doctrine committees, respectively, criticized Pelosi
the next day, saying she "misrepresented the history and nature of the
authentic teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion."
Since the First Century, the
church "has affirmed the moral evil of every abortion," the two
chairmen said.
Archbishop Niederauer said many
Catholics "have written me letters and sent me e-mails in which they
expressed their dismay and concern about the speaker's remarks.
"Very often they moved on
to a question that caused much discussion during the
2004 campaign: Is it necessary to deny holy Communion to some Catholics in
public life because of their public support for abortion on demand?" he
added.
Church leaders should be
cautious when making judgments about who is worthy of receiving holy Communion,
he said.
"The practice of the
church is to accept the conscientious self-appraisal of each person" when
he or she approaches [the
altar] for Communion, Archbishop Niederauer
said.
Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of
Colorado Springs, Colo., took a stronger position in a statement issued Aug.
26.
"Those Catholics who take
a public stance in opposition to this most fundamental moral teaching of the
church place themselves outside full communion with the church," he wrote
in his statement, "and they should not present themselves for the
reception of holy Communion."
In the "Meet the
Press" interview, Pelosi said specific considerations must be undertaken
during each trimester of a child's development before an abortion can be
performed.
"This isn't about abortion
on demand. It's about careful, careful consideration of all factors… that a
woman has to make with her doctor and her God," she said, adding that her
goal is to make abortion safe and rare while reducing the number of abortions
nationwide.
Though critical of Pelosi's
statements and stands on abortion and other life issues, the archbishop
described the member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in San Francisco as
"a gifted, dedicated, and accomplished public servant" who "has
stated often her love for her faith and for the Catholic Church."
The archbishop told Catholic
San Francisco he had written to Pelosi personally about his statement and
had a copy of it delivered to her office Sept. 4.
Bishops from Denver to St. Paul
and Minneapolis, Chicago, and Fargo, N.D., asserted that Catholics have a
responsibility to study church teachings on human life and when life begins,
which is at the moment of conception.
"The teaching of the
Church was clear in a Roman Empire that permitted abortion," said Cardinal
Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "This
same teaching has been constantly reiterated in every place and time up to
Vatican II, which condemned abortion as a 'heinous crime.'
"This is true today and
will be so tomorrow," Cardinal George continued in a statement issued
Sept. 2. "Any other comments, by politicians, professors, pundits, or the
occasional priest, are erroneous and cannot be proposed in good faith."
In his statement, Archbishop
Niederauer said Pelosi has consistently mischaracterized church doctrine on
abortion.
"For 20 centuries, not for
50 years (as stated by Pelosi), the Catholic Church has taught that abortion is
grievously sinful," he said. "Individual theologians may from time to
time have speculated about the beginning of human life, but the church has
consistently taught that abortion is wrong. The answer to the question, "When
does life begin?' should not have an impact, we are told, on the woman's right
to choose. Nevertheless, the woman's right to choose certainly has an impact on
nascent human life."
The archbishop said he had an
obligation as her pastor "to teach forthrightly and to shepherd caringly,
and that is my intent. Let us pray together that the Holy Spirit will guide us
all toward a more profound understanding and appreciation for human life, and
toward a resolution of these differences in truth and charity and peace."
Pelosi has defended her
position, saying, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "This
isn't really an abortion issue", but rather consideration of "a
procedure that any parent would want her daughter to have access to if she
needed it."
Copyright © 2008 Catholic News
Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
I'll follow up on this
tomorrow, hopefully: I have a later article (9/18/08) that states Pelosi did
agree to meet with Niederauer.
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