Catholic League vs. Obama's Catholic National Advisory Council

An interesting dialogue is ensuing between the Catholic League and Obama’s Catholic National Advisory Council. The problem with Obama’s council is that all the Catholics participating have records of being in public dissent with key Catholic issues like abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Bill Donohue is advising Obama to dissolve this council because it does not represent the voice of faithful Catholics. If Obama wants to hear the voice of faithful practicing Catholics, he should rethink whom he appoints to his council. Of course, if he is just after votes of Catholics that ignore the Church’s position on important moral issues, his political maneuvering may pan out to be successful.

The Catholic National Advisory Council has sent a response to Bill Donohue: (on the link is included a list of all those who are represented by the letter)

Dear Mr. Donohue:

We write in our individual capacities and not on behalf of the campaign. Last week you labeled many of our friends, and some of us, as "Catholic dissidents" because we support Senator Obama.

Unlike the Catholic League, the U.S. Catholic Bishops advise careful consideration of candidates’ positions on a broad set of issues. While abortion and other life issue are of fundamental concern, the bishops teach that particular issues must not be misused "as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity" such as "racism and other unjust discrimination, the use of the death penalty, resorting to unjust war, the use of torture, war crimes, the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or a lack of health. care or an unjust immigration policy" (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, #29). Our bishops go on to point out that "these are not optional concerns which can be dismissed."

Across these issues Senator Obama offers much to the well-formed Catholic conscience, which helps to explain why many Catholics are supporting him.

As Catholics, we view abortion as a profound moral issue. But what have nearly three decades of Republican promises to end abortion accomplished? Other aspects of the conservative

Republican agenda have been carried out with fervor, such as weakening of the social-safety net, privatization, deregulation, destruction of labor unions, and belligerent and aggressive foreign policy. But ending abortion remains the perennial promise, one that is too often hijacked by partisan operatives who seek only to divide votes. Many Catholics are fed up with the divisive tactics and empty promises around this issue.

Senator Obama recognizes that abortion presents a profound moral challenge, tied in part to a loss of the sense of the sacredness of sex and lack of parental involvement:. On the campaign trail he regularly calls on parents to turn off the television and has called on fathers to meet their family responsibilities. Regrettably, these clips are not included in your press releases.

Senator Obama has also reached out to Americans on both sides of this issue and embraces practical proposals designed to reduce the number of abortions in this country, including comprehensive health and sex education, better health care, economic support for women, and promoting alternatives like adoption.

Like other Americans, we have watched as many candidates brought to office on a so-called prolife platform insisted on policies that have left the lives of millions more of our brothers and sisters at risk from war, uncontrolled pollution, deeper poverty, and growing economic inequality.

Not this year.

This year, there are many Catholics - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents - who won’t let that happen again.

We are proud to be counted among Senator Obama's Catholic advisors. Collectively our experience spans decades of scholarship and service working for and with the Catholic Church on the broad set of issues under the "consistent ethic of life."

We were drawn into the campaign by Senator Obama's vision for the common good, his profound message of hope, and his ability to unite citizens across class, race, and even party lines. We are excited about his promise as president, and we commend him to our fellow Catholics.

Mr. Donahue, your work to fight legitimate cases of anti-Catholic bigotry in this country should be applauded. But when you smear other Catholics with whom you disagree, you betray your own cause. Our measure of what it means to be a “good” Catholic is not defined by the narrow pronouncements of partisan operatives; but rather by the rich teachings of our Church and our informed consciences.

Now time for a few of my own comments. Donohue seemed to be calling them dissidents because of the public evidence of their public position on key social justice issues, not because they support Obama. The letter correctly states that life issues like abortion should not be used to ignore other life issues like unjust discrimination, the death penalty, unjust war, torture, unjust immigration policies, and a failure to respond to the needs of the poor and sick. However, this statement goes both ways. Those other life issues should not be used to overshadow and ignore issues like abortion. We must have a holistic and consistent life ethic rooted in the dignity of the human person. If the basic right to life cannot be insured for the unborn than it is hard to imagine how we can consistently stress the importance of other social justice issues.

I do think they are correct to point out that blind Republican partisanship has not resolved the abortion issue. Our catholic conscience should not be hijacked by partisan propaganda. We must allow our faith to inform our conscience about social justice issues and vote for individual politicians accordingly. Personally, I distrust both major political parties. A while back, I wrote on the political rift in the Church and that we should fight for truth regardless of which side of the political spectrum it happens to fall.

I also happen to think that self-professed Catholic politicians that do not standing up for a holistic approach to social justice issues are just as divisive and just as much of a perpetuator of empty promises as this letter is suggesting of those in the Republican Party.

Some candidates do make it to office on a pitiful so-called pro-life platform. The solution is not to start ignoring life issues, but we must start emphasizing the need to be holistic on all life issues. What surprises me about this letter is how these Catholics on this council fail to realize that a critique of the other side does not exempt them from having to personally witness to the culture of life congruity with the social doctrine of the Church. They make many good points about why to be cautious of others dividing issues, but they have failed to provide the justification of what gives them the right to be divided on these life issues.

*Update: A recent comment pointed out that the Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, whom has been recently reprimanded by the Archbishop of Kansas City, is a member of Obama's Catholic National Advisory Council. Archbishop Naumann cites his past conversations, recommendations, and the Governor's current veto against the Comprehension Abortion Reform Act as reasons for his action. Here is an excerpt:

The governor has spoken to me on more than one occasion about her obligation to uphold state and federal laws and court decisions. I have asked her to show a similar sense of obligation to honor divine law and the laws, teaching and legitimate authority within the church.

I have not made lightly this request of Governor Sebelius, but only after much prayer and reflection. The spiritually lethal message, communicated by our governor, as well as many other high profile Catholics in public life, has been in effect: “The church’s teaching on abortion is optional!”

I reissue my request of the faithful of the archdiocese to pray for Governor Sebelius. I hope that my request of the governor, not to present herself for holy Communion, will provoke her to reconsider the serious spiritual and moral consequences of her past and present actions. At the same time, I pray this pastoral action on my part will help alert other Catholics to the moral gravity of participating in and/or cooperating with the performance of abortions.

Pro-Abortion Catholic Candidates

Pro-abortion candidates taking communion seems to be a roller coaster as an issue. Although it is not one that I worry much about, I have heard some people argue that it would be ridiculous and outrageous for the Church to deny someone communion over their political leanings and position on abortion. On the other hand I have heard others argue the other extreme that Bishops are neglecting their duties by not immediately excommunicating high profile pro-abortion Catholics that receive communion. The recent Papal masses attended by the likes of pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Rudolph Giuliani, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Christopher Dodd, and Edward Kennedy has once again created a spark of gossip among media sources and Catholic circles. I however, would like to take some moments to address what I believe the issue really is and reasonable expectations of implementing a course of action.

The Church's teaching against abortion is based on the dignity and sacredness of human life. God designated the process of procreation by which a man and woman unite in a sexual union to bring new life into the world. This very process and the new life created are sacred. Furthermore the Church's approach to life is holistic. Life from the womb to the grave should be respected and honored. The pro-life ethic is a hermeneutic by which Catholics should view all issues. There is a dignity to all human life whether unborn, impoverished, enslaved, imprisoned, sick, elderly, dying, homeless, foreign, etc. As Catholics we should be holistic in our approach to life and not pick and choose which life issues we happen to think are worth supporting.

Whatever is hostile to life itself, such as any kind of homicide, genocide, abortion, euthanasia and voluntary suicide; whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, physical and mental torture and attempts to coerce the spirit; whatever is offensive to human dignity such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution and trafficking of women and children; degrading conditions of work which treat laborers as instruments of profit, and not free responsible persons: All these and the like are a disgrace, and so long as they infect human civilization they contaminate those who inflict them more than those who suffer injustice, and they are a negation of the honor due the Creator. - Second Vatican Council Gaudium et Spes, 27

There are principals under which bishops can deny communion to politicians who support abortion with obstinate persistence. This obstinate persistence is demonstrated by consistently campaigning and voting for abortion laws or participating in an abortion. It turns out that killing an innocent child is incompatible with the Gospel message and receiving communion. Those who support abortion create scandal in the Church. Those who are in the public eye create public scandal in the Church. To actively promote an intrinsic evil, killing innocent human life, is to formally cooperate in an evil and exclude oneself from the Church community. Bishops should make sure that Catholic politicians and all Catholics are fully aware that they should not receive communion if they actively support abortion or any other social evil that violates the integrity of the human person. If a Catholic politician refuses to comply with this guideline, a public excommunication would just be a formal recognition of the scandal and separation that the pro-abortion candidate already accomplished in his actions. The Church has a responsibility to speak out publicly against the inequities of society and the false teachings of those who claim the identity of Catholic. The Church has a responsibility to deny communion to those who publicly deny the teachings of the Church. The Eucharist is a gift, not a right. It is a physical sign of the spiritual unity of all Catholics. If some people want to publicly dissent from the Church community, they have distanced themselves from the Church community via their actions. However, the bishops are not required to act strictly on this guideline and can opt for a more pastoral approach given the complex question of prudential judgment in each case. The pastor of the parish and bishop of the diocese should try to persuade a Catholic politician to bring an end to supporting abortion and the objective situation of sin. Nevertheless, threats to excommunicate pro-abortion catholic political leaders is consistent with the social justice ethic put forth by Christ and his Church.

My hope is that bishops will continue to address this issue in a manner that shows charity but does not compromise truth. Cardinal Egan’s rebuke of Giuliani seems to employ such an approach. Cardinal Egan warned Giuliani in the past about the Church’s position on supporting abortion and receiving communion, and the two seemed to have an agreement that Giuliani blatantly broke when he received communion during the Papal mass. Currently Cardinal Egan is requesting another meeting with Giuliani to clarify the position of the Church. The Cardinal’s actions show his concern for both Giuliani and Church. He has attempted to prevent the Church from undergoing further public scandal by reprimanding Giuliani for promoting abortion and receiving communion with an objectively unworthy disposition.

Whether this issue should receive as much media attention as it has is secondary to the fact that the media will continue to second-guess bishops and pro-abortion Catholic candidates and pivot one against the other. The media asking pro-abortion candidates before the papal mass if they were going to receive communion shows their desire for controversy. But the fact remains that there is a real public scandal involved. For bishops to remain completely silent is to send inconsistent messages about this grave moral issue in the public arena. I believe that most bishops have made the Church’s position on abortion clear and that the main responsibility rest on pro-abortion Catholic candidates to refrain from receiving communion. To receive communion after having heard the Church’s position for so many years is an act of defiance on part of the politician that seems to serve a selfish political agenda. My concern is what will bishops do with those pro-abortion Catholic politicians that act as rebellious and disobedient children.

You are not going to hear me calling for the excommunication of any pro-abortion candidates, I’ll leave that task to the bishops. But I do wish to hear from those bishops from the candidate’s local diocese in this matter so that I and other Catholics know that the candidates are being properly formed about their duty as a Catholic in the public sphere. The reality is that all Catholics need to know that if they are co-opting in an intrinsic evil, like the taking of innocent life, they need to reconcile their actions to God and repent before receiving communion. Otherwise people may get the idea that the Church’s teaching on the dignity of life doesn’t matter in the lives of practicing Catholics and that actively pursuing evil causes has no negative consequences on the community.