Long Island Catholic Bishop: Abortion the “Number One Issue” — San Jose Bishop Disagrees

By Dustin Siggins Published on November 1, 2016

The Catholic Bishop of Rockville Centre in New York City says that Catholics must consider abortion as “more fundamental and crucial than any other” issue in the 2016 presidential election.

“Many issues are very important in our society today,” wrote Bishop William Murphy on October 24, mentioning several in his letter. “But none of them can eclipse the centrality of human life, especially innocent human life in the womb or at the end of life.” He criticized the public funding of abortion as well as the federal government’s “insistence” that Catholics violate their consciences to advance abortion.

The bishop seemed to direct criticism at pro-abortion Democratic Vice President candidate Tim Kaine, without naming him. The Virginia Senator says he personally opposes abortion, yet believes it should be legal. A candidate’s support for abortion, Murphy wrote, “even if they use the fallacious and deeply offensive ‘personally opposed but . . .’ line, is reason sufficient unto itself to disqualify any and every such candidate from receiving our vote.”

Murphy also encouraged both prayer “to the Blessed Mother,” and for Catholics to avoid voting for those who fail to “protect and serve” the “inherent rights” of people. He closed by asking Catholics to consider the direction of the nation, which candidates on all levels will “restore justice” and which candidates they believe will “lead us in a direction that is more pro life, more pro family and more pro truth?”

A Stark Contrast

The letter stands in contrast to a similar missive issued on September 9 by the Catholic bishop of San Jose, California. Bishop Patrick McGrath equated abortion with other issues of public policy, writing that many issues must be considered, including “abortion, poverty, capital punishment, care for the environment, assisted suicide, and immigration.”

The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is an intrinsic evil. Conversely, Catholics are permitted significant disagreement on implementation of policies related to “poverty, capital punishment, care for the environment…and immigration.”

Last week, McGrath issued a new statement about the importance of “the orderly transfer of power” and how “This year’s contentious and unsettling presidential race threatens our ability to come together as one people.”

McGrath’s new statement is implicitly critical of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has accused Democrats of rigging the presidential election. While McGrath does not mention Trump by name, his statement condemns “claims by some of our fellow citizens that they will not accept the final outcome of the election borders on the seditious, portending a future that would be neither civil, nor true to our common roots as Americans.”

Both Trump and Clinton have been condemned by Catholic lay and ordained leaders. In September, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput — one of the most influential orthodox voices in the American Catholic Church — said that both candidates are “deeply flawed.”

Clinton wants to force taxpayers to fund more abortions, and has said that religious views against abortion must be changed. She’s also been slammed for picking Kaine as her running mate, and for insults against the Church by senior campaign officials. The latter offense caused New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan to demand an apology from Clinton.

Trump has been criticized for his endorsement of torture and the killing of civilians in war, both forbidden by Catholic teaching. He’s also been criticized for hardline stance on immigration, as well as his reactionary personality, numerous marriages, numerous affairs and graphic comments about women. Many Catholics also doubt his commitment to protect unborn life, though Trump has claimed a late-in-life conversion on the issue.

Describing the two, Chaput said, “One candidate, in the view of a lot of people, is a belligerent demagogue with an impulse-control problem. And the other, also in the view of a lot of people, is a criminal liar, uniquely rich in stale ideas and bad priorities,”

Catholic Limits and Guidelines

The Catholic Church offers a developed system of social teaching, but it doesn’t give any direct instructions for voting. In deciding for whom to vote in an election as contested as this one, a document frequently cited by Catholics who back Trump over Clinton is a 2004 memorandum issued by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict. That year, pro-abortion Senator John Kerry (D-MA) was the Democratic nominee for the White House, running against the pro-life incumbent George W. Bush.

The memorandum took up the issue of presenting oneself for communion, particularly by those who advocate abortion. Ratzinger, who headed of the Catholic Church’s doctrinal agency, wrote that “There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.” Those are both “grave sins” Catholics can never support in any way, wrote Ratzinger.

However, that teaching does not settle the question by itself. Using the technical language of Catholic moral teaching, Ratzinger noted that “A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia.”

However, he continued, when a Catholic votes for a pro-abortion or pro-euthanasia candidate “for other reasons,” his vote is considered “remote material cooperation.” That means that he is helping the candidate advance abortion or euthanasia, but only indirectly. This, Ratzinger said, “can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”

What those “proportionate reasons” are continues to divide Catholics. One common example is choosing between two pro-abortion candidates who in other ways stand with the Church on important matters.

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