Scranton Bishop comes to Election Forum unexpectedly, says only his own letter matters in voting

[JPZenger]

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08102212.html

October 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) –

"An unexpected visit by the bishop of Scranton, PA to a parish forum on the upcoming elections, has resulted in a small firestorm of controversy, after the bishop forcefully repudiated the idea that Catholics can vote for pro-abortion politicians....Parishioners of St. John’s church in Scranton were discussing a statement that had been produced by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that some argue lends itself to the interpretation that Catholics can vote for pro-abortion candidates under certain circumstances. They were taken aback, however, when Bishop Joseph Martino arrived at the forum unannounced and told his flock, “No USCCB document is relevant in this diocese. The USCCB doesn’t speak for me.”...“The only relevant document ... is my letter,” he said. “There is one teacher in this diocese, and these points are not debatable.”

Bishop Martino was referring to a pastoral letter he issued earlier this month that rejected a trend in the US Catholic Church, sometimes bolstered by official USCCB statements, that claims that abortion and euthanasia are moral equivalents to other issues such as war and economic injustice. According to this theory a Catholic can in good conscience vote for politicians who are pro-abortion but hold acceptable views on other “peace and justice” issues. In his letter, Bishop Martino called legal abortion “injustice of the worst kind” and ...no person of conscience should support it.”

Bishop Martino specifically cited and strongly refuted the common argument that says while abortion is wrong, it is not “the only relevant ‘life’ issue that should be considered when deciding for whom to vote.” ... However, while health care, education, economic security, immigration, and taxes “are very important concerns,” he said, “the solutions to problems in these areas do not usually involve a rejection of the sanctity of human life in the way that abortion does.”

A statement from the diocese later confirmed the Bishop’s comments ....“Certain groups and individuals have used their own erroneous interpretations of Church documents, particularly the U.S. Bishops’ statement on Faithful Citizenship, to justify their political positions and to contradict the Church’s actual teaching on the centrality of abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research,” the statement said. In recent years, Catholics have received conflicting messages from their Church’s leadership over whether it is permissible to vote for a politician who, while supporting abortion, is supportive of efforts to help the poor, or of other “peace and justice” causes."

Read the full text of Bishop Martino’s letter:
http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=29838

[rurallib]

1. Well that should open up a few more seats on Sunday morning

[JPZenger]

14. Here's a news article on this

Here's excerpts from a Oct. 22, 2008 article in the Standard Speaker newspaper
www.standardspeaker.com (direct link is absurdly long)

"Tagle said the bishop criticized the resident pastor, Rev. Martin Boylan, for holding the forum and “seemed to justify his presence there by stating that he owned the building.”

He also described the bishop’s tone as “angry and admonishing” and said his words created a surprising level of emotion in the audience.

“When he left it was chaotic,” Tagle said. “He incited his supporters to wild applause and shouting. And some individuals were castigating others for supporting pro-choice candidates. It was pretty wild there for a while.”

The bishop left shortly after his remarks and many audience members — some put the number at two-thirds of the group, others say a quarter — left after him."

[GodlessBiker]

2. "Only my letter is relevant." What an egotistical blowhard.

[Critters2]

3. I do not understand the Catholic Church's obsession with abortion. nt

[gater]

6. Simply put, it's a guy thing.

My church has always had this thing for women being in control of stuff. Odd when you consider our views on the Virgin and her intercession on our behalf in the area of forgiveness. It's a control thing.

[JPZenger]

9. Phila. - Woman Tried to stop abusive Priest and was fired

About 2 years ago, the District Attorney for Phila. issued a detailed investigation about the coverups that occurred of Priests abusing children. The report said a woman who was head of religious education for the Diocese tried to get something done about the worst Priest. She was promptly fired.

If women had real power in the Catholic Church, the abuse coverups would not have happened. If the Priests had children of their own, there is no way they would have tolerated that situation. No father or mother would.

[JPZenger]

4. Earlier article on this same issue - abortion trumps all other issues

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/4/173740/514

[in modern times]

5. Our priest didn't didn't read...

Our priest said last Sunday, "I'm supposed to read this letter from the bishop to you about the current election." He opened it and looked it up and down for a moment then said, "I'm done."

[JPZenger]

7. He's brave - just don't reveal who he is

Many bishops had their churches read letters opposing abortion during that same Sunday. Most were not as obsessive-compulsive about ordering people into single issue voting as occurred in Scranton.

[Chloroplast]

8. He can go fuck himself.

[Beregond2]

10. I understand the thinking.

The moral foundation of the law is the protection of the innocent. And what is more innocent than an unborn life? BUT, the question is, what is the most effective way to reduce the incidence of abortion? We know from thousands of years of experience that making it illegal simply does not work. The best solution is to ameliorate the conditions that lead to abortion, which are poverty and ignorance. If the churches truly want to discourage abortion, they should be encouraging their members to vote for the candidates that represent the best chance of raising the poor out of poverty, and who advocate for education, most particularly sex education. And that means voting for the very candidates who refuse to overturn Roe v Wade.

Fortunately, most Catholics are smarter than their bishops, or at least more free to defy the Vatican, which remains caught-up in an arid legalism that resembles Pharisaism more than the compassion of Christ.

[SoxFan]

11. Is there some doctrine of episcopal infallibility that I missed?

What a bozo. I hope the USCCB gives him a good bitch-slap.

[GrizzlyMan]

12. This is why I have no use for organized religion.

I apologize for being so blunt, but it's all so silly and frankly, not constructive at all.

[TheDoorbellRang]

13. If he really wants to get all holier-than-thou, he should recommend NOT voting for Palin

In her biography, she and her family were originally Catholics. IIRC from my Baltimore catechism, fallen away Catholics are destined for the fiery pits of hell. :o