Roman Catholic voters in the United States have traditionally backed the Democrats. The Roman Catholic vote has, until recently, been considered a key segment/demographic by the Democratic Party. No longer. As the Democratic party has moved to a position more consistent with its secularist ideology it has become more stridently anti-Christian and anti-God. The Obama administration has thought nothing of forcing Christians to be complicit in the funding of evil practices such as abortion and abortifacient contraceptives.
The Roman Catholic church is reacting as you would expect Christians everywhere to react.
(We realise of course that there are many rump secularists who continue to rationalise their Roman Catholicism membership with secular paganism. Vice President Joe Biden made a fool of himself and his fellow travellers during his debate with Paul Ryan at just this waypoint. Nancy Pelosi, leader of the Democratic minority in the House--and former Speaker of that chamber--is another embarrassment to Roman Catholic Christians.) But there are many in that church who will not be voting Democrat this year.
In Chicago a bishop has ordered priests to read an anti-Obama letter to all congregants this week.
Bishop orders priests to read anti-Obama letter at Sunday sermons
Manya A. Brachear | Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Joining the chorus of Roman Catholic clergy in Illinois criticizing President Barack Obama before next week's election, Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky ordered priests to read a letter to parishioners on Sunday before the presidential election, explaining that politicians who support abortion rights also reject Jesus.©2012 Chicago Tribune
"By virtue of your vow of obedience to me as your Bishop, I require that this letter be personally read by each celebrating priest at each Weekend Mass," Jenky wrote in a letter circulated to clergy in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.
In the letter, Jenky cautions parishioners that Obama and a majority of U.S. senators will not reconsider the mandate that would require employers, including religious groups, to provide free birth control coverage in their health care plans. "This assault upon our religious freedom is simply without precedent in the American political and legal system," Jenky wrote.
"Today, Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord," Jenky added. "They are objectively guilty of grave sin."
Earlier this year, Jenky delivered a controversial homily criticizing the contraception mandate. The bishop included Obama's policies in a list of historic challenges the Catholic Church has overcome in previous centuries, including Hitler and Stalin's campaigns.
Jenky is the third Illinois Catholic leader to offer pointed guidance for Catholic voters in recent weeks. Last month, Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki offered a commentary on the Democratic and Republican parties' platforms that he said wasn't intended as instruction, but guidance.
"There are many positive and beneficial planks in the Democratic Party Platform, but I am pointing out those that explicitly endorse intrinsic evils," Paprocki explained in the Springfield Diocese newspaper. "Again, I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against," he said. "But I am saying that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy."
Furthermore, in the Rockford Diocese, Vicar General Eric Barr compared Obama's support of religious freedom in Muslim countries to his lack of support for Catholic liberty. "Meanwhile, Obamacare marches on, steamrolling Catholic morality and the First Amendment under its weight. How can that be tolerated by citizens?" Barr wrote.
"Nothing justifies this peculiar and unreal stance of the president," he said. Spokeswoman Colleen Dolan said she doesn't expect Chicago's Cardinal Francis George to issue any statements before the election.
1 comment:
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of Catholics will actually take notice as they will be the ones that go to Mass at least weekly, which is the minimum in order to not put one's soul in jeopardy. Those that won't hear the message already have their souls in jeopardy, and so voting for Obama won't make that much of a difference (except for the compounding of mortal sin).
You may find this interesting: The Catholic Swing Vote. The swing voters are the white Catholic moderates, those that are unlikely to be weekly Mass goers.
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