I HOPE YOU DIDN'T

By Tim Rohr

Anonymous at November 4, 2024 at 5:25 PM apparently took issue with my post IF HE WON'T SAY IT, I WILL, wherein I call out Archbishop Jimenez for not being straight up about who not to vote for when I said:

All he has to do is say: 

DON'T VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM SUPPORT OR ADVOCATE FOR ABORTION AND ESPECIALLY THOSE CANDIDATES WHO HAVE INTRODUCED ABORTION LEGISLATION.

So Anonymous left this comment:

Tim, take note of the first five sentences in the letter:

"The Church equips its members to address political and social questions by helping them to develop a well-formed conscience. Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching of the Church. Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere "feeling" about what we should or should not do. Rather, conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil. Conscience always requires serious attempts to make sound moral judgments based on the truths of our faith.”

To which I replied:

Yes, a quote right out of the Faithful Citizenship document which Cardinal Burke blamed for handing Obama the election in 2008 and again in 2012. It’s another one of those “sounds good” but no cigar. A simple “you must vote against candidates who support abortion in anyway” is what is needed.

Plus it says “The Church equips its members…” Really? I don’t recall a single attempt from the pulpit to “equip its members.” Instead we get this single letter that few will even know about a couple days before the election.

Here is the link to what Burke thought of this very harmful document.

https://1timothy315.blogspot.com/2011/09/the-usccb-vs-ppaca.html

Archbishop Raymond Burke, the prefect for the Apostolic Signatura, blamed the document “for the abandonment of pro-life teachings by voting Catholics.” He said the document “led to confusion” among the faithful and led ultimately to massive support among Catholics for “the most pro-abortion president in U.S. History.” The problem, the Archbishop pointed out, was that the document did not make the ”necessary distinctions” between abortion and other life issues such as war, capital punishment, and poverty.  

"Faithful Citizenship" was first released in 2003 and is "brushed up" by the bishops upon each presidential election year. The current edition has made some progress over the edition Cardinal Burke criticized, but the problem remains. Despite referring several times to abortion and euthanasia as "pre-eminent" issues, those references are always immediately followed by a list of other issues which diminish the meaning of "pre-eminent."

(Actually, I would argue that euthanasia, as unjust as it is, should not be equated with abortion. There is the chance that the person to be euthanized at least might have a say in the matter or the ability to scream in protest, but not so the unborn child - at least not a scream than can be heard as it is chopped to pieces.)

Here is an example:

27. Two temptations in public life can distort the Church's defense of human life and dignity:

28. The first is a moral equivalence that makes no ethical distinctions between different kinds of issues involving human life and dignity. The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed.

(So you see, they do a good job of telling us that the destruction of innocent human life is "not just one issue among many," but now they will follow it with a list of other issues that leads to the likes of a Nancy Pelosi who believes she is pro-life because she opposes the death penalty (except for the unborn, of course):

29. The second is the misuse of these necessary moral distinctions as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity. The current and projected extent of environmental degradation has become a moral crisis especially because it poses a risk to humanity in the future and threatens the lives of poor and vulnerable human persons here and now. 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, pornography, redefining civil marriage, compromising religious liberty, or an unjust immigration policy are all serious moral issues that challenge our consciences and require us to act. These are not optional concerns which can be dismissed. Catholics are urged to seriously consider Church teaching on these issues. Although choices about how best to respond to these and other compelling threats to human life and dignity are matters for principled debate and decision, this does not make them optional concerns or permit Catholics to dismiss or ignore Church teaching on these important issues. Clearly not every Catholic can be actively involved on each of these concerns, but we need to support one another as our community of faith defends human life and dignity wherever it is threatened. We are not factions, but one family of faith fulfilling the mission of Jesus Christ.

By the time you get through that second paragraph (29) the average Catholic (if the average Catholic will even read this) is thinking "I'm going to vote for the candidate who is for clean water and against war," and abortion is not even on the moral radar.

Moreover, there is a real problem with statement such as this:

It must be noted also that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals. (30)

We generally don't vote for political programs or individual laws during elections. This only happens when there is a referendum, and those are rare. We vote for persons who either support or oppose those political programs or individual laws. 

So what needs to be said is this:

It must be noted also that a Christian with a well-formed Christian conscience does not vote for candidates who support a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals. 

And if abortion really is the "pre-eminent" issue, then those bishops and ours only need to say one thing:

DON'T VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM SUPPORT OR ADVOCATE FOR ABORTION AND ESPECIALLY THOSE CANDIDATES WHO HAVE INTRODUCED ABORTION LEGISLATION.

I hope you didn't.