Vatican officials seldom single out political leaders who differ with the Church on issues like abortion rights or embryonic stem cell research. But now that the Vatican’s highest court is led by an American, the former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, we can expect things to get more explicit in Vatican City — at least when when it comes to U.S. politics.
Burke, who was named prefect of the Vatican’s Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature in June, told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire that the U.S. Democratic Party risked “transforming itself definitively into a party of death for its decisions on bioethical issues.” He then attacked two of the party’s most high profile Catholics — vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion.
He said Biden and Pelosi, “while presenting themselves as good Catholics, have presented Church doctrine on abortion in a false and tendentious way.”
Pelosi drew U.S. bishops’ scorn for saying in a television interview last month that the Church itself had long debated when human life begins. Biden is a practicing Catholic who also supports abortion rights and analysts have said he could help woo wavering Catholics into Obama’s fold. Both argue that they cannot impose their religious views on others.
Burke said pro-life Democrats were “rare” and that it saddened him that the party that helped “our immigrant parents and grandparents” prosper in America had changed so much over the years.
Burke made headlines as archbishop of St. Louis for his public attacks on public figures who strayed from Catholic teaching. He suggested during the 2004 presidential campaign that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic, should be denied communion because of his views on abortion. Several bishops said at the time they would not give him communion and the media staked out churches where he attended Mass to see if he received it.
“Lately, I’ve noticed that other bishops are coming to this position,” Burke told Avvenire, which is owned by the Italian bishops’ conference.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, wrote a letter in 2004 to American bishops restating the Church position that a priest must refuse to distribute communion to a Catholic politician who supported abortion rights. But Burke lamented that the letter was never distributed.
Burke’s criticism isn’t limited to Democrats. Last year, he accused singer Sheryl Crow of being “a high profile proponent of the destruction of innocent lives” for defending a woman’s right to have an abortion and for being a proponent of stem cell research. He resigned as head of a children’s medical charity that featured the singer for a benefit concert.
Pope Benedict has been encouraging Catholic bishops to speak out more openly on public policy issues to make the Church’s voice heard. Any bets on when we’ll hear from Burke next?
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Iran’s “right” to uranium enrichment? Are you serious? Why would an oil PRODUCER require nuclear energy? You think they are just looking for alternative energy to appease the environmentalists? I don’t hear about Israel threatening to blow Iran off the map, but I do hear a lot of ‘fightings words’ from Iran.
http://www.offeringcommonsense.blogspot. com
- Posted by JDTo see why “Liberals Like Christ” clergy like myself understand and support the need to respect the right of women to govern their own reproductive lives without dictates by hypocritical and/or pedophile, supposedly “celibate” clergy MEN, see http://JesusWouldBeFurious.Org/Christian Choice .
- Posted by Rev. Ray DubuqueNate said: If you aren’t ready for a kid, and cant afford to have a kid, don’t have sex. Simple. Short. Consise. The choice to have sex, comes with the possible outcome of having a kid. Biology, learn it and live it.
- Posted by NancyMorons…..
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People seem to believe they have a right to do whatever they want to do, including having sex however & whenever they want it, without having to be confronted by any of the consequences. Life doesn’t work that way.
This article is not about war. How can you pro-choice people compare abortion to war? A helpless unborn child has no voice on whether it can be allowed to live or be killed. But a soldier who is well aware of his actions and able to determine right from wrong and can very well put down his gun and walk away, CHOOSES to engage in the killing of other people. There is a BIG difference here. Why can’t you people see that??
- Posted by VMM[...] Vatican official attacks US Democrats as “party of death” [...]
- Posted by Paris - History | Worlds Biggest CitiesVote NO for Obama.
- Posted by nobamaIt seems to me that Pascal’s wager apply’s very well concerning the issue of abortion. Whether a zygote, an embryo, or a fetus is a living human being is not the issue. It is an accepted medical fact that life begins at conception, this is indisputable. At conception growth begins, metabolism begins, these are recognized signs of life and any biologist studying the DNA will clearly identify it as human, hence, it is Human Life. The question is when does this human life become a person, for it is the ‘person’ that has an unalienable right to LIFE, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Here’s where Pascal’s wager comes in. There are four possibilities -
1)It is a person and you defend it as such.
2)It is a person and you deny that fact.
3)It is not a person and you defend it as though it were.
4)It is not a person and you agree with that fact.
Scenarios 1 and 3 describe the Pro-Life advocates. The best that can be said of them is that they recognize the unborn for what they are and have chosen to defend them as best they can. The worst that can be said of them is they are defending something that is not a person, however, given the natural course of events, eventually will become a person.
- Posted by SharkmanScenearios 2 and 4 describe the Pro-Choice side. The best that can be said of them is that they recognize the unborn for what they are not and have chosen to defend a woman’s choice to have sex without consequences, no harm, no foul. However, the worst that can be said of them is that they are defending murder of the most helpless and innocent of our society.
It seems to me the only ethical choice is to err on the side of life. If I’m wrong, then I’ve spent my life trying to raise society to a higher level of morality; to bring a little bit of dignity back to the act of human sexuality, rather than just using another person to get my rocks off. But, if you’re wrong…than God help you, you are defending one of the most horrific and heinous behaviors ever know to man.
Oh, by the way, just an interesting statistic, there have been over fifty million abortions in the United States alone since Roe vs. Wade was decided 35 years ago. Fifty million…if that’s not a holocaust or genocide I don’t know what is.
To the Vatican’s highest court,led by an American, the former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke:
When will your court decide that the Vatican should not harbor it’s own pedophiles? How laughable for you to think you have any moral superiority over anyone.
- Posted by JaneysbabyI am a St Louis, practicing Catholic. I am father who has been and is raising 4 children in the faith while supporting my parish and our school. Many of our immigrant fore fathers and mothers fled miserable conditions in countries and cultures where the heirarchy of Catholic church was in bed with the wealthy and abusive leadership. In the US they are in the pocket of the Republican party. Good riddance to Raymond Burke, I hope he votes in Italy…
- Posted by Art MartinABORTION IS THE MURDER OF GODS CREATION PERIOD.
- Posted by Mitzi Fortier[...] Vatican official attacks U.S. Democrats as “party of death” - Reuters BlogsVatican officials seldom single out political leaders who differ with the Church on issues like abortion rights or embryonic stem cell research. But now that the Vatican’s highest court is led by an American, the former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond … [...]
- Posted by Religions » Multi-lingual debate: US Elections - bbcIt is true in a sense that the Democrats (particularly Sen. Obama) have shown themselves to be a “party of death.” Speaker Pelosi tried to manipulate what the Church teaches about when life begins showing confusion. Sen. Biden claims to be Catholic and yet, in order to rise in the political sector, will stray from his faith to support abortion in order to obtain votes. Sen. Obama has voted against medical care for children who have survived an abortion. I thought he was FOR universal health care? Now that these children are “living” human beings (now that they are outside the womb), why will he not support their entitlement to health care?
When we start to qualify what life deserves protection with the defenseless unborn children, who else will lose their right? The elderly who become more of a burden in intensive nursing facilities - especially once their medicare or other health insurance runs away from their obligations (as we did by bailing out the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac quagmire)? Our bishops and pastors were given the authority by Jesus to treat those who disregard Church teachings as tax collectors and sinners (Matt 18: 15-22). Of course, that is after a period of attempts to bring our brother/sister back through charitable fraternal correction. Our bishops have tried that. I think we are near that last step. When parents do not follow through on their promises (and threats of punishment) with their children, their children soon learn that their words mean little.
- Posted by Rev. John ZimmermanIt’s such a joke for the Vatican to prosecute Liberal Democrats for being “pro-choice”, at the very moment that it is promoting the canonization of “Hitler’s Pope”, Pius XII, who NEVER used any of the powerful weapons he had in his quiver against ANY of the many, many Roman Catholic ultra-conservative “pro-life” ( i.e. anti-abortion) leaders of the Nazi regime:
- Posted by Rev. Ray DubuqueWhat did Pope Pius XII do about any of these Roman Catholic architects of the Jewish holocaust: Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Josef Goebbels, Reinhard Heydrich, Rudolf Hoess, Julius Streicher, Fritz Thyssen, Klaus Barbie, and Franz Von Papen or
R. C. Engelbert Dollfuss who was head of the Nazi state of Austria.
R. C. Leon Degrelle who was head of the Nazi state of Belgium.
R. C. Emil Hacha who was head of the Nazi state of Bohemia-Moravia.
R. C. Ante Pavelic who was head of the Nazi state of Croatia.
R. C. Adolf Hitler who was head of the Nazi state of Germany.
R. C. Miklos Horthy who was head of the Nazi state of Hungary.
R. C. Konrad Henlein who was head of the Nazi state of Sudetenland.
R. C. Pierre Laval who was head of the Nazi state of Vichy-France.
R. C. Henry Petain who was head of the Nazi state of Vichy-France.
R. C. priest, Fr. Augustin Voloshin who was head of the Nazi state of Ruthenia.
R. C. priest, Fr. Josef Tiso who was head of the Nazi state of Slovakia.
R. C. priest, Fr. Andrei Hlinka who was head of the Nazi state of Slovakia.
R. C. priest, Fr. Anton Koroshec who was head of the Nazi state of Yugoslavia.
Did Pope Pius XII excommunicate any of these the most visible Catholics in their countries at the time? NO. How can anyone say that this pope did “all that he could”, when he failed to take this obvious measure so as to make it clear to the millions of Catholic faithful who were enabling the Nazis to carry out their campaigns of mass murder, not only against Jews, but against their fellow Catholics in Poland, that they should have no part in these monstrous of crimes and most mortal of sins?
On the other hand, after the Nazis were defeated and no longer posed any threat to the pope, the Vatican, or the Catholic Church anywhere, did Pope Pius XII allow the Vatican to be used to protect thousands of Catholic war criminals such as the above to escape punishment for their war crimes? YES. Whose side was the pope on?
All life begins at conception and will continue to grow if nutured. We need more Catholics speaking the truth, instead of the Pelosi’s and Biden’s, either misrepresenting the truth, or taking the easy way out and saying “I will not impose my views on others”. That is what all politicians do, so when it comes to abortion it’s different???
- Posted by anneWhy upon reading these comments do I see so much on what to do with “unwanted children”? What child is unwanted? That is a disgusting thing to say. Anyone ever hear of ADOPTION? Abortion is so selfish, and thinking you can’t afford a child is just ridiculous. So many couples would be happy to raise a child. The pro-choice movement never sees adoption as a choice. And even here, the pro-lifers forget about it.
Think carefully before you vote. Abortion is evil, and it is the evil that leads to so many others. The pain and suffering it leaves behind is devastating.
JS, saying that when life begins is a matter of opinion is like saying that a flat earth is a matter of opinion.
As I said before, I’m an agnostic with no opinion on God or gods, but I do know that the life of a fish begins when a cell from its father combines with a cell from its mother to produce a new, individual fish. If you don’t kill the developing fish, it will swim off one day.
The lives of a person, a dog, a lemur, a mouse, or a sparrow begin at conception. That’s the simplest scientific fact.
If you’re not sure it’s a person because it doesn’t look like one, watch it for a while. If it grows into a child, you can be sure it wasn’t some invasive parasite or a tumor.
- Posted by Mike NowlandI find it unbelievable that I am reading comments about Iran being so victimized. It is proof to me that Liberals have been so badly brainwashed that DIRECT threats right from the mouth of Ahmadineshad are ignored. Iran is amongst the most energy rich regions on the planet and when they claim that their nuclear program is “energy” based it is accepted as truth. I KNOW that the Democrats have no intentions of reacting to the threat posed by Iran. I strongly believe that the Democrats are the party of death. OUR death.
Tax & Spend, Cut & Run, Duck & Cover.
- Posted by GregI am saddened by so many comments here that devalue innocent life to promote their personal agendas - they follow the theme outlined in the article - a type of “ends justify the means”. Democrats (and some Republicans, I’m sure) should be ashamed they have lost hold of the truth and have become happy maintaining their moral “low” ground. Thank God for the priests and other leaders not fearing to stand up and speak calling evil evil. There is a better way.
- Posted by JimI am sad that people will allow themselves to blame the faith itself for the sins or mistakes humans have comitted. Whether it be someone in the church or not we are all human. As for woman having the right to their reproductions. Give me a break. What give us the right to play God and decide who gets to live or die. You seems to be forgetting another human being involved here who does’t get to decide if they get to live or die. I pray that people will realize this.
- Posted by Mitzi FortierGlad someone is finally speaking the ABSOLUTE TRUTH about this issue… Not only is the liberal agenda (and especially Obama) all for infanticide in EVERY form, including AFTER a child has been fully born (See BornAliveTruth.org), but it should also be noted that Obama’s government-run “healthcare” plan will take medical care and treatments away from the elderly and high-risk patients and give them instead to illegals, pregnant teens for abortions, and all the welfare-class individuals who refuse to work and choose to eat at McDonald’s every day… This will serve to institute the large-scale practice of EUTHANASIA in America, which will be passed off as being necessary and as “having mercy” on the “suffering” of society (i.e., those they deem as useless, including the elderly, disabled and special needs individuals). The left-wing academia has been advocating this kind of euthanasia doctrine for many, many years now… Remember Terri Schiavo? That will become an everyday thing when Obama’s socialized medicine programs are implemented!
- Posted by Marla in KYEveryone is overlooking the fact that the Catholic Church did nothing about the forced abortions taking place in the Marianas Islands (Saipan), a U.S. territory, for the past 15 years. Various Catholic officials and groups were informed and asked to intercede on behalf of 11,000 women (not a child among them). However, they allowed the practice to continue and never interceded with any of the “pro-life” Republican politicians who prevented U.S. labor law from being applied to the Marianas Islands. Human Rights Watch has condemned Catholic Church labor policies in the U.S. The issue was finally resolved after the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006 and certain “pro-life” Republicans were defeated.
If the Democrats are the Party of Death then Archbishop Burke represents the Church of Forced Abortion . There are many other similar titles which could be applied but I will forgo the opportunity to list them.
- Posted by Art Yeske