Not so fast: just what did Archbishop Burke say?

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 06, 2004

It's true; Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis has conceded that under some circumstances a Catholic could vote for a pro-abortion candidate without being guilty of grave sin.

But what are those circumstances? The archbishop said:

...a Catholic who personally opposes abortion rights, votes for a candidate who supports abortion rights "for what are called proportionate reasons," he said....

"The sticking point is this - and this is the hard part," said Burke. "What is a proportionate reason to justify favoring the taking of an innocent, defenseless human life? And I just leave that to you as a question. That's the question that has to be answered in your conscience. What is the proportionate reason?"

So there it is: If you can find another political issue that outweighs the deliberate murder of innocent children, you can justify voting for a pro-abortion candidate.

And if you can find a political cause that justifies accepting the willful slaughter of children, you have something in common with the butchers of Beslan.

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

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