THE CATHOLIC CANDIDATE FROM MASSACHUSETTS

By Fr. Wilson ( articles ) | Apr 20, 2004

The ironic comment from Amy Welborn She's referring, of course, to the other day's confab between John Kerry and Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, in light of the news that Senator Kerry, this year's Catholic presidential candidate, has just unleashed ads ATTACKING President Bush's pro-life stand, and pledging himself to guard the sacred "Freedom of Choice."

Apparently, even the bishops are increasingly feeling embarrassed over this situation -- and we all know how bad a Situation has to get before they feel moved to begin to consider that they might have to start thinking about begining to do something about it. Presently, there's a Committee of Bishops working on this. Shortly -- five or six years from now - I expect to see, on the USCCB website, a link to a site where I can order copies of "Always Our Candidates," a document/group study guide package on Pro-Choice Catholic politicians addressed to Faithful Catholics, exhorting them to adopt an understanding posture, affirming that these pro-choice Catholic pols do indeed belong to us, that nothing we've done has caused them to be pro-choice, and that the Catholic Tradition provides oodles of wisdom to help us through our disappointment... page after page of the anesthetizing prose of the consecrated bureaucracy.

Maybe it was the anchovies in last night's pizza, but I had a dream. An angel directed me to the website of the Diocese of Ostergothenburg, MN, where a link was provided to a pastoral letter of the Ordinary, Bishop Klaus Blitzkrieg, titled, 'PERSONALLY OPPOSED, BUT: A Monstrous Position.' Here's what the Bishop had to say:

"We've all heard people say it; 'Well, I am personally opposed to abortion, but I don't feel I have the right to impose my personal morality on others.' It's become a soothing mantra, resorted to automatically, with barely a thought, by political leaders and grass-roots Faithful.

"Well, my brothers and sisters, we had better start thinking about this mantra, and thinking seriously, because 'I am personally opposed to abortion, but...' is more than just a soothing mantra. It is the position of a moral monster.

"Is it actually meant to be a serious position? Why would you be opposed to abortion, if not because it is the killing of an innocent human life? So, you're opposed to the killing of an innocent human life, but you're not willing to impose your belief about the murder of innocents on others?

"What other monstrous evils are you 'personally opposed to,' but would stand by in cowardice while they were committed by others? Infanticide? Euthanasia? Genocide? If you are 'personally opposed to' Racism, would you refrain from imposing that belief on others?

"That soothing mantra of 'Personally opposed, but' is indeed the motto of a moral monster. It's a cheap, facile excuse, absolving us not just from responsibility regarding abortion, but from the expectation that we will live any of the beliefs we profess.

"My brothers and sisters, I implore you, let us remember the words of our Lord Jesus: 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me (Mt 25:40)."

"Who, with a, honest, compassionate heart, can deny that the weakest, the littlest, the least among us are the unborn children?

"Every abortion is a failure to love, and it is the Lord Jesus, Himself, Who is the Victim of every abortion. I implore you, as your Bishop, to heed the voice of Christ, speaking through His Church. You're in grave peril if you are a public official, and have used your office to support and even extend the availability of the opportunity to kill innocent, unborn children. You're in grave peril if, although you don't hold public office and are just an ordinary citizen, you've been a stumbling block -- a scandal -- to others by, at work, in the neighborhood, over drinks, at a barbeque, making comments distancing yourself from the teaching of the Church on reverence for the sanctity of life.

"If you find yourself in this position, then, as your Bishop, mindful of my responsibility before Christ to call you to the Truth, I beg you: do Not present yourself for Holy Communion. Do not come forward, stretching out your hands for the Eucharist, the Bread of Life: for your hands are bloodied with the Blood of Jesus, the innocent Victim. Go instead; seek out an understanding Priest, and make a good confession. Receive absolution; enter into the joy of your Lord."

Perhaps Bishop Blitzkrieg is also a fan of anchovies.