A few thoughts on the election

By Domenico Bettinelli, Jr. ( articles - email ) | Nov 03, 2004

First, I am gratified to see that marriage referenda passed by large margins in all 11 states (including Oregon!) where they were on the ballot, but I'm disappointed to see that California has pledged to spend $3 billion to kill unborn children to harvest their stem cells for medical researc for sick celebrities (and others, too, I guess.)

I also think that the eventual result of the Catholic vote was significant. The final polls show that Catholics voted for Bush along the same lines as the rest of the country, 50 percent to 48. That is significant because Kerry was often touted as the first Catholic presidential candidate since John Kennedy. However, where Kennedy won 80 percent of the Catholic vote, Kerry was unable to convince enough Catholics that his Catholicism was sincere or important enough to him to get them to switch their votes.

One thing we learned was that there a lot of education will be needed for Catholics on their civic responsibilities. The divisions among bishops on the duties of Catholics with regard to how they vote regarding nonnegotiable issues have highlighted a major fault line in the Church in America. We're going to need some serious introspection before the next national elections.

So how long before Cardinal McCarrick’s commission finally issues its document on pro-abortion Catholic politicians? I’m holding my breath.