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.