OK, I admit, that title almost reads like some lame joke lead in ( a priest and abortionist and a democrat walked into a bar and…..).

But believe it or not, it is news. Now, as a disclaimer, I am not promoting a stand on abortion here, this is merely about Democrats who are Catholic.

It started with this story a few days ago, where Nancy Pelosi apparently decided to speak authoritatively on Catholic doctrine:¹

I’m always astounded as to the extent of deception in which pro-choice Catholics indulge themselves, both inwardly and outwardly, to justify their positions. Perhaps there is no balder example of this than Nancy Pelosi attempting to spin the Catholic doctrine on human life today on Meet the Press. Pelosi argues that the Catholic position on human life only developed in the last 50 years and that it doesn’t impact abortion in any case:

REP. PELOSI: I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And Senator-St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child-first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester.

 

There’s very clear distinctions. This isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, carefulconsideration of all factors and-to-that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who’ve decided…

MR. BROKAW: The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it…

REP. PELOSI: I understand that.

MR. BROKAW: …begins at the point of conception.

REP. PELOSI: I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy. But it is, it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And we want abortions to be safe, rare, and reduce the number of abortions. That’s why we have this fight in Congress over contraception. My Republican colleagues do not support contraception. If you want to reduce the number of abortions, and we all do, we must-it would behoove you to support family planning and, and contraception, you would think. But that is not the case. So we have to take-you know, we have to handle this as respectfully-this is sacred ground. We have to handle it very respectfully and not politicize it, as it has been-and I’m not saying Rick Warren did, because I don’t think he did, but others will try to.

The notion that the Catholic Church declared abortion a sin at the same time as the Pill is patently absurd, and shows that Pelosi has either lied about studying the issue in terms of Church history or lied about what she found. Church writings specifically naming abortion as murder appear as early as 70 AD in the Didache, the first written catechism of the Christian church:

I will point out one additional distortion which is that Republicans oppose contraception. Perhaps some do, but simply because some Republicans do not like handing out condoms in schools does make them anti contraception.

But I digress. This is about Catholic Democrats.

As the Hot Air noted, this is patently absurd of her to say. The Catholic Church has no shyness about abortion, and it has maintained a fairly consistent belief on the practice throughout its history.

In 2004 this became an issue when presidential hopeful John Kerry was advised not to take communion for his pro abortion beliefs.

Well, today, someone decided to set matters straight with Pelosi:²

Washington archbishop rips Pelosi on abortion

In a rare public rebuke of a top politician, the archbishop of Washington said Monday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was incorrect when she recently said the moment of conception has long been a matter of controversy within the Catholic Church.

In a release issued Monday night, Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said Pelosi’s comments on “Meet the Press” on Sunday “were incorrect.”

..

He said, “We respect the right of elected officials such as Speaker Pelosi to address matters of public policy that are before them, but the interpretation of Catholic faith has rightfully been entrusted to the Catholic bishops. Given this responsibility to teach, it is important to make this correction for the record.”

..

A Pelosi spokesman did not immediately comment for this article.

The Speaker recently said she, unlike other Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, has not clashed with her church about receiving communion.

She may want to rethink that.

Wuerl was not alone:

Three cheers for Charles Chaput, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Denver, for this magnificent teaching document setting the Speaker of the House — a self-described “ardent practicing Catholic” — straight about what her Church actually teaches and expects its communicants to believe on abortion. Rarely do religious leaders of any church speak so clearly and forcefully about faith and morality in public life. Here’s a characteristic passage:

Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they’re famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.

Ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil. In the absence of modern medical knowledge, some of the Early Fathers held that abortion was homicide; others that it was tantamount to homicide; and various scholars theorized about when and how the unborn child might be animated or “ensouled.” But none diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong.

Of course, we now know with biological certainty exactly when human life begins. Thus, today’s religious alibis for abortion and a so-called “right to choose” are nothing more than that - alibis that break radically with historic Christian and Catholic belief.

Magnificent.

It is actually.  Chabut also ripped Biden a new rear end, and again we have another prominent Catholic being warned against communion³.

You see, the Catholics have a well justified reputation of being hard nosed, strict and rigid when it comes to their doctrine, and this is a case where that comes to into play.

Put simply, if you are a Catholic, and you are pro-abortion, you are going to have to reconcile yourself to the fact that abortion is not well liked in your church.

if you are a democrat and you are unhappy on the several doctrinal disconnects, like gay marriage, contraception, immorality, and even the refusal of the Church to allow women priests, the Church has no intention of changing its dogma to make you more comfortable.

So you have a choice of joining a less rigid and more open minded progressive faith community, or consistently live out of harmony with your faith’s beliefs.

It doesn’t matter whether I believe that abortion is right or wrong, if I am a catholic, I have to accept that the Church believes it is wrong, and I can share that belief or not. 

To a regular person, this is not as harsh.  People like Biden, Pelosi and Kerry are singled out because they are lawmakers who influence law and public policy.  They do have to live to a slightly higher standard.

Hot Air sums it up nicely:

“Membership in the Catholic Church is voluntary. If people do not want to follow its doctrines, they should find another faith community that reflects their values - and at the least, they should learn what the Church teaches on abortion and life before mischaracterizing it on national television. Pelosi is either a fool or a liar, or perhaps both.

Here, for reference, is the video of Pelosi:

Trackposted to Perri Nelson’s Website, The Virtuous Republic, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Mark My Words, Rosemary’s Thoughts, A Blog For All, Right Truth, DragonLady’s World, Shadowscope, , The Amboy Times, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Nuke’s, Pet’s Garden Blog, Allie is Wired, Political Byline, third world county, McCain Blogs, Woman Honor Thyself, , DragonLady’s World, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, , The Pink Flamingo, , CORSARI D’ITALIA, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

1. http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/24/pelosi-lies-about-catholicism-and-abortion/ [back]
2. http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/archbishop-pelosis-comments-on-abortion-are-false-2008-08-25.html [back]
3. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/26/archbishop-condemns-bidens-pro-choice-stance/ [back]

Trackback URI | Comments RSS