From the OldSpook I told you so files - I *knew* the Church was going to have to sooner or later condemn Kerry for his 2faced position on embryonic stem-cell research, gay marriage, and most of all, Abortion.
The New York Times reported today that Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, the highest-ranking Roman Catholic prelate in the swing state of Colorado, is applying pressure on faithful Catholics to draw the line on three key moral issues, abortion, same-sex marriage, and stem cell research,—three issues that favor the re-election of President George W. Bush, but don't fare well for Senator John Kerry.
The archbishop explained to a group of Catholic college students gathered in a sports bar here in Colorado, that abortion is "a foundational issue" of the Church. Senator Kerry, he reminded them, despite his front and center Catholicism, has been a consistent proponent of abortion, and so what about his potential influence upon the Supreme Court? "Supreme Court cases can be overturned, right?" he asked. And so why not Roe v. Wade? But it won't happen with Kerry. It may happen with Bush.
In a separate private interview in his residence, Archbishop Chaput said a vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights or embryonic stem cell research would be a sin that must be confessed before receiving Communion. "If you vote this way, are you cooperating in evil?" he asked. "And if you know you are cooperating in evil, should you go to confession? The answer is yes."
Archbishop Chaput didn't out and out endorse either candidate. His point is that responsible citizens, responsible Christians look at these issues, see where the candidates truly stand on them, and then vote their conscience, vote for the man of principle, not slick promises.
Kerry is doing what generations of Republican politicians could not do: pushing the Catholic Vote out of the Democrat Party. |