Politicians who “flaunt” being Catholic while asserting that they are also pro-abortion are guilty of “misleading” other Catholics and must be admonished, said U.S. Archbishop Joseph Naumann in a recent interview.
Naumann, who was elected last month by his brother bishops over Cardinal Blase Cupich to be the next head of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life efforts, said that openly pro-abortion “Catholic” politicians are “particularly problematic” for the bishops to deal with.
“We have an obligation to dialogue with that individual as much as possible. We want to presume his or her good will and that he or she is misinformed, and to get him or her to think more carefully and honestly about the issue,” he said in the interview with Catholic World Report.
“Where it is particularly problematic is when we have Catholic politicians who flaunt their Catholicity, but take positions that our inconsistent with our Catholic teaching. This was the case with Kathleen Sebelius, who was our Kansas governor previously. She would talk about how Catholic she was, but act totally contrary to Church teaching. It creates a problem for us as bishops when Catholic politicians do that. They teach our people that it is okay to be Catholic and support legalized abortion,” he added.
Naumann called US Senator and former vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine “another example of a politician who flaunted his Catholic background but spewed a lot of pro-choice rhetoric.”
“When they do this they’re taking on a teaching role and misleading our people,” he said.
Naumann called it “less problematic” for a Catholic politician who is pro-abortion but who does not say his position is in accordance with his Catholic faith.
“We still need to dialogue, but he’s not saying, ‘I’m Catholic and pro-choice and you can be Catholic and pro-choice, too,’” he said.
Naumann, who is the Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas, will take over his duties from Cardinal Dolan as chairman of the USCCB pro-life committee in the coming year.
Archbishop Naumann has been unique among the U.S. Bishops in voicing concern over the international aid organization Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on its funding guidelines after revelations that CRS gives millions of dollars each year to pro-abortion and contraception organizations in developing countries.
Naumann said during the interview that priests must not shy away from giving homilies on the topic of abortion.
Priests must speak about it, he said, because failing to address the truth of the issue is negligence, leaving young Catholics at risk for the tragedy of abortion.
Full story at LifeSiteNews.
AM I DREAMING? WOW!! HOW MANY OF US HAVE LONGED TO HEAR THAT FROM OUR OWN SHEPHERDS!!!
Can we please rid the word “dialogue” from the Catholic lexicon from now on and forever….
Now I want to hear Archbishop Naumann proclaim just as distinctly that the DemocRATic Party is the Party of death based on a recent statement by the Chair of that Party, Tom Perez, that folks who are pro-life are not welcome in the DemocRATic Party. To be a good DemocRAT then translates to worshipping at the altar of abortion. That alone should steer good Catholics away from voting for any candidate running as a DemocRAT.
Will the Archbishop call out by name these faux Catholic politicians?
“Pro-abortion politicians who claim to be good Catholics must be admonished”
Admonished?!?!
What about excommunicated?
And should they ever repent, how about a public penance, along the lines of “going to Canossa”?
Does pro-life include anti-war? What about all of the Catholic politicians who support the military-industrial death machine…shouldn’t they be admonished?
Apples and Oranges, George. Life Issues are defined as “NON-NEGOTIABLE.” War is “NEGOTIABLE” social justice
The Catholic Church does not use the terms non-negotiable and negotiable. There are intrinsic evils which are always sinful under every circumstance that can never be justified like abortion and euthansia.
There are other evils such as war that in some circumstances can be justified such as defense of one’s homeland.
To be unconditionally pro-life includes opposition to all things which harm human beings and those which ignore the sacredness of human beings like embryonic stem cell research. It also includes opposition to things such as birth control which prevents the conception of human beings.
And capital punishment? Where does that fit? negotiable? justified?
Capital punishment is not intrinsically evil. It can be justified in rare circumstances. The Church does not use the term “negotiable”.
Why are you so worried, “Panther Mom”. Have you committed some capital offense?????
Quite refreshing after reading the previous article about the three SoCal Bishops trying to pressure two of our area Catholic Congress Members to vote for DACA. My advice to those three is to stick to your knitting. Maybe the three of them missed their profession and should have entered the political arena.
No, Excellency, not “dialogue;” action is needed. And what kind of action? Enforcement of Canon 915.
Then, name names and let every parishioner know about this punishment. Then tell the Pope, and demand that he retract Amoris Laetitae, as well as his dopey views on changing the “Our Father.”
Don’t Zombie-Liberals do anything else except change and soil the good things in our Faith?
Bohemonds: it is surprising that one who uses a name associated with monarchs who lived in the Middle Ages is unfamiliar with the use of “dialogue” in Western philosophical thought: to begin with, think Plato’s “Dialogues”. Additionally, Catholicism has always held philosophy in high esteem: consider the encyclical “Fides et Ratio” by Pope St John Paul II. Also many Catholic theologians hold advance degrees in philosophy and theology.
Frank: I am familiar with the word dialogue, just tired of hearing it coming out of the mouth of Catholic’s who are not supposed to dialogue with the world but convert it.
Here is an example of someone that has been misled by Tim Kaine