The following comes from an October 15 posting on Catholic Online by Deal Hudson and Keith Fournier
Nearly 500 people packed the gymnasium at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania late Saturday afternoon to hear Archbishop Charles Chaput address the issue of Catholics in politics.
Archbishop Chaput spoke for about 45 minutes, followed by eight questions from the audience. The last question was from a Catholic woman who described herself as a “conservative” who asked the archbishop why so many Catholics were “liberal.” His answer typified the archbishop’s manner and message:
“I call you as a Catholic, to forget about the labels, be a liberal sometimes, a conservative sometimes, but a Catholic first….”
“I don’t want to go to jail,” the Archbishop said with a laugh, as he explained that during the coming year the bishops would have to decide how to respond to the HHS mandate.
“Biden was wrong” in what he said about the mandate during the debate, and “he should not get away with saying that in the public square….”
One of the questioners raised the issue of the three exceptions to abortion mentioned by vice presidential candidate Ryan during the debate and urged the bishop to correct him. In response, Chaput explained:
“Everyone knows the bishops admit no exceptions. Biden knows where the Church stands, and he chooses not to believe it. Ryan was stating the position of his party led by a Mormon who holds the same position of his faith, Mormonism, which allows those exceptions.”
During his presentation and answers to questions, Archbishop Chaput made some very penetrating comments about the history of the Church in our nation. For example, he described the present generation of clergy—those his age or close to his age—as having been formed during the age of the civil rights struggle, the struggle for social justice. “It’s an emotional thing for many priests, and this is why you have nuns attacking Paul Ryan.”
He explained further that the demand for social justice and human dignity includes a “right to health care but not the right to the government providing health care.” He came back to this distinction during the Q & A period when he reminded the audience of the importance of subsidiarity as a political principle, one that is “often forgotten,” he said.
The one statement in a very rich speech that drew the loudest applause, was when Chaput described Jesus as having been killed “because he spoke the truth” and refused to back down from it. I think the applause was a response not only to the admonition but also to the example of a bishop who is willing to speak the truth in the public square, Archbishop Charles C. Chaput of Philadelphia.
To read entire story, click here.
It is disgusting that so many people blame stuff on their “formation”. Apparently not many Catholics have ever heard of being formed in Christ. Rather they always talk about being formed in one era or another, as if Catholicism has nothing to do with transforming a person from whatever into Whomever. Those who persist in their formation in one or another spirit of the times is doomed to spend eternity in such times and not in Heaven.
JLS; take the time to reread very slowly about what Bishop Chaput actually said about formation. It is NOT as you are trying to imply. So quick to attack. Is this the type of formation that Jesus taught? +JMJ+
JMJ, let me clue you in on this formation excuse. I read it all the time. People blame the sin on the way they were formed, taught, brought up, etc. This is nothing more than saying “The Devil made me do it”. Countless souls were malformed but they turned to Christ and were reformed … This is Catholicism. The other is stupid.
This effective deception, whether intended or not, is in the same category as “we are all sinners”. Why? Because it is a half truth: Those of faith in Christ are a type of sinner, and this distinction is important so that the Commandment not to bear false witness against one’s neighbor is not violated. The faithful sinner is a repentant sinner, a sinner who turns away from his or her sin … Perhaps some saints have done it all at once; but, for most it is a lifelong effort, always advancing towards grace and towards Heaven. Those who keep beating their heads against a wall will not have much left when it comes time for the Pearly Gates.
JLS so are you saying that don’t think that people can be a product of this society? I was wondering what exactly you meant? : )
Christ delivers people from the ruler of this world. Bl John Paul II explains the whole thing in terms of unique personality, which belongs to each soul, and is developed by one’s union with God brought about by Jesus Christ via the Holy Eucharist. Those without this Sacrament of holy union can hardly rise from being “products of society”.
yes that is true…I’m sure you can go more in depth by what you are commenting but it’s much to long and deepness can be lengthy on these posts. I just wanted you to clarify because I wasn’t sure what you meant at first. Thanks JLS I get it now. I appreciate your time.
“He explained further that the demand for social justice and human dignity includes a “right to health care but not the right to the government providing health care.”
Is it a “right to health care” or the right to pursue health care??????
Larry from RI,
Please show me where in the Gospels Jesus instructed his followers to insist that Cesar provide food, clothing, shelter or medical assistance to the needy? (the modernist definition of “social welfare”.) In addition to this, please show me were Jesus instructed his followers to take from the rich and give to the poor?
I, myself am only aware of Jesus mandating his followers to help the poor and needy themselves. I don’t recall reading that he excluded the ordinary person from this mandate. I further note that the atheist Karl Marx held the belief that money should be confiscated from the rich to give to the poor.
I sure hope that you are on Jesus’ side on this one!
Great observation, Larry from RI: Abp Cordileone would do us a service to explicate that a lot more.
Larry, no one has the right to sponge off society nor does society owe anyone a living. It is sad, but many of us have been conditioned by our public school (government) teachers and the secular media since early childhood to think on those terms. It would help to read some traditional Church literature on the subject of Charity.
When is Archbishop Chaput going to enforce Canon 915 and deny the Holy Eucharist to abortionist homosexualist politicians?
According to LifeNews, the Bishop of Colorado Springs, Michael Sheridan, recently stepped up to the plate:
Q: If Vice President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, were to swing through Colorado Springs on a campaign tour and attend your Mass, would you deny him Communion?
Sheridan: He should know, and I would do everything I could do to make sure that he knows, he ought not to be receiving Communion.
Why is it so hard for Chaput and the other 240 or so bishops who don’t enforce Canon 915 to do this?
“Why is it so hard for Chaput and the other 240 or so bishops who don’t enforce Canon 915 to do this?” That question assumes that all our bishops are pro life and follow the Church’s teaching on this issue. We know that Archbishop Chaput is and does. But, according to some estimates, over half of our bishops voted for the pro abortion candidate in 2008 . That’s easy to believe. I personally know several priests, nuns, deacons who openly admit they did so, even though they solemnly swear they are pro life. I asked about five or six such priests why over a period of roughly three months. The answers I got were roughly to the effect that abortion is not something which they feel called to care about! Besides it is complex, encompassing issues like over-population, women’s right to personal autonomy, the danger of putting guilt trips on post-abortive women, and reluctance to be seen as forcing Catholic dogma on non-Catholics etc. Someone else can take care of all that. Two or three cited “Faithful Citizenship” as their justification. Social justice is a concern much closer to their hearts, less complex, and with which they feel more comfortable. So a pro abortion candidate who supports the Church’s teachings in those matters “resonates” better with them. Some of the priests said further that the pro abortion candidate’s opponent is only pretending to be pro life to get votes and will do nothing about abortion once elected. One priest politely declined to answer.
If a bishop votes for a candidate, it is difficult to see how he can deny him/her communion, or even express disapproval of him/her publicly, having expressed approval at the ballot box. I fear we must face the astonishing fact that most of our bishops, and clergy in general, are, at least covertly, at odds with the Church’s teaching on the Life issues. And that is why they find it so hard to enforce Canon 915.
Pro Life has to be a pedal to the metal event in our lives … no matter what the spectre of “over population”. “Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead”.
Ron, your post was instructive. I have often wondered what pro-lifers who vote for pro-choice candidates were thinking. I kind of assumed that they just voted for who they wanted to and made up some kind of justification. I think a lot of people are swayed by the idea that imposing one’s religion on another is wrong or the idea that it a personal matter between a woman and her physician. There is no advocate for the unborn. We, as Catholics, are supposed to be their voice and one of the most effective ways is to elect people who will give the unborn the respect that is due to them as human beings.
Uhmhmn, “a woman and her physician”: Why does this sound strange? Is her physician closer to her than her sex partner, or her husband?
Thank you Juergensen for not only speaking the truth but also acting upon the truth with your keyboard!
It is right and just that the laity should listen to Archbishop Chaput’s good words and remind the good Archbishop that when the laity listens to these shepherds and follow the example of Christ by also charitably speaking the truth, then they should not be labeled by the good Archbishop as being uncharitable. Christ was not being uncharitable when he threw the money changers out of the temple.
Recently, a faithful Catholic said, “Have you ever noticed that when the faithful really listen to their faithful shepherds and start acting upon their faithful instructions to imitate and follow Christ, then these faithful Catholics are often (like Christ) labeled as pariah and called inhibitors of peace or uncharitable and (like Christ) treated as pariah by those very same instructors who taught them the Truth.”
Yes, these faithful Catholics often lovingly challenge and prick tender consciences to remind those good shepherds that courage and martyrdom is not just meant for those sitting in the pews.
Juergensen, Thank you for being salt that has not lost it’s flavor!
Juergensen, what does being an abortionist have to do with being a homosexual? Very few homosexuals have abortions. The two things are not the same. Women having an abortion are depriving their unborn child of its life. Abortionists are harming women and their children. There are probably few bishops that would deny the Eucharist to people that think that gay people are equal in their dignity and humanity to heterosexual people and should not be discriminated against.
Mark from PA,
Abortion and homosexual acts BOTH are intrinsic evils (CCC 2271, 2357).
Thus, those who publicly support abortion and homosexual acts “obstinately persever[e] in manifest grave sin [and] are not to be admitted to holy communion” (Can. 915).
Stop with the red herrings about “human dignity” and “discrimination” – we’re talking about butchering babies limb-by-limb, and sodomites and lesbians engaging in homosexual sex.
What I am saying is that having an abortion or performing an abortion doesn’t really have anything to do with homosexuality. They are two different issues. But human dignity is not a red herring, babies, born and unborn, have human dignity and so do gay people. It seems that some people who are against abortion also really don’t care about gay teens (or even those perceived to be gay) who are bullied, victims of violence or even commit suicide due to how they are treated. Should people be denied communion if they speak out against the bullying and mistreatment of gay teens and also try to educate people about the suicide issue? I think it is sinful that some people would tell these kids that what they are is intrinsically evil.
Mark PA, I have worked with hundreds of children over the years, and I never let them call each other names of any kind. Nevertheless, children do not need to be nor should they be taught that it is all right for so and so to have two moms or so and so to have two dads or that two men or two women can get “married”. The line needs to be drawn somewhere, Neither bullying a child for their perceived sexual orientation nor the advocacy of sodomous acts are right. I know there is a fine line between the two at times, but a definite line there must be. Also, older students with a homosexual orientation should not be bullying heterosexual students and forcing them to accept any of their bad behavior. Bullying can work both ways at times. Some children do not know how to keep their hands off of other students, and that cannot be allowed either no matter their orientation.
PA, sodomites do not have actual dignity, but only potential dignity. And the more they persist in sodomy, the less potential dignity they retain.
Mark from PA There are more than a couple of things that abortion and homosexality have in common. First is that they are both intrisically evil. In other words, they can never be made good. Second, and perhaps the most important, is that abortion and homosexuality are anti-life. To fully explain this second point would take at least a second post. Briefly, I’ll just say that Lucifer hates humanity. Why? Because God became man in the second person of the Blessed Trinity, and that Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus and the Queen of Heaven and so God exaulted her higher than the angels. Jesus and Mary were both human and Lucifer was an angel (now a fallen angel) and that is why he rebelled against God (the sin of pride, which we are told is the worst sin). So you can see, this is why Lucifer hates humanty and will do everything in his power to distroy mankind. How? By preventing humans from forming (homosexuality, sterilization, etc.), prevent them from being born (abortion) killing them once they are born (unjust wars, murder, etc.) and or by snatching their souls. Lucifer especially likes snatching the souls or religious since that usually brings more souls among with the clergy. Third, most homosexuals are pro- abortion (along with the feminists) and most pro- aborts are pro homosexual and pro feminist. In conclusion, homosexuality and abortion are just two tools in Lucifer’s tool box or bag of tricks to snatch souls from God and distroy or prevent human from life. May God bless and guide you as you struggle with SSA. Remember, we all have crosses to bear. Also, remember it is a cross, not a crutch or excuse.
Hugh I like what you posted, God bless you!
Both abortion and sodomy destroy persons. Abortion destroys a soul’s temporal life, and sodomy destroys a soul’s eternal life.
Pray that all of our Pastor’s repeat to their flock–“What if you had to choose between our country and Jesus, what would you choose? And, Your a Catholic first and must vote as a Catholic–for LIFE.
God Bless this wonderful Shepherd. Read the entire article in order to obtain his entire communication. Very powerful.
Sandra I like what you pointed out, that we are Catholic first….I think that many forget those important reminders and not many place their faith first. Its like that scripture passage that kindly reminds in Psalm 118:8 “t is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in man.”
LET US ALL BE PREPARED TO DIE FOR TELLING THE TRUTH. WE ARE APOSTLES OF CHRIST AND MUST FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS. GOD BLESS ALL TRULY CATHOLICS
We may not be able to choose for others but we pray that it is in their heart to carry their cross and walk with Jesus…we pray for God’s courage and strength, God’s graces for those blessings!
Mark –
Please, there is no dignity in sodomy!
It would help to pray on the subject.
Murder of any kind (abortion, euthanasia, casualties of an UNJUST WAR) is an intrinsic evil. Where were / are the “pro-lifers” in their outcry against the horrific loss of life perpetrated or supported by the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan and now in Syria? It appears for American Catholics that human life beyond the borders of this nation is expendable.