Denying communion is a bit like shunning, with a distinctive Catholic wallop. Copyright 2005-2023, Catholics For Choice. It is meant to provide some teaching and then some whys behind those teachings. The Catholic Case for Abortion Rights Getty Images Ideas By Jon O'Brien September 22, 2015 4:37 PM EDT Jon O'Brien is the head of Catholics for Choice, a pro-choice Catholic nonprofit. Pro-choice Catholics offer an effective counter-narrative to the idea that all people of faith oppose abortion. Father John Paul Kimes of the University of Notre Dame is an expert in canon law, which governs life within the church. If that is the case, then why not treat infants like cattle? Anna Pouza, Canon law forbids priests and members of religious orders from endorsing political candidates without the permission of their superiors. But Catholic teaching also provides ways for voters to evaluate candidates on the basis of abortion and of other serious issues like the pandemic or racism. Those who say otherwise are incorrect. Copyright 2021 NPR. They are also obligated to obey teachings that are infallibly taught by the ordinary and universal magisterium of the Church. Deacon Keith Fournier. . This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written Word of God, is transmitted by the Churchs Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium (62). The real tragedy is that the bishops are wasting an opportunity to work with an administration pushing for reforms that could increase financial support for American families. Why Pro-Choice Catholics Matter | HuffPost Religion 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Pope St. John Paul II issued an authoritative statement that stops just short of ex cathedra infallibility but still reaffirms the infallible, binding elements that were always present in the Churchs teaching on abortion: Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, in communion with the Bishopswho on various occasions have condemned abortion and who in the aforementioned consultation, albeit dispersed throughout the world, have shown unanimous agreement concerning this doctrineI declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. For media inquiries or to arrange an interview, contact Catholics for Choice at +1 (202) 203-0931 or Email us at jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org. Pro-life advocates maintain that the state should endorse an answer to the question of when life begins that is backed by science and common sense and not one that is backed by convenience or a desire to keep abortion legal. It simply means that I do not think it is right to take away a womans right to choose what to do with her pregnancy. Catholics can support a womans right to kill her unborn child in good conscience declared Jesuit Father Pat Conroy in an interview published Wednesday in the Washington Post. WebPriests L.B.S.F. In the first place, those Church Fathers who believed that ensoulment occurs after conception never endorsed the view that abortion is moral. Vicar General of the Diocese of Fort Worth, has issued a new memorandum to priests, For the sake of what is thoughtfully considered in conscience to be such "proportionate" or "truly grave moral" reasons, a Catholic may vote for a candidate who is pro-choice. WebCatholics for Choice is an old group that's unfortunately had some priests, nuns, and university theologians in their ranks. Find clergy who may have served abroad in the Philippines. One step is cautionary: A Catholic may not vote for a pro-choice politician if the intention of the voter is explicitly to support abortion. But Ratzinger noted additional steps to take in deciding how to vote. As McQuillan noted, the Catholic Church had held various opinions about when a fetus is "ensouled," and that for much of its history, it had considered abortion before the fetus had a soul a sin of the flesh on par with contraception, not murder.
Chris Paul High School, Articles P