The Times reports today: “In a departure from previous elections, Democrats and liberal Catholic groups are waging a fight within the church, arguing that the Democratic Party better reflects the full spectrum of church teachings.” Read the whole story here.
There is a chapter in my book called “Believe What You Can,” and it underscores a common-sense outlook for lapsed Catholics like myself who are interested in returning to church, but know there is much about Catholic teachings that we can never embrace or support. I came across two fine essays by thoughtful Catholics that give voice to a couple of issues that tend to keep many Catholics comfortably on the sidelines: the ban on contraception and voting issues.
Excerpt No. 1: “Catholics the world over support the use of contraception, and those who can access it use it. It would enable hundreds of thousands if not millions more families to make informed decisions about their futures if the church lifted this ban - not to mention the impact it would have on HIV prevention.”
Excerpt No. 2: “In 2008, the group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good have put out a very different voter guide. They list 10 key issues: Dignity of work, economy, environment, education, foreign policy, health care, immigration, Iraq war, life, and poverty. For each issue, they highlight some key positions held by both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama. There is no negative condemnation of either candidate.”
Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn, writing at the paper’s On Faith blog, offers this compelling discussion about the politics of Holy Communion.
An excerpt: “I took Holy Communion at Tim Russert’s funeral mass. I am not a Catholic….Often, in Catholic churches, when Communion is offered, the bulletin will include instructions from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops “for our fellow Christians” who are not Catholics: “Members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion.” Sometimes priests will invite non-Catholics to come up and receive a blessing. There were no guidelines in the program at Tim’s funeral mass. If there had been, I would not have taken Communion.
The entire post is here, along with a hundreds of comments.
Commonweal explains why Roman Catholics can vote as they choose in this presidential election — even for a Democrat such as Barack Obama.
Gerald J. Beyer writes:: “As an institution, the Roman Catholic Church does not tell believers for whom or against whom they must vote, despite what some politicians, pundits, and pastors suggest. Rather, as the U.S. bishops write in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (2007), ‘the responsibility to make choices in political life rests with each individual in light of a properly formed conscience.’ “
