{"id":2740,"date":"2008-10-04T21:58:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-04T21:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/scranton-bishop-pro-choice-candidates-support-homicide.html"},"modified":"2008-10-04T21:58:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-04T21:58:00","slug":"scranton-bishop-pro-choice-candidates-support-homicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/scranton-bishop-pro-choice-candidates-support-homicide.html","title":{"rendered":"Scranton bishop: “Pro-choice candidates support homicide”"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s now less than 30 days to what may be the most critical election in decades — and the Catholic Church is kicking it up a notch. <\/p>\n

From Sunday’s New York Times<\/a>: <\/p>\n

As the Roman Catholic Church observes its annual \u201crespect life\u201d Sunday in this heated presidential election season, the unusually pitched competition for Catholic voters is setting off a round of skirmishes over how to apply the church\u2019s teachings not only on abortion but also on the war in Iraq, immigration and racism.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It is a contest for credibility among observant Catholics, with each faction describing itself as a defender of \u201clife.\u201d The two sides disagree over how to address the \u201cintrinsic evil\u201d of abortion.<\/p>\n

The escalating efforts by more-liberal Catholics are provoking a vigorous backlash from some bishops and the right.<\/p>\n

<\/a>In Scranton, Pa., every Catholic attending Mass this weekend will hear a special homily about the election next month: Bishop Joseph Martino has ordered every priest in the diocese to read a letter warning that voting for a supporter of abortion rights amounts to endorsing \u201chomicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing \u2018right\u2019 on taxes, education, health care, immigration and the economy fails to make up for the error of disregarding the value of a human life,\u201d the bishop wrote. \u201cIt is a tragic irony that \u2018pro-choice\u2019 candidates have come to support homicide \u2014 the gravest injustice a society can tolerate \u2014 in the name of \u2018social justice.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

In response, a coalition of liberal lay Catholics is pushing back, criticizing the bishop\u2019s message for neglecting other aspects of \u201clife\u201d talked about in Catholic social teachings, like concern for the poor.<\/p>\n

To underscore the point, a nun is collecting the signatures of prominent Catholic leaders there for a newspaper advertisement reminding those who may be wary of voting for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic nominee for president, that the church also considers racism a sin that threatens the dignity of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Scranton, racist attitudes often prevent us from seeing all of our fellow citizens and candidates for public office as God\u2019s children,\u201d says the petition, circulated by Sister Margaret P. Gannon, a professor at Marywood University.<\/p>\n

Scranton, the focus of a disproportionate amount of attention because it was the childhood home of Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, has become a flashpoint in the battle playing out nationwide in weekly homilies, pastoral letters and diocesan newspapers. Scranton is also one of several heavily Catholic, working-class cities in swing states \u2014 like Cincinnati; Cleveland; Detroit; Erie, Pa.; Pittsburgh; and St. Louis \u2014 where a new network of liberal groups like Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United are trying to promote the church\u2019s social justice teachings.<\/p>\n

Catholics make up about a quarter of the electorate nationwide and about a third in many of the most heavily contested states in the Northeast and Midwest, an increasingly central focus of both presidential campaigns.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Continue at the Times link<\/a> for more. <\/p>\n

And you can read the Scranton bishop’s letter<\/a> to get even more detail.<\/p>\n

Photo: Bishop Joseph Martino, by Brad C. Bower\/Associated Press<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s now less than 30 days to what may be the most critical election in decades — and the Catholic Church is kicking it up a notch. 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Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. You can contact Deacon Greg at dcngreg@gmail.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/gkandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}