p class='content' style='text-align: left'>WASHINGTON, June 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United States of Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has adopted a statement, "Catholics in Political Life," by a vote of 183-6, which says pro-abortion politicians should not be honored by Catholic community and Catholic institutions. "They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions," says the statement. On the question of withholding Communion from pro-abortion politicians, the document leaves the final decision to local bishops.

The statement came after the Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians made an extensive interim report at the USCCB's special assembly, held in Denver, June 14-19, 2004.

Speaking on the evil of abortion and that of cooperating in it by supporting pro-abortion legislation, the statement says: "It is the teaching of the Catholic Church from the very beginning, founded on her understanding of her Lord's own witness to the sacredness of human life, that the killing of an unborn child is always intrinsically evil and can never be justified . . . To make such intrinsically evil actions legal is itself wrong . . . The legal system as such can be said to cooperate in evil when it fails to protect the lives of those who have no protection except the law."

Thus the document sets out the duty of lawmakers. "Those who formulate law therefore have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws, lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good."

The document also outlines the duty of bishops in this regard. "Our obligation as bishops at this time is to teach clearly. It is with pastoral solicitude for everyone involved in the political process that we will also counsel Catholic public officials that their acting consistently to support abortion on demand risks making them cooperators in evil in a public manner. We will persist in this duty to counsel, in the hope that the scandal of their cooperating in evil can be resolved by the proper formation of their consciences."

The document recalls that all "Catholics need to act in support of these principles and policies in public life." In it the bishops commit to "encourage this vocation and do more to bring all believers to this mission."

See the full document online at:
http://usccb.org/bishops/catholicsinpoli
ticallife.htm

---

(c) Copyright: LifeSite Daily News is a production of Interim Publishing. Permission to republish is granted (with limitation*) but acknowledgement of source is *REQUIRED* (use LifeSiteNews.com).

NEWS TIPS to lsn@lifesite.net or call 1-866-787-9947 or (416) 204-1687 ext. 444

Please help us to continue this service. Mail contributions to: Interim Publishing, Att'n LifeSite, 104 Bond St. E., Toronto, ON M5B 1X9 or contribute on line at http://www.lifesite.net/contribute/lifes
ite/

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), June 21, 2004

Answers

bump

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@Hotmail.com), June 21, 2004.

What about pro-death penalty politicians?

Oh yeah, I forgot, most of them are Republican...

-- Anti-bush (Comrade_bleh@hotmail.com), June 22, 2004.

anti bush,

as has been made clear to you before, niether the Catholic church, nor its conference of bishops in the US, recognizes the death penalty as an intrinsically evil action. It CAN be illegal if used innappropriately.

however, abortion, which kills THOUSANDS of babies every single day, is an intrinsically evil act. the knowing extermination of a childs life just to get rid of an inconvenience is sick and wrong.

-- paul h (dontsendmemail@notanaddress.com), June 23, 2004.

A college class at Nothwestern University looked into the cases of all death row inmates in the state if Illinois. Five of the inmetes were found to be innocent and were exonerated. In a study of cases from 1973-1995 in which the death penalty was assigned, serious error (showing that either the defendent was innocent or guilty of a less serious offense) was found in seventy percent of the cases. Just think about it. Seven out of every ten people sitting on death row right now may very well be innocent.

The United States is one of only a handfull of countries in the world that still executed mentaly retarted people and juveniles (joining the ranks of such prestigious nations as Iran, Somalia, and China).

But I suppose politicians who think that's ok can still get communion, right?

-- Anti-bush (Comrade_bleh@hotmail.com), June 23, 2004.

Unlike capital murder cases (all of which go to more than ONE trial and have lawyers for the defendents and public supporters), babies who are aborted DON'T HAVE ANYONE to defend their fundamental right to life.

This is what makes abortion so much worse than capital punishment: there is a colossal, categorical difference between a baby *totally innocent being, and a man (retarded or not) who has been involved in a violent crime such as rape and murder, has gone through years of legal battles - which may well be flawed - and finally comes to execution.

Look at the injustice: totally innocent human beings can be legally killed, no questions asked, by doctors, mothers, boy friends... but murders, rapists, etc. get years of public-funded court cases after being arrested.

Sure, maybe, just maybe some men sitting on death row are absolutely innocent of crimes. But that's an MAYBE. We know 100% for sure, in all cases, in all conceivable cases (pun intended) that unborn children are innocent, have done nothing wrong and are no threat to the life of the mother (no matter how you define "life").

But of course... people who are pro-choice, wouldn't be able to live with themselves so need to be really outraged about the mistreatment of some other class of beings: convicts, terrorists, whales, "the earth" whatever. Even the Soviet jailors of the gulag felt like they were working on behalf of the innocent future proletariat...while killing really innocent Russians convicted of specious crimes against "the party".

-- joe (joestong@yahoo.com), June 23, 2004.

Since the early 90's, Koch Industries has KNOWINGLY pumped 91 metric tons of benzene (a deadly, cancer-causing agent) into the air and water. They were indicted, but the government dropped all charges against them. How many thousands of innocent people will go to an early grave because of this? And why can the politicians who decided not to bring Koch to justice still recieve communion? They are allowing the killing of innocents. Why shouldn't they be held to the same standard?

-- Anti-bush (Comrade_bleh@hotmail.com), June 23, 2004.

Anti-bush, Anyone who knowingly causes an innocent person to die is guilty of the the grievous act of murder. If you lobby for laws that allow that to continue, you are guilty of the grievous act of conspiring in murder. Can one sin be graver than another? Yes, the murder of someone who has no way of protecting themselves is graver than the murder of someone who can defend themselves. But both acts are grave and if you knowingly participate, and know it is a grave act, you are committing a mortal sin and should not be partaking in communion (which really is the least of your troubles at that point).

In Christ, Bill

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), June 25, 2004.

I haven't killed anyone. I'm not even old enough to vote yet. When I am, I'm still not sure how I'll vote on abortion. It's a question that I wrestle with constantly. I'm on the fence, and I keep moving from one side to the other. All that aside, are you saying that anyone who votes for Kerry can't receive communion? If that's not trying to push a political agenda, I don't know what is.

BTW, those people who happened to breathe the air withing a few hundred miles of a Koch industry plant had no way of defending themselves either. Not to mention how many children were probably killed in the womb or born with horrendous defects because of those chemicals. This is just one of the many of these types of cases. Why hasn't any Bishop come out and denied communion for any poltician or official who lets this kind of thing slide?

-- Anti-bush (Comrade_bleh@hotmail.com), June 25, 2004.

Anti-Bush, If you vote for a politician specifically to assure Koch would be able to murder people, you are committing a moral evil.

On abortion: anyone who deliberately votes for a pro-abortion politician specifically to assure abortion continues is, indeed, committing a grave act. It is an intrinsically grave act, which means it is not debatable, by you or I. It has absolutely nothing to do with anyone's agenda. If a political candidate supported abortion, or any other moral evil, such as assisted suicide and euthanasia, for that matter, it would not be morally permissible for you to vote for that person. This is because, in voting for such a person, you would become an accomplice in the moral evil at issue.

In Christ, Bill

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45-nospam@hotmail.com), June 25, 2004.