The young man walked slowly toward his place of execution.
Dressed in a crumpled suit and tie, he faced the firing squad and
asked permission to pray. As a Catholic priest ministering to the
faithful during the purge of the Church by Mexican revolutionaries,
he was condemned to death. As the photographers and riflemen took
aim, he raised his arms parallel to the ground, forgave his
executioners and shouted, “Viva Christo Rey!”
A dozen or so years later at Auschwitz, ten prisoners were
chosen to be executed by starvation in reprisal for an escape
attempt. When one of them despaired for his wife and children, a
bespectacled man in tattered prison garb calmly stepped forward and
offered to take his place. His request was granted.
Twenty years later, a pregnant mother of three was diagnosed
with an ovarian tumor. Her doctors advised an abortion to save her
life. A physician herself, she knew the risks to her own health but
refused, adamantly putting the baby’s life ahead of her own. Within
a week of the birth of her fourth child, she was dead.
These three 20th century saints and martyrs; Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr.
Maximilian Kolbe and Gianna Molla have inspired countless numbers
of their fellow Catholics by their love for the Church, life, and
their fellow man. Their lives are proof that sainthood is reserved
not just for the giants of centuries past, but for anyone who lives
their Catholic faith to the fullest and allows it to guide them in
all things. The 21st century is also in need of men and women whose
words and deeds will continue in defense of that faith.
Consider then, the recent release by 55 Catholic Democrats of
the U.S. House of Representatives, of a document they call a
“Historic Catholic Statement of Principles.” It
is truly historic in that it displays a degree of hubris and
presumption not witnessed since Senator Joe Biden’s own tender
religious sentiment: “The next Republican that tells me I’m not
religious, I’m going to shove my rosary beads down their
throat.”
It is bad enough that the document contains outright falsehoods
— “we work every day to advance respect for life and the dignity
of every human being” — but its title suggests that this drivel is
somehow a “Catholic statement” that speaks for the Church, rather
than 55 politicians looking for votes. Forget the firing squads and
concentration camps, these folks are facing death by polling.
On the whole, the document reiterates a study
commissioned by Democrats in 2004 which contended that they are in
accord with the Church on issues like the death penalty,
immigration, gun control and increasing the minimum wage. Of
course, none of these topics are covered by Canon Law, unlike the
Church’s teaching on abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell
research and same-sex marriage, which are.
The document, which was released through the office of Rep. Rosa
DeLauro (D-Conn.), quizzically states, “We believe the separation
of church and state allows for our faith to inform our public
duties.” It is unclear how the Catholic faith of Ms. DeLauro informs her to vote “no” on vouchers for
private and parochial schools, oppose school prayer, oppose a law
banning physician-assisted suicide, oppose faith-based charity
initiatives, support embryonic stem-cell research, oppose banning
gay adoption, and maintain a perfect 100 percent approval rating by
the pro-abortion group NARAL.
While not all of the signatories to the document are as
blatantly in conflict with Church teaching as Ms. DeLauro, the
acknowledgement that they are “in disagreement with the Church in
some areas” comes pretty near its definition of heresy: “the
obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be
believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an
obstinate doubt concerning the same” (Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2089). Worse, because
they hold positions of authority, they are further at risk of
causing scandal, another grave offense.
In years past, American Catholic politicians could use the “I’m
personally against it” gambit at length in their roles as brave
defenders of the faith with infrequent or mild reproach from Mother
Church. But under the beneficent papacy of the German Shepherd that
may be changing. The 55 Democrats state, “In all these issues, we
seek the Church’s guidance and assistance but believe also in the
primacy of conscience.” Their prayers for assistance were quickly
answered.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops responded to the Democrats, particularly reminding them
in the area of conscience that, “As members of the Church, all
Catholics are obliged to shape our consciences in accord with the
moral teaching of the Church.” As the good bishops make clear, the
“primacy of conscience” canard would negate the very need for
Church teaching.
The would-be Thomas Mores conclude their statement by invoking
Pope John Paul II’s Christifideles Laici: “we believe the
Church is the ‘people of God,’ called to be a moral force in the
broadest sense.” The USCCB responded in kind from the same
document:
Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on
behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to
home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if
the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right
and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended
with maximum determination.
Unlike their illustrious and sainted predecessors, some of these
Catholic Democrats don’t seem to have the stomach for that
defense.
