Planned Parenthood – far and away the leading provider of abortions in America – gives Barack Obama a 100% rating on their “issues.” Yet, a group calling themselves “Roman Catholics for Obama” defend their endorsement of the Illinois Senator for President by quoting words from Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput that they contend give them a pass to support a rabidly pro-abortion candidate. They fail to mention that they have taken the Archbishop’s words seriously out of context and carefully excluded the critical portion of his statement.
In the most recent Denver Catholic Register, Chaput fires back at the rationalizing political activists that have decided they are more Democrat than they are Catholic.
The sentence of Chaput’s words that the Obama Catholics initially failed to acknowledge is:
“But [Catholics who support 'pro-choice' candidates] also need a compelling proportionate reason to justify it. What is a ‘proportionate’ reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life – which we most certainly will. If we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed.”
That’s a pretty high standard to meet. A lot of Catholics rationalize support of pro-choice candidates by contending that they will soften their ‘pro-choice’ politician’s views once they get elected. Chaput went through that same experience when he supported Jimmy Carter and Bobby Kennedy years ago. However, with the benefit of years of experience he now says, “I can’t name any ‘pro-choice’ Catholic politician who has been active, in a sustained public way, in trying to discourage abortion and to protect unborn human life – not one.”
Lest Catholics think Chaput is the only one taking a strong stand against pro-choice politicians, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn had a few words of his own on the issue. “Only in circumstances that are extraordinarily hard to contemplate may a Catholic voter support a proponent of so great an intrinsic moral evil,” DiMarzio said.
Chaput’s conclusion is fitting: “Changing the views of ‘pro-choice’ candidates takes a lot more than verbal gymnastics, good alibis and pious talk about ‘personal opposition’ to killing unborn children. I’m sure Roman Catholics for Obama know that, and I wish them good luck. They’ll need it.”
UPDATE: After the Archbishop’s article was published, the group, Roman Catholics for Obama, updated their website to include excerpt above that was originally left out. The quote is still used, however, in justifying their position.