In a Sun Time’s Column, Fr Andrew Greeley states:
If we are to believe the media, the Catholic bishops warned American Catholics that if they voted for a candidate who supported abortion, their eternal salvation might be in jeopardy. I don’t think that’s what they really said, but, alas, the bishops generally have a hard time making clear what they actually are saying. The media don’t do nuance very well, and bishops have a hard time conveying their intent in words that fit into a 750-word story or a 90-second TV clip. Hence, they add confusion upon confusion, and many Catholics simply dismiss them with a snide comment about the sexual abuse of children.
Read More of Greeley's Column Here in the SunTimes. Fr. Greeley's column prompted the following letter from the Archdiocese of Chicago:Fr. Andrew Greeley’s article “Bishops’ message wins few votes” puts forth a highly individualistic, privatized notion of faith. Greeley states that he thinks abortion doesn’t matter in voting because he doesn’t think it is “proper or prudent to try to impose this Catholic moral view on a whole society that does not agree with us…”
Greeley’s statement about “impos[ing] a Catholic moral view” implies that our faith is not only irrelevant to public policy, but that it is wrong for our faith to motivate us to change public policy.
This cuts both ways. If protecting a vulnerable individual’s right to live is a “private belief,” how about working for a just wage, or for immigration reform? Are Catholics disqualified from working for justice on these other issues because we’re “impos[ing] this Catholic moral view on a whole society”?
Here’s the confusing part: Greeley has written about immigration reform and other justice issues; therefore, we assume that he agrees that on immigration reform, it is right for our faith to motivate us to work for a just public policy. So on abortion, why is it wrong for our faith to motivate us to work for a just public policy?
Faith is not just a private relationship between a person and God, but has social implications for justice. Christian life goes beyond the walls of the Church. Aren’t we called to work for justice in society every day of the week, and not just talk about it on Sundays?
How will the 22,179 children of Cook County residents who were aborted in 2005 benefit from a just wage or a fair educational system? They weren’t even allowed to live, and each loss is a tragedy for both the child and the parents. That’s why the Church and the Bishops rightly teach in “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” and other documents that the right to life is the foundation of all other justice issues.
Rather than creating division, we need to come together to build a truly just society, where every human being is welcomed in life and protected by law, and human dignity is respected in all stages.
Mary-Louise Kurey, Respect Life Director
Nicholas Lund-Molfese, Peace and Justice Director
Archdiocese of Chicago
Update:
The Sun Times has seen fit to publish an edited version of this letter, after a 9 day lull.
Letter Here
Jim Bowman says:
In addition, "direct killing" of innocent people, to use the moral-theological term, is bad in itself, while social-policy issues are usually mixed bags of good and bad. So we can think the hierarchy misguided in its position-taking on the latter but lacking wiggle room on the former. I hope Greeley regrets his devil-may-care comment about aborted, that is, directly killed, embryonic people as in his column under discussion.