* Yesterday’s poll results showing a ten-point increase by Illinoisans in support of gay marriage prompted this reaction from the Catholic Conference…
The Catholic Conference of Illinois plans to more aggressively argue against gay marriage, said its executive director, Robert Gilligan. Brochures with questions and answers about the subject will go out to parishes around the state, he said, and pastors will receive talking points to help them discuss gay marriage more effectively.
* The Election 2012 talking points have already been posted online. Here’s an excerpt from October 14-21…
As Catholics, we must recognize that not all issues carry the same moral weight. The continuing slaughter of innocent children through legal abortion—to take the most appalling example of such “intrinsic evil”—is a grave offense against God and our own human dignity, and cries out for justice. Accordingly, “the moral obligation to oppose intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions.”
Those who knowingly, willingly and directly support public policies or legislation that protect and perpetuate such injustice cooperate with that grave evil. Candidates who promise to support the common good, while at the same time glossing over their support for intrinsic evils such as abortion, perpetrate a lie. Catholic candidates who do so are also a cause of scandal among the faithful.
Finally, two other issues of particular importance in this election year demand our attention. The first is marriage: the permanent, faithful relationship of a man and a woman as husband and wife is the root of a family and the foundation for all of society. The decline of marriage in our culture has already inflicted untold spiritual and material costs upon society and individuals alike. Attempts to redefine marriage are contrary to the natural and moral law and only serve to further erode this fundamental institution. The defense of marriage is a matter of social justice.
*** UPDATE *** The Catholic Conference called to clarify that these are bulletin inserts and are not the “talking points” that Gilligan referred to above.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
The official talking points make the case that “not all issues carry the same moral weight.” Abortion is referred to as an “intrinsic evil,” while opposition to gay marriage is said to be a “matter of social justice.”
* But Springfield’s Catholic Bishop, Thomas John Paprocki, wrote a column recently that appeared to refer to both abortion and gay marriage as “intrinsic evils”…
Moreover, the Democratic Party Platform also supports same-sex marriage, recognizes that “gay rights are human rights,” and calls for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law signed by President Clinton in 1996 that defined marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman.
Now, why am I mentioning these matters in the Democratic Party Platform? There are many positive and beneficial planks in the Democratic Party Platform, but I am pointing out those that explicitly endorse intrinsic evils. My job is not to tell you for whom you should vote. But I do have a duty to speak out on moral issues. I would be abdicating this duty if I remained silent out of fear of sounding “political” and didn’t say anything about the morality of these issues. People of faith object to these platform positions that promote serious sins. I know that the Democratic Party’s official “unequivocal” support for abortion is deeply troubling to pro-life Democrats.
So what about the Republicans? I have read the Republican Party Platform and there is nothing in it that supports or promotes an intrinsic evil or a serious sin. The Republican Party Platform does say that courts “should have the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder cases.” But the Catechism of the Catholic Church says (in paragraph 2267), “Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm — without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself — the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”
One might argue for different methods in the platform to address the needs of the poor, to feed the hungry and to solve the challenges of immigration, but these are prudential judgments about the most effective means of achieving morally desirable ends, not intrinsic evils. [Emphasis added.]
Springfield’s Bishop might have been unclear on the concept.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:05 am:
Paprocki’s insane. No wonder the Church is lagging behind. With people like him at the helm, it will fall apart completely before people know it.
- under seige - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:07 am:
Help! I’m a former catholic. I do not want the catholics saying anything about my morals or standing in society. I do not believe what they believe. I do not think they should have a voice over me (me) even if they are a majority religion. They can make decisions for themselves and be exempted from aspects of the law which they do not agree with. But I deep heartedly do not believe they way they do. Here’s the catch. I use to be in the catholic clergy and know for a fact that many (most) priests, sister, brother, lay members do not believe these same moral teachings on abortion or same sex marriage. Therefore, I’m divorced from them. Oops, did I say “divorce”? They don’t believe in that either. Well, they actually do, especially if you have the right amount of money to file an annulement process.
- Small Town Liberal - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:11 am:
- while at the same time glossing over their support for intrinsic evils such as abortion, perpetrate a lie. -
I wish I could remember, I swear there was something really bad that the catholic church glossed over for a long time…
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:16 am:
–My job is not to tell you for whom you should vote.–
Of course not. Feel free to vote for Intrinsic Evil.
I think the bishop is in the neighborhood of bearing false witness when he claims he’s not telling folks how to vote.
Why even make that claim? He couldn’t be more clear.
- Jaded - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:19 am:
Democratic Platform Intrinsically Evil. DPI Evil. Huh, it really does all go back to Madigan.
- walkinfool - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:20 am:
A clearly partisan political statement, in its choice of topics and characterizations.
Pride, greed, dishonesty, lack of charity, nonrepentence, false idols, false religious dogmatism, and war all can be presented as “intrinsic evils” by Church doctrine. Yet he seems to find his evils only in the Democratic platform.
God save the Church and all its members from its selectively blind hierarchy.
- The Captain - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:21 am:
I heard from the ghost of Galileo this morning, he said it may take a few centuries but the church will come around eventually, so stay positive.
- Tony - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:22 am:
Thanks, John P., for the fresh reminder of why I– like so many others– have nothing to do with your church.
- Sunshine - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:25 am:
Require everyone, for federal and state guideline purposes, to be united under the civil union law and let the church do as it will with regards to marriage.
Still a bit confused about the church and state and that seperation thing.
- ChicagoR - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:26 am:
So the cause to DENY equal treatment under the law to one class of people is “a matter of social justice”? Doesn’t sound like justice at all to me.
- hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:27 am:
All the Catholic church is doing with these antics is driving the bulk of the next generation away from Christ, who never said one word about abortion or gays, with the church focusing on people’s sex lives instead of feeding them, clothing them and providing them shelter, especially at a time when people are hurting and feeling more stretched economically than they have in decades.
As a liberal Protestant, I wish I could just ignore the Catholic Conference’s antics and go about my business, but unfortunately the conservative Christians have the loudest megaphone on the issues of choice and gay marriage and I fear right-wing politics and Christianity are firmly linked in the public consciousness in America to the detriment of both our political discourse and our faith discourse.
I suppose that may not be bad for the right-wing fundamentalists as this arrangement has increased their market share in the Christian marketplace quite a lot in the last couple decades.
But besides hurting liberal Protestant churches like mine, more importantly to everyone is that it has meant the ruination of the Republican Party in this state and could still ruin the Republican Party nationally if they don’t get this stuff under control. For the sake of us still having a functioning two-party democracy, I pray they do.
- wishbone - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:28 am:
The only intrinsic evil here is in the talking points. There are no single celled human beings so the talk of slaughtering babies is nonsense. Again a clear attempt to impose their twisted religious values on all of us using government as their tool. What ever happened to caring for the poor? Oh, that’s not in the Republican platform.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:32 am:
===Require everyone, for federal and state guideline purposes, to be united under the civil union law and let the church do as it will with regards to marriage.===
That would certainly be regarded as a government attack on marriage. You want to vote to eliminate marriage except for church-going people? Good luck with that one.
- zatoichi - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:37 am:
So the Dems support evil and the Reps do not, but I am not using any moral authority to tell you which way to vote? Oh that convinces me.
That other point of ‘marriage: the permanent, faithful relationship’. What is the divorce/annulment rate of people in church weddings? Then there are the huge financial payouts the Church did because of the moral behavior of local moral authorities who were involved with younger members of the church. Like STL, I am blanking on what that was since the good Bishop asks you to ‘Think and pray about your vote’ but kinda glosses over this other small behavioral issue…What could it be?
- Sunshine - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:41 am:
Not eliminating marriage at all. Just giving the feds and state a reasonable solution by removing marriage as a stipulation for federal and state tax considerations, joint home ownership, partner status as such relates to benefits and medical decisions.
Let everyone qualify for these by removing the state from the church’s business.
- Disconnect - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:43 am:
Rich, I think you’re unclear on the concept. Paprocki doesn’t have to answer to anyone except the Pope. While he might be off message, he’s using his prerogative to speak out on issues of faith and morals.
- thechampaignlife - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 11:50 am:
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Caesar may choose to afford certain privileges to certain groups who have signed certain legally-binding documents in what Caesar calls “marriage”. However, Caesar can call it whatever he wants and it’s just a word. Churches can choose to recognize certain other groups who have sworn to behave in certain approved ways in what they call “marriage”. These don’t have to be one in the same.
As a Catholic, I’m fine with the Church preaching its message, trying to educate the masses on what is right and wrong as the Church understands it. I do take issue with the Church imposing its ideology on others through any manner including the government. God gave us free will and, if you don’t give people the freedom to make what you consider to be terrible choices so long as those choices don’t affect your ability to exercise your free will, there’s no free will at all.
- The Other Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:03 pm:
The Catholic Conference wasn’t changed a lot from the Bernardon days. Back then, you would see the Conference actively engage in lobbying for greater social services, welfare, health care, against the death penalty — a whole slew of issues in addition to abortion. Under Cardinal George, the only issues the Conference engages in are opposing gay rights, reproductive rights (abortion and contraception), and school vouchers or tax credits.
It’s a sad change and one that is hard to justify. The number of abortions has gone down in the last fifteen years, but the number of poor and uninsured has gone up. Seems that there is more work that needs to be done on behalf of the poor and sick.
- Jeff Park Mom - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:06 pm:
Disconnect, as a church going Catholic I say you’re wrong. My church is required by tax law to stay out of politics. Calling the Democratic Party inherently evil for its pro-choice stance while letting Republicans off the hook for capital punshment is nonsensical and political. Since late June we’ve been getting a steady stream of Republican talking points organized by the US Conf of Bishops. They are largely ignoring the Ryan attack on social justice and embracing the anti-women, anti-gay ideology of the right. Do Paprocki and Cardinal George have to answer to the Catholic rank and file? My family won’t put in another weekly envelope until after the election and instead sent the money to Network (you know, the nuns on the bus).
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:17 pm:
As a Springfield Catholic I think this seriously crosses the line on the tax-exempt status of the church. This isn’t the first time this has happened with the Bishop.
Also, read into his history and see what his involvment was in the sex abuse scandal… Mainly saying that the people coming out against the church and reporting abuse were doing so because they were being influenced by the devil. I attend Mass every Sunday. I quit listening to him a long time ago. I’m not the only one.
From the article:
Paprocki, 57, said three years ago that the principal force behind the waves of abuse lawsuits was “none other than the devil.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/new-springfield-bishop-th_n_545387.html
- anon - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:26 pm:
Sorry Rich, your “we’re suddenly going to pass gay marriage” threads have turned into nothing but anti christian bashing. Your better than that. Just because we have beliefs that are thousands of years old doesn’t mean we are going to roll over to those who say we are behind the times. I, like many, believe this is sodomy and a sin and has no place in a christian founded country like America. Further more you shouldn’t allow these hate filled slurs on your blog. Beating up on a Bishop is a new low.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:36 pm:
–Again, I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against, but I am saying that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy.–
Vote Democratic, go to hell. But it’s your call.
- amalia - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:40 pm:
I will repeat myself, how are these boys still in business?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:50 pm:
===Beating up on a Bishop is a new low. ===
Who beat up on a bishop here?
- under seige - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:03 pm:
Maybe what the church leaders are saying and doing are actually having an different outcome then planned? As of 11:24am our time… an article was posted on another news source (major news source) that a recent Pew Poll shows Obama has picked up a wide lead over Romney among catholics.
- Disconnect - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:05 pm:
First, Paprocki isn’t talking about parties. He’s talking candidates. I’m guessing he’d be pretty happy with Dan Lipinski.
As to “equal” I think it’s clear that abortion is not equal to the other issues generally cited.
Church members of good will can come to different determinations about a host of issues. Not abortion.
- walkinfool - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:13 pm:
Rich: Maybe I beat up on the man, for his political statement. He is not automatically immune from criticism of his statements, except among a very few.
If you think I was out of line, feel free to delete my comment above 12:52, as an ad hominem faux pas.
- ChicagoR - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:18 pm:
“Church members of good will can come to different determinations about a host of issues. Not abortion.”
Speak for yourself. I work for a large Catholic organization, and most of the Catholics here are pro-choice. And they are most certainly all of good will.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:29 pm:
–Sorry Rich, your “we’re suddenly going to pass gay marriage” threads have turned into nothing but anti christian bashing.–
You’re quite wrong. And you speak for yourself, not all Christians.
- reformer - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:35 pm:
As a former Catholic, I’d like to hear what pro-choice and pro-marriage equality Catholic legislators have to say.
- Wensicia - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:47 pm:
What might be considered a sin by the Church does not translate into “evil” behavior. I’m tired of the non-Catholic bashing.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:53 pm:
–First, Paprocki isn’t talking about parties. He’s talking candidates. –
The first six paragraphs of his full text are devoted solely to his problems with the Democratic Convention and Democratic Platform. He then says of the GOP:
“So what about the Republicans? I have read the Republican Party Platform and there is nothing in it that supports or promotes an intrinsic evil or a serious sin.”
- Liberty First - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:54 pm:
So the Bishop has a different moral definition than the secularists. Isn’t this America where we have free speech and freedom of religion?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:56 pm:
===Isn’t this America where we have free speech and freedom of religion? ===
Without a doubt. No question about it.
- Small Town Liberal - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 1:56 pm:
- I, like many, believe this is sodomy and a sin and has no place in a christian founded country like America. -
I guess those founders were just kidding with the whole first amendment, huh?
Also, I find your interest in what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms to be perverse and have no place in a “mind your own damned business” founded country like America.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:12 pm:
For those who want Church leaders endorsing political candidates, Iran is a great example of that. Ours is a democracy, not a theocracy. And that’s exactly what the founders intended.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:12 pm:
==I, like many, believe this is sodomy and a sin and has no place in a christian founded country like America.==
First of all, we have to stop this nonsense that this was a “christian founded country.” People iin this country are allowed to have whatever beliefs they want. Stop perpetuating this lie that the government is or should be christian.
Second, I find your statement apalling. What right of it is yours to tell me how to live my life? If you don’t like it, tough! Being gay is not evil, nor is it a sin. Your Bishop crossed the line with his little diatribe and clearly urges people to support a particular political party. If you want to be part of a Church that crosses the line into politics then that is your right. It’s not a Church, though, in my opinion. It’s an advocacy group in that case.
You are nothing more than a hateful bigot. You should be ashamed of yourself.
- Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:19 pm:
Curiously, in Matthew 25:31-46 (where Jesus talks about “The Judgement of Nations”) clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless are all addressed, but there is nothing about abortion or gay rights. Seems to me those are the things we should focus on.
I cannot understand why the Church hierarchy has chosen those two issues as important above all others.
- Cheryl44 - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:27 pm:
Can we start taxing the churches now? If they’re not going to stop meddling in government, then they get to help foot the bill.
- Cincinnatus - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:27 pm:
“- The Other Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 12:03 pm:
The Catholic Conference wasn’t changed a lot from the Bernardon days. Back then, you would see the Conference actively engage in lobbying for greater social services, welfare, health care, against the death penalty — a whole slew of issues in addition to abortion. ”
The Church has been boxed out from funding on several social services, e.g. adoption. What’s left?
- Liberty First - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:47 pm:
Cheryl- “meddling in government” by churches is a constitutional right - it is called “free exercise” - what the church is not free to do is get a tax exemption for activities unrelated to its religious purpose ….. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
- D.P. Gumby - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:53 pm:
The Catholic Church believes in freedom of religion as long as it’s their religion only and they can inflict it on everyone else. My freedom of religion to be free from the Catholic Church imposing its religion on me through government is called an “attack” on the Catholic Church’s freedom of religion. So my freedom of religion is an attack on their freedom of religion…huh?
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 2:58 pm:
–The Church has been boxed out from funding on several social services, e.g. adoption. What’s left?–
Quite a bit.
If you read the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago Annual Report for 2011, you’ll see that $149.5 million of their $171 million in revenue came from fees and grants from government agencies.
Medicare and Medicaid payments certainly flow into Catholic hospitals and assisted living centers. Government grants and loan-backing get a lot of students enrolled in Catholic colleges and universities. For K-12 schools, there are state school safety grants, transportation reimbursements, and textbook loans.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 3:08 pm:
Unless the Catholic Church has a time machine and is planning on outlawing divorce, I’m not sure how they are planning on “Preserving marriage as the lifelong union between a man and a woman.”
Certainly, there is nothing in HJRCA 50 that makes marriage “lifelong.”
- Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 3:30 pm:
The Democratic Platform reads: “Abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor, and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way.”
Sounds to me like they expect a woman to make the decision with the help of clergy. How is that anti-Catholic? If anything, it’s the priests that aren’t doing their job keeping the members of their church in line. Government has no place imposing Catholic doctrine on everyone, the platform affirms that separation.
- Lakeview - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 3:40 pm:
Given that the Catholic church is opposed to divorce - and will not marry divorced people why don’t the bishops go after divorce? I know far more divorced Catholics - and divorced and remarried Catholics - than gay Catholics. I’m not sure that gay marriage is a really a problem vis a vie Catholics following Catholic teaching.
- Liberty First - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 4:01 pm:
Gumby- exactly what is the Catholic Church inflicting on you by one Bishop pointing out that the political party traditionally supported by Catholics no longer has that support?
- RFK fan - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 4:04 pm:
Though I respect the views of others, for what little it’s worth, this protestant pastor and military chaplain doesn’t have a problem with gay marriage–it’s not an ‘intrinsic evil’.
- Cheryl44 - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 4:05 pm:
I don’t think it’s the lay Catholics who have left the Democratic Party.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 4:27 pm:
Liberty First
Check out page 37
http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/09-19-12%20Political%20release.pdf
- anon - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 5:14 pm:
- Demoralized
==Second, I find your statement apalling. What right of it is yours to tell me how to live my life?==
I’m not telling you how to live your life. What you do in your bedroom is your business. That between you and the God you believe in. What you ARE doing how ever is telling us how to live our lives. Like the County Clerks who believe in traditional marriage who would have to give out the marriage licences, (In New York state many are resigning) or the Catholic Charities who won’t place foster children in same sex households, or in Hawaii where a same sex couple is suing the Catholic Church because it won’t marry them. Now your telling us how to live our lives. And you tell us “tough”. Well, you already have all the perks of being married with civil unions so move along and live your life as it is and leave us alone.
And you say I’m a hateful bigot!
- Demoralized - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 5:35 pm:
==exactly what is the Catholic Church inflicting on you by one Bishop pointing out that the political party traditionally supported by Catholics no longer has that support? ==
The Bishop shouldn’t be talking about any of it. Period. Churches should stay out of politics. If a Church wants to be political then let it convert itself to an advocacy group and cease beinng a Church.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 6:06 pm:
Dear Anon:
I applaud the County Clerks of New York who are resigning. Anyone whose faith prohibits them from carrying out their legal duty as an elected official should put their faith first and resign from office.
Likewise, any organization that does not support same sex unions should refuse to accept contracts from the state to provide foster care services.
But no one is forcing anybody to run for County Clerk in NY or accept foster contracts in Illinois, nor is anyone entitled to be County Clerk or provide foster care services.
When you run for public office, you take an oath to fulfill its duties. When you sign a contract to provide public services, you are obligated to abide by the contract.
My grandmother was a minister, but you’ll find no sympathy from me by arguing that anyone ought to get paid to not provide services.
- David Ormsby - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 6:55 pm:
Bishop Paprocki, Dante Alighieri has a VIP winners circle with your name on it waiting for your arrival…
- Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Sep 27, 12 @ 7:21 pm:
It’s convenient that all the Catholic Churches here in the ‘Patch are also Polling Places so the Intrinsic Evildoers can vote and then head straight to the confessional booth.