I think that if Kerry becomes president, serious damage will be done to Catholic Church in America. I dare say it will be more serious than the sex scandals. For in the end, everyone acknowledges that the sexually predatory acts of many priests were wrong, and so were the actions by the hierarchy to cover up and re-assign those priests. Sin is still a sin. However, a pro-abortion president of the United States, the most powerful man on earth, will be an affront to the Catholic Church in a way that the Church can not ignore. If the American bishops don't act, then Rome surely will.
The question will be: does the Church take her teachings about the intrinsic evil of abortion seriously? If the Church does nothing, then most will conclude no, abortion really isn't all that bad. So even though the sex scandals did not change the teachings of the Church, it will appear that a Kerry presidency has in fact watered down the teachings of the Church. That is, abortion is really not that evil.
But what if the American bishops or the Vatican takes strong action (such as official excommunition) as I think probable? Then I expect that for cafeteria Catholics and politically liberal Catholics this will be the last straw. They will draw on the typical American response, "You can't tell us what to do!" Indeed, fear of schism may hold back a strong action.
It seems the Church will take a hit either way, and there doesn't seem to be middle ground between the two extremes.
I'm not alone in this assessment, although I'm probably alone in daring to compare this to the sex scandal.
Greg Popcak asks "Will a Kerry win cause schism?"
My fear is that by the time the Bishops are forced to lead--one way or the other--the emotional temperature will be so high among Catholics it won't matter what they say. The die will be cast. By then, people will be so emotionally committed to their own agendas that they will be well past listening to reason. And that is exactly the climate in which a schism could easily grow.
Journalist Robert Novak writes:
John Kerry's promise in the last presidential debate that he would impose an abortion litmus test on Supreme Court selections deepened anxiety of pro-life Catholics. For Charles J. Chaput, Roman Catholic archbishop of Denver, and Brian P. Golden, a Democrat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, election of a pro-choice Catholic spells disaster.
Law professor Greg Sisk writes:
It is for these reasons, principled reasons far beyond those flowing from ordinary partisan politics, that I and so many others genuinely tremble at the prospect of a President Kerry. It is difficult even to contemplate the appalling spectacle of a professing Catholic who knowingly and freely and energetically gives financial and legal aid and moral comfort to those who daily add to our national holocaust. Watching the most powerful man in the country throwing his arms in a warm embrace around those who kill unborn children, while banishing from government and judicial office those who would promote life, would be heart-rendingly painful. That this same man then could claim communion with the Church of Life is astounding. Such unavoidably would be an act of fundamental dishonesty and contempt for the Churchs witness to life. The scandal that would be caused to the faithful and the injury to the Churchs credibility and voice on issues of life might reverberate for years.
As far as the probable response that I'm fear mongering for votes against Kerry, it's just not true. I honestly believe that no earthly message will budge a Kerry "Catholic" from his or her vote for Kerry.
Posted by Bob at October 21, 2004 09:58 PM