"How to Tell a Duck From a Fox"

Shaking up the hierarchy, I'm sure, as much as the politicians, Denver's archbishop Charles Chaput lays it on the line in his weekly column:

.... We've come a long way from John F. Kennedy, who merely locked his faith in the closet. Now we have Catholic senators who take pride in arguing for legislation that threatens and destroys life — and who then also take Communion.

The kindest explanation for this sort of behavior is that a lot of Catholic candidates don't know their own faith. And that's why, in a spirit of charity, the Holy See offered its guidance and encouragement in a little document last year On Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Public Life.

Nothing in this Roman document is new. But it offers a vision of public service filled with common sense....

Our job as Catholics this election year — if we're serious about our faith — is to not get fooled.

Candidates who claim to be "Catholic" but who publicly ignore Catholic teaching about the sanctity of human life are offering a dishonest public witness. They may try to look Catholic and sound Catholic, but unless they act Catholic in their public service and political choices, they're really a very different kind of creature.

And real Catholics should vote accordingly.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 04/16/04 06:32:19 AM
Categorized as Political & Religious.