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A Weekly Standard Exclusive, by a Conservative Roman Catholic:

The "Liberals Like Christ" response :

Tom Daschle's Duty to Be Morally Coherent A Weekly Standard Exclusive: by J. Bottum, 04/17/2003         { I, Ray D., would like to have reproduced the whole article, below, but rather than risk violating Copyright laws, here are relevant excerpts, to which I respond in the column to the right : )         The Senate minority leader is ordered to stop calling himself a Catholic. Tom Daschle may no longer call himself a Catholic. The Senate minority leader and the highest ranking Democrat in Washington has been sent a letter by his home diocese of Sioux Falls, sources in South Dakota have told The Weekly Standard, directing him to remove from his congressional biography and campaign documents all references to his standing as a member of the Catholic Church.         This isn't exactly excommunication--which is unnecessary, in any case, since Daschle made himself ineligible for communion almost 20 years ago with his divorce and remarriage to a Washington lobbyist. . . . But Daschle's consistent political opposition to Catholic teachings on moral issues--abortion, in particular--has made him such a problem for ordinary churchgoers that the Church must deny him the use of the word "Catholic."         . . .This year, on January 16, Bishop Carlson received additional ammunition for his discussions with Daschle when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued in Rome a "Doctrinal Note" on Catholics in political life. "A well-formed Christian conscience," the note declared, "does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals."         The Doctrinal Note marks at least the beginning of the end of the Vatican's toleration of what the pope's biographer George Weigel has called "Cuomoism" in the American Church: the effort to finesse abortion by declaring oneself personally opposed but politically supportive of laws allowing abortion. Catholics have a "duty to be morally coherent," the Doctrinal Note declares, and the Catholic fight on the life issues--abortion, euthanasia, and cloning--is not some merely prudential question, to be decided by political give and take. The Catholic Church doesn't take political positions--except when politics intrudes into something, like the right to life, that ought to be beyond the power of politicians.         There's quite a list of pro-abortion Catholics in Washington--beginning with Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic minority leader in the House--who could use similar instruction in "the duty to be morally coherent." Just in the Senate, there's Biden, Collins, Daschle, Dodd, Harkin, Kennedy, Kerry, Landrieu, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Reed, and more. But at least Tom Daschle has now been forced by Bishop Carlson to assume some responsibility for moral coherence--even if it is, unfortunately, a coherence achieved in the wrong direction.         Catholic Republican writer J. Bottum concludes:         " This isn't a matter of favoring Republicans or Democrats. Regardless of their party, public figures who aren't going to oppose abortion shouldn't call themselves Catholic anymore." Ray Dubuque's response:         What nonsense!  There are more issues on which Democrats agree more with official Catholic teaching than do Republicans. See shame-on-the-Roman-Catholic-hierarchy.website/about/RC_vote.html         Some interesting web pages relating to the issues above : http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/ 2006/01/31/democrats_courting_catholics/

Duty of Roman Catholic Hierarchy to Be Morally Coherent         A "Liberals Like Christ" Exclusive: by Rev. Raymond Dubuque Neither the leader of the entire Roman Catholic Church, or the Catholic bishops of the Church in Germany ever ordered the leader of the NAZI AXIS nations and mastermind of the holocaust of 6 million Jews and of 4 million other innocent victims to stop calling himself a "Catholic". Adolf Hitler ( and the other Roman Catholic heads of the very Roman Catholic nations of Italy, Spain, Vichy France, Czechoslovakia and Croatia ) were never told themselves, nor were their Roman Catholic subjects ever told that they were no longer to be considered "Catholics". [ See the panoply of Roman Catholic leaders of the Third Reich.]         None of these leaders were ever excommunicated, nor was the NAZI Bible's place as the best seller in Germany ever threatened by the Church putting it on its "Index of Forbidden Books".         Nothing that Hitler or any of the millions of Roman Catholics who served under him did in the implementation of his diabolical plans --which he had spelled out in "Mein Kampf" -- was considered serious enough to prompt the bishops of the Catholic Church to question their standing in the Church.         In 1933, Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) and then Papal ambassador or "Nuncio" to Germany worked out a compromise with Hitler called the "Reich Concordat," in which the Catholic Church would keep its own members in line and out of political matters, in exchange for Hitler staying out of matters relating to "the celestial sphere".         Although the Nazis frequently ignored the deal, they got more than enough cooperation from the Church to make the crumbs that they gave to the Church worthwhile.         Throughout his administration, the 33% of Germans who were Catholics were given "moral and spiritual guidance", consisting mostly of of directions to be loyal and obedient German subjects: shame-on-the-Roman-Catholic-hierarchy.website/about/RC_nytimes.html.         Roman Catholic apologists continue to insist that the Church has nothing to be ashamed of, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, including: 10 million dead bodies the requirement of 10's of millions of "willing executioners", about 33% of whom were at least nominal "Roman Catholics" the existence of plenty of public statements in support of Hitler's administration. the constant insistence on the part of Pope's Pius XI and Pius XII that the Catholic Church had to maintain its neutrality (and not take a public stance against the Fascist AXIS countries). the non-existence of public statements to the contrary, particularly the excommunication of any of the many Roman Catholic masterminds of the many Nazi atrocities, and the banning of ' Mein Kampf". the fact that only seven individual Roman Catholics are known to have refused to serve in Hitler's Army and that instead of being praised for their courage, some of these were considered such "bad Catholics" that they were refused the sacraments. The fact that -- contrary to its claim that any public opposition on its part would result in worse persecution of the Jews -- when Bulgaria, a NAZI axis nation refused to surrender its Jewish citizens, Hitler backed off and none of Bulgaria's Jews lost their lives! See the horrendous record of the Roman Catholic Church during the Holocaust period. The Roman Catholic bishops of Germany did not divorce themselves from Hitler, nor did they threaten to excommunicate him.  The main argument that Catholic apologists offer are statements made by Jews praising Pope Pius XII (for reasons any politician would understand as good politics at the time, not necessarily Bible truth).         The Roman Catholic Pope and the Roman Catholic Bishops of Germany had a lot in common with Adolf Hitler, as do today's Pope and America's R C bishops, when it comes to abortion and another matter of great contention in America today, homosexuality :         On the first, Adolf Hitler made plain his Catholic feelings on abortion, in the Nazi bible, "Mein Kampf".         "I'll put an end to the idea that a woman's body belongs to her . . .  Nazi ideals demand that the practice of abortion shall be exterminated with a strong hand."         Accordingly, Hitler sentenced Aryan women who had abortions to hard labor after the first offense, to death after the second.         On the second, sounding more like a churchman than a politician, Hitler declared:         "Homosexuality is the mark of Cain, of a godless and soulless culture which is sick to the core.  The teaching of the youth to appreciate the value of the community, derives its strongest inner power from the truths of Christianity.  For this reason, it will always be my special duty to safeguard the right and free development of the Christian school and the Christian fundamentals of all education."         What "Moral Coherence" requires is that churchmen who couldn't bring themselves to divorce themselves from Hitler's thinking when he was alive, should at least confess their sins now and cease acting like moral giants when they are nothing but moral pygmies.

House Democrats Release Historic Catholic Statement of Principles Expresses Commitment to Dignity of Life and Belief that Government Has 'Moral Purpose' Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Washington, D.C. – "A majority of Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House led by Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today released a statement of principles. Signed by 55 House Democrats, the statement documents how their faith influences them as lawmakers, making clear their commitment to the basic principles at the heart of Catholic social teaching and their bearing on policy – whether it is increasing access to education for all or pressing for real health care reform, taking seriously the decision to go to war, or reducing poverty. Above all, the document expresses the signers’ commitment to the dignity of life and their belief that government has moral purpose. The full text of the statement and the complete list of signers follow. Statement of Principles by Fifty-Five Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives "As Catholic Democrats in Congress, we are proud to be part of the living Catholic tradition -- a tradition that promotes the common good, expresses a consistent moral framework for life and highlights the need to provide a collective safety net to those individuals in society who are most in need. As legislators, in the U.S. House of Representatives, we work every day to advance respect for life and the dignity of every human being. We believe that government has moral purpose. We are committed to making real the basic principles that are at the heart of Catholic social teaching: helping the poor and disadvantaged, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and ensuring that all Americans of every faith are given meaningful opportunities to share in the blessings of this great country. That commitment is fulfilled in different ways by legislators but includes: reducing the rising rates of poverty; increasing access to education for all; pressing for increased access to health care; and taking seriously the decision to go to war. Each of these issues challenges our obligations as Catholics to community and helping those in need.         We envision a world in which every child belongs to a loving family and agree with the Catholic Church about the value of human life and the undesirability of abortion—we do not celebrate its practice. Each of us is committed to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term. We believe this includes promoting alternatives to abortion, such as adoption, and improving access to children's healthcare and child care, as well as policies that encourage paternal and maternal responsibility.         In all these issues, we seek the Church's guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience. In recognizing the Church's role in providing moral leadership, we acknowledge and accept the tension that comes with being in disagreement with the Church in some areas. Yet we believe we can speak to the fundamental issues that unite us as Catholics and lend our voices to changing the political debate -- a debate that often fails to reflect and encompass the depth and complexity of these issues.         As legislators, we are charged with preserving the Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom for all Americans. In doing so, we guarantee our right to live our own lives as Catholics, but also foster an America with a rich diversity of faiths. We believe the separation of church and state allows for our faith to inform our public duties.         As Catholic Democrats who embrace the vocation and mission of the laity as expressed by Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici, we believe that the Church is the "people of God," called to be a moral force in the broadest sense. We believe the Church as a community is called to be in the vanguard of creating a more just America and world. And as such, we have a claim on the Church's bearing as it does on ours."

Wm. Lacy Clay James R. Langevin Anna Eshoo Betty McCollum Raul M. Grijalva John B. Larson Joe Baca Tim Ryan Mike Thompson Charles A. Gonzalez Diane Watson Nydia Velazquez Frank Pallone James P. McGovern Tim Holden Dale E. Kildee Cynthia McKinney Michael Capuano Mike Doyle Maurice Hinchey Joseph Crowley Lucille Roybal-Allard Robert Brady Grace Napolitano Jose Serrano Edward J. Markey

Lane Evans Hilda L. Solis Bart Stupak Bill Pascrell Gene Taylor Carolyn McCarthy Ed Pastor William Delahunt Silvestre Reyes Linda T. Sanchez Xavier Becerra Michael H. Michaud Jim Marshall John T. Salazar George Miller James L. Oberstar Patrick J. Kennedy James P. Moran Richard E. Neal Peter A. DeFazio Dennis A. Cardoza Jim Costa Loretta Sanchez Marty Meehan Luis V. Gutierrez Stephen Lynch Nancy Pelosi