Politics
Monday November 6, 2006
U.S. Bishop: Catholics May Only Vote for Pro-Abortion Candidates When They're less Pro-Abortion than Opponent
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By John-Henry Westen
CAMDEN, NJ, November 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Bishop of Camden New Jersey, has a double doctorate. Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, is a doctor of canon law, and a doctor of Divinities. In a letter to the faithful last week the bishop expounded on a statement made by Cardinal Ratzinger just prior to his election to the pontificate which has often been used wrongly to suggest that Catholics may support pro-abortion politicians because they agree with them on issues other than abortion.
In a 2003 letter to the US Bishops' Conference, then Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in a bracketed afterthought: "When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons."
Key to understanding the statement is the phrase "proportionate reasons".
In his article, Bishop Galante writes: "Note that this does not mean simply weighing a wide range of issues against abortion and euthanasia and concluding that they cumulatively outweigh the evil of taking an innocent life. Rather, for there to be proportionate reasons, the voter would have to be convinced that the candidate who supports abortion rights would actually do more than the opposing candidate to limit the harm of abortion or to reduce the number of abortions."
The main text of Cardinal Ratzinger's letter backs up the point by indicating abortion and euthanasia are more serious considerations than even war or the death penalty. "There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia," wrote Cardinal Ratzinger.
See the full article by Bishop Galante:
http://pr.camdendiocese.org/Bishop/Faithful%20Citizenship%20Page.htm
See the full letter by then Cardinal Ratzinger:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/050419a.html
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