OTTAWA, Nov 20 (LSN.ca) - This morning on Canada AM, Progressive Conservative Party Leader Joe Clark once again touted his pro-abortion views, again mentioning that he considers himself a “Catholic.” When asked if his pro-choice position and Roman Catholic religion were contradictory, Clark responded: “I am a Roman Catholic, I am pro choice. ... Anyone who knows anything about the Roman Catholic Church knows that [abortion] has been an issue of division for quite sometime.”
Catholics who contacted LifeSite were extremely offended that Clark is “making a mockery of my religion, day after day.” There is no division in the Catholic Church over abortion. It is clearly defined by the Catholic Catechism as a “moral evil,” a “grave offense” and a “crime against human life” to which “the Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication.”
See Lifesite’s page of quotes by religious leaders on the moral obligations of politicians and voters at: http://www.lifesite.net/interim/2000/election2000/moralobligations.html