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theo Chicagotribune.com, November 18, 2008.
Giám mục Ca-tô và Obama
Vậy là các ông Giám mục Công giáo bàn kế thách thức Tổng Thống đắc cử Barack Obama về vấn đề phá thai.
Là một người Công giáo, tôi xem việc "phá thai" là một điều ác hiển nhiên. Tuy nhiên, chính trị là một loại nghệ thuật của sự khả thể. Tôi thà là đi theo đường lối của Obama và cố gắng loại bỏ các điều kiện xã hội đã làm gia tăng các vụ phá thai còn hơn là ban hành các luật lệ hà khắc kết tội những người không tin giống như chúng ta. Nhân đây, các vị giám mục, mà phẩm trật đã được đúc khuôn trong những lò luyện kim của sự thống trị của đế quốc La Mã, đứng trong một nơi chốn khác thường, mà lại phê phán những việc làm của một chế độ cộng hòa dân chủ. Không một ai trong các vị giám mục được bầu lên do những người dân mà họ giả đò phục vụ. Vị nào cũng đều do Giáo hoàng bổ nhậm. Các ông giám mục Công giáo nên lo chỉnh đốn việc nhà của mình trước khi đặt để chỉ trích này nọ vào vị lãnh đạo đã được bầu một cách dân chủ.
—Joe Marren, Chicago
(xin đọc bản tin về chuyện các giám mục thách thức Obama bên dưới thư của Joe Marren, Chicago)
Bishops vs. Obama
So, the Roman Catholic bishops plan to challenge President-elect Barack
Obama on abortion ("Bishops to challenge Obama on abortion," News, Nov. 12).
As a Catholic, I view abortion as a positive evil. Politics, however, is
the art of the possible. I would rather follow Obama's direction and work to
eliminate the social conditions that give rise to abortion than enact
draconian laws that criminalize those who do not believe as we do. By the
way, the bishops, whose hierarchy was forged in the crucible of Roman
imperial rule, stand in an odd place to be commenting on the workings of a
democratic republic. Not one of them was elected by the people they pretend
to serve. Every one was appointed by the pope. The Catholic bishops should
clean up their own house before they begin laying strictures on a
democratically elected leader.
—Joe Marren, Chicago
Source: The Business Council of Westchester: https://westchesterny.illumen.org/moreNews.jsf
Bishops to challenge Obama on abortion
Nov 12, 2008 — Chicago Tribune
Manya A. Brachear
Nov. 12, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
BALTIMORE -- In a direct challenge to President-elect Barack Obama, America's
Roman Catholic bishops vowed on Tuesday to accept no compromise for the sake of
national unity until there is legal protection for the unborn.
About 300 bishops, gathered in Baltimore for their national meeting, adopted
a formal blessing for a child in the womb and advised Chicago's Cardinal Francis
George, president of the conference, as he began drafting a statement from the
bishops to the incoming Obama administration. That document will call on the
administration and Catholics who supported Obama to work to outlaw abortion.
"This is not a matter of political compromise or a matter of finding some way
of common ground," said Bishop Daniel Conlon of Steubenville, Ohio. "It's a
matter of absolutes."
The bishops, long one of the leading political forces against abortion, spent
the first part of Tuesday behind closed doors reportedly debating the merits of
"Faithful Citizenship," a nuanced guide for Catholic voters issued last
November. Though the document made clear that "the direct and intentional
destruction of innocent human life is always wrong and is not just one issue
among many," it also advised Catholics to weigh issues like poverty, war, the
environment and human rights when choosing candidates.
But some bishops said they were surprised to see Catholics cite the document
as justification for selecting candidates -- like Obama -- who support abortion
rights. A slim majority of the nation's Catholics voted for the Democratic
candidate.
Several bishops said that Catholics could not in good conscience vote for a
candidate who favored abortion rights after Obama pledged to pass legislation
that would overturn states' restrictions on abortion such as late-term abortion
bans and requirements of parental consent.
"Any one of us here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow -- die
tomorrow! -- to bring about the end of abortion," said Auxiliary Bishop Robert
Hermann of St. Louis.
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago said such legislation could threaten laws
that allow health-care workers to refrain from carrying out procedures that
violate their conscience, putting Catholic health-care institutions in jeopardy.
"There are grave consequences," Paprocki said in an interview. "If Catholic
hospitals were required by federal law to perform abortions, we'd have to close
our hospitals."
"I don't think I'm being alarmist," Paprocki told the bishops.
In crafting the statement to Obama, the bishops urged the cardinal to
indicate a desire to work with the administration in areas of economic justice,
Immigration reform, health care for the poor and religious freedom. But they
stressed the church's "intent on opposing evil" and "defense of the unborn
child." They vowed to oppose any law or executive order that might loosen
abortion restrictions.
They emphasized that efforts to advance abortion rights would "permanently
alienate tens of millions of Americans and would be interpreted by many
Catholics as an attack on the church." They also urged Catholics in public life
to be committed to the teachings of the church.
Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa., vice president-elect Joe Biden's
hometown, called on his brother bishops to be more punitive against Catholic
officials who are "stridently anti-life."
"I cannot have the vice president coming to Scranton and saying he learned
his values there when those values are utterly against those of the Catholic
Church," Martino said.
Sister Jamie Phelps, a theologian at Xavier University in Louisiana, also
served on Obama's National Catholic Advisory Board. She applauds the bishops for
issuing the statement. But she said the "Faithful Citizenship" document made it
clear that voters should consider a whole range of issues that touch on how
government treats children.
"That child has no voice if it's not the voice of the bishops and the voice
of Catholics," she said. "But you cannot pick and choose an intrinsic evil."
The bishops also approved a blessing on Tuesday devoted to a child in the
womb, intended to support parents, unite parishes and foster respect for human
life within society.
mbrachear@tribune.com
Newstex ID: KRTB-0197-29481863
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A Soldier, Taking Orders From Its Ethical Judgment Center Nov 25, 2008 — New
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2008 — Newsday Economic Slump May Limit Moves on Clean Energy Nov 25, 2008 — New
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