Archbishop Chaput Isn't Lowering the Heat

On Kmiec or his fellow Bishops.

In the past few days Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archdiocese of Denver, has made his views known.

1st, what he had to say post election to Kmiec. Here is an excerpt of an open letter to Kmiec he wrote to The Public Discourse (A Letter to the Editor from Charles J. Chaput)

"Nonetheless, good manners do not trump facts, and as an attorney himself, Prof. Kmiec surely knows the importance of candor. Anderson and Girgis are neither misleading nor uncharitable in their critique of his partisanship. On the contrary, they identify serious falsehoods and misdirections in Prof. Kmiec's ''prolife'' advocacy for Sen. Obama. I'm disappointed that in the course of his advocacy, the professor has apparently never faced up to the facts of Sen. Obama's longstanding and extensive efforts to deprive an entire class of human beings--unborn children--of basic legal protections against homicide, or Sen. Obama's pledge to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize abortion, thus coercively implicating Catholics and other prolife citizens in the killing. Nor does Prof. Kmiec acknowledge that the foundational principle of the entire social Gospel is the right of every member of the human family to protection against unjust violent attack.

Prof. Kmiec's stated desire to cooperate in building a culture of life is, of course, gratifying. As Cardinal Francis George has noted, America's addiction to abortion has left it a nation ''drenched in blood.'' Having spent months urging Catholics to vote for Candidate Obama despite the senator's promises to remove all meaningful restrictions on abortion and to make abortion more widely available, Prof. Kmiec has a unique opportunity to press a newly elected President Obama to reconsider his most extreme positions, such as his support for partial-birth abortion (which the senator justified with the false claim that it is sometimes ''medically'' required) and his opposition to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (which he untenably claimed was unnecessary because the laws of his state already adequately protected babies who survived abortions).

Sen. Barack Obama has promised to sign a sweepingly abortion-friendly ''Freedom of Choice'' Act; authorize human cloning to produce embryos for stem cell research in which they are killed; cut off funding for prolife pregnancy clinics; and nominate only ''pro-choice'' judges to the U.S. Supreme Court. Maybe all of these commitments are an elegant charade.

Maybe I've missed a ''prolife'' theme in here somewhere. But no matter. Along with many, many other Catholics and prolife citizens, I look forward eagerly to Prof. Kmiec's vocal advocacy against these profoundly unjust policies."

Something tells me that Archbishop Chaput doesn't really expect Kmiec to do the right thing. Rather, I suspect that he is putting Kmiec & other so called "Pro-life Catholic" Obama supporters on notice that he is not going to roll over & shut up.

Then there is his short & to the point statement about the election sent to Obama & signed by him & Auxillary Bishop James D. Conley: "During a time when our nation is faced with many serious challenges, we especially pray that President-elect Obama will work to defend every human life without exception as the foundation to every other responsibility of his governance and leadership." The Archbishop reiterates what Pope John Paul said about the 1st right to be defended is that of the right to life. & without it, none of the other rights will matter.

Next up is an interview he did for American Papist. In it he has more to say about Obama as well as the upcoming Bishops meeting next week.

On Obama & the support of him by Catholics like Kmiec has him upset: " It would be foolish to say that someone who ... runs on a party platform that has no regret at all about abortion ... to call that position pro-life is really strange."

He goes on to say: "Senator Obama is the most active pro-abortion politician to run for the Presidency since Roe v. Wade. He has committed himself to do things the Church would resist."

He is very blunt when he talks about the actions of Catholics United to intimidate Pro-Lifers & in doing so, keep them from distributing pro-life voting materials outside Catholic churches last weekend. "It's simply bullying. It shouldn't stop us from talking about the important issues of our time."

Then there is the way these Pro-Obama Catholics twisted Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship to justify voting for Obama.

He goes on to talk about the upcoming Bishops conference & the discussion of how this document was abused as well as the way many Bishops have handled it. He says that this "quieter approach to these things has not been effective." He admits to flaws in the document. He admits a lack of clarity in the document & then says: "We either ought to get rid of it, or say things much clearer." He also makes it clear that being soft on pro-choice Catholics can't go on. "We have to be stronger in what we say. We've just had it."

As for these Pro-choice Catholics receiving Communion. he is very blunt. "I don’t think there’s any differences among the bishops about pro-choice Catholics presenting themselves for Communion. They shouldn’t do it.”

He continues: “That’s not what the debate’s about among bishops. Because if you’re not in union with the Church on the serious issues of faith and morals you shouldn’t receive Communion, whether you’re a bishop or a private citizen, a simple Catholic or a politician who claims to be Catholic. The differences among the bishops is whether they should be refused Holy Communion if they present themselves anyway.”

I am willing to bet that next week's Bishops conference will have a few fireworks. There are plenty of Bishops who are getting fed up with the ongoing scandal involving these pro-choicers. & they are in the ascendancy. & there is a soon coming time when the bureaucracy at the USCCB will no longer be able to run interference to ensure that things are watered down. & I suspect that Archbishop Chaput will be 1 of those leading the charge. Let us pray for Archbishop Chaput & the other Bishops so that God will bless them with the courage & strength needed to do what must be done.

_________________

Added 9 November 2008, 12:55 AM

Even with the announcement that the Bishops are dropping the discussion of the elections, I still think there will be some fireworks, behind the scenes, but they will be there. The Bishops are going to have to deal with this sooner or later. & the sooner they do, the better. This is not going to go away. & the longer they wait the worse the problem will get. Given how many Bishops took it on their own to deal with the weaknesses of Faithful Citizenship, & that most of them will be arround in 2 or 4 years, it will be interesting to see what happens.

The big problem, is & remains the USCCB bureaucracy that definitely leans far left. They will do all they can to sabatoge things, unless we get some strong leadership to clean things up. Maybe the Bishops ought to look at Finn & Chaput for the leadership needed.