Just What We Don't Need in Congress Another Pro- Choice Catholic In Name Only

This headline from LifeNews shouldn't surprize any of us. It is sad, but true.

CAROLINE KENNEDY WOULD PUSH ABORTION IF SHE REPLACES HILLARY CLINTON IN SENATE

It starts out by saying the obvious: "For faithful Roman Catholics, the thought of yet another pro-choice Kennedy positioned to campaign for the unlimited right to abortion is discouraging." The reason is simple "if Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of Catholics John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, is appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton, abortion-rights advocates will have just such a champion."

1st is the fact "that on the same day Ms. Kennedy telephoned New York Gov. David Patterson to declare interest in the Senate seat, one of her first calls was to an abortion rights group, indicating she will be strongly pro-choice."

& it gets worse. "Within the first week of her candidacy, Ms. Kennedy promised to work for several causes, including same-sex marriage and abortion rights." She has made it clear she opposes parental notification. When asked about any limitations at all on abortion, she said that she "supports Roe v. Wade, which prohibits third trimester abortions except when the life or health of the mother is at risk." In other words without saying it she says she opposes all limitations on abortion.

As the article points out "Presumably Ms. Kennedy knows that this effectively means an unlimited right to abortion -- including late-stage abortion -- because the "health of the mother" can be so broadly defined that it includes the psychological distress that can accompany an unintended pregnancy."

The LifeSite story is the 1st part of a bigger Wall Street Journal article by Anne Hendershott that explains how Catholic priests and professors helped turn Kennedys From Pro-Life to Pro-Abortion. Yes, you read that right. However when you read who these priests & profs were, you won't be surprized at some of the names.

As late as 1971 the Kennedys were still Pro-life. On 3 August 1971 Ted Kennedy wrote the following to 1 of his constituants: "When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."

So what happenned to turn the Kennedys et al from being Pro-Life to unabashedly pro-abortion? & who are these professors & priests that are to blame for aiding & abetting them?

Everything "changed in the early '70s, when Democratic politicians first figured out that the powerful abortion lobby could fill their campaign coffers (and attract new liberal voters)." So, it started with the old sin, love of money.

Meanwhile the Catholic Heirarchy in the US dropped the ball. " Politicians also began to realize that, despite the Catholic Church's teachings to the contrary, its bishops and priests had ended their public role of responding negatively to those who promoted a pro-choice agenda."

Even worse: "In some cases, church leaders actually started providing "cover" for Catholic pro-choice politicians who wanted to vote in favor of abortion rights."

"At a meeting at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass., . . . . the Kennedy family and its advisers and allies were coached by leading theologians and Catholic college professors on how to accept and promote abortion with a clear conscience.'"

So who were these traitors to the Catholic Faith? They were former Jesuit priest Albert Jonsen, the Rev. Joseph Fuchs, a Catholic moral theologian; the Rev. Robert Drinan, then dean of Boston College Law School; and three academic theologians, the Revs. Giles Milhaven, Richard McCormick and Charles Curran.

At the least you should recognize 2 names, Frs. Drinan & Charles Curran. Fr. Drinan was a US Congressman from Massachusetts. He was is elected in 1970.To justify his pro-abortion stand he said that while he was personally opposed to abortion, he claimed he considered it "virtual infanticide," its legality was a separate issue from its morality. He left Congress in 1980 when Pope John Paul II made it clear that priests couldn't hold elected office. Given that up to this time he had refused to do so despite calls from Church leaders, it was a bit of a surprize he did so in 1980. Fr. Drinan died in 2007. I wonder how he explained his words & deeds to God & all the unborn who died as a result of his actions.

Fr. Curran is another famous dissident. In 1968 he rejected what Pope Paul VI said about artificial contraception in Humanae Vitae. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he continued to dissent from Catholic moral teachings. In 1986 he was removed from faculty of The Catholic University of America. It happenned because he unapologetically maintained the right to dissent from official Church teachings which had not been issued as ex cathedra statements. He rejected the concept of the Ordinary Magisterium and the teaching authority of the Pope and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (For why Curran was wrong I refer you to my post Brian Clowes on Dignitas Personae Pt. 1 where Dr. Clowes refutes this line of dissent.)

In his 2003 book on Bioethics Mr. Jonsen writes "that the Hyannisport colloquium was influenced by the position of another Jesuit, the Rev. John Courtney Murray, a position that 'distinguished between the moral aspects of an issue and the feasibility of enacting legislation about that issue.' It was the consensus at the Hyannisport conclave that Catholic politicians 'might tolerate legislation that would permit abortion under certain circumstances if political efforts to repress this moral error led to greater perils to social peace and order.' "

Another participant, Father Milhaven talked about the gathering during a 1984 breakfast briefing of Catholics for a Free Choice. "The theologians worked for a day and a half among ourselves at a nearby hotel. In the evening we answered questions from the Kennedys and the Shrivers. Though the theologians disagreed on many a point, they all concurred on certain basics . . . and that was that a Catholic politician could in good conscience vote in favor of abortion."

The article goes on to point out that some bishops like Archbishop Chaput of Denver have "been on the front lines in encouraging Catholics to live their faith without compromise in the public square." These Bishops are "beginning to confront the Catholic politicians who consistently vote in favor of legislation to support abortion."

Some but not all. "New York's Cardinal Edward Egan, for instance, has not publicly challenged Ms. Kennedy's pro-choice promises."

Author Anne Hendershott concludes her WSJ article by saying: "This is unfortunate. Until the clerics begin to counter the pro-choice claims made by high-profile Catholics such as Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and, now, Caroline Kennedy, faithful Catholics will continue to be bewildered by their pastoral silence." Sad, but way more true than I or any faithful Roman Catholic would like.

Someday, these theologians & politicians will have to answer for their sins, meanwhile the unborn continue to pay the price for their dissent.