Cardinal Rigali: God Thunders 'This is a Child'

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (The Catholic Standard and Times) - In the context of our continued observance of October as Respect Life Month, this week�s topic reflects the title and contents of the United States Bishops� document: �Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.� This document complements the teaching of bishops in the various dioceses of the United States. However, it is not a topic that is new to American Catholics or, for that matter, to Catholics of any age or time.

Love of home and love of the place where we live can be said to be as old as the human race. Perhaps it is a reflection of the fact that our first parents lived in a place which was sacred because of God�s communion with them there in the Garden. The pagan Roman authors wrote of the patria, the land beloved by a people because they lived there. Jesus is very much associated with the places where He was born, where He lived His early life and where He fulfilled His public mission of preaching, teaching, dying and rising for our salvation. We have been created in such a way that we are called to live in a community of persons and the distinct communities we are a part of become important to us.

The development of forms of government

In order to promote the common good and ensure the well-being and safety of individuals, local and national governments have grown out of humanity�s need for order and protection. These governments may take many different forms and they have evolved in different ways over the ages. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that the citizen �owes loyalty to the communities of which he is a part and respect to those in authority who have charge of the common good� (CCC, 1880). In his Encyclical Pacem In Terris, Blessed John XXIII wrote: �Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institutions and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all� (no. 46).

The relationship of the Church to various types of government has taken on many different forms over the course of her long history. There have been governments which have persecuted the Church and its members, there have been governments which made the Church a part of their identity and there have been governments within which the Church enjoyed the freedom to pursue her mission, with the state being neither friend nor enemy of her beneficial work.

In the United States of America, our own country, the Church has generally enjoyed the freedom to pursue her mission and in turn has brought many benefits to American society, especially through our institutions of charity and our schools. Catholic schools have not only saved taxpayers billions of dollars, they have also taught patriotism and love of country within their walls. I am sure that many of you reading this will recall the patriotism and responsibility to our country that was taught to you when you were a student in one of our parish or archdiocesan schools.

The faithful citizenship of American Catholics

Faithful citizenship has been carried out by hundreds of thousands of Catholic soldiers in defense of our country. It is particularly significant to note the many Catholics who fought during the Second World War because, in many cases, these soldiers were the children or grandchildren of immigrants from the very countries they were fighting, as in the case of the Italian-American and German-American soldiers. Many Irish-American soldiers fought at the side of an ally, the United Kingdom, which at times had been unjust to Catholics in Ireland.Yet these faithful American Catholics fought bravely for their country. In this age of the �sound bite� and the manipulation of the mind by clever advertising and appeals to emotion, it is important to know history and to see issues in their proper context.

The Catholic Church in the United States has left to �Caesar� the things that are proper to government, when issues do not involve the abuse of human rights or the rights of the natural and divine law. Government has sometimes sought out the support of Church leaders in certain circumstances. For instance, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to pursue friendly relations with Cardinal George Mundelein of Chicago in order to receive the Cardinal�s support of his social programs, and Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York, in order to reassure American Catholics that it was not immoral to aid communist Russia during World War II.

If an issue involves the common good of the American people or the resolution of a moral question, the bishops of the United States have been willing to be of assistance to the state. However, the affirmation of the Catholic Bishops of Pennsylvania, contained in our recently-issued public statement, remains true: �We bishops do not endorse any ...

Dear Matt,

I find your views quite interesting, because you really have got it for the most part (especially with your personal experience). But I would like to ask you, the same question that you posed, if GOD is going to ask each individual on the voting record for pro-abortion candidates, don't you think HE is going to ask our dear Bishops, as to why they didn't give proper guidance when it was required, that such a vote could very well jeopardize their eternal lives. Hence any attempts at muffling the guiding voices of our dear Bishops can be also construed by GOD to be against us (which is not something that we can afford to risk).

Secondly, you have a very logical argument that we have to first change the hearts of the people, but you have to also realize that when Abraham Lincoln won the election, it had triggered the Civil War, before even officially slavery had been abolished (as it had been expected). You have to understand that Lincoln did not promise to abolish slavery, he only wanted to restrict it to the States that already had slavery laws (without spreading it to other States). The result of his election was the Civil War (1861-1865). Do you think that abolishment of slavery was worth risking this war (which is hindsight)? Similarly the effects of trying to coerce (even with force at times) the equality of all races, in all fields like education had met with significant opposition, but that was not an excuse to withdraw from it.

Courage and valor are not for those with weak knees, rather for those with strong knees and is meant to uphold the Truth, no matter what the cost.

If we lay down our actions to wait for all the people to accept our viewpoint, it is never going to happen, because not everyone will accept one belief at any one time. Hence do we determine that there should be a majority of people supporting, I believe that elections are the best way to find that out.

In the case of slavery, was Civil War necessary, probably, one will not be able to determine with any amount of certainity, but one thing is for sure, if they hadn't adopted that stand against slavery, we might still have it prevalent among us and that is something that we can hardly contemplate in this present society that we live. Similarly decades from now, there would be people viewing our generation with either pride or contempt (that we didn't have the courage or valour to stand up and speak out against grave injustices).

I'm sure that if your grandmother had been alive, she would have supported the same view that I hold, because there probably were not enough people to tell her the horrors of abortion. Do you realize that with Freedom of Choice Act, whatever laws are there (like informed consent, parental notification, partial birth abortion, etc) which could better inform the persons making the decision, of the consequences of their decisions, would be wiped out entirely? That is the first piece of legislation that Sen. Barrack Obama would sign (as per his own words).

Do you think your grandmother would have voted for him, I believe you are the living proof that she wouldn't have and I believe that it burdens you with a greater responsibility in this matter.

Vote responsibly, like this would be the last vote you have (for you never know) and you might not have the chances your grandmother had to make amends.

GOD Bless!

Bin | 10/25/2008

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