| Politics

Roe is mistaken constitutional law, because it's not based on the Constitution or any tradition or custom implicit within its terms, and on this, Father Neuhaus and I agreed.

MALIBU, California (Catholic Online) - As the readers of Catholic Online know very well,Professor Doug Kmiec and I disagreed quite seriously on how a faithful Catholic citizen should approach the exercise of their vote in this recent Presidential election in the United States. This strong disagreement over proper moral decision making and human action led to many articles and exchanges. However, the election is now over. We have a new President Elect, Barack Obama. With the passing of a giant of the Church who was a clear champion for the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Doug sent this article and asked that it be published. A tribute to Father Neuhaus from a man with whom he held a strong disagreement shows the breadth of this great priests' impact in life. I made the decision to publish it because it honors his memory. (Deacon Keith Fournier, Editor-in-Chief)
*****

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus:Marching for Life into the Arms of Our Lord

Richard John Neuhaus, the founder and editor of First Things, the well-written ecumenical journal on faith and culture that refuted the notion that religious insight should be banished from the public square, died on January 8 at the age of 72. The Church shall miss the strength of his intellect and the depth of his faith.

In the last half year or so, Father Neuhaus and I had a public colloquy – disagreement really -- over the issue of how best to lessen the scourge of abortion. While there were times when I thought his words took on an unfortunate edge of political discourse, I shall forever remember this priest as a friend. A convert to the Catholic faith, Father Neuhaus was also responsible for a very successful effort, on the conservative side of the ledger, to build a bridge of respect between the Catholic and evangelical traditions. That alliance in itself is an invaluable legacy.

A Canadian by birth, Father Neuhaus took great pride in his adopted land and while he freely sought to have his America “mend thy every flaw,” especially on the topic of abortion, he also relished extolling her virtue. It absolutely delighted Father John that the Holy Father gave American Catholics credit for resisting the secular trends of Western Europe. As Father Neuhaus saw it, the United States was more religious in the 21st century rather than less. Indeed, his eyes would widen and he would smile, calling the phenomenon the “desecularization of world history” -- exactly opposite of what secularists like Voltaire and Marx predicted. When it was my privilege to honor Father Neuhaus with the John XXIII medal and lecture at The Catholic University a few years ago, Neuhaus spoke of the “persistence of the Catholic moment,” placing the American Catholic Church “at the vanguard of world historical change.”

Recently, of course, millions have expressed their hope for change of historic proportion in electing Barack Obama. Father Neuhaus was not in Obama’s column during the campaign, but I am confident he would have sought out opportunities to support the new President’s efforts to establish economic justice and to advance the cause of peace. But Father John would have remained steadfast in his call to America to “change” and give full support to human life.

For this reason, Father Neuhaus likely would not have been among the cheering crowds on January 20; instead, he would have stood among the prayerfully silent thousands who year after year for over three decades returned on January 22 to mark the tragedy of Roe v. Wade.

Roe is mistaken constitutional law, because it's not based on the Constitution or any tradition or custom implicit within its terms, and on this, Father Neuhaus and I agreed. We differed over the likelihood and the impact of Roe’s reversal. Being in the presence of God, as I am confident Richard John Neuhaus surely is, the good father now knows which of us was right. I pray he was if Roe is overturned not with the kind of false judicial restraint that then leaves the states free to do whatever they want, but with a judicial fidelity to and reaffirmation of the “unalienable right to life” in the Declaration of Independence.

Even with Father Neuhaus now dispatching his essays from a heavenly editorial perch, the Declaration’s more fulsome affirmation of life seems unlikely. For that reason, as I see it, we have no alternative but to be about the business of helping one woman at a time make a choice in favor of life. Many will recognize this as the Obama approach, but what may be overlooked (but should not be), is that it was also that of Father John. Father Neuhaus wrote that we must “take seriously the needs of women whose social or economic circumstances might tempt them to seek the abortion ‘solution.’”

Yes, Father John understood the importance of choice, when it is understood as choosing “to reaffirm our respect for human life.” We will remember him for the mantle of protection he sought for all members of the human family, including the unborn. May he rest in peace.

****

Douglas W. Kmiec is the Caruso Family Chair & Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law and the author of “Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama” (Overlook/Penguin 2008)