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His tragic legacy
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Catholics younger than 40 may not recognize his name at all, but Father Drinan was a stalwart Democrat, a champion of liberal political causes and the first congressman to introduce a motion to impeach then-President Richard Nixon in 1973.
Recognized for his wit, his intelligence and his leadership in a variety of causes ranging from world hunger to the Vietnam antiwar movement, Father Drinan was viewed by many activists - Catholic and non-Catholic - as a hero. When the Vatican forced him to resign from Congress in 1980 as part of a broader policy opposing priests holding political office, the decision was widely condemned in secular as well as liberal Catholic circles.
Father Drinan left Congress for academia, a professor at Georgetown until his death at age 86. He was given many awards by a variety of organizations, including the American Bar Association's highest honor.
And yet, for all of these accomplishments, his lack of strong public witness in defense of unborn life became a tragedy for his church and his political party.
It was a tragedy for his church because he never used his "bully pulpit" as a publicly identified Catholic priest-congressman to speak out unequivocally in defense of the Catholic position on abortion.
While Father Drinan himself claimed that his views on this issue were misrepresented, as a politician he must have recognized the powerful impact of a priest who opposed a constitutional amendment to reverse the Roe v. Wade decision, a priest who supported federally funded abortions for the poor and a priest who wrote in defense of President Bill Clinton's veto of the partial-birth abortion bill.
Certainly, Catholics can make prudential decisions about the efficacy of various legal strategies to protect unborn life, but Father Drinan's public stance against a constitutional amendment pitted him against the chosen strategy of the U.S. bishops at that time and provided cover for many other Catholic politicians who also refused to vote for any sort of legislation restricting abortion or its funding.
As a priest, his position carried a significance that went well beyond his congressional district. He baptized by example the pro-choice political positions of a generation of Catholic legislators, including many in the current congressional leadership.
In doing so, his political example was a tragedy for the Democratic Party as well. At one time, the Democrats were the nation's unofficial "Catholic party" because of their support of labor and social-justice issues. In the 1970s, it abandoned its Catholic working-class base in part because of Father Drinan's leadership and personal example.
It is an irony of history that the manager of Father Drinan's first campaign for Congress in 1970 was John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee for president who was unable to win the votes of a majority of his fellow Catholics in part because of his record in support of abortion.
The tragic legacy of Father Drinan is vindication of the Vatican's position against priest-politicians. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done when he finally announced that he would not run for re-election. God rest his soul.
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