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First Things First: VOTE Life

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October 1st 2012

Cleveland Right to Life 

 

 

 Strong Bishops Give Clear, Moral Guidance to Catholic Voters

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Monday, October 1st 2012 

In the wake of the confusion created by the Cleveland Diocese's "Faithful Citizenship" forums, CRTL has compiled a sampling of statements from faithful bishops around the country which clearly and accurately present true Catholic moral teaching. We thank God for the leadership of these strong shepherds and urge you to forward this email liberally to help spread the Truth. (Note: all emphasis ours.)

  

"The question to ask is this: Are any of the candidates of either party, or independents, standing for something that is intrinsically evil, evil no matter what the circumstances? If that's the case, a Catholic, regardless of his party affiliation, shouldn't be voting for such a person." -Archbishop William Lori, Diocese of Baltimore, Maryland

 

Journalist: "Is it ever licit for a Catholic to vote for a pro-abortion candidate. Is it ever valid?"

"No. You can never vote for someone who favors absolutely the right to choice of a woman to destroy a human life in her womb. Where you don't have any candidate who is proposing to eliminate all abortion [voters may] choose the candidate who will most limit this grave evil in our country. But you could never justify voting for a candidate who not only does not want to limit abortion but believes that it should be available to everyone."- Cardinal Raymond Burke

 

"I certainly can't vote for somebody who's either pro-choice or pro-abortion. Jesus tells us very clearly that if we don't help the poor, we're going to go to hell. But Jesus didn't say the government has to take care of them, or that we have to pay taxes to take care of them. Those are prudential judgments. You can't say that somebody's not Christian because they want to limit taxation. To say that it's somehow intrinsically evil like abortion doesn't make any sense at all." - Archbishop Charles Chaput, Diocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

"One might argue for different methods to address the needs of the poor, to feed the hungry and to solve the challenges of immigration, but these are prudential judgments not intrinsic evils... You need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy." -Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Diocese of Springfield, Illinois 

Click here is a message from Bishop Paprocki  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think and pray about your vote in upcoming election
Think and pray about your vote in upcoming election

"Other pieces of legislation touch on the building of a good and just society and may be open to prudential judgment, ... [but] 'Forming Consciences' tells us that in the political debate today there is no other issue that rises to this level of moral certitude: Abortion is always wrong. To support political platforms that protect so-called 'abortion rights' is to participate in the inexorable conclusion: many, many innocent unborn children will be killed. Sometimes a single issue will be so important it overrides a whole range of lesser issues." - Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C.

 

"Could a Catholic in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports legalized abortion when there is a choice of another candidate who does not? Could a voter's preference for the candidate's positions on the pursuit of peace, economic policies, health care, etc., overcome a candidate's support for legalized abortion? The Catholic voter must ask and answer the question: What could possibly be a proportionate reason for the more than 45 million children killed by abortion? We cannot conceive of such a proportionate reason." - Archbishop Joseph Naumann & Bishop Robert Finn, Diocese of Kansas City, Kansas

 

"In all of Church teaching, the Life Issues, particularly the protection of unborn children against the crime of abortion, has to be our greatest priority. This is an ongoing slaughter of 4,000 children every single day for the last 40 years. If we support and promote persons who have pledged to extend it and intensify the slaughter, then we bear great responsibility with them." - Bishop Robert Finn, Diocese of Kansas City, Kansas

 

"A committed and convinced Catholic is always pro-life on the issue of abortion and euthanasia, and that includes in the voting booth." - Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio

 

"The failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the 'rightness' of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful." - USCCB  

 

  

And the list goes on and on! Check in on Wednesday when we'll highlight statements from Protestant leaders across the nation.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CRTL Logo
We promote and defend the right to life of all innocent human beings from the time of conception until natural death.  
 
We represent pro-life citizens from over 8 counties in the region, making our organization one of the largest pro-life organizations in the State of Ohio.  We focus our efforts first and foremost at the local level to achieve local solutions and then cooperate with the state and national pro-life efforts as directed and needed. 

Cleveland Right to Life,                                                                Treasures for Life Thrift Store

4427 Suite 21 State Road,                                                                 4427 State Road

Cleveland, OH. 44109                                                                       Cleveland, OH 44109

Phone: 216-661-3000 ext 11                                                             Phone: 216-661-3000 ext 15                

Fax: 216-393-0090                                                                            Fax: 216-661-8958 [email protected]                                                      [email protected]