BISHOP OF CLEVELAND SENDS PUBLIC OBAMA SUPPORTER TO GUIDE CATHOLIC VOTERS

September 18, 2012 - One look at Karen Leith's public Facebook page will tell you where her loyalties lie in the coming election: "I Support President Obama and the Tough Decisions He Has Made" sits atop her "Likes" page for 2011. The subhead continues: "We have to give him a chance to finish what he started...OBAMA/BIDEN 2012!"

Ms. Leith also "likes" the League of Women Voters of Ohio (LWV), but she's more than just a fan of the organization. In June of 2010, she became a leader within LWV Ohio Lobby Corps and a director of the Hudson branch. While state affiliates do not individually proclaim a stance on abortion, the national LWV organization - to which they all belong - is rabidly pro-abortion. The League details its long and active support of abortion here, including fierce opposition to any limitations on abortion (such as parental notification laws and partial birth abortion bans), its membership in the national Pro-Choice Coalition, and its tireless work in support of the Freedom of Choice Act.

The LWV also successfully urged rescission of federal "conscience rights" as part of the HHS mandate, thus forcing Catholics and other objectors to act against their faith in providing abortion and contraceptive services and funds, violating their fundamental religious freedoms; a violation strongly condemned by America's Catholic bishops.

Considering these affiliations, it seems rather strange that Karen Leith would also be a Director in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese's Social Action Office.

And it's even stranger that Cleveland Catholic Bishop Richard Lennon would choose Ms. Leith to lead the Diocese's "Faithful Citizenship" presentations - meetings held at parishes throughout the diocese ostensibly to help Catholic voters form their consciences properly according to Catholic moral teaching, in preparation for this November's election.

Is it reasonable to assume that a woman who belongs to a stridently pro-abortion organization and who openly supports the most zealous pro-abortion president in history - a president whose policies have been declared an attack on religious liberty by the US Catholic Bishops - would faithfully present true Catholic moral teachings?

I think not.

In fact, numerous complaints have been filed with the Bishop's office regarding the Diocesan "Faithful Citizenship" programs. Attendees report that the presentations downplay the importance of a candidate's position on abortion when evaluating whether or not it is morally acceptable to vote for that candidate. Yet the primacy that must be given to the Life Issues in such an evaluation is clearly enunciated in the Faithful Citizenship document itself and the directive has been reiterated by numerous bishops individually, including Bishop Lennon.

Further, though each parish program is billed as a "forum" in which "there will be time for your questions and comments", questions reportedly have been tightly screened and discussion has been severely restricted. One panelist has even walked out (more than once) when the Church's strong prohibition against voting for someone who actively promotes intrinsic evils like abortion has been brought forward by insistent audience members.

Given Forum Leader Karen Leith's loyalties and affiliations, one can hardly be surprised. The only thing left to wonder is: What is the leader of nearly 1 million Catholic Ohioans going to do about it?