The Bishop of Cleveland has reissued a statement he first released prior to the 2008 presidential election in an attempt to clarify Catholics' moral obligations in the voting booth. The move comes in response to numerous complaints filed with the Bishop's office regarding last month's diocesan-wide "Faithful Citizenship" programs, and is a reversal of the diocese's initial response to those objections.
The diocese sponsored a series of "Faithful Citizenship" meetings this fall, ostensibly to help Catholic voters form their consciences properly in preparation for November's election. But attendees reported at the time that the presentations downplayed the importance of what the Church calls the "Five Non-Negotiables" - the intrinsically evil actions of abortion, euthanasia, human cloning, embryonic stem cell research and gay "marriage" - and put them on-par with "social justice" issues such as health care and immigration.
CRTL then learned - and reported - that one of the leaders of the diocesan presentations, Karen Leith, was publicly supporting Obama and was actively involved in pro-abortion and pro-Democratic organizations. (Read more here.)
The diocese initially reacted with a statement of denial:
There is no evidence that the Faithful Citizenship presentations are biased, but reflect the straightforward teachings of the US Bishops and the Catholic Church. ...This issue has been grossly distorted by a few individuals who wrongly claim to represent the entire Right to Life movement and whose purpose is not to shed light on authentic Catholic teaching but to remake and narrow the scope of Catholic teaching to fit their own personal agenda.
Despite dozens of first-hand accounts and recordings of actual presentations sent to the Bishop's office, the diocese also claimed that "the detractors have given no specific example of any statement made at the forums that is contrary to Church beliefs and teaching."
In a welcome reversal , the statement from Bishop Lennon inserted into every parish bulletin this weekend acknowledged the confusion that has ensued in the diocese in wake of the presentations and noted, "A good number of people have asked me to reprint that column in which I explained the heart and meaning of the bishops' Faithful Citizenship document."
"I am concerned about many things that are being said about the teaching," reads the statement. "I realize [people] are confused in light of what is being said by certain people. For example, we hear from some that the issues and concerns raised in Faithful Citizenship are all equally important as they all impact human life. This is not at all what Faithful Citizenship taught."
The Bishop proceeds to state directly that, in true Catholic moral teaching, not all issues are equal.
"To suggest that all issues are of equal value is not what the bishops have taught, nor what the Catholic Church has taught and continues to teach...Certainly, abortion and euthanasia, direct attacks on human life, stand out as intrinsically evil actions...they must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned."
Bishop Lennon stresses the difference between issues that "enhance human life," such as immigration policy, which "admit to the legitimacy of different approaches," and the "essential and foundational" issues of abortion and euthanasia, which "can never be compromised."
Life-enhancing issues, says the bishop, "only matter if human life itself is a value of fundamental priority and is always protected. If human life is expendable, these other issues lose much of their significance."
CRTL is grateful for the Bishop's attempt to set the record straight and promote authentic Catholic moral teaching to those he shepherds.