'Life' Issues

NYT reported Pope May Color Debate in U.S. Over 'Life' Issues Like Abortion

The election of an unstintingly conservative pope could inject a powerful new force into the intense conflicts in American politics over abortion and other social issues, which put many Catholic elected officials at odds with their church.

Pope Benedict XVI ascends to power at a tumultuous time for his church in American politics: Catholic voters, long overwhelmingly Democratic, have become a critical swing vote. Republicans have become increasingly successful at winning the support of more traditional Catholics by appealing to what President Bush calls the "culture of life" issues, including abortion, euthanasia and research on embryonic stem cells. Mr. Bush carried 56 percent of the white Catholic vote in 2004, up from 51 percent in 2000 - a formidable part of his conservative coalition.

At the same time, some American bishops have become more assertive in urging their congregations to vote in accord with Catholic teachings on those issues - and in moving to chastise Catholic officials who disagree, in a few cases by threatening to deny them Communion. The bishops acted with the support and encouragement of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the new pope, who at the time headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

This standoff has pitted church leaders against some of the leading Democrats in the country, and came to a boil last year around the presidential candidacy of Senator John Kerry. He is a Catholic who supports abortion rights, and argued that he could not impose "my article of faith" on others who did not share it.

Analysts on the right and the left say it is impossible to predict a papacy, and on Wednesday Benedict XVI was clearly seeking a softer, more inclusive tone than some had expected. But they say he shows all the indications of wanting to preserve a bright line around orthodoxy, around what is an acceptable position for a Catholic and what is not.

Ann Althouse blogged This voting trend is longstanding and would have existed and continued even if John Paul had survived. But the point is that Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which backed American bishops who "have become more assertive in urging their congregations to vote in accord with Catholic teachings on those issues" and who have "chastis[ed] Catholic officials who disagree, in a few cases by threatening to deny them Communion." So there's a prediction that Catholic voter will keep feeling the need to vote based on "culture of life" values.

Maya blogged It so irritates me when non-Catholic Republicans like Bush start using Catholic dogma to further their agenda.

I've got news for you, Maya. There are a lot of protestants that are also opposed to abortion.

Okay, so are we or are we not a church-state? Because last I checked, our representatives did at least have to pretend to have the diverse interests of their constituency in mind.

There is no official state religion, so the First Amendment is intact, but there is nothing to say that representatives are not allowed to be members of some church, and they certainly may use their ethics and morals, even if they agree with their religious teaching, in deciding how to vote.

K. J. Lopez: blogged The new pope will likely talk about abortion being immoral. This will make Catholic politicians who support legal abortion increasingly uncomfortable. Thank you, thank you, New York Times.

Betsy Newmark blogged Perhaps this is the real reason why so many in America seem tobe so offended by the choice of Cardinal Ratzinger to be pope. Ya think a more earthly type of politics is what is motivating some of this obvious animus?

It would be nice if a culture of life replaced our current culture of death.