Bishop reminds Catholics to remember Judgment Day in voting booth

Source: Catholic News Service

Bishop Robert J. Herman, the administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, has written a column reminding Catholics that their vote will be a decision weighed on the Day of Judgment. He urged Catholics not to treat the unborn as the neglectful rich man treated Lazarus in the biblical parable.

“Judgment Day is on its way,” the bishop wrote in the St. Louis Review. “We cannot stop it. We don’t know when it will come, but just as surely as the sun rises daily, the Son of Man will come when we least expect.” ...

“The decision I make in the voting booth will reflect my value system. If I value the good of the economy and my current lifestyle more than I do the right to life itself, then I am in trouble,” the bishop wrote.

“The right of our children to be protected from destruction is greater than my right to a thriving economy,” Bishop Herman continued.







Read more: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14091

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And so it begins. First Charles Chaput in Denver, and now this. But I guess what takes my breath away is the pure elitism and ignorance shown in the good bishop's views.

Although there will be the sheep who will always do exactly what their Church leaders say, I'm hoping that more Catholics will wake up to these bully-pulpit, strong-arm tactics. I'm saddened that leaders such as Herman and his colleague Chaput have so conveniently forgotten the Church's commitment to social justice and equity, which goes far beyond the single issue of abortion.

And not just two weeks after most of us have seen our retirement savings obliterated (this assumes, of course, that we have jobs from which to retire), and after hearing economic report after economic report that could have come out of the 1930s...for him to say that those of us who value a stable and healthy economy are somehow selfish and damned...

What they don't see in their myopia is what Cardinal Bernardin so eloquently expressed years ago. Life is a seamless garment. You cannot elevate one stage at the expense of another.

Never again. For this and so many reasons. When my parents were elderly and housebound and had for four decades given so much in time and money to the Catholic Church, I called to ask if someone could bring them communion. I was told "we have no one who could do that." I would say to that bishop, "yes, and judgment day will come for you also. And you will be judged for your callousness, coldness, and distorting the teachings of Jesus. You, who so hypocritically set yourself up as as the givers of religious truth will be revealed for what you really are. You, yourself, have so much to answer for.

Saul Alinsky was asked by some soon-to-be-ordained seminarians how they could follow Jesus's teachings to care for people. He told them: just decide, in your hearts, whether you want to be priests or bishops.

for God.

WAY over due...

Couldn't stomach the whole patricarchical thing, and I'm now a Quaker.

But hey - good for my friends who can see beyond it, and work to make a better church - a return to Dorothy Day/Berrigan brothers Catholics who work for peace and social justice.

-- such as income, education, neighborhood, ethnicity -- Catholic voters, as a group, don't differ significantly from other voters with the same profile.

There hasn't been an identifiably Catholic Catholic vote in thirty years. The hierarchy hasn't been able to deliver a vote in a generation.

Here are the ten most Catholic states in the country. Can you think of another way to describe this set of states?

New Mexico
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Vermont
New York
New Hampshire
California
Connecticut
Arizona

All of this is a sound and a fury signifying nothing.

http://www.catholics-united.org/files/pro-life-means-all-life-en.pdf




Thanks to vincenzoesq for posting tihs here on DU a few days back.
And kudos to this Catholic group for trying to talk some sense into peoples' heads and having a broader view than too many of the moran bishops.
I'm no longer a believer, but I'm glad that all (or at least the vast majority) of my Catholic relatives in my extended family still vote Democratic, as did their parents and grandparents before them. Both of my grandfathers were union organizers back in the 1930s and 1940s, and their descendents remember which party is for the rich and which party stands up for (or at least used to in the pre-DLC days) working people and the poor and downtrodden.

http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2004/11/It-Wasnt-Just-Or-Even-Mostly-The-Religious-Right.aspx

snip>

Bush's strong performance among Catholics, it turns out, was crucial to his victory. Bush won Catholics 52%-47% this time, while Al Gore carried them 50%-46% in 2000. If Kerry had done as well as Gore, he would have had about a million more votes nationwide. According to Gallup Polls, only one Democrat since 1952 (Walter Mondale in 1984) lost the Catholic vote by this large a margin.

The Catholic impact was starker in key states. In Ohio, Bush got 55% of the Catholic vote in 2004 compared to just under 50% of them in 2000. That means a shift of 172,000 votes into the Republican column. Bush won the state by just 136,000 votes this year. <unsnip

Interesting about those states being Catholic....

I went to 8 years of Catholic School in the 70s and the MAIN thing I took away with me (other than a great education) was the lesson "DO UNTO OTHERS"...

When my parents question my far left beliefs, I tell them it's all due to my Catholic school indoctrination. LOL

But it's really true.

We never once talked about abortion in the school or church back then.

There's a lot of good leftists who started out Catholic, and some even manage to stay Catholic while disagreeing with the Church hierarchy. My religion definitely formed by political philosophy which also is far left.

In grade school they talked about it a little bit nothing to drastic to scare the little kids. Also the Divisions Split down Denomination lines being a byzantine school all other forms of faith were just a little bit off to them Namely they didn't like Roman Catholics all that much this even being repeated by the Nuns a few times there referring to all the roman Catholics kids as RC's.

Then when to a Roman Catholic High school denomination lines were split toward every one else we had to watch in our sophomore and junior and senior year abortion videos they had bus trips to washington every year for the right to life rallies and in subtle and not so subtle ways they regarded all other denominations as being wrong or just not getting to a place higher then them.

It was either the school or there was a subtle shift some were alone the line.

I tell her it was her fault for dragging me to Vietnam-era midnight peace vigils at our Catholic Church (my brother had a low draft number).

I went to CCD in Pennsylvania and learned:
- the bible is full of parables that teach us important lessons - there wasn't ACTUALLY a man and woman and talking snake in an actual garden of Eden. The bible is NOT literal truth - but the messages are the Truth we should be focused on.
- we are born to serve others - feed the poor, help others
- there are other people out there who AREN'T Catholics, and we learned what they believed, without judgement

We didn't get that whole abortion/ anti-homosexual thing back in the 1970s.

I left the church when that started.

MAKE THEM PAY FOR THEIR SLANT

to sway the election in the favor of their mythical Jesus? Screw their tax exemption. Lets those perverts and their enablers go bum coins on the corner. These lazy bastards never worked a day in their lives, and they want my tax money to support them while they support the christofacist neocons? Fuck them!

talk infuriates me.

What about the issues of poverty, war, greed, corruption, discrimination - to name a few.

I think these things matter to my God also.

...with few exceptions, the most liberal states are the most Catholic states.

They can borrow my copy of Catholic Social Teaching, if they want.

The fact is, some in the hierarchy are opportunist hacks who know what it takes to keep the flock in line. It's also easier to trot out the visceral and incendiary topic of abortion rather than take time to educate on the concept of fair wage, just war, and the right to health care, to name a few, and how those issues also impact the issue of abortion. It all works together.

This kind of invective is just as opportunistic and exploitative of the unborn as the bishop and other of his ilk claim the pro-choice side of being.

Fired him, appointed a rightwinger to replace him who then undid most of what Dom Helder had spent his life doing.

And for those of us of a certain age (let's say boomers), that's the theology many of us were raised with. The abortion position had a place in the overall scheme. (I don't agree with the position as it ignores the inconvenient actual life involved in place of a potential life, and I don't agree with the political fight on the issue. But there's some intellectual consistency at least. Some.)

Opposition to unjust war, dedication to fighting poverty, civil rights (ha. Talk to the gay folks in the pews about that one now), opposition to the death penalty... these boys are willing to trade it all away just to insist that every sperm is sacred.

They're frauds.

Oh yeah!....like during the Inquisition!

Historically, Catholics (and Protestants) have been for THEMSELVES. Period. Even charity work (like Mother Teresa) raked in the money.... but she couldn't even air condition her "death house" in India! The big boys in Rome wanted nothing to do with her.... til they saw how much money she was raking in.

Religion's main purpose is to keep its employees (priests, pastors, shamans, llamas)paid.... well. Period.

Don't judge the group by the individual.

what the INDIVIDUAL does has a DIRECT BEARING on the organization he/she belongs to!

Don't feed us THAT crap!

Calm down and stop shouting. There are millions of Catholics who don't agree with that one person's view.

Catholics, as a group are extraordinarily committed to social justice. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Can the Church act like a beacon of light and attract onto itself new followers by leading in example and empathy. Instead, the Catholic Church now echoes the sound of the jack boots of hate and racism. They will play this card for whatever reason they see fit, the destruction of the United States of America. For that, they Catholic Church shall never again present a candidate that I can accept without rigorous examination to certify his/her independence of that Church. To the Pope FUCK YOU.

It is a business decision.

The catholic Church has never been divorced from political involvement. Look at the history - they've been a political instrument since the beginning. Some times more than others, but always there.

But yes, that pull toward political power has always, always undermined the gospel.

thinking about what riches--worldly riches--it represents. It's an astonishing compilation
of art treasures far beyond what many secular museums possess.

The hypocrisy of the Catholic Church has been on display for centuries.

I assume by implying that people will burn in hell for because of a vote for the candidate that supports choice for women that you are therefore endorsing his opponent. Do you realize that in doing so you are endorsing continuing the illegal occupation and legalized murder of Iraqis. Therefore I take it that you endorse such murder. You should be ashamed to do so.

That's what happens when you vote single issue. You do so at your peril.

Is he being ignored yet? Are you sure? Good then! Now, be nice little sheep and do as I say: "VOTE THE STRAIGHT GOP TICKET. Just do it already!!"

Nothing like a little wedgie issue to stir the flock!

priests from parish to parish in prison. They cared about your kids. Sure they did--- NOT!

by continuing to neglect global warming than would ever be hurt by not criminalizing abortion. So if god looks at the numbers, this in an endorsement of Obama.

maternal health care and nutrition, clean water, etc.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Catholic/2004/06/Vote-GOP-To-Be-Saved.aspx

I'm really glad that Bishop Sheridan (et.al.!!!) has brought it to my attention that I need to go to confession every time I pull that lever for someone who supports abortion rights, stem cell research (oops, there goes a few Republicans too), euthanasia, or same sex marriage. Imagine if I were made to go to confession every time I voted for someone who abolishes welfare or executes criminals or wages a pre-emptive war (or bought products from someone who underpays workers or refuses to let them organize)?

I'm glad the good bishop has allowed me to ignore these other teachings of the Church so that I can get my priorities straight.

in eternity.

...isn't there a certain circle of hell reserved for clerics?

from that hell and describe the torture they experience.

Someone should send the bishops this document:

Many candidates say they’re pro-life. But do they really have a record to run on?
Here are some important facts for pro-life Americans to consider when deciding how to vote.

The BEST way to combat abortion is to give women and families the tools they need to choose life.
Studies consistently show that when women and families have health care, jobs, education, and other essential supports they are less
likely to have an abortion. In fact, more than three out of four women who obtain an abortion say that economic factors were a primary
reason for doing so. Instead of helping struggling American families, our leaders have left them to fend for themselves.
Being pro-life is 1 percent talk, 99 percent ACTION.

Being pro-life is not just about what our elected leaders say they believe. It’s about the things they do. During the Clinton
Administration, the U.S. abortion rate declined nearly 30 percent without enacting any legal prohibitions on abortion. Under
President Bush, this decline stagnated. Even the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices was unsuccessful in making any
meaningful progress toward building a culture of human life. For all its talk about being pro-life the Bush Administration hasn’t
protected a single unborn child.

Pro-life means ALL human life - WITHOUT exceptions.
How can our leaders say they are pro-life, while starting unjustified wars, supporting torture, opposing expanded health care for children,
cutting school lunch programs, and standing by as hard-working Americans lose their jobs and retirement protections? They can’t. To be
pro-life is to answer a deep call to support and defend human life at all stages - from conception until death. It means caring for the
unborn, for the children, for the less fortunate, and for all hard-working Americans.
Overturning Roe v. Wade will NOT end abortion in America.

All too often, what passes for an authentic pro-life agenda is a candidate’s stated opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade
decision. While legal protections for the unborn are an important part of a pro-life strategy, overturning Roe v. Wade would simply let
states decide whether abortion should be legal or illegal. In a post-Roe America, only a handful of states would impose penalties on those
who obtain or perform abortions, and women living in these states could still go elsewhere to get an abortion. Overturning Roe cannot be
seen as a substitute for policies that can work RIGHT NOW to end abortion, namely supporting women and families.
w w w. c a t h o l i c s - u n i t e d . o r g
Pro-Lifemeans action on behalf of all human life.

either covered up their horrendous deeds or attacked the parents for being anti-church? Judgement Day indeed!

has considered the rights of Iraqi children to be protected from destruction. I wonder if he's given any thought to the inner city as well as rural poor children. They also deserve protection.

I'm a Catholic who stopped attending local Mass because the tiny crosses on the lawn disgusts me. They've set up all of these crosses to represent unborn children. It's pathetic.

Hmmmm...Vatican City...how's that run again? Oh, that's right, your "homeland" is run as a theocratic dictatorship (Pope). Here in AMERICA we have a Constitution that trumps your religious bullshit, so suck it up dickhead and move on.

J

Mainstream Catholics have little to do with talk like this, but DUers will eat it up with a spoon.

Yawn.

...I think there is great value in exposing their hypocrisy. There is more to being "pro-life" than just spouting off about abortion, and the Church as an institution used to recognize this. I think it serves a purpose to call out the leadership on this issue. If concern about life stops at the delivery room, it makes a sham of social justice and social justice teaching as a whole.

As far as I'm concerned, any genuine concern about social justice by the Church died with Archbishop Oscar Romero and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. But that does not mean we still cannot fight for it.

You've conflated the Church with its hierarchy.

Category error.

Defenders of the faith that they are?

No. I want them to answer why they are so hellbent on focusing on abortion when society is in full economic decay. I want them to recognize that the Church as a whole is concerned with more than just one issue, which is, by the way, wrapped up in bigger life issues that the Church historically has advocated.

They accuse me of being a "cafeteria Catholic" if I don't follow all Church teachings. That road runs both ways, and I think they need to see that.

The Church is not a corporation or a political organization. It is a voluntary society with no power over the flock, other than persuasion. There is no "leadership" in that sense that needs any calling out. One person is expressing one opinion. He is not representative of anything and has no power to enforce anything on anyone or speak for anyone.

Point me to these so-called "mainstream Catholics." Who the hell is paying for this bishop's gold vestments? If "mainstream Catholics" are so freaking numerous, this guy wouldn't be opening his episcopal yap.

PS -- I'm Catholic, and I don't see DU as being anti-Catholic -- merely anti-hypocrisy.

Ignore all other issues, perilous situations that threaten our world in economic and security arenas beacause on "judgement day" you will be held "accountable" over one and only one issue. My dear Bishop, thankfully a growing number of people in this world no longer listen to the insane prosletysing of the men in funny hats.
I am by no means a proponent of suppressing peoples right to follow their faith but this glaring and willfull ignorance that they so proudly display is truly mind numbingly stupid.

Please crawl back under your tax exempt rock.

Amen.

I mean every last one of them.

. . .for us pro-choice voters, what with all the Roman Catholic protected-pedophiles already there or destined to be there.

Go read yourself some Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne to learn what has been the TRUTH forever more:

In The Scarlet Letter, hypocrisy is evident everywhere. The characters of Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the very society that the characters lived in, were steeped in hypocrisy. Hawthorne was not subtle in his portrayal of the terrible sin of hypocrisy; he made sure it was easy to see the sin at work. Parallels can be drawn between the characters of The Scarlet Letter and of today’s society. Just because this book is set in colonial times, does not mean its lessons are not applicable to the world we live in. . .

The second character, Arthur Dimmesdale is the epitome of hypocrisy. Hawthorne intended his name to have symbolic meaning. Dimmesdale meaning dim or not very bright. Arthur might be bright in the areas of theology, but when it comes to hypocrisy, he is a fool. Dimmesdale says very near the beginning of the book “What can thy silence do for him, except to tempt him---yea, compel him, as it were---to add hypocrisy to sin?”(Dimmesdale 47) He knows what will happen to him if he endures his sin in private, but he is too weak at this point in the book to admit it. The tapestries of biblical adultery, which are found in Arthur’s room are hypocritical. These are supposed to help him atone for his sins by making him feel guilty, but he feels no better. Arthur goes and preaches every week on how bad sin is, and how he is the worst sinner of them all. These partial confessions just make him more of a hypocrite. Dimmesdale knows how the parishioners will interpret these confessions, he is not blind to their looks of adoration. Dimmesdale enjoys being viewed as a saint, when he knows he is truly a sinner.

Dimmesdale is selfish, he tries to atone in private, by whipping himself and fasting. This accomplishes nothing, he knows in his heart that no punishment in private will get him forgiveness from the lord. Yet he continues his practices of private punishment, so he temporarily feels better about himself. . .

Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter is the ultimate incarnation of hypocrisy. He represents how the Puritan ideals had been twisted into something that reeked of hypocrisy. Dimmesdale pretended to be a good, just, and wise minister, in reality, he was a bad, unjust, and foolish. Dimmesdale recognizes the danger of hypocrisy, but his character is too weak to avoid the pitfall of hypocrisy.

http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=79

IOW, Bishop, we voters see your preaching about the sanctity of children for what it's worth. . .the most terrible sin of hypocrisy.

GET LOST!

:rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:

This is really getting over the top and shrill with these Bishops and their "my way or the highway" tactics.

Much of it still comes from the loss of prestige over the sex abuse scandal and this shows their inability to really cope with it, by going back to the old, harsh ways which only makes things worse.

IE, STFU.

to shut its trap. Clean up your act first. Tax their butts off.

...the aborted. It was about someone who is already here that was treated badly by the rich and elite because Lazarus was poor and sick, it is NOT about a fetus.

I am SICK and tired of these wingnuts interpreting their Bible in the way they want to interpret it ~ and then pretend they are taking it literally. This is *not* the literal interpretation of the story of Lazarus ~ which btw was not a true story but was a parable to demonstrate how *not* to treat the poor. I could care less if you interpret it literally (as a true story) or not, but if you SAY you are literally taking this story than DO IT, don't pretend you do and then don't!

Read it for yourself here: Luke 16:19 : http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=16&version=31

Luke 16:25: "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime (my emphasis) you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us' ..."

Sheesh.

Cat In Seattle

I want religion out of politics.

Keep religion out of politics, and politics out of religion.

:hi:

which is why I'll be voting for Obama. Ending the occupation and wars, healing our planet, caring for the so-called least among us, reducing abortions by reducing unplanned pregnancies -- all of these lead me to vote for Obama.

Archbishop Charles Chaput (Denver): “Opus Dei has always encouraged active lay leadership and service among Catholics. It prefigured some of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council by decades. Its members are motivated, faithful Catholics and an extraordinary blessing for the believing community. Opus Dei – along with the other new charisms, communities, and movements renewing today’s Church – is very welcome in the Archdiocese of Denver.” December 20, 2003.

http://www.opusdei.us/art.php?p=7717

I wouldn't trust that cult as far as I can throw it. Opus Dei, Latin for "Work of God", is in fact Opus Diaboli (Work of the Devil). I was taught at an early age by my parish priest that any persons or entities who (or that) bill themselves as godly may be in league with the guy downstairs.

They really came to power when they bailed out the Vatican after the P2/Calvi scandal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_Ambrosiano

They are a very wealthy organization. They recruit new members who have money and are required to donate their fortunes to Opus Dei who use it to fund all kind of covert programs.

They are a very dangerous and well-connected cult.

:mad:

and McInsanity is next in line to that end in these antediluvian "minds". When it all boils down I guess the bishops are protecting their palaces and their ill gotten power. Funny how these creeps all work in tandem expecting their minions to bourrée around on their knees before them; Hanging on every dumb pronouncement.

I am not afraid. :)

... you have worry about what happens after election day. :evilgrin:

Belief in an afterlife allows people to be manipulated like this. Fear of going to Hell is why so many people vote against their economic interests.

She summed up my feelings better than I ever could when she said "Religion is for people afraid of going to Hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there".

Bishop HeadintheSand. Start living in the real world.

Catholics United, #62 above.
excerpt "How can our leaders say they are pro-life, while starting unjustified wars, supporting the death penalty, supporting torture, opposing
expanded health care for children, cutting school lunch programs, and standing by as hard-working Americans lose their jobs and retirement
protections? They can’t. To be pro-life is to answer a deep call to support and defend human life at all stages - from conception
until death. It means caring for the unborn, for the children, for the less fortunate, and for all hard-working Americans."

things that most people in the US who are Catholic had grown up on: the social justice teachings of Christ being foremost.

They're completely blinded by this one issue, and cannot see how it fits in the larger picture. They're willing to see 4 more years of war and poverty and the rich getting richer (talk about Lazarus!) while more and more people suffer.

All to support their fiercely held anti-woman agenda.

I do think this time we'll see more Catholics in the pews ignoring these loud-mouthed bigots. And of course, every person who does so will undermine the power of these boys. A good thing, that.

Judgment day is on the way!

NOT

Fear and guilt over magical stories made up in the Bronze Age is a reason to lose your home and allow Dick Cheney and his friends to steal more of your money (I mean the Catholic Church has been duping you out of it for centuries!) Don't worry, you'll be rewarded...someday....no really!....it's only been 2000 years but any minute now.....

Worry about those unborn babies... the vital, energetic, 20 somethings with a whole adult life in front of them...if they survive... in Iraq don't matter. Let'em die by the thousands! Not to mention the Iraqis. We must protect people who don't exist yet! They're more important!

Shut up.... you religious con-man!

initiative funded by tax dollars should be stopped.

Keep religion out of politics and keep politics out of religion.

and their hard line against it...many people dropped out of the church because of it...now this, plus their little boy problems will make them inconsequential, people will start dropping out again...what I don't get in this hard line is that even the church offers retribution to a woman that has had an abortion...a few Hail Mary's and everything is honky-dory...so what is the big condemnation?

"But I guess what takes my breath away is the pure elitism and ignorance shown in the good bishop's views."

Does the insanity take your breath away as well? We are literally being threatened with a cloud monster.

Trying to keep people poor and ignorant, while being one of the greatest causes of world over-population on a planet with limited resources sounds like something Satan could endorse, if he actually existed that is. And all this while living in the lap of luxury. I haven't seen the Catholic church selling off any of their billions of dollars worth of treasures to help the poor. BTW, Bishop Herman, how do you think all of the pedophile priest will fare of Judgment day? I think deep down all you catholic priest and elders all know there is no God, Heaven or judgment day, or else you would have stayed away from all those little boys. It's a shame too, because no one deserves to burn in Hell more than the pedophile priest who have abused their positions for pure evil and those who have tried to cover it up.

Life is complicated enough without having some future "judgment day" to worry about.

ethical and moral hiring practices, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, embrace health care coverage and then maybe there will be less abortions. It is very easy to condemn the symptom of a problem without being responsible for the real problem. The majority of people living on the earth today's needs are not being met.

These "righteous" people crack me up. They invade a country and kill or maim hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children, put people to death on a regular basis, if they can't get a judge to hear proof they are innocent before the scheduled execution, let millions of children starve or die from lack of medical care, yet threaten you with an eternity in hell if you vote for someone who believes there are justifications for specific abortion cases, such as, rape, incest, life of mother in danger. These people, no matter what there titles, are poor examples of true Christians, and should be ashamed. Christ taught love, acceptance, understanding, sharing, truth, peace, and assistance. The Catholic church today is all hung up in lessons from a book written by and edited by many people throughtout the centurys, and preach mostly man made laws. They totally ignore the life examples of Jesus and concentrate only on his death. It is no wonder many people turn from Christianity. They see the hypocrisy.

These hypocritical religious freaks make me so angry. I am against abortion...but that is MY value. I am also for giving that choice to other women. I am NOT for late term abortions. I hope and pray they do not happen. But I am ALSO NOT for a leader who is likely to be the catalyst for thousands of humans suffering and dying.

This dumb ass, self righteous priest can stick it up his ass.

He and those of his ilk are completely ignoring Jesus' and the Church's commitment to social justice.

Yet they never tried to make abortion illegal. Why? Because they knew they would be tossed out if they did.

It's time for Bishops like Herman to stop being the Republican's stooges.

Why are the taxes I pay go to support churches and the filthy lies they spread?

Thirsty and you told me to drink bottled water if I wanted to be sure it was safe. I was sick and you told me there was no money in the budget for health care, in prison and you told me to rot.

Remember that, Bishop, or end up with the goats.

if he has gone over to the hard-right end-times camp. None of that was ever Catholic. Fraudulent counselors will be sharing their afterlives with the murderers and traitors they suggest we vote for.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Also:

God of Justice
open our eyes
to see you in the face of the poor.
Open our ears
to hear you in the cries of the exploited
Open our mouths
to defend you in the public squares
as well as in private deeds
Remind us that what we do
to the least ones,
we do to you.
Amen.

May I remind the good Bishop that being in favor of life generally means not supporting war.

So, their war mongering friend, McCain, probably better think about his Judgment Day, because
it, too, surely is coming.

I have actually seen that Catholics for McCain bumper sticker at a parish in downtown Minneapolis in the parking lot during the week. It is the only place I have seen it. They are few and far between (thankfully).

There are no 'Catholics for Obama' bumper stickers otherwise I would have one on now with magnets.

Skynet and the Terminators?

:shrug:

When did the Catholics stop caring about the poor, about war, and just about everything Jesus was teaching?

Go to HELL, Bishop Robert J. Herman!

:grr:

http://ncronline3.org/drupal/?q=node/2058 Excerpt from the National Catholic Reporter

I believe that abortion is an unspeakable evil, yet I support Sen. Barack Obama, who is pro-choice. I do not support him because he is pro-choice, but in spite of it. Is that a proper moral choice for a committed Catholic?

As one of the inaugural members of the U.S. bishops' National Review Board on clergy sexual abuse, and as a canon lawyer, I answer with a resounding yes.

Last November, the U.S. bishops released "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," a 30-page document that provides several examples of intrinsically evil acts: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, torture, racism, and targeting noncombatants in acts of war...

They should add Unprovoked attack on a soverign nation, Genocide, and Torture to their list.

Let's make it simple. Here is one Bishop Coch of another time who didn't see a problem with the above crimes. He should have been hung at Nuremberg along with the other enablers. He resides below. Doesn't look like good company, don't go there.

The priest spoke about remembering ALL aspects of human life and dignity. He did mention abortion, but only as one example of many issues Catholics need to consider in light of christian values about the dignity of the human person. He also mentioned war, health care, capital punishment. I could see the aim of the homily was to get the parishioners to think holistically instead of narrowly on only one issue. Anyway, I really appreciated the approach.

..that type of talk is not welcome here. Don't you know we're having a ball bashing all those horrible Catholics.

All, Please continue with your regularly scheduled Catholic-bashing hate fest.

If the government of the USA had some serious brass balls they'd take away the church tax exemption. Think about how much the church takes in a year. We wouldn't HAVE to raise taxes on anyone possibly for years. Think about how much we could pour into social security, health care and education , all from just 1 year of church cash! can you see my inner greed demon talking?

afaik, one psalm has a poetic phrase about god knowing David while he was still in utero.

on the other hand, Jesus spoke repeatedly about the problems for rich and powerful people because they care more about their money than ideas like doing unto others.

this sort of bullshit from the priesthood is why so many of them were murdered during the French Revolution. In corrupt 18th c. France, like now, religious leaders used their power to facilitate the power of an unresponsive monarchy.

If I were a leader of the catholic church, I would stfu, considering the way they hid pedophiles within the priesthood and allowed such men to rape young children again and again. This church and all others have lost all moral authority by acting as whores for a political party.

Certainly not by moral attraction, but, by a history of blood and torture.

JFK never would have been elected. Kennedy had to work his tail off to prove that he wouldn't be a pawn of the Vatican. Too bad that's all being undone by the current generation of bishops.

What about the huge gaps in infant mortality rates between rich and poor?

to slaughter Iraqi citizens.

Your second question is too thoughtful for a meddling right-winger to comprehend.