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September 8, 2020
Peter Albert
San Francisco
It’s election time. Some pro-Trump priests are famously using abortion as the one litmus test for deciding who may receive holy Communion.
The pope himself warned against this in his “Gaudete Et Exsultate” (2018): “The other harmful ideological error is found in those who find suspect the social engagement of others…or they relativize it, as if there are other more important matters, or the only thing that counts is one particular ethical issue or cause that they themselves defend. Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate…Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged. …”
The “Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching” published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2005 include: Life and Dignity of the Human Person; Call to Family, Community and Participation; Rights and Responsibilities, Option for the Poor and Vulnerable; the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers; Solidarity; and Care for God’s Creation. These themes frame 23 subordinate discussions: civil rights; economic justice; equitable distribution of wealth; international peacekeeping; nuclear disarmament; immigrant and refugee rights; ecumenism; the right to organize labor; universal access to affordable housing and health care; environmental sustainability; climate change action; capital punishment; racism; sexism; abortion, homophobia; stem-cell research; artificial contraception; euthanasia; sex outside marriage; and same-sex marriage.
Voting Catholics certainly have much to think about.
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