I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against, but I am saying that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy
Bishop John Paprocki
Far too many times I have posted here about my great disappointment with the US Bishops when it comes to denouncing evil. As a case in point, not one bishop has said anything about the outrageous and scandalous statement made by Caroline Kennedy at the Democratic Convention, specifically "As a Catholic woman, I take reproductive health seriously." "Reproductive health", of course, is code for abortion. It took a secular pundit, Bill O'Reilly, to point out how scandalous this statement is. We still have not heard anything from the bishops on this matter and in particular, nothing from Cardinal Dolan, who is the bishop for Ms. Kennedy.
However, every once in a while a bishop will do or say something that makes my heart leap and do the Snoopy dance, as I posted about Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Illinois who urged the faithful to turn to our Blessed Mother to combat the evil around us. Bishop Jenky declared: "I feel it very important that we turn to our Lady to help us and our country during these coming months. We can take comfort that her Immaculate Heart will triumph!" It is a rather sad sign of our times that the act of a bishop taking the lead to protect his flock should be so out of the ordinary that it makes news, but that unfortunately is the current state of the Church.
Well, it's time to do the Snoopy dance again because another brave bishop has spoken up to warn the faithful that their actions could have eternal consequences. This bishop is also from Illinois, Bishop John Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois. (Whatever is in the water in Illinois should be given to all bishops!) Bishop Paprocki has spoken out and warned the faithful that to vote for anyone who promotes intrinsic evil endangers the soul of the voter. There can be absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that President Barack Obama supports evil, if for no other reason than the existence of the HHS Mandate, which is a direct attack on the Catholic Church. Of course, he is the first president ever to support same sex marriage and "gay rights" as well. And we also have his horrendous record on abortion. Just go here to Lifesite News and you will get a full picture. This record starts from the time Obama was sworn into office up to the present time. It's a fascinating read and includes such gems as this:
July 6, 2012 – Once again, the Obama administration has called “terrorists” the majority of Americans who support the pro-life view on abortion.
August 3, 2012 – Obama: I “Won't Give Any Ground” Defending Unlimited Abortion
August 22, 2012 – Unearthed Video Shows Obama Supporting Late-Term Abortions
September 4, 2012 – Michelle Obama: My Husband Stands for Promoting Abortion
Paragraph 2268 of the Catholic Catechism says the following:
2268 The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful. The murderer and those who co-operate voluntarily in murder commit a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance.
Infanticide, fratricide, parricide and the murder of a spouse are especially grave crimes by reason of the natural bonds which they break. Concern for eugenics or public health cannot justify any murder, even if commanded by public authority.
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| Gov. Andrew Cuomo leaving Mass with his live-in girlfriend |
If you vote for a politician who supports abortion, which is the intentional killing of an unborn child, you have cooperated in that murder and are held as accountable as one who actually committed the murder. Therefore, you are in danger of hell fire. Living in the City of New York, abortion capital of the United States, leaves Catholics with practically no one to vote for. There are a few pro-life Republicans here and there, but they're about as rare as a 90 degree day in January in New York City. A prime example is our pro-abortion, supporter of same sex marriage, divorced Governor Andrew Cuomo who marched down the Catholic Church aisle, along with his live-in girlfriend, on the day of his inauguration to receive communion from the bishop, who praised Mr. Cuomo: "We know they [Cuomo and his girlfriend, both of whom are pro abortion], over the next four years, will be deeply immersed in the work of evangelization by bringing about the transformation of our state and our society, and we assure them of our prayers, of our support and of our best wishes for challenges they will face,” Bishop Hubbard said. Unfortunately, our bishops here do not drink the same water as those in Illinois, so Governor Cuomo does whatever he wants with no interference from the Church. Cardinal Dolan didn't even go to Albany when they legalized same sex marriage.
In the United States, I would suggest that to align yourself in any way with the Democrat party is to put your soul in eternal danger. Their convention a few weeks ago was all about death. They literally celebrated abortion and same sex marriage and verbally attacked all those who disagreed with them. As I mentioned in a prior post, the devil danced in the rafters at the Democratic National Convention.
Bishop John Paprocki spared no words when he condemned the actions of the Democratic party. He spoke plainly and clearly and left no doubt that he considers the Democratic party to be the party of death. And unfortunately, we are not just talking about physical death, as in abortion, but an even more serious matter. We are talking about spiritual death.
Bishop John Paprocki My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
Much attention was given at the Democratic National Convention held recently in Charlotte, N.C., to the fact that all references to God had been purged from the draft version of the party platform. After outcries of protest from outside as well as within the Democratic Party, the sentence with the same reference to God used in 2008 was restored to read, "We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.
Before anyone relaxes and concludes that all is well now that the Democratic Party Platform contains a single passing reference to God, the way that this was done should give us pause. Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa had to call for the voice vote three times because each time the sound level for the "ayes" and the "nays" sounded about even, far short of the two-thirds necessary according to convention rules to amend the platform. That did not stop the convention chairman from declaring, "The ayes have it!"
What is troubling about that is the blatant disregard for the rules and for the apparent wishes of about half the delegates. The reference to God is back in the platform apparently because President Obama wanted it back in. That may be fine for now, but if a future president wants references to God taken out, apparently that can be done regardless of the wishes of the delegates if that is what The Leader wants. That does not bode well for democracy in the Democratic Party.
Even more troubling is that this whole discussion about God in the platform is a distraction from more disturbing matters that have been included in the platform. In 1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton famously said that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare." That was the party's official position until 2008. Apparently "rare" is so last century that it had to be dropped, because now the Democratic Party Platform says that abortion should be "safe and legal." Moreover the Democratic Party Platform supports the right to abortion "regardless of the ability to pay." Well, there are only three ways for that to happen: either taxpayers will be required to fund abortion, or insurance companies will be required to pay for them (as they are now required to pay for contraception), or hospitals will be forced to perform them for free.
Moreover, the Democratic Party Platform also supports same-sex marriage, recognizes that "gay rights are human rights," and calls for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law signed by President Clinton in 1996 that defined marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman.
FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
Freedom to Marry. We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.
We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
Now, why am I mentioning these matters in the Democratic Party Platform? There are many positive and beneficial planks in the Democratic Party Platform, but I am pointing out those that explicitly endorse intrinsic evils. My job is not to tell you for whom you should vote. But I do have a duty to speak out on moral issues. I would be abdicating this duty if I remained silent out of fear of sounding "political" and didn't say anything about the morality of these issues. [Could all the rest of the bishops please have what Bishop Paprocki is having?] People of faith object to these platform positions that promote serious sins. I know that the Democratic Party's official "unequivocal" support for abortion is deeply troubling to pro-life Democrats.
So what about the Republicans? I have read the Republican Party Platform and there is nothing in it that supports or promotes an intrinsic evil or a serious sin. [Unfortunately, the GOP Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, does not fully support the GOP Platform, i.e., unlike the Republican platform, he supports abortion in cases of rape, incest and the health and life of the mother.] The Republican Party Platform does say that courts "should have the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder cases." But the Catechism of the Catholic Church says (in paragraph 2267), "Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm — without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself — the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."
One might argue for different methods in the platform to address the needs of the poor, to feed the hungry and to solve the challenges of immigration, but these are prudential judgments about the most effective means of achieving morally desirable ends, not intrinsic evils.
Certainly there are "pro-choice" Republicans who support abortion rights and "Log Cabin Republicans" who promote same-sex marriage, and they are equally as wrong as their Democratic counterparts. But these positions do not have the official support of their party. [What about Mitt Romney, who supports abortion in "certain instances."]
Again, I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against, but I am saying that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy.
VISIONS OF HELL FROM FATIMALucia, the oldest of the three children, relates that the Blessed Virgin Mary opened her hands, and "rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me.) The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. Terrified and as if to plead for help, we looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so sadly: "You have seen Hell where the souls of poor sinners go. Thus, when you say the rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy Mercy."
I pray that God will give you the wisdom and guidance to make the morally right choices.
May God give us this grace. Amen.
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So we know for certain that as Catholics, we can have no part in supporting the Democratic Party, which has made itself into the party of death. And as His Excellency said, voting for a politician who supports intrinsic evil could actually result in loss of our salvation.
His Excellency has also told us that the Republican platform contains nothing objectionable as far as the Catholic Church is concerned. But we must still judge each individual politician on his or her own merits. And now even Paul Ryan has given us pause, as he has said that it would be wrong to reinstate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." As Rep. Ryan says, “I think this issue is past us,” he added. “It’s done. And I think we need to move on.” How do we support that? What is it that Rep. Ryan expects us to move on to? Approving of open homosexuality in the military? How do we support the fact that Rep. Ryan recently voted to fund Planned Parenthood and the pro-abortion Obamacare? What of Mitt Romney, who supports homosexuals in the boy scouts, supports abortion in cases of rape, incest and life and health (whatever that means) of the mother, supports same sex civil unions as long as they are not called marriage? Why did Mitt Romney have a fundraiser at the home of the manufacturer of the morning after pill? I don't think the Church would consider it sinful to vote for Romney/Ryan because they are "basically" pro life and against the homosexual agenda, but in my opinion, they do not pass the smell test.I can only repeat what I have posted here time and time again. There is no salvation in politics. Prayer and faithfulness to the Church and her teachings, which is faithfulness to Jesus Christ, is the only thing that will save us.
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