09/28/2024
Father Scott Jones, Episcopal Vicar of the Northern Vicariate, sent this information to all clergy in the Northern Vicariate. It is certainly worthwhile to read and learn from:
Dear Brother Priests, Deacons, and Lay Ministers:
There are a lot of resources out there to help our parishioners understand the serious issues surrounding Amendment 3, which would legalize abortion in the state of Missouri and place very few restrictions on it. Despite the Church’s clear teaching on abortion as the killing of a human life and therefore gravely sinful, many Catholics have taken the position that it is one of personal choice. The priests at Incarnate Word have done an excellent job of summarizing what is at stake and have given permission for us to share their work with you. Please feel free to share it with your parishioners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp0E5ou0dKE
Our Catholic Faith: Voting and Amendment 3
www.youtube.com
"In the world, you will find trouble..." (John 16:13)
American politics has often been expressive of the worst parts of our fallen human nature. Today, it is filled with hyperbole, personal attacks, half-truths, bold-faced lies, and dire predictions. Secular prophets of doom warn their respective voters that the end is near if they don’t do exactly what they are told. For politicians, this manipulation has worked well in galvanizing their supporters and whipping them into a near-religious fervor. However, this approach also comes with a cost.
Over the past 60 years, political hysteria has made Americans increasingly bitter, divisive, and gloomy. With a 24-hour news cycle and endless, breathless reporting about the end of America as we know it, it is easy for Christians and people of good will to become part of the problem. It is not unusual for politics to become a source of division within families and churches, a no-go zone among friends and spouses, and even a flashpoint for physical violence among strangers whose discussions become altercations. Research shows that Americans are increasingly weary of the fighting, division, and worry that fuels both major political parties. That weariness is good. Humans were not meant to remain in a state of fear, anger, and crisis. This sort of thing is unhealthy, unholy, and unsustainable. As this year’s political tempest rages on, we would do well to remember that certain core values must guide us as Catholic citizens of this great nation.
No politician or political party can save us or our country. Jesus is the only savior who can conquer the evil found in this world and in the human heart. Anytime we start looking to a candidate, political party or policy platform for salvation, we have started walking down the same road that ensnared Israel when they sought redemption through a king instead of God (1 Samuel 8:20).
No current political party perfectly or completely embodies our Christian values. In modern American politics, the stance of both the Republican and Democratic parties violate fundamental Catholic values on various issues and must be challenged by believers. Therefore, we should not pledge blind loyalty to an entire party platform or ticket. Our loyalty is to Jesus Christ and our core principles must come from his teaching, as revealed through the Scriptures and the teachings of the Catholic Church. When there is a conflict between Catholic teaching and political platforms, we must side with our Faith. While politicians will always be imperfect, Jesus promises that his Church will not error in matters of faith and morals (Mt. 28:18-20, Mt. 16:18; John 16, I Tim 3:14-15; and Acts 15:28, CCC 891)
No matter how passionate we are about an issue or candidate, this does not excuse uncharitable words and actions towards those on the other side. Even when others lie to us, insult us, or disrespect us, we are not entitled to expressions of hatred, slander, or revenge. One wrong does not justify another. Jesus commands us to respond to our enemies and opponents with prayers of forgiveness and blessing (Lk 6:27-38). This loving response is impossible without grace and that is why we must be people of prayer, truly disciples of Jesus. We must learn from Jesus, who loved those in error, by patiently yet firmly speaking the truth with courage and kindness.
Our unity comes from Christ and his teaching. This world is not our final home. We are citizens of heaven before all else. When our lives, our votes, and our loyalty do not reflect this, we risk revoking our claim to the kingdom Christ has prepared for those who love him (Phil.3:20, Mt.7:21-23). While living and proclaiming the undiluted truth of Jesus’ teaching might irritate and seem to cause division, his Truth ultimately protects freedom, draws people together, reveals the dignity of every human person. Whenever we try to find unity apart from God’s Truth, the result is a merely human accomplishment that will disintegrate, sooner or later, into division and strife.
With these principles in mind, let’s look at an issue on November’s ballot that concerns every Catholic.
A Horrifying Proposition
Amendment 3 is “an extreme constitutional amendment that legalizes abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no protections for the preborn child, even when the child is capable of feeling pain.” This unlimited-abortion amendment would not only harm preborn children, but also “repeal long-standing health and safety standards for women,” which ensure “basic health and safety requirements for clinics where abortions are performed.” In addition, this law demolishes “informed consent requirements, laws prohibiting public funding of abortion, and parental consent requirements before a minor’s abortion.” If Amendment 3 is passed, it becomes possible for minors trapped in human trafficking to be brought in for a taxpayer-funded abortion by their abusers, who can make sure that the parents of that poor girl never find out about it. The scope of the evil that will be unleashed by this amendment is deeply uncomfortable to ponder. But the moral consequences are also too abominable to ignore. Catholic voters cannot be silent in this election.(i)
Amendment 3 has many sinister legal effects, hidden behind vague and deceptive language. For clarity, we are providing a list of the major evils that Missourians are being manipulated into supporting. Everyone who votes for Amendment 3 expressly supports a law that will inevitably:
Put women at risk by removing basic medical requirements/standards for abortion facilities.
Prohibit any regulation of abortion.
Shield negligent health care professionals from malpractice lawsuits.
Permit abortion even when the preborn child can feel pain.
Eliminate parental notification or consent.
Allow for abortion at any time for any reason.
Open the door to taxpayer-funded abortions.
Open the door for other anti-family and anti-life interpretations, including transgender procedures without parental consent for minors, due to the ambiguous definition of “reproductive health care”
"You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish."
We often presume that the problems we face today are truly unique to our time. Even abortion is thought of as a problem that emerged only recently, due to an increasingly complex modern world. Thus, many who clamor for abortion “rights” in America believe that the Pro-life cries of popes and rosary-rattling grandmothers, while well-intentioned, are nothing more than the simple-minded objections of the old world. But the quote at the start of this section was not written by a modern pro-life organization, or even one of the ten most recent Roman Pontiffs. Rather, that quote is from a Christian writing known as The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (or the Didache, in the Greek abbreviation). The Didache was likely written before the Apostle John died on Patmos in 99 A.D. At that time, the pagan Roman culture regularly disposed of unwanted babies through both abortion and the abandonment of infants in the wilderness. The Catholic Church has firmly opposed the ancient evil of abortion for all of her nearly two-thousand-year existence. Humanity, it turns out, has not changed much. This November 5th, Catholics have the same moral duty as Catholics always and everywhere have: to be witnesses to the dignity of every human life.
The Moral Duty of Catholic Voters
Catholics have a vested interest in the political state of their homeland. In fact, because Jesus tells us to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s,
it is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. The love and service of one’s country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.(ii)
This submission to legitimate secular authorities and service of the common good means that, for Catholics, it is “morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country.”(iii) Due to the nature of the proposed 3rd Amendment to the Missouri Constitution, which would ensure taxpayer funded abortions, it is especially important for Catholics to vote in this election cycle.
The Church has a Voice
In America, the separation of Church and State has been manipulated by many to mean that the Church can have no say in political matters. In truth, “It is a part of the Church’s mission ‘to pass moral judgements even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it.”(iv) On the question of abortion, the Church’s constant mission is to proclaim that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.”(v) And because political authorities “are obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person,”(vi) the Church herself is obliged to speak in opposition to all attempts by political authorities to violate those fundamental rights. Amendment 3’s promotors position themselves as defenders of a supposed right to the vague and indeterminate idea of “reproductive health.” But their outcry is “false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination." (vii)
The Church is not a collection of nebulous ideas and rules that exist somewhere out in the ether. The Church, at least here on earth, is you and me. It is made up of all of those who are Baptized, in union with Christ, their Head. So, it is our responsibility, as Catholics, to proclaim to the world, in the civil sphere, that the evil of abortion cannot be considered a human right. As Scripture has shown us, and as the Church has always proclaimed: “God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”(viii) There is no spiritual justification to remain indifferent or to vote in support of Amendment 3.
Jesus came to bring a Gospel of Life into a world ruled by death. We, as the Mystical Body of Christ on earth, share the mission of Jesus Christ. To support Amendment 3, or to remain indifferent, is to side with death. We are impelled by truth, charity, and a desire for all to be saved, to vote NO on Amendment 3 this November 5.
After reading this, if you have any questions or need any additional resources please click HERE.
i Quotes in this paragraph derived from the Missouri Catholic Conference’s Statement on Amendment 3
ii Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2239
iii Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2240
iv Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2246
v Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2270
vi Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2237
vii Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, n. 38.2
viii CCC, n. 2258; CDF instruction, Donum
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