DALLAS,
Texas, OCT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
Voting
for a pro-abortion candidate
when there is an alternative
option is to cooperate in evil,
and therefore morally impermissible,
clarified two Texas bishops.
In
a message made available to
the faithful during this Respect
Life month, bishops Kevin Farrell
of Dallas and Kevin Vann of
Fort Worth seek to "dispel
any confusion or misunderstanding
that may be present among you
concerning the teaching contained
in" the U.S. bishops document
on faithful citizenship.
"'Forming
Consciences for Faithful Citizenship'
clearly teaches that not all
issues have the same moral equivalence,"
the bishops explained. "Some
issues involve 'intrinsic evils';
that is, they can never under
any circumstance or condition
be morally justified. Preeminent
among these intrinsic evils
are legalized abortion, the
promotion of same-sex unions
and 'marriages,' repression
of religious liberty, as well
as public policies permitting
euthanasia, racial discrimination
or destructive human embryonic
stem cell research."
Thus,
bishops Farrell and Vann stated,
"we cannot make more clear
the seriousness of the overriding
issue of abortion -- while not
the 'only issue'-- it is the
defining moral issue, not only
today, but of the last 35 years.
[…] This electoral cycle
affords us an opportunity to
promote the culture of life
in our nation.
"As
Catholics we are morally obligated
to pray, to act and to vote
to abolish the evil of abortion
in America,
limiting it as much as we can
until it is finally abolished."
Not
enough
The
prelates acknowledged that there
are a number of important issues
voters must consider "such
as immigration reform, health
care, the economy and its solvency,
care and concern for the poor,
and the war on terror."
"As
Catholics we must be concerned
about these issues and work
to see that just solutions are
brought about," they wrote.
"There are many possible
solutions to these issues and
there can be reasonable debate
among Catholics on how to best
approach and solve them. These
are matters of 'prudential judgment.'"
"But,"
the prelates emphasized, "let
us be clear: Issues
of prudential judgment are not
morally equivalent to issues
involving intrinsic evils. No
matter how right a given candidate
is on any of these issues, it
does not outweigh a candidate's
unacceptable position in favor
of an intrinsic evil such as
abortion or the protection of
'abortion rights.'"
Salvation
at stake
The
Texas bishops, citing the U.S.
episcopal conference document,
addressed the question of if
it is "permissible for
a Catholic to vote for a candidate
who supports an intrinsic evil
-- even when the voter does
not agree with the candidate's
position on that evil."
They
said there are only two conditions
when voting for a pro-abortion
candidate is permissible: "A.
If both candidates running for
office support abortion or 'abortion
rights,' a Catholic would be
forced to then look at the other
important issues and through
their vote try to limit the
evil done; or,
"B.
If another intrinsic evil outweighs
the evil of abortion. While
this is sound moral reasoning,
there are no 'truly grave moral'
or 'proportionate' reasons,
singularly or combined, that
could outweigh the millions
of innocent human lives that
are directly killed by legal
abortion each year.
"To
vote for a candidate who supports
the intrinsic evil of abortion
or 'abortion rights' when there
is a morally acceptable alternative
would be to cooperate in the
evil -- and, therefore, morally
impermissible."
The
bishops concluded affirming
that the
decisions made on such political
and moral issues "may affect
each individual's salvation."
"As
Catholics, we must treat our
political choices with appropriate
moral gravity," they wrote,
"and in doing so, realize
our continuing and unavoidable
obligation to be a voice for
the voiceless unborn, whose
destruction by legal abortion
is the preeminent intrinsic
evil of our day."
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