Free to choose, eh?
That’s what Vatican Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone asked media and politicians in his first visit to the U.S.
At the national conference of the Knights of Columbus last week, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone held a news conference with reporters covering the 125th anniversary of the Catholic group. During the news conference he said political parties shouldn’t apply a pro-abortion litmus test.
That’s turning the tables on ’em. I remember the Senate confirmation hearings for Justice Samuel Alito (and John Roberts before him) during which plenty of senators (and media analysts) demanded to know whether the judges would have a pro-life litmus test, and rebuked the president for appearing to have one. Cardinal Bertone is telling them they shouldn’t be applying one in reverse. And if they’re Catholic, they should know the consequences of their role in abortion laws.
He said the Catholic Church has already issued all the documents necessary to show that Catholics who support abortion should refrain from taking communion.
“I don’t think that it is necessary to repeat new norms because the norms are well explained in the doctrine of the Church, and those norms which deal with the proper stance of individuals who want to receive Communion,” he said.
Cardinal Bertone also addressed the role of political parties in the United States and said they should not discriminate against Catholics who take a pro-life position.
He appeared to be speaking about the Democratic Party, though he didn’t say so specifically.
“I don’t understand how a person in public office or one engaged in political activity can be obliged to renounce his Catholic identity because the party, be it in the U.S. or in other countries, imposes an ethical choice on the basis of the party’s program,” he told the news conference.
“This, according to me, does not respect freedom of conscience. It even seems to me to be an oppression of conscience. Where is the freedom of conscience that is so proclaimed and defended in America?” the Catholic leader added.
Great question, Eminence. Did anybody answer?