What The Church Teaches About Abortion and Immigration

Tribalism is a phenomenon that describes the strong identification or loyalty to one’s group or community.-Tribalism in the Age of Social Media | Psychology Today

Tribalism is on full display whenever you scroll online and engage others on social media. You would think that all Catholics would listen to the authorities that God has put in charge of his church on the great issues of the day concerning faith and morals. But instead, it seems that a good many, not all, listen to whatever their political tribe they belong to is saying about the topic over and above what the church is saying about the topic.

To illustrate what I’m talking about, I’m presenting two particular tribes of thinkers and their worldview on two district social issues and what the authorities of the Catholic church have to say about those same issues.

Republican conservative leaning Catholics favor policies favoring the elimination of abortion and favor policies that allow immigrants to be rounded up and ousted from our country if they are illegal in any way shape or form. Democrats and Liberals are frequently slammed and ridiculed and not seen in any favorable light.

Democratic liberal leaning Catholics favor policies favoring the priority on immigration and do not think the issue of stopping abortion is as important. Republicans and conservatives are frequently slammed and ridiculed and not seen in any favorable light.

A good amount of discussion or shouting online has individual Catholics highly emphasizing one issue to the exclusion and ridicule of the other. There are of course people who don’t fit into either category. If you actually care about what the church teaches about each issue you won’t prioritize one over the other. You will listen to the voice of Christ in the church and realize that both issues are important and demand your submission to the moral teaching being given.

It’s good to remember that on both sides of the issue there are good people.

“Morality binds and blinds. It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as though the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle. It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say.”
― Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

The Church on Abortion

 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish. God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes. CCC – 2271

Immigration is an important issue democrats want to be taken seriously on.  If liberals want to be taken seriously about immigration, take what the bishops say about abortion seriously.

The U.S. bishops say this about abortion.

For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the “preeminent priority.” Preeminent does not mean “only.” We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society. But as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion.

Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity, and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities. –USCCB President’s Statement on the Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., as 46th President of the United States of America | USCCB

Pope Francis, considered a friend to liberal Catholics, said this about Abortion

One could say that all the evil carried out in the world can be summed up in this: contempt for life. Life is assailed by war, by organizations that exploit people — we read in newspapers or see in newscasts many facts — by speculations on creation and by the throwaway culture and by every system that subjugates human existence to calculated opportunities, while a scandalous number of people live in a state unworthy of mankind. This is having contempt for life, that is, in some way, killing.

A contradictory approach even permits the termination of human life in the maternal womb, in the name of safeguarding other rights. But how can an action that ends an innocent and defenceless life in its blossoming stage be therapeutic, civilized or simply human? I ask you: is it right to ‘do away with’ a human life in order to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hit man in order to solve a problem? One cannot. It is not right to ‘do away with’ a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hit man to solve a problem.- General Audience of 10 October 2018

He further Adds

It is not progressive to pretend to solve problems by eliminating a human life. But it is also true that we have done little to adequately accompany women who find themselves in very difficult situations, where abortion is presented to them as a quick solution to their deep anguish, particularly when the life that grows in them has arisen as a result of rape or in a context of extreme poverty. Who can fail to understand those situations of so much pain? –Evangelii Gaudium: Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World (24 November 2013)

While there is more than one way end abortion the church is pretty clear that abortion in and of itself is against Catholic teaching. Too many democratic liberal Catholics tend to ignore this as their tribe thinks that a woman’s so called reproductive freedom is worth fighting and preserving.

The Church on Immigration

The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him. Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens. CCC 2241 

Being pro-life and stopping abortion is an important issue that conservatives want to be taken seriously on. If conservatives want to be taken seriously about abortion, take what the bishops say about immigration seriously.

The bishops say this about immigration.

As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.

Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity. –U.S. Bishops Issue a “Special Message” on Immigration from Plenary Assembly in Baltimore | USCCB

Here is what a pre-Vatican II conservative pope had to say about the topic.

In the search for a solution to the problem of migration in general and illegal migrants in particular, the attitude of the host society has an important role to play. In this perspective, it is very important that public opinion be properly informed about the true situation in the migrants’ country of origin, about the tragedies involving them and the possible risks of returning. The poverty and misfortune with which immigrants are stricken are yet another reason for coming generously to their aid.

It’s important to understand why people object to ICE rounding up immigrants.