CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine was gravely wrong to say he personally opposed abortion while taking a pro-choice stance in public office, a moral theologian says.<\/p>\nKaine, a Catholic, took a \u201cgravely immoral position\u201d and one \u201cthat is incorrect,\u201d Fr. Thomas Petri, dean of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., told CNA of Kaine\u2019s argument that he tries to \u201cfollow the teachings of my church in my own personal life\u201d but will not \u201cmandate that [faith] for everybody else\u201d through opposing abortion in public office.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a human issue, not a religious issue,\u201d Fr. Petri said of abortion. He pointed to Pope St. John Paul\u2019s encyclical \u201cEvangelium Vitae\u201d which insisted that right to life is the \u201cprimary right\u201d and \u201cwithout life, there are no other rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
One must oppose abortion not just on religious grounds, but as the primary human rights issue, Fr. Petri said.<\/p>\n
At Tuesday night\u2019s vice presidential debate, the candidates were asked to reveal \u201ca time when you struggled to balance your faith and a public policy position\u201d from their time in public office.<\/p>\n
Kaine, a baptized Catholic who attends St. Elizabeth parish in the Diocese of Richmond, Va., answered that when he was governor of Virginia, he was religiously opposed to the death penalty, but allowed executions because the law of the state demanded it in certain \u201cheinous\u201d cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is really, really important that those of us who have deep faith lives don\u2019t feel like we can just substitute our views for everybody else in society regardless of their views,\u201d he said at the debate.<\/p>\n
Kaine was then pressed by his opponent Mike Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, about his support for legal abortion, and Kaine repeated the same defense \u2013 a politician\u2019s religious beliefs shouldn\u2019t be imposed on others through governance and legislation.<\/p>\n
Pope St. John Paul II wrote in \u201cEvangelium Vitae\u201d that \u201claws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual; they thus deny the equality of everyone before the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConsequently, a civil law authorizing abortion or euthanasia ceases by that very fact to be a true, morally binding civil law,\u201d he continued. \u201cThere is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaine insisted that for the Hillary Clinton campaign, \u201cwe support Roe v. Wade. We support the constitutional right of American women to consult their own conscience\u201d and \u201cmake their own decision about pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
People of faith should be \u201cconvincing each other, dialoguing with each other about important moral issues of the day,\u201d he continued, \u201cbut on fundamental issues of morality, we should let women make their own decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, religion can\u2019t be just a private thing, but should play a key role in how a politician governs, Fr. Petri insisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t expect legislators to be blank slates,\u201d he said. \u201cWe expect them certainly to represent the interests of their constituents, but we vote for our legislators based on their positions on things, which one would hope would be shaped by experience, by life, by family, by faith \u2013 all of these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so one naturally has to ask how important is the faith for any person who says \u2018my faith has no bearing on my work or what I do in life\u2019,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Kaine has received a 100 percent rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League during his time in the Senate. Planned Parenthood\u2019s political arm has hailed him as \u201ca strong advocate for reproductive health and rights\u201d and gave him a 100 percent rating.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe supports access to affordable birth control and has consistently voted to ensure women have access to safe, legal abortion care,\u201d the Planned Parenthood Action Fund stated of Kaine.<\/p>\n
The candidate has said he personally supports the Hyde Amendment \u2013 which prohibits the taxpayer funding of elective abortions \u2013 but Clinton wants it repealed, and a Clinton spokesperson previously said that Kaine \u201cis committed to carrying out Secretary Clinton\u2019s agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Kaine was picked by Clinton to be her running mate, his bishop issued a statement about Church teaching on abortion and legislating.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the very beginning, Catholic teaching informs us that every human life is sacred from conception until natural death. The right to life is a fundamental, human right for the unborn and any law denying the unborn the right to life is unequivocally unjust,\u201d Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond stated on July 22.<\/p>\n
Kaine also said that he believed the Catholic Church would eventually change its teaching and allow for same-sex marriage, speaking at a national dinner of the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.<\/p>\n
Three days later, his bishop issued another statement that Church teaching on marriage could not, and will not, change.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on marriage, and despite recent statements from the campaign trail, the Catholic Church\u2019s 2000-year-old teaching to the truth about what constitutes marriage remains unchanged and resolute,\u201d Bishop DiLorenzo stated on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Catholics, we believe all humans warrant dignity and deserve love and respect, and unjust discrimination is always wrong,\u201d he added. \u201cOur understanding of marriage, however, is a matter of justice and fidelity to our Creator\u2019s original design.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Washington D.C., Oct 6, 2016 \/ 04:19 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine was gravely wrong to say he personally opposed abortion while taking a pro-choice stance in public office, a moral theologian says.<\/p>\n
Kaine, a Cat…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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