House Dems Repudiate Pope’s Abortion Remarks

Catholic Mom has the news on the latest display of arrogance from Catholic Democrats:

A group of House Democrats yesterday publicly repudiated the Pope’s recent suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

Eighteen House Democrats, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), are responding to Pope Benedict XVI’s statement that indicated he would support Mexican bishops if they were to excommunicate Mexican legislators who voted last month to legalize abortion in Mexico City.

The Pope made his remarks last Wednesday during a news conference aboard a plane before he was to begin a five-day visit to Brazil.

“We are concerned with the Pope’s recent statement warning Catholic elected officials that they risk excommunication and would not receive communion for their pro-choice views,” the lawmakers said in a statement issued yesterday. “Advancing respect for life and for the dignity of every human being is, as our church has taught us, our own life’s mission.”

The Democratic lawmakers said that the suggested penalty “offend[s] the very nature of the American experiment and do[es] a great disservice to the centuries of good work the church has done.” (emphasis added)

***
Jon O’Brien, the executive director of Catholics for a Free Choice, said, “[Pope Benedict] is still putting dogma ahead of the lived reality of the Catholic laity… it will only push Catholic politicians further from the institutional church.” (emphasis added)

The House Democrats’ letter mirrors a “statement of principles” that 55 Democrats, encompassing a broad ideological swath of the caucus, signed last year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who is Catholic, signed the letter, as did anti-abortion rights Reps. Bart Stupak (Mich.) and Jim Langevin (R.I.).

[More]

My Comments:
Indeed. Why can't the Pope be more mindful of "the very nature of the American experiment" and "the lived reality of the Catholic laity" before opening his mouth to expound on Church teaching?

This one looks like a slam-dunk for this week's Rosie Award. Stay tuned as the winner is announced on Friday.


UPDATE
I would be remiss if I didn't comment on this last paragraph of the above-cited story in The Hill:

Meanwhile, Catholic voters’ attitudes towards abortion are changing, according to an ABC-Washington Post poll released in March. Only 10 percent of those polled believe that abortion should be legal in all cases, a 16 percent drop since 2004. But there has been a corresponding rise in the number who said it should be legal in most cases.

Uhhhhhh, yeah. If the number of Catholics who believe abortion should be legal in ALL cases drops by 16%, then we would expect an increase, roughly corresponding to that same 16%, in the number of people who now think abortion should be legal in SOME or MOST cases.

Wouldn't that shift account for the rise, rather than the disingenuos implication that there are now more Catholics favoring abortion than there once were? Just more proof that there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.


UPDATE #2 (16 May)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights responds:

May 15, 2007

CATHOLIC DEMOCRATS CHIDE POPE

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded today to the eighteen House Democrats who chided Pope Benedict XVI for allegedly saying he agreed with Mexican bishops for invoking excommunication in dealing with Catholic lawmakers who recently voted to legalize abortion:

“These Democrats are twice a disgrace. First, they have their facts wrong: no Mexican bishop ever invoked excommunication against any lawmaker for legalizing abortion. What happened was at first confusing, but was quickly clarified.

“On May 9, in his extemporaneous remarks aboard a plane going to Brazil, the pope initially gave the impression that he favored excommunication of the lawmakers. Shortly thereafter—on that same day—his remarks were amended, making moot the idea that he favored such a penalty. On May 10, the Vatican presented the pope’s official statement. That statement did not speak to excommunicating anyone—it simply restated Church teaching that Catholic legislators who advocate abortion rights should not go to Communion. Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman on the scene, said that ‘if the bishops haven’t excommunicated anyone, it’s not that the pope wants to do so.’

“The Catholic Democrats who signed this statement had plenty of time to get their facts straight. After all, Catholic News Service ran a splendid piece clarifying what happened on May 10. But in a defensive rush to judgment, they decided to take their game to the pope; thus did they disgrace themselves for a second time. ‘Advancing respect for life and for the dignity of every human being is, as our church has taught us, our own life’s mission.’ It is not easy to reconcile that position with their voting record on abortion, which includes (in many instances) opposition to the ban on partial-birth abortions. Evidently, respecting the life and dignity of every human being doesn’t extend to children who are 80 percent born.

“These Catholic Democrats need to hire some fact checkers. And while they’re at it, it might be good for them to hire a practicing Catholic bioethicist.”

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Belated Rosie Award Winner for Last Week: Sen. Patrick Leahy

Democrat Response to Pope's Abortion Comments