Pro Catholic and

Happily Anti politics!

I have avoided this and avoided this and just tried to remain in the middle of the road and quiet.  Remember, I tried, is everyone clear, I tried?   As an obviously Pro Catholic and Anti politics priest, that is also extremely extroverted, I can’t keep quiet anymore.  You might be thinking this is a response to the debate, but it isn’t.  I started writing this long before the debate (actually weeks before) and because I was with family and traveling, I did see some of the debate.

Since admitting watching part of the debate, I am less sure why any Catholic is left with a choice.  (no pun intended)  We are not single issue voters, or we shouldn’t be, but there was one statement that made my decision easier.  As awful as it is, I know who I am voting for.  Once a candidate proclaimed that their opponent is going to over turn Roe v Wade and the respect for marriage act, I came to the sad realization of who I had to vote for.

Personally, I don’t care who gets civilly married, but I want to be able to protect the sacrament of marriage and the sanctity of Catholic hospitals.  It isn’t about the person elected any more, but the judges they appoint and the policies they enact.  We need to, in every way, bring a respect for life back into the dialogue.  Life can never be a secondary concern.  The belief that God created each of us male and female in the image and likeness of GOD means something!

I am not saying who to vote for.  As someone who holds the title Honorary as a formerly elected official, I have a different understanding than most.  We have to do what is right, not just for today, but for the next generations.  I am again not telling anyone who to vote for, but to encourage long range thinking.  We need to ask ourselves, which candidate or party will truly advance our faith.

Finally the original point of this Blog:

So from another point of view which actually started this blog post; we have to stick with the facts on both sides.  I got an email from a good friend that said the Pope had endorsed Trump.  I sent him the snopes rebuttal and he responded that snopes isn’t always trustworthy.  So I reluctantly enter the political debate of 2016.

First, as soon as you see an email that the Pope, a Bishop or any Church leader has endorsed any political candidate, you know it can’t be true.  Any US Church that publicly endorses either side will lose their tax exempt status.  None of us can afford that.  So please just delete those emails.  I hope the senders are well intentioned, but we need to stick with the facts.  Unfortunately the facts are not so good right now, but we can work with them and make things better.

In summary:

The email I saw had the Pope endorsing capitalism, if you have paid any attention to our Pope, he is not a fan of capitalism!  At least in a way recognizable by either candidate.  The Pope, if he says anything will be like most religious leaders and tell us to look to the future and ask which candidate will have our country more aligned with the teachings of the church in 4 years.

For this election cycle, it really isn’t easy.  I am sure that I will have many friends read this election differently than I do.  I am perfectly fine with that.  What I do, I will do in prayer and hope that all the rest of the electorate will do the same.  That said, we can be sure that our God will work through the results in November for the betterment of the world!  He left of stewards of this world many centuries ago and isn’t abandoning us ever.