Father,

What Happened to the Roman Catholic Vote?

It was sacrificed for money.  For all of the alleged strictness and hierarchy and the "magisterium" of the Roman Catholic Church, all bets are off when it comes to money.  In the United States, Roman Catholic Cardinals and Bishops operate under the foolish and unwarranted idea that they cannot take effective "stands" on political issues, no matter how much they offend basic moral principles. Their false logic is that if they do, they will risk losing their IRS 501(c) (3) (non-profit) status, and therefore be less able to continue doing their "good works."  This is the core reason I believe that they refuse to let their subordinate priests and deacons "preach from the pulpit" regarding candidates' stands on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, and even prohibit the distribution of campaign  literature or "fact sheets" on their own property.

A tragically absurd example of this came this past Saturday, just before the Presidential election, when a couple of our McCain-Palin volunteers attempted to distribute literature outside the local Roman Catholic church where they were members.  They were chased away by the priest, who threatened to call the police on them.  Imagine that, a Catholic pastor threatening members of his flock with arrest for handing out pro-life materials on the church grounds!  What sin had they committed to deserve that?  Or, who, in fact was the sinner?

We are told in Scripture to "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's."  Unfortunately, to many who call themselves Christians, this goes way beyond its intended meaning (taxes and the like) and seeps into "morality" through the lens of what the godless secular state dictates NOT what Christian law and ethics demand.

Brian Burch, President of Fidelis, gives all the excuses of material secularism in his pathetic apologia for the majority of Roman Catholics voting for abortion and same-sex marriage.  It seems Catholics were  "...citing the economy as their top issue,"..."Catholic voters ignored the guidance of their bishops,"..."the bishops can only do so much,"...etc.  It is amazing that the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, which claims at least 20% of the entire U.S. population as members, does not believe that it has any power when it comes to taking a stand on these vital matters.  Why did the Catholics ignore their bishops?  BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING.  Imagine, if the cardinals and bishops had united in a serious pro-life, pro-marriage campaign from every Roman Catholic pulpit in America for weeks before the election with explanatory literature and multimedia presentations.  If national days of prayer and fasting had been called.  If a national "march for life" had been held just before the election in cities across the country.  Is it not possible -probable- that efforts such as this could have resulted in a pick up of seven percentage points?  Is it not possible -again, probable- that God would have blessed a prayerful Nation with a pro-life victory, even if some of its efforts were imperfect?

No, instead, everyone waits by the wayside, hoping not to offend, hoping to pay off the civil and criminal fines from the last barrage of sin, to stay under the radar.  And how does the Fidelis interview end?  With a hope, "that the new administration will recognize the charitable contributions of Catholic organizations..." and that there will be "new funding for social service organizations of this type."  Too bad there will be a few million less children to benefit from this government-sponsored largesse...