[Pflienews] Scranton Bishop has no patience for Catholics in name only, God bless him.

[PFLI PharmAid Center]

    *http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/10/martino-this-is-madness-people.html*


    *Tuesday, October 21, 2008*


      *"This Is Madness, People": In Surprise Cameo, Scranton Bishop
      Repudiates USCCB, Dems, Et al. *

<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BB2CEUhgSSY/SP29COS7WEI/AAAAAAAACqg/Fbv6gMrckks/s1600-h/martino.jpg>Showing 
up unannounced at a parish forum on the elections in his Northeast 
Pennsylvania diocese, the author of one of this campaign-season's 
strongest letters 
<http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/09/from-scranton-moral-force.html> 
from a US hierarch didn't come without something to say... plural: 
<http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x270972980/Bishop-stresses-abortion-view-at-political-forum>

A presidential election forum at St. John's Roman Catholic Church on 
Sunday centered mainly on abortion.

The argument and audience, however, erupted when Diocese of Scranton 
Bishop Joseph F. Martino unexpectedly arrived and vehemently expressed 
his distaste for what was said about the church's stance on voting for 
pro-choice candidates and the exclusion of his anti-abortion letter at 
the forum, which recommends voting against pro-choice candidates for 
moral reasons....

According to the USCCB's "Faithful Citizenship" statement, 
<http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/FCStatement.pdf> approved by 
the full body of U.S. bishops in 2007, "a Catholic cannot vote for a 
candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as 
abortion or racism, if the voter's intent is to support that position. 
At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate's opposition to an 
intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other 
important moral issues involving human life and dignity."

Martino, who arrived while the panelists were stating their viewpoints, 
took issue with the USCCB statement, which was handed out to everyone at 
the meeting, and also that his letter 
<http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/09/from-scranton-moral-force.html> 
was not mentioned once at the forum.

"No USCCB document is relevant in this diocese," said Martino. "The 
USCCB doesn't speak for me."

"The only relevant document ... is my letter," he said. "There is one 
teacher in this diocese, and these points are not debatable."

His letter, published Sept. 30 and circulated throughout the diocese, 
states that a candidate's abortion stance is a major voting issue that 
supersedes all other considerations due to its grave moral consequences.

"Health care, education, economic security, immigration, and taxes are 
very important concerns. Neglect of any one of them has dire 
consequences as the recent financial crisis demonstrates. However, the 
solutions to problems in these areas do not usually involve a rejection 
of the sanctity of human life in the way that abortion does," the letter 
says. "Another argument goes like this: 'As wrong as abortion is, I 
don't think it is the only relevant 'life' issue that should be 
considered when deciding for whom to vote.' This reasoning is sound only 
if other issues carry the same moral weight as abortion does, such as in 
the case of euthanasia and destruction of embryos for research purposes. 
... National Right to Life reports that 48.5 million abortions have been 
performed since 1973. One would be too many. No war, no natural 
disaster, no illness or disability has claimed so great a price."

The letter also states that Catholic public officials who "persist in 
public support for abortion" should "not partake in or be admitted to 
the sacrament of Holy Communion."...

"No social issue has caused the death of 50 million people," he said, 
nothing that he no longer supports the Democratic Party. "This is 
madness people."

Martino also said that he wanted to persuade Father Martin Boylan, of 
St. John's, to cancel the forum.

After his comments, most of the audience stood and clapped loudly while 
some were angry that the bishop usurped the forum.

About a quarter of the audience left after the bishop's comments, which 
preceded the last half of the forum, a question and answer session with 
the panelists.

Martino exited shortly after his comments.

"Bishop Martino was aware that the forum at St. John ... was being held. 
He attended with the intention of listening to the presenters, and how 
they might discuss Catholic teaching," wrote Bill Genello, a diocese 
spokesperson, in an e-mail exchange on Monday. "Certain groups and 
individuals have used their own erroneous interpretations of Church 
documents, particularly the U.S. Bishops' statement on Faithful 
Citizenship, to justify their political positions and to contradict the 
Church's actual teaching on the centrality of abortion, euthanasia and 
embryonic stem cell research."

" ... He reminded those in attendance, and by extension all the faithful 
of the Diocese of Scranton, that groups such as Catholic United ... and 
other like-minded groups and individuals who make statements about 
Catholic teaching do not speak with the same authority or authenticity 
as their bishop."

The Scranton prelate was absent from last November's USCCB meeting in 
Baltimore which -- in a rare show of (near-)unanimity -- passed the 
Faithful Citizenship statement 
<http://www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/FCStatement.pdf> with 98% 
approval from the nation's hierarchy.


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