Catholic Bishops Scheme Against Trump

At a meeting of Catholic Bishops in Fort Lauderdale, FL several high ranking members of the Clergy called for a complete overhaul of the Church’s guiding document for voters.

According to Newsmax, the Bishops spent a good deal of time chastising Trump for pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, while spending zero time standing in solidarity with the President on the issue of abortion. Trump has been the most pro-life President in the abortion era.

Nor did the Bishops discuss the escalation of  conflict in the Korean Peninsula. Surely that falls under the voter’s guide section title “Promoting Peace.”

“Catholics must also work to avoid war and to promote peace,” the document says. This is of particular importance, as there is a danger in the present time of becoming indifferent to war because of the number of armed conflicts. War is never a reflection of what ought to be but a sign that something more true to human dignity has failed. The Catholic tradition recognizes the legitimacy of just war teaching when defending the innocent in the face of grave evil, but we must never lose sight of the cost of war and its harm to human life.”

Trump has shown anything but indifference to the threat of war with North Korea.

But according to Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, the present document does not represent “the new body of teaching” as taught by the present Pope, specifically in regards to issues like climate change, poverty, and immigration.

The document, last updated in 2015, details traditional views on issues like marriage, abortion, and religious liberty. Some of the Clergy, Cupich included, are pushing for a complete re-write.

The voting guide is what one would expect from a church, very conservative.

Here is a passage:

“Abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human life and dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental good and the condition for all others. Abortion, the deliberate killing of a human being before birth, is never morally acceptable and must always be opposed.”

Passage Ends

Bishop Roger McElroy of San Diego said that the document does not represent “Catholic teaching as it is now,” alluding to the increasing liberalization of the church.

Newsmax fears that the Catholic Church moving any further to the left will alienate the Bishops from their flock, making them “just another cadre of grumpy Never-Trumpers.”