The universal catechism teaches a truth about which we should all be mindful as Christians [CCC 1868-69]:
“Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them: by participating directly and voluntarily in them; by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them; by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so; and by protecting evil-doers. Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine goodness. ‘Structures of sin’ are the expression and effect of personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an analogous sense, they constitute a ‘social sin.’”
The Catholic politicians liberalizing abortion are essentially either in immediate dissent about what abortion is really about or there is a heinous hypocrisy. Thus if a politician says that he believes that abortion is murder, and instead of inhibiting it makes possible or enables its execution, there is little left of personal integrity. Semantics are employed because such a lack of consistency would unnerve the most radical advocates. You will never hear this: “Well, yes I believe that it is wrong to kill children but I would never stop you from killing children, indeed I will fight for your right to kill children.”
What Questions Flow from the Essential Question?
The conditions about cooperation touch not only the elected official but those who vote for him or her. They should ask themselves a series of questions. Most will not.
“Have I ever argued for the general right to abortion and/or have I ever counseled anyone to have an abortion due to the injustice of rape, the scandal attached to having relations, the need to finish school, the lack of economic resources or to preserve a standard and manner of living?”
“Have I ever catered to the false pro-life position of making exceptions to an abortion-prohibition when there were nebulous health cases or assault issues brought forward?”
“Have I ever ordered someone to get an abortion or done anything to make it hard for a woman to keep her baby as with job demands or expectations?”
(I recall a mother telling her fifteen year old daughter, pregnant by a boyfriend, “You either get rid of it or you will get the hell out of my house!” After hiding out at friends for a few months she begged her mother to come home. Her mother picked her up with a quick stop at the abortion clinic. Not only was her love defective for her daughter but absent for her grandchild.)
“Have I supported politicians who promoted policies that hampered working mothers and their caring for children?”
“Have I ever given consent to abortion by withholding judgment upon such actions or by telling people that they had to do what was right for them even if it meant termination?”
(I suspect many have collaborated with this wrong by passivity and a misplaced toleration of evil.)
“Have I ever ignored or dismissed a politician’s pro-abortion stance for the sake of party solidarity or other issues?”
“Have I enticed others to abort a child through prodding or inciting them? ‘Don’t let that pack of child molesters tell you what to do!’ ‘What do those old men in the Vatican know about a woman’s needs and the trial of unwanted pregnancies?’ ‘Go for it girl and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!’”
“Have I ever threatened or was party to the manipulation of politicians, telling them, ‘Support a woman’s right to choose or we will choose someone else?’”
“Have I ever noted a woman’s abortion as a courageous thing to do or announced that those who go forward with such actions are trailblazers for others? Have I ever defended or praised elected officials for maintaining a woman’s so-called ‘right to choose’?”
“Have I ever been a ‘good friend’ in giving a woman the money to procure an abortion?”
(I even knew a clergyman who committed the mortal sin of driving a girl to an abortion clinic and waiting to take her home. While it is in the area of secondary agency it is an immediate participation in the crime of destroying a human being.)
“Have I responded with SILENCE to the policy of legalized abortion and to actual terminations carried out by family and friends?”
(Too many are quiet. True Christians must be a voice for the voiceless! Just because the Supreme Court says it is right does not make it so. Not that long ago this same court ordered that runaway slaves had to be returned to their ruthless slave masters! Bad laws or the erroneous interpretation of laws must not set a precedent for men and overturn a genuine conviction for the sanctity of human life and justice.)
“Have I ever defended a right to abortion for purposes of population control, for women’s liberation from male domination and the biological bondage of motherhood— leveling the playing field between the sexes?”
Speaking to my fellow priests and to the bishops, have you ever gotten the blood of this matter on your hands through obscuration and secrecy? This too is a sin. I do not mean concealing that which falls under the seal of confession, but rather the public rendering of approval to a Catholic that has publicly voted for and promoted practices that violate the Gospel of Life like abortion, infanticide, embryonic stem-cell research, etc. Well known and outspoken figures must have their wrongful acts and alliances addressed in the public forum. This includes politicians and celebrities from movies, music, television, sports and whatever else. There is no underestimating the dangerous scandal and negative teaching value of someone who is pro-abortion and yet hailed as “a good Catholic.”
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