An example of why one should not confuse the church with the faith
Catholics Question Abortion Focus
Some Want Church to Address Issues Such as Death Penalty
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 26, 2004; Page A02
A question has been gnawing at Frank A. McNeirney since he read that some Roman Catholic bishops want to deny Communion to Catholic politicians, such as Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry, whose public positions are at odds with church doctrine.
"Does this only apply to abortion?" asked McNeirney, 67, of Bethesda. "What about the death penalty?"
After retiring as a trade magazine editor a dozen years ago, McNeirney founded a nonprofit organization, Catholics Against the Death Penalty, which has 1,200 members across the country. It's a mom-and-pop operation, run by McNeirney and his wife, Ellen, out of their home on a shoestring budget. They are the first to acknowledge that it has nowhere near the political clout or public visibility of the nation's antiabortion groups.
But McNeirney is not alone in questioning whether the church's political vision has become myopic, focusing too narrowly on abortion.
Some Catholic publications, educators and elected officials are also warning that church leaders may appear hypocritical or partisan if they condemn Kerry because he favors abortion rights while they say nothing about Catholic governors who allow executions, Catholic members of Congress who support the Iraq war or Catholic officials at all levels who ignore the church's teachings on social justice.
