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FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 2020
The Observer
Support of Abortion Can't Be Reconciled With a Rightly Formed Conscience
With some six weeks left before our national election we should be working to form our consciences rightly as the guide for our participation in that election. Last week this column reviewed a number of issues identied by the bishops of the United States and by Pope Francis that need to be part of that consideration. Of course that inevitably means confronting again the role of abortion in our country and in society. The divisive role of abortion in our national discussion and policies has been underscored once more with the recent passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The central point of the discussions on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to succeed her have virtually all centered on how that successor will aect the Supreme Court votes on restrictions and even the future legality of abortion. The question of ending our countrys slaughter of the innocent through its liberal abortion laws as part of our formation of conscience before voting is not new. Since the terrible decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973, the expansion of the sexual revolution has caused this issue to become dominant in our national and local politics. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2017, the most recent year surveyed, there were over 860,000 abortions in the United States. As recently as 2011 there were over 1 million. Since abortion was legalized in our country, estimates are that more than 61 million babies have been aborted. Abortion continues to take a huge toll on our society and in our families and of course on the unborn. Many years ago, as a young priest, I had occasion to ask one of the American cardinals how he responded to questions about where ending abortion should rank in a voters conscience. He said that it has to be the rst consideration. He went on to say that every other right and assistance that we support and work for presumes that one has been born and is alive to receive that help. Abortion takes away that possibility. As this column has noted before, the bishops of the United States have issued a document entitled Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship in preparation for the coming election. In that document the bishops call opposing abortion, ... our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself. In a conversation with American bishops in Rome last December, Pope Francis himself affirmed this judgment. There are many facets of conscience that are connected to abortion. For example, for many women who have had abortions, perhaps even in moments of fear or abandonment, conscience does not rest. They are lled with regret, sadness and loss. They need to know of our love for them and for the forgiveness of Christ oered by the Church. Tragically, however, many politicians actively promote laws and funding for abortion. Even some politicians nationally and locally who openly claim that they are Catholic in good conscience, vote in favor of abortion. We must change this. There are certain positions, like support for the direct taking of unborn life, that simply cannot be reconciled with a rightly formed conscience. Every election is an opportunity to inuence the direction of our city, our state, our country. It is an occasion for followers of Christ to affirm what is good but to reject what conscience cannot approve. Our votes matter. For too long the preeminent issue of abortion has been accepted as legal in our country. Our consciences and our votes must lead us to say enough. We must support Gods gift of life in every human being, including those waiting to be born. BY BISHOP DAVID J. MALLOY
From the General Audience, Library of the Apostolic Palace, June 10, part 1
Let us continue with our catechesis on the subject of prayer. Through the occurrences of men and women from a far-o time, the Book of Genesis tells us stories in which we can reect our lives. In the Patriarch cycle, we also nd the story of a man who had turned shrewdness into his best talent: Jacob. The biblical account tells us about the difficult relationship Jacob had with his brother Esau. Ever since childhood, there was a rivalry between them, which was never overcome later on. Jacob is the second-born son - they were twins - but through deceit he manages to obtain the blessing and birthright of their father Isaac (see Gen 25:19-34). It is only the rst in a long series of ploys of which this unscrupulous man is capable. Even the name Jacob means someone who is cunning in his movements. Forced to ee far from his brother, he seems to succeed in every undertaking in his life. He is adept at business. He greatly enriches himself, becoming the owner of an enormous ock. With tenacity and patience he manages to marry Labans most beautiful daughter, with whom he is truly in love. Jacob - as we would say in modern terms - is a self-made man. With his ingenuity, his cunning, he manages to obtain everything he wants. But he lacks something. He lacks a living relationship with his own roots. And one day he hears the call of home, of his ancient homeland, where his brother Esau, with whom he has always had a terrible relationship, still lives. Jacob sets out, undertaking a long journey with a caravan of many people and animals, until he reaches the nal leg, the Jabbok stream. Here the Book of Genesis oers us a memorable page (see 32:23-33). It recounts that after having all his people and all the livestock - which was numerous - cross the stream, the patriarch remains alone on the foreign river bank. And he ponders: What awaits him the following day? What attitude will his brother Esau, whose birthright he had stolen, assume? Jacobs mind is a whirlwind of thoughts ... . And, as it is growing dark, a stranger suddenly grabs him and begins to wrestle with him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of perseverance ( CCC , 2573). Jacob wrestles the entire night, never letting go of his adversary. In the end he is defeated, his sciatic nerve is struck by his opponent, and thereafter he will walk with a limp for the rest of his life. That mysterious wrestler asks the patriarch for his name and tells him: Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed (Gen 32:28), as if to say: you will never be the man who walks this way, but forthright.
The Prayer of Jacob Comes in Struggle
BY POPE FRANCIS
(CNS photo/C. Peri via Reuters)
O
ne of the American cardinals ... went on to say that every other right and assistance that we support and work for presumes that one has been born and is alive to receive that help.
A
fter having all his people and all the livestock - which was numerous - cross the stream, the patriarch remains alone on the foreign river bank.
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