PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK OBAMA

AMEN

Election Day

We pray that today will be a new chapter in American history where we move from the divisive and bitter partisan politics that have torn this country down and we move forward to a bright and new future.

We pray that the election will go well with no flaws and that the vitriolic forces that seek to divide this country will live with the outcome and join us as we move the country forward.

McCain Campaign Volunteers Trespass at Three Columbus, Ohio area Churches

We finished out the day visiting Immaculate Conception in Columbus, The St. Thomas More Newman Center at Ohio St. and St. Brigid of Kildare in Dublin, OH.

At Immaculate Conception we found evidence of the McCain Trespassers. One flier was even attached to the Church pickup truck. See picture below. We also found one flier on the ground, apparently read and then "discarded" by a well meaning Catholic. See picture below. We removed all the remaining fliers we could find.

At the Newman Center we found a couple cars from a earlier mass with fliers which we removed, but no sign of McCain trespassers for the late morning mass.

Also was the same at St. Brigid of Kildare in Dublin. Some cars had fliers apparently from the mid morning mass that we removed, but as the noon mass began to park there was no sign of any more McCain Tresspasers.

We eagerly await other reports of the McCain campaigns trespassing this Sunday.

Obnoxious McCain Campaign Volunteers Trespass on parking lot of St. Michaels Catholic Church in Worthington, Ohio

This was by far the most obnoxious group we ran into all day. There were about ten volunteers fanned out across the parking lot of St. Michaels in Worthington, Ohio. Not only were McCain Campaign Volunteers trespassing on the Church lot, but also volunteers from Ohio Right to Life and The Ohio Christian Alliance. It was pure mayhem and apparent coordination between the McCain Campaign and outside groups.

We asked them all if they had permission from the pastor to be there. They all of course declined to answer that and instead told us they had a right to be there and exercise their free speech. We reminded them that they were on private property. They advised us if we removed their fliers then it was "felony".

They became quite confrontational and would not leave when asked to politely. At one point, one of the gentleman began posturing as if he would get physical with us.

They reminded us that we were baby killers even though they new little else about us other than we were reminding them of their trespass and photographing it.

After they covered all the cars in the lot, they left. We then removed all of their fliers, sometimes two and three deep on the cars.

McCain Campaign Volunteers Invade and Trespass at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio

These ladies, volunteering for the McCain Campaign, were busy putting GOP paid for fliers on the cars in the private parking lot of St. Timothy's Catholic Church, when we pulled up.

They were a team of 6 and quickly fanned out to perform their unwanted partisan activity on Church property. When asked if they had the permission of the pastor to be there, they said they did not. They advised that they had the permission of "Catholics for McCain" to be there. We asked them if they wanted to go inside and ask the pastor and we even volunteered to go with them. We advised them that it was not the policy of the Diocese or the Catholic Conference of Ohio to distribute unofficial literature on Church property. We advised them that they were trespassing as well.

They quickly packed up and left only to park up the street, maybe to wait us out. We waited with them for awhile and then they drove away.

McCain Campaign Volunteers Trespassing at St. Andrews Catholic Church - Upper Arlington, Ohio

These McCain Campaign Volunteers trespassed on the property of St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Upper Arlington, Ohio this morning to place partisan and divisive campaign literature on cars of unsuspecting parishioners in the parking lot. In one of the pictures, one can clearly see the McCain Campaign Tee Shirts and hats.

When asked if the pastor of the Church had given them permission to be there, they said no. They were reminded that they were trespassing and that the Church had asked that only Church approved materials be distributed on Church property.

Not only were they handing out the McCain /GOP fliers but they also had fliers from the Ohio Christian Coalition. Apparently the McCain Campaign is coordinating its efforts with outside groups. tsk tsk

Their activities soon caught the eye of a special duty police officer there, normally for traffic duty. He advised them that the pastor had asked him to watch for trespassers distributing political materials this Sunday and to ask them to leave. He did so after making them remove the offending materials they had already placed. They removed their fliers and left the parking lot.

The GOP - McCain Flyer used on Catholic Church Lots

This is a photo of the flier placed on cars at Catholic Churches by trespassing McCain volunteers this Sunday in Ohio. Note the flier is paid for by the Ohio GOP. It is the same flier used by the Bush Campaign in 2004, only updated with new pictures and some language change.

Despite calls by the Bishops, parishes and Dioceses to not trespass on Church Property, the GOP saw fit to distribute these fliers meant to misinform and divide Catholics.

Catholics are not being fooled this year.

McCain Campaign Politicking at St. Brendans Catholic Church in Hilliard Ohio

Volunteers from the McCain campaign trespassed on the property of St. Brendan's Catholic Church in Hilliard, OH this morning and placed flyer's paid for by the Ohio GOP on parishioners windshields. The trespassers were gone when we arrived, but the evidence was left. We ran into a rather busy Church employee who was busy removing the offensive, divisive and partisan materials from the cars so parishioners could go home in peace after the sanctity of the mass.

Shame on the McCain campaign for bringing politics onto Church property this election season.

McCain Campaign politics in Catholic Church Parking lots despite requests by Churches and Dioceses not to.

Today in Columbus Ohio, we visited six parishes this morning. The McCain campaign had volunteers at all six parishes putting flyer's on cars, despite requests by the parishes and the dioceses not to. Below are some of the pictures - more to come soon with a full report on each parish.

Will Obama Win the White Catholic Vote?

From the Pew Research Center...

Pew Forum's tracking1 of surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain had a 13-point lead among white Catholic registered voters in late September. But the group's support for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama grew in October, giving Obama an 8-point lead in late October. What might explain this shift?

September 15th will go down in history as the day the tide turned against John McCain with Catholics. That was the day he stated that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong".... and we all now know the rest of the story. Catholics are no longer being fooled by the vitriolic forces of the right who want Catholics to believe that their vote must be cast over a single issue.

Catholics are connecting the dots and know that a strong economy is a life issue and that a weak economy will only lead to more misery for working Americans. The economy drives the abortion rate and Catholics know that with a McCain administration and a continuation of the Bush economy, the abortion rate will continue to climb as more and more Americans face desperate times and desperate choices.

With an Obama administration, Catholics realize that Americans will have a new direction with the economy and women will be empowered to make better choices regarding the birth of their child, with improved access to health care, housing and education.

For a Catholic - the choice at the ballot box could not be clearer this election day...

More from the Pew Research....

Republicans in Ohio Suppressing Early Voters

As reported in an article by Barb Carmen in the Columbus Dispatch this morning, Michael E. Colley and Douglas J. Preisse (pictured left), Republican members of the Franklin County Ohio election board are attempting to suppress the rights of citizens to early vote. Most of these citizens appear to be from the minority community.

Because of the popularity of early voting and the overwhelming turnout, William A. Anthony Jr. and Kimberly E. Marinello, the board's Democratic members, want to simply extend the early voting centers hours this Sunday. Seems simple enough.

However with no real valid rational or reasonable explanation, Colley and Preisse are declining to go along with the plan. Instead they skipped a vote on the matter (that's real brave) and then they issued a statement stating that poll workers might be exhausted. Apparently as board members they did not realize that the polling place is only open for 4 hours on Sunday and that the workers are seasonal and looking for extra work. It is doubtful they will be that exhausted after four hours of work and a few hours more work would be welcome for a seasonal worker.

The lines have been long in Franklin county for early voting, stretching for two and half to three hours recently. It has been a very diverse crowd and from observations very heavy in the minority communities.

Thus it is no wonder that Colley and Preisse, would want to supress the voter turnout in Franklin county. It is obvious what they fear and this time their tactics and motives are being well documented and followed.

When the dust has settled on this election, the Republican party would be well served to rid itself of such ilk from its ranks. The Republican party just like the rest of American is dire need of new leadership.

Read the Dispatch article here....

Happy Halloween!!!!

Just When You Thought You Were an American... Conservatives Say Not So Fast.

By Burns Strider

Governor Palin and her brand of Republicanism are about to overcook my grits.

She and those who drink from the same mug have decided that you are not a real American, maybe you are even anti-American, if you either don't have the same views as they do or you are from the wrong part of the nation, or both... I'm a little confused as to the specific criteria.

I think I may be fine since I was born and raised in Mississippi even though I have lived in Washington, DC for quite a few years.

I worry, though, about my two boys. They were both born and are being raised inside the beltway so I don't think they are fully American in the eyes of Governor Palin, Congressman Robin Hayes (R-NC), Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (R-MN) and all their friends. And this is what is scorching my grits.

But first, this is what Governor Palin said late last week:

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans."

What does she call Brazil, MS? Is it real America or does that community's name disqualify the Brazilians of the Mississippi Delta?

Then Governor Palin's spokesperson added this on October 18:

[Pfotenhauer] acknowledged [McCain's] difficulties in Northern Virginia but said the region is not "real Virginia." She added, "The rest of the state, real Virginia, if you will, I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain's message," Nancy Pfotenhauer said.

So, if you are for Senator McCain or from an area largely supporting Senator McCain they you are "real."

Over the weekend North Carolina Republican Robin Hayes said this:

"Liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God."

Okay... so if you are a liberal you hate real Americans who work and believe in God. What if you are also from northern Virginia, don't work and don't believe in God? Do you have to move to another country?

And Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, the Republican of Minnesota, on Chris Matthews this past Friday emphatically pontificated the following:

"Barack Obama didn't have a mild association with Bill Ayers, he had a very strong association with Bill Ayers." She then went on to say, "I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views."

So being 8 years-old at some point in the 1970's may be a bad thing because a guy you would meet decades later was doing bad things during the disco era. I often wonder if Senator Obama and I ever listened to My Sharona at the same time. But what if Senator Obama, Bill Ayers and I listened to My Sharona at exactly the same time? Does that then disqualify my Mississippi roots and make me anti-American?

Governor Palin, Congressman Hayes and Congresswoman Bachman need to check their language. And they need to re-examine the meaning, beauty and greatness of our nation.

We are a patchwork quilt, a Baptist blanket, of families and communities that have come from all over the globe to become real Americans.

Our ancestors may have arrived prior to the First Continental Congress or our families may have immigrated through Ellis Island in the last century. Some of us may have risked our very lives on sinking rafts and some of us may have risked great fortunes. But, we are all real Americans.

My little boys are very much American. My first grader has been singing "This Land is Your Land" to me. He has been learning it each morning in the DC Public Schools. They play a lot of soccer, I prefer baseball but you should have heard them cheering for Michael Phelps during the Summer Olympics.

I fear that somehow Governor Palin, Congressman Hayes, Congresswoman Bachman and their ideological friends have allowed scales to cover their eyes. They have been led astray by the sound of their own politics and they sadly find exceptionalism only from their own voices, their own mirror image of America.

Think about how limiting this is... think about all the potential and real American dreams that would never be realized through such a narrow vision of our great nation. They have allowed the values we hold dear, as one nation, to be tossed to the ditch in place for the rigid orthodoxy they prefer to proclaim.

Over 20 years ago, the late, great Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was speaking to the Baptist Joint Committee and was asked how to properly articulate values in government. Her response went something like this (and I paraphrase but wouldn't you love to hear her voice right now say these words):

"You would be well to pursue your causes with vigor, while remembering that you are a servant of God, not a spokesperson for God and remembering that God may choose to bless an opposing point of view for reasons that have not been revealed to you."

I hope Governor Palin, Congressman Hayes, Congresswoman Bachman and all their friends will stop their divisive, ugly cultural warfare... it so belittles them as they sound like a throwback to earlier elections and instead embrace our real American values and find all Americans to be real and all pockets to be real American places.

Burns Strider
Founding Partner
The Eleison Group
www.eleisongroup.com

Catholics for Obama

Joining the other Catholics for Obama site, launched a couple months ago and a few blogs by the same name, now comes "Catholics for Obama", a project sponsored by the Boston based Catholic Democrats.

The site has a nice quote from Caroline Kennedy and it also includes a fifty eight page down loadable document citing the Catholic case for Obama. It includes a nice intro by Vicki Reggie Kennedy, wife of the Lion of the Senate, Senator Edward Kennedy. The document was written by Patrick Whelan PhD., founder of Catholic Democrats.

The site is certainly the best of the Catholics for Obama site. Even though a late entrant into the game, it will quickly gain attention and will be a valuable resource for swing Catholics in battleground states.

View the site here...

Catholics United Responds to Allegations Made by Maverick Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput

It is clear that Archbishop Chaput is a surrogate for the McCain Campaign and his continued clumsy forays into politics further illustrate McCain's Catholic problem. McCain is Bush and Catholics like Chaput supported a virtual culture of death by supporting the Bush Administration over an issue that will never be resolved by the politics of old that Chaput and other's with the extreme position of criminalization support.

Media Release From Catholics United ....

Washington, D.C. – Catholics United executive director Chris Korzen issued the following statement today in response to Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput’s accusation that Catholics United has “done a disservice to the Church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress pro-lifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn.” The archbishop’s comments were delivered at an Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women dinner in Denver on October 17, 2008.

“Catholics United welcomes an open, honest, and productive dialogue about how best to represent the values of the our faith in public life. We recognize that Catholics can differ in good conscience about which policies will achieve the most effective results, even on issues as important as abortion. We are concerned that Archbishop Chaput’s comments – even those made in his personal capacity – will have a chilling effect on this dialogue. It is also profoundly unfortunate that Archbishop Chaput has chosen to make personal attacks on lay Catholics acting in good faith to promote Catholic values in the public square.”

“During the past eight years we have watched a president rise to power on a ‘pro-life’ platform only to pursue other priorities: perpetrating an unjust war, opposing expanded health care coverage for pregnant women and children, promoting the intrinsic evil of torture, deregulating the financial markets, and mortgaging the future of America’s hard-working families on tax cuts for the rich and powerful. Scant, if any, progress was made toward ending or reducing abortions – quite the contrary, we fear that the looming economic crisis will impel more women to have abortions as people lose their jobs and their homes. This experience serves as poignant reminder of the need for Catholics and other pro-life Americans to look beyond campaign rhetoric and elect candidates who will deliver real results on the issues that matter most.”

“With due respect to Archbishop Chaput, we believe that by pursuing efforts to de-polarize the abortion debate and bring Americans of varying ideological backgrounds to the table to find common ground solutions, organizations like Catholics United are doing at least as much to promote Church teaching on human life as those who have insisted on the same ineffective strategies of the past 35 years.”

Catholics United is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition. This is accomplished through online advocacy and educational activities. For more information, visit www.catholics-united.org.

Sanctity of Life, Human Dignity, Fairness & Prosperity, National Security, Common Good, Stewardship

A great, let me repeat..... Great Voting guide from Catholics United. Just out. Get em out to your friends today.

Don't be fooled by Joe Orthodox in your parish who tells who to vote for McCain over a single issue.


Click here to get yours...

Group hits parishes in key states with anti-abortion brochure

By Michael Humphrey
Published:
October 14, 2008

Voting guides: The brochure on the left is the official U.S. bishops' voting guide; the brochure on the right is the Terry brochure.Kansas City, Mo.

An antiabortion brochure that claims voting for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, “flagrantly violates Catholic teaching,” is being distributed to parishioners at Catholic churches across nine battleground states and beyond.

The method of distributing the flier, titled “Faithful Catholic Citizenship Based Upon the Gospel of Life,” includes placing brochures on cars parked outside of parishes, handing them out before or after Mass and distributing them online. No Catholic dioceses have sanctioned the brochure or its distribution methods and one archdiocese told NCR they strongly disagree with the methods of disseminating the material. Several persons distributing the gospel of lief brochures who refused to leave church properties have been arrested for trespassing.

Nevertheless, Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, told NCR he is targeting nine states he thinks are key to this year’s election – Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada and Colorado. But he’s sending brochures to whoever requests them, even if the state is not in play.

“We have over 500 teams across the country who are distributing two different brochures,” Terry said, “and we’re looking for more volunteers. I recognize in many people’s minds we are skating on thin ice, but so was St. Thomas More and St. Catherine of Siena, and many prophets who spoke the truth when it wasn’t sanctioned.”

Terry's brochure is designed to reflect the November, 2007 document put out by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," which can be distributed freely in parishes. Terry referred to the visual similarities as "comic relief," rather than an attempt to confuse matters, and noted that his brochure stresses "Catholic Faithful Citizenship."

A second brochure, entitled “Is It Immoral to Vote for Obama for President?” is targeting non-Catholics and being distributed at Wal-Marts and malls as well as Protestant churches.

Terry would not give exact numbers of how many brochures are being printed, stating there are “a lot” and agreed it was in the tens of thousands. The brochures, along with other materials, including a “Palinator” t-shirt that shows Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin brandishing a weapon are being distributed on line.

The brochure, which is written in question and answer form and most often quotes Pope John Paul II, at one point references "certain clergy and laymen" such as Catholic author Doug Kmiec, who is quoted, "it violates no aspect of Catholic teaching for a Catholic voter to endorse, support, or vote for Barack Obama." The question asked is, "Are they correct?"

The answer: "No. They are not correct. Endorsing, support, or voting for Obama in the 2008 Presidential election flagrantly violates Catholic teaching."

The argument that voting for a Democrat violates Catholic teaching, because of the abortion, has been cited as a key element of the 2004 victory for President George W. Bush, especially in Ohio.

Unlike that election, says Eric McFadden, former director of Catholic Outreach for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Democrats are not caught off guard.

“This time around the left has a very strong and viable presence,” McFadden says. “They are taking opportunities to share the breadth of Catholic social teaching, not just one issue. Mr. Terry claims to be working with faithful Catholics, but they are openly defying the bishops.”

Terry is not arguing that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops supports his stand. He disputes the November 2007 document released by the USCCB on faithful citizenship, which states that, “there may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons.”

“The faithful citizenship document is not the teaching of the Catholic Church,” Terry said. “Evangelium Vitae (an encyclical by Pope John Paul II in 1995) is the teaching of the Catholic Church. The Faithful Citizenship document is a disaster. It’s being quoted by every pro-abortion group out there.”

So Terry’s group, which is sometimes confused with the Operation Rescue in Wichita, Kan. (Terry left there in 1991 and there is pending litigation over the group’s trademark), is deliberately doing acts of civil disobedience on church properties.

Tuesday morning, Joseph Landry was in court on charges of trespassing at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore on Sept. 14. He was arrested after being asked several times to leave the shrine’s property by security guards and later by police. Maryland is not considered a contested state, with polling showing Obama ahead by more than 20 points.

Landry said in an interview with NCR that this was his third arrest for trespassing, once in St. Petersburg, Fla. and recently in Arlington, Va., which are both contested states in this election.

“No one from the Baltimore Basilica showed up,” said Landry, 27, “so they dismissed the case for non-prosecution. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the Arlington case.”

Asked if he’s willing to serve jail time, Landry said, “Yes, that’s fine.”
Sean Caine, director of communications for the Baltimore archdiocese, said the archidiocese was not named in the complaint against Landry, so couldn’t comment on the status of the case. He did say that the archdiocese strongly disagrees with the approach Terry’s group is taking.

“I think to the reasonable and objective person,” Caine said, “their efforts could be seen as intentionally aimed at getting arrested and getting the attention that comes with getting arrested. We provide materials that are approved by the archbishop and the U.S. bishops. There are any number of ways of getting a message out, but they have to be appropriate.”

The problem with that thinking, said Terry, is that it implicitly allows for “the murder of hundreds of thousands of babies.” “When babies are about to be murdered,” Terry said, “and you can stop it by lifting up your voice on church property, the bishop does not have the authority to tell you to remain silent.”

McFadden strongly disagrees that Terry’s primary objective – overturning Roe v. Wade – would even begin to stop abortions.

“The abortion rate is affected by many different issues, including health care, education, the biggest is the economy. If you are unable to provide for that child, I would say the abortion rate is going to spike. A McCain administration will not have policies that actually reduce abortions. They’ll supply the same tired politics of the last 30 years.”

(Michael Humphrey is a free lance writer living in Kansas City, Mo.)

Copyright © The National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company

Lay Catholics Push Back on Abortion and Politics

Thursday October 16, 2008

When Carl Anderson publicly rebuked Sen. Joe Biden last month for opposing the Catholic Church's stance on abortion, Anderson said he was speaking "on behalf of the 1.28 million" Knights of Columbus in the U.S.

Everyone, that is, except for Knights like Rick Gebhard of Manistee, Mich.

Gebhard, a 36-year-old public school teacher, says he founded Knights for Obama early this month to counter Anderson's "tacit endorsement" of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

Gebhard now says he's been told he will likely be booted from the Catholic fraternal organization. The group's rules forbid members from endorsing political candidates, said Knights of Columbus spokesman Patrick Korten.

Gebhard, a member of the Boston-based group Catholic Democrats, counts himself part of a resurgent Catholic Left that's finding its voice during the 2008 presidential campaign. After struggling to be heard four years ago, when conservatives dominated the "values" debate and a majority of Catholics voted for President Bush, progressives say they have returned to the political arena this year with more supporters, deeper pockets and sharper ideas.

"We've been playing catch-up," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, a progressive online community that has grown from two volunteers with $1,000 and dorm-room headquarters in 2004 to now include 30,000 members and a $200,000 budget.

"And I think we've done it, to a great extent."

Hoping to reach Catholics who are upset with the Bush administration, groups like Catholics United are posting billboards in swing states, papering Catholic households with mailers and flooding the airwaves with progressive messages on everything from abortion to home foreclosures.

Lay Catholics like Gebhard are resisting church pressure to make abortion the primary issue that should drive Catholics' votes, and also pushing back when high-profile Catholics like Anderson single out Democrats like Biden for public criticism.

"I thought it was an overtly partisan maneuver," Gebhard said of Anderson's rebuke.

Anderson, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, regularly speaks for the group on public policy issues, and, despite his background in GOP politics, steers clear of partisanship, Korten said.

Since Gebhard started his group on Oct. 3, between 50 and 100 fellow Knights -- including former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Thomas P. O'Neill III-- have joined Knights for Obama.

The newly revived Catholic Left is part of a larger effort by religious progressives to expand the definition of "values issues" to include war, the economy and the environment.

"I think the `values' debate was fairly one-dimensional," said Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, which drew some 800 social-justice-minded Catholics to a meeting in Philadelphia last July and has been active during the presidential campaign.

Progressives say neutralizing abortion as a Republican wedge issue is key to their campaign. While many accept the church's teaching that abortion is evil, they reject the idea that voting for a pro-abortion rights candidate is akin to heresy.

"Coming out of 2004, the abortion issue was paralyzing the prophetic religious community," said James Salt, Catholic United's director of organizing. "Our contribution to the abortion debate was inadequate."

Progressives say they now have a persuasive contribution: that addressing the root causes of abortion, such as poverty, can be more effective in the short term than working to criminalize the procedure.

Salt said his group is mailing that message directly to 50,000 Catholic families in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Perhaps as important are the prominent Catholic scholars taking the message to the public at large, such as Douglas Kmiec, former legal counsel in the administrations of President Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush and Nicholas Cafardi, former dean of the Law School of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and a past chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' National Review Board on clergy sexual abuse.

"When a very articulate conservative like Doug Kmiec all of a sudden lays out this case, you can't say it's ideologically motivated," said Patrick Whelan, director of Catholic Democrats. "People stop and pay attention."

Still, a number of Catholic bishops reject progressives' arguments.

"The so-called `new' approach of groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good doesn't seem to take into account that children continue to be killed every day through abortion," said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, who has published and spoken widely on religion and politics.

Overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, "remains an important and attainable goal," Chaput said. "But the priority has always been legal protection for the unborn child and legal restriction on abortion, however that can be accomplished."

Despite opposing progressives' ideas, some conservatives say their ideological opponents have come a long way.

"Progressive Catholics have finally gotten their act together," said Brian St. Paul, editor of Crisis Magazine and InsideCatholic.com. "They are more organized and effective. Certainly they are a force."


By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service

Copyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

New Matthew 25 Video - Martin Sheen

The Matthew 25 Network

Pro - Life Means Action on Behalf of ALL Human Life

Great new resource flyer from Catholics United - it can be downloaded here. Just in time for Pro - Life Sunday!

From Catholics United:
October 5, is Pro-Life Sunday, and with the November elections just around the corner, some groups on the far right are bombarding Catholics and other people of faith with the message that all that matters in this election is a candidate's stated position on the legality of abortion. To help inform Catholics about the fullness of our Church's teachings on life, Catholics United has published a new flyer entitled "Pro-Life Means Action on Behalf of All Human Life."

From the flyer

Many candidates say they're pro-life. But do they really have a record to run on?


Here are some important facts for pro-life Americans to consider when deciding how to vote.

The BEST way to combat abortion is to give women and families the tools they need to choose life.
Studies consistently show that when women and families have health care, jobs, education, and other essential supports they are less likely to have an abortion. In fact, more than three out of four women who obtain an abortion say that economic factors were a primary reason for doing so. Instead of helping struggling American families, our leaders have left them to fend for themselves.

Being pro-life is 1 percent talk, 99 percent ACTION.
Being pro-life is not just about what our elected leaders say they believe. It's about the things they do. During the Clinton Administration, the U.S. abortion rate declined nearly 30 percent without enacting any legal prohibitions on abortion. Under President Bush, this decline stagnated. Even the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices was unsuccessful in making any meaningful progress toward building a culture of human life. For all its talk about being pro-life the Bush Administration hasn't protected a single unborn child.

Pro-life means ALL human life - WITHOUT exceptions.
How can our leaders say they are pro-life, while starting unjustified wars, supporting torture, opposing expanded health care for children, cutting school lunch programs, and standing by as hard-working Americans lose their jobs and retirement protections? They can't. To be pro-life is to answer a deep call to support and defend human life at all stages - from conception until death. It means caring for the unborn, for the children, for the less fortunate, and for all hard-working Americans.

Overturning Roe v. Wade will NOT end abortion in America.
All too often, what passes for an authentic pro-life agenda is a candidate's stated opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. While legal protections for the unborn are an important part of a pro-life strategy, overturning Roe v. Wade would simply let states decide whether abortion should be legal or illegal. In a post-Roe America, only a handful of states would impose penalties on those who obtain or perform abortions, and women living in these states could still go elsewhere to get an abortion. Overturning Roe cannot be seen as a substitute for policies that can work RIGHT NOW to end abortion, namely supporting women and families.

The Professer vs The Student - The Catholic Problem of John McCain - "Sarah Palin"

By now I am sure everybody has read about the debate last night between Senator Biden and Governor Palin, and a lot of folks watched it. From my sofa I saw Senator Biden win the debate hands down. At times it looked like Professor Biden debating a first year student. Senator Biden offered real solutions that an Obama / Biden administration will bring to real issues facing Americans in these uneasy times. We heard a valid and solid plan for a two front war, health care, education, the environment and most importantly the economy.

What we got from Palin was at times a deer in the headlight look while she nervously avoided looking Senator Biden in the eye, dodged questions and spun answers like a puppet being played by Karl Rove. She looked more like a game show contestant at times than a serious candidate for the second highest office in the land. If this is the best McCain can bring to the table to replace him in the event of the unthinkable, then please leave me out.

I love Hockey Moms and Joe Six pack just as much as anybody. I believe the common folks are often left out of the conversation. However I do not want Joe Six Pack or Hockey Mom calling the shots. I want experienced competent people that are informed on the issues from various fronts and can actually cite the media sources they read everyday.

Beyond the debate however Sarah Palin is just wrong for Catholics as evidenced by her lack of grasp and knowledge on the debates and further proof is provided below.

Sarah Palin: Wrong For Catholics

Palin Cut Nearly $200,000 From Catholic Run Social Programs. During her two years as Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin cut $190,000 in funding from Catholic Community Services.

From the Alaska Budget:

Catholic Community Services - Angoon Senior Center Stove, Refrigerator, and Freezer
Palin Cut $20,000 - S.B. 53 FY 2008 and an additional 20k for the same project from S.B. 221 FY 2009- So Catholic Community Services is out 40k thanks to Sarah Palin.

Catholic Community Resources - Fairbanks Counseling & Adoption
Palin cut $150,000- S.B. 221 FY 2009 - Apparently Palin's "Family Values" do not apply to the Catholic Community Resources in Fairbanks.

If Sarah Palin rejects the good work of the Catholic Church in Alaska, how are Catholic voters expected to support her for Vice President?

Catholic voters should not have a hard time saying "thanks but no thanks" to McCain and Palin this November.

Can a Catholic support Obama? - Prof. Kmiec responds to deceptive critique

Recently Deal Hudson published a statement by Doug Johnson - Legislative director of National Right to Life, where Johnson and Hudson refer to abortion reduction as a “scam”. Hudson called the statement “authoritative”. I recently went over the fine points with Doug Kmiec, an authority on this issue in his own right. His response to the Johnson piece is as follows” - read statement from Hudsons site here

Eric McFadden: Doug Johnson - Legislative director of National Right to Life and some others have suggested that “Abortion Reduction” is a scam used by Democrats to gloss over the issue of abortion with Catholics. They believe that you create the impression that Obama will merely preserve the legal status quo on abortion, while creating a token government handout for women experiencing crisis pregnancies. These folks are convinced that an Obama administration will simply increase the numbers of abortions performed.

Doug Kmiec: First, as I indicate in my book Can a Catholic Support Him? Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama (Overlook Press, NY), my endorsement of Senator Obama has from the beginning indicated places where this conservative Republican (me) disagrees with the Senator, and we disagree on the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which I oppose, and indeed, believe in its current form exceeds the power of Congress. Second, to the extent FOCA is believed to mandate the public funding of abortion, and that is not explicit, I would oppose that as well.

That said, while the Senator and I are in disagreement, it does not dim my enthusiasm for his presidency since I believe for the first time we will have a president who genuinely intends to address the poverty and anxiety that in the vast majority of cases determines a woman’s decision.

Second, I greatly respect Doug Johnson and his work in behalf of life. In this regard, he has been in this vineyard long enough to know that there is a meaningful difference between pro-abortion and pro-choice. Indeed, in Senator Obama’s case, it is more aptly a difference between criminalization and compassion, or to be even more fair to the approach advocated by Mr. Johnson, regulation and restriction or the encouragement of a responsible exercise of freedom.

In any event, Senator Obama has never been pro-abortion, and is not now.

Eric McFadden: Some have claimed that Obama advocates repeal of the Hyde Amendment? -- and he would enact national health care that would also mandate coverage of abortion on demand.

Doug Kmiec: Again, “mandate coverage for abortion on demand”? This has never been Senator Obama’s position, which instead: Accepts the Roe framework, leaving the ultimate decision to the expectant mother, and consistent with language the Senator was instrumental in having added to the Democratic Platform also “strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care,parenting skills,income support, and caring adoption programs.”

Eric McFadden: Abortion opponents have argued that Obama will not renew the Hyde Amendment.

Doug Kmiec: As Doug Johnson indicates, the Hyde Amendment is renewed year by year. Even were FOCA to pass, and even if my doubts about its unconstitutionality were determined by an appropriate court to be unfounded, Congress has it well within its power to renew the Hyde Amendment after FOCA, which by well-settled, last-in-time interpretative principles would keep the abortion funding limitation in place. What’s needed is what has always been needed, a convincing and legislatively winning argument that on balance public funding for abortion wrongly implicates the taxpayer in what many citizens, including me, see as a moral wrong.

I have not discussed this with him at great length, but I imagine that Senator Obama views health care funding as something that as much as possible should be governed by the needs and determinations of a patient and the patient’s doctor, and it is this nondiscrimination principle, which convinces him that just as public funds should be available for pre and post natal care so too a woman’s choice to bear a child cannot be coerced under criminal or regulatory penalty. Again, not my view and given that FOCA in one form or another has been stalled in Congress since 1989, arguably not the view of the public at large. Indeed, on that score, FOCA’s fate will be more determined by the electoral outcome in Congress than the presidency.

Eric McFadden: Some abortion opponents have claimed that the “Freedom of Choice Act” (S.1173) would invalidate existing federal and state limitations on Abortions.

Doug Kmiec: I am not convinced this wholesale invalidation of state law is what is intended by the drafters of FOCA; what they have provided for in the draft legislative language; or what the judiciary would construe that language to mean. There is still a presumption against preemption that is respectful of the different choices of the states – at least in areas where a constitutionally-affirmed fundamental right is not present (and abortion, as Doug Johnson knows, is not that) -- so I do not accept that regulation, for example, that is evenhandedly drafted by the states to preserve patient health and well-being across multiple medical procedures including abortion automatically is invalid as a “discrimination.” Even the statement of that proposition seems absurd on its face.
Eric McFadden: Johnson and others point to a quote from Senator Obama: "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." – they express the same fear that state laws would be nullified by the "Freedom of Choice Act."

Doug Kmiec: Again, I believe this to be overstatement, both in light of the preemption principle noted above and the underlying constitutional doubt about FOCA derived from well-settled law that Congress lacks authority to redefine constitutional rights and liberties. A Supreme Court that some years ago denied Congress’ ability to enact into law as against the states a super-protection of religious liberty is likely to have the same reservations, maybe more given the sensitive and controversial nature of the abortion subject.

Eric McFadden: Johnson has pointed out that Obama has also voted directly against parental notification requirements twice. He also refers us a study of Cardinal Rigali’s regarding the "Freedom of Choice Act," and the accompanying legal memo.

Doug Kmiec: I fully accept the teaching of my church. That teaching, including the thoughtful letter from Cardinal Rigali, indicates that “in recent months, the national debate on abortion has taken a turn that may be productive. Members of both parties have sought to reach a consensus on ways to reduce abortions in our society.” While his Eminence finds this consensus emerging especially on the regulatory front, I do not read his letter as denying the possibility of consensus by means of improved support for women in poverty and who are often alone and isolated. Quite the contrary, the Cardinal himself notes, quite consistently I might add with the perspective of Senator Obama (though, appropriately of course, the Cardinal does not mention any political figure by name), that “because many women have testified that they are pressured toward abortion by social and economic hardships, bipartisan legislation providing practical support to help women carry their pregnancies to term, . . . deserves Congress’s attention.” Senator McCain’s history here is curious. On the one hand, the Senator voted in favor of amending those eligible for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to include the unborn-while voting against legislation to expand SCHIP's coverage to low-income children and pregnant women at least six times.

With all due respect, that type of legislative duplicity is just political gamesmanship which squanders the kind of tangible consensus both the Cardinal and myself and pro-life advocates in both parties would applaud. Matt Bowman in The American Spectator in an essay calculated to bolster Senator McCain’s on again/ off again pro-life position (in the late 90s, the Senator spoke approvingly of Roe, for example) is reduced to writing: “there is no tangible reason to fear that McCain would veto abortion-alternative funding,” though he then urges that the Senator make it “more clear.”

Clarity is good, and like Mr. Bowman, I would hope Senator McCain would follow the lead of Senator Obama on this and support “pre and post natal care.” To do that, however, the Obama administration will first have to clean up the financial mess left behind by the misguided Bush-McCain economic ideology that favored maverick deregulation and tax subsidization of the wealthy -- though apparently not the economically savvy. In other words, to responsibly fund abortion alternatives, Senator McCain will need public resources. Such resources will likely only be possible by the repeal of high-end tax favoritism and the enactment of middle class tax cuts along the lines envisioned by Senator Obama.

Eric McFadden: Johnson and others have been critical of your claim that Republican office holders have not achieved a “Human life Amendment”. In their critique, they claim that Constitution does not give a president any formal role in the constitutional amendment process.

Doug Kmiec: Yes, constitutional amendments depend on the initiative of members of Congress, like that which Senator McCain could have undertaken – but did not -- during his almost 30 years occupying public office.

Eric McFadden: Johnson has stated that “Obama even advocates repeal of the national ban on partial-birth abortions, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2007 on a 5-4 vote.”

Doug Kmiec: It is well known that Senator Obama has clearly stated on numerous occasions his support for restrictions on late term abortions. Indeed, Senator Obama has identified the need to draft a clearly defined health exception, the responsible narrowing of which Doug Johnson and I – and perhaps the entire right to life community, including the dear late Henry Hyde himself -- have been advocating for decades.

Eric McFadden: – In a statement Johnson wrote: “Finally: Kmiec has written elsewhere of the personal work that he and his wife have done in assisting women who are experiencing crisis pregnancies, which is certainly commendable. Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) across this nation help many, many women each year, and save the lives of many children. Before Kmiec speaks again about Obama's purported commitment to "abortion reduction," perhaps he should reflect on the question put to the Obama campaign by RHrealitycheck.org, a prominent pro-abortion advocacy website -- "Does Sen. Obama support continuing federal funding for crisis pregnancy centers?" The Obama campaign's official response was short, but it spoke volumes: "No."”

Doug Kmiec: Continue funding? The counseling centers known to me and my very effective spouse have not had the benefit of such funding. Must be hard to get. Anyway, Senator Obama’s signal of clear and strong support for women who choose to carry a pregnancy to term offers the kind of complementary assistance that will hardly impede crisis pregnancy centers. And that’s the thing, you have to have the funding for pre and post natal care, income support and parenting skills before you can help anyone in the context of a crisis pregnancy center or otherwise. And as I see it, only Senator Obama has made this, well, “clear.” All McCain-Palin have is platform rhetoric about finding “new ways to empower,” which is really rather tired, old verbiage more likely to mean embarrassingly little.

Hurricane Katrina exposed 'two Americas,' bishop says - Highlights the McCain problem with the Catholic vote

From CNS:

It took the worst natural and man-made disaster in American history -- Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches that inundated New Orleans with water in 2005 -- to expose previously hidden levels of poverty in the richest country in the world, a Catholic bishop said Sept. 25.

Citing the Rev. James Forbes, the retired rector of Riverside Church in New York City, Bishop Sullivan said "Lady Katrina" was "a prophetess who revealed to us the two Americas, the haves and the have-nots, the white America and the America of color.

Read the entire story here....

John McCain voted with George W. Bush 90% of the time during the past eight years. While the survivors of Katrina Suffered - McCain ate cake with Bush.

McCain wants to continue the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy at a time when many Americans on main street are barely able to buy groceries or gasoline. While many Katrina survivors still live in FEMA trailers to this day, McCain is unable to even remember that he owns seven luxury homes in three time zones.

Catholics know the reality of the injustices and poverty in our country brought on by the policies of Bush and McCain and will no longer be fooled by the rhetoric that brings little or no results and only more pain and suffering for working Americans.

Americans are not interested in witty tales of the past and mooseburgers. Americans are looking for change and are hopeful as they look to the future and an Obama Presidency that restores the honor and dignity of our great country and lifts up the most vulnerable and gives them a chance instead of giving it all to the wealthy.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson politicizes Knights of Columbus

Carl Anderson, former official of the Reagan Administration, GOP surrogate and supporter, has led the Knights Columbus astray with his recent statement regarding Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden.

According to the Knights of Columbus Website, the Knights were formed to render financial aid to members and their families. Mutual aid and assistance are offered to sick, disabled and needy members and their families. Social and intellectual fellowship is promoted among members and their families through educational, charitable, religious, social welfare, war relief and public relief works.

I reached the 4th Degree of the order, which is as far as one can go in the Knights. During my journey through the degree's I must have missed the "Carl Anderson" Political Science 101 class.

In his letter, Anderson claims to speak for the 1.28 million Knights around the world.--- He does not speak for me. I also personally know many Knights who would agree. Not because they are Republicans or Democrats. Not for Political Reasons. None of us became Knights because we were Republicans or Democrats. Instead we became Knights to serve. To serve the communities we live in. To serve our parishes and the Bishops in our dioceses. We joined to help the mentally challenged and the least among us in our communities. We joined because we are Catholic Gentleman and we wanted to make a difference in our communities.

We never thought that Anderson would sully the Knights by dragging this century old organization into modern day politics. Not only has he misspent and wasted money that the membership has paid in dues and fund raising to release his politically motivated letter, but he has drawn the Knights into the ugly world of partisan politics.

Carl Anderson should resign as Supreme Knight so the good work of the Knights of Columbus can continue without the stain of partisan politics on it.

More in this CNS Article

Poll Finds Obama Won Debate - McCain continues to have problems with Catholic Voters

A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows 46% of people who watched Fridaynight’s presidential debate say Sen. Barack Obama did a better job than Sen. John McCain; 34% said McCain did better.

It is no wonder. McCain looked at times as if he was impatient and grumpy. He went out of his way to avoid eye contact with Obama. That speaks to character, the character that Catholic voters will be looking for this election. If McCain can not look Obama in the eye, how can he look the American people in the eye in times of crisis?

The margin of error was +/- 4 percentage points.

With Obama ahead of the margin of error, independent voters and Catholic voters are receiving Obama's economic message with open arms. Meanwhile McCain and his cronies on Capital hill move to protect the golden parachutes and bottom lines of their banking buddies by stalling the bailout plan.

Catholic and independent voters are simply not being fooled by McCain's attempt to repackage his campaign as the agent of change.

Voters know that this country has wounds and when it comes to changing the band aid, they know that removing the band aid slowly and painfully ( McCain - Palin) is not the change that America needs.

America needs the band aid removed quickly and to heal correctly American needs Obama - Biden.

WHY THIS PRIEST VOTES FOR OBAMA

I received an email from a Priest I know who read Fr. Schroth's post below and this was his reaction. Because he is not public with his thoughts and my respect for that, I am not publishing his name - but I simply could not agree more. Thanks for these thoughts Father, and thanks to Father Schroth for his bravery to speak the truth.

I thank Raymond Schroth for his boldness to speak his convictions. As priests we must stand up and speak out and give brother and sister Catholics another option to being told that they are not good Catholics if they vote for someone who stands for choice. I am against Abortion, but not just Abortion in the Womb but every form of it. The Abortion that is killing people everyday in an immoral war, poor education, poverty, death penality, Racism, Sexism, homelessness, no healthcare, and on and on and on. Anything that keeps a child of God from attaining his or her Divine Destiny and purpose is a form of abortion!! - unnamed Priest in response to Fr.Schroth's piece.

Cross posted from NJ.COM

by Raymond A. Schroth September 27, 2008 11:48AM

One school of thought says that because of the separation of church and state and because the priest has a religious role requiring him to rise above politics, he should not run for office or identify himself with any candidate or party. Some add that if a priest takes a political stand he alienates those who disagree with him.

On the other hand, Jesus and his followers often alienated the political and religious establishments of their day. And in Europe there's a history of popes and bishops calling on Catholics to vote against communists and those who contradict church teaching on abortion, marriage and other issues.

Here a handful of bishops declare that candidates who don't agree that abortion must be outlawed are thus in mortal sin, destined for hell, and must be denied the eucharist.

Meanwhile mid-20th century movements like the worker priests and labor priests, and, later, liberation theology have helped priests and religious orders like mine to understand the degree to which both the prophets and the gospels demand that Christians identify with the poor. As a result, more than ever, to be a Catholic today requires not just opposition to abortion, but an end to the death penalty, commitment to economic fairness, and adherence to the conditions for a just war -- conditions violated by our invasion of Iraq.

There is no way I can separate my political, literary, or social judgments from my priesthood. The values that made me become a priest permeate everything I do. Those principles are that our love for one another must reach beyond the boundaries of family, nation, or creed and that national policy should above all protect the weak. For me this includes laws that would lessen the number of abortions, mostly through social and economic reform rather than by sending women who have aborted to jail.

Therefore I will vote for Barack Obama for president and encourage anyone who reads this to do the same and to pass the word. I was born when Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office and gave us hope to overcome fear. A Hudson River aristocrat paralyzed from the waist down, he identified with the helpless. He used his God-given gifts of voice, eloquence, and character to inspire a nation through the depression and World War II. Obama has the basic FDR ideals and political skills, the ability to bring people together and lift then up with his words. Editor of the Harvard Law Review, Obama passed up big law firms to organize Chicago's neighborhood poor and teach Constitutional Law before entering politics.

He is a genuinely religious man whose social policies, more than his opponent's resemble Catholic social teaching. Above all, he opposed the Iraq war. Had his views prevailed, 4000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis would still be alive.

Finally, under his steady leadership, America has a chance to confront its racial problems, including the black family breakdown and the plight of young black males who lack both education and hope. No other candidate has even mentioned this problem.

I do not say this from a pulpit. I imply no mroal obligation that you accept my ideas. I simply argue that Obama, more than his opponent, represents a chance for justice and peace.


About the Author

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J., professor of humanities at Saint Peter's College, comes from a Trenton family of journalists, teachers and lawyers. He has taught or served as dean at five Jesuit colleges and universities, plus New York University graduate school and Brooklyn College.

Schroth's eight books include a biography of Eric Sevareid, a history of Fordham, and "The American Jesuits: A History," to appear in October. He is also the media columnist for the National Catholic Reporrter. He writes on religion issues.

Jobless claims pushed to 7-year high - Does McCain have a Catholic Problem?

Yes - McCain does have a problem with Catholic voters. There are many problems, but one glaring one is credibility. He wants people to believe he is the change agent, yet he voted 95% of the time over the past eight years with the failed administration of George W. Bush.

Nothing has been done to stem the tide of the jobless rate over the last 7 years, and John McCain has been there all the way.

Catholic Voters are looking for a candidate who has credibility. When a candidate like John McCain says the Fundamentals of our campaign are strong while the economy crumbles and this jobless rate is on the rise, Catholics will raise their eyebrows... and rightly so.

Read the story here....

Homeless Setting Up Camp Wherever They Can

From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation. Nearly 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they've experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group says the problem has worsened since the report's release in April, with foreclosures mounting, gas and food prices rising and the job market tightening. The phenomenon of encampments has caught advocacy groups somewhat by surprise, largely because of how quickly they have sprung up.

AP Story...

Pope urges international leaders to tackle poverty with courage

From Catholic News Service

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged international leaders to tackle global poverty "with courage" when they meet at the United Nations to verify implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. Read more

America can take the lead here, but only if we are able to address this economic crisis. Otherwise the United State may be looking to other countries for aid to solve our poverty problems that follow a meltdown of the markets.

Democrats frame economy as 'values' issue

Got a mention in this excellent Eric Gorski AP article... Read it here.

Democrats, however, can argue that the Bush administration's spending on the Iraq war and expansion of government don't mesh with the smaller government that many independent voters desire, said Eric McFadden, former director of the Ohio Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, who also worked to get out Catholic votes for Hillary Clinton during the primaries.

To connect with religious voters on the economy, Obama needs to focus not so much on tailoring a message to specific faiths as talking about job loss and showing empathy, he said.

"Someone said to me, 'We need to create a flier that shows McCain's tax plan and Obama's,'" McFadden said. "We don't need that. People get lost in detail. They want to understand that someone is compassionate and understands what's going on and will fix the problem."

Meanwhile, a sign of McCain's growing problem with Faith Voters is this quote.

"I have never believed the president of the United States, regardless of who it is, can help the economy get better," said Phil Burress, head of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values. "I believe a president can make it worse. The best thing to do is to get off the backs of private entrepreneurs and small business."

If this who is speaking for McCain, his problems in the faith community will simply continue to grow. How on earth could this economic situation under Bush get any worse? McCain has been along for the ride 95% of the time.

Meanwhile, American voters, especially Catholic voters are seeing the wisdom of the Obama plan, which is sound and solid.

Economy tops agenda for religious voters

From the Columbus Dispatch

Four years ago, the war in Iraq and the same-sex marriage debate pushed foreign policy and social issues to the top of the priority list for nearly all religious voters. Read More

It is not surprising at all. CEO's are getting the golden parachute while the rest of us are getting the shaft. Social conservatives would want us to believe that gay marriage and abortion is the root of all evil in this country. I would argue that corporate greed and materialism have become the greater evil. This is what the last eight years have brought us. McCain has been there with Bush all the way, at least 95% of the time.

The economy affects all other issues, and when it is down, the family unit will struggle.

With the McCain campaign falling over its economic message Catholic voters have much to consider the ballot box this fall. Catholic voters do have and alternative are hearing a strong economic message from Barack Obama and Joe Biden. They have a plan, not a change in plans. There is much to look forward too, but also much work ahead.

The fundamentals of the McCain campaign are strong

Great Cartoon from PolitickerOH - speaks to the problem that voters are becoming increasingly aware of about McCain - especially Catholic Voters - the guy is simply out of touch with the problems of our country, especially the economic factors that have families struggling right now.

Pray for Ambassador Flynn

Raymond L. Flynn, former Ambassador to the Vatican during the Clinton administration and former Mayor Boston is battling melanoma and was hospitalized recently after collapsing during a speaking engagement according to his son as reported in the Boston Globe. Read the story here.

Like Doug Kmiec, myself and others, Ambassador Flynn is a Pro Life Catholic Democrat (Kmiec came from the dark side recently.) Ambassador Flynn like many other Pro Life Democrats realizes the folly of putting a single issue above others at the expense of the least of these. Never hiding behind the veneer of the abortion issue, Flynn like many other faithful Catholics has always realized the consistent ethic of life is the key to good public policy and that life goes on after birth.

I had the distinct pleasure of working with Ambassador Flynn this past spring on the Hillary Clinton Campaign. Ambassador Flynn was a tireless campaigner for Hillary and and asset to the campaign, especially the Faith and Values team.

Please take a moment and pray for Ambassador Flynn and his family. I wish them all my best.

Ohio Christian Radio Ad Connects with Economic Crisis, Plight of Ohioans

The Matthew 25 Network is running a new ad on Christian radio stations in Ohio connecting the Christian mandate to care for the least among us with the economic crisis in Ohio and around the country. Former Congressman Tony Hall, a pro-life Democrat from Dayton , Ohio is featured in the ad connecting his Christian faith to his endorsement of Barack Obama for President.

The ad entitled "When did we see you hungry?" is the first in a series of radio ads that the Matthew 25 Network will be releasing inspired by 25th Chapter in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus asks his followers to care for "the least of these."

This is great oppertunity for Catholics to consider other issues than the wedge issues that the right often uses as veneer to hide their failures. The economy is a life issue that directly impacts all other issues.

McCain's ongoing Catholic problem is that he is unable to resonate with folks on the economy. How on earth could a man who thinks the fundamentals of the economy are strong, flies in a private plane, drives thirteen cars and lives in seven homes across three time zones resonate with those who are struggling to get by in Ohio?

The Matthew 25 Network

Catholic Democrats find strong push-back from bishops

Had a small mention in this recent RNS article:

But as the "Meet the Press" controversy demonstrates, talking about faith can be harder than it sounds. That's especially true for Catholic politicians, who are measured against 2,000 years of church tradition and doctrine.

"I don't think it's the place of politicians to get into theological debates," said Eric McFadden, who directed Catholic outreach for Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. "Congresswoman Pelosi and Sen. Biden probably should have spoken more from the heart about how Catholic teaching affects their thinking and their policy positions."

Read the entire story here.

I also stated, but it was not included that the Bishop’s are conflicted on the state of life. They argue that all abortion--at every stage of conception--is a sin against life but they do not condemn war or nuclearization that guarantees the mass loss of life or capital punishment. It is the inconsistency of their ‘life’ arguments that confuse the people.

Compare and Contrast

Let me see if I have this straight.....

If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."

Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

If you become the President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years at the University of Chicago as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man in his eighth decade.

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a true Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education,including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her intercity community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

John McCain and His Continuing Catholic Problem - Actions Speak Louder than Words

Nice Press Release from Catholics - United today...and a new ad that gets to the heart of John McCain and his problem with Catholic Voters.

Catholics United TV Ad Campaign Questions John McCain's Pro-Life Credentials

Challenges Arizona Senator to Support Health Care and Assistance for Pregnant Women, Oppose War

Washington, D.C. – Catholics United today unveiled a new 527 ad campaign encouraging Senator John McCain to embrace a broad pro-life agenda including support for health care and effective assistance to pregnant women, children, and families. The ad – which will run on cable television in heavily Catholic areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan – comes as Catholic and other religious groups are calling for a national abortion dialogue that prioritizes effective and common good solutions over political rhetoric.

The thirty-second spot features a Catholic pro-life mother of three from the Midwest who states that "actions speak louder than words" when it comes to a pro-life record. She proceeds to cite Senator McCain's August 2007 vote against the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and support of the Iraq War as examples of actions inconsistent with authentic pro-life policy.

"Many Americans, particularly Catholic Americans, are fed up with leaders who use the 'pro-life' label to score political points without delivering real results," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. "'Pro-life' is more than just a campaign slogan. It's a broad and deep call to defend human life at all stages, and especially to implement social and economic assistance for women and families. These are effective policies to reduce the number of abortions that Americans across the political spectrum can support."

Even as the Republican Party abandoned proposed platform language last month aimed at embracing bipartisan solutions to the abortion tragedy, a Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good study showed a clear connection between increased economic supports for women, children, and families and lower abortion rates. Catholics United also released a study showing that allowing states to criminalize abortion – as would happen in a post-Roe v. Wade America – would have little effect on the abortion rate.

Ad Script:

"I'm a mother of three children and I am pro-life. John McCain, it's not enough to say you're pro-life. Actions speak louder than words. You voted against one of the largest support programs for pregnant women. You voted against health care for our children. And you voted for a war that has killed thousands of Americans. Senator McCain, when will you start defending all human life, without exception?"

For More Information, click below:

Reducing Abortion in America: Beyond Roe v. Wade

Reducing Abortion in America: the Effect of Economic and Social Supports

John McCain's Continuing Catholic Problem - The Economy

Has John McCain become Herbert Hoover?

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong." - John McCain, Jacksonville FL, 9-15-08

4.2 Jobless Rate
Deficit is is 357 Billion
America is 10 trillion in debt
Gasoline prices up, price of commodities up........

"The fundamentals of the economy are on a firm and prosperous basis" - Herbert Hoover, On the day of the stock market crash in 1929

Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.
Herbert Hoover

Just what country is John McCain a citizen of when he states "our economy" ? With the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression, bank failures looming, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., and American International Group Inc going in the tank, what economy is John McCain living in?

The economic policies of the the last eight years have brought us to this brink. We saw the same failed trickle down economics in the eighties resulting in the savings and loan crisis. Thankfully the fiscally responsible policies of Democratic President Clinton brought us out of the economic disaster left to us by Reagan and Bush I. This time another Bush born with a silver spoon in his mouth has brought this country to the brink of economic disaster, and John McCain, oblivious to the plight of working Americans, thinks our economy is strong. It was the Economy Stupid then, and it is the Economy Stupid now Mr. McBush.

Senator Obama said today "It's not that I think John McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of most Americans. I just think he doesn't know. He doesn't get what's happening between the mountains in Sedona where he lives and the corridors of power where he works." - he could not be more on target. John McCain and his lobbyist staff are completely out of touch with working Americans. They do not understand the problems facing American families: rising gas prices, expensive health care or none at all, shrinking wages and savings, and assaults on the rights of American workers. John McCain simply does not have a plan - just more of the same - like a bad movie squeal. America has already suffered through Bush I and II - we certainly can not survive a third with "McBush - Return of the bad economy part III".

Catholic Voters will not be fooled by these failed economic policies that not only result in higher abortion rates, but also take food from the mouths of their children and continue to deteriorate the structure and values of the American Family.