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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > U.S. Catholic Bishops have major choice to make between Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden -- Problems with both parties makes their choice far more complicated this election

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

U.S. Catholic Bishops have major choice to make between Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden -- Problems with both parties makes their choice far more complicated this election

Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 08:20 AM

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Barack Obama and Mitt Romney

U.S. Catholic Bishops have major choice to make between Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden -- Problems with both parties makes their choice far more complicated this election

The Catholic Conference of Bishops is between a rock and a hard place in this election.

They are on record as castigating both parties. They slammed Obama for his health insurance clause that the bishops claimed meant they had to subsidize birth control for their employees.

But the Republican ticket has felt the lash as well. Paul Ryan’s budget was roundly slammed by the bishops for its cuts on programs to the poor.

So the presidential election sets up an interesting dilemma for them. There are two Irish Catholics on the tickets, making it certain that a Catholic voice will be prominent in the White House whatever happens.

But which one would they prefer?

I have no doubt they would prefer a Romney/Ryan ticket to succeed.

The church is now heavily dependent on Hispanics for renewal and have staked out a position on immigration far closer to the Democrats. That is a huge issue in this election.

But I still feel the bishops, or the vast majority of them, will side with Romney/Ryan.

The tiebreaker of course, is abortion which both Romney and Ryan oppose and Obama and Biden support.

In addition, social justice issues have slipped down the scale in favor of adhering to the conservative orthodoxies espoused by this pope.

The Catholic vote is critical and the Bishop’s role is powerful, yet it is clear that cultural Catholics, those raised in the faith who no longer practice it weekly, are not influenced by their bishops any more.

Those who are tend to be regular mass goers who hear the weekly sermons.

The Catholic Church has come a long way since President Kennedy faced extraordinary suspicion over his Catholic roots.

Nowadays swing Catholics in key states are the most sought after voting block.

The Bishops have a major hand to play. It will be interesting to see how they deal their cards.

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eiriamach | Aug 23, 2012, 06:34 PM EDT

The US government has no interest in, and nothing to gain by, controlling religion, Phannie. On the other side, Cardinal Dolan has shown a remarkable ambition to control health care policy for the USA, women's reproductive rights, LGBT civil rights, and the immunity of priests and bishops from criminal child abuse laws. What do the bishops have to gain? Many millions of dollars in grants from government agencies like HHS, for Catholic hospitals, schools, and agencies, and millions more saved by preventing lawsuits against the church. The USCCB is James Madison's and Thomas Jefferson's worst nightmare.

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seanomelb | Aug 23, 2012, 06:15 PM EDT

It's the tyrants in Gods clothing that we have to watch the religious hypocrites on the right!! phannie boy

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PhlutiePhan | Aug 23, 2012, 03:29 PM EDT

Socialism is acceptable to the Catholic Church within certain parameters which Mr. Obama does not tolerate. It is up to Joe Biden to step up and use his catholic upbringing to put a brake on the marxist in the White House.

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PhlutiePhan | Aug 23, 2012, 01:42 PM EDT

a Godless tyrant is much more dangerous than a God fearing president with the limitations of checks and balances of a divide system of government. The Constitution protects religious liberty in order to prevent government control of the church, or religions.

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redhand32 | Aug 23, 2012, 10:19 AM EDT

GOP Christian Amerika =the "Christian" Taliban !

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eiriamach | Aug 23, 2012, 07:49 AM EDT

Briano, do you think there's no danger of church interference in govt? Agreeing with SSPX, this pope REJECTS separation of church and state. Read his Sept. 2011 speech to the Bundestat. The US bishops' lawsuits against ACA and gay civil rights pursue his goal of influencing govt policy through coalitions of conservative Christian voters. Benedict quoted Origen to persuade the Germans that when the state isn't guided by religion, it enacts "secular," godless laws: "Origen provided the following explanation for the resistance of Christians to certain legal systems: 'Suppose that a man were living among the Scythians, whose laws are contrary to the divine law, ... such a man for the sake of the true law, though illegal among the Scythians, would rightly form *associations with like-minded people* contrary to the laws of the Scythians.'" He rejects secular ethics: "systems of law have almost always been based on religion." Madison warned of this danger of alliances of churches to control law and national policy: "The tendency to a usurpation on one side or the other or to a corrupting *coalition or alliance* between [church and elected officials] will be best guarded against by entire abstinence of the govt from interference in any way whatever, beyond the necessity of preserving public order and protecting each sect against trespasses on its legal rights by others" (Letter to Jasper Adams, 1832). The Constitution protects religious liberty in order to prevent church control of government.

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eiriamach | Aug 23, 2012, 06:09 AM EDT

That's half of the 'establishment' clause, Briano, but not the one it's named for. Having lived under a king who recognized special rights for members of the 'established' church, including seats in Parliament, the framers of the US Constitution were determined that all religions, as well as non-believers, would be on an equal footing, none empowered to establish their own beliefs as law. JFK and Al Smith (whom I quoted below) understood that papal doctrine was at odds with the establishment clause; both needed to overcome that obstacle to being elected. Smith wrote in 1928, "I recognize no power in the institutions of my Church to interfere with the operations of the Constitution of the US or the enforcement of the law of the land. I believe in absolute freedom of conscience for all men and in equality of all churches, all sects, and all beliefs before the law as a matter of right and not as a matter of favor. I believe in the absolute separation of Church and State and in the strict enforcement of the provisions of the Constitution...."

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BrianO | Aug 22, 2012, 08:06 PM EDT

Eiriamach, they deemed it important that all be free to worship religion as they were persecuted by the tyrannical government of england and the church of england, government imposed religion.

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seanomelb | Aug 21, 2012, 06:40 PM EDT

I suppose Peterson you are also a Birther and have problems defining rape.

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peterson | Aug 21, 2012, 02:44 PM EDT

Romney?Ryan would be the right choice as Obama is a socialist and also cannot be trusted which the past three years has illustrated. I also question his ties with the Chicago mob and his religious inclinations.

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eiriamach | Aug 21, 2012, 10:49 AM EDT

Think again, whiteycat: "The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries." ~~ James Madison, father of the US Constitution. He meant religion trying to impose itself on the general population through control of state power, the same goal the GOP is trying to serve today.

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whiteycat | Aug 21, 2012, 09:47 AM EDT

Alisaann, separate church and state is for the benefit of the church, to keep politics from interferring in church business not the other way around.AAnd obama is far from poor. Send him your wedding, birthday,graduation etc gifts to the po boy.give me a break.

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whiteycat | Aug 21, 2012, 09:41 AM EDT

I am sure they like obama. They are wrong. He is too secular.Biden is trash.Romney and Ryan are fresh faces with great plans to fix us.Some wont work but others will.

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Collette2 | Aug 21, 2012, 06:44 AM EDT

It shouldn't be on account of the pope, it should be on human right issues and ethical standards, moral and otherwise. Catch up with the news from Peter's Square# I mean chair.

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alisaann | Aug 21, 2012, 02:38 AM EDT

the catholic church should STAY THE HELL OUT OF IT.....RELIGION HAS NO PLACE IN POLITICS.....SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE!!!!!! ALISA

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