It’s understandable when non-Catholics view the Church as nothing more than some kind of global-sized NPO. Yet Catholics, of all people, should understand that that the Church isn’t like your local school board – you don’t vote up or down on moral truths. Catholics for Choice, sadly, continues to oppose the Church on abortion.
And when it comes to the basics of the Catholic Church and its teachings, the pro abortion group Catholics for Choice, is not only heretical in its statements, it is just plain ignorant of Catholic teaching.
Catholics for Choice can learn from the Catholic Daughters above (photo by Steve Rhodes).
From the Catholics for Choice website on “Catholicism”:
“While united through sacramental bonds especially through baptism and the Eucharist, these Catholics interpret various teachings of the church in different ways.”
I wonder who “these Catholics” are? Are they the ones who don’t listen to the magisterium of the Church? And while it gets repetitive to keep pointing out such things, it must be stated that Catholics don’t “interpret” Catholic teachings on their own.
If Catholics for Choice members are having sincere struggles understanding Catholic matters of faith or morals, then they have an obligation to speak to a priest, consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church, ask questions and find out why the Church teaches what it does. One doesn’t simply say: “Oh well, I disagree with that interpretation. I personally feel that abortion is a women’s choice.”
Catholics are obligated to form their conscience with Catholic Church teaching. This doesn’t mean one can’t question, struggle or admit problems understanding something. Yet Catholics know there are absolute truths, and that the Catholic Church – guided by the Holy Spirit – is there to protect us from harm, not shackle us with rules.
The Catholics for Choice website also makes an allusion to Scripture, presumably referring to Galatians 2: 11-14, when St. Paul corrected St. Peter regarding Christian freedom from the Mosaic Law. Sadly, however, Catholics for Choice twists Scripture for to its own ideological ends.
Referring to Catholics who don’t adhere to Church teaching, Catholics for Choice writes:
“In this they are no different than early Christians, such as Peter and Paul, who fought vigorously about many matters of faith and morals.”
Using St. Peter and St. Paul to justify heretical beliefs regarding abortion and birth control is fantasy at best, nefarious at worst. Catholics read the Bible within the tradition of the Church. We understand scripture by “thinking with the Church.”
Far from understanding St. Paul’s correction of St. Peter as a license for future Catholics to be disobedient, the Church sees unity in this Bible passage. From the Catholic Navarre Bible Commentary:
“Far from undermining the holiness and unity of the Church, this episode demonstrated the great spiritual solidarity among the apostles, St. Paul’s regard for the visible head of the Church, and Peter’s humility in correcting his behavior.”
St. Augustine commented on this same passage:
“He who was rebuked was worthier of admiration and more difficult to imitate than he who made the rebuke [...] This episode serves as a fine example of humility, the greatest of Christian teachings, because it is through humility that charity is maintained.”
One of the Spiritual Works of Mercy is to instruct the ignorant. We pray that members of Catholics for Choice look to the example of The Blessed Virgin Mary who, in her humility, obeyed God.
To obey is in the Catholic Catechism:
144 “To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to ‘hear or listen to’) in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.”
