Archbishop Warns 220,000 Omaha-Area Catholics: Voting Obama 'Evil'

BY BRAD DAVIS

The archbishop of the Omaha archdiocese released a letter Saturday implying his flock of 220,000 should not cast their votes for Barack Obama because of the candidate's stance on abortion.

Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss

Without explicitly forbidding an Obama vote, Archbishop Elden Curtiss wrote in his letter, "Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has stated with clarity that Catholics who vote for a candidate precisely because he or she supports abortion and/or euthanasia would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil."

Omaha has become an unlikely election battleground as some polls show the presidential candidates nearly tied within the 2nd Congressional District of Nebraska, whose boundaries overlay the core of the Omaha metropolitan area.

Because Nebraska allots its electoral votes proportionally, Omaha's one electoral vote seems to be in play. Obama has opened three Omaha offices with 15 paid staffers in an effort to flip the area from the Republican column for the first time in a presidential race since 1964.

The archbishop left some room for Catholics to vote for an abortion-rights supporting candidate if the Catholic voter's decision was made "in the presence of proportionate reasons," a policy he attributed to the pope.

"However," the archbishop wrote, "I cannot conceive of a proportionate reason that could outweigh the deaths of nearly 50 million children killed by an abortion."

John McCain vows to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout all 50 states. His campaign platform says abortion rights should be decided by individual states, according to the campaign Web site.

Obama's campaign platform says he opposes the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and that the candidate has "been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe vs. Wade a priority as president," according to the campaign Web site.

Curtiss said a pro-abortion rights position makes a candidate "unworthy of our trust."

"There are many serious issues at stake in this election, but none is more important than abortion," Curtiss said in his letter.

In an interview last week, the head of the Omaha-area Republican Party said if Catholic turnout is high within Omaha, Obama has no chance of winning the district. He estimated Catholics make up 25 percent of the district.

"They vote pro-life," said David Bywater, director of the Douglas County Republican Party.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha covers 23 Nebraska counties, an area of 14,051 square miles, according to its Web site. Under its jurisdiction are 149 parishes, two Catholic universities with more than 26,000 students, and 59 elementary schools and 18 high schools.

The text of the archbishop's letter can be found on the Web site of the archdiocese: http://www.archomaha.org/newsandevents/pdf/ArchbishopsVotingStatement.pdf

Comments

[uniquelyme]

So he says that a vote for a pro-choice candidate supports the death of children. But how about a vote towards the candidate who wants to prolong the war in the Middle East where countless others are killed, maimed, orphaned, tortured, and traumatized? That's not a vote toward supporting murder and evil? Warped logic.

I read too about an American nun who's 106 years old and has been living in a convent in Rome since the 1950's. The last president she voted for was Eisenhower and is still an American citizen. This year she voted for the first time in over 50 years by absentee ballot -- for Obama! I guess she'll need to go to confession.

Hope, not fear. GObama '08!

[lawlessone]

Take away the church's tax free charity status which it is entitled to for only so long as it remains non-partisan. We could use the extra tax money anyway and what a great excuse to get it.

[cvraman]

test

[lvdragonlady]

If representatives of religious organizations speak out like this, then they need to be disqualified as a 'church' and taxed just like all other organizations.

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.....­..........­This is America not some 3rd world country.

[blues101]

yes, again i say it.......r­eligion has no place in politics, government, the voting booth, or in the bedroom.
Women decide what women feel is best for them. no woman decides to get an abortion without giving thought, it ain't no picnic for her either to go through it. I am not pro-abortion and that's my personal pick. but i am pro-choice­.. i would defend a woman's right to make that decision without interference from religious or government "heads". gone are the days, i hope, when desperate women and pre-teens ended up dead or mutilated from botched operations in dark back rooms in another state.
what do men speaking from a pulpit know about women and women's rights and needs anyway?
and they have some nerve babbling about anything sex-related, with pedophiles and lawsuits seemingly on the rise within their clubs. i grew up around lots of boomer generation parents who popped kids out like Pez, and laid it on about it being their religious duty. none of them brought their child up properly or advantaged . Most took public assistance- and i would imagine it's still a "sin" to have sex without intending to reproduce. give me a break. i know plenty of "good" Catholics that practice birth control, in opposition to doctrine, and surprisingly, having one or two kids and then miraculously either not having sex or prevented births. Because they sure are having an intimate relationships. my right to choose is not advocating murder.

[sadyla43]

CLERGY SHOULDN'T USE GUILT ON THEIR CONGREGATION THATS WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO HAVE OUR OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND KNOW HIS WORD FOR OURSELVES SO WE WONT BE PRESSURED BY MEN WHO REPRESENT GOD AND WHO ARE HUMAN JUST LIKE US. OBAMAS NOT EVIL BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS TO JUDGE ONES FAITH BY THEIR FRUITS AND I THINK WE ARE SEEING THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR THOSE LAID OFF AUTO WORKERS IN CHICAGO INSTEAD OF TAKING A JOB WITH A LAW FIRM HE HELPED HIS FELLOW MAN.






GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD HELP US

[sticksnstones]

ONE MORE TIME NOW ..... No man has any right to tell any woman anything about her reproductive heath issues and choices. This man needs to worry about his own orifices, particularly when his head is jammed inside one of them.

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of catholics who may not follow the dogma to the letter. i wonder how many are on the pill? had an affair? there are many ways dogma is defied. i don't worry about too many being swayed.

[suburbanmom]

As a practicing Catholic and religious education instructor, who is fully, wholeheartedly, and enthusiastically endorsing Senator Obama, I need to tell you that the words of this Bishop are not dogma.

Dogma are the teachings of the Church that are infallible; the Holy Trinity, the Death, Ressurection and Ascention of Jesus, the Bible is the inspired word of God, etc... The next level after dogma is doctrine. Doctrine are teachings of the Church that are binding but that can be questioned and changed or abandoned or even condemned at some time. Doctrine rarely becomes dogma.

I'm not even sure that what this Bishop is offering would be considered doctrine. At any rate, as Catholics, we are called by the Pope to explore, expand and contemplate our faith. It is our duty as Catholics to really study and pray about the issues the world has to offer.

I have done this, and when looking at the 2 candidates set before us, I find myself supporting Obama. He has not twisted the truth, gambled with our future, maintains an even temper, displays a geniune love for his wife and daughters, supports education to prevent unwanted pregnancy for the population who might conisder abortion, looks to reduce our involvement with external conflicts that lead to civilian and military deaths, and his health care plan covers more Americans to keep us living longer and healthier lives.

To me, a Catholic, the choice is clear. My vote is for Senator Obama.

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for clearing up my butchering of your terminology. However, it seems you got my point. I am not big on religion. Not an atheist, but don't ascribe to any religions. So don't feel picked on, I would likely butcher any religious verbology. Being non religious is hard for many to accept. In Utah, to avoid arguments, I told people I was a Bovinian.

[bigfated]

Count me as one of the millions who don't give a rats ass what the Catholic Church says or thinks!

In an overpopulated world quickly running out of resources.­.....all they know is keep on adding to the [population. When they get around to talking real sense....g­ive me a ring!

[CarolW2]

As a Catholic, I remember a conversation my parent had with their parish priest many years ago. That priest said to look at ALL the issues, not just one, and carefully weigh the issues and cast your ballot. For all their 'family values', 'moral majority', and 'pro-life' shouting, the Republicans seem to fight tooth and nail against health care for all, early childhood education and development, assistance to the poor, help for single mothers, care for the environment - all things I consider very pro-life, moral and family oriented. In the Bible I read, Jesus said to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted.

Obama/Biden 08

[vuertual]

A reach-out to Catholics, with full respect. Pope Benedict's words warned not to "vote for a candidate precisely because he or she supports abortion and/or euthanasia would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil." Whatever we think of this statement, it implies that if you are moved to vote for the Senator from Illinois primarily for other reasons, you're off the theological hook.
Leaving aside Senator Obama's nuanced position on a woman's choice--pro-Obama Catholics are hardly likely to be voting narrowly and 'precisely' because of this issue! It is a good bet they are voting because of a yearning for social justice (good works) and to honor such sanctity of life questions as the infliction of capital punishment and the wanton destruction of both soldiers and innocents in war.

[KarlaElisa]

Excuse me, but should not now 149 churches, 2 Universities and 78 K-12 grade schools be losing their 'non-profit' status due to this?

I thought this was grounds for exactly THAT.

[Bronxcutie]

Christian Democrats, keep praying for Barack's victory and safety! Do not let this hatred from the fanatics and the racists get you down. We will pray and we will vote!

[Oxfarm]

The church also told millions of people not to have sex before marriage.

We all know how well that worked out.

[Diogenis]

how? lollllllllll

[musselmanm]

Should be the end of tax exemption for the Catholic church of Omaha.
Nothing else needs to be said.