Abortion and Catholics | Archbishop Sample
Why don't pro-lifers care about women? The fact is, we do. We care profoundly about women. In fact, you know, the church is one of the pre-eminent organizations that is reaching out in various ways to help women. ... You know, we still need to do more, with God's help, to reach out to people, women, and men who find themselves in these terribly complex sometimes and troubling situations in their life. Yeah, with God's help and grace, we really do need to do more. The solution to those problems though is not murder. The solution to child poverty is not to kill unborn children. That's not a solution. That's just a magnification of the problem. What we need to do is address child poverty. Why do I think abortion is evil? Well, you know what, it really isn't about what I think. It's about what is real and what is true. ... It's an issue of what is right and what is wrong. Why? Because it's an innocent human child in its most fragile form. The victims of the violence of abortion are the most vulnerable, the most fragile of all victims. That vulnerable, fragile, precious life really deserves our protection. It deserves my protection. It deserves your protection, you know? And that's why I will lend my voice and I will use my position as an archbishop in the church to give my voice to those unborn children who have no voice, that their cries will not go unheard. ... I've had people say to me, "Archbishop, with all of the problems in the world today, and they are legion, why does the church seem to be so preoccupied, even obsessed with the issue of abortion?" Well, because this is the most fundamental human rights issue of all. It's about the basic right to life, the basic right to be allowed to exist. We can't talk about human rights for human beings who've not been allowed to be born. Whatever those rights are, whether it's economic justice, whether it's healthcare, whether it's education, you can't talk about those rights for people who have not been allowed to come into the world and to see the light of day. All these rights presuppose the right to life, the right to exist. We absolutely excoriate the Nazis, as we should, for the 6 million-plus Jews that were killed during that regime. We decry the millions killed under the regimes of the 20th-century communists. I think most people don't realize that since Roe versus Wade in 1973, over 63 million unborn children have lost their lives to abortion just here in the United States. The scale of the evil of abortion is truly a globally historic tragedy. That's why this is a priority for the church because the church fights evil. So if abortion is evil, does that mean that the proponents of abortion are evil people? Well, it's not at all that simple. It's not my place or any of our place to judge the moral state of a person, but we can judge moral actions. The action of abortion and advocating for abortion is evil. ... So what does this say about those who actively advocate for abortion? Well, I would say they've been deceived. They have been deceived and lied to by the enemy, by the devil. Remember, we've been captured. This is part of our story, the Christian story, right? The enemy has captured us and he is a master liar. And he has deceived sadly many into believing that advocating for abortion is somehow the right thing. The enemy is not the pro-abortion advocate and supporter. The enemy is Satan. Can a Catholic be pro-abortion? You know, that's a pretty fundamental question. Now, if by Catholic you mean someone who's trying to adhere their life to the teachings of the Catholic Church, then the answer is no. I really wish that people who openly advocate for and support the violence of abortion against the unborn child would stop pretending that that is somehow consistent with the teachings of the gospel and the Catholic Church. It's like a person who claims to be vegan and then eats meat. It's incoherent ... It's basic common sense that really even a child can understand that. Saying I'm Catholic means something, or it should. You know, with the help of God's grace, we should be seeking to conform our lives to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to His gospel, not to try to reform the gospel to conform to my way of thinking or my worldview. If you're a Catholic who openly advocates for and supports abortion, then you need to know that the church is very clear. That is a very grave matter. And I have a real pastoral concern for you. I mean that. I beg you, please repent, go to confession, be reconciled to God. If you don't, you put your immortal soul at risk. I beg you. Please don't do that. Let Jesus change your heart. He can. Jesus changes everything. +++archdiocese of Portland