Theologians Debate 'Proportionate': 'Where Can the Church Really Spend Its Moral Authority?'

Filteau, Jerry, National Catholic Reporter

A Catholic would be cooperating in evil by voting for a candidate for public office simply because of the candidate's support for legal abortion or euthanasia, said moral theologians contacted by Catholic News Service.

But--with one major exception--most of the theologians also concluded that a Catholic might still fund morally acceptable reasons to vote for such a candidate in spite of the candidate's support for abortion or euthanasia.

A public debate on the moral responsibility of Catholic voters arose this year after the publication of a footnote in a leaked private memo this past summer from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington (NCR, Oct. 1).

Most of Ratzinger's memo dealt with Catholic politicians' responsibilities in public life on such issues. The footnote addressed voters' responsibilities.

Although it was …

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Publication information: Article title: Theologians Debate 'Proportionate': 'Where Can the Church Really Spend Its Moral Authority?'. Contributors: Filteau, Jerry - Author. Magazine title: National Catholic Reporter. Volume: 40. Issue: 43 Publication date: October 8, 2004. Page number: 8. © 2009 National Catholic Reporter. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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