Check it Out: More Heretic Catholics!

Hey all you Roman Catholics out there who watched the October 11 debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, both "active Catholics": Did you notice that neither candidate agrees with the Vatican's position on abortion? The Church's official stance is that human life is "sacred and inviolable" from conception until natural death and that Christians must never "intentionally kill, or collude in the killing of, any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled, or desperate that live may seem." In the eyes of the hierarchy, this basically means no abortions in any circumstances. [Tangential comment: the Church actually does allow a rare exception to this rule. There is a procedure referred to as an "indirect abortion" -- which occurs when the primary goal is to save the mother's life and involves no intentional killing of an embryo or fetus. Such a situation might arise when a pregnant woman has malignant uterine cancer and must have her uterus removed, resulting in the unintentional death of the fetus].    

Paul Ryan defines himself as "pro-life" (I always put those words in quotes because it's used as a manipulative buzz-phrase. I mean -- come on, who isn't "for life?" For more commentary, check out this post). However, he would allow for exceptions in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. This is not in alignment with Church doctrine, which values unborn life no matter the circumstances of conception. (The Church has also canonized Gianna Beretta Molla, a woman who refused to have an abortion when she was pregnant with her fourth child, even though she knew that continuing the pregnancy would likely kill her...)

Joe Biden says that he personally accepts the Church's stance on abortion, but does not feel that one religion's views should be imposed on a diverse population -- acknowledging that others, even devout Christians and other religious practitioners, hold differing views on abortion. During the debate, he stated "I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people -- women -- that they cannot control their body. It's a decision between them and their doctor, in my view." This also contradicts the Church's position. The Vatican has maintained that politicians should not separate their personal and political views -- that U.S. public servants who are Catholic must take an anti-choice stance and do what they can to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

I'm more in agreement with Biden on this issue, of course. But also, I'm just appreciating that the U.S. public got to see two different Catholic opinions on abortion  -- and opinions which both disagreed with official Church doctrine. Catholic heretics are not just the non-practicing and so-called "fallen-away" folks. Catholic heretics are active: in the pews, on church pastoral boards, serving in missions, teaching in  universities, debating as politicians -- with widely varying opinions, challenging (and being challenged by) the Vatican, disagreeing with each other -- and yet still walking together, even if stumblingly... And learning, and stretching out, rooted in an inexplicable wild love -- even when we can't feel it, even when it's hidden from us.

Hear our crazy, bumbling, malarkey-filled prayers.