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CATHOLIC GUIDELINES FOR POLITICIANS & OTHER BELIEVERS
Overview of major social teachings
promoted
by the Roman Catholic Church

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Conservative teachings by the Church:
The Church opposes:
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Same-sex
marriage: In the U.S., the federal and state governments
automatically grant on the order of 1,400 rights and
benefits to all opposite-sex couples who marry. The church opposes these
being granted to same-sex couples. Their interpretation of the Bible
precludes any form of same-sex marriage or civil
union. Unlike other conservative religious denominations, the Roman Catholic
Church does teach that, in most cases, a person's sexual orientation is not
chosen and is unchangeable. However, in common with other religious
conservatives, it regards minority sexual orientations
as abnormal, unnatural, and disordered. They expect persons with a
homosexual orientation to remain celibate. They
expect persons with a bisexual orientation -- those who are sexually
attracted to both men and women -- to restrict their sexual relationships to
a member of the opposite sex, and then only within marriage.
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines homosexuality as: "...Sexual activity between persons of the same sex. It
is not a normal condition, the acts being against nature are objectively
wrong." 1
The Most Reverend Michael Sheridan, the bishop of the
Roman Catholic diocese of Colorado Springs, CO, writes: "no one has a right to that which
flies in the face of God’s own design. Marriage is not an invention of individuals or even of
societies. Rather it is an element of God’s creation. It is God who created
us male and female. It is God who joined man and woman so that they could be
fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Every civilization known to
mankind has understood marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the
procreation and rearing of children." 2 This
statement appeals to conflict with the description of
eight types of marriages and families mentioned
in the Bible. |
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Abortion access: The Roman Catholic
Church is one of the largest supporters of the pro-life movement in
the U.S. They teach that human life, in the form of an ovum and
spermatozoon, becomes a human person at the instant of conception. Thus,
they teach that abortion causes the murder of an
innocent human person -- whether it be a pre-embryo, embryo or fetus. They believe that
human life must be preserved from conception to natural death. In his encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI wrote:
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"It is not licit, even for the gravest reasons to do evil so
that good may follow there from, that is, to make into the object of a
positive act of the will something which is intrinsically disordered,
and hence unworthy of the human person, even when the intention is to
safeguard or promote individual, family or social well being...directly
willed and procured abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons [is] to be
absolutely excluded." 3
When a delivery goes terribly wrong, and the attending physicians have the choice of:
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Killing the fetus, and saving the life of the woman, or |
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Allowing nature to take its course, and watching both the woman and fetus
die, |
the moral decision in the eyes of the church is the latter. Fortunately,
few physicians follow this directive.
The church does make exceptions in a few unusual cases, like ectopic
pregnancies and cancer of the uterus where the death of a fetus is an indirect result of a medical
procedure.
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Stem cell research: Human stem cells are primitive cells that can
theoretically be coaxed to develop into any of the over 200 cell types in
the human body. Some can be extracted from adult humans; others are removed
from pre-embryos. The church opposes the extraction or use of the latter,
because they regard pre-embryos as human persons, and because the removal of
the stem cells results in its death. Unfortunately, adult stem cells have
limited potential, whereas stem cells from pre-embryos have great potential
to treat and cure many diseases which cause disability and premature death. |
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Physician assisted suicide: The church opposes all suicide,
whether it is performed by an individual alone or with the help of their
physician. They teach that all human life must be protected, from conception
to natural death. A person has no right to terminate their life, even if
they are in intractable, untreatable pain from a terminally illness. |

Liberal, often countercultural teachings by the Church:
"We believe that in the conditions of contemporary
American society, the legitimate purposes of punishment do not justify
the imposition of the death penalty." 4,5
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Other matters: The Church also takes a generally liberal
approach to arms control, world debt, the environment,
housing, labor Issues, migrants, refugees, nonviolence, poverty, peace,
Social Security, trafficking, and welfare. |

References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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Robert Broderick, Ed., "Catholic Encyclopedia: Revised and updated
edition," Nelson, (1987), Page 272. Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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Michael Sheridan, "A pastoral letter to the Catholic faithful
of the Diocese of Colorado Springs on the duties of Catholic politicians
and voters," at:
http://www.diocesecs.org
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Pope Paul VI, "Humanae Vitae. Encyclical of Pope Paul VI on the
regulation of birth," 1968-JUL-25, at:
http://www.vatican.va/
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Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J., "The Death Penalty: Why the Church Speaks a
Countercultural Message," American Catholic, atL
http://www.americancatholic.org/
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"USCCB Statement, 1980," Office of Social Development & World Peace, United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops, at:
http://www.usccb.org/

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Copyright © 2004 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2004-MAY-15
Latest update: 2006-OCT-22
Author: B.A. Robinson
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