Cardinal Pell: Politicians can't be 'Cap't Catholic' one minute then vote contrary to the Church's teachings

Cardinal Pell has never been one to shy away from controversy. In fact, he has had his own share of controversy in the past. That being said, he has come out recently and made a very strong statement about politicians and their faith. Although not an American, his message rings true for all politicians – Aussie, British, American, et al.

In an interview given to the Sunday Herald Sun, Cardinal Pell sent a strong message to Catholic politicians, one that echoes the sentiments of our own Archbishop Charles Chaput. Cardinal Pell's primary point is that it is wrong to claim to be Catholic but then to cast votes that go against the teachings of the Church. From his SHS interview:

"If a person says, 'Look, I'm not a Christian, I've a different set of perspectives', I disagree but I understand," the Archbishop of Sydney said.

"If a person says to me, 'Look, I'm nominally a Christian but it sits lightly with me', I understand that.

"But it's incongruous for somebody to be a Captain Catholic one minute, saying they're as good a Catholic as the Pope, then regularly voting against the established Christian traditions."

This is a common element for many Catholic politicians in this country, especially those on the Democratic side of the aisle. They use the will of the people as their excuse to vote a certain way. What they fail to understand that running a campaign, or putting yourself in a position to be a Catholic that votes against the teachings of the Church is wrong. As Cardinal Pell says, to be 'Cap't Catholic' or to simply claim to be Catholic brings with it certain responsibilities. First and foremost amongst those responsibilities is to vote to uphold the teachings of the Church.

Cardinal Pell explained:

He said: "To the extent that on a significant number of issues you depart from Christian teachings you know it's incongruous to be billing yourself as a champion of Christian rights. And the Catholic Church doesn't teach the primacy of conscience. You know if somebody said apartheid was all right, nobody would say, 'Yes you can say that because of the primacy of conscience'."

This message needs to be heard by more politicians far and wide. We need more Bishops, Cardinals and priests that are willing to stand up and proclaim the true teachings of the Church. We need our clergy to demand that our Catholic politicians act properly and hold them to task when they don't. I support the denial of Communion for those that consistently promote positions incongruous with the Church's teachings. We can't convince the faithful to uphold the teachings of the faith, if we aren't holding those in the public eye to the same standard.

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