Truthful words echo through time and eternity. “Mr. Gorbachev—tear down this wall!” President Reagan spoke to the President of the Soviet Union, a communist superpower. Reagan called him to freedom, out of the status quo of tyranny and oppression. He declared these words in 1987 at the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall—and they still reverberate through the decades to today. Euphorically, a few years later, the Berlin Wall did indeed come crashing down, and the totalitarian Soviet Union ended without shots being fired. I wonder if we’ll be able to tear down the walls of our own day’s toxic ideologies.
Just a casual look through history reveals that Catholic theology echoes through time and eternity. The Catholic Church teaches that God’s word is communicated to us through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Through it we see good and evil, the flower and the thorn, the fruitful Eden and humanity’s expulsion from it by disobedience. We see how war results from human sinfulness and that the return to peace eventually follows the chastisement of armed conflict.
God’s word through the Catholic Church teaches us that each person is an unrepeatable first, a pinnacle of the created order. It teaches that it is deeply immoral to press for the killing of innocent human life through abortion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church underscores the seriousness of the offense and the canonical penalty for abortion, while also emphasizing the mercy and complete forgiveness available for the penitent.
Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. “A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,” “by the very commission of the offense,” and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society. (CCC 2272)
The bishops of the United States require that we vote for the candidate who is pro-life (or more pro-life) because this issue is preeminent among all. Pope Francis himself has been unambiguously clear on the issue of abortion in numerous speeches and interviews. He stated:
How can an action that ends an innocent and defenseless life in its blossoming stage be therapeutic, civilized or simply human? I ask you: Is it right to “do away with” a human life in order to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hitman in order to solve a problem? One cannot. It is not right to “do away with” a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hitman. (Mares, 2021)
God’s word has also provided us with clear teaching on the two equal, complimentary sexes, male and female. Yet today, we observe mass confusion on gender issues—what it means to be male or female, or whether genders can be defined at all.
For example, if a person is dealing with gender dysphoria—identifying oneself with a gender different that one’s biological sex—then we ought to love that person, and loving them ought to lead us to help them seek and find competent professional care. Yet some press for mutilation of body parts, labelling it a “quick fix,” while the underlying gender dysphoria is left largely unaddressed or altogether untreated.
We should be aware that these two issues of abortion and mutilation are often promoted by coded language because anything sounds better than the truth of these tragic realities. Media ads and political press only refer to “reproductive rights” and “gender affirming care.” Of course, not a word is mentioned about the long-term effects of such actions or the ongoing psychological trauma often experienced along with them. Political candidates garner votes by coded messages and calculated phrasing.
God calls us to be faithful citizens—to be informed voters. This may involve asking ourselves certain questions: Which candidate will protect and defend more of the unborn? Which candidate advocates for life-altering, “quick fix” surgeries rather than thorough care to address the underlying issues in a person with gender dysphoria?
At some point we must come to the realization that our moral decisions—including our voting choices—will echo through time and eternity. Towards this end, it is with great hope that we will allow the word of God to form our consciences more fully and vote to defend the preborn and protect the gender dysphoric.
Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash
